Here I am!

Steve watched the animals while I was gone. In order of the drawing: Frankie, Xena, Herman, Clarence and Floyd. Steve is a saint.
I think toward the end, he was running out of patience. This card was waiting for me when I got home. Notice Clarence jumping the fence in the background, and the puddle on the floor from the puppy. I laughed for about an hour looking at this card. Funniest husband ever.
The weekend in Orland Park was not quite so funny. We arrived on Friday night and set up our tents. Apparently there was a storm the next morning that I slept straight through. When we got there on Saturday morning my tent was all discombobulated . I walked inside to find nothing but my plastic tables and glass on the ground. The joints on my Showoff tent had been duct taped together where they had snapped from it falling. I held back my tears to find a volunteer, thinking that I was just going to pack up and go hang out with my friend Amy who lives in Chicago. This could not have happened at a better show! The volunteers saved everything except one cabinet and my tent. They loaned me a tent. All and all it was a fun show to do and the folks of Orland Park are a great people. Plus, I still got to hang out with my wonderful friend Amy. I also got to meet her lovely son Jonah. He is so cute!

Oh, but the weekend is not over. After the show on Sunday we packed up to drive home, got on the road around 6 p.m. and headed for home. About an hour into the trip the van quit working in a town called Gardner, IL. Never heard of it? Me neither. That's because there is a gas station there. That's it. No motel, no cab service, no tow company. It took us 2.5 hours to finally track down a tow truck that could come get us and bring us to the nearest civilization about 15 miles away. Turned out that the transmission broke in the van. Pretty much not worth repairing. I won't go into the gory details of that situation, but let's just say that poor Heather and Ben left their van to live in Dwight, IL. Ben drove the 4 hours to come retrieve us from Dwight. We sat in the same and only restaurant in Dwight for 5 hours. Ate breakfast and lunch there. Stared at each other. Laughed at the situation. There may have been a few tears too. It was quite the fiasco. It was so nice to be home on Monday, only to leave for Sheboygan on Friday.

These are pictures of all of our stuff that barely fit in the truck that Ben drove up. I don't think we could have fit another dime in there.

Heather hating on her van. no longer her van at this point.

Me stuffed in the extended cab, ready for my four hour trip home!
I don't want to talk about Sheboygan. Let's just say that I am considering not traveling out of state for shows anymore. The good news is that we figured out a way for my tent and all of my supplies to fit in my car. Steve does not have to sell blue thunder, and I get to keep my 40 mpg Yaris. Yippee!

Herman found a home! He was adopted by the sweetest couple near St. Louis. I hope he does silly things like this for them. He is going to be so happy there. He just jumped right in their car, ready for his new perma-home.
The new blog for our rescue has begun. It will document our journey in starting our own rescue and art education center. Click the link below to read more about us.

Juicy

I just read my cousin and fellow artist, Heather Haymart's, latest blog entry. She has a fabulous idea about an awards ceremony for artists. Kind of like the Emmy's or the Grammy's, or the Tony Awards and such. Wouldn't that be great, to at the very least, be able to watch on tv, attend or win an award! I think it is such a great idea. Maybe we can get something started by just blogging about it. Pass on the blog until someone picks up the idea with some connections. The arts could definitely use more recognition and funding in schools than what they get, and maybe this would be a way to get that initiated. 

It's Friday! I hope everyone has a super weekend. I am starting it off right by going to Chaumette winery with my friend Sarah to get massages and drink wine and eat delicious food. Chaumette is where Steve and I are getting hitched. I think I am more nervous about this massage than getting married. I have never had a professional massage before, and it kind of creeps me out to think about. But, Sarah insists that it is the best thing ever, and I trust her, so here we go. 

Ahhh Fall.

Fall makes me want to redecorate, paint, get things in order, and start new projects. I get so inspired this time of the year that it is hard to keep up with myself. I barely want to leave the house because there are so many fun crafty things I have in my head that I would like to execute. I also get nostalgic for things that I used to do. Like going to estate sales. I used to have a booth at an antique mall with my friend Nicole, but she has moved twice since then. It's absolutely necessary to have someone else relying on you to get up at 6 a.m. And you have to get there early if not first in order to get the goodies. There is nothing like the feeling of walking into an estate sale and knowing that the person who used to live there had appreciation for beautiful things. Color and anything old makes me want to ravage through the house. The folks who estate sale are serious. No one looks at one another and they literally don't care if you are in their way. It is a totally different culture. And I find myself so engrossed sometimes in the beautiful sheets, material, or handmade quilted dogs like this one that I don't realize I'm rudely blocking someone ability to get through.

I couldn't resist that little dog. It was a little more than what I thought it should have been marked, but it kept staring at me. It must have known that I rescue dogs.

Steve is outside being a workin' man. My niece is one and a half and she calls any man who is outside, no matter what they're doing a workin' man. He's finishing our five tiered retaining wall and patio. He and our friend Pat have been working on it all summer. I bet they wish the trees looked like this all summer. Steve's the cutest. He's such a trooper. He doesn't really enjoy all of the outdoor labor, but keeps pushing on. I love him!

Not to mention the weather. He was out there some weekends when it was a sweltering 100 degrees. I usually was inside watching HGTV on how to build retaining walls. And also how to landscape retaining walls. I am going to try to do mostly native plants out there. I have been researching and cannot wait until next spring when I get to dig into the ground. I look forward to the days when I pull up to the house (we don't have a driveway, because we live in the city) and think, ahhw, what a cute house, that's my hizzy, I'm so proud that that is my hizzy.

Steve's band Strawfoot had a show last night. They all dressed like the freaky circus people. Steve was the insane clown.

He looked pretty insane.

The Chicago show is fast approaching and I have been downstairs in my dungeon soldering, sawing and filing away. I made five pieces this week. My goal is to average 7.5 pieces, but it was a really crazy week with the fosters. I don't want to talk about it though. I have already complained and talked everyone's ear off that I know. And I will spare you.

This is my first try at making something pretty in the kitchen and actually being careful while doing so. So, I took a picture, because usually the only thing that I pay excruciating detail to is my jewelry. It actually tasted good too. It is vegetarian chili, which I am usually not that fond of when I follow a recipe, but changed this one up a little, adding a little more spice and different beans. The little corn cups are to die for. I meant to journal what I changed, but in the tiredness of it all, I forgot, or didn't have the energy. I don't remember. But, I am planning on making for our annual chili cookoff and hope it turns out as good. Half the time I am unable to do the same thing twice. That is why I am going to start journaling when I cook.