My cousin James' daughter, Monica, is an artist who works in Austin, Texas. I got a note from James this evening letting me know that Monica is giving away downloads of a children's book that she wrote and illustrated. I contacted him right away and got permission to share it with you.
Here's what James said:
Some of you may be aware that in high school, Monica wrote and
illustrated a children's book titled The Magician's Cat. Light and
whimsical, it tells about a shy cat with a strong work ethic and
devotion to duty who struggles to find some balance in life. (The
underlying "message" is a soft sell; the appeal in the book is in the
light verse and the artwork).
Last year, Monica decided to update the artwork (and create
some new drawings) and to publish the book as a FREE ebook and launched
a successful Kickstarter project to fund the efforts. Earlier this
week, she made the book available online.
You can access files to download to your computer, your iPad, or your Kindle by going to:
1)
Let family and friends with young children and grandchildren know about
this book and how they can access it. The grownups will appreciate the
artwork as well!
2) Tell them also that on Thursday, April 17 (noonish),
Monica is launching another Kickstarter to fund a print run of the book for those who prefer to have a hardcopy for the kids' library. If any of you fall into that category, you can assure yourself of one of the first copies with a small pledge to the Kickstarter campaign.
I will publish a link to the Kickstarter project as soon as it's available. If you are inclined to pledge, sooner is better. A good start at the opening of the project builds momentum and may make the difference between a successful (funded) project and one that doesn't make its goal.
I'm also including a link to Monica's blog, No Borders Studio. You might want to have a look at her other projects and illustrations.
I hope you enjoy this beautiful book. Please feel free to pass the word about the free download.
Life has thrown us a big, giant curve ball. We found out last week that the company Patrick works for is closing their local office. That means after 35 years of working the same job, he will be unemployed at the end of March. There will be a modest severance package, but we don't have all the details of that yet.
We are both having a hard time coming to grips with this new reality and working through what our next steps might be. We are not quite old enough to just go ahead and take retirement. The most troubling aspect is the loss of our health insurance.
Facing forced career change is never easy. That's especially true at 62 years old. I must admit that I'm very angry. It seems to me that this company has little regard for an employee who has been a loyal worker for many years. I know that I've got to work my way through this anger in order to make this into a positive change.
We have only just begun to explore some alternatives. I'd like to use this as an opportunity to move closer to Our Little Princesses. But, truthfully, we will see where a job opportunity arises and follow the work.
We have always met our financial responsibilities head on. It is very important to us to pay our bills on time and to live within our means. The prospect of losing our income and having to juggle and stretch to meet our obligations is scary. I've been trying to do a little research and gather advice about how to prepare for unemployment and loss of income.
I know it's been a long time since I've posted. I just don't seem to have enough hours in the day. I've taken today off to try to get some rest. For the past few days, I've come home from work and literally fallen asleep sitting straight upright in my chair. I'm gong to try to get in a trip to the grocery store today and maybe do a little sewing for myself if I don't spend the entire day sleeping.
If you have any advice or tips for us in dealing with this situation we're facing, I'd love to hear from you.
It's the day after Christmas. All the packages have been opened. Way too many sweets have been eaten and there are still way too many leftovers. I don't really have time for much of a blog post. Our Little Princesses are still visiting along with their parents. But I'm taking a quick moment to share this very sweet scene that I captured with Grandad and 2-year-old Junie this morning.
I thought it was just precious. I hope you're enjoying your holidays.
I can't believe that it's December 23rd already and I haven't posted since we got back from vacation around the middle of November. I have been crazy busy with sewing and alterations along with substitute teaching. I love all of it, and we can certainly use the money, but I really miss writing and hearing from all of you.
Last Friday was an early-release day so we got out of school at noon. After that, I picked up my very good friend, Janna, for lunch and our annual git exchange. I took this opportunity to photograph Janna's beautiful Christmas tree. She did her tree with the same theme last year and I was hoping she would do it again this year.
The white tree features a beach theme with white lights and blue garland. This year she painted and added the beach picture to accent the wall behind the tree. I think it's a nice touch.
All of the ornaments on the tree are in keeping with the beach theme. There are sandcastles, mermaids, octopi, crabs, ships, starfish, and many other beautiful ornaments. The tree topper is a big blue starfish. The most interesting ornament on the tree is a doll that was a gift from one of Janna's friends. Her friend, who is now very advanced in age, owned the doll since her childhood. A close-up look shows how delicate and fragile it is. Even though she's made of plastic, the doll looks to be held together with old elastic thread.
I fell in love with Janna's tree last year and I like it even more now. I hope you've enjoyed seeing it.
Our Little Princesses will arrive before noon tomorrow and I still have much to get done. There are gifts to wrap and beds to make. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas surrounded by those you love the most.
I'm a day late with this post, but I just heard about this project today. Filmmaker Ken Burns has challenged all Americans to commit the Gettysburg Address to memory. It's a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. You can even go to Learn the Address and upload a video of yourself reciting or reading the Address.
My favorite thing is the mash-up of all of our living presidents and some celebrities reciting the address.
I grew up in the days when rote learning was the standard. I can still recite many of the things I learned in school. I know the Preamble to the Constitution, the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, the Concord Hymn, Hiawatha, the books of the Bible, and a few others. But I can only remember about half of the Gettysburg Address.
I'm making a pledge right now. I will memorize the entire Gettysburg Address and post it on the web site. Will you take the pledge too?
And, while we're at it, how about we ask all athletes who represent the USA at the Olympics to memorize the words to The Star Spangled Banner. I don't think that's unreasonable.
Our Little Princesses were recently flower girls for the first time. I must admit, we were all a little bit apprehensive about this experience.
The weekend that we returned from our vacation, they traveled to the
Dallas area where they, along with their cousin Aubrey, were flower
girls in their Aunt Catherine's wedding. I thought it was very brave of
Catherine to have her three nieces, ages 2, 3, and 4 as flower girls.
Over the years, I have personally witnessed a variety of flower girl mishaps. I recall one who lifted her dress over her head during the ceremony, one who stage whispered to her mom during the ceremony "I need to pee," and one who would drop a flower petal then turn around, pick it up and put it back in the basket. At the end of the aisle, she turned to her mom and said loudly, "See, Mommy, I do too pick up my things." At Katy's wedding, one of the flower girls sat in the church and pulled all the petals from her daisies.
We were not concerned about Ezra's ability or willingness to be a flower girl. At 4 years old, she is the "girliest" of girls. She prefers to wear dresses and likes them very pink and very frilly. The more ruffles, lace, and glitter, the better for her. When her mom took her along with her to David's Bridal to pick up their shoes, Ezra was completely captivated. Katy said that she opened her arms wide and, with her eyes sparkling with delight, said something like "Mommy, this is the most beautiful place. Just look at all these beautiful dresses." Here she is gazing through the door at her beautiful Aunt Catherine. Can't you just feel her enchantment. This girl was just born to be a flower girl.
On the other hand, at two years old, June is what I would describe as rough and tumble. If you give her a choice of pants or a dress, most of the time she will choose the pants. And, let's be honest, you just never know what any two year old will do. Put them in front of an audience of strangers and a meltdown is a real possibility. Add the variables of a long car trip, staying in a new place, and being off of her usual schedule, and it goes from a possibility to a likelihood. But according to all reports, she did beautifully and I think they all had a wonderful time.
Aubrey, Ezra, and June as flower girls.
I was relieved to hear that all went well. Katy said that she and her sister-in-law tag-teamed during the service with one of them at the back sending the girls down the aisle and one at the front to catch them at the end of the aisle. I'm so happy that Our Little Princesses got to have this experience and I'm so glad it turned out okay.
The last day of our vacation we woke to the rain which we had now become accustomed to. The television weather guys had forecast the passage of a cool front accompanied by a line of rain. We had no plans for this day of our vacation because early snow in the mountains and passes had forced us to scrap plans for a day hiking at Crater Lake and a visit to Government Camp and Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood. Cars without chains were being stopped and turned around just past Welches where we were staying.
I'm not going to lie, I was very disappointed that we didn't get to go to Crater Lake. But I recognize that we are "flat landers." We don't drive in snow and ice and we don't drive in, over, or around mountains. The rental car we were in didn't have chains and, even if it would have had chains, we would not have tried it.
We decided to just take it easy at the condo, take advantage of the washer and dryer so we would come home with clean clothes, and make a trip into Troutdale for a visit to the Columbia Gorge Outlet Malls. Since we would be traveling the next day, on our 38th wedding anniversary, we would end the day by celebrating with a nice dinner.
As we lounged in our pajamas that morning, we had a lovely view of the front passing.
It was still raining a couple of hours later, after lunch, when we decided to go to the outlet mall. As we drove out of Welches, we were delighted to see the sun coming through the clouds. By the time we got to the outlet mall, it was a full-out sunny day. But, with the sunshine, came the cold. The temperature dropped quickly and we had to get our coats out of the car. We bought cute little, lightweight, fake fur jackets for Our Little Princesses. Grandad and I both bought a few things at the outlet stores.
We headed back to Welches for dinner where we decided to go back to The Rendezvous for our anniversary dinner. Since it was a Thursday night, business was very slow and we were seated in the bar area. We were the only customers right up until we were almost finished with our dinner. We were lucky enough to have the same waitress we had earlier in the week. She was very friendly and we enjoyed chatting with her throughout our dinner. I commented to her about how nice it was to finally see some sunshine. She seemed shocked and asked where we had seen sunshine. When I told her just a few miles up the highway at the outlet mall, she reported that it had rained all day long in Welches.
I ordered the fondue as my meal. It was delicious. Among the dipping items were slices of a pink pearl apple. Neither of us had ever heard of nor seen a pink pearl apple before. The flesh of the apple is a dark pink. In the dimly lit restaurant, I actually thought I was biting into a carrot. I was pleasantly surprised. You can see a photo here. I've looked all over for a source to buy these apples, but I haven't had any luck. Apparently, they have a very short season and are sold in a very limited area.I will try again next October.
Grandad had the wild salmon fish and chips which came with a homemade remoulade sauce. It was really good, not your usual fish and chips.
We took our dessert to go, because we were too full to enjoy it immediately after dinner. We split a slice of cheesecake, which had a base layer of candied pecans and was topped with dark chocolate. Oh my goodness, it was so good. I can't even begin to tell you how good it was.
We packed our bags and settled in for our final night in Oregon.
Our trip home on Friday was mostly uneventful. But, what Grandad thought was a non-stop flight from Portland to San Antonio was actually a flight from Portland to San Antonio via Albuquerque and Dallas. No plane changes, just one long time on the plane. We grabbed some snacks in the airport in Portland and made it all the way home. Katy picked us up at the airport and had dinner waiting. Red beans and rice really hit the spot.
Our vacation was wonderful. It was the first time we've ever been to the Pacific Northwest. I hope we get to go back some day. I still want to see Crater Lake. I'm thinking we might be able to combine that with a trip to northern California in a few years.
We spent the night in San Antonio with Katy and Travis. On Saturday, Katy, Travis and the princesses headed out early for Dallas. Both of the princesses were flower girls in a wedding on Sunday. Before we left San Antonio, Patrick and I met two of my sisters for lunch to celebrate both of their birthdays. Then we drove the two hours home. It was so wonderful to sleep in our own bed. We rested up on Sunday and went back to work on Monday.
On a side note, after my conversation with the waitress about rain, I did a little research. Welches, Oregon has an annual rainfall of more than 68 inches. Corpus Christi, Texas, where we live, has an annual rainfall of less than 32 inches. That is quite a contrast. Welches has almost ten inches more rain per year than Portland, Oregon. The lesson I learned is that I should check the weather for our destination more carefully.The first week of November is not particularly rainy in Portland, but it is almost always rainy in Welches. A fact I could have learned from the internet when I researched our destination.
Also, I could have gotten a clue when we arrived because every single thing outdoors was covered with moss and lichen. It truly is a rainforest. This is the roof of our garage, the roof of our condo, and a tree limb. You can see what I mean.
Look at me, I'm a grandmother and I'm still learning.
