Rants and ramblings of a wanna be

I'm back...

2009-11-09T20:57:16Z

REturned from Pentacon, managed to NOT declare war on the Marine corp. Let's just say they were turning the hotel into their own personal frat house...
I never posted PIcs of this years Pumpkins so... (Don't mind the blurriness, with no flash I never get a clean shot *sigh*)

Long story short...

2009-11-03T20:41:50Z

Flowers with red background by ~Mugwart-the-orc on deviantART

It's gonna be a rougher week than I thought. Took eldest to take driving test today and... she did not pass. Now Hubby and I are supposed to be at Pentacon this weekend and she is supposed to work all week end Something has got to give. We cannot be at 2 places, 2.5 hours apart at the same time. She has to wait a week to take her test over...

hee hee heee...

2009-10-27T16:51:36Z

pumkins are cleaned out and ready for Jack-o-lantern carving... Just waiting for the kids to get home and tell me what they want...

Oh, and there is pumpkin pulp steaming on the stove. A pie might follow...

A couple of Thoughts on an October night...

2009-10-24T03:49:57Z

last years jack o lanterns

How did we ever survive without electronics? *sigh* My eldest just went in to a panic because she could not find her cell phone charger. My cell phone is used so often (hear the sarcasm?) that I charge it once a week rather than minimum of once a day. I like it that way...

Discovered something about myself. I am really more of a solar cell than an energizer battery. The less sun I see, the less energy and enthusiasm I have. If I'm this run down now, winter is really gonna be a bear. Not a good thing. People better start learning now to stay out of my way if they want to keep their heads. HIde the candy and other sugars too.

Devious Journal Entry

2009-10-15T11:37:29Z

Kid in B+W by ~Mugwart-the-orc on deviantART

did 2 new paintings for church... We are doing a parenting series until thanksgiving. this was the first painting done and I thought it came out nice...

This was the second. It was done right after the first and I don't understand how I could change style, competency level so radically so fast. this one did not flow well at all. *sigh* LIve and learn I guess.

Other news- I have a mouse living in my garage - or at least I hope it is only one mouse. As I pulled into my driveway yesterday, I saw the little bugger squeeze under the garage door. since my "studio" is out there, I definitely don't want him there. Growl, one more thing to deal with. Oh, and evidently our dog Mr. Chewy the world's mightiest Hunter (in his own mind) will not stoop to hunting mice but only squirrels and rabbits. It's sad when the dogs run the household isn't it?

HELP ME!!

2009-10-08T19:28:18Z

Crazy Lady from Down the Street is out of prison! According to what her husband told me a couple of months ago, she would not be allowed to move back in with her family here but would have to live with her sister out of town... she called earlier today stating she was living with her husband and the paperwork is wrong. HELP!!! IF you hear of some psycho lady with paint brush running amuck in West Central Ohio, please consider donating to the bail fund - Oh wait, that is the one place she probably wouldn't bother me...

This week in lifedom...

2009-10-07T16:33:13Z

I spent a lot of time leading up to this week working on a new banner for church, then forgot to take a camera to show how it hung. *sigh* What's that song from Wizard of Oz, "If I only had a Brain"? I did take a couple of detail shots of it, this half moon (with clouds) being a part that I really like. Now I'm painting a couple of poster sized pics for this week.

The Mr. is out of town in warm and sunny California. Of course here in Ohio it is NOT warm and sunny. My tropical plants have had to move inside from their home on the back patio (read concrete slab) which they love. They are currently stationed in my kitchen, in the way meaning I cannot cook in there. Ah, shucks, I cannot cook in there *wink*.

The eldest has a temp. part time job now but has yet to get her driver's license. I am still stuck in a car with her... WE need to get her through some training on how to back up before taking the test. NOt sure I can handle that....

That is my news for this week...

Winter is coming!

2009-09-29T12:58:18Z

Roadside Pennsylvania by ~Mugwart-the-orc on deviantART

I don't know what is it like where you all are but it is getting colder here. I had to bring in the plants last night so they wouldn't get all frosty. Problem with that is... I repotted my tropical plants since they had been in the same pots for 10 years (getting root bound) and now it's too heavy to move easily. I'm also afraid that I will not be able to keep them is the same place this winter - on top of Buddy the Goober dog's cage. Winter does bring a new challenge every year.

Currently I have been busy painting a new banner for use at church. I hope to get it done soon (I need it this Sunday). That seems to be getting most of my time right now. I'm sure the rest of family will be happy to see it done also as the only place I have that Is big enough to work on it is the living room.

Another chuck of my time is driving the eldest to and from work... again. At least she has a job, even if it's part time. I really need to get her the last bit of drive time (maneuverability training) so she can get her license. Then it's one to starting the youngest driving...ARGGGGGH!

Well time to get busy again...

News announcement!!!

2009-09-19T18:03:46Z

Did you know that today is talk like a pirate day!

So me maties, enjoy the grog, but don't get 4 sheets to the wind -you still have to keep 'er between the navigational beacons!

Art?

2009-09-18T20:32:11Z

mountain scene by ~Mugwart-the-orc on deviantART

managed to get a bit of painting done lately. this is the newest piece, it is also posted over at my deviantart site ( http://mugwart-the-orc.deviantart.com/ ). I don't know, maybe I'm chasing an impossible dream especially since I don't have the time right now to put alot of effort into being an artist. Perhaps it is just the week but I'm feeling very down... I just sit at my little table in the garage ad stare at the paper, almost afraid to put brush to paint. Advice anyone?

Scream!

2009-09-18T16:54:15Z

Buddy the Goober dog...
That dog is as bad as my daughter! He ran a thorn in his foot this morning according to the Mr. Mr. removed the thorn, all is well right? AT 10:00 am I finally get the dog to move again. He won't put any weight on the foot (I am assuming it's the same foot) even to chase a squirrel. Get him in to the Vet's office - and they do x-rays. *sigh* He has a broken toe. I have no idea how he broke his toe in our backyard but he has a broken toe. No sign of a puncture wound on the x-ray. I'm going back to bed and not moving - ever again. (OK, not really but I'm tired of all these "little set backs")

It's not a good start to a phone call...

2009-09-16T16:06:42Z

to hear your oldest daughter start the call with "Mom? when was my last shot for tetnus?" *sigh* her last shot was when she stepped on a nail right after we had vinyl siding put on the house. She is at a friends house and... stepped on 2 nails. That girl could bankrupt us with medical bills. I hope she marries a Dr. with as much time as she seems to want to spend with them.

Catch up time

2009-09-09T12:36:37Z

First up, the Mr's computer...
Well the power supply did go wonky and took out the motherboard from what I understand. *sigh* Right now he is using his laptop as a main computer and has ordered some sort of shell so that he can still use the hard drives off the old computer as a sort of external hard drive. I will assume that a new desktop will be ordered soon? It's always something here...

My truck is going to financially kill me. Now the exhaust system has started getting, well um, rumblier. I know, it's 12 years old and how long can a muffler last? That truck oughta be glad I love it right now...

Been spending a little more time over at another website, the Deviant Art Community. I have decided to set up a "blog/art show" there and see if I get very many responses to my art work before I start putting too much time or thought into trying to turn it into a cash business (not that that my art would ever generate much cash flow for me). http://mugwart-the-orc.deviantart.com/

feeling a bit down right now -am gonna blame it on this blasted rainy weather, and the fact that I have my eldest underfoot 24/7. I love my kids, I really do but I love having ME time also. Between her and her "best friend" (her ex- boyfriend *sigh*) I wanna hut something most days. I think I need a job just to get away from the family... anyone want to hire me?

I'll stop now...

Crap, Crap, and Double Crap

2009-09-03T19:49:40Z

This ain't gonna be a fun night.
For some reason (which I assumed was a soft ware update) my computer rebooted last night. I didn't check on the Mr.'s computer... Of course he is out of town but coming in tonight and now HIS computer will not restart. We found this out this afternoon AFTER coming in from the Dr.'s office . I know that power is getting into the 'puter, since when I removed the side panel there is a little green light shining nicely. Nothing occurs when you press the power button. This is not good....

A Miracle Occurred!

2009-08-31T18:56:23Z

Ever see one of those movies where the guys robbing the bank/jewelry store/museum have to high step, duck, roll and dive around the laser beams that are protecting the said object(s) to be stolen? That is kinda like what walking through my garage has been like only it was massive stuff rather than lasers... But yesterday a person from church asked if I still had the beans from the time I tried to make a bean bag chair so I dug the one lonely bag out to give to them. That opened a hole... and by the time I finished moving things around to fill the hole, I now can walk from one end of the garage to the other along a real path! I'm excited! This hasn't happened in a long time! I better enjoy it while it lasts...

LIfe still goes on...

2009-08-30T20:44:00Z

I have my truck back, for the approximate value using the infamous blue book, it is fixed. Oh well, getting the tranny rebuilt was cheaper than a year's worth of car payments. And the current sermon series is over at our church so I got to bring home the hurried and painted on the fly posters used this time... see above. that gets me somewhat caught up on old stuff.

All hail the tree, the tree is gone. Just to make the money squeeze tighter, the tree guys showed up this week to remove 1 dead tree and 1 almost dead one. I now have a grassless circle in my front yard where a blue spruce USED to be. It looked good from the house, but the street side of the tree was dead and death was spreading fast. I have some grass seed down now but it will be a while before it looks like anything out there. The dead tree in the back needed to be gone last year... Hurricane Ike (yes, Ohio got hit by a hurricane last year) tried but the dead (undead?) tree resisted to torment us with it's thorns for another year. I'm sure even the power/cable/telephone dudes will be happy to see it gone as all utilities in town run through the backyards and that tree was right beside the pole.

May be this week I will be able to get to the multitude of other projects that are started but not finished...

whoa, woe, woe, whoa!

2009-08-15T15:59:57Z

"My Truck don't break down- its too ugly to break down."... Alex on season one of Ice Road Truckers....

Well, My truck broke down. My beloved, faithful friend blew the tranny. I did not even see this one coming. I drove it to church last night for a wedding rehearsal, got home no problem. Park in the driveway as I was going to be leaving right away.... it even backed out with no trouble. Put my baby in gear to drive, all I heard was grinding noises. Not good - I'm in the middle of a busy street. Backed up a small bit further - tried again to go forward, just grinding noises. I see traffic coming... put it in first gear as a desperation measure - and the truck moved- Yeah! Parked it on the street, drove the eldest's car (she will not be happy with this situation). Truck drove fine this morning to get it to terepair shop. They took it for test drive, thought they would never get it back to shop. *sigh* Long story short: they took the pan off the bottom of the transmisson and found larger than shavings sized pieces of metal laying in there. My truck is now in the shop until the tranny can be rebuilt. I love my truck. I do not love the eldest's car. I am not a happy camper. I guess it's a good thing I had not got the eldest's car into the shop for the electrical door lock problem yet... *sigh*

Still around.... Somewhere

2009-08-10T20:38:46Z

Survived StormCon2, didn't kill anyone (or anyone's characters though I tried...). Fun was had by all. I think there are a couple of pictures on my phone but I haven't got them off yet. Will try to do that soon...

Leading into StormCon started a whirlwind. On the Tues. before the con, we met our new minister for the first time and I finally found out what his sermon series was going to be. Luckily the senior pastor was preaching at the Y so I just had to get another person to set up things we already had for that Sunday since I would be at StormCon. Got home late Sunday night and started on things early Monday morning. Had to - I was leaving again for my sister's house on Thursday and wouldn't be back until late Saturday. Spent three days pulling together what I usually do in 2 weeks, and off to my sister's house to go with her, mom, and some ladies from her church to a Women of Faith Conference. Of course, the things I hoped my kids would do before they left for Church camp were not done while I was gone.... *sigh* So today is catch up day - catch my breath, mow the yard (luckily the rain held off or I would be bailing the back yard), and such. I think I need a maid - the dog hair in this house is out of control. I hate house work - literally.

Anyway, this is more of post to remind anyone around that yes I do still exist, and Yes I do still think of this blog. Just not every day...

Why today?????

2009-07-30T01:43:35Z

I have soooo much to do today and I spent a large part of the day fighting a migrane. Need less to say, not much is done yet. and tomorrow we leave to get a head start on StormCon.... I haven't even gather up all the Dragonstorm stuff let alone packed... GAH!

Today was my eldest's last of work - her internship is over. As much as I hated being the chaufeur, now I will have her underfoot here at the house also. Good thing I will be gone this weekend and next... Next weekend I will be going to a Women of Faith Conference with my sister and mother. Poor hubby will have to shift for himself and the kids. He will probably enjoy it....

Quiet Time

2009-07-18T15:23:26Z

Sent the youngest child off on a mission trip this morning, the eldest is out babysitting, and the husband went into work for a while... Ah, peace and quiet! First time in a long time there is no one here to share the house with. So I am ignoring all the stuff that I should be doing, and have been out with my paint brush... Not much accomplished there either but it feels good.

LIfe goes on...

2009-07-14T10:54:36Z

No I did not win the chair... a lady artist from Yellow Springs Ohio (about 30 minutes from me) did.... Pretty close considering the artist blog that offered the chair is from Australia.

Not much gets done around here anymore - I spend all my life (it seems) sitting in a car waiting on my eldest for this and that and.... We gotta get her her driving license just so I can get a life back. What's worse? The youngest will be eligible to get her temps here in about a week. I don't have time to take her out to even take the test. Once again the youngest gets the short end of the stick in favor of the oldest.

Trying to do a bit of art work but it is slow going. I usually give a painting to each person that leaves the praise band at church but this summer I haven't kept up. I'm 3 pictures behind. *sigh* Just the thought is making me want to go back to bed and hide under the covers.

In a few weeks is StormCon, the new convention just for DragonStorm players. I am looking forward to it as that will be the last planned vacation until Pentacon in Nov. Now to add to my list of chores (that will not get done soon) the process of creating a couple of new scenarios to run at the con. Anybody got any good ideas? Mine are usuallly rather simple and boring...

Giveaways, studios, and whatever else comes to mind today...

2009-07-04T16:19:59Z

another blog that I read is of from an artist who recently invited people to send him pictures of their studios. Now, My "studio is nothing I would send in to a real artist who makes a real living from his work, but here where we are just friends (I think) I thought what the heck, I'll post a pic of my garage, er studio, or lack thereof. He recently put up a contest fro a giveaway of an office chair to a lucky commenter on his blog so I thought, what the heck - I'll try for it. If I lose (which I will), what have I lost? I still have my folding outdoor chair to sit in when I Paint...( Art News Blog : http://www.artnewsblog.com/2009/07/win-chair-for-your-studio-or-office.htm )

Nothing fancy is it?

Recently I watched an episode of a show that HGTV runs called "That's Clever" where they show crafters making something. One of the crafters made some winged seahorses in that plastic clay stuff so I tried it with my shoolyard paper mache technique. the above was the one effort I have painted. I wonder what I'll try next...

Famous last words...

2009-07-03T11:54:29Z

A few months ago I told a friend that for the first time in years, I was not stressing over money. Famous last words. It is becoming harder to stretch what I'm getting over the bills once again. And I forgot to budget in the fact that with our current mortgage, we are paying the real estate taxes ourselves - every half year. Well, I had to dip into my savings that I had been working on (remember not stressing about money?) to pay part. *sigh* I need to have a better memory to remember when things like that are due... Perhaps it will get better soon? I gotta find a way to earn a bit of extra cash, if just for my own piece of mind.

Am hoping to get back into art for myself. I finally got to the garage and uncovered the table I had set up for myself, currently it has a project I was asked to do for a going away present for our minister. This is a new one - painting a terra cotta pot. Originally they wanted me to paint a picture of the Ymca (where we hold services) on it but after really goofing up and having to sand it down, I just decoupaged a photo of the Y on it then did some writing. Cross your fingers everyone, because I don't have a lot of time to do another before they want to give it to her.

Went to the Origins Convention last week and had a good time. It was good to see old friends and play Dragonstorm. I hope that everyone else had fun too - that I didn't piss anyone off too bad. *sigh* I need another vacation...

Peace and Justice

2009-06-19T13:08:40Z

So the theme for the sermon at church this Sunday is Peace and Justice. Not having much time to work on the decor, I went for obvious symbolism... dove and scales. *sigh* I think I need a new brain to be more original... So I am using an old banner (the first one I ever painted) and 2 posters for the BB goals (reminder, we meet in a gym at the Y).

Now the dilemma, I have 2 versions of the scales. I like the colors on the first, but I messed up the proportions. Hubby likes it better too. The second has good proportion and matches the dove but I think I'm tired of the red color. Which to use and do I have time to go for try no.3 in redoing the first? *sigh*

Not been here much...

2009-06-17T03:09:20Z

I have been busy with graduation stuff - my eldest is now a graduate from high school. I can no longer look forward to sending her back to school come next fall and I'm not sure of her plans for college (community college). Please pray with me that I do not loose my temper too much and that she actually gets a job that gets her out from under my feet. Right now I really miss having the daytime for ME - this having people around 24/7 has gotten old fast.

ON a brighter note, I have brought home the posters I did for the last sermon series at church - the series was on prayer. I thought they turned out rather well considering my lack of formal art training (as anyone who regularly checks in on me would recognize anyway). Please excuse the fact that one of the pictures seems to have been half darkened - this appeared in the photo only and I'm not sure why...

Currently I am working on stuff for next Sunday. I should have started this weeks ago but alas, graduation and family got in the way...