Camo...

The guy on the left is Steve. (His son , Jay on the right.) He's the store manager where I run the showroom. While some consider us as equals on the chain of command, I call him the boss.

The boss is one of those sly - crafty - think aesop fables guys. Our store is full of fun and practical jokes all the time.

Well - we just finished a MAJOR showroom renovation and the boss and I had HOURS of working closely through the process....

Now let me mention - I HATE TO PAINT. I also have done ALL OF THE PAINTING associated with the renovation.

We have spent hours of this with me muttering about hating to paint. There is another coworker who dod not work as closely with the renovations. I have repeatedly said to the boss "I will not paint ______'s office unless I can paint it hot pink. However I will paint your office any way you choose." WELL................... early last week the boss comes to me with that crafty little smile and says "I know what I want in my office. A camoflage wall. " I rolled my eyes. To which he responded "need I remind you......."

Did I mention that I HATE TO PAINT? He handed me a picture and I researched and researched. Thus became the project known now as "3 COLOR DESERT STORM CAMO" I alos bought a hat at our local army surplus store.

I found bits and pieces of the pattern and put it all together in a sketch. Enlarged the sketch and cut a stencil out of poster board. Then the fun began.

Paint his office the same grey green that the other areas now carry. Lay off a grid pattern on the wall with chalk.

Look carefully and you will see the penciled stencil tracings. Trace it over and over with a pencil.

Then paint. And paint. And paint. (remember that HATE TO PAINT thing) Well ......

I really do not mind this kind of painting. This kind appeals to my artsy fartsy side. And I am somewhat accustomed to large scale background types of paintings.

It was quiet in the office - Saturday and Sunday afternoon and evening. I found myself relaxed, happy, painting, and praying. I prayed generally for our armed service personnel. I prayed specifically for my neices husband - Kevin Lucas. I prayed for Steve's son, Jay. I prayed for my buddy, MaryAnn's, daddy - Bruce. It was a good way to spend that time.

And ta-da........

I hate this wall - it is so freakin' redneck. But I am pleased with how it turned out. Does that make sense? It is exactly as I planned it. It completed the full cycle of the project. It makes my boss regret coming up with a challenge he thought I would not complete.

Now I am off to be very very thankful. To spend time with family and other loved ones. To rest. To clean my studio. There will be no black Friday shopping for me. Just a restful relaxing long weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving ---- enjoy.

Hello there ---

Picture is a scan of a vintage card front. Grab it if you wish. Put please give credit if you do.

Good morning. Super spy top secret project work continues. So another posting without MaggieGrace goodness. But she is back and she is being very inspired and productive.

I said on my facebook last night that I am different now. Some people are worried about that. Let me clear up some things. I ain't depressed. Actually far from it. I feel blessed and fortunate and very happy. I just find myself having low tolerance for petty bull shit stuff. College Girl and I went to eat yesterday - IHOP - mmmmm. We were well after 'normal" lunch hours getting there. Staff is at a minumum at this time and they are focused on getting ready for the dinner hours, I know this from being a waitress in my younger days. A few late eaters were scattered through the dining area, one waitress was serving the entire area, and service was a little slow. The people at the table next to us complained for the entire time we were there - it grated on my nerves to the nth degree. Not the slower service - I understood that - but the whining about it. I am fighting myself constantly to keep from saying what I really think to those kind of folks.

Today is not the kind of day to be around that - all my censor circuits and filters seem to be shut down. Some sort of "malfunction" that would find me telling said people something like this ...

IF YOU WANTED FAST FOOD THERE''S DAMN DRIVE THRU WINDOW AT THE JOINT NEXT DOOR!!!!!! PUL EESE STOP COMPLAINING.

Thats what I mean by different. The good news is that the maintenance crew (ie my facebook circle, my cyber buddies from blogland and some local peeps) is working on my malfunctioning circuitry.

Off the soapbox --- sorry.

Now for some linky linky loves.

College Girl - my oldest daughter - Molly. You guys know her thru this blog from my perspective. I think she is bright, witty, beautiful - on and on. But she is my daughter and I kinda am biased in my opinions. But yesterday she spent the morning at my office with me, getting my help (yup that is funny) on setting up her own blog. Now you can all form your own opinion of my daughter. I am going to ask (beg) for you guys to link over there and welcome her to blogland. She picked a cool blog title too.......

Not All Those who Wander Are Lost....

Another one. My loverly niece, Alli, is a soon to be graduate from SCAD. She's thinking on moving to the upper west coast after graduation - look out Jen. I think she will be very successful as a jewelry artist. She has her blog and has posted some new pieces. Go take a look over here... If any one wants to gift me, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Emerson Piece.

Alli Hall

One last one. College Girl shared this with me yesterday. This young lady is not only a talented fashion designer, she does the softest most gorgeous pictures. Most def an eye candy site. Take off over here. That first picture of her on the BEACH post takes my breath away.

Esther - From the Sticks

There you go, some linky love. I promise, take the trips, they are well worth it.

Have a wonderful day.

I have a beautiful life.

Happy Wednesday

Good morning all.

I need to send some more words to my friend ANONYMOUS.

1 -- Not only do I not give a crap what you think about my weight loss or the fact that I talk about it here, you need to be aware that I AM NOT PURCHASING YOUR IPHONE. I have a cell phone, I am happy with it, don't need a cheap IPhone from you. Especially not one with a slightly cracked screen.

2 -- I also do not need to know how to download movies or music, I have my own blog, a facebook account, and I am quite capable of figuring out how to download any damn thing I choose.

3 -- I am not a GAMER either, computer games are a waste of time in my world, see above statement about movies. I communicate with people - real ones - who identify themselves to me - who offer encouragement and add meaning to my life. Fake people made up by some socially challenged programmer sitting in a dim lit world and hiding behind the ANONYMOUS name hold no appeal at all.

4 -- I do not need your help to harness any spiritual power on my behalf. Again, I have real people in my life, I have a church that I am quite fond of, and I have a spiritual relationship with the one true GOD. But I do appreciate the offer and maybe your spiritual power (whatever) will bring you great comfort and prosperity.

5 -- I don't care if you get to Malaysia from where ever you are. I am sorry you are separated from your children by all those miles, but I got my own financial struggles to deal with and no spare change for your plane ticket. However, if you wind up with excess funds from your little comments, You could share it with me.

6 -- I am not looking for a car, a lambskin car coat, nor a sexy young thing to have a discreet relationship with. Got a car - like it - keeping it until it leaves me stranded on the roadside and I have been married to the Man at my Address almost 25 years - AIN'T TRAINING ANOTHER ONE. Oh yeah - there is no need for cheap, below market little blue pills in that relationship. We got it all covered.

7 -- Last but not least - the last BLACK HAT I wore was a tophat and it was for my Senior Prom. I would consider using on as a prop in a discreet relationship, but I am far to overweight still to consider the three song activity with a stranger. Besides - I am clumsy and that floor to ceiling pole scares the hell out of me.

Now that you fully understand where I am and how I feel, you should know why I have had to turn on that dang letter verification thingy. The really sad part of it is that there are some folks that I really enjoy having comments from and these LETTERS may keep that from being as simple for them. TO ALL MY REAL CYBER FRIENDS---- PLEASE STILL COMMENT. I do need you in my life and I am so sorry about the verification thingy.

Just a random sampler of the spam comments I have just deleted from my comments.

RANT OFFICIALLY OVER.

On to MaggieGrace fun.

Mom and Poca the Monster dog. She likes it when JulieAnn comments, because she knows there is an extra treat coming. Check out the new harness, Houdini here can actually get out of it too - she ate her rabies tag. She can get loose from her leads and runs. Free spirit like her mommy. But as you can see she is quite frequently locked in her "room" and ignored. It is so hard to be a dog in this house.

BootCamp Update - JulieAnn - it is 5.00 per visit - and yes you should move here. Apply for a research job at UGA and come on down. We will help you find a place and settle in. It is warmer here - and we would love have you nearby.


Now for the really fun part of this post. I'M PUBLISHED. Look at the spoon bracelet at the bottom.

My copy was in the mailbox last night. I came in from BootCamp and the Man at my Address handed it to me. Softball Princess and Barefoot Boy (his real name is Blake - but I don't think he owns any shoes other than flipflops) laughed so hard at me because I got so excited. I have some more things to send in, and I cannot say enough good about dealing with the editor of GreenCraft. It has been a fabulous experience.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful day. I am. Now off to get some showroom cleaning done.