ok, i am just going to admit it....

i think i just have to admit to myself that this is just how it is.

i faithfully blog my arty heart out for days, weeks even and then poof.  i disappear for awhile.  the waaa-laaa  i am back. 

i always swear i will not poof again, try not to poof again....then i poof again and end up with bloggers guilt.

so from this day forward i have come to terms with the facts.

and the facts are....

i poof

i waaaa-laaa

i live life.

i did not even peek to see how long it has been.   don't wanna know.  

it is my hope that your new year is starting out wonderful.   i have to say this is one of the most hopeful for us.

i do not make new years resolutions.   i no longer feel the need to give my inner rebel an agenda....however we are trying to be bit healthier around these parts.

  we have traded an eat out night for a new smoothie makin' blender.  smoothies once a week, more i hope.

 smoothies can be expensive boogers to make.  

last night was our first official smoothie night.   berry smoothies.  black berry, strawberry and rasberry, vanilla yogurt and a bit of milk.........and drumroll please.......NO SUGAR added.   

thought for sure the hubby would reject this sugar free concoction, but he liked it.  he actually liked it.  the man who adds tea to his cup of sugar,  the man who adds honey nut cheerios to his bowl of sugar liked it.

i still have half of mine left over from last night and while i am talking about this i am finding my self really craving the last bit of mine. 

mike licked bill's glass cu-lean.  so clean we were able to put that glass back up on the shelf to reuse later.

 mike, however, was not so clean.  as i  went to grab a wash cloth to wipe his face off, the smart little boy figured out how to get cleaned up all by himself.

wipe his face on bill's arm and shirt sleeve......

then lick bill's arm and shirt sleeve.

time to sleep it off.

oh, and you do know i was just kidding about reusing the glass, right?


one thing we did not share with the puppy......home made ham and cheese kolachis.

yeast bread stuffed with honey ham and colby-jack cheese. 

in keeping with being us, the smoothies came first while we were waiting for the bread dough to finish rising.

sometimes you just have to have dessert first.

over the weekend i found these cute little birdies.  

i tried to walk by and ignore them, pretend they were not there.

but they sang to me, in a manner of speaking. 

i just had to have them.

ok.  i bargained with myself.  think of at least one idea of how to give them umph and you can get some, some for me, some to sell.   if you know me you know how that works. 

the idea(s)  i came up with require the wings and feet to be removed, at least temporarily.  to make sure i could do this i came home with 2.

once i discovered i could remove the necessary parts, the next night we went back for more....with a coupon to boot.

the easiest way to get those wings and feeties off is a good soaking in an old fashioned bird bath.

bird feet

don't think bbq sauce would make these wings tasty.

i am kind of thinking i might not put the wings back on all of these birdies.....we will have to see.

hoping to hit the studio to start painting these tonight.


last night i packaged up a necklace that sold on my etsy shop........ so happy.

tuell roses topped the  gift box and a few doilies nestled in a shipping box.



hmmmm.....so what else has been going on......OH....snow.   i am so sick of this white stuff.   but i do have to admit that it is so beautiful when it is all fresh and new.  and while it seems the theme of this blog post is admitting schtuff.     when a snow storm is rolling in i have to say all of the excitement  makes me feel like a big kid again!


i do so wish that snow was a color.   one day last week i looked out the kitchen doors and everything was white, grey, or brown.   

if snow was a color....what color would you choose?   i think i would love to see something tropical myself....

gotta admire that last rose, hanging on and strong.

my sweet sweet max making potty trails for the puppies.

snow mounded up on our tie dye buckets.

and piled up on our outdoor artsy work tables that we left set up in faith that we will see warm sunny days again real soon.....or oops we did not get these put away before old man winter came to town.  i kinda like the first reason better.

10 inches in all



mia and mike.  mollie is not in the picture because being the princess she is she found a spot to potty on that was under the steps that were snow free.

mike thought the potty trails were a race track.....and he's offfffffffffffff............charge

mike takes after max...why follow a trail when you can make your own.

this is a little holiday i invented years ago to help keep my sanity during these especially blah winter months.   the holiday of all things snowy.  this is our january tree.

some of our ombre glittered shells.  i can not wait to start glittering all that i can get my hands on for valentine's.

mike not liking the winter coat idea much.

pooped puppy from a day of playing in his first snow.

can't you just hear mike asking if he can go out and play again in the snow.....



i am so looking forward to spring when these will hold pots overflowing with flowers.

meniere's dis-ease.  somedays it just kicks my butt, but i am kicking butt back.

when we go to the store i feel as though i am chained to the cart.

when we go to museums, car shows.....bill holds my hand and makes sure i don't end up on my butt.

but there are times i want to go my way, while he goes his.

sometimes he forgets my wittle legs don't cover the same amount of ground in the same frame of time and i begin to feel like a  dog being taken on a drag.....and sometimes no matter how much i love to hold my guys hand,  in the summer it just gets plain hot and sweaty....and sometimes i just want to do it myself.

i thought i was ready for these.

i thought that i was ok with this.

bill and steph were not ready for this.

i had to convince them it was ok, and i was ready for this next step in my journey of life. 

so finally we went to pick these up and bring them home. 

i was actually excited on the way there to get them.

once at the medical supply shop, i wanted to run screaming.   this was not happening to me.  no.  no.  no.   make it go away....i don't want this.  i had to really face it and i was not quite as ready as i thought i was. 

on the way home i felt how cold and hard the metal was.

they say for weeks.  (wondering what this line means?  me too....*snort*  found this extra sentence as i was proof reading.  this is what happens when one types a blog post with the tv on and holding a conversation with an oh-so-chatty daughter.)   ok back to what i was talking about.

i attempted to take them with us on outings.

they were left by the door.

finally last week i used them, actually just one....this arty girl is too much of a clutz to use them both, and one seems to work just fine.

i loved the independence.   and i am getting use to them.  and i am still praying for a miracle that my balance will someday be restored.....without the surgery that will take my hearing.



there is so much more to say ......

i think before blogger sends me a message to shut up already i will end for now and be back with lots more to share on a later date. 

with much love to you......