SAM HAS A MOM

I realized by the last comment that I didn't say anything about Sam's Mom. She has been busy finishing her last two terms of university to get a degree in economics and a minor in business. She graduates June 13 and we are very proud of her. Four days after having a c-section for a 10# 4oz. son, she took her final exams from fall term. She is one determined woman. Nobody wanted Sam to have to be in day care while she was in school, so the two grandmothers and Dad worked out a system where we could all share his care and Aimee could finish school. She has had high grades and will become a wonderful CPA. I am so extremely proud of my daughter. She has always been more of a blessing than I could have ever imagined.

20 SIX BY SIX DRAWINGS

I have a friend who has been asking me to post some of my art work. The pure and simple truth is that my art has recently been spent on helping to raise a child, my grandson Sam. His other grandmother and his father each take a week and I take the third week. Then we start the process all over again. I travel 6 hours by train there and six hours by train back. Another 45 minutes is spent each way in travel by car, and that doesn't count packing and unpacking at which I have become expert. One of the best ways for me to pack for the same place repeatedly is to leave the things in the suitcase that I always take as travel items and a list of the things I will always need. One must consider as well, that I have horrible food allergies and must pack all of my own food for the trip and part of the food I will eat while there for five days. I have my bags down to a small computer/overnight bag, and a backpack. So, that has been my most current art work - the art of being a loving grandparent and parent.

When I have free time I have settled down to work on a pad of Bristol paper that I bought as a sketchbook. The first drawing it was so much fun that I decided to do a series of all of the pieces of paper in the pad. I use the same #2 pencil for all of them to keep things transportable. Each drawing originates with one single shape, which is then repeated over and over until a texture is knit upon the page. Then I add darks. If I run out of room for large shapes, then I make underlayers of those images beneath the existing ones. A close up shows the scribbly and scrawly filling in of dark values. I'm not fussy about coverage, just the value. I have only six of the pieces finished, but two are total failures. There are 20 papers in the pad, so that means that if I'm really lucky I'll end up with 13 or 14 good pictures, but then one can never count on luck, only skill and practice. I don't think there will be 20 six by six drawings.

Please accept apologies for my editing errors. I am unable to find a 'delete image' spot on this editor, so there are two of one image.

SUNNY WASHINGTON

Today I was supposed to be working in the house, but it was sunny outside and I ended up outside all day long. It was so gorgeous and I was able to walk about and see what was growing in our yard. I found some steps going to the upper property that had been hidden under blackberries. It is always fun to find surprises in one's garden. I always liked finding salamanders in Oregon, but haven't found one on this property yet.

THE LAST BOX

We have finally unpacked the last box and the boxes have been hauled away as of yesterday. We now have an open and airy garage. Wahoo!

Plants in the yard are growing daily by the inch (hostas) and I've been out pruning blackberries which are also growing by the inch daily. I thought my hands were protected, but this morning I have numbers of broken off thorns in my fingers. Leather gloves don't seem to stop a razor sharp blackberry thorn. Does anybody have any ideas?

We are certainly not done weeding out all of our posessions, because the house has too many "things" in it. However, the boxes are gone and that is a big load off our shoulders. May day was the day it was all over. We moved July 24. Nine months and two full moves along with moves to storage units. I don't know how people move every couple of years. It is expensive, emotionally draining, and just a #!*/# lot of work.

ON BEING A GRANDMOTHER

There have been women in my life who have been grandmothers and all of them have bubbled with joy about the experience. I always wondered what made them remark about this experience as opposed to the wonder of having one's own child. Now I know! Sam is at that stage where he grins all the time and coos sweet little sounds and melts my heart. When he was born I thought he looked just like his mother. Now I think he has the shape of his mother's eyes, but looks much more like his dad. Every once in a while I see a resemblance of many different family members and I personally find joy in seeing this. Before Sam was born I thought that I would most want him to look just like his mother, but seeing all of the different "faces" in his face is like seeing a family photo in one face.

This feeling of family and connectedness from generations past to present overwhelms me sometimes. I'm a bit (well, truthfully a lot) nostalgic. I have the watch that belonged to my great great great grandmother. It has been passed from mother to daughter for that many generations and it still ticks! It is as if it is really time being passed from one generation to the next.

So, as I write this tonight, I am saying to anyone who might be or who might become a grandparent that the experience is like one you can never imagine until it belongs to you. Thanks Sam for making me your Maemae.

FLU

You don't want this. I'm staying home so nobody else gets it. You really, really DON"T want the flu. Stay healthy, wash you hands often, take your vitamins and drink lots of fluids. Remember to keep sanitizer to use after driving a shopping cart or writing on a checkstand with somebody else's pen. Meanwhile, I mend.

FOUR GENERATIONS

Such beautiful people, such a sweet baby boy. This was taken at Sam's third baby shower. I understand that newspapers only print 5 generation photos now because people are living so much longer and four generations is pretty normal.