Tuesday Tuism

 

Here’s some things to share:

1.  I just love this photo of E with friend M after their graduation ceremony. Sheer happiness! …. AND, isn’t she lovely? :->

2. Here is an article about untranslatable words. Very thought-provoking!

3. I love this little vase idea! It calls to the geek and artist in me!

4.  I love this guy’s hand lettering!

5. There is so much I like about this knock-off Pottery Barn sign…. vintage… lettering…. black….. Plus it looks like such an easy tutorial!

6. One last link…. Like the doodle and L*O*V*E the words. Looking forward to checking out all the doodling going on here!

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Mayhap Monday

Last week was as busy as I thought it would be…almost all of it was really wonderful, though! Looking onward to this week:

Monday – work, spend some time with E, errands, Life Group

Tuesday – work, lunch with ‘da boss’, dinner with M and then we’re off to our first art lesson in a series of 4! I’m very excited!! This week’s topic is “Materials & Techniques”. This is the instructor and my buddy CD is playing along, too!

Wednesday – women’s breakfast, work, driving M to and from Youth Group! She is definitely enjoying being part of this group… I’m still trying to get used to the fact that my baby is now old enough to be in a “youth group!”

Thursday – work and a relatively quiet rest of the day! Hmmmm…. maybe I’ll start painting that chifferobe like I’ve been threatening to do for a couple… er, maybe a few, weeks!?

Friday – work and then book club with a lovely bunch of ladies! We’ll be discussing this book. I’d give it a rating of 4 out of 5. Maybe 3.5. Apparently readers on Amazon liked it a lot more than I did!

Saturday – busy day!! Go with a friend to our church’s “Discovery 101” class, then meet with some writing buddies, then church, then dinner with the “in-laws” (The Boy’s in-laws, that is…. :-> ).

Sunday – church again (long story) then off to catch a plane for Orlando for work!

I thought I’d leave you today with a story our pastor told during his sermon yesterday. (Very much worth listening to, by the way. You can listen or download it here. It’s the Making Room for Jesus sermon.)

In The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority I read about a conversation between the late Adrian Rogers and Josef Tson, the revered Romanian pastor, author, and president of the Romanian Missionary Society who survived years of persecution and exile under cruel Communist rule. Rogers asked Dr. Tson for his perception of American Christianity.

I was surprised by Tson’s answer. After some hesitation, he replied, “Well, Adrian, since you have asked me, I’ll tell you. The key word in American Christianity is commitment.” Rather than being a positive thing, he saw it as an inadequate replacement of an older Christian teaching: surrender.

Tson described the difference, “When you make a commitment, you are still in control, no matter how noble the thing you commit to. One can commit to pray, to study the Bible, to give his money, or to commit to automobile payments, or to lose weight. Whatever he chooses to do, he commits to. But surrender is different. If someone holds a gun and asks you to lift your hands in the air as a token of surrender, you don’t tell that person what you are committed to. You simply surrender and do as you are told. . . . Americans love commitment because they are still in control. But the key word is surrender. We are to be slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Wow. This has really convicted me. Yes, I very much like to be in control. Surrender? That’s tough.

You can read the whole (really great) article that includes the story above at Bob Butler’s article “Why I’m Not a Committed Christian (And Why That’s a Good Thing” in Discipleship Journal’s archives.

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Yet Another Mayhap Monday on Tuesday!

Good Early Tuesday Morning Everyone!

I’m feeling good as new and looking forward to a very full week!

Monday – already gone but was full of good-stuff…. good work day, good lunch with a friends, good Life Group meeting here at the house. We talked about making room for people in our lives… people who are different from us, people who need us, people who need Jesus just like we do.

Tuesday – Long work meeting today then off to a website meeting for church. (The photo below is from The Wedding last year – hard to believe it’s been almost a YEAR! The meeting today is at the lovely old house the company I work for owns in Pinehurst Village and is where we had the rehearsal dinner. I don’t believe I ever posted any of photos from that night. Lovely people, lovely meal, lovely location. A good night to remember. That’s me waaay across the room in the pinkish sweater!)

 

Wednesday – Women’s breakfast at Flynne’s, work, then our monthly neighborhood dinner. The theme this month is “Fancy-Pants” so I’m looking forward to a gourmet meal, men in ties or tux, and women in evening dresses. Always a lot of fun!

Thursday – Visitors in from out of town for a two-day meeting at work, my one day to cook dinner at home, and Mary’s friend M will be over again for the afternoon.

Friday – Work then off to a big-girl sleepover with two friends at lovely Lake Tillery. *Smile*

Saturday – Lake Tillery, coffee, and gabbing with friends!

Sunday – worship, manning the welcome center, and enjoying the Sabbath!

Projects for this week:

1. I painted the hardware for the yellow dresser in the art room a flat nickel. I think they turned out wonderfully. Now it’s time to start painting the chifferobe. Shall it be a matching two-tone yellow or two-tone green. Mary thinks green; I think yellow. Or maybe green…

 

2.  I’ve decided on the word “create” to use as a Bible word study…. Now to begin!

3.  I’m planning another “Unwrapping God’s Gift” women’s study to start mid-October, so it’s time to begin preparing and reviewing again. I’m super excited to see who God brings!

Have a super week, bloggy friends!

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Thrum Thursday

ope you have had a lovely Thursday out there in Blog-Landria and will make an easy slide through Friday and into the weekend! Today was back to work again and a bit longer at it than yesterday. Next week is shaping up to be an extremely busy work-week, so I’m really looking forward to a great weekend around our sleepy little town in NC. 

Here’s some thrumming thoughts for you:

I’ve lost a little weight (with much more to go!) and needed a new pair of jeans or two. So, I decided today to go to one of my favorite stores in town…. Goodwill! Yes, I’m sorry to tell you, I’m a Goodwill Junkie. I love finding treasures that people have cast off. Today, for the low-low price of $22.51 I got five pairs of pants, one shirt, and one interesting-looking book! Very nice. BUT, as I was searching through the racks of jeans (not sorted by size!) I kept coming across Talbots and Banana Republic size 4. I just want to say – If you are able to purchase AND wear size 4 Talbots and Banana Republic jeans, please do NOT give your cast offs to Goodwill. It only demoralizes those of us looking for a size 14! We see that 4 on the tag and for just a second get excited. Not one woman out of the twenty that were shopping along side me looked like they had a prayer of fitting into a size 4. Most had not seen a size 4 since grade school. There. I feel better now. Carry on.

I have a friend who moved to Colorado recently. We want to stay in touch and have decided to read a book together and discuss it virtually. We’ve picked Dallas Willard’s Spirit of the Disciplines. I’m pretty excited about it.

I dyed my hair a couple of days ago. It turned out a bit darker than planned. Pretty much black. A guy at work called me Pat Benatar yesterday. Funny,  huh? Today I went for a haircut. I have the best hairdresser ever. She rides a Harley and comes to our church and Life Group. Her hubby has the best restaurant in town. She’s been cutting my hair for 8 or 10 years or so and today she made me look like a rock star. I made an appointment for highlights next week and was thinking of blue streaks. E told me I was a “professional” and couldn’t do something like that. (A professional what, I asked?) Mary cried. (Just pure horror, I think, at the possibility of total embarrassment.) Matt said he’d really rather I didn’t do that. (First time EVER he’s made any kind of request regarding my appearance!) So I guess I’m not going with blue. Just a lighter brown. I’ve missed my window of opportunity to do things like color my hair blue, I guess. Matt said a tattoo was still ok if it wasn’t someplace visible. All kinds of pithy retorts came to mind about the “someplace visible”, but I held my tongue. He’s out of town until Sunday. Who knows what he might come home to! :~O

Mary had M over today, a long-time friend, who is a delight to me for a couple of reasons. One - she’s just a sweet girl. Two - she’s the granddaughter of one of my best friends who passed away over a year ago. I see glimpses of my friend in M’s smile and laugh. I catch a remnant of her in the tilt of M’s head and the crinkle of her nose. Ah, I miss her. But I am so glad M is here and I’m hoping we’ll be seeing more of her in the future. AND, as a bonus, M’s mom is wonderful too! I’ve always thought she was so beautiful and creative and had the coolest way of dressing. She said she would do a personal “What Not to Wear” episode for me and take me shopping soon. Of course, I don’t think she’s going to give me $5,000 to go shopping in New York. But God is good and He’s on His throne as M’s grandma used to tell me. I’m grateful for small things today.

That’s all the thrum I’ve got in me. ‘Night.

P.S. The “H” is from Daily Drop Cap. All other art is mine via my Flickr account.

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Wordbreak Wednesday

The word for today is THREE - 

We now have THREE puppies living in our house. Sadie and Mollie and now ANNIE! Annie is a Miniature Dachshund puppy E's boyfriend bought her yesterday. E plans to head back off to college in the spring and will take one-eyed-Mollie with her. Well... the logic is that Mollie can't stand to be alone (it's true) so she would need a friend. Enter Annie. Enter dog #3. FEMALE dog #3. Poor Matt! 

And here's a really cute video for you I snagged over at Challies. Stop by - he has lots of good stuff all the time.

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Tuesday Tuism

 
his lovely “T” is my first thing to share with you tonight. Go over to Daily Drop Cap to see all the lovely letters Jessica Hische has made available for bloggers to use. Unbelievable! Thank you, Jessica!



…and check out this Colors on the Web Color Wizard! If you do digital coloring, I think this is an awesome tool… for FREE!

I’m in love with this little crocheted pillow from Two Girls Being Crafty. The tutorial seems fairly straight forward…



These are awesome and true words that I’m inspired to find a spot for in my art!



I want to explore here and here and here.

Finally, here’s two sweet (FREE) September desk calendars for you. The first is from Gennine’s Art Blog and I put it on my home computer:



And the second is from Happy Serendipity. This one is on my work computer.

Both make me smile! :->

Well – back to work tomorrow, so I better turn in! Hope you enjoy all these wonderful bloggy-land finds.

‘Night!

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Mayhap Monday …. on Tuesday!

Yep – I’m alive. The little surgery I had last Wednesday was a might harder to get over than I thought, owing mostly to general anesthesia, I think. But all is well in “Upside Down B Land.” ;->

We have had an addition back into the house since last I wrote, though. E, with health issues to straighten out and maybe a sprinkle of college disillusionment, has decided her school of choice in DC does not fit her cost/benefit analysis model. So – she’s back in our sleepy little town, regrouping, trying to get her health in order, and making plans for a closer-to-home college choice for the spring. I have to say I’m proud of her for being willing to speak up and say her experience wasn’t what she thought it would be and didn’t want to fork out the cash that was required. As a friend told me, there’s great value in knowing what you don’t want. Perhaps this was the only way she was going to learn that for herself.

So we are back to a mom, a dad, two girls, and two puppies! (Puppies below on their way to haircut a couple of weeks ago.)

So – plans for this week, you ask with baited breath?

Monday – the day’s already gone but was spent at home, working via computer a bit, continuing to rest, doodling, sorting through junk in art room, and kick-off for new Life Group.

Tuesday – going to be moving around a bit more I hope today. May even venture out in the car this afternoon! Drawing this morning early…. the doodling yesterday got the juices flowing a bit. Drew and colored a “B” that I quite like. (Go to my flickr account to see evolution.) Coffee on the porch with The Girl. She’s written a BOOK!! More to come on that later. So proud of her. Work more via computer, catch up on emails, think about how to paint hardware for dresser Mary and I painted for art room (below), mmmm….. rest……  that’s about it.

Wednesday – Our church has an early morning women’s coffee at Flynne’s that has really turned into a sweet group I really look forward to each week when I can make it. I’m hoping to feel like going to that and then…. OFF TO WORK! Yay! Mary to youth group in the evening (hard to imagine she’s in youth group!!) Maybe I’ll talk Matt into taking me to our friend’s new restaurant. Best Italian food in the state! :-) 

Thursday – Early morning work, hair appointment (hooray!).

Friday – Work, Drink and Draw at Flynne’s (don’t judge me!) Matt is off for a weekend retreat I’m really excited he is getting to go to.

Saturday – NC Poetry Society Meeting! Really looking forward to that, although I’ve written zippo lately…

Sunday – Church, manning the welcome center, enjoying the Sabbath.

Projects for the week:

1. Finish yellow dresser for art room (mainly that means painting and installing hardware)
2. Begin painting chifferobe
3. Try to get to lesson 4 for Raw Art Journaling group… I’m just about hopelessly behind.
4. Begin new word study in Bible –  sleep? “but God”? or maybe a “normal” choice from Rick Warren’s list in his Bible Study Methods ebook:
   
   
   
5. Begin reading The Girl’s book. (It’s related to #4.) Ok, I can’t keep it a secret! I’ll go ahead and tell you the title: Biblical Hermeneutics: Understanding the Ancient Book in a Modern World. Cool, huh? Here’s a fairly recent photo of her below. Who knows? Maybe she’ll need a photo for her book’s jacket cover soon?
   

6. Blog. It makes me feel good to capture memories, think through ideas, and make plans. Plus, I just like you all my bloggy friends!

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Saturday Satisfice

Satisfice: to aim or achieve that which will suffice

Well, life continues to throw some interesting curves! But all is well, all is well…. as a good friend of mine used to remind me…. “God is still on His throne!” Yes & Amen.

So, for “Saturday Satisfice” I thought I ‘d share a few different things with you:

1. I was thinking of making personalized thank-you notes from photographs of people. Here’s a photo of me that I drew a contour drawing from. Then I scanned it in, put it in PSE5 and added the “Thanks a 1,000,000”. I’ll print these out on notecards and ta-da! Super-personalized thank-you cards….

Even personalized to the message… like “Hello There!” or “How are you?”




Or maybe graduation thank-you notes?

Thinking of putting this on Etsy (yes, I’ve made a shop but have put ZERO up there, yet) and just see what happens. What do you think? Should I be brave enough to take the plunge and actually try to market and sell my art? Hard to imagine!

2. I’ve had some lovely time to veg out tonight and played around with filters on PSE5 with a photo I took of myself a couple of days ago. Wow! So much you can do! Some filters would be a wonderful way to study a subject before doing a hand contour drawing or sketch. I’d like to play around with these a little more then try to draw or paint from one.

~me~ VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

3. Thursday I had to go to the outpatient clinic at the hospital to have some blood work done for a surgery (no worries!) that I’m having Wednesday. Our hospital does a fabulous job with artwork throughout the facility, most of it North Carolina artists. Well, as I’m sitting in the waiting area, I look up and really begin to look at the sculptures that are hanging from the ceiling. I surmised that the artist must have been a man. What do you think these objects are supposed to be? Ah, well, made me chuckle anyway…

4.  Wednesday me, Mary and friend M made our first “quillow” without my mom. There’s no telling how many of these mom has made throughout the years. I bet I have at least a half-dozen in my house. M did a lovely job of picking out the material. Much was learned and fun was had. M took home the blanket for an early birthday present!

Blessings, all -
 

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