Surviving.

Been somewhat overwhelmed this past month.  Earl's mother died and that sort of put school work on hold for a couple of weeks.  She was 95-1/2 so had a good run.  We had an excuse for a nice family reunion in Baltimore.

All my delayed assignments came due at the same time as the final paper for FSU.  Add some heavy tax season work to the mix and I was an unhappy camper for quite a few days.

Did have an exciting thing happen on the home front.  The two remaining burners on our stove blew out the day after Earl's mom passed away.  This gave us a good reason to finally go to Sears and replace the stove and the nonfunctioning dishwasher.

Preparing for the new appliances prompted a whole kitchen re-arrangement and a large donation to goodwill.

Also determined that since we can't afford to move, the next best thing would be to get some breathing room.  So, rented a storage area -- our new attic is 5 x 10 and only 5 minutes away.  It should help us recover some of our apartment.  So far I've done about 20 boxes and still don't have any closet space.  However, I can now open and close the closet doors without having to stuff things that were falling out back in.  Also, there are a few flat surfaces that are seeing the light of day again in our apartment.

Anyway here's a video from tonight's recital. It's sort of blah...not bad enough to be interesting and not good enough to crow about.

It's March Already - Time Marches On...

Wow, time doesn't march, it flies at jet speed.  I've been busy with school, classes, tax season, etc.

Haven't done any drawing.

Cello has been limited to chamber music class pieces.

Learning Chinese has been mostly trying not to forget too much and attending a once a month workshop.  Happy Rabbit New Year Everyone.

My first online course at FSU last term was fairly easy.  The course this term is more demanding.  It has lots of reading and writing assignments.  Also have to give two online class presentations.  First one is coming up in a week.

Not planning on travelling anywhere exotic this year.  Only Minneapolis in June and Baltimore in September for stamp shows with hubby.  Probably try to get another couple of FSU classes out of the way this summer.

December Art Trading Cards - Holiday Traditions

Finally finished. I did Christmas Movies as my subtheme. In the States, these movies are standard staples of the holiday season. Therefore, I'll consider them a Holiday Tradition. 
Happy Holidays Everyone!

Miracle on 34th Street, 1947 A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1965 Linus gives his blanket for support Frosty the Snowman, 1969 Elf, 2003

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, 1964

How The Grinch Stole Christmas, 1966

A Christmas Carol, 1951

It's a Wonderful Life, 1946

A Christmas Story, 1983 You'll shoot your eye out

A Friend's New Dog

Jasper, 5 x 7 Pastel

December Drawing

Signed up this month for the Drawspace December Art Card Trade - Theme Holiday Traditions. Figured it was something constructive to do while classes are on winter break. When I was a kid, my mom used to make me draw Holiday Cards every year. First thing I did when I moved out of the house was BUY Holiday Cards. Took me years to get over that trauma :)

Here's an attempt at a portrait for this week's Drawspace challenge. Ink and Pastel, approx 3 x 3