Monday, August 8, 2011

ROW 80 and Artistic Mother.....er......Progress Report. (?)

If I was being strictly truthful, there are at least 14 different things I could have chosen as today's blog title. Snappier. Honest. Amusing. Grabby things. But, alas,  'snarky mother progress report' is a little dangerous pre-coffee, so we'll go with a topic to keep me from digressing all over the place with a morning b!tch session.

Round of Words in 80 days-ies - Finished half of my beta-read for Claudia LeFeve (hang in there dear, wrap up and comments are TOTALLY on the books for today!) Tapped away on my own WIP for 15 Friday (because that's all I had left in me). Successfully ignored it Saturday and Sunday, as per my usual stated goal of leaving those days for family time. Bleah. Ok, that's hardly inspiring. Just another week of real-life at the Orchid House.

Exercise - well, this check in should shock no-one. Running amok like the (earlier_mentioned) chicken with a skull flambe doesn't Actually burn more calories than one can intake on a half-pan of homemade Ghiradelli chocolate brownies, at least, not in the same week. Welcome to veggie week at the Orchid house ;-)

Art progress - the workbook/projects/program of Shona Cole's "the Artistic Mother". Ummmm. Well. Two words for you.

Cadmium Yellow.

(there's a whole digression I just swallowed on why quinacridone colors work better for the first project than heavy pigments). Let's just say that if you have a big chunk o' experience with various media, and you are following someone else's project plan, either modify plan as instinct warns, or get set to triple the time on the project, and no whining allowed! The first project (after Step 1 - unearth the drafting table from all the supplies) was creating backgrounds for scanning projects, blending different colored paints and 'toning back' with water, gesso, or creating monoprints. I have 2 (of 11) that are scanner ready (will post later) and 9 that are pretty - but demand 'toning back' like you wouldn't believe. Got some ridiculously good photos of my kids (also a projetc) but only succeeded in reading poetry that I already knew and liked, nothing new. But, with the beta-read for Claudia ,s'okay. :-)

So....yeah.Week 1 has just bled into week 2. It's more realistic for me to stretch the challenges and projects over 2 weeks while I  keep pegging at the horror story. And, in re-reading the project, just now....it looks like I should have read the project steps more...thoroughly. My. Thank Goodness I Didn't Whine!!

(golly, the fascinating musings just better and better, don't they? Where the hell Did snarky mommy get to?! she's at least an amusing read?!!)

So, here's the goals/jobs for the week:
1. Finish the beta read and fire off comments to Claudia so she can get busy herself!
2. Scan ANY backgrounds that look reasonable and post today.
3. Get to the post office with thank-you's for my son's birthday party and some to my folks.
3.5 - 30 min/day 3 days this week on the WIP
4. Visit a townhome, maybe more!  for my mother so she can sign a lease and MOVE HERE
5. Babysit three neighbor kids on Thursday (probably).
6. Get house ready for sleepover with 2 of my nephews
7. Create layouts for the backgrounds I am creating and scanning, assemble as per instructions
8. Read two more poems
9. Maintain organization of art-supplies
10. Find a photo of my 'younger self' for use in next week's project
11. Browse a few art blogs (I'll Take Suggestions here!!)
12. CANCEL football for my son (our set list of activities is filling up!)
13. Make a meal plan for this week that includes two veggies not related to red sauce
14. Take a photo of the new orchid in the house. It's very, very beautiful
15. Blog On Time on Wednesday for ROW 80 check-in. See you then!!

Hugs!

S.



7 comments:

  1. I am reading for blogs so I can feel better. Now I do, you have so much more to do than me. Now tomorrow's public holiday looking after the kids don't seem so bad after all.

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  2. Good morning Gerhi! I have more to do than you because I didn't finish my goals last week ;-)

    It's all relative, ain't it? I hope your week finds you much further forward on your goals!!! thanks for coming by!!

    S

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  3. I still don't know how you do it all!!! Yes, there are some of us that marvel at your ability to actually become Superwoman.

    And don't stress on my beta read! When you get it done, you get it done :)

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  4. heh. I marvel when I even get HALFWAY through the to-do's!!

    The read is engrossing - to say the least. The timeline business demands I slow down a bit - never bad. You've got good momentum so far, and dialogue is believable/appropriate for ages, and doesn't slow anything down. So far, so Very good. Detailed comments later of course :-)

    Time to find that cape ;-) thanks for coming, Claudia!!! you always put a spring in my step!!

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  5. Sometimes flexing against the inevitable is better for you in the long run. Good luck with your goals!

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  6. Wow, I'm amazed that you can get any writing done at all! Right now I'm utterly exhausted from babysitting for nearly eight hours today, and I don't know how I will be able to get anything out of my tired brain. Maybe just go to bed early and try some early morning writing for a change. :)

    Have a great week!

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  7. @Patrick - thanks for popping by! Yup, trying to press on when the Inevitable....er....Anything looms is Still better than doing Nothing :-)Little goals really help toward my 'big picture'. Sorry to see your daughter is sick, by the way :-( Hope she's better soon!

    @Ruth, I love your plan to get it done in the morning. Trying to do the school-days schedule shift over here, early mornings Do actually save the day! and I hear you about the exhaustion! Still, time well spent :-) (and you'll fall asleep nice and early too!) Thanks again for coming by and have a great week!!!

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