Friday, March 25, 2011

The Sun Fried My Brain!!!

When I was in second grade, I won a Golden Apple Award. I don't remember what I did...or even what happened to the award.  It was some big deal that someone had nominated me to receive.  What I remember is the local newspaper came and took my picture.  I'm pretty sure I probably argued with my mom about dressing myself.  I'm also pretty certain I (and especially my mother)didn't know I'd be getting my picture taken that day. It also appears I forgot to brush my lovely permed hair...which would not be a surprise to me.  I also remember it was very bright and they had me looking into the sun.  So, this was the picture in the local news to celebrate my great accomplishment (that I can't remember)

In true Rika fashion, I always slept (and continue to sleep) until the last minute possible.  Even this morning as Jack woke up and wanted to know where Daddy was and couldn't possibly walk to the bathroom where he was showering without me, I protested and tried to stay in bed.  After I convinced him that he would be okay in the bathroom with Daddy and without Mommy.  I then proceeded to climb into bed when my alarm would be going off in 3 minutes.  I need those extra 3 minutes darn it.

So, the moral of the story is--always look your best :)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Lack of posting

Oh the issues.  Sunday night I was on the computer finishing up some work things for Monday and shut it down-business as usual.  Yesterday was a crazy day.  Painting Demos and Portfolio Reviews in my art classes and a visiting Graphic Designer during lunch.  Then I got the dreaded call from the daycare.  Little Roo is sick, can you please come get him asap.  So, I head there and all the kids are playing out on the playground and he is sitting in side, pale with purple eyes leaning up against Miss Arlene who is reading him a book.  With the rough start we had yesterday, I thought he might be coming down with something, but it's hard to tell on a Monday morning when no one wants to get going.  So, we went home and he almost immediately fell asleep.  Definitely not my Roo.  So the hubby and I start discussing what we will do if he is still sick in the morning.  It's my turn.  Since we've had so much sickness this winter, we decided to take turns unless someone has something that they absolutely cannot miss...like another class (my poor students). The evening is then a little off normal routine, but he still went to bed at a decent hour (10 as opposed to the usual 8, but he slept from 4 to 7).  Once the Roo is snug in bed, I come down and start up my computer...no internet.  I'm connected, but no internet.  Luckily, my phone has then internet, so I start searching for solutions....with no luck. 


Today I used my step-daughter's computer to try to help...still nothing.  In between that and taking care of the little man, it was a busy exhausting day.  He is the kind of sick where nothing makes him happy and if he's not crying, he's whining.  Argh.  I love the little booger and I feel sorry for him and wish I could make him feel better, but 8 hours of that is enough to drive anyone a little crazy!  At least he is pretty good about wiping his own nose.  He said something funny about boogers and I should have written it down.

Being a first time Mom, I hate the to Doctor or not to doctor questioning I do to myself.  I know certain people whose kids have to be half dead for them to go.  I knew that he most likely just had a cold, which is a virus, which you just have to wait out.  But....he kept pulling on his ear and crying from time to time and that concerned me.  Late this afternoon, we lucked out that the Dr. was slow and that we live so close and we were able to get right in.  And, like I thought, it was a virus.  So was it good to go? or bad to go?  Roo certainly doesn't like it. 

So, I get home and the computer is still not working and I've run a full virus scan which comes out clean (whoohoo).  I call my neighbor after he and my husband are home from work and the hubby thinks its the best plan of action.  So, what I think should be a quick phone discussion turns into a 15 minute phone conversation and then an hour visit by said neighbor to try to figure out my computer.  After an hour and he and I trying various fixes, I find a random code in a tech help discussion board that seems do magically do the trick.  I still don't understand what exactly was wrong or why, but I am grateful for such a great neighbor!


I've finally got the internet back on my computer, and you finally get a post.  I've been a busy bee other than just the usual family stuff.  Here are some picks of some Custom Word Blocks I've created for family and friends.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Circus is so much fun!

 Fun ride to Cincinnati.  I think its about time for a bigger car.  But the two big kids will be all grown up and graduated soon...so....maybe we just wait.
Of course Jack's favorite part was the elephants.

Too tired for more.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Never enough time

Monday was insane.  I don't think I sat down from 7:30am until 10:30pm.  It was a Go, go, go, kind of day. Springing Forward and going  back to work after spring break made for a pretty slow going morning.  I taught my 2D class, then hosted a Brown Bag Lunch with a visiting artist, then taught my Drawing Class, where I was the (clothed) figure model.  After I picked up the Roo from Montessori, we went grocery shopping and to the butcher. Got home and started some veggie soup and chicken salad.  Feed Roo, packed myself dinner, and went to my parents house to teach a crochet class.  Since it was the first, it ran over, but went well.  Got home around 10pm.  Unpacked my crochet stuff, picked up around the house, got my bag around for today and then sat down.

Today has been a little less chaotic, but still busy.  Tomorrow I've got classes again all day and a private art lesson from 3:30-5pm.

I can see why a lot of the successful bloggers are Stay at home mom's.  It takes a lot of time and effort into keeping it up and making it interesting.  Since I've got to work in the morning, I better get to bed! I am hoping to post some more of the fun we've been having soon. 

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Baked Ziti

We were all so hungry I forgot to take a plate shot last night. It was really good and really filling. The 5 of us only ate half the pan!

~16 oz Ziti-cooked 8mins.
~15oz ricotta cheese
~3 cups mozzarella cheese
~3 cups or 1 jar pasta sauce
~1/4 cup parmesan cheese
~1 lb lean ground beef, browned

Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray
Coat bottom of pan with half of pasta sauce
Mix half of mozz, all of ricotta and pasta in a large bowl, then dump over sauce in pan.
Add remain sauce to browned gr. Beef, then dump to cover pasta/beef mixture
Sprinkle remaing mozz and parm on top

Bake uncovered 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!


Friday, March 11, 2011

I wasn't always old and boring: Flashback Fridays

As seen here, I got my hair dyed yesterday.  My lovely older sister is going to school to be a cosmetologist and it's good for her to get practice doing all sorts of things.  Unfortunately for her, I just wanted to get my grays covered.  She says I'm the highest maintenance low-maintenance person she knows.  I just don't have the time, money, or effort to keep up highlights.

Well, back in the day, I had fun hair. I am participating in Christopher and Tia's Flashback Fridays
 Top Photo: Gypsy, Jaime and I having a fun night with the neighbors (I'm sure) on Pierce Ave. Our first Chicago apartment.
Middle Photo: Glamour shot of my with the blonde hair.  I had highlights at the end of Freshman year (1999) and then paid big money to get the blonde filled in and re-dyed.  Within a week of being back in Chicago for Sophomore year, I went all the way blonde.  It was a lot of fun, but a lot of up-keep!
Bottom Photo: My U-Pass-the cheap way to travel the CTA as a student.  I looked like an evil demon in the pic...my eyes were crazy!

Such great times and good memories on Pierce, in Chicago, and as a Blonde :)

Really?

Enough with the snow already.


Cute Hat

Finished this morning. More fun to come.


Thursday, March 10, 2011

Crocheted Hats

The new mouse newborn hat and the first hat I ever crocheted (Brobee...yikes!) and the newborn with ear flaps and a braid. New skills.  I may attempt a tutorial.  Teaching my first crochet basics class next week.

my old lady hand
If only I had a newborn to model the hats. Just kidding.




Photobucket

Food for Kate

I love how I talk as if I have millions of followers, when, in reality, I have one(thanks Sheridan!).  So, what makes people blog stalk?  Food? Crafts? Kids?

Well, my little sister Kate wants food...so this is for her:


Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Salad
I'm a busy working mom, so this is chopped iceberg lettuce, baby spinach leaves, grated Parmesan cheese, croutons, bacon bits and the chicken is Tyson's grilled chicken.  I like this because I hate cooking chicken and I can just pull out however many pieces I think I might want for my salad.

My Famous Taco Salad
The best thing about making tacos for dinner?  Taco Salad with the left overs!!  Again, chopped iceberg lettuce, cheddar cheese, a handful of crunched up Doritos, Catalina Dressing, and taco meat. I usually put on some kidney beans as well, but I was all out.  mmmmm, yummy.

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops
Set up 3 pie pans.  1 with 3/4 Parmesan Cheese, 1 with 2 eggs slightly beaten, and 1 with a cup of breadcrumbs
Take the pork chops (boneless) and cover with Parm, then eggs, then breadcrumbs.
Fry in large saucepan over medium heat for about 6 minutes on each side until temp. of 150.

Eat up!

Oh world...are you ready for this?

I'm sitting at the Artisan School of Cosmetology waiting for my sister Marcy to mix my color and I figured out...I can blog from my phone. Consider yourselves warned.
Before
After
Old and boring...just covering the grays and the grown out highlights.  We actually went lighter than my natural.. it's just that dark!


Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Artist Book Show at The Paper Crane in Chicago

Here are the final pages of my book and the finished cover, entitiled, "What Doesn't Kill Us: painting through the stages of grief" It will be on exhibition at The Paper Crane Gallery/Studio in Chicago starting this weekend. More info about The Paper Crane can be found here: www.thepapercrane.com
Then a big jump to Depression (see earlier posts for Denial, Anger and Bargaining)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Birthday Dinner

Finally made Matty's Birthday Dinner.  Baked potato bar (scorched the bacon...opps), meatloaf, corn on the cob.  It was  delicioso!  Roo of course ate Mac 'n cheese, watermelon and baby carrots.  He's not digging the meatloaf and baked potato...yet.
All of the recent picture taking is really emphasizing how much I need a "real" camera.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Hubby's Birthday

The beloved husband's birthday was this weekend.  He requests a feast every year and I lovingly oblige.  This year, we kept going on mini-adventures, so all I've really made him is the birthday cake.  Jack is obsessed with birthday cakes and singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles.  He draws cakes in his notebooks and then we sing the song and he blows the candle out.  It is cute and funny.  I almost fell over during the blowing out of the candles.  I carried the cake out and was singing to Matt, at the end., Jack was coming at me to help blow out the Candles.  I was kind of half crouched, knees bent. Matt wasn't intervening in any way, so I fell back on my bum to keep Jack from burning his eyebrows off. Probably would have made a good You Tube Video!

We took Jack to his first movie today.  We went to see Rango at a nearby cheap theater, so that if he didn't make it through, we could leave without feeling like we wasted a lot of money.  The theater was pretty packed since it is opening weekend. He sat well for about the first hour and then got antsy and started asking if we could go home now.  Pretty good for 2 yrs. 4 months.  Sometimes I forget the little man is so young still!


Tomorrow my long time stylist is coming to the house to cut Jack's hair.  He has had major meltdowns the last two times.  The two times before that were perfect without a single tear.  I hope he can get used to Karen and be comfortable in the salon again.  I'll keep you posted...oh yeah, and maybe I'll finally make my hubby's yummy birthday dinner.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Working together






Always and adventure when we paint together.  Jack was enjoying experimenting with the spray bottle, much to my chagrin.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

More Artist book pages

 More pages in the Artist Book.












These Pics aren't as good. They are supposed to be dealing with the emotions of anger, bargaining and the first page transitioning into depression.