Two Milestones

I took the plunge.
After weeks of meandering through back roads and venturing through stoplights only to drive around the corner to our subdivision, I decided to drive the standard all the way to church. That sounds more decisive than the reality. Actually, two of my supporters (my husband and a friend who were in the car) made the decision for me while I wavered about whether I should or should not.
Gearshift in hand, I nosed my way out of the neighborhood and turned left through the intersection lights, and we were off! I am happy to say that I made it through red lights and stop signs without the car cutting out. It's the first time I've driven without it happening once. Perhaps the little prayer I said before starting had something to do with it.
With cars all around me I managed to shift up and shift down, stop and start, slow down and accelerate, and - ! Reverse into a parking space!
Mind you, that's how I always park, but I find it much more difficult to do with the standard.
So those were my two milestones today - driving all that way and not cutting out.

Organized Chaos

I think that the truest self-portrait I ever painted was of an octopus trying to do a myriad of things at the same time. This may become especially fitting in the coming school year.

I've recently been accepted to York University's B.Ed program. It's a nine month study schedule, starting at the end of August and continuing until the end of May. It's going to be a crazily hectic year, as I will continue to teach music, write, draw, direct a choir and, of course, take care of our home.

So, in order to try to facilitate next year going as smoothly as possible, this is my 'to be completed' list from now until August.

1. Make and freeze six months worth of food for us and for Keani. I know, I know, it sounds a little crazy, but I can imagine the relief of at least having one thing I don't have to worry about. We have two freezers and a vacuum sealer, so hopefully everything can be jammed in. The hope is to start baking and freezing the cookies next month, with squares, main and side courses, appetizers, quick breads and candy following after.

2. Finish writing and editing two manuscripts - a YA and a middle-grade one. One of these is an assignment, and there are two more related assignments to go, so hopefully all three will be done in the next month and a half or so.

3. Finish writing a second YA manuscript. Have to go back and plot the chapters back out on that one...I somehow got a little lost along the way...

4. Plan, plot and start writing two more middle-grade manuscripts.

5. Plan and start writing a myriad of non-fiction articles.

6. Paint and finish twelve illustrating portfolio pieces. The idea is to get them done so that I can keep sending out art submissions next year without worrying about spending the time actually creating them.

7. Finish a fine art piece. Haven't painted one of those in a long, long time.

8. Sew three more outfits. Got one done before Easter with flowing sleeves and a skirt that ripples. A second skirt is well on its way to being finished. I know I won't have time next year, hence the other three.

9. Finish painting the house - just three more rooms to be done. Again, I know I'll not have the time next year, so better get it done now.

10. Finish Keani's portrait. Well, Icewind has a big one on the wall. Our 'Little Man' needs one too!

Can it be done? We'll see...

One split-second decision can change Everything...

It's hard to describe the feeling of having a near-death experience. This is made worse, I think, if this experience is due to one's own human error.
This evening my husband and I were driving home in separate cars. I was in front, but he was just behind me. In front of me was a vehicle that was driving a little slower than what I liked.
It was dark. In the gloom I could see that the lines on the road turned into dotted 'safe to pass' lines. What I couldn't see in the dark was that the road dipped.
In a split second, I made the decision to pass the car in front. I pulled out and alongside. To my chagrin, the dotted lines soon gave way to a solid one again. To my horror, a car appeared in the other lane.
How long did I have before I would have hit the other car in a head-on collision? One, maybe two seconds. I literally thank God that I was able to get back into the other lane on time. Just in front of the vehicle I'd been trying to pass. Just ahead of the car in the other lane.
My husband, as soon as it was safe, immediately pulled out and passed the other car and pulled back in behind me. I knew he was keeping an eye on me all the way home.
I got into the garage first, but as soon as he backed into the driveway, he got out and, with an indescribable expression on his face, told me that I would never risk my life like that again. I, of course, felt absolutely horrible. Horrible because the shock of what had happened was beginning to really creep into me. Horrible because I had endangered someone else, and horrible because of how frightened I had made my husband.
I am not a reckless person. Risks are one thing I don't like taking. But on this night, because I couldn't see the road properly, one split-second decision could have changed everything.

The Mischief Makers

Amazing how a little guy can make so much more mess and cause so much more trouble than a guy at least ten times his size. I am talking, of course, of our little man Keani and our big boy Icewind. For about two years we endured a couple of chewed walls and dented doorknobs as Icewind grew into adulthood. But for all that, he's been (and is) a remarkably good boy. Although he definitely has the height to do it, only once has he ever reared up to place his paws on the counter and filch a tasty something. And that once was when he was still a pup.

After a brief stint with the ill-fated doorknobs, Icewind gradually stopped chewing anything. You could leave anything on the floor and it would be safe. Paper, slippers - you name it. In fact, Icewind quickly got to the point where he didn't even play with toys much anymore, preferring to lie in the hallway and guard the front door.

Keani, on the other hand, is a little ball of mess and mayhem. You'd think, since he has a much smaller mouth, that he would cause less trouble, but, perhaps due to the fact that he's so close to the floor, he in fact causes much more.
Nothing escapes his attention. If there is dirt, he will find it. If there is a leaf, he will munch on it. (Not to eat, you understand. He tries not to swallow anything, unless it really is food.) Carpets beware! It doesn't take long for Keani to rip it into shreds.

The Smell of Spring

Monday, March 22nd. Today I've finished planting all of my flower seedlings. The cosmos have grown to be about five inches tall. Next week it will be time to start the vegetables. I am still trying to figure out how many of each I want. There was one year that we have forty tomato plants. It was an excellent yield, but it took up too much room. The year after, I decided to stop planting greens like lettuce, swiss chard and spinach in the garden itself. Instead, I sprouted them in long trench containers - the kind you hang off the balcony. I think that's what I'll do from now on.

This will be the first year we plant corn. My husband finally gave in to it, because there's an area beside the asparagus that hasn't been used for anything yet.
The side where the raspberries, grapes, blueberries and red currants are will have to be fitted with a small chain link fence. We put up netting attached to wooden bars that can open and close, but it turns out that Icewind couldn't care less. He just barrels right in and Keani is hot on his heels. So we have to find a fail-safe way to keep them away from the grapes (which apparently is poisonous to some dogs)
In the front, the rose bush is starting to flush green, and tiny reddish-pink buds are beginning to bulge from the branches. The zebrina are defying the last of the snow and poking their heads up.
I love this time of the year.

Winged Glories

So this last weekend I finally indulged my love of chicken wings by making 3 lbs of buffalo wings. Coated in an egg mixture, dipped into a flour mixture, and then deep fried, they came out beautifully golden and crispy. Add some hot sauce and blue cheese dip and Voila!

They were accompanied by a lettuce and avocado salad, a grasshopper pie and a three-layer lemon pie. I don't usually make so many desserts for one 'small' meal, but thank goodness I did this time. I didn't realize that the pistachio pudding mix for the grasshopper pie had bits of pistachios in it. My husband loves nuts. By themselves. Mix them with anything else and he complains that they get stuck in his teeth. Which means that I get the grasshopper pie all to myself. Oh well.

Is that a light?

Driving a standard: lesson six (or seven?)
I haven't driven the Pontiac for two weeks. First it was because we'd just painted part of the house, and by Sunday I was too tired to subject myself to the grueling mental stress of worrying about whether or not I was harming the car. The second week was because our nephews were over, and there was no way I was going to practice driving with three boys yelling in the back, commenting over this or that.
But yesterday, finally, I got back in the driver's seat.
It's a rather odd thing with me, that often if I take a break from something, I jump a level or two when I get back to it. It happened with my pastel portraits, for instance. After not painting pastels for about a year, I went back to it and found that they'd taken on a whole new dimension. Perhaps taking a step back allows me a different perspective. Perhaps I subconsciously continue to work on things.
Whatever the case, on this driving lesson I managed to drive out of the garage, through the streets to our 'practice' area, practice, and then drive back home with the car only cutting once. Mind you, this time I was overly cautious with the clutch and rode it too much...maybe next time I'll manage to let go of it once the car has started moving.