A drastic change and a lonely third

      Once upon a time, there was a little girl who was a third, even though she was the first and all alone.  Then there were two brothers and she felt like a third, unless they got tired of playing house and went to play army instead.  And then she just felt left out.  (She should have gone and played army nurse with them :)  But then two more little girls came along and she was another kind of third.  An older third; a different kind of example third; a pink third.
The three pink thirds had a lot of fun living under one roof trading books, plotting stories, trading recipes, tweaking fashion ideas, planning photo shoots, sharing giggles and hugs, and reality checks when necessary.  And then the phone rang, and the first third started to pack her bags for an adventure - an adventure that didn't include the other thirds.  Her heart was pretty sad as she stuffed two suitcases full of clothes and bits of home, and wished very much there was room for the other thirds.  She boarded a plane all by herself and flew to the land of Hot and Dry.  She arrived at a house in the middle of a HUGE city, parked her bags in a new room and when the first day of her adventure was over she wished very much there had been room in her bags for her pillow.  On the second day of her adventure, a very sweet note, tucked in between packed clothes when she wasn't looking, made her feel a little less lonely and she was very cheerful as she started to unpack her bits of home and settle in.  But when bedtime came, the lack of her soft squishy pillow was dwarfed by the lack of her fellow comrades in pink.  Bad dreams didn't help the situation.
The third day of her adventure was long, windy and loud.  And she can't help thinking that it would feel more like an adventure if she wasn't so lonely.

Don 't worry.    Good sleep - and a phone call or two home - will put things back into perspective.  This is a long-winded way of saying that posts are now being written on two ends of the country.  The Soldier called two weeks ago to ask if I would be willing to fly out and help Sorelle for a while.  It was something I'd been thinking about during the trip to see him when he was home on leave (on the trip that we sort of didn't mention in February - sorry!), but it got mentally shelved for multiple reasons when we got home.  When he called I felt like God was tapping my shoulder saying, "Hey!  This was important.  Keep up with Me."  We talked about it as a family and decided I should go.  Being self employed I was able to pretty much drop everything and leave - and I am so grateful my clients were so gracious when I told them I'd be leaving.  (Thank you!)
I have no idea how long I'll be here, so if all of a sudden small details don't add up and it sounds like posts are being written on opposite ends of the country . . . . they are.  :) 
Trying to see the nice side of this temporary move, I have to admit that the temperature outside is very nice and warm.  I've enjoyed seeing green grass and roses blooming on street corners - although I do feel a little like I've completely skipped spring.  (Which is one of my favorite seasons.)  And come Monday I'll be nanny-ing the 10 month old nephew while Sorelle works.   Woohooo!! Trading music lessons, 400 page books that can be read at leisure and random cooking experiments for diapers, bottles and baby food 'art' (aka, smears down the front of the baby and anything he can reach) might not seem like a brilliant trade, but I'm pretty excited.  :)
  So you can see that this adventure is a broad mix of emotions right now.  I have a feeling that God is going to be teaching me a lot, if I remember to stand back and let Him work.  For now I need to remember to concentrate on Today . . . . which at the moment involves cleaning the half-unpacked mess off my bed so I can sleep.



Still a lonely pink third,
Irish Rose

Sketching Progress

Hi all, I do apologize profusely for disappearing off the face of blog-dom:) (Apparently when writer's block hits in one area it covers them all.)
  Anyway, I thought I might bring you all up to speed on my 365 Day Sketching Challenge.
  Three months in and I am a handful of sketches behind, but I have completed 89 of them to date! Yay! Of those two of them have been suggestions from my jar.

 This is Sketch Prompt #1 - A doe and fawn in the woods.

Now, seeing as I didn't have any reference photos (I did peek at one near the end because the doe's head looked more like a dog than a deer:) please don't look too closely because I don't do deer, and I'm positive there are a lot of things that aren't accurate, so all of you who hunt, or who have brothers that hunt, will be able to pick out all the inconsistencies right away.

Thank you K.J. for the suggestion:)

You know you've been watching too much FoodNetwork when this comes out as your daily sketch.

Not only does it make me hungry -

But it seems it is a source of inspiration as well!

*Note: It looks really crooked because I took the picture weird.

 This bird is the product of one of my Random Line sketches. Seriously, when I can't think of anything to draw I'll swipe a couple random lines across my paper, then proceed to see what I can make them morph into.
(For some odd reason most of them turn out to be birds, can't quite figure out why. . . .)
Most of the time it is a really fun, relaxing way to do a sketch. . . unless of course I try to get too technical with it and end up with something that looks like some sort of weird modern art.

That brings us all up to date on progress so far, though I did manage to do a fairly decent hand sketch last week (hands are hard!) and an angry dragon! (Yes. . . that's another story entirely:)
Until next time, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Riddle me this . . . .

                  What do . . . 

three book bags   

                                  Food Network                                        

diapers

a huge water cooler
            drool             

take-out
two cell phones
peanut M&M's
            matchbox cars            
True North snacks

sleep deprivation

 and one plastic card all have in common?

      If you said 1600 miles, you're correct!!  Though the more common answer of, "road trip" is also perfectly acceptable.  

  Some of us have been away on holiday (sort-of).  Back in February, The Soldier called one Sunday morning to say, "Hey guys!  I'm back in the States on leave".  "February" and "leave" had been used in the same sentences on previous occasions, but getting home for a break while on overseas deployment isn't as easy as planning  a weekend get-away.  There is no relaxed "Honey, I think we need a vacation - second weekend in September sound good to you?" in the Army.  He didn't get told when he was taking leave until the night before he was supposed to fly out.  

  One week and one day after he called, mum, Sharpi, and I piled into the van, pulled out of the driveway and started South.  Chickadee stayed home to keep house for dad.  Eighteen days later, we pulled back into the driveway and started catching up on hugs.  It was a good eighteen days, but it was also a really long eighteen days. 

      Its our first Monday back and we're settling back into the familiar.  Catching up on all our travel laundry is in the works; bread is baking; suitcases are almost all put away; and there is a geranium about to blossom next to my studio window.  Ahhh . . . . home.  It is very good to be back.

Irish Rose

365 Day Challenge: February

Round about the beginning of February I was doing my daily sketch when I discovered a really, really incredibly ghastly thing. . . . there was only ONE blank page left in my sketchbook!!! . . . . . No, seriously, this is a really bad thing for an artist, it's like looking in the fridge and realizing you don't have any food. (Okay, so maybe that example is a bit extreme)
So, being in such dire circumstances I went into complete and utter panic mode. What was I going to do?! This was a serious issue, we live hours away from any art store and, I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a paper snob. (Meaning I'll walk down the sketchbook aisles, ignoring the specifics printed on the covers, instead fingering all the different types of paper, turning up my nose at anything that doesn't pass the touch test, and anything available where I live would only get a disgusted sniff.)
Thankfully I was able to find a small, travel sized sketchbook to use until we made a trek to the nearest Big City, which happened to be a couple days later. Yay!

Image from searching Google Image

Another fun surprise was that the Art Store we went to was having a sale. Buy one, get one Free!

I do actually use this brand of sketchbook; I'm no expert or anything, but I like the feel of this paper and it suits my needs just fine. (The only thing I don't like so much is that it doesn't seem to erase as cleanly as I would like, but I run into that anyway so I think it might be pressure issues.)

I was so happy!

No doubt another stack will have to be purchased before the end of the year, but until then I have acquired enough blank paper to last me a couple months. . . .now, if I can just keep up with ideas. . . . .

Conductor Watching

Hi Everyone, sorry we've been so sporadic about posting lately.

Not sure when we'll get back on a more regular schedule, but until then, check out this video below. Not only is the song itself fun, but we got such a kick out of watching the conductor!

Serving Notice

Dear “They”,

I don’t quite know where you earned your popularity, or where you went to school that you know so much, or how it got to be that you are the last word on fashion, theology, art, money, responsibility, etc.  Without anybody noticing, you somehow managed to worm your way into a role of authority in my life, shaping my opinions and guiding my choices as a loving parent would.  For most of my life I thought you really cared about me, that you wanted what was best for me.  I’m not so sure anymore.  I began to suspect that your acceptance is given only as long as I do as you wish, hold your opinions as my own, behave as you deemed appropriate.  And do you know what, “They”?  I don’t really like being a puppet.  And I’m tired enough of your manipulation tactics, that I am taking drastic measures.

Consider yourself to have been served notice: I am not willing to play your game anymore.  It isn’t that I can’t be friends with you anymore, or that I don’t want to see you ever again, though I will be severely limiting our interaction from now on.  The time has come for me to leave your overbearing influence and live the life God has given me according to His terms, not yours.

I suppose I am partly to blame for this break-up since it was my choice that allowed you this unhealthy balance of power.  I was so caught up in the drive to “abstain from all appearance of evil”*  that I took all the Good Guidelines you provided and stopped thinking for myself.  Worst, I took your word for it instead of going back to God’s Word and seeing what He said.  Your Good Guidelines settled and became Standards, and I passed judgment on others accordingly.  The choices I made were Good ones, but they were made with your approval in mind. 

During our long acquaintance I’ve observed you closely.  I’ve seen you pass clear condemnation without so much as uttering a word, with your polite smile still firmly glued in place: your eyes would go a little cold and your smile would get a little hard, and somehow the temperature would drop several degrees because You Didn’t Approve.  And I didn’t want that disapproval aimed at me.  Maybe the choice someone made wasn’t a good one – maybe it was unquestionably bad.  But basing your disapproval on your Standards isn’t helpful.  Your Standards might just line up with God’s Word, but because condemnation is based on your opinion it isn’t going to change things.  To put it bluntly: it isn’t your job to change hearts – that is the Holy Spirit’s job.  Don’t be angry with me for saying so.  I watched you for a long time and learned quite well – I can silently condemn with the best of Them.  I know in minute detail, right down to the slightly raised eyebrow, what your reaction would be if you found out I read that book; watched that movie; tried on that dress; or liked that song – because at some point or other, I have delivered the same disapprobation with artful finesse.  I am not without guilt.

God has been working on my heart, and I’m slowly learning that I need to be listening to Him for direction, not you.  I need to live my life in such a way that the world asks, “What makes you so different?” instead of what church denomination I belong to.  I need to write what I believe out loud instead of worrying about offending someone – namely you, “Them”.  I need to be willing to admit I’m not perfect and I make mistakes, that I’m still learning.  I need to be open to gentle correction when someone who loves me pulls me aside and says, “I’m really concerned about you.  Have you thought about how this choice of yours is affecting your Heavenly Father’s reputation?”

This isn’t open rebellion, “They”.  I’m not declaring open war on you and your Good Standards, nor am I disregarding *1 Thessalonians 5:22 in an attempt to justify living life the way I want to.  (If I did it would make the previous ten verses obsolete, too.)  I am hereby simply delivering notice that I am done living my life to gain your approbation.

Sincerely,

Irish Rose

YAY!!!!!

    

Our daddy is home!! 

Pretzel sticks, M&M's and BBC dramas were poor substitutes in his absence.

We are SO EXCITED to have him back.  :)