Yup, haven't frozen my ass off entirely.... YET.

We had a lovely 10 degrees / -5 wind chill this morning with snow still covering the ground from a few days ago.  Gotta love living up by the great lakes... heh  (New York people can't understand why a Florida person would intentially move here like I did.... heh)

My dog, Snow - gets confused now (not a big surprise) ~ she who use to hate Florida rain & refuse to go OUT.... has taken to the snow now and actually it gets her HYPER and wanting to play.  Guess we named her well afterall...? 

The house we are renting sucks... there are many issues with it (older house) and the landlord (a company) is so-so with response to the important problems.  Granted, both times we have called about the plumbing they have gotten someone over here within a few hours but - the fact that we had to call a SECOND time for the SAME problem... is irritating to say the least.  Though, the plumber is the classic New York Italian... seriously - to a freakin' T!  He cracks me up.  At least today he didn't have his own personal conversation with our door mummy (yes, a Mummy... he stands next to our front door holding a bowl/pumpkin --- got him at halloween but decided to leave him right there year 'round.)  So, yeah kind of an odd guy ... but my sink drains again at least.  It would seem, a new PIPE is in order... we shall see how that goes over with the owner/landlord (cheap bastard, so I have been told.... and from the state of this house I have to assume it is true.)

 Job I took SUCKS royally.... in talks and awaiting some "test" jobs from a guy up here that owns a sign shop.  Hopefully that will lead to some decent freelance work... and he needs someone for installs (he does vehicle wraps, too) so I am thinking seriously of asking him about that too.  I want to QUIT my current job worse than I ever even thought POSSIBLE (and I have had some shitty jobs before....)

Pushing myself back into my artwork this past week - some will be saved for doing some festivals up here when the season arrives, other stuff - back to trying ebay.  I have some new characters and ideas that HOPEFULLY will go over well both online and at festivals (weird, as most of my stuff IS - but I can hope the right weird people will see it and have money to throw away...LOL)

OK well... 'nuff is 'nuff ~ I need to get back to life here.  Fighting the nap urge as I type......... 

Got my package today to rebuild my computer.. YEAH!!!   New processor, mother board, memory and fan.... gonna let R be the big man and build it though (cuz he is more excited than I am about it..lol)  And it is my birthday / Christmas present  from him (cuz mine was trying to die totally and my laptop is sloooowwwwwwwwwwwwww.)

OK well I hope everyone out there is staying warmer than I am & enjoying the new year so far!

no matter what.

Yup, I'm now in New York... ya know what?  It's kinda CHILLY here! (Go figure.)

Took a job that I feel I was talked into - been there over a month now and sooooo NOT happy. (Again... go figure.)

Haven't had the time or energy (mostly due to new job) to MEET people, DO anything... I even feel like I'm missing out on Fall - which happens to be my favorite Northern season.  *sigh*

OK well, it isn't a total miss-out thing because damn I have a ton of leaves in my yard!   Suppose I should like have the kids rake or something soon?  Eh...

Friends of ours (well, not so much mine at this point - but you get the point....) got married last weekend.  What did "we" decide to give them?  A gag-gift of a cake topper... the bride dragging the groom by the back of his coat....hehe  AND... upon their return from the Bahamas (damn them) I shall bear the gift of the most amazing artwork ever created in 2 hours time ~ a portrait of the 2 of them done by a photo I took at the wedding.  OK, maybe not the most amazing ever... but damn it, it is about the most creative I've been able to BE in a while now.

Missing my family back in Florida a bit, but can't say as though I miss Florida.

The kids are looking forward to the first snow... I'm hoping it happens while they're at school one day, so I can hide and pound them with snowballs when they get off the bus.  *grin*   I suppose we shall see........

They love it here as it is... snow will just be the topper when it comes.  :o)

I love snow, myself - but the idea of driving in it? Ick... that SOOO does NOT make me happy. ugh

Neighborhood & neighbors are great!  I love the people here... everyone is so nice, so helpful... always ready to lend a hand.  A couple of times already my kids have gone to do stuff with neighbors - like today.  They left at 2pm and didn't get home until after 8pm - and as I have been informed they had "THE BEST TIME" (some Fall Festival thing at the neighbor's church.)

Ahhh well... just hadn't stopped in here in a while........  feeling kind of lonely up here at this point.  I SO need to get out and meet people, seriously.  *sigh*

Hope everyone out there in la-la land is doing well.............................. 

FIRST:  I_Seldom_Do - if you happen to read this... your artwork amazes me EVERY time I see it!  Awesome stuff!

OK now.............to move on.... had to get some of this out... HAD TO!

Yeah!!!! Escaping HELL...err... I mean Florida! FINALLY!  Yesssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, lots going on ... almost time!

Moving on up to Rochester, NY ~ easy weekend escape to my favorite place on earth - NYC!

Contract on the house... closing the sale August 17th.... August 18th the LONG drive begins! I have explained "South of the Border" to the kids (if you don't know what that is, and have never been there - you simply MUST! lol)... and told them we WILL be stopping THERE for the night....hahahaha   They are half scared, half curious.... it should be fun!

Soooo excited!

I visited up there a couple of weeks ago (NY) and I'm in love with the place.  How many places can you sit out on your front porch mid-July and actually get a little cold while gazing off across the HUGE front yard watching the dance of the fireflies between the giant maple trees?  *smiles*

I can see it will trigger some serious creativity & I can't wait to check out a bar that I've been instructed (by several people now) to go to in order to meet & converse with like-minded artists of the area.... THE BUG JAR!  I drove past it while up there, and I spotted a Ms. PacMan machine - can't be all bad!!!!  hehe

Good school system (we're NOT RIGHT in the middle of Rochester - which apparently is a shitty school system) but just on the outside edge where the schools are like night and day from the ones my poor kids have put up with for all these years.  Sweet!

Though, considering how much BETTER those schools are, I wonder if they can all 3 really hack it in the advanced classes or not?  Guess we shall see.

Ran to the schools today, and enjoyed asking for their records because "we are moving OUT of state" - I just can't even explain how good that felt.  Too bad the JackAss principal of the middle school was no where to be seen... would have loved to give him a piece of my mind (ONE LAST TIME) ~ that sonofabitch needs a career change to something more fitting like... hmmm... toll booth operator, or maybe the guy who makes sure all the M&M's have the M's on right. *snicker*  Yup, that would work. *grin*

I have a promising lead towards becoming a theatrical scenic painter up there.... fingers crossed! How perfect a job that would be for me, is well... just unexplainable really.  Perfection. :o)

Also, much thanks to MySpace ~ I have hunted down some people that seem kinda cool up there already.... and have a possible job lead to graphic art (boring, but pays the bills), and TWO people saying they are willing to teach me to TATTOO!  How sweet THAT would be!   

Also chatting a bit with one chick who appears to be fairly sane (we like the same music, is why I picked her out...lol) and another who designs jewelry (and I'm impressed by what she does - that's hard to do when it comes to OOAK jewelry.)  She's a single mom (another plus - been there, done that...) and she's so freakin' CUTE (yes, I said it... she's damn cute! lol)  She could totally be a pixie or fairy - no shit!  She just needs some cute little butterfly wings and she'd steal anyone's heart.  She doesn't know it yet, but she's gonna soon be my muse for some upcoming artwork (I don't think she'll mind though...lol)

My only Rochester FEAR... that should be easy to figure out.  I was raised here in HELL (read: Florida) and am moving to one of THE coldest parts of the US... yeah... driving + snow?  eeeeek!  Scary stuff.

Playing in the snow though?  Different story entirely!  Can't WAIT! I'm looking forward to teaching the kids how to build an igloo....lol  (I HAVE lived where it snows before, and remember doing that as a kid!)

My dog Snow is gonna hate us though... poor girl.  She won't go out when it has rained, she does NOT like having wet feet.  Wet COLD feet... yeah, that's gonna be a fight and a half!  May have to invest in doggy booties. *sigh*

I'm SO freakin' excited.... the time is SO close now!  So much still to do here, but I'm getting there... soooo excited!!!!!!!!!   Galleries, music, art - oh my!  Happiness!  *smiles*

OK off to get some doodles in & some sleep (hopefully) ~  so much stress the past few months, I've lost almost 40 lbs (seriously I look ILL now...ugh) and not sleeping... I look like I'm on death's door, but it should start getting better now.  The worst should finally be over (I hope!)

OMG ~ need to put this out there, I had the WEIRDEST experience on my way back from Rochester!!!

I was at the airport, Robert had just dropped me off.  I got in line to check in & check my bags when this older lady seemed to come out of no where - she was RIGHT behind me (normally that irritates the CRAP out of me, I'm big on PESONAL SPACE)  but... that aside....

She leans in and whispers to me, "You are a really special person... I need to tell you something..." (or something along those lines) Basically, long story short - she was on my flight but we didn't sit together... I kept running into her though.  She had the sweetest smile I have ever seen, honestly.   She kept telling me how special I am, and that she knew I had been through a lot in my life, but I was "Finally" at the turning point.  Before long, life would turn around for me and I would be "Blessed in Many Ways" ~ I've done the rough road, and my good times are right around the corner. She also mentioned that my ex would soon decide that he really wants to be a dad - she threw in, he would never be worth much beyond that, but he would decide to act like a dad at least.

Now, understand through ALL of this (that happened on and off ALL DAY) I barely spoke a word.  I think I was in too much shock to speak ...LOL   She seemed to genuinely know what I had been through, what I was going through - and let us just HOPE she is right about where I am heading!  *smiles*   Wish I had thought to get her number or email - something!  Probably never see her again... sadly.  But, she made a rough day much brighter for me, if nothing else & I'll never forget her face, or her kind words to me that day.  And she said *I* was special?  *smiles*

OK really leaving now... I don't have much time to babble & vent these days ~ decided to make the time tonight.

Hope you guys are all doing OK ~ Jeffy & my artsy friends! 

Apparently it is all over the news - all over the place -----

Well, yesterday I was driving home and saw one police car after another (probably a good 50 or 60 of them - no exaggeration!) flying towards the other side of town, towards Kathleen high school (general area.)

Naturally I knew SOMETHIN' not good must have been in the process of happening.

When I got home, I instantly turned on the local news - to learn that 2 deputies & a K9 had been shot in that area of Lakeland (yes, where I live).  The man hunt was on.  It is almost 24 hours later, and they're still looking for the asshole who did this.

What pisses me off the most?  This deputy who died yesterday was shot MULTIPLE times, after having fallen to the ground from the first shot.  The dog is dead, also.... and the other deputy was released this morning from the hospital.

Turns out, the deputy who died was a friend of my brother in law.

We had a local charity event to attend last night... much to my surprise he showed up though most definately effected strongly by the news of his friend's death.

Crappy day/night.  I feel for the officer's families.

Hopefully they track the jackass down & kill him... screw the judicial process in this case (in my opinion.)

*sigh*

Ah JUST IN!  

They think that is EXACTLY what JUST happened!  Let us hope!

How did I never know there really IS Hell on Earth?  More specifically, Hell, Michigan.  Go figure.

Well, so far I'm still alive... or, well, still breathing....

Stress levels are rediculous.  Last time I was THIS stressed, I literally ended up in the ER with a mini-stroke.  Let us hope that doesn't happen again.

Nothing much to say, at the moment... just tired, frustrated and over-thinking lots of things.  Same ole, same ole.

Must get more artwork done.  I slowed down this past week, a bit - lots of ideas, just haven't been allowed the TIME to do anything.  

Got some new cards done, will list them here & there this week - hopefully I'll get some sales moving again.  It's been a slow few weeks for sales - though I have listed more crap than I had in months.  It sucks.  Barely breaking even at the moment & that's just NOT good.

Oh well, I'm off - things to do..............blah.