 |
| This is how I read in bed |
My granddaughter Kayla told me on Sunday while we were out to lunch on Sunday that she was going to summer school starting the next day. She hadn't mentioned it before. She told me she might stay with a friend during that time to cut the walking down (though it isn't much further from where she was going to school). Later that evening she texts me and says she has to register Monday morning and I tell her I would sleep in, but she says she has to be there by 7:00 am. I panic thinking can I even do this? If I stretch myself too far, I'm going to crash, but I agree and have to set two alarms because I'm afraid I'll miss one of them. Of course I don't, but I drag myself out of bed, put on the coffee and text her back (this is the way the kids want to communicate- they have taught me how to do this). "You better be ready, because I'm picking you up at 6:45. She texts me back saying she doesn't have to be there until 7:20 and to pick her up at 7:10. I think I could have had more sleep! Oh well. I pick her up and we end up in this auditorium with lots of kids and some parents. These are all the ones that didn't get summer school. They were going to have security check each class that was going to say how many could get in. Kayla eventually wanted to sit with her friends and I told her no because I wouldn't know what was going on. She says "You can go", and I asked "Why was I here?", she says "I don't know". Huh! So I left. When I text her later asking if she got in she said there were no spots.
I crawled back in bed because I was really shorted on sleep. I recovered well enough to go to a session. I had an art "class" at the Art and Spirituality Center with Norma Neil. This time it was on flowers. I drew a lily with color pencils.
 |
| Lily |
It was a good group, about nine women. Everybody did different flowers using different styles. Loved it! Relaxing and pleasant conversation at the table. We were going to meet outside and were told to bring a folding chair, a sunhat and water in addition to any art supplies of our own we wanted (they do supply it). Well it was too warm and Norma brought flowers from home and the center had some artificial flowers to work on. One woman brought a big folding chair, but I had an incident when my brother visited that I was exhausted when we went to the county fair. My daughter Shelley found a cane that becomes a seat and I was able to get it during the same day. They are available through Amazon, but I'm sure there are many places to get one. The price range I saw was $22 to $36. Here is a picture of it. It is very light weight, and you can really use it as a cane. I don't need a cane, but I do need a portable chair. You sit on it like a horse, with the cane part in front of you. I highly recommend it, if you need something small and lightweight to rest. It makes a difference. I took it touring Japan.
 |
| Cane Chair |
Tuesday would have been my husband Paul's 73rd birthday if he was still living. He died just before his 66th birthday. When I showed family the "selfie" I took with Paul (the marker at the cemetery), it became an emotional issue for several. I had gone to a friend's remembrance of her mother. They had used sky lanterns and I thought we could do the same, but on his birthday so I would have enough time to order and receive them. Heather and Alyssa had to work so I left the sky lanterns for them to use later with some great left over dessert. Shelley, Kevin, Kayla and Devin participated. It was a little anxiety provoking for Shelley and me because there was a wind. We initially thought of lighting several at one time, but it wasn't a good day for doing that. We watched them float up and eventually go out. Here are some pictures of the event.
and a couple from Alyssa doing it a day later.
 |
| Devin, Kayla, Kevin and Rachel |
 |
| Kevin and Shelley |
 |
| Rachel |
 |
| Alyssa |
 |
| Sky Lantern lit |
 |
| Heather and Wesley putting up a sky lantern |
Carol Bradshaw, my art teacher had asked us to bring in a picture of a beach scene. I had been walking down the beach early in the morning before the tourists got out there. The vendors were setting up. If you wanted to sit here, you would rent the space. This is the picture I brought in from my trip to Costa Rica with a friend. Everything was centered. One thing in art is that you can decide how you want to compose your picture. Carol made black and white copies of my picture, then cut it up and pasted it back together in different ways to see there were multiple pictures to draw out of this one picture. At the 6th time, including the original picture, I found the one I liked. She said we could add things, take them away, whatever worked for the story we wanted to tell. So our assignment for the week was to pick the one we wanted, then transfer our drawing to good paper with just an outline. The following week we would work on the marks that would give it dimension and true feeling. This is the original picture.
So now I have taken my pictures to The Art and Spirituality Center and have been drawing it and deciding what I'll do with it. Norma Neil drops by because she has a friend in surgery and doesn't want to wait in the waiting room (I don't blame her). I show her what I'm working on and she suggests beach "things" to add and draw attention to the umbrella and the person there. So I decided on the footprints mainly, but I also put in a beach ball. I decided against the beach towel (harder for me to draw). So I moved the umbrella and chairs to the left, the islands are not on the same plane, the spacing is changed. There is someone in the chair where the footprints lead and there is a beach ball. I'll be adding a couple of seagulls. Next session will be fill in to give dimension and more interest.
My grandson Billy came with his girlfriend Meaghan and their son Conner for lunch. He is such a cutie!. Well they announced to me that they are getting married on July 5th and they want me to be there. On further discussion my role got bigger and I offered to have the wedding at my home if they do all the work set up and clean up. They said they asked a friend to do their pictures, but she was going to charge them $700 (which is reasonable if they are well done and she isn't your best friend), but they don't have the money. Since I have done many of my kids weddings I said I would with a caveat, I'm not a professional, I cut one of the groom's head off in several pictures and I have this problem now where I have to go to sleep because I have reached my maximum amount of excitement. If they were willing to deal with that and we could take some wedding pictures away from this setting, I would do it. We settled on doing pictures, the Monday after the wedding at Central Park in the morning. Of course, I'll do my best to get some nice pictures of the wedding ceremony and the guests. I also got a ticket for Ronda Sheldon, my daughter and Billy's mom to come out for the wedding. That is now set. Billy called and said grandmother Sherran Toy is a minister and she would be doing the wedding which will all be in the backyard. Meaghan's mom, Dainette Toy will be coming to see what everything looks like to figure out how she would do the event. She will organize and I think round up people to help her. I think it will be a full meal, because they wanted to know my dressing. By the way, everyone asks me this. It is Good Seasons Italian Dressing using plain rice vinegar and the best olive oil you can use. Then I get a bag of mixed lettuces, grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half, a handful of broken walnuts and a handful of raisins or dried cranberries and cheese such as Gorgonzola, Blu Cheese or Feta Cheese, something that is crumbly. Don't put all the dressing on, just enough to coat it at the last minute before serving it. It's like you want to keep them coming back for more. I gave Billy a lot of pictures of his mom (some of me and my family), and pictures I have received of his while growing up. We swapped stories and now he has some to share with his children about his background when they are older. A couple of pictures from that day. Ronda is bringing a lot of pictures for Billy when she comes. It will be a good event. How could it not be?
 |
| On Good Paper |
 |
| On Tracing Paper |
 |
| Rachel and Conner |
 |
| Billy and Conner |
So I had dinner with my friend Janet who feels I am drifting away and not present with her when we get together. I thought that was probably true that evening, but I think I feel overwhelmed and I have to take more breaks. As my grandson Billy said, "Grandma Rachel each week you say you are going to slow down, but each week you say 'it's been a busy week', and I think you only said you rested one week". Smart guy. He is right. I really can't keep this pace up. But, I keep thinking I'm going to miss something. It also has been a big period of memorable occasions which I think has to let up. I don't want to miss them. If I could only put everything on my schedule and space them reasonably for me! But that isn't how it works. On Saturday, I stayed home and primarily worked on this blog. I do enjoy doing that. I just can't be ON all the time. I don't do well with that.
My friend Barbara Long came over today. She picked up a vegetarian sandwich at Subway and brought a bottle of Cabernet she picked up at Korbel in Sonoma County (I thought they only did champagne!). It was their cellar selection and delicious! She went up for five days on her own, seeing family she hasn't seen in like forever and seeing the areas where she lived as a young child. She is also working on her geneology and continues to get more information whenever she travels. It sounded like a great trip, but she, like me, need time to recover from these events. It was a good story to hear. Below is a selfie of Barbara Long and me.
 |
| Barbara Long and Rachel Jerdin |
This was a blog published in the New York Times about living with cancer that is chronic by Susan Gubar. Very good.
Living with Cancer, Chronic, Not Cured
Here is a site on the internet. This information is helpful for those having lost someone important to them.
The Grief Toolbox
The Huffington Post on May 31, 2014 had an article on a mom making these teddy bears for her children. It turned fallen soldier's uniforms into teddy bears for mourning children. Don't forget the kids in the grieving process.
Turn Fallen Soldiers Uniform into Teddy Bears
I think that is enough for this week. I am going to try to get at least one day a week that I don't go out. I'll see if that helps me more. Thanks for reading and pass this to people you think might be interested. See you next Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment