Be Happy Anyway

Be Happy Anyway
From Brave Girls Club

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Happy St. Patrick's Day

It was a beautiful day in Missouri today.

We decided to see what Kansas City had to offer us on this day of the wearing of the green. Let me tell you, the "Irish" were out in full force today at the city's 40th annual parade. The streets were packed and EVERYONE had on green. They really go full force in this town even though the majority of people in this neighborhood are not Irish. But on St. Patrick's Day everyone is Irish.
My patient waiters.

We had to park the car pretty far away and take a nice hike through a part of the city that is definitely loaded with "character." We finally were able to scout out a spot where we could lean against a fence since there was no room for chairs by the time we arrived. There were so many interesting people walking by that it made the time up until the parade move quickly. However, being a Texas girl where they do things big even in the smallest of towns, I was a little bored with the most of the parade and left a little early. The best part for sure were the Irish dancers and the bagpipe corps that came through near the beginning.
For some reason bagpipes always make me cry a little.


After leaving the parade, we made our way to a dinosaur expo in Overland Park. I had been hearing about it for several weeks and thought it would make a nice beginning to the kids' spring break. I only had my cell phone with me to take pictures as the memory card in my camera was full with James's 1st grade school performance.

Although the show wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be and they "nickle and dimed" the attendees  in order to participate in the truly "fun" things like the bounce house, face painting, dino golf and such, the kids had fun seeing the different animatronic creatures.






Now the day is winding down and I am looking forward to a relaxing evening of putting my feet up, editing an article for the upcoming premiere issue of FEATURING magazine and maybe finding where I hid the chocolate. (The hunt is half the fun.)

Monday, March 12, 2012

The Ups & Downs

March is said to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. Well, if that is so, I would like to see the lamb please, and I don't mean meteorologically. What exactly do I mean?

Well, many of you know I have been on the never ending hunt for a job that will suit my current fiscal needs. I am thankful for the job I have currently, but if I am to move on with my life's plans, there will need to be a significant change in personal income. For this reason, I started applying for teaching jobs back in Texas. Twice now, I have been presented with what I have thought were good teaching opportunities. The latest one was such a sure thing, that I almost rented the moving truck and started calling the rental agency that manages my house and told them, take the house off the market. It's a good thing I didn't because said job was given to someone who had lost her position within the same district and had to be given the job due to contractual obligations. The people who planned on hiring me were very sorry. What a let down. I definitely felt like March's lion had taken his giant paw and gave me a big swipe across my backside. Boy did my pride hurt. So it is back to the drawing table.

In the meantime, I continue to workout at the gym and make new friends and take pictures of my food. So let's focus on that while I let my backside heal and wait for that saving lamb to come and rescue me.

Where to begin...Let's start with these strawberries:
 Mmmmm. Juicy.

 Although much smaller than I have been buying (new on left, older one on the right) they are definitely much sweeter and that makes my quest to eat more fruit much easier to do.



Then we have this fine specimen of a sandwich/wrap:
I am including the nutritional information. It was so delicious, I wanted another and possibly could have had one except I would like to have decadent cheeseburger for dinner tonight.
The numbers mean: 224 cal, 31carbs, 7 gm fat, 15 gm protein. (Calories calculated using Sparkpeople.com)

Finally let's wrap this post up with some positivity through art. I regularly receive emails from the Art House Co-op in New York. I love all the different projects that they have to offer, and many of them are free. I recently signed up to participate in a 4x6 swap (sorry registration is closed but there are others.) I pondered what to make and then resorted to my old friend, tissue paper.

First I dropped tan and dark red acrylic paint on aquarelle paper and moved it around with an old credit card. After the paint dried (maybe on completely,) I cut some pieces of yellow, pink and orange tissue paper and used modpodge for paper to glue it down. (That layer DID have to dry completely.) Then I broke out the black and white Sharpie poster markers and
I added some doodles with my Permapaque pen and a white Jelly Roll pen, both from Sakura.

It didn't come out the way I planned, but most of my projects rarely do. It is now wending it's way through the US Mail System to Brooklyn, NY to be swapped with some random artist's 4x6. I can't wait to see what I get in return.

FINALLY...Yes, I know I said I would end with the art, but I have one more announcement to share.

In case you haven't signed up with FEATURING Magazine to get updates on the publication's progress (What are you waiting for??), then listen up. The FEATURING Store is now open and you may purchase a spot on the back of the magazine to display your artwork or order the premiere issue that will be coming out in April. For more information, click here.

Today is a beautifully sunny day and it brings hope of greater things to come. Here's to taking chances.
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