More Cosas (stuff)

Here are my little boxes, again, something a little different. I found all these little wooden boxes in a bin under my work table. I had ordered them years ago when I was still painting or baummaleri, a type of German toll painting. I just had to do something with

them, hence these little creations. I will have them up on my Etsy, but if anyone is interested in perhaps deciding they can't live without something here among all my little cuties I have displayed today, including the items on the other 2 blog entries, just leave me a comment. Have a great weekend. Peace out.

The Fortune Teller-Sra. Jesusita

This little lady has a story. Actually, it's my story, it happened to me. I was about 16 and one of my friends heard about a fortune teller in the Sunset Heights area of town, now a hysterical landmark. It turned out she lived next door to a really good friend of mine. My friend's family house was built by Henry Trost, a protege of Frank Lloyd Wright. Ok, I digress, anyway, we drive to this woman's house expecting someone a bit more, well, fortune teller looking. This Mexican woman, who's English was limited, answered the door wearing a bright coloured house dress, a ragged tunic on her head and what really impressed me, was her choker pearl necklace...what a riot! She was covered with a bit of make-up and at her age, I would say less is more!! I don't know if her house was also a Trost house, but it was really something else. My friend and her 2 friends, goofs if you ask me but they were public school types!!!!! LOL I was a Catholic school girl at the time, wearing my school uniform to a fortune tellers house....the bishop lived close by!!! hahahaha!!!

So we enter this house straight out of the Victorian era and she had death masks on her wall in this room she took us into...that creeped out the girls....I was in awe...go figure. She took us individually and I chose to be last because my eyes needed time to soak up all the wonderful antiques and somewhat ghoulish taxidermy in the outer room. Then it was my turn. It was an enclosed glass room within the room...very cool! She did have a major distraction, a parrot that flew around in the room and at one point, decided to land on my head...maybe that explains why I'm not much of a birdie person. She told me who I would marry. Now I was 16 as green as they come, hadn't had a legitimate date yet and she was telling me who I was going to marry...oh paleezzz!!

She told me he would be a tall, blond, good-looking man a bit older than I. I just poo-p00ed the the whole thing, because I liked tall, dark men with light eyes, so that wasn't going to happen. Well, a couple of years later, I thought I had met my dream, a tall, dark, crystal green eyed, gorgeous NY Italian fresh out of West Point. Well, that didn't happen. A few months later, when I was almost 19, I was set up with a blind date; he needed a date to a friends wedding...now how cliche is that???!?!?!?!? He came to my door and there he stood, this tall, blond, good-looking Tennessean...I was doomed! Well, fast forward to the present, I'm no longer married to the Tennessean...made my life hell for those last couple of years of marriage, but I'm waaaay over it. I'm now happily married to my sweet man who went to the local Catholic boys high school that no longer exists. Needless to say, a few years ago during my seperation, I had my palm read at a baseball game...the guy was sitting behind me and his friend was a tarot card read. I made an appointment to see her and she told me I'd be divorced by the end of the year...I protested and told her, in so many words, that she was full of it...I had all expectations of a reconciliation (and Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny were going to officiate when we renewed our vows). Well, she was right about one thing, I was divorced by the end of the year, but the following year.

So I no longer visit soothsayers and just chalk it up to luck on their part!! I don't want to know my future, I'm happy with now and maybe an hour from now, but that's as far as I'll go. I take each day as a gift and an adventure. Peace out.

Some of the Newest STuff

Drum roll please...here it is, 2 weeks worth of work, well maybe longer if you include the time going into the fortune teller. Now, there's a story behind the fortune teller, but first, let me assure you that my doll-making
days are not over. I'm just doing a little playing around with these little wooden ladies. There is an artist that lives across the river from me, and she makes armies of these little dollies and has made quite a name for herself, she also does other really cute things, but I don't think I could make "armies," since I know I'd become just a tad bored after awhile. On the smaller ones, I drilled holes on top of their little heads to make Halloween ornaments. I'm going to spray paint my little Christmas tree black and make a Halloween tree...just hope the darn thing doesn't melt on me when I begin to paint. Well, seeing how I'm obviously limited to how many pics I can display, I'll continue this on another page.

Monster in the Closet Swap

Well, Hallo-weenie to you all. Just got an email from that wonderful gal, Zan Asha. She's having yet another swap, but instead of little sea beauties, she's asking us to make the scariest little doll that best represents what lived under our beds or closets as children. For my little creatures, it was a matter of survival. They had to "squeesh" themselves between shoes, socks, toys, lost homework, and who knows what else. At least my mother didn't have to contend with maggots and scorpions...that's another story for later.

So if any of you are interested, just click on the badge to your right for the rules and regulations. rules...regulations?????? We don't need no stinkin' rules and regulations! Hey, we're going to be swapping with someone else, so best foot forward!! Hope you join up and I know you'll have a blast....I sure did with her last swap and I received an absolutely adorable little star fish in return...she sits right here on my desk. Peace out.

Correction

Thanks to Abi at abimonroe.blogspot.com, the link to art for autism doesn't work...so I'm going to try this again, artnowforautism.com. For some reason, neither won't link up for me, but just type it into your URL and I promise, you'll get there. Please read some of the articles as to what these wonderful people are doing. And again, if you feel you'd like to donate some art work, we would all appreciate it. Peace out.

Shrines, Cheese & Life

I have a few things I want to show you, but I still haven't gotten my butt into the living room to take those pics...some biddness woman I am!!! I'm planning on doing lots more in the next day or two and will begin to post my babies on my Etsy or here...who ever wants to buy them first...I'm not particular!!

Yesterday I went shopping with the "Baba," my mother, that's her grandie name. We went to the St. Jude shrine, a small little room next to the St. Jude Church in the Upper Valley here in El Paso. Every time St. Jude answers one of her prayers or sometimes he does it in bunches, we go to the shrine. This one was for our little Sammy...my little grandson that came just a bit earlier than expected. Well, even though we have surpassed the 3 digit weather now, low 90's this week, it's still hotter than hell in that little room. Imagine several rows of religious candles all lit and emitting heat from those glass jars sitting in metal candle stands....hot cross buns-hot!!!!!! I swear, you can bake bread in that little oven...er, shrine. After giving thanks and asking the Big Guy to watch over family and friends, I was ready to high tail it out...you don't have to be in menopause to have a hot flash in there!!!

Later, we went to this little grocery store down the road from the shrine. It's typically a little ma & pa store catering to the Mexican population's taste in food and culture, moi included! We bought bananas, avocados, fruit, spices in little bags, bolio (Mexican rolls), pan dulce (sweet bread for dunking in coffee or milk), Mexican white cookies, polvorones (coloured cookies that melt in your mouth...lard is so versatile!), and asadero, this wonderful white string cheese that's this little wheel of plain heaven...I used it last night on our chile relleno burritos...I get the goose bumps just thinking about it!!

What I'm getting at, is that when we loaded up the car with our spicy and creamy treasures, my mother gasped at how we were going to keep the cheese cool while we continued running errands: "You know you're a beaner when...you put your asadero in your purse to keep it cool while you do more shopping!!!" Oey vey!!! It fell out at Hobby Lobby while I was ready to pull out my wallet and instead, my cheese fell onto the counter...I made no comment or reacted, just stuck it back in my purse and took out my debit card!!

It's time for me to get into that studio and get to work. I will be posting pics soon...as soon as I get my butt into the living room, for now, it's the studio. Peace out.

DEE-TEE-REE

Oh my, I forgot to mention the site...thought the button would do it, but I was slimed (love that movie)!! So here it is....artnowforautism.com.

Well, it's off to the studio and do some work....yea!!! Peace out.

Art For Autism

I'm a follower of Marie Zeleny of theplayoflightandshadow.blogspot.com and enjoy her zany, funny work and attitude...hmm, wonder why!! After reading her experience with her own son who is autistic, I decided to write her with a brief history of my own. My 23 year old son, Ian, autistic. He is now living with his father, in the same city of course, and I see him quite often. I'm going to have him for almost all this week.

Anywhooo, I'm going to donate some of my little crazies for the auction. I'm not a "cause" sort of person, but when it comes to something that has touched my heart and soul, as autisim does, I feel profoundly proud to help out. So if any of you are interested, please go to the site, click on the picture above, and help out. More to come later...peace out, y'all!!

Hatch Chiles

My brother brought me back two bags full of Hatch chiles or "peppers" to so many of you. Hatch is this little town just a couple of hours up the road from here, in New Mexico. They grow the best chiles in the world!!! This time of year you can go to any grocery store, including national stores, and find them selling them in burlap bags and roasting them right on the premises. I love the smell...the ancient scent of the gods!!! I know, I'm such a beaner, but that's how it makes me feel every time I hear the sizzle of the roaster and the smell that exudes from the metal cages as the heat singes the skins...wow, when did I become so poetic???!?!?!?!?!? See what these lovelies do to me?????

I'm taking them over to my mother's so her maid can roast them for me. Frankly, I hate roasting them because it's such hot work, even if done outside on our grill...it's friggin' hot work!!!! I'll pay for that service!!! Besides, my mother has central air conditioning that helps the heat index in the house...we still have the ol' swamp cooler!!! Also, I promised my mother I'd also take her some tomatoes from our garden...she loves the little cherry tomatoes and she's run out.

I am bound and determined to go into the studio today and start on some new work. I'm also planning on redoing my Etsy shop with new shipping prices and adding new work, so go visit me and buy something fab-u-lous!!!! Peace out.

My Babies

Well, there they are, The Penis Posse...all four of them! They look so angelic, don't they...NOT!!! I captured their true essence LOL!!! Actually, the angelic one is still too young to strut his stuff, but give him time...that poor cat and dog, especially the cat!!!

Got some work done in my studio yesterday but haven't taken pics yet...paint still drying. I began some work before leaving for Austin, so now that all are complete, I can move on to more fun stuff. I found this self hardening clay that can be thrown on the potters wheel, so I can't wait to plug in my ol' wheel and try some throwing. It's bee about 4 years since I've thrown and I know I can't move the amount of clay I used to, but I'll start slowly. It will be fun to do that again. My slab roller is now a holding table for junk, but I should clean that off and do some slab work. I've become pretty good and hand building, example, my dolls, but to do some real ceramic work would be great. I have a kiln, an old electric, but I don't have a place to put in in my house, so it sits in my mother's garage till then.

Today my mother and I are going to the cemetery to visit my Pop. He comes by every so often in my dreams, so he's always in my thoughts...and dreams. My mother has a doc's appointment at 3:30 and has asked me to stay and take her since she doesn't want to fight the traffic later on..don't blame her, now if I can get someone to take both of us so we don't have to fight the traffic!!! LOL

Well, it's time for me to close up here. I'm excited about the next few days....it will all be studio work, so hooray for me!!! Peace out.

I'm Home

Home and just beat!!! Found a great diet...the Blizzard/Kruk diet....visit grandchildren, 9, 7 &4, do their laundry, clean their bathrooms, pick up after them, intervene their sibling spats, watch hours of Pink Panther cartoons and Kung Fu Panda, then make their meals and by the time it's your turn to eat, your too damn tired to open your mouth!!! Oh yes, endure the screaming attacks of a 4, almost 5, year old who wants a drink of water or say goodnight to mommy even though he did a gazillion times!!! Add sleeplessness to that diet plan too!!!

Well post pics of my boys and my new little grandson soon. I'm going back to bed. Peace out and goodnight!!!

Update

Hi All,

Have a few minutes to update you on my little Sammy. He came home from the NICU on Sunday evening and I fell instantly in love. He's so tiny and sweet and looks a lot like his daddy. I told my daughter that she took after me, our genes disappear when we conceive...they end up looking like the daddy!!! She had a very difficult pregnancy and all for the little guy looking like daddy!!!! Oh well, Michael is a cutie anyway, so that's a good thing!! LOL

I've been working my tush off doing laundry, making 3 meals...ok, maybe 2, but I've forgotten how much laundry they circulate and food they eat. Last night I roasted 2 fairly large chickens....was looking forward to a chicken sandwich for today....can't get much meat out of two chicken wings!!! Yikes!!! Anyway, I'm just glad I can help out and take some of the load off my daughter.

She was worried that she might lose her job at her school, due to some problems with the T.E.A. and this particular school. Long story short, her job is secure and she can return anytime she wants....great news since she was looking at starting somewhere else in January with no pay or health insurance till then. I say, "Praise God!!" and the Austin Ind. School District!!!

Am escaping from here for a few hours tomorrow. My dearest buddy, Irene, will be picking me up and we'll do a little shopping....need to do some birthday shopping for my almost 5 year old, Zach, and buy Andria a large pan....you don't appreciate what you have in your kitchen, till you cook elsewhere!!! LOL

I'll be returning to El Paso Friday afternoon and will miss my babies but life goes on until I see them the next time. Will add pics of my little Austin family next time. Thank you for all your prayers and good thoughts...I greatly appreciate it and am thankful for my wonderful Internet friends...God bless you all.

New Work

Here are the latest little things I've been making as of late. Doesn't seem like much, but I have to beg, borrow and steal time to do some work in my studio. My family is very important to me, so they always come first.

Anyway, I thought making Halloween ornies would be fun to make and reasonable to sell. I told my step-daughter about Halloween trees and she got all excited about putting one up for our little Aiden. I told her I'd contribute to her tree...can't wait to see when she's done with her creation.

The above are little ornies for the tree or even to hang on your rear view mirror...I know, I'm such a beaner, but I have a little skelly man hanging from my mirror and a crazy, insane wonderful Serbian lady in IN also has one of my creations hanging from her rustmobile, as she calls it!!! The lower 2 are just fun little things: I made a small painting of a ballet prima dona on stage and one of my can people. I'll be listing them on my Etsy page soon.

An update on my little Sammy, he's off the ventilator and breathing on his own, but he's far from coming home. My daughter comes home today and I want her to just rest. I told her that my intentions for going to visit were not to see Sammy, that will wait till Sept., but to care for my other little members of the Penis Posse. I told her I needed to stop at a Michael's or Hobby Lobby to pick up supplies for my long stay. I doubt I can take my sculpture tools even if I pack them in my bag I hand over which is then quickly opened, things tussled and a sweet little note saying you're bag has been profiled...er...searched. I've always been the one pulled out of the line...the last time that happened, I was so furious and frustrated because it was always me, I walked on to my gate and told my friends to just call me "F***in' Mahmoud!!" I digress, so I'm going to pick up a few things so I'll have something to do other than rile my boys up then beat them...Just Kidding...I don't beat them, I lock them up in a dark closet!!!!! I figured if I took my tools, they'd be removed and if I took some paper clay, they'd think it was explosive plastique, so why bother.

I'll keep you posted once I get there; luckily, they have a nice 'puter. Peace out.

Austin Bound

I'll be a bit out of contact the next week. Our Sammy entered this world just a bit too early, however, he was coming anyway, come hell or high water. He has been transferred to a special children's hospital in Austin. I'll be leaving this Friday to be with my babies to care and make sure Andria and Michael can spend as much time with our little Sammy as much as possible. Please pray for them...this is just so upsetting. Hopefully, all will go well...my mother has a watts line to St. Jude and I know she's already started praying...wow, watts line...showing my age!! LOL Anyway, please pray for my little family in Austin and pray my little Sammy comes home soon. Peace out.

Sammy

I'm a nervous wreck!!!! My little Samuel Alexander Nichols is on his way. My daughter called last night to tell me she was i-vied and ready to get this moving. I half expected a text of some sort to update me this morning, but nothing. I had to go get my mammogram (squeeesh) and was hoping I'd have a message of some sort when I was through.

Long story short, she's dilated 5 cm and was given something for her discomfort...her hubby told me she was asleep and that he was very worried. This is his first but her 4th, so she's a pro at this. I told him not to worry and get some sleep...he'll need it!!!!

So here I wait for some news...am even biting my nails and I haven't done that since I was 5 years old!!! This is the first birth that I will not be in attendance since she now lives in Austin, and I'm here in El Paso. I decided to visit them in late September...already made my flight reservations.

I'm segwaying a bit, but the other day I was watching a comedian on the Comedy Channel and he was talking about being present at his child's birth. He said people don't usually think about how big 10cm is till you see your child being born. I laughed so hard I almost fell off the couch...really funny guy!! Funny to hear a man's view on watching the birth of his children. My now ex told me when he was there for the 3rd child, my Ian, he said I was very hostile with him....well, you try blowing a baby grand piano out of a space no bigger than your nostrils!! I do recall telling him to stop rubbing my leg, which was towards the end of the delivery...he kept rubbing it; I assume it was just a nervous act, but I finally told him if he didn't stop, I'd rip his right arm off and shove it up his....well, you know the rest!!!

Just glad my baby making days are over, but now have to worry about my baby girl having her baby. Peace out.

Doctors

As you can tell, this is a sculpture of a gynecologist with his patient. I made this last December for a client who wanted something entertaining and a conversation piece in her husband's office. I would say this little sculpture represents both and then some. The reason I re-posted these photos is due to the fact I went to visit mine this past Wednesday. I received a post card from them a couple of weeks back giving me directions to their new location. The building looked awfully familiar but I just couldn't place it even though, the address was plainly there...still couldn't let go of the grey cells that control that part of the memory.

When I arrived, lo and behold, it hit me...the little gray matter was almost falling out of my nose because I was laughing so hard. I couldn't believe it, there it was, memories of my youth, it was the old Kappa Sigma frat house!!!! And on the other side of them was the old Tri Delts...oh, this was just too good to be true!!!! Both building are now being occupied by OB-GYN's!!!! So much fodder for jokes...I was falling all over myself just waiting to get a dialogue going with the staff.

I started with the woman who took my vital signs and the whole conversation deteriorated from there. We were laughing so hard, the receptionist and doctor had to come out and see what was going on...entirely too much laughter, so it peeked their curiosity...they didn't want to miss out! The receptionist already knew it was the old KS house, but never was invited in. I told her one of my old boyfriends was a frat brother of this group and of course the questions came streaming from wild parties to the sluts who used to be regulars....myself not included in that category!! I told them I went to a couple of parties, saw a lot of effects of liquor but always remaind downstairs where the party was, never went upstairs to the room...I was always a nice girl. I told them that years later, this boyfriend came out and I had always suspected, but he just wouldn't admit to it...he became quite a man-whore during his youth...girls were always around him. Oh well, I'm just glad that he's happy now and have invited him and his partner out for drinks.

OK, I digress. Anyway, we thought it was hilarious at the fact they were old Greek houses and that the children conceived at that time in those rooms were either parents already or having babies now. Sweet delight. I harbour no ill-will towards those members even though the woman in Greek organizations didn't like the G.D.I.'s (Goddamn Independents) but colour me a G.D.I. I was not sorority material! Peace out.