La Llorona Arts: August 2012

Well, how the hell is everyone??? I know, I've been gone a bit, but I have a good reason...blogger sucks!! I was unable to get my page back and my all the wonderful people I follow. I really don't know what happened, but I decided to return today and here I am, back into the fold. Who knows about tomorrow, but tomorrow is another day...ok, Scarlett O'Hara said it first, but she was sooo right!!

So what have I been doing lately, well not much, other than artwork and doing some reading. I know I should keep a diary or keep some account of stuff that pops into my head, good fodder for writing about it, but I forget that too. I think the last time I posted any artwork was back in June...now my past. I have been working on the cocohead dolls and framed heads and I think I've finished what I began back in May, but I'll have to check that out, since my studio right now looks as if someone threw a hand grenade in there and shut the door.

It's just been too hot to clean my studio and I still don't have refrigerated air conditioning, so I'm still dealing with that swamp cooler and a gazillion oscillating fans, thanks to a fabulous fan sale at Walmart last month. When the rest of the country was roasting, actually, we here in the Southwest were having some nice weather, well, at least they weren't in the 3 digits, but now that August is here, summer's back....pinchi August. What's such a big deal about August, it's a boring month, except for you young mommies who are finding your budget being challenged buying all those "must-have" school supplies...oy, how I remember those days!! And do kids use lunch boxes anymore??? I remember an array of lunch boxes stacked up in my garage many years ago in my other life....Hello Kitty, Batman, and ugh, Barney...I hate the purple puppet and now my 3 year old grandson, Sammy, loves him...I really believe that purple thing is sending out subliminal messages to our toddlers...my daughter obediently gives him his "coookies and Jews (juice) in order to get him to bed for a nap...see, I told you so!!

I'm returning to Austin, again, in late October. When my 3 older grandsons were here visiting their father, I had them for a day. In conversation, I told them I would like to return to Austin in Oct. or Nov. they unanimously said for me to come for Halloween, so I shall be doing the Trick-or-Treat thing in Austin this year. Should be fun and bring back memories of my own trek around the neighborhood with my little changelings all those many years ago, but this time, I won't be able to ransack their candy!! They'll probably have it booby-trapped and I'm diabetic now, so that fun is over!! I'll be staying for the first week of Nov., hoping I'll be able to catch the Dia de los Muertos parade and shenanigans on S. Congress St. that first Sat. Then it's off to spend a couple of days with my ol' buddy, Renie and "El Blue Eyes." Have a story about ol' Jim, Renie's hubby and how he got that name.

Many years ago while I was very active in my kids elementary school, I was room mother coordinator, and a member of the PTA, where I met Renie. She joined the PTA with me and we both were the "hospitality" ladies, since we were so hospitable!! LOL The year before, I would stand out with my buddies from the volunteer group, a rambunctious group of crazy Latina women, some from this side of the river and others from the other side. Anyway, we began noticing this premature graying man, actually, his hair and beard were all white, and he had these incredible blue eyes, hence the name, "El Blue Eyes." Every time we'd see him come, he was either holding a darling, cherubic faced blue-eyed little blond baby boy and/or holding the hand of another equally adorable little 4 year old. Once the kids came out, we lost our focus on "El Blue Eyes," and began looking for our own little cherubs...OY! Well, one volunteer appreciation luncheon, actually later on that year, our teachers and staff thew us this nice little meal and gave out door prizes and such. Renie had to leave early since she was in the process of working and attending school for her real estate license. I told her if she won anything, I would take it to her house after school. Well, low and behold, she won a door prize, so I did what I told her I'd do, I went to her house, which was pretty close to the school. I approached the door, rang the bell and who, to my hu-eg surprise answered the door, "EL BLUE EYES!!" I handed him the prize and weaved back and forth to my car...so Renie was married to "El Blue Eyes!!!!???" Anyway, when she called later to thank me, I told her the story and we both laughed till we cried. Fast forward this past May when I was in Austin visiting again, one evening all her children, all 4 of the 5, were there joining us for dinner, Renie told me to tell them the story of "El Blue Eyes." Poor Jim, I don't think life has been the same since I told the kids the story about how their dad was a blue-eyed icon for a bunch of crazy Mexican ladies!!

Well, it's getting late and my Chihuahuas are really getting on my nerves about feeding them...don't get it, they get the same stuff every day and they still look forward to it...we should all learn from them!! LOL Before I go, I want to leave you with the latest little cocohead dolls and a pic of my adorable, Zoe (umlaut over the e). She's almost 7 month and just a bundle of shear adorableness, but then, she's my granddaughter so I can brag!!