Remember Me???

Hello Fellow Bloggers, it's been a while. I thought I had so much to tell you, and for some reason, I can't remember a darn thing!! I was reading one of my favorite blogs yesterday and she talked about just tuning out some of this tech stuff because it is addictive, right? Since my mother's illness, I have found it's real easy to tune and turn off.

Speaking of my mother, she's doing lots better. She seems to be slowly returning to her ol' self, finally. She does have an ability to be a bit "chiplona," with my brother, though. "Chiplona" (pronounced, cheeplona) means being a bit whiny. Well, he falls for it, but not I. I told her the other day that her house, as mine, are "Chiplona-Free" environments! I just don't do well around "chiplonas!" Anyway, she decided she didn't want to make meals for herself anymore, so I'm making some meals for her and my brother will take something over to her too so she can just reheat in the microwave. We've also told her no more driving on major streets.

I've been noticing lately that there seems to be more careless drivers in this city. A lot of these drivers aren't from here, not even from this country, but since the violence erupted across the river from us, lots of the citizens have moved here to get away from the terror that grips the once beautiful Cd. Juarez in Mexico. They have also brought with them their once thriving businesses to this side of the border. We've had an explosion of so many wonderful and exotic restaurants and shops that's it's been great for our economy, plus, they give much to the community. Unfortunately, many of them also have brought with them their bad driving habits, as if West Texas and Southern New Mexico don't have enough of their own! LOL It can be really dangerous out there sometimes and you have to drive always, and I mean always, with extreme caution. I recall when I was in Mexico City many years ago, the guys that were driving us around would honk as they approached a stop sign...they didn't stop, but honked as a warning to those that had the right of way!! Yeppers, that was pretty scary at times. My uncle told me once that in Mexico you don't watch the person in front, but the one behind you...again, pretty scary. LOL

Well, anyway, now that she's not driving much, I've been officially been given the job of chauffeur. My brother, who recently retired from the D.O.D, thinks that art-making isn't a job, so I need one, another one. I don't have problems with driving Miss Daisy, never has been since 1979, but to be told that I'm to care for her in that capacity, well, let's just say that chaps my hide and I've told him so. My husband asked me if she's just gotten that way but since I've always been around, it's just what it is. After I graduated from college in '05, I couldn't find employment here and since I did get a B.A. in Art, well why not put that talent to work, right??

Many of you are artists and know that this profession or rather, passion can be a sinking ship at times. We don't go into it expecting to make lots of money, unless you happen to be in the right place at the right time and have a gazillionaire patron....what are the chances for that?? But we love what we do and I'll admit, I sometimes resent others taking away my time for what I love to do. Last week I was frazzled from caring for my mother, taking her to doc appointments, making meals, visiting with her, taking her on some errands. I hadn't had any time in the studio and I was really getting agitated, then add the crap from my brother, well, I was ready to just kill something or punch them out at least!! My mother noticed I was a little "da-clempt" and asked me what was wrong. It's very difficult for someone who doesn't possess the artistic passion to understand and I can't think of anything to compare it to her life, or her having to be denied something so very important for one's sanity. The only thing I could think of was her golf.

My folks were avid golfers. My dad was one of the first Mexican-Americans to join the El Paso Country Club...my grandfather established the first country club in Cd. Juarez, so we come from a long line of country clubbers. When I was 16 my mother insisted I learn how to play golf...bor--ing!! She even took me out shopping for golfing outfits. Well, that year, I had to drop geometry because I was failing it miserably (a whole other story), so I took it during the summer. I not only I had a really cute wardrobe, but I aced the course and met lots of cute guys!! Needless to say, I was never approached about it again. As of right now, I am not in a country club, nor do I intend to join one, as a matter of fact, none of my sibs are in one because we have better things to spend our money on. My folks left the club some years back when the new bunches of brats decided that it was unfair for the older members to continue using their standard tee times during the weekends, so they voted all that out. As a result, many of the older members left the club...these were the members that built that club and sustained it with their hard earned cash, unlike these other stinkers who were the products of hard-working parents and brought up with entirely too many privileges, they felt entitled.

Well, enough of the rant. Today we're celebrating my mother's 89th birthday by taking her to a nice local seafood restaurant for lunch. Her real birthday is tomorrow and her old friends are taking her out for lunch. I have been invited and since I'll be taking my car into the shop tomorrow for a new switch, I won't have wheels!! So pray that no one will be nice enough to pick me up!! LOL I want to play in my studio and just relax doing what I love, art-making.

Speaking of art, here's a few samples of what I've been doing in between my sharing my life with family. Let me know what ya think. I found these great paper mache masks at Michaels and make sugar skull designs on them...love they way turned out.



Again, at Michaels, I found these little jointed unfinished wooden skellies that I "girlied" up. I am going to be a grandmother again, but this one will not be part of the Penis Posse...talkin' estrogen finally!! LOL Anyway, with Zoe's impending birth, I'm finding myself doing more "pink." I know, I'll get over it, but till then, I'm having way too much fun!! I took these little ladies down to a little shop that sells all sorts of neat-o stuff. She makes all kinds of adorble bows, tutus, personalized t-shirts and some really great jewelry. If you're looking for some really great girlie stuff, visit her etsy shop under the "Royally Sweet" name as her FB page, so go on over there and hit "like" button, plus, her work is top of the line and at very good prices...amazing prices. She's selling her stuff all over the country right now, so bidness is good for her. Of course, I've already enlisted her into making an tutu for the little Miss Zoe, but told her no rush till next Spring.





Well my lovlies, time for me to go get ready for this birthday soiree. Beleive me when I wonder what to get an 89 year old woman who has everything and if she doesn't, she'll get it, of course, I have to drive her there!! I went to this wonderful Mexican bakery and bought her a selection of her favorite sweet breads...that should do it. Peace out.

Much ADO e-zine coming soon

Just a short one all. Announcing ADO's new e-zine, coming soon or pretty close!! LOL One of our members put this little video together and her brother composed the music. Enjoy!

Still taking care of my mother and spending many hours with her...my creative juices have kinda drained a bit...drained who in the hell knows, but I'm not doing what I love doing, my hey, it's my mom!! She's doing much better and this week we'll find out just exactly what she was treated for since her doc and the ER doc had different opinions...doctor's egos...rolling eyes back to the the edges of my head!! (Heads have edges????)

Have some stuff in the making in my studio and hopefully can complete most of them today and will share with you sometime later on this week. Told mom there was no way in hell I was going to do any shopping for her at Walmart next Monday!! LOL

Have a great week, my friends, and as always, peace out.

Be Back Later

Just a short one, folks. My mother is in the hospital with viral pneumonia and other problems, but hell, at 88 she's doing pretty good. I on the other hand, am not...having to deal with so much stupidity that I'm ready to ram my '99 Intrepid into something or someone!!

So don't think I'm ignoring your posts, well, I'm not really, but just have very little time to read or comment. Hopefully, next week all will be a bit more calm...said something about she being discharged tomorrow, maybe. There's other stuff going on which I shall write about...lots of fodder coming up this weekend!! Mwhahahahahahahahaha!!

Have a great week and write more later...yikes, it's thundering...looks like another 3 minute down-pour. Peace out.

New At Etsy

Just a short one today, folks. I have added my little "Bonita Girls" to my Etsy shop. I have four for sale, but I do take special orders. I know I haven't set up a PayPal account yet...my bad, but please bare/bear with me...my wheels keep on spinning and sometimes, they don't take me anywhere!! Here's the link to my shop or just go over to my Etsy button on the sidebar.http://www.etsy.com/people/barrobabe?ref=si_pr

Hope everyone is having a great week and trying to stay cool or in some places, dry. Wish we could get some of that rain out here in Texas, but then our gov better watch out what you ask for, after that big who-ha prayer revival in Houston, Texas just might drown. However, we out here in far West TX just might not get a drop...we're the freckled faced, red-headed stepchild of TX...New Mexico, want to annex us?? After all your gov is a home girl from El Paso, TX!! LOL

Have a great week and please, check out my stuff over at Etsy!! Peace out.

Dolls, Music & Youthful Memories

The other day I went out and did a bit of shopping even though it meant me descending into the bowels of Hell, but had to "blow off the house stink, " as my ex-mother-in-law used to say. I told my hubby that we were running out of toilet paper, and he replied "his" brand was not on sale. Well, I told him that toilet paper was one of those items you just can't wait for a sale, right?? He's very particular about the kind he prefers, so I trekked out to Target to get a couple of packages. While there I decided I was going to treat myself to some music. My weakness' are music, books and art supplies...I'll take those things over a diamond any day...really! However, with the simplicity and easiness of downloading music off the Internet, it's becoming more and more difficult to find stores that still carry CD's. I like downloading, but if I can buy the CD first, that's the direction I like going. So I went to the music area of Target and they still had a small cache of CD's. The other day, I was singing this song, "Somos," and my son, who doesn't speak Spanish, asked me if I knew the entire song since I was just singing the same lyrics over and over again...told him that's all I remember!! So back to Target, I found this collection by Eydie Gorme. Yes, Eydie Gorme, she sang great and wonderful songs in Spanish. When I was a kid, I recall seeing her and her husband, Steve Lawrence, entertaining at various hotels and clubs in Las Vegas. We used to go there practically every year, after Disneyland. Back then, Vegas was the ultimate mecca for many entertainers (& the Mafia). We always stayed at the Sands, which was razed many years ago. Anyway, I read the song selections and it took me back to the summer 1969, no, not Woodstock, NY, but Mexico City, my summer of love.

That summer I went with my best buddy, Judy, and her mother. They went every year to visit friends and vacation there and Acapulco. That year, my folks gave me permission to go with them after being invited a couple of years before. I was 17 and had just broken up with my boyfriend, so I was ready for new adventures. We stayed at this gorgeous hotel on the Zona Rosa, an area bustling with trendy boutiques, restaurants, and night clubs. On the second day of our stay, that morning we got ready for the day and we all realized we had been robbed...of our underwear, slips and petti-pants (cutsie bloomers). Of course, the hotel was very magnanimous and reimbursed us for our replacements since the only pair of drawers were the ones we were wearing. Judy's mother was so angry at this that she found other accommodations for the 3 of us. As I said, they had lots of friends down there and one of them found this wonderful little flat off La Reforma. There we spent the next month enjoying all the wonders Mexico City had to offer. One of the friends lent us a record player and plenty of vinyls for our listening pleasure. No Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimmy Hendrix, or any of the artists teenagers listened to back in those day, but songs all in Spanish. For some reason, Judy and I gravitated to the Eydie Gorme.

I met quite a few of their friends, one family had 14 kids and all living at home. I recall going over there for lunch, and in the middle of their living room, was this long dining table....filled with all sorts of delicious foods and drinks. A couple of the older sibs were students at the University and were Communists. Yea, real live Commies!! Don't worry, I didn't fall for their propaganda, but it was still exciting for a couple of 17 year olds to be among such a diverse group of people. Upon my return from Mexico City, my mother asked me if I had gone to see the sites, the Pyramid of the Sun, El Zocalo, Xochimilco, etc. I told her I had not, but went to these really cool coffee houses and clubs were Communists hung out!! LOL Ok, also went to a few nice night clubs, not Commie friendly, and danced the night away. We even took a bus ride to Puebla, a very historic city, and stayed with these wealthy people....I remember the guy had the gout and was such a turd!! The bus ride was worth it. We sat in the back with many of the indigenous types...they offered us food and drink from their baskets...making small tacos and burritos and of course, it was all homemade.

We made this stop somewhere in between and this young couple got on, went directly to the back of the bus and quietly sat down. We then heard what we thought sounded like a pig. Well, it was a pig, a piglet and under her shawl, she hid a rooster and a duck wrapped in another shawl....we had a farm in the back of the bus! The bus driver stopped the bus after he heard the piggy oink and asked if anyone was carrying animals, which apparently aren't allowed on the buses. No answer from anyone, but Judy and I had to contain our laughter....tears running down our faces!! LOL

All in all, it was a great adventure for us and one we'll never forget. We still laugh about the time we went to a fortune teller who read a small demitasse cup after drinking a thick coffee concoction. I think there was molasses at the bottom of the cup, which settled after drinking the coffee and then we'd turn it up upside down on the saucer and the molasses would coat the inside of the cup. I was to meet a tall, dark, good-looking stranger with a mole on his cheek. When we arrived in Puebla, these friends of her mother's had sons, who introduced us to their friends. We were "Las bellas del Norte," or the beautiful girls from up North...you could hang your laundry on some of those lines!! A small group of guys walked into the family room and there he was, the guy with the mole on his cheek...Judy and I just broke out into laughter...they never knew what was so funny. I didn't hook up with Mole Boy but the whole incident was hilarious anyway. These guys took us out one evening and introduced us to "chanclas" or better known around here as a "chimichangas." There in Puebla, they were called "chanclas" or slippers in English. In fact, the first time I had a chimichanga, from Taco Hell to boot, I called it a chancla and they looked at me like I was growing lobsters out my ears!! I recall these same young men bought us each a bouquet of roses...11 of them. We wondered what the heck was wrong with them....around these parts we get a dozen, but they told us that the 12th rose was us...oy vey...what schmalz!! Like I said, you could hang your laundry on some of those lines. They told us they liked "las Nortenas," because we had the reputation of being very honest, and did they ever get a truckload of it too!! LOL

When I arrived back home to El Paso, I called my grandfather to thank him for the spending cash he sent me and he began laughing...said he could tell I had been to the "capital" because I was singing in Spanish...apparently the accent down there. Also, while I was gone, my sister decided to marry her psycho boyfriend from CA, so I went from the airport to the seamstress for my dress fitting...nah, it wasn't one of those military weddings, like everyone there had a gun, but she was under the gun to either stay in El Paso and finish out her college or marry the jerk or he would break up with her...too bad she didn't take him up on that offer.

I also purchased the new CD by Adele, "Rolling In The Deep." If you haven't heard of her, look her up on YouTube. That young woman has one hell of a voice and her lyrics are just as powerful...now that's a break up song if I ever heard one.

I have some good news too. After 4 little boys, my daughter and her husband are expecting a girl!! Yea!! They actually went through some kind of process that prepares the system to ready itself for a particular gender. I won't go into it (really funny shit too), but it worked. It will be interesting to see how that household will function with 2 Queen Bees now!! LOL So I went to one of my favorite little shops yesterday and told the owner that come Jan. I want her to make that tutu I've been waiting to order...it's going to sickly sweet....want my teeth to ache!! I just had to buy something for my future little girl, so I got this little headband for her...it will match that little skelly outfit she described to me. Yep, the girl's going to be "skellied" up, just like her older bros.



Speaking of skellies, here are 4 more little skellie ladies I completed last week. Had a blast making them. Luckily, I don't set everything in stone, so I was able to do some changes from my original idea and it turned out lots better.



Today, we're having some friends and family over for a "meatfest." I'm not sure what kind of meat yet, but I'm making a huge batch of potato salad and maybe, if I want to heat up my house, bake some dessert...maybe I'll just go out and buy ice cream. Also, please continue keeping Dana in your prayers or good vibes. This whole thing has been a total travesty and poor little Hunter is scared he's going to lose his mother...I hate lawyers, judges, etc. There is no such thing as a Hall of Justice, but a Hall of Injustice. People can lie on the stand and actually get away with it, judge knowing there's some fudging going on too!!

Well, my friends, hope you have a great weekend and next week be a good one. Take care and as always, peace out.

Love Story, New Doll & Aging

Sunday I was hit with the "I'm so fried and bored," bug that I decided to just sit around all day and waste my precious time on watching television. Why I felt brain fried, well, I really don't know. It's not as if I've been doing anything terribly intelligent that necessitates using lots of brain power, so I chalk it up to the heat and humidity. I have already complained incessantly about our evaporative cooler...an oscillating fan and a spritzer bottle filled with water does a better job at cooling me down than that piece of crap, so I just lounged away the day. I was hoping to find "Time Bandits" which has been playing lots on cable, but nope, no listing for Sunday...drat. DH wanted to see NASCAR and I'm not one to oblige him with my company on such programming, so I left the comfort of the living room and came into the bedroom, or deadroom!! However, I did take my spritzer bottle and told him since he got to use the big tv with all the really cool cable channels and I relegated to the deadroom, I get the spritzer bottle! So off I went, sprawled on the bed and turned on the tv to see what was playing. I found a new channel, OWN, ok, I know, you're asking, "Georgina, where in the hell have you been??" I had no idea the famous Oprah had her own channel..ahem, excuse the pun!!

So what's playing, "Love Story," based on Erich Segals novel with the same name.

Wow, did that bring back memories. I had just graduated from high school in 1970 and was entering my first semester in collage that summer session...bad idea! I had no problems in high school because I was a product of both private and public education. I attended an all girl's school the first 2 years of high school and loved it. I worked my patooty off, burning the midnight oil every night...that was a rigorous curriculum set for us goils. My sister had just graduated in '66, the same year I entered high school, and she was off to a fancy, shamncy private college, University of San Francisco, which is Jesuit run. So fast forward '68, I was taken out of my wonderful, comfy environment and foisted into public ed. The reason being, is that I wasn't doing well in my private high school...had a B+ average...WTF???? The real reason, unbeknownst to me at the time, was that my dad was struggling with my sis' tuition and something had to give...guess who??? I later learned of this, but to this day, my mother sticks with her story, it was my failure to compete well enough!! Whatever!!

I realized once in public school, the rigors of or lack of, were very different. I breezed through my Junior & Senior year without any problems...didn't bother to compete...why, it was too easy! However, I wasn't given the same opportunities as my sis, so I had to stay here at our local university...she had met some psycho moron in CA, married him and spent the next 9 years of her life in complete terror...he was a psycho, so my folks didn't want that for me, so here I stayed, to find my own TX psycho!! LOL

So I read the movie was coming out and was so excited. I loved Ali McGraw!! She was a big time model, now would be considered a "super" model, and she was one of the few women I had seen in the fashion and teen mags that wasn't blond, blue-eyed with a cutsie nose. She was tall, thin, brunette with dark eyes, kinda like me at the time. I knew who Ryan O'Neil was from the "Peyton Place" television series; loved watching him and Mia Farrow. I had read the book sometime before that. I remember I took a bus to one of my fav book stores downtown and stood in line to buy the book, which took me all of 3 hours to read!! LOL Easy reading, folks! I wonder what happened to that copy...I know I still had it in my old house, during my other life, so maybe I just left it there, who knows.

I went to see the movie with my boyfriend, Bill. We had just started dating and he was really cute, tall, 6'5", blond, green eyes, great smile...was a dream!! Someone once told me he was a "Robert Redford," type...yep, have you seen how well that guy aged...eeeewww!! So Bill and I went to see love story and I used most of my Kleenex tissues from my little pocket package. What a great movie, so I thought back in 1970 when I was 18.

So fast forward 41 years later, I'm watching it again in my deadroom, I'm no longer 18 nor slim with long dark brown hair, but short with lots of gray, about 80 lbs. over what I was back then, sprawled out on my bed with the oscillating fan going full blast, spritzer in hand, watching this incredibly dumb movie!! What happened to me?? When did I become such a non-romantic, when did I stop loving love stories, when did I stop appreciating badly written scripts??? "Love means never having to say your sorry??" WHAT?????!!!!!!! Oh, pleeeezzzzz!!!! Now that's a bunch of bull caca!! It seems that's the only time you say your sorry because you always hurt the people you love, so again, pleeeezzzz!! After than was over, there was this program about Ryan O'Neil and his daughter, Tatum. They apparently haven't spoken to each other in 25 years or something like that and this "reality" show was about them reconciling or something like that. Turned that off, grabbed a book and read instead...should have done that to begin with.

So this started me thinking, what's with all this aging crap that's going on? I don't know about you, ladies, but all of a sudden I find that I'm growing things that were never there just a few years ago, even during my menopause. So what's with the red, dry spots that just randomly pop up on your body? I have had 2 on my left arm for a while now...not cancer, had it checked out, but these red spots, then I found two more on my right leg, then just last week, I found 2 more on my neck and clavical area. What's with the 2's, do they travel in pairs like scorpions?? Also, my sis and I were discussing these horrible little things called "skin tags." GROSS!! I have developed those also, one on the back of my neck and found 3 of them under my left breast the other day. I recall my dad having them on his neck and stomach.....what's with that?? They're small, but I know they're there and it's really getting annoying...I'm becoming a "Crone!" Just waiting for a skin tag to develop on my nose, which will eventually collapse since I don't have a septum...blew it out with over-usage of Afrin back when I was a young woman, my hands are already boney and veiny, like my mother's (I was always afraid I'd get her ugly, bony hands and I did), a curved spine....hell, just waiting for a broom stick now!! All I can say is there is no such thing as growing old with dignity, but I don't intend to fight it either...as they say, sh-- happens and it happens after 50 for many of us!!

Also, thought I'd show you my newest doll from the ADO (Art Dolls Only) monthly challenge, "Celestial Summer Nights." Well, mine isn't exactly ethereal and light and beautiful, but more nightmarish...just got the idea and ran with it. May I introduce you to "Black-Hole Hannah," the meanest black hole in the Universe:


I made her out of paper & polymer clay, plus, I actually did a bit of sewing! I wish I could put her up on my Etsy shop, but while I was moving the tray from the ironing board with all the parts to assemble, her head flew off and onto the floor...she lost a horn which I had to furiously look for. Love that E600 adhesive and it hid the break, but I can't sell her knowing she's damaged, so she is now part of my "Wall Art" in my studio.

Well, my friends, hope you all have a great week. Will update you on what's going on with my step-daughter-in-law...we have another court hearing this Thurs., so hopefully, it will be resolved so keep her in your prayers and keep sending her good vibes. Oh, by the way, I thought I'd let you know what happened to that really good looking boyfriend, Bill...I married the jerk..and he aged just as badly as Robert Redford!!!! Peace out.

Etsy Shop & Prayers

Yikes, now I know why I procrastinate listing my dolls on Etsy...what a chore!!! I've finally listed everything I have on board, so take a look over at my Etsy shop and buy something!! LOL I haven't set up a PayPal account yet and I know that's important since everyone seems to demand instant gratification, present company included, but again, I'm procrastinating....maybe later on this week. So here's the link or just go to the banner on the right side of my blog. http://www.etsy.com/people/barrobabe?ref=si_pr

I just shipped off a large box to Xico, Inc. and they've already asked for more dolls, so it's off to the lab/studio and get to work on my little darlins'. I was able to play with paper clay the other day and had very little problems working with it, no cracking or drying in my hands.

I'm asking you to keep someone very close to me in your prayers. My step daughter-in-law is going to court tomorrow to fight for custody of her only child. She's a terrific mom, wife and stepmom to her hubby's 3 children...she's an amazing lady and has a full plate with her family, plus, she's going for her B.S. in Nutrition. Her mother started stirring up her caldron (buzz word for witch and beyond if you get my drift) in Oct. Her mother is not a very pleasant person to be around, has this permanent scowl on her recently altered stretched face. She was upset because her grandson was not allowed to visit with her on a weekend, which she gets every other week, because Dana reprimanded him for something he did at school, his punishment was to stay at home that weekend and clean his room and help his stepfather in cleaning out the garage. The woman went into an uproar and that's when the problems began.

In spite of all this, Dana allowed her son to visit his grandmother, even though he has already told his mother on several occasions to please ask her to stop barraging him with "bad questions" about her and his stepfather. About a month ago, CPS shows up at Dana's door with all kinds of accusation from the mother and now, her brother, Mr. Ph.D in social work!! After speaking with Dana and the kids and friends, she was convinced this was just a ploy to put a control Dana, so she closed the case. Again, won't go into any more details, too many and not so interesting, she gets served by her ex that he's going for custody of their son. She was beside herself and we all knew who was behind this web of lies and manipulation. I felt so badly for her, here was a good, hard-working woman who was betrayed by her own mother and now, brother. So tomorrow, we're off to Las Cruces, NM for the hearing, my honey and I will be testifying for Dana and she has an attorney who specializes in these matters that will be speaking for her 8 year old son. The poor little guy is experiencing all kinds of anxieties and fears that he will be taken from his family, so please pray for them or send good vibes out to the Universe. Peace out.