Lisa Call

 
 
Happy Holidays to all my readers. I wish for joy for all of you.

I’ll be back on the 26th or 27th.

Once a year the kids dress up the cats, it lasts about 2 minutes. This was maybe not their moment of joy but they are such great cats, they tolerate and I must admit we are greatly amused.

Structures #102
©2008
6"x 6"
Purchase Here

My Seven

I was tagged by Susan Donley for this meme. Write 7 things my blog readers don’t know about me then tag 7 people to keep this going. I’m not sure which one is harder. Is there really anything I haven’t written about on this blog over the past 3+ years?

Here’s my try:

1. I’ve only owned 3 cars in my life. I didn’t buy my first one (Bufurd) until 1989 right before I got married at age 26. Bought the second one (Annabel) in 1992 right before my son was born and it was clear we would have to become a 2 car family. I bought the 3rd one a few years back when the one from 1992 was totaled in an accident. The first two I bought new, my current car is a 1996 Honda Accord named Pam.
2. In my grad school days I was a co-author on a few computer science research papers. We presented one of them in Orlando and I had to fly down to Florida with my adviser in his small airplane. He made us (myself and fellow graduate student) help navigate. I didn’t want to and put no effort into it. I was generally on the wrong map page when he asked me to show him where we were. We still made it to Florida and back just fine.
3. When my grandparents sold their farm in 1987 or 88 they had a big auction. I bought my grandmother’s floor quilting frame but couldn’t get it home with me on the plane so a few months later I drove from Wisconsin to Kansas (in Bufurd) to get them. So basically I drove 1200 miles round trip, alone, to get a bunch of old 2×4s. I came close to getting rid of it when I moved this year but didn’t, so it is currently crammed into my storage locker.
4. I’m really really good at playing Blockus as I’m really good at thinking spatially. I have to bribe my kids to play with me but mostly they refuse because I always win. I’m also really good at tetris and prefer 3-d tetris cause regular is too easy. And even better, I’m really good at packing a car with tons of stuff. I think this is why I like making the type of art I make, it’s very much like putting a puzzle together to make it all work out. Requires a lot of spatial reasoning.
5. My first cat was named Radiation Burn. I called her Raid. I stole that name from my best friend Kelly as she was going to name her first child this but her husband objected. I’ve since had cats named Toxie (Toxic Waste) and Indie (Industrial Waste). Our current cats are Nukie (Nuclear Waste) and Abby. My daughter was 5 when we got Abby and didn’t quite pick up the pattern. Next cat is already named. It’ll be Medi (Medical Waste).
6. I was a girl scout growing up. My mom was our leader and we did lots of camping and backpacking and I loved it. I have many fond memories of those years. In my 20s I dreamed of having a daughter and being her girl scout leader. I was most happy when my daughter said no way she would do girl scouts. Whew – off the hook. Teaching and herding kids is not very high on my ‘like to to do’ list. My mom was a saint. (Thanks mom!)
7. I don’t like rules.

And so given #7 I’m going to skip the part where I tag other people specifically. Instead I’m tagging anyone that reads this blog and has exactly 2 A’s and 2 E’s in their name (first and last). If that’s you – your turn!

Small Art

This weekend I was hoping to wrap up the small art I planned for the online holiday sale I’m participating in but it didn’t quite happen. Which is fine as I’ll wrap it up this week. Along with packing up my house so they can rip down walls.

The above piece is part of the sale and in the next day or 2 I’ll get my webpage up with all of the work. It’s been fun to make these little works but I’m also itching to get back into making some larger pieces now.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Where did my weekend go?

Now that I’ve lived in my 1955 built house for a month I realize how much I take for granted. Like screens in the windows. What an amazing invention, without them one ends up with moths and other flying creatures all over one’s studio when working at night with a light on. Kinda fun to flick bugs off my computer screen, in a "once in a life time adventure" sort of way. I’m thinking long term this might not work out for me.

I had hopes for getting quite a bit more done this weekend but it was hot hot here in Denver, 100 or close both days. The modern convenience I miss the most is my air conditioning. Not only is it so crazy hot in the house the thought of turning on an iron is insane, it doesn’t cool off much at night so sleeping has been a challenge. After a week of 4 hours of sleep each night I was pretty wiped out by the weekend. Did a lot of nothing.

Even the cats are unhappy. Abby (see above) has taken to sleeping stretched out and upside down (and climbing out the screenless windows and escaping – but that’s another issue). Nukie (below) passes out behind my sewing machine so I have to move her every time I come back to sew. She makes a pitiful sound but she gets over it, and comes right back as soon as I leave. She’s no dummy, the fan is pointed into that corner of the room.

Last night I figured out the secret to sleeping in this heat (a wet frozen compress is a wonderful way to cool off) so that problem should be solved and I’m feeling more on my game with some rest. We’re only in the 90s this week so it’s positively chilly in here. Tomorrow if all goes well I will finish my studio newsletter and email it.

If not I’ll be napping in the heat.

Today I cleaned out my studio in preparation for new carpet on Wednesday. Moving all of my fabric and tables and supplies out of this room took quite a while.

Then came the fun. I ripped out the carpet myself, with help from my son and cats. Six years ago when I got my kids their first cats my daughter picked out a declawed cat from the animal shelter. I never declaw my cats so this was a new thing for me. Unfortunately, Dorothy had very bad litter box manners. As in, she preferred my studio floor to the litter box.

I read later this is a very common behavior for declawed cats and it’s not surprising her previous owners gave her away. Sadly, this cat disappeared one night after about 7 months at my house. My daughter was crushed. I can’t say I was quite as sad. My daughters current cat has claws and doesn’t have this feature – yay.

I am sealing the cement floor so the odor will finally go away. This little issue in my studio hasn’t been much fun the last 6 years. I dumped huge amounts of Natures Miracle on the carpet and it wasn’t noticeable most of the time, just the hot humid days, which we don’t have very often in Colorado. Now it’s time to seal the cement so the problem is gone for good.

 
With no studio to work in for the next few days I will be completely focused on house stuff. The painting is done. This week is carpet and final landscaping and home repair details. One more week and the house will be on the market.

OC#9 ©2007 David Castle 12"x12"

Self Care

Lately I have been practicing abundant self care. I believe this is an important element to holding intent. Self love and self care are super important pieces to living the life I want. When I set an intent or a goal I find it easier to hold that intent or complete that goal if I am at peace with myself.

Here are some things I’ve done in the last month as part of my self care:

• Start acupuncture. I’ve thought out this many times but I wasn’t on first name terms with needles so I was never willing to take the leap. Then Alyson Stanfield posted a referral for an acupuncturist and I took this as a sign it was time to become buddies with the needles. I had my second treatment today with Renae Einspahr and I’m hooked. Good thing my insurance pays for this cause I can see it a frequent element of my self care.
• Buy art I love. I’ve always wanted to purchase some of David Castle’s art and now the piece above is part of my collection. I love his work. You can read about how he makes these amazing water media pieces on his blog.
• Drinking plenty of water is something I have to work at, it doesn’t come naturally for me yet. I’m working on adding this to my daily ritual as I feel tons better when I’m well hydrated.
• I decided to celebrate my sense of well being today by buying myself a big box of my favorite chocolates. Yum. Why wait for someone else to pamper me when I can pamper myself. Expecting someone else to treat me better than I treat myself is a recipe for unhappiness.
• It doesn’t matter what I’m doing or what the weather is like, I always feel happier if I’ve been outside for a while. I would like to fit a walk into my life every day and I’m working up to that goal. Last friday the sun had the first hint of heat in it peaking through the bite of the cold wind and on saturday it was down right warm. It felt incredible.
• My cats are really missing my kids. [they are in Europe with their father for 3 months. Two down, 1 more to go. The cats aren't the only ones missing them.] I’m spending much more time each day sitting and petting my cats. They are so excited to have me SIT DOWN. They have an internal radar for this activity and come running. "ohmygawd – she’s sat down and it’s not in front of the computer or sewing machine – quick jump in her lap!". Not only do the cats love it but slowing down like this has brought a lot of inner peace for me.

 
How do you practice self care?

Related Posts

Transitioning and Intent
Holding Intent – Part I [Realistic Goals]
Holding Intent – Part II [Excuses]
Holding Intent – Part III [Focus]
Holding Intent – Part IV [Enough Time]

 
[I said I'd talk about fear this time but I didn't want to go there tonight as the acupuncture and chocolate have lulled me into peacefulness. Next time.]