~~ Well ~~ It's been a couple of dayz, and a LOT of haggling and screaming shouting and altogether Being Ugly to Me by Other People, but I think that for the time being I'm up to snuff on tests tests and other Assorted Things for my Health. Now -- after saying that, I'll probably get a call first thing Monday morning by one of the Yelling Schedulers at my new Dr's office telling me that I've done something wrong...man oh man ... these women are some of the Rudest People I've ever come across. And they work in a DOCTORS OFFICE!! So much for keeping the Blood Pressure Down!!

To date nobody in the Medical Field has a clue as to what's wrong with me...and after a battery of tests on Thursday afternoon, it will be sometime before I get a chance to find out what it is that has suddenly come upon me. I fought thru the traffic and drove all around the new local Heart Hosp. thursday and got into one of the new fancy uber clean offices and filed paperwork and more paperwork and was directed to all sorts of offices, Dr. rooms, super collosial x-ray machines (But I'm not sure if they also have Ship to Shore Radio capibilities...) an' all sorts of other things Useful to Mankind. Wayyy back in the back-most part of my brain, the Arlo Guthrie song was humming around..."An' they had all kindz - a - groovy thingz..." -- Yeah -- it was all so super overwhelming for me. Not to mention all the horrible people who make the decisions as to what is best for me...or...rather who is going to PAY for all these tests and other assorted THANGS...Now ~~ I must admit that I am not one to take a nap ~~ But after over 3 hours of tests and negotiating Traffic around a large construction project in the midst of downtown...Yup -- after I got home, called The Husband an' told him I was home an' safe, I literally layed my head down on the loveseat and Promptly fell asleep for over an Hour....An' within a couple minutes after The Husband got home, he took one look at me on the loveseat an' said, "Why don't you jus' go to bed?" SO ~~ No complaint there!! An' I went in to the bedroom and fell asleep for ANOTHER 2 hours!! DAYUM!!! Worn-Out-An'-Wanting-All-This-To-Be-Over!! Then ~~ I slept the next morning 'till almost 8:45!!

Anyway -- there has been a little in the way of Art getting done!! I'm gluing down some beads and fabric today on a project I'd started in one direction and it has completely gone into some other mode. I mean to say ~~ It's still within that Fishie-Sea-Life theme that I love to pieces, but this collage has somewhat taken on a life of it's own. An' that's fine with me. A little weird as for the Fish...but that's what came outta the gel pens and watercolor paper. So there ya go.

Along with the super tired feeling I've had since my ER visit, I've stayed outta the studio, an' tried to get my work done on the dining room table...it feels really strange to me, but I have gotten some stuff done. An' my wonderful friend has been right next to me all along the way ~~ My little puppy dog..Well -- ok, so she ISN'T so small an' is a LOOOONNNNGGGG was from being a puppy, but you get the idea. She has started this thing of laying RIGHT next to me on the floor in the dining room while I sit at the table an' do my THANG. I can look down an' see her big brown eyes look at me an' I just HAVE to give her a nice little pat on the very tippy top of her head. And rub her super soft fuzzy ears..how can somebody Not do that?? The dining room isn't quite as light-filled as the studio, but it works for now, since we've had the same HEAT that a lot of the country has been melting thru.

The youngest has been outta work for a few dayz because of this horrible heat wave that's been so horrible for a large part of the country ~~ at over 97 Degrees, the 2 farm owners that he works for have been Very careful and made sure there's been no work out in the fields...no risk at having somebody fall over an' have something Very Bad happen. Today it's been somewhat cooler, so there should be some work done...I think some more of the Fall field crops are being planted, or finishing being planted. My youngest & I went to buy some seeds for the same things..our tomatoes developed some type of fungus and hauled off and died...so no pictures of them. With the heat so bad, I've not been able to get outside and do anything, let alone take pics of the garden. Hopefully this evening I can get out there an' get some shots. I think we have some more corn getting ready to bring in, so that'll be fun.

The Husband has been bizzy driving all over the place...and this time of year is so crazy for shipping....Christmas orders have been coming in for the last couple weeks, and he's delivered some girls dresses to a warehouse lately. He said they look very sweet for little teeny girls...Bright greens with lots of glittery fabric. Somebody will be very happy come December!! I think he has another load this next week too..it's all been so much to try and keep track of!! He also had a load of freight that really made me pause...over 75,000 pounds of Turkey Hearts...the math at trying to figure out how many of those little things could fit into a container and come up to that weight was WAY OVER MY HEAD!!! He just said that once he got thru the factory gate and got weighed the total with the tractor and container was over 90,000 pounds. Let's just say that he wasn't exactly tearing up the road on the way back down here...I remember he did say that he got "up" to 45 mph on one stretch of the Interstate....sigh....

Lady of The Tulips ~~ Who has also got a picture that makes me smile...it'll get put on here in a day or so...it has to do with the Heat...Christmas ornaments ...and what happens when Things Aren't Taken Care Of...just wait and see...

"Gift Box" -- 2007 ~~ Spring Bay Studio ~~

This is a little box I made for a friend that needs some light hearted color and fun ~~ This should make up for some of her pain and grief that family and other assorted Thangs have combined to smash her nearly to bits.

I'm just about over the irritation of going to the Dr. yesterday ~ There are so many other people involved in MY health needs, and none of them have any other interest except the almighty dollar. My gut feeling is that some of the really needed tests are not going to be covered by the Ins. company -- little tests like a Bone Density Test -- that has to be ok'd by some call center cubicle sitter....other tests for blood pressure..tests to see whether or not there are blockages in my main arteries on the left and right side of my neck ~~ All to be decided if they are "necessary" by some Cubicle Sitter looking at some laminated sheet of cardstock. I'm getting furious just thinking about it, and in the meantime I can feel my blood pressure starting to rise all over again. Ok -- I'll breathe and calm down now.

The heat out in the studio has been so stiflihg (I don't know how to spell that but you get the idea...) the last week with these terrible HOT temperatures, that I've not had the umph to make any art AT ALL ~~ There is one project that only needs one strand of beads finished on the right side of the piece, and another that is Finally layed out on the canvas board and will need to be set in matte medium in the next day or two. I'm thinking I will bring them all into the dining room and mess up that room for today and tomorrow, just so I can get my Art back into my life. Maybe that's why I'm not feeling good ~~ I've been letting everything rule me for the last month or so, and have completely put my Art out of my life. That can't be good, and now it's time to turn THAT around. My little pieces of cardstock and little fishies are waiting very nicely for me to get them together, so I think that's what I'll spend the day doing. I was going to try and finish my middle son's bedroom today -- buy the wall color and get another extension rod so I can get the ceiling painted with the primer. I'm totally sold on the primer my daughter in law told me to get -- I think she is still my daughter in law...she and my middle son haven't finalized their divorce yet, so I guess she's still the dil...ANYWAY ~~ she turned me on to this one brand of primer, and even tho it's about $8 more than the primer I've used before, the results are fabulous. And Especially since I'm painting over BLACK paint...well, there's a reason I've had to go with 3 coats to cover that stuff...

The Dog is sitting very nicely next to the vent for the air conditioning...she really is so very funny about finding just the right spot on the floor where the air comes thru the vent system. She has this spot that I had no idea about -- the air comes from the vent on the other side of the room, But it passes behind one of the couches, so the couch acts like a funnel for the air, making the air move faster into the room..thus creating a little space where the dog can lay down and be very comfortable and is also where the breeze is quite nice from the ceiling fan. I never figured it out till not that very long ago...I was down on the floor picking up some bits of paper that fell off the side table, and I suddenly could feel this air coming from the vent on the other side of the room...Wow! It felt really good, and then I realized why The Dog had herself planted there 95% of the time...No Dummy She!! I was the Dolt for not realizing it earlier!!

So ~~ It's out to the studio to get my little pieces that have been good and are waiting for me to get them finished. I thik I'm also going to add some brighter pieces of cardstock I picked up last week when I was in the process of making posters for The Dog when she was lost...Man-O-Man are these things bright!! Whoo Hoo!! Should add just the right Zip that I need for some tropical pieces...

Lady of The Tulips ~~ Who just got a call from The Husband who raved on & on about the Tire Pressure Gauge he bought at the store...amazing what a little $3.00 tool can go for somebody...

***The Dog ***

This was taken of my little puff not too long ago...and she has been such a wonder since then. Actually she has been something of a little brat..while I've been recup-ing (that isn't spelled right but you get the idea...) from my mini-stroke, we've had some thunder storms, and since this little animal has an absolute terrible fear of thunder, naturally she made a big mess of things and escaped thru our wooden fence no more than ..0394 seconds after there was one boom of thunder one afternoon 2 weekends ago. I went out in the backyard to bring her into the house, and after looking looking and LOOKING The Husband and Youngest and I made the discovery that The Dog had torn a huge hole in one part of the wooden fence, and disapeared into parts unknown...

Needless to say, I was an absolute WRECK for the time that she was missing. It's amazing how an animal can become so very intwined in ones life. And this Dog has become so much a part of our family, that it was absolutely wrenching when she disapeared. 4 days of wondering where she was...driving over to the Animal Management Center to see if she'd been turned in..filling out endless paperwork to make sure she was listed as missing/lost and she needed to BE HOME WITH HER MOMMY!!! On the 5th day the management center called to say she'd been turned in...she only got as far as a block away, but the people I guess thot she would be better off somewhere else. Well..she is LAZY, so I suppose that if they tried to get her to chase a stick or ball or toy, they realized she just DOES NOT RUN AFTER THINGS..she does, however, take quite an interest in watching a ball roll past her, an especially enjoys watching toys fly thru the air across a room. But chase after them?? Ahhuuummmm.....Les' just say that it's a good things Dogs cant talk -- I know she'd say, "You want me to do WHAT?? RUN AFTER THAT??!!"

So -- we're all safe and sound in our little house. I'm feeling somewhat better and am now somewhat nervous, as I finally have a Dr. appt. this afternoon. It's been some years since I've gone to a Dr., mainly because at over $160 for a visit, this lil' trucker wife just does not have THAT kind of money. And in case anybody thinks that truck drivers are the cause of prices going up and up pleeezzee think again. We've had weeks with no pay...weeks where we've mae $120 and no insurance to cover anything...so NO -- that is a realy piece of poooheeyy...

Anyway ~~ There is just too much heat in the studio now for this little girl to attempt any kind of painting or cutting of paper or gluing of any kind. I'm tired a LOT more than I thot I'd be, so creating has been put on the back burner for now. The Youngest also got a new job working out on one of the larger farms in the area, so Yours Truly is driving him out to go to work every morning...The Husband has been pretty good about picking him up in the afternoon, but the drive for me has been this side of Hell -- Rush Hour in this area is always bad, and the road to the farm is mostly a two-lane thin road, and now that a lot of the farms are being torn up and made into Yuppie Mini-Mansions, the owners of said Mini-Mansions feels it's their right to race down the road at 10 miles an hour over the speed limit...making it quite dicey for me in The Very Fine Automobile to make it a safe journey. I'm a wreck by the time I get back in the City and sit at the dining room table an get over my shaking...My question is ~~ If these people with more money than they know what to do with...If they drive those stuiped $60,000 vehicles 10 miles an hour over the speed limit...wouldn't it make sense to drive that expensive of a vehicle a little slower and safer?? On Average, to repair a small fender-bender in one of those is OVER $10,000!!! -- Maybe becoming a auto-repair-guy is the way to go....

So --- I'm off to get some lunch...do some reading and get some laundry finished before I get to the Dr. office....My oh My -- and the Heat just keeps on melting things...as of 11:00 a.m. the temp. was reading 94 Degrees....yee gads...

Lady of The Tulips - who is wondering where her new shiney glitter pens have gone and expecially wonders if they've dried up in the studio in this spiffy heat....