Where O' where ... and life's curve balls.....

 A note to reader's... I started this blog draft post before July 4th with intention of posting it before we went to the cabin for the holiday, but I got in a rush and didn't get it posted.  Since then life has taken a few turns.....so it's a little jumbled, but I'm still going to use it, but add revisions up to date. 
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Goodness gracious... we just stay too darn busy this time of year!!  Always comin'-and-a-goin'..... here, there and everywhere!

 Summers for us tend to get crazy. Seems like there is always something going on. We're going camping  tomorrow for the 4th holiday. We went camping in Eufala last month... I l♥ve being outside so I enjoy those trips. Just alot of work preparing and then recovering!! Hahaaa! We've had weddings, concerts,  boating excursions, visiting to friends, and plenty of house gatherings. Speaking of concerts... so far we've seen Amos Lee in  Birmingham, AL.  He was amazing.....  if you care to, take a listen below. 

                                  

I LoVe music, I can't live without it. When I get to live shows I just get so mesmerised and caught up in the experience that I rarely remember to takes pis or videos... and they hardly ever turn out very well......like this next one,  we saw Billy Currington in Biloxi, MS. It was suppose to be a Father's Day gift for my Dad, but my Mom got sick and they couldn't go
:(

And in 3 weeks were  going to see The King's of Leon (again) in Gulf shore's, AL.  : ))))))

Directly from the concert we're headed straight to stay with friends for 4 days on Lake Martin! We've dubbed it "Lake Fest" and has become an annual thing.  (well, this has unfortunately changed...)

Next week we're gonna miss a canoe trip due to hubby's high school reunion, which will be fun of course, but I'd rather be canoeing!

**But anywayyyyy.... I guess my point is we've been running crazy and my poor little blog has been neglected. I've often wished I could post more shorter posts and more often, but that just doesn't seem to suit me for some reason. Maybe that will change at some point, who knows, but now I just go with what feels right, with out berating myself too much....
It kinda makes sense, it's like my mo I guess, because I'm the same way with my art projects... Slooow and steadyyy!  ( well, maybe not so steady... but definitely slow, hahaa)
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*Sad update... While we were on our way home from our July 4th holiday camping trip, (it was Sun. July3rd)  I got a phone call from my mother ( who had been looking after my dogs for us)  that my oldest jack ( Devil 15yrs) was acting strangely. When we got home we found her very agitated and uncomfortable, but with out showing any other signs. But sadly as the day progressed it became obvious that she seemed to be losing control of her back legs.

She continued to get worse and  was in terrible pain, since all the vets were closed , we decided to give her a 1/4 of a lortab. This settled her and she finally began to rest. This is how we kept her comfortable till Tues. July 5 when we could go see our vet. 

Not a good report, she has 3 collapsed disc's in her lower back. Eventually it will cause her to have trouble walking to a degree, or cause paralysis.  Also as an incidental finding... a mass on her lung.

 But we are extremely thankful because we are seeing some improvement. It has been tough, and we are on pain meds, muscle relaxers and steroids. The plan is to keep her comfortable enough to see if the steroids would reduce the inflammation enough for her to continue to have quality days, and it seems to be working!!!!!  We are hoping we're over the hump for the time being : )

We've gone from this... ( how sad )

To this : ) How fab!

It's very difficult to decide what the right thing to do is when things of this nature happen with our pets. Especially our older pets.  I spent the first week crying like a baby... trying to make her comfortable. But I have to say... even though the med regimen is taxing for us both, it seems to be helping. It's soooooo worth it to me.... especially when  I see her so happy still,  like the picture above.
She still has moments of difficulty, not with the legs so much.... but with some signs of pain. But NOTHING like before.  Just short panting and trembling episodes here and there. Devil is an amazing and extremely tough dog, and as long as she has more good days than bad, we'll hang tough with her.  Excluding that first horrible week, we definitely are having more GOOD days : )      SOooooo.. wish us luck gang!!
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Now then... ( from pre- July 4th draft)  about a little art play!!!!!  I've been meaning to show you what I've been up to... that brings me to our new little, fun, goofy collaboration of You Suck Monday! We started it back in April, just kinda goofing off together and then decided we would also blog about it.... But  here is my first YSM blog entry below, and it basically sums up what it's all about....

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YSM POST Monday, April 25, 2011  And then there was Ajae....

You Suck Monday has changed my life... hahahaa! Seriously though.... I NEVER did ANY art on Mondays before Goog and Kel decided to include (drag) me. I always go straight into a funk on Mondays and promptly throw a personal pity party because every week my husband has to leave because he works out of town every week and it totally blows, ...blah,blah..that’s another story.

Anyway... I knew my friends, Goog and Kelly, had come up with the YSM concept and were having alot fun with it. They knew that I knew about it.... but I just thought I’d be a debbie downer and ruin for them. But you know what? That didn’t happen... they let me play anyway! Even when I’m kinda quiet and don’t always follow the rules : )

But that’s the whole point of YSM.... Your totally off the hook, always with a “get out of jail for free card”...no matter WHAT you do or try!! This is such a freeing concept, especially for those of you who may be like me, I struggle desperately with "perfectionist syndrome". This is an awful characteristic for artists because it can stop you dead in your tracks. When I start really liking something I’ve done, I totally freeze up, terrified that I’ll ruin it for sure!


What YSM has done for me is, not only does it get me out of my funk on Monday’s... I’m actually doing more art and trying new things. It’s helping me learn to get over the hurdle when I feel too terrified to make another mark. I’m soooo glad that Goog and Kelly didn’t give up on me : ) They are truly good, silly, easy, fun friends!

I hope all ya’ll decide to give YSM a go! I know you’ll like and it can really help you grow!!! Try something new for the simple sake of trying it... it may turn out dreadful... or it may turn out mediocre... or it may turn out great! Either way it doesn’t even matter...because it’s YOU SUCK MONDAY!!!!!!!!! But one thing is for sure, you are guaranteed to learn something from each and everything single thing you try! xo's... ajae

Here is a YSM project that I ended up really liking! The theme was trash art, it was suppose to be done on a brown paper lunch baggy, but I had to break the rules and do it on an old envelope. ( I swear I didn’t have one ya’ll ) I’m still playing with her and will probably put her one of my journals : ) ***************************************************************


** Since then it's kinda morphed into this thing, I'm not sure what it is really!  Probably because Suzi touched it with her magic wand! Suzi loved the idea and started to play along and prompted us to start the linqto pod casts... which has been a little nerve wracking , but we're having fun with it. And I think alot of others starting to also. We also started a facebook page for YSM : )  Here are a few peaks at some suckage from our projects....

This was a dripage journal page....

 From this to this... FUN!!! This is still not finished, but I will definitely do more box trash art !!

 This is a transfer onto a journal page. That is my niece and I...

 Starting silly with potato stamp carving : )

And here's the real deal...

 This was last YSM... we decided to do Mail♥ArT... we're all exchanging addy's and sending out are post card size works of art!

Plus now... a Devil Art Doll, complete with moving parts, and she stands alone !!

Today's YSM project is just plain, silly, simple fun with shrinky dinks and atc's... and of course always any show and tell any one has to share........... Come join the shenanigans!!!

 If everything goes off without a hitch, you should be able to check out our facebook page at 8pm CDT for the link. (we had some hiccups last week, but hopefully all is well)

I wish for everyone a creative, artful, peaceful week! Xo- ajae