Thursday, January 16, 2014

Think, Think, Think

It has been a busy week. My house has gone to the dogs - both figuratively and literally. Last Saturday when we finished with the banquet, I thought things would slow down, but they did not. Although Monday was back to the usual schedule, it was still busy. I did my early morning workout with my friends, and then the tutoree came for class. Then I had a dentist appointment - two more weeks and I will be finished with these hated aligners. After the dentist, I did take an hour for a pedicure. It was needed, because I had a terrible crick in my neck and thought a chair massage and pampering would help. It did, but only for a short time.

Tuesday was my class for the little art girls. I thought it was a good time to try an oil. Yowsers! What a mess! they did great for a first time oil painting, but they had oil paint everywhere - including my shoe.  I broke out every apron I owned to cover the girls the best I could and still the paint was up their arms and on their faces. One girl said, "Lou, next time you need to warn us when we are going to get so messy." My reply, "I texted you and said today was art. What more warning do you need?" Here is a photo of their work and my messy art table. This is after I cleaned and straightened things. More needs to be done. My house smells of oil and spirit minerals. It's a wonder that I have not set the place on fire.

In the photo, you can also see the painting on the corner with the red barn. It is a painting that I have done before. Yesterday I went to Marlow and taught a class on acrylics to about seven ladies. I chose the barn painting thinking it was a tried and true lesson. It went fairly well, but my mind was scattered. After my early workout, my tutoring went long sending me into a panic.  Being the procrastinator that I am, I had put off gathering my art supplies and loading the car to go to Marlow. I ran short of time and was running around the house trying to think, think, think. I managed to get most everything I needed art-wise into the car, but I had planned on stopping by the printers and making a few more copies of the barn photo to paint from. When I got to the printers, I had forgotten my purse. Forgotten my purse! I had no money - no way to make copies. Good grief! Being the fairly laid-back person that I am, I moved on.  The prints I had would just have to be sufficient.  After the class, I loaded my car to come home, but I could not find my keys. I tore my car up looking. I dumped out my art bag trying to find the key. I looked inside the house where we had had the lesson, and then back to the car. Think, think, think! Aha! I had worn my sunglasses into the house; my keys must be with them! Back in the house, my friend said, "Is this your sweater?" It was not, but it was covering my jean jacket - I had forgotten that I wore a jacket. Of course! I had put my keys and sunglasses in the pocket, because I had forgotten my purse. It's a good thing my head is attached.

Wednesdays are always a little busy because we go to church. But first, we have all sorts of chores like feeding animals and gathering trash to put out for the trash truck. Fortunately, I had made a big pot of chicken tortilla soup the day before. It made a nice supper on a busy evening. I was not sure I wanted to go to church, though. That crick in my neck was still painful. After standing up all afternoon painting, my whole body hurt. Sure enough, church was tough. I had a hard time focusing through the pain and sleepiness. Did I mention that I have been fighting off a cold? When we got home from church, I took drugs for my cold and fell deeply and restfully asleep.

Today is another busy day, but it is my day - no real deadlines. Well, my Painted Lady friends are coming over tomorrow. It will be the first time in a couple of years that we have painted together. You have seen how my art room looks - I need to do some serious cleaning to make room for the ladies to paint. And I have to clean house, since they will want to see my home. And I need to go to the grocery store. Still, it should be a quieter day.

Here is the latest addition to the family. I wanted to show you his face. So far he seems to be a very smart dog. He is a bit more aggressive than Max and maybe smarter. He is like the pesky little brother - very playful and a bit irritating to the other dogs. He will not sleep in the dog house, although I got in there with him (yep, I did). He was okay while I was in there and settled right down. But he won't go in voluntarily. We put his pillow (yes, I bought him a pillow and a collar) in a box outside the dog house, and he loves it. Hopefully it will not get too cold for him. We are working on house-training. After much name calling (heh) the name Juba seems to work best.  The name Juba comes from "The Gladiator" movie. We already have Maximus. In the movie Maximus' friend and fellow gladiator is Juba. We are still open for suggestions.

6 comments:

Stefan said...

I think Juba is good name. He looks like a fire department dog, what do fire departments call their dogs ? Spot, Biff, Rex, ... ?? :-) Maybe he needs a good Spanish name from your travels, perro, manchas, gringo...

Bag Blog said...

Pancho, Cisco, Gordo... we have been considering these, too. But Juba seems to be the name that is sticking.

Jo Castillo said...

I like Juba. Your week makes me tired just to read it..... I signed up to do First Friday in February and May. Now I am procrastinating and will not have anything new ready for February at this rate ..... sigh.... I'm glad you are painting!

Bag Blog said...

Now Toby thinks we should call him Moco.

Stefan said...

Short for:

El perro de moco que hace caca en el dormitorio de la hija

(sorry I used google translate) ha...

Bag Blog said...

He did make caca in the bedroom, but he is doing better. Now he is a pest to the other dogs - hence the Booger name. Moco sounds so much better than Booger. Juba is still in the running.