Dust Bunnies on Parade

It's that special time of the year again...Spring Cleaning! Fueled by the recent delivery of Girl Scout cookies, I am once again embarking on my annual OCD cleaning spree. Knowing that I tend to create deadlines and procrastinate and then panic and stress out over it for no good reason...I am attempting to set smaller goals and not get overwhelmed.

My typical schedule on a Monday is to strip the beds, dust the bed-frames and then remake the beds with clean sheets. That, in addition to laundry and daily dishes/kitchen upkeep is pretty much it for Monday's housework. On a Monday, my younger daughter doesn't have pre-school, which means with three meals and two snacks I'm wiping and sweeping up the kitchen several times a day.

Today I am going a step further and washing the blankets and bedspreads, flipping the mattresses and maybe even moving the beds around as well before putting everything back together. It's nice to change things up and moving furniture around is certainly cheaper than redecorating. But with that in mind, I came across some lovely pastel colored water color paper that I had been saving for a few years.

Suddenly I was inspired to create some inexpensive, kind of retro/mid-century-esque art prints. Prints are kind of a neat in-between when it comes to art. They may be part of a run, but at the same time, color combinations can vary, and from a price standpoint are less expensive than a one-of-a-kind piece. And I love how graphic they are. One of my favorite themes in art is "Repetition Within a Framework" as I call it. I enjoy setting parameters and then using creativity to problem-solve while staying within those limits. Prints are a great choice for decorating, as you can usually find a style or color scheme to compliment any decor. I'm stoked...I'll keep everyone posted when I put new work in my shop.

The rest of the day will be spent doing things with my daughter, preparing for tonight's Girl Scout meeting, checking email and promoting my Etsy shop.

Tomorrow's agenda: scheduled studio work time, as well as setting up to photograph more pieces. Oh and, clean disgusting bathrooms.

Who's in the woods first? I don't know...

Me: "Before daylight and before their parents were awake, Hansel..."

4year-old: "Which one's Hansel?"

Me: "The boy is Hansel...and Gretel..."

4 yo: "Which one's Gretel?"

Me: "The girl is Gretel. We covered this on the first page, remember? Hansel and Gretel heard their parents talking about having no food and how they needed to..."

4 yo: "So this one's Hansel...?"

*pointing to the girl*

Me: "No...the BOY is Hansel..."

(and I need to point out that I pronounced it "HANS'L", "HAN" rhyming with "PAN." At which point my 6 year-old interjected with...

6 year-old: "Actually mom it's HAHHHNS'L" she says, putting emphasis on the "AAAHHHHHH" sound.

Me: *frustrated silence*

"Okay...continuing...so, 'HAAAHHHHHHHHNNNNNNS'l' *eye roll* and Gretel pulled on their clothes..."

4 yr-old: "Which one is HAAHHHHHHHNNNS'L again?"

There are no tigers in Ohio...

So it's been a productive week in our cozy house, despite my being ill. Again. I've just about finished getting my jewelry designs moved over to Etsy, with artwork and home decor to follow tout de suite. I had toyed with the idea of calling it "Tchotchkes" instead of home decor because it amuses me.

As I said, I've been sick. Again. My younger daughter goes to preschool and so when she's there she's swimming in an ocean of germs. Sometimes she keeps her head above water and sometimes she's drowning in a sea of snot. More often than not, as people with kids know, you and every one else in the house catches it and it makes the rounds. So far, my older daughter and husband have escaped, but I've been so shaky and feverish that I'm starting to see things. Yesterday I was filling up the teakettle for my 100th cup of tea (I'm sooooo thirsty!) and I think it was a combination of: fever, decongestants, wild imagination and the sun glinting off of my glasses, but I could swear for a minute I saw I a tiger in the woods. I blinked, and he was gone. I consulted my sock monkey, Mr. Carruthers, (who was helping me work) to see if he saw what I saw and he said I was crazy and needed to lie down for a little while.

Armageddon

*sigh*

My 6 year old daughter (almost 7) is having a tantrum. She came off of the bus with a plastic barf bag (thankfully, empty) and said that her stomach had been hurting all day. "I was MOANING mommy" she told me with a pout. So I took her inside, divested her of coat and boots and got some medicine into her. Then she spotted the Girl Scout cookies that I had picked up this morning. All of a sudden, the girl with the upset stomach is "starving" and wants a snack. My "no" set off an epic shit-fit the like of which I had never seen before. If I didn't believe in the devil I would think she was possessed. So far, her head's stayed on straight, although she's a bit red-faced from all of the screaming. She is so pissed right now she could probably levitate from the sheer force of her anger.

And the Winner is...

Last evening I took part in my shul's annual Latke vs. Hamantaschen Debate (look it up on Wikipedia.) It was eventually declared a tie, but I believe I nailed it.

While my opponents made some funny observations, and I have been known to come up with the occasional amusing quip, I also have a tendency to take things seriously. I especially get a little intense when it comes to competition.

I present my argument:

Olive oil has been more than mere food to the peoples of the Mediterranean…the universally acknowledged cradle of civilization: it has been medicinal, magical, an endless source of fascination and wonder and the fountain of great wealth and power. The legendary Greek poet Homer even called it "liquid gold." Beside food, olive oil has also been used for religious rituals.

A latke is defined as: A pancake made of grated potato.

The term "Latke" is Yiddish, from the Ukrainian "oladka", from Old Russian, it is a diminutive of "olad'ya", which in turn is derived from the Greek word: "eladia" which is the plural of "eladion", meaning “little oily thing” which is, finally, a diminutive of “elaion” which means “olive oil” which was borrowed through trade networks from the Semitic Phoenician use of "el'yon", meaning "superior",

Therefore it is obvious that the latke is superior to the hamantaschen.


The circle has been known since before the beginning of recorded history (being evident in nature.) It is the basis for the wheel, which, with related inventions such as gears, makes much of modern civilization possible. In mathematics, the study of the circle has helped inspire the development of geometry and calculus.

Early science, particularly geometry and Astrology and astronomy, was connected to the divine for most medieval scholars, and many believed that there was something intrinsically "divine" or "perfect" that could be found in circles.

The circle is the shape with the largest area for a given length of perimeter, known as Isoperimetric inequality, giving people more flavor enjoyment per square inch than the inferior triangular shape of a hamantaschen.

The circle is a highly symmetric shape, while not all triangles are. The circle’s circumference and radius are also proportional. Symmetry and proportion being the basis of human art since from the first cave painting or carving up to the present day.

An Auspicious Beginning?

I no sooner signed up and began customizing this blog when my cat, Nina, decided to barf on the dining room rug.

I'll have to consult some sort of reference book or grimoire. When one begins a new undertaking it is important to scry or somehow read the signs to see the way of the future.

What does "puddle of warm, orange gut-stew" signify? And what does it mean for my blog?

At this point I am more than willing to open up the foule beaste in order to read her entrails. What will the outcry be when I offer "One Stuft Feline of Orange Colour" in my Etsy store?

I think I'll just sit right here, fuming at the cat, drinking tea and eating candy corn. Happy Reading. You're in for it now.