When Opportunity Knocks: ANSWER THE DOOR, DUMMY!

I can't remember if I told you this (I'm pretty sure I didn't), but earlier this year I went to an art show and reception with my mom. Our art teacher had talked us both into entering something, which was a first for me. My dad had a meeting that afternoon, so he couldn't go with us (though he did go with mom later in the week to see our work "on display"). As someone who is completely non-competitive (can a person be anti-competitive??) I wasn't very excited at the prospect, but I did it for our teacher. And oh my, but Jen does a marvelous impersonation of a basket case. Oy. I'd never been to a juried art show before, so I had no idea what to expect. I had visions of people standing around criticizing my painting (it was only my second), laughing at it hysterically and wondering aloud who let the third grader in, or maybe I'd just trip over my own two feet at the reception and go sprawling; another of my call me grace moments (remember this post?). And silly me. Seems I needn't have worried about any of that. I was so doggone busy chasing mom around in circles that I didn't have time to even think about anything else. During the brief time we were there, mom managed to:

1. Dump an entire stack of cups in the punch bowl, then stick her hand in the punch to fish them back out;

2. Spill the cup of punch she finally managed to pour herself down the back of our art teacher's skirt when she gave her a hug;

- And (my personal favorite) -

3. Spend ten minutes digging around in a purse - pulling everything out repeatedly - before announcing in stunned surprise, "Heyyyy... This is not my purse!"

*Facepalm*

Thankfully, said purse belonged to a woman in the art class after ours, so at least it was someone we sort of knew. Even more of a relief? She had a really good sense of humor. I am telling you, by the end of that (mercifully short) reception I was wiped out. Alzheimer's, like so many of the trials we face in this life, often boils down to a laugh or cry scenario (and it's definitely a prayerful one!) In hindsight it's pretty funny, although now that I am facing a second show and reception next week I find myself reevaluating my sense of humor. On second thought...

Anybody want to go with me? 'Cause methinks I'm just a leetle bit scared ;o)
[Photo Inset: The watercolor painting I entered, "Ecclesiastes 3: Summer (Rose of Sharon).]

The conversations I have with my mother throughout the week (normal ones aside) range from tedious to hilarious. It is not always easy to speak in the same calm voice when answering a question for the 33rd time during a single conversation, but I sure do try (though sometimes I take so many deep breaths, I probably sound like an obscene phone call ;o) People with Alzheimer's are easily agitated, and sometimes this agitation can blossom into a major meltdown if you're not able to defuse it. It is incredibly helpful to have a bent sense of humor in such situations, so you can entertain yourself and calm the storm at the same time. I am, of course, a huge fan of multitasking (particularly when it works ;o)

I had the following entertaining conversation with mom the other day on the way home from art class:

Mom: [suddenly agitated] "Jennifer, I don't know where I am."

Me: [calmly] "Of course you do."

Mom: [panicking] "NO! NO! I don't! I don't know! I don't know! I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHERE I AM!!"

Me: [still calm] "You're in my car, Mom."

Mom: [annoyed] "Well I know THAT."

Me: [raising a brow] "See? I told you you know where you are silly."

Happily, mom found that observation hysterically funny, and for the rest of the ride she was just fine. Dodged a bullet there, eh? Whew!
[Photo Inset: Not terribly relevant, though it did put me in mind of the song "Bad Moon Rising" which is sort of apt when it comes to the volatility of an Alzheimer's patient. Ha. Taken with my "old" camera. The one I have now doesn't seem to be able to get the job done; I think I need some kind of filter - but quite frankly, I haven't a clue ;o)]

Guess that's all for this week - I'm off to try to shovel out the rest of our guest bedroom (the holidays will be here before we know it - ACK!) Thanks for reading this far, and have a blessed week everyone!

Nevermind Waldo:

**Coffee and a Donut post**

A little over a year or so ago my mom started going to a watercolor painting class every week. My dad thought it would be a fun thing for her to do; possibly helpful as well since she had been diagnosed with Dementia. He was so right - she absolutely loves it! Although retired my dad is a busy guy, so in an effort to pitch in and give him a break (albeit a small one), I offered to run by the class each week to pick up mom and bring her home; then he could run some errands or do whatever he needed to do during that time. Since he was staying there with her - trying to work from a chair in the studio - I thought it would at least buy him an extra hour or so's worth of [more comfortable] productivity each week.
Now I'll cop to a teensy bit of wishful thinking here, as painting (and I do NOT mean the walls in the house ;o) has been a dream of mine since forever, though I've never made mention of this to my dad or anyone else. I figured if I sat there and paid attention to Mom's lessons, I might even learn something. Photo inset: Isn't that the coolest door? I loved the peeling paint, weathered look, and the overall symmetry of it. This is a local church, and one of my "Scripture Pictures" (to wit: Rev 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock...")

I was an art major in high school and we did all kinds of different things, but we never covered painting. I guess because it was too expensive; it certainly couldn't have been the mess, as we made some spectacular ones on a regular basis. In any case, I was not allowed to pursue art beyond high school (long story, that) and I gave it up completely after I graduated. Well, until my cancer diagnosis, that is (more on that whole story here, if you're interested). Although I did attempt to learn to paint on my own, it was a little too complicated for me figure out without professional help (so I just went back to my faithful friends - #2 Pencil & Company ;o) I did manage to create one halfway decent work with watercolor pencils [photo inset] and a whole boatload of "Meh" before I gave it up in frustration.

After I had picked up and delivered mom a few times, my dad and I had the following conversation:

Dad: You know, if you're going to go get your mom every week you should probably just take the class with her.
Me [rolling my eyes and laughing]: Yes, well. That'd be great there, Pop, but I'm afraid extravagances like art classes don't exactly run around in my reality.
Dad [shrugging]: We'll pay for it.
Me [horrified]: Oh my goodness, that's not what I meant at ALL! No, no, no, I couldn't let you do that. It's way too much!
Dad: I'd be happy to do it. You're going there every week anyway; you might even enjoy it.
Me [backpedaling]: Well I'm sure I would, but I don't want you to feel like you have to do that. I'm happy to just pick her up for you. Really, I am. I don't mind it at all. Honest!
Dad [in exasperation]: LOOK. We may not be rolling in it, but we can certainly afford to do this for you. You know that.
Me [now sputtering]: Well, yes...Maybe, but...Well, I...I mean, you can't...I couldn't... it's just SO much... 
Dad [eyeing me strangely]: I don't see the problem. You like art, I know you do. We want to do this; I know good and well you'd enjoy it. Besides, are you seriously going to keep arguing with me about it?
Me [having a major V-8 moment]: Uh... No. No, I'm not. Not at all, actually. I think I'm done being an idiot. Mostly, anyway. THANK YOU, Pop!
I guess this might sound a bit silly, but I actually cried a few happy tears in the car on my way home. (I mean honestly, what's a girl to do when she's overwhelmed by an out of the blue blessing like that, you know? :o)

Not sure why, but after the first two or three sessions, I decided to start keeping up with the weekly progress on my third painting of a Nandina (done from a photograph of a bush behind the house that was taken a long time ago). My second painting (a Rose of Sharon) is in the blog slider above. The first one may (or may not) ever see the light of day. I have a LOT to learn, and I am incredibly slow. I did do my sketch at home (seemed wasteful do use class time for that, since I can at least draw all by myself ;o) Each slide change is one class; it took me about 23 or 24 weeks to finish this. I told you I was slow. *laugh* Disclaimer: In my defense, I didn't know I was going to share these, so the cell phone photos are not the best (#3 is simply dreadful):

...

And now for an update on the "P" word (project). I'll bet you thought I forgot all about it, didn't you? Surprisingly, I didn't (though maybe shockingly would be the more appropriate adverb ;o) We definitely needed somewhere for our visitors to wash up after petting the ponies (or using the outhouse), and decided to go with your basic el-cheapo laundry tub. Not only was it basic, it was also incredibly booooring. Added to that, of course, was how utterly ridiculous a blinding white sink looked with the rustic theme we had going on (remember my potty post?) Plus anyone with an ounce of brain cell knows that while it is all shiny and white and pretty right now, it certainly isn't going to stay that way. As if all that were not enough already, don't we all know by now that Jennifer just can't leave such things alone? [Cue eye roll and dramatic, self-deprecating sigh] I decided to paint it, but with what? For the outside I knew I could use outdoor paint made specifically for plastic, but what about the inside? I decided to try Leak Seal (the stuff you put on your gutters). It's made for outdoor use and it's tough (at least I hope it is). Wasn't sure if it would work or not, but it looks like it just might do the trick. *WOOT* I started with the bottom, which still needs another coat or two...

...and then I went for the interior and top portion. So far so good, but it definitely will need another coat of Leak Seal (this was the whole can).

Hopefully, I'll have some "all finished" photos for you in the near future :o) I also [FINALLY] started painting the spectacular wood cutout DD made for me (which was longer ago than I care to acknowledge *laugh*):

I might have gotten just a little bit sidetracked somewhere in the middle of all that to play with some dangling Zenspirations (this info's for my creatively crafty blogging buddy, Ann ;o) to spice up a birthday bag for my friend Kimby. I'll tell you all about her next week - she's amazing! Not my best work, but it was a lot harder to doodle on that bumpy bag than I thought it would be (plus the .07 pen was a bit too thick for my liking - .03 worked much better). Sure was fun though!

I'll be adding something new here called a "Random Moment" periodically. Sometimes I have something I learned or came across that I want to share with you, but it's often short and not relevant to whatever I'm talking about at the time (that's so very... Me: not relevant - HA). Anyhoo, here's the first one:

Random Moment: Paper Karma is the most marvelous app! I guess you could call it the postal version of "Do Not Call". I know one thing; it cut our junk mail down to almost nothing. We had an unbelievable deluge of "spammy" snail mail and credit card offers every single day; it drove me bonkers tearing them all up (can't just toss it all because now they plaster your name all over it and you have to worry about identity theft don'tcha know). Now we barely get a handful all week. Hooray!! Find it on Google Play here, and iTunes here. It really does work!

Thank you for reading so [very, very] far this week; have a blessed day y'all!

OH-OH-OH! Did you see what Carrie did for me? Check out my new little ray of sunshine in the comment part below (I'm telling you, that girl is a digital rock star!) You might even leave me a comment; they really do brighten my day! ;o)

Where in the world has Jen been???

OH you just don't know how much I've missed you guys... I'm so happy to finally blog again! *SQUEEEE* [ahem] Sorry. Okay, so this was actually supposed to be a back to school post last August, but I've obviously had to rethink that now that school is almost over (can you say WOOSH with whiplash?!? *facepalm*). In honor of final exams, I've decided to offer a multiple choice quiz to see if you can guess what caused such a lengthy disappearance. I should tell you that my dear friends Lori and Sandy have both stopped just short (and not by much, either ;o) of reading me the riot act for being gone from the blogosphere for so doggone long. Clancy even sent me a message via Facebook to make sure I was still in one piece. Aren't friendships just the most marvelous blessing?

Speaking of extended absences, I am posting this under the assumption (a dangerous word) that A. There is someone actually here to read it (crickets people, I am pretty sure I hear boatloads of crickets); B. You still remember me (I'm sorry, Jen who??); and C. You can manage to read what I've written through the extensive amount of cobwebs (webs, get it? Har ;o) that have collected on this blog over the past umpteen months. *wince*

Ready?

Okay, so what on earth have I been DOING all this time anyway?

Well, I was...

A) bidding a sad farewell to our Sarabear, who had to leave us.

B) learning to let go and let God (with a dash of hysteria) when our daughter suddenly "declared" her independence by leaving home unexpectedly.

C)  trying to help my dad with my mom who was diagnosed with Dementia, and spend more time with both of them.

D) recovering from the shock of learning I was gluten intolerant and attempting to find my way around the massive GF learning curve.

E) getting diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, then Osteopenia.

F) going totally off the dietary deep end: Me go Paleo. UG.

G) completely reconfiguring (then re-reconfiguring) my daily routine in an absolutely unsuccessful attempt to make it all work and still be able to write my posts.

H) learning how to use essential oils and natural ingredients to make my own deodorant, lotion, shampoo, hair color and horse stuff.

I) discovering that dirt was really good for you, so I started eating it.

J) All of the above.

Of course for those of you who know me, this is pretty much a no-brainer. I even gave you a tiny hint via initial (and now that I've said all that, I'm thinking any random stranger stopping by should know what the answer is as well, right? ;o)

I am sorry for being gone for so long without a word; I meant to add a short "I'll be back" post at some point, but I never did get to it. I'm going to try to get back into visiting everyone's blogs and posting here more regularly over the summer, although I may find myself cutting back once school starts in the fall. Pretty sure a huge chunk of this summer will be dedicated to updating a ton of web stuff and finally getting my house in order, which is a total disaster area. Yeesh, WHATTA MESS! Methinks I might just need to redecorate this blog while I'm at it, too. *laugh*

Happy-Happy-Happy hugs!