hump day nuggets :: the thrill of the eve

hump day nuggets :: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week

Melancholy has shown up and hit me like a brick.  I'm trying to get revved up for the season, but it's been in fits and starts.  Perusing magazines and Pinterest for inspiration and talking it up with friends has only left me feeling empty.  I love me a good eve of anything and I can't believe how lame I feel this week on the eve of Thanksgiving.

Hopefully, jotting down a few words and visually jarring myself with photos from the last week will help to snap me out of this funk.  So, here we go...

nuggets.

Last week was the Fisherman's Festival Art Contest Judging & Art Reception.  Grady entered four paintings this year and there were 51 entries overall.  Jill D., our friend and neighbor, is this year's Art Contest Chairperson.  She hosted a lovely soiree at West County Design and we narrowed down 51 entries to select a winner (featured above - bottom right).

There was an amazing outreach to the students within our school district and we were truly impressed by their submissions.  Grady was okay losing out to his art teacher, Kai, and the festival will benefit from an amazing piece of work in its poster, t-shirt and print campaign for 2012.

A visit to the bookmobile always leaves me satisfied.  A few favorites for the little man, an epic novel, Moby Dick, for the husband and poetry, projects & food research for moi.

Kiki Larue is my muse.  She is such a funny and beautiful bird.  She never lets me pet or hold her, but she will stand and listen to me for quite some time.  We talk about the weather, the other crazy birds and how wise she is.  She waits until all of the other birds have their first shot at kitchen scraps and then slyly finds her place among them.  She's confident and smart.  I really like her spunk.

I had a date with my little man last Friday night.  We got dressed up and went out on the town with friends.  I put on my sassy, red boots and he sported his sweet lightning bolt necklace.  Win-win.

Grady and the Rangel girls (and the mothers) were treated to an evening of theatre from their Fairy Godmother, Cheryl.  It was a Friday night showing of A Christmas Story that started at the late hour of 8 pm, but they rallied and took it all in.  When I asked G was his favorite part was, he answered every part of it.  He followed that up the next morning with watching the movie version and then asking for a Red Ryder BB gun for xmas.  Just lovely.

Desk art & $2 flea market rug

A good majority of the last weekend was spent in the newly renovated art studio.  We rearranged, busted out some art supplies and got busy creating.

I took some leftover coffee out to the studio and decided to paint with it.  Seeing my little man create inspired me, too.  He wanted me to work alongside him and I tried.  I'm inhibited, but he is super confident and chided me into drawing, painting and sharing ideas side-by-side.

The above photo is taken from inside the studio and looking out the picture window onto our property.  The chickens are milling about in the background and then when I focused on the foreground, our art supplies took center-stage.

Vintage suitcases are one of my vices.  They hold so much, are beautiful and are easy to move around.  G loved experimenting with a new set of paints gifted from Jill D.  He set about painting worlds, dogs, guns and frogs.  Overall, he spent about six hours in the studio this weekend listening to books on tape and drawing + painting.

The little studio is filled with pretty little boxes, jars and suitcases full of supplies.  Ribbons, stamps, saved pretty paper and sewing supplies are only an arm's length away from our thrifted desks.  Grady earnestly thanked me for creating the studio space for him last weekend.  It was my pleasure.  Absolutely, my pleasure.

I love watching my little man make stuff.  He's so uninhibited and free with his art.  He confidently puts it out there and is unafraid to make something new.  I have so much to learn from him.  He also loves to encourage me (or anyone else for that matter) he feels can do what he does.  I love that about him.  

"What are you waiting for?  Retirement?" - Grady goading his father on during chess match

The little man challenged his father to a chess match at the end of the weekend.  Guess what?  He beat his father and boy did that feel good to him.  I guess he's been playing chess on the computer at school and learned a thing or two.  Steve warned him against a few moves and chided him about his strategy, but G was not going down without a fight.  He won.  He was elated and floated down the hall to his bedroom with the smell of victory still hanging in the air.

Usually, I'm in a pre-thanksgiving panic this time of year.  Tables to set, foliage to pluck from random roadside saplings for the table centerpiece and moving furniture about the house to create room for everyone.  Not this year.  When our plans changed for Thanksgiving this year, I kind of lost my get up and go about the whole thing.  We are having a low-key day with a menu Grady specifically requested:  turkey, smashed potatoes and secret recipe cranberries.  It will be sweet and simple.  The stress has been removed and the focus will definitely be on our family - but it still feels a bit deflated.  I like the part where you take in strays and the more-the-merrier-type of attitude elevates the day to a wistful high.  We'll get there...somehow.

As a lovely consolation, we will be celebrating with our friends and neighbors to create a new kind of tradition - Thanksgiving Eve.  We have been hustling for crab, ordered the sparkling wine and plan on having a Plan B in the event the crab hunt falls through.  I think I'm more excited about the eve of Turkey Day than the Turkey Day itself!  See, my spirits are already lifting.

I love traditions (new and old) and I'm thankful for friends who are like family to us.

Happy hump day.  Hope you have the happiest of holidays with your loved ones.