My best friend Abbie has 2 adorable twin girls, who are 3 years old. Super cute. They keep her very busy and she’s an awesome mom. She’s been working on painting a flower border and an apple tree on their bedroom wall. She asked if I’d like to help out, so I went over Sunday and painted a cherry blossom branch! I will be going back to turn it into a full tree.
Do you ever feel like you’ve somehow jumped the rails to a parallel but healthier path in life? Like, everything feels the same, but you’re suddenly compelled to eat better, exercise, do more, take better care of yourself? And you have no idea what changed? That’s how I’ve felt for the past 3 weeks.
I’m still having fun learning how to use the grill and make healthy meals for me & hubby. This week I tried wooden skewers for the first time and it worked out really well! No more onion pieces rolling all willy-nilly around the grill. And as an added bonus, the skewers didn’t burst into flames.
Almost exactly a year ago [how weird is that?] I started working on my 6 panel art/painting project. The project actually began in 2004/2005-ish when I bought the 6 panels of canvas board, laid them out on the floor in my old apartment, and sketched a big tree onto them. The plan was to paint 3 panels dark and 3 panels light so together they make one picture but half day/half night.
I have never been much of a griller. For YEARS it was because I was scared I couldn’t do it. Abbie kept telling me “IT’S SO EASY!” but grilling for myself was never very motivating. After meeting Jim, I decided it was time to finally learn. I’m mostly in charge of dinner and DIY and he’s mostly in charge of laundry and dishes, so the grill falls squarely in my domain.
For many months I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a stained glass project framed by wood. As in, finding the perfect wood frame and then creating something to put in it. I was partly inspired by stained glass projects my friend and glass mentor Abbie has done, especially her light box which is a 3 dimensional wooden box with a front made of multi colored beach glass, and filled with an LED light string that slowly changes colors. It’s mesmerizing!
The last time I Created Art While Intoxicated was in 2013. As I’ve said before, I rarely get drunk [which is why there were no 2014 or 2015 Intoxicated Art posts]. It’s not often I decide to really let go. But sometimes I do, and sometimes while in a state of joyful inebriation I feel compelled to be creative. Two weekends ago I drank 4 Mike’s Mango Punches and informed hubby that I absolutely HAD TO GO PAINT.
I just added 4 new cat platforms to the upstairs hall. That makes a total of 25 platforms I’ve built in the past 3 years. TWENTY FIVE. If that doesn’t earn me Crazy Cat Lady status I don’t know what will! OK, maybe walking down the street with a shopping cart full of cats… *shudder*. This past weekend I put the finishing touches on 4 new platforms surrounding the girl cave doorway.
One of the things on my 2016 Projects list is to paint the border of the 3 way-up-high windows on the back of our house. I want them white to match the 9 replacement windows we had put in last August.
All I can say is: It’s freaking amazing to have working lights in the back yard!!! I’ve lived in the condo since 2012. For the first 2 years, I didn’t even realize the ugly black things stuck to the wall in the back yard were the remnants of old flood lights. Last year I finally recognized them for what they were, and this year I did something about it!
![Getting Healthier & Stronger [Possibly in a Parallel Universe]](https://ninedarkmoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/284g.jpg)
