Last week the weather wasn’t great, so I didn’t have to deal with that distraction, at least. I had a stack of orders that needed to be done as soon as possible; special orders that bring in money immediately. I spent most of my time working.
Jay flew off to Vegas for some kind of clinic/convention/conference. He wanted me to come with him but I’d spent as much time on planes and living out of a suitcase as I wanted to this spring. Besides, I knew I could get much more work done without him around, being all cute and distracting.
Zack’s idea was to use the time that Dad was gone to do something we’ve discussed for quite a while: Middle Earth Marathon. We started with the Hobbit; An Unexpected Journey and over the course of the next few days and nights, watched the extended versions of all three Hobbit movies and then the Lord of the Rings.
Both of us had to work during the days so we kept our excursion to evenings. We haven’t finished it yet but it’s pretty fun.
Jay got home at dawn on Monday.
It’s great to have him back where he belongs. I never get any sleep when he’s gone.
To fill the long, empty days while he was away, I worked like a fiend. In addition to getting twelve orders painted and five of the six movies watched, I read another of Jacqueline Winspear’s Masie Dobbs novels, watched a few other movies, nearly finished my grandson’s Christmas stocking and spent an afternoon at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, looking at the exhibit on the Habsburgs.
MJ took Nanners out of school for a family field trip. We all love the Art Institute. Even Punkin has her favorite rooms and exhibits and there are certain galleries and paintings we have to visit every time we go.
The Habsburg’s show was fascinating. I didn’t love it as much as the Italian Fashion design show we saw last year but it was still great. In fact, the only show I didn’t love was Matisse. I’m just not a fan. I wasn’t a fan going in and I sure as hell wasn’t one coming out.
But we all enjoyed learning about the Habsburg dynasty.
The irony of royalty is that they think their DNA is what gives them the authority to rule and their DNA, through inbreeding, is what ruins them. Diversity really is an important element in a healthy system, yet the way the word is thrown around in our culture these days, we’re creating as inbred a system of elites as the Habsburgs ever did. Our politicians and educational “intellectuals” don’t suffer from the physical deformities that plagued the ruling families did but their morals and logic are every bit as deformed as ‘Habsburg jaw’. No good can come of living in an echo chamber filled with idiots.
Our two little girls were the only kids at the exhibit. A very kind older lady docent came over to them and asked, “Do you ladies have any questions about the artwork?”
Punkin, who is five but the size of a three year old, immediately asked. “How come there’s that one man who dresses up and pretends he’s a lady?”
The docent thought for a moment and whispered “Do you mean Mrs. Allen?”
It’s one of our all-time favorites at the Institute.
Speaking of Dude looks like a Lady, I saw the movie The Imitation Game. I really liked it. Great story, wonderful performances, some very interesting history and a tragic end. You see something like that and you realize that there’s a good reason some homosexuals are as radical as they are. No one wants to go back to the bad old days.
I also saw Big Hero 6. It was very fun and made me laugh. If my grandkids haven’t seen it, I may give them a copy. I think Babydoll would love it and Babalouie will be old enough for movies in no time.
On Saturday, my mom and I went up to Katie’s house. The three of us hit a fabric store armed with a paint sample from Katie and Adam’s bedroom. She’s decorating it and we were looking for fabric to make drapes.
We found some gorgeous stuff that went beautifully with her paint. The room is dark army green on three walls, a beautiful mural wallpaper on one wall and a cast iron bed. The large dresser she found at an estate sale she painted a very pale icy blue. The contrast with the dark green walls is striking. My mom is going to make the drapes for the three windows. After the fabric store, we went to Savers. Katie found two little shelves to mount on the wall on either side of her bed, to eliminate the need for bedside tables. The shelves don’t match each other but they’re both a dark wood that will look fantastic on the dark green walls.
I didn’t mean to buy anything but found some Tupperware (I can never resist) and a Calphalon 14” everyday pan. It was in great shape but had no lid. They retail for $150-$180 dollars. I paid $14.99.
I love a good bargain.
The next day was Mother’s Day.
Zack treated me to brunch at Brueggers after mass. Then we spent the rainy, dark afternoon watching The Two Towers. Katie and Adam brought the fixin’s for dinner and Katie used my new pan to cook the chicken. She made a delicious recipe she’d gotten from her cousin, Katelyn. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, fried then covered with melted mozzarella and fresh salsa. It was fabulous! I made Devil Cookies for dessert.
Josie called from school and we had a nice long chat. I'll be going to bring her home for the summer, soon!
Celebrating their last Mother’s Day in Texas, Megan wanted some one on one time with Babalouie so Ty took Babydoll to her first movie in a theater. She wasn’t thrilled with the movie but she LOVED the theater. The surround sound fascinated her but the lights in the floor were the most mesmerizing part of the afternoon.
“Daddy, why are there lights on the floor?” she whispered.
“That’s so if you have to go potty, you won’t trip.” Ty whispered back.
“I don’t have to go potty. Can they turn them off?”
“Someone else might have to go potty.”
Half way through the movie, she pulled her Dad’s arm. “Dad, no one is going potty? Can they turn those lights off?”
All I can say is it must not have been a Pixar movie; no one obsesses over the lights while watching Pixar.
I finished Babalouie’s Christmas stocking last night. Three and a half weeks from painting to completely stitched! I think that’s a record for me. Now I have to design Adam’s stocking. It’ll be bigger and on #18 so no chance at all I’ll get it done that quickly but it’ll be just as much fun.