Hope you are feeling better

Hey Mom,

Sorry I dropped off! Everybody has been asking me where have I been. When it rains it pours..! LOL or as they say, you have to make hay when the sun shines. Now how is that for contradiction! But yes, it's true. When things get busy for me they get busy and then I have a long stretch of down time.

First of all, I hope you back is better. A few years ago I when I was living at Kathy Jo's during Tessa's first year at Saint Mary's I was working for Seneca Foods (world's largest vegetable distributor) and I was processing invoices to be paid etc. Imagine this. The word's largest vegetable distributor had 1 person (read one) who processed all (read all) the shipping invoices for this company. I think my title was actually "auditor" and I got the job through a Temp agency starting at $8 bucks an hour. I think I was there maybe 3 days and they gave me a raise to $9 dollars and hour and before I finished my second week they offered me a job. Probably couldn't find any other sucker to do the job. I used to think that I had mad skills! Now I realize I am gullible LOL.

Anyway, all of sudden one day I had back spasms. I dont' know what happened or why but I was living in Kathy Jo's basement and her house was three stories with the only shower being on the third floor and I couldn't get from the basement to the third floor. It was horrible. I went to several doctors, a general practitioner who looked at me like I was a drug fiend, and then referred me to a gyno, who gave me the best female annual I have ever had, and then referred me to a neurologist who did a bunch of nerve tests that came back in conclusive. The gyno had suggested that I use aleve, where as the other doctors had me on very strong pain killers that didn't work at all. I started popping aleve, I think it was 800 to 1000 mg of aleve and that actually worked. The pain killers never did. I had the issue for about 4 weeks I guess, and then it went away, and I have no idea to this day what it was.

I hope your back is feeling better and that you have been able to work some. Gah! I know this sounds stupid but you never know how much you use your back for little things until it hurts!!

The 4th of July was kind of crazy here in NC. I have been trying to set myself a "bucket list" although I really refer to it as an "Empty Nest" list and knock off some things I would really like to do. One is see more of NC so I had for the past few weeks been thinking about going to Okracoke Island, off of NC's Outer Banks, which I have never even been to the Outerbanks and Okracoke Isle is like this little quaint artist/pirate colonoy. I tried a few weeks back and was going to go with my friend Jessica but she had something to do on Saturday so it didn't really work out since it is a 5 hour trip min, and she had to be to work early Monday morning, so it wasn't worth driving all the way to spend one night and turn around and come back.

So Okracoke has a huge fireworks display and I thought about leaving on Thurs the 2nd and going on out there. But I actually ended up with a lot of work to do so I went to Jessica's on Friday the 3rd instead for a cookout. I guess you may have seen the news but the truck carrying all the Okracoke Island fireworks blew up, killing 4 people and injuring a few more. It was not good. Very sad. So needless to say I am glad to have not gone.

One the 4th I went to a place in Raleigh that has all you can eat crab legs LOL by myself! LOL That was an adventure to be sure. I was a bit embarassed for a bit, but eveybody was busy and nobody wanted to go with me and I hadn't had crab in a long while. I also figured it wouldn't be too busy on the 4th. But coming home, I got stuck in fireworks traffic and you would not believe all the pile ups on 440 and 1-4o. This crazy town! The fair grounds holds a fireworks display so to "avoid congestion" half of the county decided to park on the side of a major highway to view the fireworks, with kids, coolers and everything! I couldn't beleive it. I was shocked! I have always stayed in over the 4th in the past so I didn't know they did that. I passed a 3 car pile up where one little economy size car was all the way under a small pick up truck and then another 5 car fender bender, a truck that had overturned on a exit and then had to dodge all the kids and on the side of road on 40. I wanted to write the city of raleigh and say I felt very sad for Raleigh's finest to have to be out there taking their lives in danger for these "silly" (not what I said but being polite! LOL ) people who have the brains of a nit wit. I mean there are semi trucks and all kinds of things traveling at 70 miles an hour on I-40..WHO?????? would place themselves or thier kids in that kind of danger????

Well, I talked to Tessa last night and she is leaving Portland Ore today to move to New Jersey...Yeah!! I mean not so much about New Jersey but at least the East Coast. New Jersey is about 4 hours or so away from here I think so that will make me breathe better. She has a friend who's parents said they would put them up for a while when they got there and get her a job. Apparently, since Tess has been out in Portland the job market is non existant. She said that there are so many unemployed hippy types living out there that the job market is saturated and she, who has worked 2 jobs since she was 16 was having trouble getting employment. She had a job at a restaraunt that paid her whenever they felt like it. I am glad she finally quit that job, but she is excited. They are going to road trip it (I am biting my knuckles!) but hopefully they will make it safe and she expects to be in New Jersey by Sunday. So maybe I will see the Outer Banks by way of New Jersey! Ha! I have only flown through there!

These pics are great mom. Thanks for posting them. I got started fooling around in Picasa and now I am more than confused! Anyway, I have pics on jump sticks and photobucket and on my old computer everywhere etc, so I was trying to get a good handle on picasa and start putting everything on picasa web.

I have been trying to work on my artistic talent HA! for a while and I wanted to show you a "portrait" I did of grandmother Sylvia but apparently it's still on Kathy Jo's computer which she is supposed to be sending me all my art work that has been scanned to her computer so that I can put a portfolio together. I went to the Raleigh School of Communications and Art recently to see about going to film school or graphic design and they want a portfolio. But Kathy is going through quite a bit right now and I think she forgot. I will have to call and remind her. I saw Wal Mart had jump sticks on sale for 12 bucks, I should go pick up a few. But anyway...

I was at A.C. Moore's which is kinda like a Woolsworth or Benjiman Franklin's type of craft store here and I noticed they had a huge scanner for art and art projects under $400 dollars. But I was in a rush for something else and didn't take a good look at it, but made a mental note to actually come back and check it out. I also picked up a book at Barnes and Noble on how to transfer any image to anything and saw some cute ideas in there. I think I would like to take some of my art work and transfer them on to leather pillows or pillows in general. We will see. It looks like it is not that big of a deal and there were many fun art projects in there. I might end up working the flea market circuit! ha. I saw a lady at the flea market that was putting images on scrabble tiles and selling them as necklaces so for $5 bucks each so I figured I could put some of my original art on to things and probably sell them. We will see.

I had a modeling gig! Ha I love writing that...makes me sound so special! Except that the modeling gig was for Old, fat, or disfigured! LOLOLOL but anyway, I got the opportunity to work with a really cool artist here in Raleigh who is working on a photographic series that is about to exhibit in October here in Raleigh and Chicago and then hopefully on to NY and Europe. He is pretty amazing. He has developed a technique that is pretty historical in the photography venacular so that makes his series even that much more stand outish to other photographic series. He graduated from SCAD. South Carolina Institue of Art and Design and FIT in NYC, (Fashion Institue). He has a spinal injury and can only be out of bed for 4 hours a day. It was pretty humbling to be working with an artist that is in extreme pain but still can't stop working. Made my little excuses seem silly. But I had to tease my hair up, and I was thinking about that time you and I tried to tease my hair and you teased and teased and teased and teased and it went right back flat! Ha! And yeah, I got up at 6.30 am to do a 9am shoot out of doors at this really beautiful private estate and by the time I got to the shoot, my hair was flat! Ha! I brought a comb and lots of hair spray.

Well, that is about all for now. Again, I hope you are feeling better. Trying to keep up with everybody has become somewhat more challenging than I thought...heehehheehe...I need to figure out how to do it on my phone so I can post when I am waiting on people who wanted me to rush to their emergency only to find out they aren't prepared for me. Then I can sit around and update blogs on my telephone and look all important!

Love you and talk to you soon. P.S. yes I do get your entire blog entry to my email account.

I love the pics, if you have any more and the time, I would love to see them.