Artful Adventures

Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

On this day, we not only celebrate the ending of a year, and the beginning of the next, but also a birthday.  27 years ago, we brought our youngest child & only son into this world, and life has never been the same:)  Our kids are only 17 months apart, so life was pretty crazy for a while there.  Both in cribs, both in high chairs, both in diapers, you get the picture.  But now they've grown into responsible adults-well, most of the time anyway-lol!  Jeremy had been here since Thursday morning, but went back to Madison yesterday so he could celebrate his birthday Madison style!  I always felt bad that he never really had "his" day, it always ended up being lumped into the holidays, though we tried to make it a seperate entity, it never quite made it.  All we could say was that he'd LOVE having his birthday on New Year's Eve when he was older.  So, have a safe & Happy Birthday, Jeremy-remember that safe part, will ya'?

Surprise!!

Yesterday Jeremy and a co-worker brought a client of theirs up for a meeting with Susan at The Flying Pig (have you checked out their new blog yet, it's fun!) to present his artwork for their consideration.  Since Jeremy lives in Madison and we don't see him all that often, we met them over there so we'd have a chance to chat for a bit.  Going there in the winter is as much fun as the summer, those women do have a sense of humor!  Before you even get inside the door, you're greeted by this cement statue, kept nice and warm with his hat and scarf.  They arrived shortly after we did, Jeremy walked in the door and very nonchalantly took off his hat, revealing his new haircut (or maybe lack thereof would be a better description) laughing as my mouth dropped open and the sun glinted off his newly shaved head!  Wonder if he can borrow the hat off the statue for the rest of the winter?  Ahhh, kids, they just never stop with the surprises:)

Speaking of surprises, you won't find the traditional Christmas tree at the Flying Pig either.  Instead, you grab your coffee (or beverage of choice), sit down, look up, and there it is-a tree all decked out in yellow rubber duckies, hanging in midair so it can be viewed from below on the first level, or from up top on the second floor of the gallery.  It cracks me up every time I see it!                                                                       

                        

Happy Birthday Jessie!

28 years ago today (1 week before our first anniversary), at 3:36am, I became a mother for the first time, with the arrival of our daughter at a whopping 5#15oz and 18 and 1/2" long.  We hadn't decided on a name, going back and forth between Gina (to honor my little sister who had died 3 years earlier, almost to the day) and Jessica.  On the delivery table, it was decided to go with Jessica Lee, using the same middle name that both Gary & I have.  When it came right down to it, I just couldn't name her Gina, knowing that I'd never have a minute's rest, worrying that the name would go along with a similar disaster-stupid maybe, but that's the way it was.  She was apparently quite content in the womb (and she had the hiccups, I swear everyday of that long 9 months!) and hung on tight inside there, refusing to come out & meet the world:)  But after 2 and 1/2 days of labor (no, I'm NOT kidding!) she finally made her appearance, and changed our lives forever-in a good way, of course!  She's my first born, my only daughter, and I think we've actually come to a point that we're actually becoming friends-it takes awhile for that to happen sometimes!  So, Jessie, have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY, and we'll see you tonight!