Catching up on Birthday Cake, Motorcycles and Art

Wow. Has it really been two weeks since I blogged? Admittedly, when fighting migraines, cutting off my head takes priority to writing. Sorry for the visual. But today...today my head feels wonderful! Here is a quick summary of recent events:

* Cole turned 8 on the day Doug and I celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary! Again, aging preoccupies my shallow mind.
* Cole's birthday party was quite a success, puke et. al.
* The Kramer's, sans Cole, have gained 5 pounds since all of the August celebrations. Next time, I will NOT order a cake for 30 people. (Cole only had five guests).
* School is in full swing and with no one playing soccer, so it's been a sort of a non-event.
* Finished reading one of my favorite books of all time...The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. See review on other blog. Or wait to talk to me because this will be one book I will bother you about until you read.
* Made annual trip to Davenport (biggest motorcycle SWAP meet of the year)...Cole now has a Harley Hummer. I'm the only one in the family that eyes this piece of machinery as the devil.
*Made a trip to the Figge Art Museum. Is it possible to favor BOTH American Regionalism and Parisian Modernism? Think Grant Wood versus Henri Matisse. Well, I suppose it's possible for the unrefined, like me.
*Last, but not least. Flash the Hamster has survived nearly ONE YEAR! I hope I'm not cursing the darling little rat.

TTFN...that's Tigger's pre-texting lingo for Ta Ta For Now.

The Frustration of an Artist

Mom, can we do something together?

Sure. What do you want to do?

Make a book.

Okay. I happen to have some poster board from a class I teach. I assume he'll think the material will be perfect for the book's cover. So, when I fetch the material, what do I get?

Mom, that won’t work.

This is how every "project" starts off with Cole. He wants to do something together, but he doesn't agree with my artistic direction. So, I let him begin a project on his own and within minutes I hear...

You always do that. Start doing something else when we’re doing a project together.

I can't win. So, I sit down and watch him. Then I grab the camera. Note the boy’s internal strife. He’s not only critical of me, but he’s tearing himself apart! By the looks of his room, you’d hardly think he’s a perfectionist, but I’m seeing a few tendencies.

Lord, help anyone who will be assigned to work with the purist. And Lord help the purist keep his friends along the way.