funny, i really can't stand to have a ton of teeny objects on every surface but lately...i have been collecting a lot of teeny objects. when the weather gets warmer, and i get a day off (if ever!) i will have to start sorting out all this stuff and pack the extra back to the thrift store. it's just part of my wacky existence.
this guy will stay though, my first teeny bluebird.
beautiful anna, living somewhere in spain with two kids (the last time i spoke with her) she speaks only spanish now...from camp yallani to a renovated farm house in spain...sounds like the good life to me!
check out all the neat stuff over on ebay at the christian carlos fund, i donated an owl and there are other things donated by other artists too! i have really enjoyed being a part of this fundraiser, very inspiring.
christian carlos fund
my first year at camp yallani, i was a kitchen steward which was really a dishwasher and helper with kitchen prep. my parents bought me a walkman, an original cassette loaded walkman that used up about a dozen batteries a week. i played tears for fears the hurting over and over while i pushed dishes through the sterilizer. this was the grossest and funnest job i ever had. i met cleaver, gotta (who is the legend kevin lyman, creator of the warp tour...man he owes me some free tickets!) and anna (whom i found recently, living in spain... lovely!) my core favorite people...oh and scooter... who was the coolest most stylish person ever.
cleaver left me high and dry in the kitchen, she became a counselor a year before me.
gotta and louie
my favorite camp yallani shot, these are three camp counselors (scooter,digger and soda)...clowning around while a camper lays on the ground behind them. you just have to wonder why that kid is on the ground, and why the counselors are not paying attention. as a parent, of course i notice this more now.
when i went away to camp each summer, i worked about 10 weeks out of the 12. each week a different group of campers came up, at least two or three were camp fire but some were from other organizations that rented it out. two weeks a summer we had mentally handicapped campers and i can tell you i learned a lot those weeks! we had so many funny things happen and so many humbling things also. as a teenager, of course i made fun of some of these guys, but overall i learned compassion for people who are different. it was a priceless experience...something that influenced my choice of psychology as a degree i am sure.
cleaver in the kitchen
cleaver!
here is the kitchen crew...fun girls!
still not perfect, but this one is more balanced and i like it!
fun with the back, vintage fabric.
well the elephant is still a work in progress, nose re-do...not as rhino-ish now. hope it doesn't take too many elephants to fix all the design problems. oh well, it's fun and i can always give them away for birthday presents.
the girls liked a song chris had blasting and just started dancing, it's a celebration!
dancing turned into our nightly bed jumping....hope that kid sleeps all night!
i still love my owls, but i wanted to make an elephant for liz, her favorite animal. here is the first go around, it actually looks pretty good (a little saggy baggy, but elephants are saggy baggy!). i like the vintage fabric for the back, i am diving into all that thrift fabric finally!
when you live with a three year old, there are many nights when just as your head hits the pillow, you hear the door of her bedroom creak and know she is on her way into your room. my girls make nonstop requests for drinks, snacks, get this or that please... and at night i start losing my cool (more than usual).
yesterday i was talking with my coworker about the march schedule and she said there is a lot of "call" coming in. this is when you are "on call" at night, something i have done a lot of in the past, but just can't stand now. the reason? well, i am "on call" here at home even on the nights i am not "on call" for work, this means sleep is very big deal to me. i tried to explain this to her and attempted to get out of as much as possible.
sooooo....last night at maybe 3 in the morning we wake up to liz calling us from the hall...then in our room...."mommy daddy....can you put this dress on this doll, i cant do it!!!" now how can you get mad at that request?
what a difference a day makes...
this was the sunset sunday night on our way back from big bear to green valley lake. the storm was rolling in, but we had no idea we would wake up to two feet of snow, hurray!
memories of camp yallani...my best friend CLEAVER is still my most favorite person in the whole world. we shared summer after summer of dishwashing, cooking in the kitchen and finally, camp counselors...growing up at camp yallani. this was hands down the most memorable time of my teen life. it kept me out of big time trouble and i made the most lasting friendship of my life...can't tell her enough how special she is. now if i can just find those camp pictures!!! stay tuned for more.
some pictures found! :)
these little banks are so cute, not sure of their age or where they are from. they are a bit fragile and some of the paint is coming off. as soon as i move to a new account, there won't be so many thrift stores to shop for during my lunch break, i guess i will have to eat lunch or read like normal people. i think i am getting a bit (more) kooky, but thrifting is FUN!
well my etsy shop is up, but still working on getting a sidebar link....check it out if you are interested!
now that i have been "out there" for awhile, i can let you in on the ultrasound world just a bit. i did a blog about all the things that irked an ultrasound tech, then deleted it the next morning because i didnt want to sound like the big fat burnout that i am, ha ha!
but now i guess i can tell you, scanning babies all day can be really difficult. the problem is that the pregnant patient is not told by the doctor (and may just not be aware in general) the HUGE responsibility we have as ultrasound techs to get tons of information for the radiologist (and radiologists aren't known for being the nicest people on the planet, at least in my experience). babies are teeny weeny and mobile, pregnant moms come in different sized packages. not the best mix for ultrasound. it is easy as pie to scan a skinny pregnant patient with a baby over 18 weeks gestation, but that is pretty rare. anyways, i know people complain about u/s techs being mean or quiet, but i can tell you it is HARD to scan these little guys and even with a ton of experience, it is always important to concentrate and focus on every detail so something isn't missed(i get super quiet as i would when i am drawing or painting, usually i am pretty chatty). sometimes i do hit it off with a patient and i talk so much i realize i don't even know what pictures i have taken! it makes for a fun visit, but i can get behind in my schedule and waiting patients get grumpy with full bladders. yikes!
so i leave you with this lovely upper lip shot, a picture we take to rule out a cleft lip and say....be nice to your ultrasound tech, we DO love babies but we look at them with a medical eye to ensure every little bit is working properly.
:)
i am probably the only person who goes into the childrens section at the book store, and although i love children's books, i just dont like about 90 percent of what i see. i especially dont like the stories, so many are just not clever. for example, i love the artwork on the book chowder, but the story is so wierd. it has a dog sitting on the toilet and farm animals at the supermarket, um...not sure about that (although the kids LOVE the dog on the toilet picture.)
now, when i find these treasures at the thrift store, not only are the illustrations amazing and exciting, the stories are usually better, at least to me. they make sense, they are simple and creative. i took a course in childrens writing and have dozens of books on the subject, so i know how hard it is to be unique and fresh, but the new books out there today just bore me.
this is an amazing book that really makes me happy, i could frame this and put it on the wall as art.
