KiTTens

 The back is his new thing, super funny

 Crawford LOVES Templeton, he wants to be with him all of the time

 Jasper perched over the couch looking super cute

I was playing around with the fish eye function on my camera...

Obviously we adore these guys, they bring us so much joy!!!

Work at Suffolk Museum

Here are pictures of my work at the museum. I didn't win any awards, but I am stoked that I was picked to in the show! Sadly, there was an artisan's sale during the closing reception, that is what that woman is in the picture for...

SO OVER IT!

cold kitty

We were told our boiler and AC unit were on their way out. In order to be proactive, we decided to replace them now before they break and have to fix a problem. We signed a contract with RS Andrews, and this is what happened...(this is me documenting each stage in case have a bigger issue on our hands)

Jan. 13-Called to say, the day of, that they could not come, AC unit was stuck because of snowstorm. Templeton took day off of work, was not told until around 9am. Will come in a week, Thursday the 20th around 8:30-9am.

Jan. 20-Templeton took Jan. 20 & 21 off, had to call office at 9:30 looking for RS Andrews, office said guys were in meeting, will show up around 11am. Guys arrive around 11am apologizing saying they were sent to a different place. Templeton says he was told they were in a meeting, they quickly changed their story. Templeton was told to have oil picked up Friday because heat will be on in the morning or latest afternoon. That was arranged.
5:00pm Neighbor came to house stating there was a Carrier box full of parts at the end of our street. We called RS Andrews and they stated it was impossible it was theirs.

Jan. 21-Guys arrive. Templeton mentions box at end of street, guys say it was their trash guys, and they got it.  2:00pm oil is picked up. 4:00pm, guys tell Templeton there is not a circuit area to install new circuit, electrician should be out later. Hadn't heard anything, we are told electrician will be out in morning. Left now with no heat. Original thermostat is now missing.

Jan. 22-Guys arrive, say electrician is coming, waiting to hear from office. Electrician never shows up. Left with note saying electrician will come in morning of SUNDAY. Electrician calls, asks if we still need his assistance, if we someone else was assigned to us, and says he's been out of town.
Evening, no hot water-at all.

Jan. 23-Electricians arrive at 9am. They tell us they told RS Andrews they could not arrive until Sunday, they were out of town, but we were told to wait for them Friday and Saturday...unable to celebrate a special occasion as a result. They told us our electrical panel is really not prepared for all of electrical needs. Our electricians figured out the water to the hot water was turned off by RS Andrews yesterday. Electricians hooked up electric, and heat was not coming on. Called Reggie, now we have to wait for service tech to come out. Now All day Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday dedicated to waiting for techs for our house.
 Update: Techs never came, Temp called 2 hours later. They give simple instructions on how to activate the heat, and finally we have it. The temperature of the house when the thermostat was hooked up was 47 degrees

boys sitting in sunbeam by fire trying to warm-up while heat unit is being installed

Spring break plans

So Temp and I spent some time today trying to plan our Spring Break adventure. Every other year we got out of the country, so this year is in the US. We have been wanting to go to Portland because we loved Seattle so much. The only thing, is that we get bored after a couple of days, so we are thinking road trip! Fly into Portland, stay a couple of days, drive to Redwood National Forest, stay the night, go to San Francisco, then to Yosemite for night, then probably drive back to San Fran and fly home.
This is getting me excited! I love traveling!

I had a kit on my back!

I was taking dishes out of the dishwasher, and Crawford and Jasper were on the counter watching me. Jasper kept giving me kisses as I bent over. At one point, as I was taking plates out, Jasper crawled on to my back. I started laughing. He was so comfortable. Not fighting, not scratching, just chillin'! I wanted a picture so bad and Templeton wasn't home. I managed to walk to the other room, hunched over with him on my back to grab my camera. This is him. Obviously it was really hard to take the picture, but we got a little something!

ipod speaker at target=$.50...seriously

My students really inspire me

My Drawing and Painting students have really stepped it up this year. Their assignment: follow the Chuck Close style of using a grid to enlarge a photo, and how he takes a picture of his subject similar to a mugshot. Then they were allowed to use any medium besides acrylic paint to color it. Here are some of the results (the pictures seem a little distorted, somehow going into blogger it did this, but you get the point):

He asked me if I could print his picture looking like a heat sensor--awesome.

 Oil Pastels

He wanted an old feel-Watercolor and gouche

I asked "why do you want to change the colors?" she said "I want to be different" enough said-watercolor

I have a dark side, and a light side...I am from Trinidad, I tapped into that-pencil

this is 16"x24"...the picture doesn't do it justice-chalk pastel

also 16"x24"-marker dots--this girl has patience!

A not so good morning

For my birthday, Templeton wanted to take me to some stables near Williamsburg, VA and go on a trail on some horses. We both had never been and I was really excited. Sadly the snowstorm hit and they had to cancel or lesson. (Sadly, our Christmas plans, my birthday plans, and New Year's Eve plans all got canceled this year =o/)Templeton rescheduled for today.  We drove out past Williamsburg to Toano for our 11:30am lesson/trail ride. It was pouring rain. The receptionist also did not book our reschedule, but they were going to accomodate us anyway. We had to wait for the rain to stop before we could ride, so we walked around the stables and watched the rain from where Templeton is standing in the picture.

Two horses were in that pen across the puddle and started getting a little hyper. Chasing each other around in circles. All of a sudden, 1 big horse runs toward that gate and jumps over it. I am in shock, not knowing what to do. He came CHARGING towards us! Temp and were right next to a wall and stood still up against it while he came running at us. Do you stay still or run??? Both of our instincts were to stay still---not to frighten him anymore than he was. The horse came right near us than swerved off down the stable corridor. I ran to our car, and Temp followed. We stayed in the car until we calmed down, then Temp went and told them we were going to have to reschedule---again. They were very apologetic and offered a big discount. Luckily no one was hurt.
So we are bummed on our way home, and the car is acting sketchy. Making weird noises. I beg Templeton to pull over, and we have a busted tire. Temp gets out the spare from his trunk, and it was flat. We went to 7-11 on the busted tire to fill the flat with air, drove around for awhile looking for an open tire place to no avail, then just decided to go home. Temp will get new tires tomorrow. Here is a picture in the tunnel I took.
We are rescheduling horseback riding for the spring, this weather in the winter is too unpredictable.

I was frustrated so I screen printed.

This image is actually something I designed for a friend's baby shower, but I kinda liked it and wanted it on some of my stuff. Dylan and I can be twins!

My 2011 planner and a sweatshirt with my owl design.

Oh, and I was frustrated, so I said, "I'm going to make art". It made me feel better.

Our first meal, on the first day of the year on our deck!

Kinda weird there is snow everywhere, but it was really warm enough to sit outside!