Deck progress...putting in posts

 So this next step was to put gravel in the bottom of each hole, put the post in hand mix cement, and scoop it in.

 TE + KE 2010, had to make our mark!

Me putting in gravel and doing measurements

October weekend-Survive Norfolk, Survive Deck building

Survive Norfolk pics:

 our friend Adam who was participated, next year Temp and I want to too...

 the first zombies to chase the humans

one of the zombie chases...it was fun!

Temp and I worked on digging the holes for our deck posts. 21 holes, 16 inches deep, 8 inches wide. Phew!

Deck progress

Templeton and I have taken on a big project: building our backyard deck! We love being outside, so it needed to be done. So far, we transplanted 2 hydrageas, a golden dust plant, and a hosta. Then we measured out the perimeter of the deck. Lastly, we marked where our posts will be.

This is the drawing of what it will look like. Built in benches and planter. Steps wrapping around the front.

lunchtime!

dad and son at the bar for lunch

happy brothers

crawford in laundry basket

less than 5 min. later

peaking kitten

we saw this little head peak up while cleaning the kitchen. he's sitting on the bar stool

little buddy

midge, newly adopted

madge (seen below), his condo-mate was just adopted, midge, the gray kitty i showed a couple of posts ago. i had to give him lots of love because his buddy was gone. i love our job!

madge, needs a home!

canoeing on a friday afternoon

Bird's Eye View of MY childhood home

Templeton inspired me to look at my childhood home via Bing's Bird's Eye View program. My parents moved from this house like 7 or so years ago, so it's been awhile.  3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath.
Here is Morristown, NJ:

date night!

Community Service

This summer vacation, one of my goals was to find a community service project that I could dedicate my time to. I tried a soup kitchen, and researched many opportunities, but nothing seemed to fit either my likes or time availability. Sal passed away and at the time, Temp and I saw nothing positive to come from it. Not to be negative, but he wasn't suffering, he was young, we just felt like we were punished with his life taken away from us.

We always knew that our next pets would be from a shelter (Norfolk Animal Care Center), and then we got Crawford and Jasper. The women that helped us thru the adoption mentioned a need for volunteers and that seemed like the perfect project. The cool thing was that Templeton was interested too! We went thru orientation and some animal handling training, and now we are volunteer staff.

Temp and I take pictures and video for the website (we firmly believe in that form of marketing because that's how we found our little guys!!) We also will hang out with the animals, play with them, clean their respective cages out, try to make them feel as comfortable as well. We look forward to special events too. So I believe at the very least, we are helping more animals find homes, and wouldn't be doing this if Sal hadn't passed, so there was something positive that came from it. Here are some of the pictures I have taken so far, hoping they will find a home soon!

time for check-up!

1st visit to the vet...good boys
all is good, kitties are healthy!

Look what I found

I heard some weird noises...looked down and found this!

Kittens make new friends!

Crawford really liked Joe!

The kitties met Sophie the dog as well, they were freaked out at first!

Jasper wanted no part

Crawford was hesitant, but started letting his guard down

Crawford felt safe near Emily

Memory Box

I had told some about making a memory box for Salvador, here is a picture of it, it really helps with the grieving process:

It includes a portrait that was made as a wedding present, his collar, brush, and favorite toys.

Our new additions

On Monday, we got 2 new additions to our family. Black and white, 5 mos., Crawford and Black, 6 mos. Jasper. They have brought such joy already into our house, and we're excited about all of what the future had to bring. They are lovebugs, but super playful at the same time.  They are from the Animal Control Center, we found Crawford online using PetFinder, and discovered Jasper was his best friend and they needed to be adopted together.

Here is a video of their first arrival:

In Honor of My Little Boy

A week ago today, the saddest thing that has ever happened to me occurred. My cat Salvador died of a heart attack. He meant more to me than anyone could ever know. I strongly disliked cats most of my life, was very much a dog person. My friend Suzy came to me and said she had a cat that she could not take to her next apt. and since he was a little older, if she brought him to a shelter, he'd probably be euthanized. I was living alone in a 5 bedroom house at the time because all of my roommates had gone home for the summer. I was lonely and felt horrible about his potential destiny. I went to her place to check him out and I fell in love. He looked at me in the eyes and I knew right there, 9 years ago. (I have a book where I recorded my first memories of him, and I swear this is all in there!!)
I brought him, and didn't see him for 3 days. He was very scared and hid under my bed. I didn't know what I was doing and felt overwhelmed. Finally when he did come out, he demolished a lot of my belongings. I had a tapestry on the wall that I got at the Salvador Dali museum, ripped to shreds. TV, knocked over and broken. Lamp, stereo, all broken by his hyper antics. I was very stressed, I never had a dog that acted like this. My only option was to give him lots of love and compassion.
He scratched me any time I wanted to pick him up, but I was determined.
A couple of months later we moved in with my friend Nina. She was a cat lover and then I knew there was hope. She brought a new cat Mia in to live with us, and they were adorable. Salvador took care of her, cleaned her, cuddled her and played with her. He was so happy. The four of us lived together for 2 years. In the meantime, I started dating Templeton. He and Sal got along great. Temp moved to California, and Sal was really what helped me get thru that LONG year. Sal was so intuitive, he knew when to take care of me when I was sad, and listened unconditionally to me.
I missed Templeton so much that I moved to CA to be with him. Sal flew separately, but we all ended up there together. It's funny to say that Sal lived in Beverly Hills, Hollywood and Atwater Village in Los Angeles, but he did! We first lived with my friend Kristin and her cat Simon. They didn't get along, he never had a relationship with another cat like he did with Mia. Eventually Temp and I moved in together with Sal, and that's where they really bonded. Templeton really became Sal's father, and it was really sweet.
We moved back to Norfolk after 1 1/2 years and really settled in together. Sal loved to play with Temp, watch skate videos together. When Sal's heart disease progressed, he needed to take pills every day. Over time, that became Temp's job after I had broken my fingers. It was so amazing because Temp literally had to put the pills in his throat, very uncomfortable for both of them, but Sal always gave Temp a little head bump to show he understood and still loved Templeton.
Anytime I was sick, sad, stressed, Sal was always there for me. He showed great concern for me and my feelings. If I couldn't sleep at night, I found Sal to relax me. We watched General Hospital together everyday, he was my therapy after work after a hard day. Sal would always wait until Temp and I settled in for the night, and he would jump on the bed with such joy and lay between us so he could get pet. Templeton and I could never resist saying how cute Sal was, or how much we loved him every SINGLE DAY. We can genuinely say we never took him for granted. The way Sal would run up the steps, he would try to race us. The way he'd be waiting at the door for us when we came home. He'd curl up in the box from a board game while we played at the dining room table. When we would read a magazine, he'd make sure to come up and sit on the magazine so we'd pet him instead. When I was on the computer, he'd lay at my feet anxiously waiting for me. Sal was very thirsty as his heart disease progressed, so I'd treat him to drips from the faucet and give him ice cubes multiple times a day.
What I miss is Sal's company. I miss our routines. Templeton and I made our decisions throughout the day based around him. Time to go to bed? Find Sal, give him his pills. Time to wake up? Where's Sal, he needs an ice cube.
There was a point in my life where I know that I felt if anything had happened to Sal, I couldn't imagine my life without him. I couldn't imagine moving forward. He was everything to me. Fortunately, I fell in love with Templeton who gave me more motivation to keep going.  I do feel lost without Salvador. Especially not having work to go to. I look around and hope he comes around the corner.
Most people can say when someone dies: "at least he's in a better place", or "he's not struggling anymore", " it was his time". None of those ring true with Sal. His better place was here. He was too young, he wasn't suffering. We weren't ready. I am grateful he did not suffer, because a lot of cats in his condition start struggling with breath and energy. But I wanted him to be with us longer. I feel an emptiness inside of me, I am healing, but I will always miss my baby boy. My Salvador.

This video of me and Sal was from about 4 years ago. I feel like it just gives a peep into our life together and the bond we had.

This is a slide show of some of my favorite pics of Sal. If you scroll over any of them, it gives a little caption.

I am presenting at a state conference!!!

I submitted a proposal for the State Conference of art teachers, and it was accepted! I will be presenting on how to teach animation with the attendees walking away with a completed animation cel. It's a lesson I have done with my kids, and I think a lot of people of all ages will enjoy it.
Part of teaching is being a leader in your field, and I am really trying to work on that. I started the National Art Honor Society in Norfolk, and now I want to lead at the state level. Probably next year I will submit a proposal at the National level.
I did hear from a little birdie that my proposal was accepted a month ago, but this was the official, official word!!

Art a Day 3

So...
I have decided to create a zine at the same time I decided to do "art a day". I found myself getting overwhelmed by these requirements I put on myself, so I am compromising. I am going to mainly focus on my zine which takes lots of art, but I won't be posting my progress. The art a day will be private. I think it would be weird because my zine should only be seen upon completion. I have started some research for it, and I think it will be pretty rad.
Templeton and I will still have "create dates" where I will make separate art pieces, and will continue to take photographs, but I will not be posting daily.
I am also planning on starting the screen printing business, but summer vacation does deserve some chill-time right!?

zine:  is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier on a variety of colored paper stock.