Epic Fail.

The title of this post says it all. I fell off the blogging track and once off, it was easier to stay off than pick it back up. But after many friends wondering what happened to it, I am back! With a vengeance! Well, not a vengeance, I just wanted to say that. But I am back. Not yet sure how I'm going to catch up on two months worth of posts, but I will think and type at the same time.

I come back tonight as part of my Lenten promises. There are a few that I've taken on. I've decided to call them promises or commitments this year as they're not just things that I'm giving up or temporarily changing for a season. They're things that need serious attention and should continue once Easter comes and beyond.

So my commitments this year? I'm attempting to give up procrastination. I say attempt because it's such a vague thing, and hard to measure. Giving up chocolate is one thing. It's tangible and measurable. Procrastination? Not so much. So I'm going to work on that by cutting back on Facebook and social media when I'm not actually having a direct social interaction. I'm also adding a few things. I will be having a Bible study every night along with some prayer time so I get some in everyday in case it doesn't happen throughout the course of the day. Lastly, I'm coming back to this and to the mindset of being ever thankful and grateful for the world around me.

I think my way of making up the lost two months will be this: I'll post a couple mass posts. They'll include the item I'm thankful for (as I can still remember many that I was going to write on) and write a sentence about it. I know it short changes them a bit, but I can then get caught up in a timely manner without leaving them out altogether. Plan? Plan.

So it begins again! :D

Social Flexibility

Odd thing to be thankful for? Nahhh. Here's the thing: I went to a Christmas party with my Stepmom tonight. It was with her HOUR office and, though I know most of the ladies who work there, we're not especially close. And I admit, I was in a fairly foul mood upon leaving the house. I didn't feel pretty, I was down, and I sure as heck wasn't in the mood to hang out with a bunch of adults.

But ohhhh, silly me. I had a wonderful time. To start, the food was wonderful. And although I was the only person my age there, I was able to wander around the lovely house and chat with many of the adults, whether they were thirty-somethings with their 3 and 5 year old kids, or with the fiftie-somethings, watching the kids and grandkids in happy distance. The people were all lovely and I quite enjoyed simply watching them interract.

I also got a rather desperate phone call from a friend that I needed to take. Although I was worried about excusing myself from conversation and acting rudely, I knew I needed to get back to her. Once I called her back, I sat in the backyard under a little roofed area and talked with her til she had calmed down and we had set up a time to hang out. All the while, I got to listen to the rain as it varied between soft and hard droplets.

The phone call may have lasted 45 minutes and taken a very different mindset, but I was happy to have been able to help and then go right back into the party and talk to a father about his 2 year old who was about to crash and burn for the day. (The kid was adorable, by the way. His hair was determinedly unruly and his dad had thus nicknamed him the Rooster. I liked it :) )

So tonight, I'm thankful for the ability to be flexible, even when I enter a situation with a bad outlook. I sometimes forget how much peace this flexibility gives me.

Days Off

I had another today. I got to sleep in until 10 (10!!) and then lounged about as I slowly got chores done. I've been doing a master cleaning of my room and today I not only picked up the mess around my bed and floor and do my laundry, I started in on my closet. Oddly enough, it was cleaner than expected. But since I took many breaks on facebook to chat with friends and an hour to watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, I got little done around the rest of my room :P

I'll tackle more the rest of this weekend, along with my bathroom (whih really isn't bad), and then get ready for my trip to VA. Still gott finish up a BUNCH of presents and pack and whatnot. And I'd like to finish the cleaning of my room before I head off for a week. But we'll see. It'd be nice to get another paintingdone too, but I think I'll have to wait until I return to do that. Or maybe take my paints and colored pencils with me :)

So, today, I thankful to have had the day to myself. Even though I could have done more, I'm glad that I didn't have to for once. Relaxation, when needed, is beautiful :)

Visual Art

Posted late for Thursday, December 19th
Well I totally forgot to post last night, but I have a pretty valid reason. In my head at least.

I spent most of yesterday lounging and doing pretty much nothing. (That's not the excuse for not posting, I promise.) It was my first complete day off of EVERYTHING- school, work, church, etc- in a month. And it was glorious, to say the least. So although I spent most of the day doing noting and stocking up on my rest, I spent the last 6 hours of my day working on art.

I have numerous plans for art projects, things that have already been started, things that were finished but need touching up, and things I have yet to start. The list never ends, hence my tattoo. I am "l'artiste joyeuse". The joyous artist. So anyway, I finally started one project last night that I came up with at least six months ago. It's going to be a series of portraits of the people who are most dear to me. Although the first went differently than expected, I'm happy with it.

It took about an hour and a half to do the outline from a picture I have, then I started in on the colored pencil, which has been my medium of choice for years. However, now that I'm becoming more comfortable with paint, I crave more rich colors that colored pencil can't quite give me. So, what I do is work on the drawing, do the colored pencil, and then move to watercolor. I was very pleased with my shading. Where normally, I would start with a base of skin color, I instead pulled out my greens, blues, and purples and everything in between with work on shadows. Although you wouldn't think it, without those colors, the depth just isn't there. So after I finished all the shadow on the portrait, I took the skin colors and did a thin layer over all of it, thus making the shadows just a little bit darker as well.

At that point, it was already about 10:00, so I pulled out my cheap watercolors- like the ones you use in elementary school? And I worked. I finished everything at about 11:30 and went straight to bed. It's not perfect, but art never is. It's looks just like my friend, and I captured the eyes just right, which is normally my struggle. Although I didn't get the laugh that I initially envisioned, this works just as well and shows their heart and kindness. I may add a background later, but for now, this will do.

L'artiste joyeuse is pleased with her work and is thankful for the ability to bring her friends to life, in a sense, even when they are thousands of miles away. To draw, color, and paint in each line and shape and color brings them so much closer than I can describe. Art is a life in and of itself.

Musical Memory

Today has been a good day for many reasons. I'd like to list a few of them, just so I don't forget, and then get on with the topic of tonights blog. So, first, although I was running late, and traffic was horrendous, I somehow made it to school with 30 minutes to spare. And my Music Theory final was not only easy, but FUN! You know you're in the right major when you enjoy taking your final.

Then I went to choir, got to hang out with a bunch of cool choir kids as my last class of the quarter, and then AND THEN, head back home to get my tattoo with a friend. Though it did hurt, it wasn't terrible and I LOVE it! :) and to finish my good day, GLEE Fall finale was tonight and it was great!

So onto the focus of tonight: music memory. It may not be like olfactory, but memory connected to music is so unreal and wonderful. Today in choir, after turning in all our music and working out some business, we got to get a glimpse of our music for next quarter. I like all the pieces, but was especially excited when I saw one: 'My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord' by Moses Hogan!

You see, I've done this song at least once before in high school and thinking of it brought back so many good memories. Even though East Bay Singers were struggling through sightreading it, I couldn't help but be giddy as I half heard my peers, and half heard my best friends back home singing it with me two years ago. I got many strange, slightly annoyed looks from my choir mates that I was excited and not struggling with the song like they were, but it didn't matter.

So today, although there are many things to be thankful of, I am thankful for the trigger that music is and the opportunity to relive those joyful wonderful days simply by singing a song.

Poetry

At times it's hard to say
What passes each long day
From mind to mind
And thought to thought
So instead I write
In rhyme and not

In verse.

I do love a journal
And a book to hide
In a nook
Of my heart for the
Deepest wrought
Emotions;

However,
At times I find,
Without the rhyme
Or rhythm
Of living in song
And dance,
My words are
Half-assed, at best.

So I write in rhyme
Until the time
When said rhymes are
Lame.

I revert to my book,
My journal and nook,
And compose once again
The free lyrical game
Of proper
English grammar.

Which, on second thought,
Isn't free at all.

So with my little jokes
And attempts at little pokes
Of fun at the language I love,
I give thanks for words,
For rhythn and curves
Which allow me to dance
With my thoughts
And better express them
To you.

Seasons

We rarely get them in California. I mean, there's wet. And dry. Aaaaaand that's about it. And really, in the past few years, we haven't even been getting a rainy season, thank you drought.

This doesn't stand well with Colleen.

I love me some seasons. I love fall with colors and crisp air and the feeling of new beginnings. I love winter with it's bitter cold and bundled jackets and scarves and strawberry hats. I love Spring with it's cherry blossoms and pink-petaled snow. I love Summer even with it's dorwning muggy heat and taditions. I miss the seasons.

But today, California pulled a surprise on me! I was doing my usual drive to school and was listening to Christmas music as I was gazing at the clouds (and cars ahead, don't worry). Then as I looked, I was thinking to myself "those don't look like rain...clouds, they look like..." and as my brow furrowed and my attention turned to the ground and hills zipping past me, I gasped and yelped-

"SNOOOOW!!!"

It NEVER snows here! Well, I mean, apparantly it does. But seriously! I believe the last time it snowed at such a low elevation was about 20 year ago. So...before I was born. Hah. Luckily, what was coming down as I was driving was just barely slush, much closer to rain, but there was snow on the hills and I couldn't help but be giddy and happy.

I, of course, called my best friend (on bluetooth) and left her quite the hilarious voicemail of excitement and giggles. She's used to my outbursts, thankfully.

So thanks, California and Northern Storm Surge! You made my day :)