The Gila Valley Temple Motif

My latest completion is The Gila Valley Temple. The Gila Valley Temple is located in Southeast Arizona near Thatcher/Safford. It's technically located in the town of Central. 

Of the three temples that are currently open in Arizona, it is sadly the one I haven't personally seen as of yet.

However, I have been to the area multiple times (pre-temple); the last time being in 2003.

(But I was in St. David/Tombstone/Bisbee last October. It is just located along a different highway system than The Gila Valley, so I still didn't make it passed this temple).  

Actually, I have roots there as well - especially in the nearby Pomerene area.  My grandmother (Ruth Western Rogers Burson) grew up there before moving to the Phoenix area, and her father died there not too long ago!  When I was a kid, a family reunion of her mother's side of the family (my great-grandmother) was held near The Gila Valley. I think that trip was when I became deathly carsick on the road up Mt. Graham, so I'll stop talking about that. I also remember becoming deathly carsick on the road between Placerville California and Lake Tahoe, but there is no point bringing that up since it has nothing to do with temples or The Gila Valley.

Please excuse the quality of the photograph of the artwork. It was taken with a webcam as our good camera is back in the shop. Grrrrrr. I am going to send the artwork to with Chris to work next week to capture a good image of it on the large scanner he has at the office!

"The" Gila Valley
This image does not show that the word 'The' was added to the Gila Valley title, as it was brought to my attention after I took the above photo that The Gila Valley Temple was named that way because President Kimball always said that there is only one valley and that's "The Gila Valley".It is only one of two temples that has the word "the" in its title.

Therefore, the "the" has been added over the small "a' in Gila and next to the "V" in Valley.  It's just not shown in the picture above.   But I already said that.

I found a humorous blog entry from someone I don't know, but that I could very well be related to, in reference to the, I mean, The Gila Valley Temple who live in the area:  None of Your Beeswax - The Gila Valley Temple. 

I also wanted to share a few beautiful paintings of The Gila Valley Temple from an artist, KB Stanger, who I think lives in that area: (Click here)  I don't have permission to show the paintings (okay, I didn't even ask. I figured I'd just provide the link).

Again, I don't know the artist, but hey, I could be related to this artist, as I've already mentioned that I'm related to just about everyone from that part of the state.  I loved the paintings by this artist of The Gila Valley Temple as portrayed with the cotton fields.

Looking at the paintings, they inspired me to use the scriptural reference "The Field is White, Ready to Harvest" in The Gila Valley Motif above.

If I could sell more artwork, then maybe I could afford to purchase that painting!  lol

Edited to add (9/9/12): This is now available on my Etsy site. Please click here. 

Six Questions

Alexander is still under the weather - sort of. Usually when I have a kid with something like an ear infection or strep, once the antibiotics get started, the fever goes away. Not Alexander. Last night his axillary (under arm) temp was 103.5. It scared me because it was more like 104.5. The Motrin brought it down again. Today he appeared to be fever free until a couple of hours ago. I gave him the Motrin when his under arm temp was 101. His doc said he might either have a resistance infection to the Amoxicillin requiring another antibiotic or he has a viral infection and there is nothing else to do but keep him comfortable with the Ibuprofen. He said that since we can't always distinguish between bacterial and viral he will call in a different antibiotic. Fun times. Fun times.

Anyway, I don't have much going on in the ol' brain right now. And for me, surveys can be kind of fun (as long as it's not too often, too time consuming or too stupid).

I stole this off Lara's blog today. That's okay, because she obtained the questions from one of her friends too, so it's not like I'm stealing her material.

Here we go....

1.  How do you cope with the yucky season where you live?

Well, for me, the yucky season is from April to October.

The sun is aiming his vengeance at me.

(okay, the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts)

And well, October to April can blow as well because you have all the part-time residents here that just RAVE about how much they love the winter here and how they don't have to shovel snow like they do back in Minnesota, Manitoba or Massachusettes. Blah Blah Blah. My most hated phrase from them: "You don't have to shovel sunshine!" Ugh,  SHUT. THE. $#&%@$. UP!

Sunlight gives me a headache. Plus, if you leave something in the oven too long, it burns and becomes tough and overcooked, right? Well, that's me. Overcooked. You know the scene in the Spongebob movie when Patrick and Spongebob are under that heat lamp and they're all dried out in that Shell City Souvenir Shop? That's me.

Except, there isn't a beach to escape to located right there with David Hasselhoff to take me away -  like Patrick and Spongebob had.

So I'm cranky. Therefore, winters here kind of suck too, but at least we can be outside. In the summer, forget it.

But I've made it clear in numerous posts how the summers are the Devil Incarnate. To sum it up - I live in the WRONG place.

I guess I could have answered this question: "Look at my Blog Title". There you go.

2.  Tell me something you like about me or my blog.

Lara, you are more devoted to blogging and therefore you have followers and people actually comment. Oh wait, that is what makes me jealous about your blog. Tee Hee! But seriously, you're creative and you also have musical skills that I admire. Plus, you embrace being a mom to three girls. I'm not sure I would do it as perfectly as you. (I mean that, I'm not being snarky). My one daughter is giving me panic attacks. Don't tell her.

3.  Name a movie you can quote several lines from.

I'm a geek, so yes, Star Wars. But if I had to go the off-geek route, it would be 2002's About A Boy. It's one of my all time favorite movies. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it highly. It's based on the book of the same name by Nick Hornby.

Here are some of my favorite lines in no-particular order.

(Some lines I shouldn't quote due to content in them or language. There's no point in quoting the ones with language and censoring them, because the language is part of what makes that particular line good.)

Talent Show Announcer: That was Death Penalty Crew with "Murder for Life."

Fiona: Will, am I a bad mother?

Will: No, you're not a bad mother. You're just a barking lunatic.

Fiona: I mean, Marcus is special - very, very special boy and he's got a special soul, and I've wounded it.
Will: Oh, please, just shut up. You're wounding my soul.

Christine:... it's just I thought you had hidden depths.

Will: No, no, you've always had that wrong about me. I really am this shallow.

Will: (voiceover/narration): And there I was killing them softly with my song. Or rather being killed. And not so softly either.

Will: (voiceover/narration):It was terrible! Terrible! But driving really fast behind the ambulance was fantastic! 

Will (voiceover/narration]: She couldn't stay at my place, and she didn't have a DVD, or satellite, or cable, so we were always stuck watching some crap made for TV movie about a kid with leukemia. I had to end it.

Plus, I love the soundtrack. I had three songs from it on my Playlist, but one vanished. Still, great soundtrack!

4.  Least thing you like about mothering.

Potty training. I would not feel guilty if I could pay someone to do that for me. It almost worked out like that for Christian. I was doing my student teaching and then starting my K-8 teaching job at Heartland when he was in the potty training age range and Danielle's (his sitter) son was the same age, and Christian just watched Dylan and followed his lead. I didn't really have to potty train Christian. It was awesome.

No, this isn't Christian. I don't know who this is.

Another thing that is hard with mothering is the worry about them when they're sick. I don't have a problem taking care of them, but the worry with high fevers is something I can do without. If something prolongs too long without relief, I worry too much.

5.  Favorite thing about being a wife 

Do I have to answer that? Just kidding. Well, one of my quick answers wouldn't be appropriate (like some of my favorite lines in About a Boy so I'll skip over that too). It's a hard question to answer, because I've been a wife almost longer than I haven't been.

My favorite thing is being a 50/50 partner with my husband. That is something women couldn't say even a couple decades ago. I couldn't handle the bullcrap of husbands telling their wives what to do, wives worried about having the house cleaned for their husband, or things like husbands not helping with the kids. Hell no. As for the clean house, I worry about having a house clean, but that's all for me. I put that pressure on myself. If anything, I'm sure Chris wishes I could chill out on that so he could be more of a slob. Haha

6.  If you could've majored in anything in college, without thought to what you'd do with it afterwards, what would it have been?

That's what I did! LOL. I majored in Art Education, but I loved the Art History and Fine Arts element to it. In fact, I thought about double majoring in Art History. I minored in Geography due to pure interest and I thought about double majoring in that as well. However, I settled for the Geography minor so I could get finished and move on!

I want to get my Masters in Art History and Criticism. I don't know if I can though due to the student loans just for my BA. It would be insane and expensive trying to get my Masters.

There you go!

Now, I am supposed to tag some other bloggers, but I want to post this and not think. The baby is cranky and Chris has to get to bed, so I have to stop messing around on here. 

A Few Things...Forgotten Motifs, Artybuzz and Sleeping Invasions!

In a drawing pad,. I found a Circle Motif from September that I forgot about!

I also found a great art site out of the UK called ARTYBUZZ! As of today, I've already uploaded 9 Circle Motifs (including the one above!). Through them you can buy a simple inexpensive postcards of my motifs all the way up to larger prints. The prices listed are the UK currency, but if you're in the US or Canada, the exchange would be made to the dollar, depending on how well the dollar is doing (the price would be slightly higher or lower). Here is the link to my artwork on Artybuzz: http://www.artybuzz.com/member-detail-view.php?memberID=10089http://www.artybuzz.com/member-detail-view.php?memberID=10089 If you go to the homepage, the category my art is under is Illustrations.

Excuse the short post this time - my poor baby has a 102 fever today. It started yesterday. If he still has it tomorrow morning, I'm taking him to the doctor. The below illustration (not by me) also helps explain the short posts. This doesn't apply to only when Alexander is sick. It's pretty much all the time. Someone posted this on Facebook and I immediately shared it because it is defintiely our lives right now.

Tiger Lily

Earlier this week was New Beginnings. New Beginnings is an annual event for girls ages 12-18 and their parents, priesthood leaders, and their leaders. In our church, girls ages 12-18 are in the Young Women program.

Mikelle is still 11, but because she is turning 12 this year (ack! I am still wrapping my head around that!), she was also part of New Beginnings this year.  

This event helps Young Women and their parents learn about the Young Women program. It includes an explanation of Personal Progress and a presentation of the Young Women them, logo, motto, and age-group purpose statements and symbols.  It helps young women and their parents plan for events in the coming year.

 A few days before the event, we were asked to identify our 2012 incoming Young Women with a type of flower and "why". After a little consideration, this is what we submitted for Mikelle:

Tiger Lily

Like the Tiger Lily's fragrance, she is strong but can be sweet. When she was 
blessed as a baby, "strength" is what continued to play in her dad's mind. This 

is a unique flower and Mikelle is unique and creative.  She can be fiery like it's

orange color,  tenacious and passionate. The Tiger Lily is a reddish-orange but it is

also spotted and there is a superstition that smelling a Tiger Lily will give you freckles. 

Mikelle definitely has her share of freckles. She is definitely a unique tiger lily, 
standing out in a field of clovers. 

September 2009 - My favorite "freckle pic" 

Age 9 

Each of these girls that will be 12 this year had that description read and they were presented with a silk flower matching their description.

Chris loved the description - especially referencing her blessing day and her "strength"..And those premonitions of strength certainly ring true. Sure, right now her pre-teen self is using that strength in examples of stubbornness and being argumentative, but I also admire that she is going through these tough childhood years much better than I did, and I think her strength is a big part of it. For me, once the awkward period hit, it hit hard. However, Mikelle is going through it exponentially better and I am proud of her and relieved. While Mikelle is struggling academically with one teacher in particular (it's a personality thing), she is enjoying Middle School and is a good friend. While she isn't a Queen Bee (whew!) or a Lemming follower, she is confident to march to her own drum. I am grateful for that.

Now to work on the stubborn and argumentative thing......I don't know where she could have possibly gotten that! ;-)

Mikelle's Blessing Day 

October 1, 2000

 Age 8 Weeks

P.S. Regarding the above picture, in my best Chandler Bing voice:

                       "Can my dress BE any plainer?"

                       "Can Chris LOOK any younger?" 

He's 30 there! Really, he is!  

First New Motif of 2012!

Here is my first motif of 2012! Look familiar? It's very similar the Moon Motif that is in the triptych at Sundust as seen in this entry. Before having the triptych framed back in September, I forgot to scan the image in for the purpose of making prints. Well, instead of worrying about it, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to make a second version of it. It's not exactly like the first one, but it's definitely in the same family. I also made the original larger - about 12 inches in diameter.

Prints are available for various sizes: 8x8, 10x10, and 12x12.

Of all the images I love to draw, the moon images are my favorite, and moons are found all over my motifs. Therefore, it wasn't much of a stress to create another motif that's moon-themed.

I'll probably have this motif framed alone and have it in the gallery's outlet - as it won't be large enough to price it at the dollar amount level for it to be showcased in the regular gallery.

Of course please excuse the copyright backward C's. They won't be present on the original artwork or any prints from it.

Please leave a comment and thanks for looking! If you haven't yet, please go to my Facebook Page: Circle Motifs by Jill Henrichsen and hit the "like" button!

The Sun-Moon-Stars Motif (September 2011), currently available at Sundust Gallery:

Be the Parent, Not the BFF

I try to keep my blog light and somewhat humorous, but when something really gets to me, I can't hold it in sometimes.

As a mother of a daughter who is coming of age (which I am just "thrilled" about, by the way. Ack!), and a high school teacher, this recent story out of Colorado has had me seeing RED in so many ways.

I am trying to put my thoughts together, but it's difficult with so many angry feelings flying around about this.

18 year old Sydney Spies is a senior at Durango High School. She has submitted a senior photo to her high school's yearbook that was rejected because it was inappropriate. (I'm not going to give these photos more publicity by posting them. Just click on the link if you want to see them) 

So they were rejected. End of story, right? Of course not. Sydney, like any teenager who doesn't get their way, is upset. 

Sidney is one of those teenage girls who clearly does not have it all together yet regarding the difference between "beautiful" and "cheap".  She hasn't been appropriately taught the concept that there is "conquering the world and being pretty while doing it" verses "using a misguided sense of what is beautiful and conveying cheap sexual messages."  Anne Kingson, a Canadian writer put it best in her 2010 article, "Outraged mom, trashy daughters": How did those steeped in the women’s lib movement produce girls who think being a sex object is powerful?

Sure, that happens. The world is full of sexually explicit images and it's easy for teens (whose frontal lobe of their brain hasn't fully formed yet) to deal with confusion. THAT IS WHAT PARENTS AND DECENT ROLE MODELS ARE FOR. We are to lead and direct our children. Please read "The Teen Brain: It's Just Not Grown Up Yet."  The frontal lobe "is the part of the brain that says: 'Is this a good idea? What is the consequence of this action?' It's not that they don't have a frontal lobe. And they can use it. But they're going to access it more slowly." (from the article) This is all the more reason we as parents need to be role models and leaders - NOT their BFFs! Too many parents out there have missed that concept along the way.

In this case, Sydney's mother, Micki Spies, has dropped the ball in that regard.  Her mother is assisting Sydney in the fight! THAT is what has this story taking me to new levels of anger and frustration.  Sydney could still use some growing up with her frontal lobe, but Ms. Spies, but what's your excuse? 

When Sydney's inappropriate photos (to quote Star Jones, the photos looks as if she's "20 minutes off the pole") were denied by the high school yearbook community, it didn't end with a typical teenager venting, whining and complaining that she didn't get her way. Nope. Not only is Sydney's mother clearly not doing her job, but she is leading the fight with Sydney to hire a lawyer and run to news outlets with their misguided outrage, which I suspect is their attempt to have the pictures seen by many and obtain the publicity. Yep. Great parenting there, Miss Spies!

Mom has used excuses such as "she is covered" and "read the law" to defend her daughter's desire to treat the high school yearbook like it is Cosmo, Playboy or Maxim. Being a high school art teacher (thank goodness for the breather I'm taking by staying at home with X-man), I've dealt with parents like these in different ways, and it's a sad state of affairs. But I digress.

The yearbook is not a fashion magazine, Miss Micki Mom. Different venue - different publication - different OBJECTIVE of its publication. There is a time and place. The yearbook is a not the place. Teenagers try to push the envelope all the time. That's what we as parents, teachers and administrators are for to give them freedom of expression to become who they are, but also know when to draw the line and provide and ENFORCE BOUNDARIES. Have you not heard of boundaries, Micki Spies?

The yearbook committee did the job her mother failed to do. Mom calls it an "abuse of power." I almost feel sorry for Ms. Spies' misguided logic. If Sydney wants to go pose for a publication like Playboy or Hustler, she can have at it. Sadly, the world glorifies all kinds of portrayals of Boobs and Booty Without Brains. 

No wonder Sydney is confused! With examples like Kim Kardashian and Jersey Shore's "Snooki" all over the place, and the money these subspecies of women make for doing....well....nothing, it's easy to scratch our heads sometimes.

The argument about Sydney being covered? Weak argument, at best. There is more to covering all the "goods" to justify the image as appropriate. I can be wearing a turtleneck (but I don't - yuck), but if I'm licking an ice cream cone as if it's something else and making orgasmic noises while doing it, clearly it doesn't matter if I'm wearing a turtleneck and nun's habit! The message has become cheap and sexual. The way Sydney is posing in the photos with that "come do me" look on her face negates the argument that "everything is covered".

That is NOT for a high school yearbook.

Another argument - law of free speech of free publication. Mommy said, (in her comments below the Colorado News story out of Denver), "Read the law. She has the right to publish. I did not want this photo chosen but since it was I support my daughter 100%"  

Mom and Sydney do not understand the law. The law isn't to give Sydney rights to publish. It gives the PUBLICATION (in this case, a high school yearbook) rights and protections under the law.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but the yearbook chose not to publish under its own rights. The student yearbook committee and adult staff members have the right to accept or decline what is submitted for the yearbook. And while we're at it, Mom, if you are supporting your daughter 100% to have this photo published, you do want the photo seen. Don't tell us you didn't want it chosen. You're loving the publicity.

Also, even if something is protected by the law, that doesn't make it appropriate. Sheesh, so many unsavory, immoral and obscene things are protected by laws! Look at the KKK's rights to spout their racist messages! They're protected by the law to do so, even though what they are saying is deplorable. Look at Nevada - prostitution is legal is many parts of that state. Does that make it okay? No. It's just legal. Do high school yearbooks in Nevada have ads for brothels? I'm guessing NO.

Another argument - Sydney is 18. Great, she's 18. Congratulations. She can do what she wants as an adult with her modeling career. One thing she and Mommy forget is, a four year high school has more than 75% of its students under 18. If Sydney wants to go to a community college and try to have the photos in their publications, at least it's an adult educational facility. High school is not.

A similar controversy erupted a few years ago with a tattoo page in a local yearbook. There was parental outrage about the page featuring students' tattoos (among other things that I won't get into now to digress even further). Sure, many high school students have tattoos. I saw them all the time. I had students show them to me and ask me what my opinion was (and I gave the opinion of the tattoo itself from a pure artistic and professional standpoint, not my personal feelings on tattoos themselves). But since one has to be 18 to obtain a tattoo (that is the law, unless there is parental consent), and more than the high school campus isn't 18, it probably wasn't the best move to have a tattoo page in the yearbook. Just saying.

The point is, there is a time and place. The yearbook isn't that place. 

I love Durango. It would be the perfect place for me to live. It's beautiful. It has a great climate and a fun bohemian culture. Unlike here, the color green exists there. The summers can get pretty warm, but they're manageable as opposed to the heat lamp I live under here. And even if it does get too hot, minutes up the road the elevation climbs to crisp cooler temps and even more beautiful places like Silverton and Ouray. Below is a beautiful picture of a girl in Durango that adds to its beauty. It's Mikelle along it's Animas River Walk in 2006. Sure, she was almost 6 and not 18 (I'm in no hurry for her to be 18), but this still captures the kind of beauty our daughter's should portray.

Common Household Issues

Issue #1:

As a homeowner, you cannot just call a landlord to fix a problem. You OWN the problem. Well, I wouldn't call this a problem. It's more like an adorable obstacle.

The Dishwasher Blocker:

Plus, even if we did rent, I don't see what the landlord could do about it anyway.

The blocker likes to prevent dirty dishes from entering the washer. And it occasionally removes the dirty dishes before they've had a chance to wash. It also likes to unload the dishwasher for you, but it doesn't prefer to place the dishes where they go. These said dishes are usually found in other parts of the house, along with packs of Ramen noodles. Yes, the dishwasher blocker does not restrict the applicance attacks to the dishwasher. It can strike pantries, drawers, cupboards, and while we're at it, just about any part of the house. It is also known to rip off its diaper and pee in your bed less than 48 hours after you put on clean sheets.

Issue #2:

This one also doesn't matter if you own or rent. You give your husband a "honey-do" task before bed, but instead you find this:

 Convenient Sleepage

There are both pros and cons to a scene like this. Pro: The baby is also asleep and therefore, more around the house can be accomplished. Con: Not only does the husband get out of doing a task, but the baby gets out of going into his bed. This is especially difficult when he is very tenacious about sleeping just about anywhere except his crib. And like the Dishwasher Blocker, the issue is too adorable to get too upset about it.

Issue #3: 

The House Shark. This is similar to the Landshark that struck unsuspecting SNL cast members in the 1970s, but this type of land shark does not attack people. It attacks things (see Issue #1).

 House Shark

And like Issues #1 and Issue #2, the issue is too adorable to really worry about it. Just pretend you live at Hogwarts and things are bound to move and change (or be pee'd on) at any given moment. 

Bi-Polar Days

No, technically I'm not Bi-Polar. That said, we have our bi-polar moments, don't we? I've had some bi-polar weeks. While I enjoy staying home and the huge burden of a broken educational system that I no longer have to directly deal with (teaching) is lifted off of me, I am frustrated that I am not working. I don't want to be away from my kids, especially my X-man (who is home all day). However, I don't feel I'm pulling my weight. 

Chris insists that I am putting too much pressure on myself and I'm not supposed to worry about that right now. Well, I am. I didn't obtain a college degree to just wait for Chris's payday to roll around. Also, I'm disheartened that while highly complimented and regarded, none of my work is moving at the gallery. 

Logically, I realize it's tough economic times and there's a difference between liking art and liking it enough to buy it, but it's still frustrating. My dream would be to make a living at the creation of art and not having to go back to a broken educational system. I can be at home, yet create, sell and have that flexibility! That is where most of my mixed feelings are. When teaching, I love the students and the relationships that I build. But on the flip-side, I hate the games and lack-luster administration. And when you have the one demon kid with a loud-mouthed parent that wants to throw you under the bus for simply doing your job, a crap administration can really cause some gray hairs. It really takes the satisfaction and benefit out of something that is important to the majority of the students.

Sure, if you have a good administration - great! But if there's a bad one, it's bad. I hear the new principal at the high school I resigned from last May is great. I would have stayed on, but it was more important to stay home with my X-man. 

This is rather accurate!

However, when or if I do go back to teaching, will it be better? Will there be more funding for supplies? Teaching art is great, but when you don't have the supplies, it is a real challenge. And that's putting it lightly. To make it worse, they were supposed to collect fees for supplies, but the incompetence at the time didn't follow up on that. But I digress. I know, I know. I need to think forward. These are just things that concern me and I worry about facing if I do have to go back to teaching eventually.

Next comes the "where" I would return to teaching. Will it be Wickenburg? We have been wanting to move there for some time. Chris's commute as it stands is just too much. I know I should be happy that we have the land in Wickenburg and it's a step in the right direction. We walked the land again yesterday and while I was happy to be reminded again that it is "ours", it just seems so out of reach to be able to start building and ending up where we need to be. It just feels like it's not going to happen. Then comes the feelings of "not pulling my weight" again in order to contribute financially and the frustration of not selling any artwork and how great it would be if it can take off and how much it'll help take us where we need to be. It's a vicious cycle.

And since I don't want to end on a "bummer" note, this is just awesome. I completely agree with this:

Back on the Blades

When we were away on our Tri-State Christmas Family Tour, I really missed my roller blades. I finally found an exercise that I LOVE, so I was sad that i couldn't just take them with me and exercise like crazy while we were traveling (that would have been a feat in Wyoming in sub-zero temps, no sidewalks, icy roads, hills and snow banks).

That said, when I got back on them upon our return to hell, I mean Arizona, one of my worst fears were realized: gravity. However, it couldn't have happened a better way (well, it not happening at all would have been the better way, I know): A) The baby was not with me in the stroller, B) Christian was with me on his bike C) It was Chris's day off so he was home. All three of those were lucky occurrences.

While I love rollerblading, I can't really do it without the jogging stroller. It's a balance thing. Plus, I stop and slow down easier with the jogging stroller. This previous Monday (1-2), I rollerbladed with the the jogging stroller (sans Alexander) to Walgreens to get a couple things (the jogging stroller could hold the bag, in addition to giving me the balance I need) and Christian came along on his bike.  Well, I didn't know that the front wheel on the jogging stroller had previously come off (that would have been important and useful information).

As we were coasting back home adjacent to the  busy road, the front wheel of the stroller came off and I was suddenly on my butt and elbows, and yes, in pain. Not to mention, with it happening there on the sidewalk parallel to a busy street, I wonder how many cars whizzing by got the entertainment of Suburban Mom Biffs It On Side of Road.

What I probably looked like, just before biffing it. 

No, scratch that. THIS is what I looked like as I was biffing it. 

Christian returned on his bike after he realized that I wasn't behind him anymore. I can't remember if he asked me if I was okay or not, but he did get right to work fixing the wheel. Somehow, despite the pain I was in, my cell phone was in reach and I called Chris to come get us (aka scrape me off the pavement). I was in bad shape. Christian, being the gadget genuis, fixed that wheel right up and informed me that it came off a few weeks prior when they had a babysitter and she took the kids to the park. Yeah, that would have helped to know about at the time!  Anyway, by the time Chris arrived, he and Christian were able to push the stroller and put in the truck, and I was promptly escorted home where there was a sofa and Ibuprofen.

My elbows were all scraped and bruised and my tailbone was not happy. I thought that was the extent of it, until I woke up the following morning. I found out the muscular pain and injuries were more than the tailbone and elbows. It went all around to my mid-section and down to the legs. I also found and felt bruises that I was not aware of previously.

What also wasn't fun from a purely superficial standpoint, was I weigh myself each day, and I had jumped up 3 pounds the morning after the accident. I knew it was from the muscle swelling and the water retention as a result, but a higher number on the scale is a higher number on a scale! That is even more troublesome, especially when you're coming off Christmas and a New Year's Eve party and having a helluva time getting the weight to go in the down direction again from a mere "Christmas Survival Maintenance".

I went to "officially" weigh in today and while I'm still sore, those three "injury" pounds were mostly gone. I described to Nicole, my consultant, what happened to me and showed her my elbows. She said, "you have got to the be the 5th client this week who has gotten hurt!" That may be, but mine isn't the result of a New Year's Resolution that I can bet the other chicks were. I started Rollerblading last Fall.

Anyway, I put the baby in the stroller today and rollerbladed up to the elementary school to pick Christian up. My legs still hurt and my tailbone voiced its displeasure, but it was certainly not as bad as the previous few days had been. Now let's see how long we go until the next biff.

But as you can see, I got back on the blades today and it turned out okay! 

Yeah, if anyone for a moment thinks that's me, I suggest an eye appointment. I obviously DO NOT wear elbow pads, though I should. 

But you weren't looking at her elbow pads, were you?

Christmas Isn't Over Yet...

How do I know? Well, most of my decorations inside are put away, but the Nativity is still up. Also, the front yard still has our Nativity and two reindeer in the yard. Actually, the lights in the outside tree and the house are still up too.

Also, I finally got to see the pictures of the 8 grandkids (on my side) that were taken on Christmas Eve while we were staying with Aunt Becca in Wyoming.

And of course, if you have 8 kids from the ages of 8 months to 11 years, you won't get Anne Geddes perfection (unless of course, you are Anne Geddes). However, you will get accuracy and reality!

Awww.....Alexander is sad....

And My Goofballs.....

And her sparkly shoes!!

"And another thing..."