spent yesterday morning going with my son to get his car out of impound. The DMV was crowded. The lady who eventually sauntered to her station to help us get a release spoke little English. Insisted Shane indicate who was driving the car out of impound..although we weren't sure if it could be driven yet. At her insistence Shane said he would be driving it out and she printed the release. Then she asked if he wanted to get his car out of impound....what??? well duh...yeah that is why we are here. We thought maybe she was joking but no..she had her rehearsed "English" questions mixed up. Impound lot was better. car was in good shape but not drivable since the thief had used a screwdriver on the ignition and ruined it. The only things stolen were a pair of ripped up jeans and cell phone belonging to one of Shane's girlfriend's friends. She had to get a new phone and found texts and phone numbers belonging to the thief, his girlfriend and her mother!!!! how dumb was that? There were 2 construction tool bags empty in the car and an orange construction flag...obviously 50 ( thief's nom de plume) was a busy boy that night stealing from a construction truck or site! Now it is up to the police to pursue these dingdongs. And the insurance company will "drive" the car out of impound. all in all a good day since we done by noon.

so over a week ago my son's car got stolen right out of his driveway. It was sometime on Thursday the 16th at night. He called the police on Friday morning when he discovered it gone, they refused to come out to make a report so he did that over the phone. Once he did that he called his insurance company. The Pathfinder was on empty and we all figured it was driven then abandoned...but it was no where to be found. His week of course was really disrupted as it is needed for commuting to work. Then yesterday when he got home from work...there was a letter from the Unified police telling him his car had been impounded and he needed to go to the DMV and get a release and then go to the impound lot and pay $350.00 to get it. No word on condition or where it was found. No phone call during the week when he could have retrieved it without an impound fee. And since it was Friday evening..he cannot go see it or get it until Monday! So on Monday I am taking him to the DMV and the impound lot. We will see if it is ok or too damaged to drive and then he will have to let the insurance company know and they can come tow it. this same car was stolen last year from the apt. where he was living at the time...found a day later abandoned and he got the call and went and got it. Before that someone had broken into it 1 week after moving to the apt. and stolen all of his tools and snowboarding equipment that he had not unpacked yet. That is why he and Alisa moved to the house they are renting now. I am wondering why there was no phone call. If they had the info to send him a letter they could have saved that hassle and called him. Here is hoping it is not too damaged come Monday.

The 1995 Pathfinder in happier days.

Yesterday I made official that I am leaving my D5 studio at Poor Yoricks. I thought it would be painful...but it is just a relief for now. I will participate in the open studio on September 28 and then be done. Will spend the next month clearing things out and then probably have to rent a truck to get the rest out. It will be nice to have only my paintings and a table for food in the studio for the 28th. With traveling to Ohio in October and hopefully knee surgery in November..I will have all my art supplies close by. Hubby is going to fix up what used to be our old large kitchen (now a cat room ,catch-all!) with a temporary wall and sliding door and some better lighting and I can hook up my old laundry sink and actually hold small classes there if I want. Will store paintings in the basement for now. Someday we will build a studio bldg on the property. But with the money saved from rent..now we can get some things done around the house and property. I am now officially part time at work, with probably Sept. 8th being my last day there. I am going in today though so I can meet the CEO of WNPA who is visiting today. I have never met any bosses! They are all in Tuscon. So this should be interesting. I can't wait to get my Amtrak ticket and take the train to Ohio.... Hope you all have a great day!!!!

Found these moths yesterday at the visitors center

I found out yesterday that my full time work at the Visitors center is ending with this pay period. I will do 3 day weekends for a few weeks then down to 2 days and then done sometime in September. I am contracted for a certain amount of hours per season. But I am looking forward to more time off as this has not been the best year for my health!!! My plans are to take Amtrak to Ohio and visit my family for at least 3 weeks. Then I hope to have my knee or knees surgery and spend the winter recuperating and getting back into form while painting up a storm!!!! My next goal will be to organize myself and start a marketing plan to sell my art and hopefully get into a gallery, shows and get active in the Utah County art board, and the 2 artists groups I have joined. So plans are being made, I am paying off some small niggling bills and then planning my near future! My other plan more long term is to travel for art and also to buy a small tear drop trailer so I can travel with paints!!!!I think that would suit me. The next big expense though has to be hay for the horses... I feel like the painting I am posting is not quite done and I am not fond of the style but now I plan to do more and make them my own!!! I will post that from my phone..since my camera has decided to take a vacation!!! I did get it on my camera after all...

Monday night Hubby and I were going on a date! We had planned to go to the summit area up American Fork Canyon to star gaze but instead..we watched a long and beautiful sunset with the clouds that had moved in. We first stopped at Subway and bought a few sandwiches and really enjoyed ourselves just relaxing in the mountains. It had been way too long since we did this..which is kind of sad since we live so close to such lovely vistas. But our work schedules are not too conducive to hanging out together. I had been wanting to just go home and veg out in front of the TV...but this was too important..not only for our relationship which has been rocky over the many (33) years but to shake us up out of our TV habit!!!

The weather was very hot and so once again I had parked myself in the easy chair and was watching the Olympics when I got a terrible craving for a twist cone with chocolate topper. I rarely crave ice cream...but I decided that I can't drive a stick shift and eat a cone at the same time...so I walked to the store over a 1/2 mile away and back...my knees hurt but I so needed to get out. It was delightful to walk alone, (very safe in my area) and then to enjoy some ice cream and watch the full moon peek around the clouds and tree tops. I have been daydreaming about painting, pouring watercolors, playing with my new Dr. Martin liquid watercolors. But not doing! Yesterday I was going to spend the day playing and I didn't. So today I am getting off the computer, getting some breakfast and going to paint. Just to play. I have so many times over the years found myself worried about the money end of the art thing. What can I do that will sell...instead of really doing art that pleases me. I also have decided to give up my studio at Poor Yoricks. It is too far away and and gas being so expensive...it just isn't working for me. I will be there until after the fall open studio at the end of September...then I will bring home my stuff. Hubby is going to put up a temporary wall in the old kitchen with a sliding door and that should be big enough for a good work area. Plus we can hook up my old laundry sink and I can have hot and cold water. A bit of lighting changes and voila...a temporary studio that can get me through until we can afford to build one on the premises. I can store my big paintings in the basement as soon as Shane finishes getting his belongings out. I can hold small art classes and make a bit of money that won't have to go towards rent. I can also have access to my supplies after my knee surgery and and still have some privacy. The thing I will miss the most are my friends at the studio but we rarely see each other as our schedules are so varied. I will have to make a better effort to get to art happenings I will also miss the open studio events..but at least I can go and see what everyone is doing!( in stead of being captive in my studio trying to sell stuff.) It means I will have to market myself differently and set deadlines for myself...all a good thing as long as I am doing more art. I hope this doesn't sound like justifying where I have been and what I have not been doing. Those of you who have bothered to read my blog know I tend to work out my thoughts as I write. I am excited to have some money again in my pocket...studio rent was not a small thing!!! So off I go to get some color poured and play and have fun and I can't wait...see you all later and have a great day!!!