well the saga of my oldest son's life continues. He and his girlfriend have been sharing one vehicle between 3 jobs. The check from the insurance company has yet to come. Then Wednesday night a drunk man from across the street kicked in their front door at 3:30 a.m.! He lives across the street and was actually after a different neighbor but he was drunk...so Alisa called 911 and the police were there almost instantly. In the meantime the drunk had walked down the street and his wife came out and was begging Alisa not to call the police but she already had. The drunk's wife assaulted the officers and they tasered her! Then her husband got mad and they had to taser him! Both are in jail for assorted issues not the least outstanding warrants on both of them. They belong to a Tongan gang and my son realized that now he and Alisa were targets. The police stepped up patrols for a few days but Shane and Alisa her Will and a friend are moving to Oregon where Alisa is from. They gave notice on their jobs, are going to live on Alisa's grandmothers farm, leaving on the 30th of this month. I can tell you that I understand their decision. It was the last straw and they moved up their plans because they had to leave the neighborhood anyway. I am spoiled. Never had a problem like gangs here or growing up in East Akron. I am sad that my son is moving away but excited for them to do something new with their lives. Alisa told me that I would be "grandma-napped" ...do you think they are trying to tell me something? If they get pregnant.. I will probably try to move to Oregon. I have no other grandchildren and I love the NW. Anyway..never a dull moment. BTW the yardsale netted me all of 45.00...hoping for the open studio to help me fill the coffers.

I was dressed down yesterday on Facebook by a fellow artist, and liberal for my postings on political things. True I am really liberal..I found some fun,some serious and informative posts that I shared. I got excited about the conventions...yes I watched both RNC and DNC... This "friend" decided I needed to know that I was alienating my conservative friends...of whom he does not know at all, not even on facebook. warning me that people would eliminate me from their feeds.. I felt bad for a few minutes, then sad, then angry and today snarky...I certainly use my delete capabilities on my little old laptop when I find something offensive. I unfriend some people on facebook when their postings offend me...that does not mean that we are not friends anymore...if we were friends before facebook even existed! But if it is some person who was a friend of a friend of a friend..well.... This "friend" did this after I commented on a blasting post of his ...It was the cover of the New Yorker with the cartoons of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan...He posted it, then proceeded to comment that since the conventions were over that he hoped he would quit getting political postings! I commented..hahaha, I don't think I will be able to unhook the soapbox from my back just yet. That is all I said and the vitriol and then snarky comments about me from his friends...whom I have never met and never will meet ensued. It was pretty ugly and I was kind of hurt. Especially since he posted the cover and begged for comments!!! Now just maybe he had a hard day in the studio, painting his life away, just maybe he had reached the max of what he could take..and just maybe he was a little bit right. So I did comment that I was just exercising my freedom of speech, explained why I posted what I had posted but then suggested that he use his delete button as I use mine. Just a note that he is the landlord of my studio..that I am leaving this month. He occasionally teaches art at the local community college, is a wonderful artist with a masters degree and is considerably younger than me. Does that make a difference? No...He may have a bit more education, than me...well no... more life experience? probably not...why I felt bad after reading this...I guess I do want people to like me...as most humans do..but I certainly know the value of a true and giving friendship. So today I did post lots of feel good photos and articles with my snarky comments..as in Tweety bird, not politician. He may have already eliminated me from his feed but I have have certainly gone through and redone the status updates from the over 100 people who have friended me over the few years I have participated in Facebook. My suggestion to me...calm down about the politics..it is true I am not changing anyone's minds...not that I was trying to. Be more judicious about who sees my feed on Facebook. Do more painting than facebook! Don't be hurt if I comment and a comment comes back that I don't like..I opened the door after all!! Spend more time outdoors I just thought about why I was upset..I think I got embarrassed by it..not my postings but the fact that someone felt the need to stop me!!! Well once again..too old to give a huge you know what...but like I said before..there is a grain of truth to his comment...just not a nice way to put it to me. So I am going off to work..have a great weekend everyone. Yes my friends on the internet are wonderful, and I do care...but I yam what I yam and off I go! back again after a great weekend of work at the visitors center.... this may be my last weekend of work until next May. I am planning a quilting yardsale for Thursday and Friday to see if I can get a bit of $$ from the bins of unused material i collected while I tried to like making quilts! Today is my 2nd and youngest child's 30th birthday!!! I will never forget the day he was born..such a rough and painful day but so rewarding. Thomas is a great guy. He writes interesting and passionate reviews of movies online, he works at the local Wendy's, He pays his bills, he votes, he is a good hearted man. I love that he still lives here, even though he is really independent. He just paid off his truck and that is a terrific feat in and of itself. He has Tourette's syndrome, a very mild case and ADD and was the most interesting person trying to grow up with these obstacles. But he has and he is wonderful and compassionate. It is not easy to raise a child with some problems but it is rewarding. I have been blessed as he has. He has triumphed many times over adversity and I admire his tenacity. What an intelligent man he is. Finding Thomas was a goal when he was a toddler and we found him and are better for it. I hope you all have a great day

Went to the Utah Watercolor Society social last night. They always have great catered food, interesting presentations. A very active large group of talented watercolorists. They do Plein air paint outs, mini workshops and bigger workshops. They put on several shows a year. I was cajoled by a friend to come and ended up joining. Last night they had our local Utrecht art supply store employees demonstrating many fun things. One was paper marbling that I have tried and finally decided that I was doing it wrong!! There was a table showing gold leafing over watercolor backgrounds, a table showing texture making and a table showing painting on YUPO. Funny this is all stuff I do for fun yet these young art student/employees were so serious! They are a good bunch..I shop there a lot. Still they needed to loosen up a bit...I thought it was fun when the older established artists suggested a few more techniques and everyone learned! This club has a signature status and participates in the NWS and the Western Federation group.. I think I need to be more active. Then I was accosted by same friend and encouraged to participate in the ISA which is the Intermountain Society of Artists. Looks like I agreed to be vice-president! This is a smaller group but still very active and social. Then I got a call the other day to help out with the Utah County Art Board and I am going to do that too. It seems like a lot but I am seriously rethinking working so much in the summer for "peanuts" and getting more involved in the arts which is why I live anyway!!!! Anyhoo...I am excited and will see how much I can do.

Blue moon and Seasons of Mr. Tree. Update on stolen car..it was totaled by insurance company and they offered Shane a lot more than it was worth. And the Unified police were not interested in the phone numbers of the thief. Car wasn't worth enough for them to bother!

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!!!!