171,868 Miles

You know it's time to replace your 1992 Toyota Camry when you turn up the defrost in the morning and snow starts blowing out of the defrost vents into your car.

And you know you're not a morning person when you realize it's snowing in the car and you start looking around to see which window is open, even though it's not snowing outside.

But it's SO nice to not have a car payment... sigh...

From the Top

Woohoo!! I finished this painting this morning - I think I started it at the end of October, but it seems like I've been working on it for ages... Now I just have to sign the thing!


This is the view from the top of Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, painted from a reference photo I took at the end of June. I really worked on conveying the mood of the landscape with this one, and I'm pretty happy with it, so I thought I'd share it. Details:

Title: From the Top
Medium: Oil on Linen Canvas Panel
Size: 18x24"

I'll probably start posting my paintings here as I finish them...

Raindrops on roses...

Ok, I admit it - I am a closet Christmas music junkie.

When the local easy listening station plays Christmas music 24-7 between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I secretly dial it in as one of the preset stations in the car so I can get my Christmas music fix whenever the mood strikes. (Of course, I dial it in on the second band of presets so that no one will discover that I ever actually listen to the easy listening station, even if it is only one month of the year).

Anyhow, I went to the grocery store at 10 o'clock last night, and with all the pretty snow and Christmas lights on the houses I was really feeling the holiday mood. So there I am, cruising along singing at the top of my lungs to Christmas carols, happy as a clam, when they begin to play "My Favorite Things" (you know, the song they sing in the Sound of Music when the awful green curtains are still on the windows in her bedroom).

So, now to the point of this entire post:

Why the heck is that considered a Christmas song?!?!?!

Every year they play it on the above-mentioned easy listening station, interspersed with classics such as O Holy Night, Winter Wonderland, and Adam Sandler's Hanukkah Song. And I just don't get it? Am I missing something?

I hate it when that freaking song comes on and jerks me out of my holiday reverie. It's just not right.

Reality Check

I swear, there are certain moments of the day when I just look around and wonder to myself, "How the hell did I get myself here?"

Like today, for instance.

I've been stuck in meetings all week, staring at a 3D model of a chemical plant projected up on a screen for 8 hours a day - tedious, to say the least. Today I glanced around the room over my 10th cup of coffee and realized that, of course, I was the only female in the room.

The only female, and the youngest person by at least 10 years.

In a meeting of 30 people!!

And it took me 4 days to notice this because it's just so normal to me at this point.

If you had asked me in high school what I would be doing 10 years in the future, I just don't think I could have imagined this scenario with any stretch of my imagination... Sigh...

Productivity

Or the lack thereof…

Seriously - I feel like I have accomplished nothing today.

Since I arrived at work, I have:

• Read through three people’s blogs in their entirety (as in all the way back to the beginning, last year)
  
• Gone into the restroom to blow my nose about a hundred times (I have a cold and I have a thing about blowing my nose in front of people)
  
• Called Nate three times to discuss weekend plans
  
• Had an in depth email conversation with my sister about the reason for escalating heating/electricity bills (she asked, okay?!)
  
• Chatted with the guys across the hall for 45 minutes (apparently they aren’t feeling productive today either)
  
• Brainstormed with another guy about what tools I would have to sneak into the office on a weekend to remove the 3 foot high cube wall that covers the bottom half of my windows (now that I have a window, I find it very important to optimize the amount of natural light in my office)
  
• Attempted to come up with a training schedule that will get me back into shape this month after being pretty lazy for the past few weeks.
  
• Walked across the floor to the break room to make a cup of tea 4 times – spent time talking with people on the way there and back each time.
  
• Made a list of Christmas presents to buy for everyone (even though I know I won’t go shopping for a few more weeks)
  
• Updated my artwork inventory spreadsheet and pricing list.
  
• Reviewed some drawings… There – I did do some real work!!!
  

I actually don’t feel bad about any of this, because I made the mistake of taking cold medicine this morning and I’ve been in a fog all day. I figure that if I actually tried to do any real engineering work, I would just make a mistake, and that wouldn’t be good. So I’m going to finish up all the mindless administrative tasks that I have to get done, and then go home for the weekend. Yay!!

Giving Thanks

I know it’s 5 days after Thanksgiving, and probably kind of late for me to be posting on what is probably a way-too-common topic this week, but there’s never a wrong time to think about what we’re thankful for, right?

So here goes – my list of what I’m most thankful for this year:

1) Nate

Nate’s just the best, what else can I say?



He’s my best friend, and I love the fact that I feel like we’re always working toward the future together. And even though most people think he’s pretty serious and straight-laced, I love that he’ll do whatever it takes to make me laugh (then again, I’m kind of easily amused, so maybe that doesn’t require so much effort?). Anyhow, seriously – I’m thankful that I have such a wonderful, supportive husband. I may have to pick up his underwear and clean his dirty dishes, but it’s totally worth it.

2) My family

I get a kick out of my family – we can all hang out and have a good time together on a typical day, and I think that’s something that not everyone can say. Sure, we have our moments of annoyance with each other, but we wouldn’t be family if we didn’t… I’m thankful that they’ve witnessed the majority of my bratty moments, and still love me.

3) My friends

(This is the point where it begins to look like my list of thanks is the same as everyone else’s, but I’ll continue anyways since this is for me)

I have a cool bunch of friends. I have friends that I have nothing in common with, and friends that I have everything in common with, and I learn from both. I love that I have friends who are different enough from me to challenge my thoughts and beliefs. I wouldn't be who I am without them.

4) Bailey

Otherwise known as the cutest dog in the world. Seriously….

She keeps me company when I’m lonely, and even when I’m being a loser she’s happy to see me. Who could ask for more?

5) All the other big stuff

I’m thankful that I live in Colorado, where I can do all the fun outdoorsy stuff that I love to do. I’m thankful that I have a good steady job – I may complain about it a lot, but I’ve learned a lot this year and I’m pretty fortunate to be in this position. I’m thankful that I can paint – I’m a total art geek and I love that just looking at a good painting can put me in a better mood...

I could go on for pages about what I’m thankful for, but I’ll knock it off now. It’s just nice to sit down and reflect on the fact that I have a pretty good life, because I have a tendency to get overstressed and crazy and forget about all the good things. And the good things make everything else worth it.

The Coolest Kid Ever

Since I don't have kids of my own, I have to brag about my sister's kid instead. He's got to be the coolest kid ever. Here we are, hanging out together on Halloween (he paused for 1 second to take this picture in between bouts of bouncing off the walls from a serious sugar high). Now, isn't he just the cutest?


We went and saw the new Harry Potter movie together today. My favorite moment had to be when Ron told Harry to piss off, and 4 year old Daniel turned and asked me, "Why did he say to PISS OFF??"

Procrastinating, Like Usual...

So, I had all sorts of productive things to do tonight. Instead of doing said productive things, I created a blog.

Apparently I've found a new way to procrastinate.

Seriously, my life is way too busy for this, but I was sucked in anyways... My job has been insane lately, which has had me completely frazzled. Aside from work, I'm trying to put some serious effort into developing a portfolio of my landscape paintings so that I can (hopefully!) obtain gallery representation for my work sometime next year. Outside of that, I have no life anymore - seriously. Three months ago I was in the middle of the triathlon season, in the best shape of my life, and loving it. Now I'm totally out of shape and stressed out and just hoping all this gets me where I want to be. Yet somehow I've managed to rationalize that rambling in cyberspace will make me feel better - you know, like organizing my thoughts or something.

So anyways, that's me. Now that I got that off my chest, I'm going to get my butt off the couch and start a new painting. Then I'm going to ride my bike in a last ditch attempt to cling to what fitness I have left from this past summer. Well, okay, ride my bike on the trainer inside since it's freaking snowing out. Can winter be over already?? Please?