Do you vote?

I live in New York state.  Here we are allowed to vote in school elections.  The only districts exempt from these laws are those known as The Big 5 - those districts in the five largest cities in the state.  I believe the Big 5 still vote for board of education members but not on budget.  These elections are for members of the board of education in the school district one lives in and a yes or no vote on the school budget.  The state regulates these elections heavily and all of them are held on the third Tuesday of May.

Last night, I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with the local newspaper’s education reporter.  The topic of discussion was voting in school elections.  In a year when elections are all the buzz, there is anticipation that turnout in these elections will increase.  Generally speaking, in the school district I live in, the election turnout does not even equal the total number of students enrolled in the school.  This number is not near the total number of eligible voters.  I believe, in my district, the average turnout is about 1,500 and the total number of eligible voters is 15,000.  This is well below the turnout for municipal, state or federal elections.

The lack of turnout may be a good thing.  The beginning of May brought about a budget hearing for my district.  Someone spends a lot of time putting together information to present to the public regarding the budget that is about to be voted on later in the month.  The state requires that each district hold a hearing.  At this particular hearing, in attendance were four school district employees - all administrative or district office employees, two Board of Education members - including one who is running for re-election and approximately six people.  Questions were asked but not many.

My point is that we have very few elections where our vote is a true impact.  Please educate yourself and get out on May 20th and vote!!

I am a Tear File Junky

Many years ago I went through a stage where I stopped all magazine subscriptions.  I would occasionally buy an art magazine - stamping, beading, creating - but decided that the magazines themselves would not be coming to my house.  The environmentalist in me won out until I started qualifying for free magazines of different types.  I would get those that would inspire me. 

Early in my adult life, I was also a holiday magazine junky.  Every holiday magazine I would see out on a stand was in my hands, in my shopping cart.  As you may know, this will make for a lot of clutter at a time when clutter is not what is needed.  At the urging of a dear friend and her Christmas Countdown, I began a tear file.  I kept the holiday ideas that were truly doable for me.  I kept the recipes I might actually make.  I kept the crafts and ideas for gifts that may actually be something I would do or give.  And there began my tear file addiction.

I now subscribe to several magazines.  I also get alumni magazines from the colleges my children attend and have attended plus the university I attended.  I always find a few things that I like so I spend my evenings reading articles and looking at menus.  I, then, start tearing.  I have about seven files - eight to ten around the holidays - and some articles go in these files.  I tear out clothing I like.  I tear out articles about people that I find interesting.  I tear out ads that have URLs in them and I want to investigate further.  I tear out color that I want to use to create.  I love to tear!!!!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there!  I know that sounds like a crock but today is your, our day.

My mother is 3200 miles away and preparing for a cruise.  She will, undoubtedly, go to brunch today with my stepdad and my younger sister who happens to be in California on business for about ten days or so.   She will iron and pack if I know her.

My stepmother is about 40 miles away.  She will have grandchildren around if my guess is correct.

Both my grandmothers have passed away so there are no grandmothers except my children’s grandmothers.

We will not be having a big Mother’s Day celebration.  Instead, we will be having a bit going away dinner.  My oldest has been home for about five and a half weeks.  Tomorrow is his last day on the local job here and he is heading back to his own apartment and his own cooking and his own cleaning.  So today we will have a barbeque for him.

Summer Movie Time

I have to admit that I am a huge “Sex and the City” fan.  I never watched it when it was on HBO as I didn’t have HBO but my daughter would watch it at friends’ homes.  We would rent the season’s DVDs and watch an entire season at a time.  I still watch the reruns on TBS at night.

Of course, I was thrilled when I found out that the original cast had signed on to create a feature film.  I wasn’t sure, if there were major upheavals in the cast, I could watch it.  Instead, I have been keeping a countdown on when the release date is and making plans to go see the movie.

The other day I was at Sam’s Club.  I routinely spend about $20 in May or June at Sam’s buying summer paperbacks to read.  I usually bookcross these when I am done reading them or pass them on to my kids.  I was looking over the selections that were in stock - nothing great for the summer reads yet - and, lo and behold, I saw Candace Bushnell’s Sex and the City.  I am normally a big read the book first fan.  I had never read the book so in the cart, with the four cases of water, it went.

It was really difficult reading the book.  I could picture the episodes of the television series that the book is talking about as I read.  The problem is that the characters are different.  I managed to get through it but it took a lot more concentration than I wanted to put into reading it.

I am still anxiously awaiting the end of the month and the full-length feature film.  I have seen trailers and teasers and will be in line the first night.

High School Friends

Okay - I know I don’t want to be the person I was in high school, but I miss my high school friends.  We had so much fun when we were in high school.  With few exceptions, since college, I have not seen very many of them.  I went to my ten year reunion but the people I knew didn’t necessarily come.  I had four kids by then and was thinking about number five.  Most of my classmates didn’t understand.

The one person I have tried to keep up with is my friend Beth.  She moved in high school so was not there our senior year but in New Jersey with her mom.  We kept up as best we could through college, and then her to law school.  We both got married.  We have kids that are similar in age but I have a couple extras.

Last year, her father died and we saw each other for the first time in literally years.  Why is it death brings us together so frequently? 

Today, she called.  She and her oldest, Ashley, are on their way up to New York from the Richmond, Virginia area for the weekend.  They are leaving early evening Friday so won’t be here until Saturday morning early.  She is coming to get items from her father’s estate which is finally almost settled after a year.  We are going to get together.  I can’t wait to see her and Ashley.

CYO Volleyball

In my area, volleyball is a school sport that is now in the fall and is female only.  My sons have all loved to play volleyball and are very athletic.  Consequently, when the Catholic Youth Organization started a volleyball league that goes for about eight weeks in the spring, my kids jumped at the chance to play. 

When my first son started playing, the team always had trouble getting guys.  The teams are co-ed and there were always enough girls, just never enough boys.  The times they are a-changing.  This year, my youngest’s first year, there are not enough girls on his team.  Below are some shots from the first week in powerpoint.

cyovolleyballweekone

Celebrate Your Creative Self - Seascape

In the workshop I am doing this year that is working the way through Mary Todd Beam’s Celebrate Your Creative Self, we are working on a seascape this month.  I have been behind due to some unforeseen and some foreseen life circumstances.  I just started mine today.  This post will be a continuing one with the various phases of my seascape.

 

 

Well, the initial work - gesso and making some imprints and salting - are dry and I have worked on the watercolor part of my seascape.  I had a Pearl Ex-Press palette from some years ago so I decided I was going to use those as my watercolors this time.  Below is the result.  This is still not the finished product.

 

 

April Art Partner Challenge

I finally managed to be one of the first ten people to sign up for the Art Partner Challenge, sponsored by Inka Stamps on The Latest Trends in Mixed Media Yahoo! Group.  I was so excited when I saw the stamp that was enclosed as I do not normally work with photo stamps.

I was driving about 175 miles the next day and thought about that little girl the whole way.  I could envision many items that would go well with her on a card front - flowers, a covered bridge or wagon (I looked for a covered bridge on my travels).  But what to do with the Scrabble tile that was also included?  I couldn’t remember the letter that it was but then, as I started today, I decided she would be Rebecca - for the R tile.

Then, I was in a discussion about techniques and the one where you stamp on stickers and then put the stickers on the card or item was being discussed.  I use to love this technique.  I decided, then and there, I needed to marry Rebecca with this technique somehow.  The result is above. 

Road Trip Report

While I normally post in advance of my trips, the one last weekend was too hectic due to life and prep by the Science Olympiad team to get to my computer and type.  Last weekend, I went to New Paltz, New York for the New York State Science Olympiad competition.

I always help the team load themselves on the school bus and drive down myself.  I do this for several reasons.  The first and strongest reason is I have ridden the school bus before and I do not like the trip via bus.  Second, there are always items that are fragile that need to and they can go in my car so that they are not thrown around on the bus.  Third, I like to have a leisurely time in New Paltz on Friday afternoon.  Once the team is there, all focus is on the competition.  Before they get there, I enjoy myself.

Once I arrived in New Paltz, I had lunch at The Gilded Otter.  The Gilded Otter is a brew-pub and restaurant.  Not only are the local brews delicious, the food is magnificent.  This year I had a delicious burger with carmelized onions and feta cheese on a kaiser bun with my pint of Crimson Lager.  I also picked up a growler for the coaches to share later in the trip.

 

I also took a leisurely stroll through downtown New Paltz.  My stops included a quick one at Luna Blue to get a new pair of earrings.  This is a wonderful store that has handmade, local artisan work.  I stumbled on it during a previous visit to New Paltz.  I have two beautiful pairs of earrings that have wood inlays.

I also made my annual pilgrimage to Manny’s art supply store.  This is a wonderful visit to me as I do not have access to a real art store in my area.

Saturday was competition all day.  It was busy and exhausting.  The team - 15 competitors and one alternate - placed third in the state.  It is a wonderful job by the middle school kids and all the coaches and parents.   

ICE - Who is your “in case of emergency?”

I know this is not a topic we like to discuss in this society.  It usually becomes a family issue with older family members.  The question is who is your in case of emergency?

If you are a healthy mid-life adult, do you even think about items like this?  If you have children, do you think about it in conjunction with their travels?

Here is the story.  My ex had a nasty accident on his bicycle about a month ago.  It showed all the signs - cracked helmet, messed up handlebars, stitches in his lip - of an accident that should have required the doctor to think head injury or concussion at the least.  Evidently not.  Last night he went with his friend to the ER due to a loss of use of his leg.  After finally realizing this was a big issue, he was tranferred by ambulance to the hospital in the area that has a nuerological suite.

So why, do you ask, does this bring up the question who is your ICE?  Because at 11:30 in the evening while awaiting ambulance transport to a different hospital, he thought our 19 year old daughter was the one to call.

This entire incident has got me thinking and I thought we should all think about it.  Who is your ICE - your “in case of emergency?”