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On Friday, the floor was finally delivered and we bought the boat.

After spending the weekend on the lake, we started the re-flooring monday.  It is not finished yet, and it is still pretty dusty, but I am so excited!

Here are some pictures of both….

The project began in the ditch behind the fence in our backyard, where several large rocks had been piled up.  The task: to move several of these rocks to the flowerbed in front of our house.  The challenge most likely appeared quite a bit more challenging than it had sounded in the request over the phone.  These were large rocks and they had to be moved 20 or 30 yards down the ditch, up a not-so-tall-but-relatively-steep hill, over a concrete wall, into the backyard, then another 20 or 30 yards or so into the front yard, and then another 20 or 30 yards or so into the flower bed.  Even with both of our strength combined, these were not rocks that we could lift.  It was a rolling exercise to be certain.

So, we began by selecting a few rocks and rolling them a few paces down the ditch.  We would get a few yards and then turn back and select another one.  We selected three rocks  in all, one of which we determined to be  slightly more ambitious than we were physically capable of after moving it a few yards.  The other two, were not much less than what we were physically capable of moving, but we pressed on.  Multiple times, I thought we were ready to give up – that the project would have to wait until another weekend when Brad was home.  As we approached the concrete wall, I think we were both ready to throw in the towel and defeat seemed inevitable.  We took a moment to rest and I started telling her about the inspiration for this project.

It had come after struggling for some time with how to make the flowerbed more visually appealing.  After countless trips to garden centers and nurseries, I found the inspiration I was looking for in the flowerbed at the house I grew up in.   Many years ago, my mom, I assume in an initiative not very different than my own, gave her own flowerbed depth, height and variety by adding rocks.

Now, when I say, ‘adding rocks,’ what I really mean is that she went down the hill (mountainous in size compared to the hill Kelly and I were facing that day) in our backyard, into the snake infested creek, found – quite possibly – the largest boulders she could find – and proceeded to roll them end over end up the gigantic hill into our front yard and precisely placed into the  flowerbed.  With the exception of a single rock that sat in the middle of the hill in the backyard for a number of years, she must have moved 7 or 8 rocks, many of them being equally as large as the rocks Kelly and I were moving, by herself.

As we reflected on the amazing woman that raised us, we made light of the fact that – at 30 years plus our age – she could still kick our butts physically and routinely took the opportunity to prove it to us by leaving us in her dust in any race we agreed to run with her.

I concluded, “She is superwoman.” Kelly agreed.

I remarked that I wish I had the strength our mom had, referring to, not only her obvious physical strength, but more importantly, her strength of character. Kelly tried to reassure me that I was every bit as amazing as our mother, to which I only replied, “If that were true, I wouldn’t have called you to help move these rocks.”  We sort of laughed, and perhaps feeling a motivated knowing that our mother, once again, was showing us up, proceeded to move the rocks over the concrete wall.  A task that had seemed impossible only moments before.

We proceeded to move them into the front yard, and placed, well, as precisely as they fell, into the flowerbed.

I think I can speak for both of us that I felt a huge sense of accomplishment having achieved the impossible.  As Kelly left with her payment for the manual labor (a measly can of coke zero),  she offered up on last piece of reassurance that I will accept as being true: while we may never be the woman that mom is, my rock garden proved that the two of us together equals one superwoman, therefore we are each, one part superwoman.

The Journey: Original location of rocks

The Journey: Part I, up the hill and over the wall

The Journey: Part II, through the backyard

The Journey: Part II continued, leaving the backyard. Victory in sight

Precisely Placed

The Runner-up

The Requirements:  take an ordinary object and make an interesting design from it using one of 4 techniques:  cropping/zooming, unique angle, vary the measurements from the edge of the board, and vary the tone range.

The one turned in for a grade

The Runner-up

The requirements:  Create a single, flat, black shape with simultaneous use of repetition and contrast to create a visual balance.

The design turned in for a grade

Okay, truth be told, I already have a blog or two out there floating in the ether.  Actually, to be more precise, I already have a couple of feeble attempts at blogging on the web, where I posted one or two lonely entries and then abandoned the whole thing almost as fast as you can say blogspot.

But those were different. Those were created without any thought behind them, without any forward thinking, without any planning.  This, my friends, is a completely new venture.

What sets this one apart?

1) For one, I’ve changed my approach. Before, I was always searching for things in my life that “the world” would want to know, and with that attitude, I was strained for material.

It recently occurred to me that I should simply post what I want to share with the world, regardless of whether the world happens to be interested.  More specifically, this site will mostly consist of artwork, stories about my dogs, household projects and occasionally it might even touch on more profound issues, if I am so moved.

2) I have done the planning, forward thinking, and I’ve put some effort into this. I purchased a space on the web. I bought a domain. I created my first wordpress theme. This is the real deal, folks.

3) Also, I have been thinking maybe I could revisit my web-developer/web designer ambitions. Maybe just on the side, or maybe as a full-time gig.  Either way, I would need a place to practice and eventually showcase my work…hence this site.

4) Perhaps most importantly, I need a place to release my creative energy and have nowhere else to turn.  It all started a couple of weeks ago when I enrolled in an art class.  Well, actually, it probably started when I entered the business world immediately after college. For two years I have churned out presentations, whipped up demonstrations, sat mindlessly in dull meeting after meeting, adhered to project schedules (the list goes on…) all within the confines of the straight-laced business world.

So, in dire need of catharsis, I took up an art class at the University where I work. Talk about opening the floodgates! It was like I had been starved for so long I couldn’t just take a bite. Instead, I couldn’t bring myself to leave the kitchen table that now serves as my art studio.  I have put in the hours outside of class, perfected every drop of paint or stroke of the pencil, completed two projects for every one that was assigned all for the thrill of the ride.

I can’t get enough. I need another channel to focus some of this energy.

So, ready or not, world, here I am. And I expect to stick around this time.