Being a Whiner is better than being a Whino

It's been a busy month for me, Wow! Here is a small recap of what I've been up to. Disclaimer: Yes, I KNOW some of these things have nothing to do with me, directly. They were taking up psychic space nonetheless.

I was trapped in the house when the kids got sick with 5th Disease and ear infections. We played lots of games and watched loads of cartoons (PBS only of course)

I participated in the 4th annual Plein Air Painters of Chicago Exhibit

I solicited and wrangled food and beer donations for above exhibit (drink Goose Island Beer and shop at Trader Joe's)

I solicited more donations for the upcoming Project: ARTSmart Gallery 4300 on 5/3

I taught the last session of Artsmart for this year

My friend, Laura, after having GD and mandatory c-section for her first baby was a rockstar and delivered a bouncing baby boy no problemo. And she now looks great in all of her photos (biotch)

My Dad died.

All my 5th and 6th grade art students made homemade condolence cards for me (they were so sweet and funny)

I wrote an obituary which my sisters didn't use

I ran the Shamrock Shuffle

I continued to train for a 10 miler in May

I prayed diligently for my mother-in-law who had a breast tumor removed

I went to Damato's bakery and spent $55 on chocolate shell canoli (best ever) and Italian cookies (for family in town for the funeral)

I attended 4 kid birthday parties

I ate 3 cheeseburgers w/ fries at Rockwells (favorite local burger) on different nights

I got my hair colored really, really blonde

I had an 8th grade boy tell me he was going to make his art project the color of my beautiful eyes

Qwelled my fervent desire for inclimate weather and being in it - and those caught up in the maelstrom. It would take a direct blow to cut me loose.

There were many other aggravating and delightful factors and situations related to the above. All I can say is that if this keeps up "impending doom" may be more fun than usual. On the bright side I did get a tax refund. Thanks for allowing this constipated brain dump. Too bad I'm still full of shit!

PS - Blogger formating BLOWS

Paying it Forward

Not so fast big sis! I know my colors!

Freaky Play-Doh

Not sure why, but Black Play-doh exists and we own it. In fact it was one of the only pliable colors available in our old collection. My 21 month old had no problem playing and stamping away. We were having fun so I decided to film. I've also been feeling guilty lately that I don't have near enough Ais footage as I do Indi. Hmmm, maybe the video below explains why. Bad mommy!

Turpentine and Beer

Friday, April 4, 2008 marked the 4th Annual Plein Air Painters of Chicago Exhibit. For those of you new to this blog or out of the loop -- this is the second exhibition of my paintings - ever. The PAPC are my peeps and I was so excited to be part of the show. We sold $2600 of paintings on opening night - which I think is pretty good.

The show continues until April 13, 2008. Don't miss it. On the party front, I want to give a huge shout out and thank you to Goose Island Brewery -- Chicago's Hometown Brewery - for donating mass quanities of free beer! That's right folks, there was literally a ton of free beer at our exhibit. There was a nice spread of food and wine too. Another huge thanks to Trader Joe's for donating snacks. They are always so generous. The house was packed to the rafters. The 3 hour exhibit flew by. I had a chance to greet and talk to many of my friends who attended (they Rock!) as well as a few fellow artists whom I had not yet met. If any of y'all are headed over to see these fantastic paintings of locations around Chicago, be sure to give me a shout - I'll give you a tour!

All I got were Free Socks

Running season has begun here in Chicago. Today I ran a very popular 8K run (Shamrock Shuffle). I ran it with my buddy Brian Mc (physchologist in trianing - literally). I work out like a maniac (2 hours, 4 times a week) and have to say that I did better than he did. No disrespect, Scrub. Hey, I'm in pretty good shape. Seriously folks, I'd like to give major snaps to Brian who picked up running again after a long hiatus. He is a total rock star and kicked the Shamrock Shuffle's butt. He also has some big runs under his belt notwithstanding a Chicago Marathon. He's the real deal. All that while being married, paying a mortgage, getting his Psy.D and planning his internship at Stroger Hospital. He's been my un-blooded bro since high school. Sorry that he is off the market gals. And his wife, Ann, is super-scary smart. I love her. But she knows how to stealthily kill me in my sleep. I'm so glad we get along -- Annicakes! :-)

Nothing like stinging rain to at 36 degrees to get you movin'. We finished the Shuffle in under an hour and then went out for brunch and ate like truck drivers (sidebar: I can do this anytime if the food is good. I like food).

The race was great but I need to vent about getting screwed over by buying a second-hand racing bib. A bib is simply a number on a piece of paper that you safety pin to your shirt on race day. It allows one to "legally" participate in a race. You are really paying to get the t-shirt. I searched high and low on Craigslist.com hoping to find a Bib for the Shamrock Shuffle. I was hitting it hard; morning, noon and night.. They were getting scooped out from under me. Finally my number came up. "

"Shamrock Shuffle Bib for Sale - Women's Small" -

Eureka! The seller (a female) wanted me to meet her on Fri night at an estimated time. I was an hour late calling her after our "estimated" time. She sends me a nasty email telling me how rude I was. I call and email back with apologies and that I am still "in". She calls me the next AM and wants to make a transaction. I was swamped and sent my husband Rob and two kids to fetch this bib. She takes $5 off of the already inflated price of the bib (by $15) Rob comes home with a Men's med shirt rather than women's shirt. So I just paid $45 to run an 8K - no wearable tee - !*@$!. There was a coupon for free Nike socks which I redeemed that morning. Ok so I got socks out of it. Oh yeah, and the sweet satisfaction of "thinking" I'm in better shape than Brian (he's like a brother). Next time, I'll skip the tee and run like Forest Gump on the streets. It was fun running around downtown. Chi-town is lookin' sooo good. I love this city.

Next up is the Pilgrim Kid Care Fun Run/Walk (5K) on April 19th! All proceeds go to Pilgrim School KidCare; an organization that educates elementary school kids about homelessness in Chicago Did you know the average age of a homeless person is 9 years old! Shocking. The Pilgrim kids are making a difference. Kids helping kids. Come out an run! http://www.pilgrimchurchandschool.org/.

After that, Soldier Field 10 miler. The finish is on the 50 yard line at Soldier Field - May 24th! You can come out and cheer me on! I'm training! Wow, look at me; I'm like the Tasmanian Devil. Any takers??