Work today, Saturday . . . . .

. . . and then dinner with our old bass player, his wife, our old band photographer and his wife and Holly and I.  We’ll have burgers at The Tracks.  Great burgers and a cold brew.  ■  I worked up the “painting” you see above for our friends Cheryl & Bill.  It’s their home although not in their neighborhood setting.  I’ve included Christmas lights, Bill’s boat, a couple of Bill’s fishing rods leaning against the garage door, and a snow shovel that seems to be very fitting in our northern climate.  Oh, and let’s not forget Santa who just took off from their roof.  It’s a lot of fun trying to put in little details.  I do like the foot prints in the snow.  ■  TFB.

Finished.

Finished with this “painting”At least I think I am.  Part of downtown Cary – and Cary isn’t that big, so this is a large part of it.  ■  The Thanksgiving meal consisted of 3 turkeys, potatoes, tomato something, green jello, Cinnamon Apple Cranberry sauce, a pumpkin pie, a pecan pie, bread pudding, etc.  It was too much.  I couldn’t eat all of it.  But it was good.  ■  And football most of the day.  Can’t complain about that.  ■   TFBWTDs

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, it’s Thanksgiving.  I wanted to get in bed earlier, but we were waiting for our daughter and son-in-law to arrive from Louisville.  They’re here and everyone, including the dogs, are in bed and asleep.  ■  Been doing a little work on my “painting” of part of downtown Cary, Illinois.  Haven’t had time to work on it a lot.  ■  We’ve got, I think 8 people coming for Thanksgiving – and 3 turkeys!  I know Holly has already made some of the food ahead of time.  She’s already made Cinnamon Apple Cranberry Sauce.  Made it for the first time last year and it was a hit.  And I know she’s started her homemade baked beans.  Delicious, but, err, deadly.  ■  And we have butter to make.  It’s a family tradition.  ■  TFB.

Another one . . . . .

Yup, another “painting.”  They start out a little sloppy, but do get a little better as the painting progresses.  I think my style is somewhere between Grandma Moses and Family Circle.  ■  We’re getting the house ready for Thanksgiving.  Washing bedding, cleaning, scrubbing, cooking, shopping, sweeping, washing walls, putting up baskets, baking, checking email, washing dishes, playing guitar, cleaning the office, vacuuming the carpets, swabbing the decks, running errands, getting gas, defrosting freezers (ok, we’re not really defrosting freezers), feeding dogs, letting dogs out and back in, paying attention to the poor animals when they act like they aren’t getting any love, running to the bank, . . . and a lot of other stuff.  ■  I’m out of breath from all those chores.  ■  TFACB.

Christmas in Kentucky . . . . .

No, we won’t be in Kentucky for Christmas, but this is Libby & Jay’s home in Louisville.  Artificial snow, I guess, ‘cause I don’t think they get a whole lot of it down there.  I’ve included ALL of the extras in the painting – sleigh and reindeer tracks on the roof; Santa’s sleigh having taken off from their roof; and Beau, their Golden Retriever ( back end of the driveway – he’s small and hard to see in the painting.).  I hope they like it.  ■  Thanksgiving this year will be rather a small gathering as opposed to years past.  We had hoped our son would be able to make it home for either Thanksgiving, or Christmas, but no such luck.  ■  Abby is definitely feeling better than she was Friday  and Friday night.  Both dogs slept with me Friday and Saturday nights and cuddled up about as close to me as you can get.  ■  It’s not late – well not as late as usual, but I’m headed to be.  ‘Night ‘all.

Abby’s doing better . . . and can’t leave well-enough alone . . .

Abby is doing much better.  Last night she wasn’t feeling well at all.  It was a rough night for her.  Hopefully this will take care of the heartworm.  ■  I can’t seem to stop working on these “paintings.”  I’ll go back and see little details that I missed, so then I’ve got to go add them.  ■  iPhone 4s:  There’s a ton of new features to learn about with this new phone.  I have noticed that my phone calls seem to be much clearer.  This is good.  The camera is really good.  Even has a flash!  If you’re on the fence about this iPhone – get it.  ■

Poor Abby . . .

. . . she’s still feeling bad from her heartworm shot this morning.  Poor little girl is waiting patiently for me to go to bed.  ■  The painting to the left is a work-in-progress.  Still some to go.  These paintings do take some time.  ■  Tomorrow I work, so it’s really time to get to bed.

Friday–Abby’s last shot and more painting . . .

Yesterday Abby had her second heartworm shot and this morning her third and last.  It’s painful for the dog.  I feel badly that she has to go through with this.  ■  And this afternoon I’m taking Zoe to see the vet.  She’s got a hunk of meat hanging off her gum.  Sometimes you can see it, but mostly you can’t.  While it hasn’t bothered her it’s time to get it checked out.  ■  As you can see I’ve done another drawing.  Summer and Winter views of the home.  ■  Got to get going. 

iPhone 4s . . . a lot to learn . . . . .

I activated my new iPhone 4s last night.  Still a ton to learn, but it’s pretty neat.  Now we have to get Holly one.  ■  The pictures are of a much higher quality – that I can tell you.  And it takes movies – haven’t tried that out yet.  ■  The Alpha recording interface I ordered came in today.  I’ve got it, but now need time to use it.  I’ll record something this weekend and put it on this blog.  Should be interesting.  ■  I have a 16 track digital recorder I’m going to get rid of.  Anyone interested?  I can record 8 tracks at the same time – great for recording a band.  ■  Took Abby to the Vet today to get her second shot of heartworm medicine.  It’s painful for her.  The shot hurts and then she’s in pain for quite a few hours after.  The bad thing is that I have to take her for her third shot tomorrow.  I hope she can forgive me – all of the pain and I’m taking her to it.  ■  Tonight she’ll (and Zoe) sleep with us.  I feel so bad for her.  Lots of pain and nothing to relieve it with.  And, yes, the Vet gave me pain pills for her, but it still really hurts.  Sorry, Abby.  ■  Hope the weather is good tomorrow.  I can run over the lawn and mulch up the leaves.  ■  ‘Night.

Got the new iPhone 4S.

Still getting it synced.  This could take a little while.  I’ll let you know how Siri performs.  It should be interesting.  ■  Abby goes in today, Thursday, for her second heartworm shot – and then the third one on Friday.  Two shots in two days.  She’s going to be sore – that’s the side effect of the shots.  ■  I remember having to get 7 shots in two days when I went on active duty in the Navy.  Three one day and four the next.  My arms were sore.  ■

First things first and second things second . . .

I wonder who said that?  The earliest reference I can find is C.S. Lewis.  C.S. Lewis wrote “The Chronicles of Narnia” series. “. . . If you put first things first and second things second, both flourish”.  Makes sense.  ■  So the thing I should be putting first here is sleep!  I keep staying up too late – working and writing these blog posts.  ■  I’ve been trying this “painting” thing and so far I’m fairly happy with the results.  I’d show you our Christmas card painting, but you’ll have to wait for me to unveil that in December.  What I’m considering now is whether, or not to offer these paintings as a product in addition to my pen & ink drawings.  What do you think?  All input is appreciated.  ■  At any rate it is time for bed ‘cause I have to get up early for my weekly chamber networking meeting.  ■  ‘Night. 

New “paintings” and iPhone 4S arrives!

I’ve been experimenting a little more seriously with “painting” on my iPad.  The “paintings” on the left are two of the current ones.  The top one is finished while the one on the bottom still has a little more to be done. I put “painting” in quotes because I’m not using physical paints, but am doing this digitally.  It’s a lot easier.  If you make a mistake you can easily erase it and redo.  The hardest part about it is that you’re painting with your fingers.  It makes it very had to put your lines exactly where you want them.  I’ve even done the Christmas card we’ll be sending out via this program.  The two above could well be Christmas cards for the people that own those houses.  ■  My new iPhone arrived today.  Now I’ve just got to activate it.  ■ 

It’s on it’s way . . . . .

I ordered the new iPhone a week, or so ago.  It’s on its way!  I should get it Monday afternoon.  ■  I have the original iphone – bought it almost 5 years ago.  It’s been a steady companion, but I’ve noticed in the past couple/few months that it’s been slowly fading.  Time for a new one!  ■  I’ve decided to sell my 16 track digital recorder.  It’s very good, but I never record more than one track at a time.  It’s capable of recording 8 tracks at once.  Yamaha AW16G – if you want it let me know.  ■  Work tomorrow and then next Thursday and Friday Abby gets her last 2 heartworm shots.  It’s painful for her and I’m probably dreading it more than she is – ‘speciall ‘cause she doesn’t know about it.  ■  Yeah, TFB.

Bacon makes everything better . . . . ..

No s?&t.  Seriously – bacon makes everything better.  I fried scallops and shrimp in bacon grease tonight (along with some Slap ‘Yo’ Mama spice) and it was the best.  ■  Shipped a drawing of a beautiful home in MA today.  I’m sure they’ll love it.  ■  Car is in for repair tomorrow, so I’m stuck at home all day.  But, I’ve got a drawing to do of a beautiful home in Cary to work on.  ■  TFB.

Still the most beautiful woman around . . .

. . . my wife.  ■  Went out to see the Wiggleo’s play at a local restaurant.  That’s where this picture was taken.  I thought I had taken one of Holly and Ellyn (who was there with us) – and I did, but it was with Ellyn’s phone.  ■  Tomorrow I’ve got to take the plunge and buy a printer.  I’m looking for one that will print my note cards, but can’t find any printer that specifically documents that it will.  It’s a crap shoot, but I only get one roll. Don’t know it that’s an appropriate gambling statement, but I can’t afford to go out and buy printer after printer until I either run out of money, or printers.  ■  And leaves – I’ve got to mow the lawn tomorrow and mulch up the leaves.  Easier than raking and better for the lawn.  ■  TFB.

We’ve all done it . . . . . .

. . . left the house for work with mismatched something.  My wife did it today . . . and no one notices until you, yourself, points it out.  ■  I’ve done it twice – both times were mismatched suits.  The first time someone at the Cary train station pointed it out.  I called Holly and said I had the blue suit coat and gray suit pants – she asked it she should bring the matching coat, or pants – funny.  The second time I didn’t notice it until I had been on the train for awhile.  Nothing to do but arrive at work looking like a schmuck.  After arriving at work I hung the suit coat in a closet after my boss noticed that the coat on the back of my chair didn’t match my pants (she always dressed very well).  Later that morning she and I had to go to a meeting and I went and got my suit coat.  Yes, I put it back.  She wouldn’t let me wear it to the meeting.  At least it was better then when I ripped my suit pants installing pcs.  I caught those pants on something underneath a desks when routing some wiring – a story for another day.  ■  My boss fired and hired me back today.  Nothing serious, but if he has employees it will cost him a few thousand in insurance, or something like that.  I was re-hired as a independent contractor.  ■  I may go out and get the iPhone 4S tomorrow.  We’ll see.  My iPhone is the original iPhone – it’s over 4½ years old and has been giving me connection problems for the last few months.  Got to check out the costs, etc.  ■  Wow – this is a long post.  I haven’t written this much in a long, long time.  ■  At any rate it’s time for bed.  Up early tomorrow for our Chamber of Commerce’s networking meeting.  ■