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Ellen Million: Artist, Writer, Project Enabler, Creative Force of Nature. And, Mom.
Projects:
Currently in crowdfunding: Sketch Tarot! - Sponsor a card or pre-order a deck at a steep discount today!
Coloring Books - Highly detailed coloring books for grown-ups. (By many artists!)
Sketch Fest - a monthly prompted 48-hour creative jam for artists around the world.
Portrait Adoption - adopt a pre-finished character portrait that will be exclusively yours! (By many artists!)
Ellen's Escape - my personal webpage and an archive of pretty much my entire artistic journey.
Torn World - a shared science-fantasy world.
Etsy - digital stamps (digi stamps) and coloring books.
Patreon - support Ellen and get monthly surprise goodies!
Other links of possible interest:
2015 goals
2014 goals review
Chopping Block of 2010 - an interesting snapshot at all of my projects of that time, including several that did not survive the cull.
Ellen elsewhere:
Ellen Million Graphics at Facebook
Ellen Million, Artistrix at Facebook
Sketch Fest at Facebook
Torn World at Facebook
Ellen Million at Facebook - mostly a feed of this journal.
@ellenmillion at Twitter - almost entirely a feed of this journal. (Has been hijacked by hackers. See my business twitter: @ellen_million)
@torn_world at Twitter - updates for Torn World
ellenmillion at Deviantart - very, very rarely updated
Elfwood gallery - oldest gallery of my work (aside from my personal site, above).
(Comments to this post are disabled. Say hello at a current entry, if you wish!)
Projects:
Currently in crowdfunding: Sketch Tarot! - Sponsor a card or pre-order a deck at a steep discount today!
Coloring Books - Highly detailed coloring books for grown-ups. (By many artists!)
Sketch Fest - a monthly prompted 48-hour creative jam for artists around the world.
Portrait Adoption - adopt a pre-finished character portrait that will be exclusively yours! (By many artists!)
Ellen's Escape - my personal webpage and an archive of pretty much my entire artistic journey.
Torn World - a shared science-fantasy world.
Etsy - digital stamps (digi stamps) and coloring books.
Patreon - support Ellen and get monthly surprise goodies!
Other links of possible interest:
2015 goals
2014 goals review
Chopping Block of 2010 - an interesting snapshot at all of my projects of that time, including several that did not survive the cull.
Ellen elsewhere:
Ellen Million Graphics at Facebook
Ellen Million, Artistrix at Facebook
Sketch Fest at Facebook
Torn World at Facebook
Ellen Million at Facebook - mostly a feed of this journal.
@torn_world at Twitter - updates for Torn World
ellenmillion at Deviantart - very, very rarely updated
Elfwood gallery - oldest gallery of my work (aside from my personal site, above).
(Comments to this post are disabled. Say hello at a current entry, if you wish!)
Who stole June? Seriously, wasn't it JUST here?
We worked on the woodshed this weekend, and got it braced and all the purlins on. The only things left are roofing and siding. (We also found out that someone stole a bunch of stuff from my yurt, which was less wonderful. :/)
The three of us also braved the fourth of July madness at Pioneer Park (Alaskaland!), and that was a very mixed bag. We went to hear the 1812 Overture, which is Guppy's very favorite song, and the band was not bad. While they were playing Sousa, there was a bald eagle cruising around overhead, which was pretty epic. We had ice cream cones first, and then of course, Guppy did not want to sit still, and later there were tears because we went hunting for a balloon after they had given them all away. It was a billion degrees and there were so many people it made my skin itch.
Lots of art things to share over the next week or two! So many! Let's start with the all-#junicorn round-up:
(Photo updated to show sold cards, and also the four that were on my scanner bed still...)
Many originals are still available, plus bookmarks, magnets, and signed prints! For a larger look at each image, and pricing, the landing page is here: http://ellenmillion.dreamwidth.org/1604
Originally posted at Dreamwidth: http://ellenmillion.dreamwidth.org/1609
We worked on the woodshed this weekend, and got it braced and all the purlins on. The only things left are roofing and siding. (We also found out that someone stole a bunch of stuff from my yurt, which was less wonderful. :/)
The three of us also braved the fourth of July madness at Pioneer Park (Alaskaland!), and that was a very mixed bag. We went to hear the 1812 Overture, which is Guppy's very favorite song, and the band was not bad. While they were playing Sousa, there was a bald eagle cruising around overhead, which was pretty epic. We had ice cream cones first, and then of course, Guppy did not want to sit still, and later there were tears because we went hunting for a balloon after they had given them all away. It was a billion degrees and there were so many people it made my skin itch.
Lots of art things to share over the next week or two! So many! Let's start with the all-#junicorn round-up:
(Photo updated to show sold cards, and also the four that were on my scanner bed still...)
Many originals are still available, plus bookmarks, magnets, and signed prints! For a larger look at each image, and pricing, the landing page is here: http://ellenmillion.dreamwidth.org/1604
Originally posted at Dreamwidth: http://ellenmillion.dreamwidth.org/1609
I still haven't scanned the latest #Junicorn (and I'm still behind and working on lucky number 13), so have a Portrait Adoption piece I posted a week or so ago:
Adopt her here: https://portraitadoption.com/portrait.p
Summer camp remains the greatest thing in my life right now. It's still hard to peel her off in the morning, and she doesn't want to leave in the afternoon. My writing count isn't quite as awesome as the first glorious day, but I have gotten to the gym every single morning (which feels amazing) and I've gotten a ton of stuff done. I'm 4/6 into sekrit art project #789 and finished up a private commission yesterday. I submitted a short story to an anthology, and the EMG newsletter finally went out, and I HAVE gotten 500 words minimum every day, with spurts of much, much better, so that I'm nearly at 6k for the week. (I know my powerhouse writing friends are sniggering up their sleeves, but that's a LOT for me.)
Having ME time is huge. It's different than nap/quiet time, too. I spend that time with half an ear at least out for her. This is time I spend with sound-cancelling earphones absolutely focused on what I'm doing. I've tried four different places, and they've all worked beautifully. I feel productive and free and fulfilled. And then I can pick Guppy up and not feel like she's pushed my buttons all morning and I'm happy to see her and spend time playing. (Or working outside in the guise of playing!)
It helps that she is clearly having a great time.
Yesterday, Jake took the afternoon off and we finished the decking on the woodshed. YES. I used our new impact driver and WOW. I'm sold. It's supposed to rain today and tomorrow, so we wanted to get that finished while the weather was nice.
Okay, back to the not-a-book.
This afternoon is SKETCH FEST! http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/ske
Originally posted at Dreamwidth: http://ellenmillion.dreamwidth.org/1606
Adopt her here: https://portraitadoption.com/portrait.p
Summer camp remains the greatest thing in my life right now. It's still hard to peel her off in the morning, and she doesn't want to leave in the afternoon. My writing count isn't quite as awesome as the first glorious day, but I have gotten to the gym every single morning (which feels amazing) and I've gotten a ton of stuff done. I'm 4/6 into sekrit art project #789 and finished up a private commission yesterday. I submitted a short story to an anthology, and the EMG newsletter finally went out, and I HAVE gotten 500 words minimum every day, with spurts of much, much better, so that I'm nearly at 6k for the week. (I know my powerhouse writing friends are sniggering up their sleeves, but that's a LOT for me.)
Having ME time is huge. It's different than nap/quiet time, too. I spend that time with half an ear at least out for her. This is time I spend with sound-cancelling earphones absolutely focused on what I'm doing. I've tried four different places, and they've all worked beautifully. I feel productive and free and fulfilled. And then I can pick Guppy up and not feel like she's pushed my buttons all morning and I'm happy to see her and spend time playing. (Or working outside in the guise of playing!)
It helps that she is clearly having a great time.
Yesterday, Jake took the afternoon off and we finished the decking on the woodshed. YES. I used our new impact driver and WOW. I'm sold. It's supposed to rain today and tomorrow, so we wanted to get that finished while the weather was nice.
Okay, back to the not-a-book.
This afternoon is SKETCH FEST! http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/ske
Originally posted at Dreamwidth: http://ellenmillion.dreamwidth.org/1606
Aging pets are hard. Just, hard.
A few nights ago, Norway tried to get up the front steps and failed. There are only two, and they aren't that steep, but he was having a bad back legs day. We put out the truck ramps for him, but they are metal, and although strong, sort of rattly. He looked at them, he looked at me, and said nope. I did finally get him up them with a firm hand on his collar, but it wasn't much fun. The next day, he ignored them and hopped down the steps. That night he got up the steps with effort. The following night, he walked right up them. It's so variable!
He's not the only one having issues with steps. Velcro's catbox and bed are on the main floor of our house, and her food and second waterdish are upstairs, where Norway can't help himself. I've pondered moving her food down because she clearly doesn't enjoy the stairs anymore, but figured it was the only exercise she was getting at this point. Yesterday, however, I watched her fall down them twice, and that's the end of that. The first time was just a few steps as she was going up. She picked herself up and powered up them, so I figured it was just one of those ungraceful cat moments they pretend you don't witness. But shortly after, she came down them and sort of got away from herself and ended up upside down at the bottom rocking in shock with her little extra toes in the air. She mewed at me in a very disappointed way when I came to help her up and spent the rest of the day sulking in her bed.
She's been missing the catbox more regularly lately, too. Oh, she tries! There are no accidents around the house, but sometimes she just barely gets into the catbox and the important parts aren't there yet. I've got puppy pads down, so cleanup isn't bad.
Poor old lady cat. Poor old man dog.
It seems like a lot of friends lately are losing beloved fur family members; Facebook seems to show me a few each week lately. I suspect it's just that I'm hyper-aware of them right now, because I know that my time with my own fur friends is not going to be a lot longer.
Have some art!
I recently did this for Portrait Adoption:
This one started life as a Sketch Fest sketch, in very rough form, and got refined at a gaming session.
A little over 800 words yesterday, slogging onward. The not-a-book is about 16k. I do not anticipate getting writing time today, as we have a playdate over quiet time. I've also got two more #junicorn pieces done (but not scanned), and am 1 behind (not counting today).
In less thrilling news, I finished the laundry, cleaned out the toaster with the air compresser, vacuumed upstairs (downstairs, too, but that's daily), and Guppy helped me measure and cut wood blocks for the woodshed.
And when I say helped, I don't even mean that with air-quotes! She fetched the blocks and drew the lines while I held the square. (She's wearing gloves because it's splintery treated lumber, not because it's cold.)
We made GREAT progress on the shed over the weekend, and we had our neighbors over for dinner, which was simply delightful, and we got a date night to go watch Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and have sushi. There have definitely been good times.
I'm growing on my bangs, and the irritation level is about a 6 right now. I've promised to try it until September.
Originally posted at Dreamwidth: http://ellenmillion.dreamwidth.org/1605
A few nights ago, Norway tried to get up the front steps and failed. There are only two, and they aren't that steep, but he was having a bad back legs day. We put out the truck ramps for him, but they are metal, and although strong, sort of rattly. He looked at them, he looked at me, and said nope. I did finally get him up them with a firm hand on his collar, but it wasn't much fun. The next day, he ignored them and hopped down the steps. That night he got up the steps with effort. The following night, he walked right up them. It's so variable!
He's not the only one having issues with steps. Velcro's catbox and bed are on the main floor of our house, and her food and second waterdish are upstairs, where Norway can't help himself. I've pondered moving her food down because she clearly doesn't enjoy the stairs anymore, but figured it was the only exercise she was getting at this point. Yesterday, however, I watched her fall down them twice, and that's the end of that. The first time was just a few steps as she was going up. She picked herself up and powered up them, so I figured it was just one of those ungraceful cat moments they pretend you don't witness. But shortly after, she came down them and sort of got away from herself and ended up upside down at the bottom rocking in shock with her little extra toes in the air. She mewed at me in a very disappointed way when I came to help her up and spent the rest of the day sulking in her bed.
She's been missing the catbox more regularly lately, too. Oh, she tries! There are no accidents around the house, but sometimes she just barely gets into the catbox and the important parts aren't there yet. I've got puppy pads down, so cleanup isn't bad.
Poor old lady cat. Poor old man dog.
It seems like a lot of friends lately are losing beloved fur family members; Facebook seems to show me a few each week lately. I suspect it's just that I'm hyper-aware of them right now, because I know that my time with my own fur friends is not going to be a lot longer.
Have some art!
I recently did this for Portrait Adoption:
This one started life as a Sketch Fest sketch, in very rough form, and got refined at a gaming session.
A little over 800 words yesterday, slogging onward. The not-a-book is about 16k. I do not anticipate getting writing time today, as we have a playdate over quiet time. I've also got two more #junicorn pieces done (but not scanned), and am 1 behind (not counting today).
In less thrilling news, I finished the laundry, cleaned out the toaster with the air compresser, vacuumed upstairs (downstairs, too, but that's daily), and Guppy helped me measure and cut wood blocks for the woodshed.
And when I say helped, I don't even mean that with air-quotes! She fetched the blocks and drew the lines while I held the square. (She's wearing gloves because it's splintery treated lumber, not because it's cold.)
We made GREAT progress on the shed over the weekend, and we had our neighbors over for dinner, which was simply delightful, and we got a date night to go watch Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and have sushi. There have definitely been good times.
I'm growing on my bangs, and the irritation level is about a 6 right now. I've promised to try it until September.
Originally posted at Dreamwidth: http://ellenmillion.dreamwidth.org/1605
Have you missed some of my creative updates over the last month? I'm doing monthly roundups to try to keep some sense in the chaos! (note: there was no January roundup, since I spent the month offline!)
Artwork
Finished the 78Tarot piece, but haven't released it yet. (It's IN COLOR!) I will be sharing it this month as part of the Kickstarter kickoff. :)
The high resolution version of this was my Patreon perk for January.
Four sketches for Sketch Fest: http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/ske
One of them I started inking for a coloring page (and finished this month).
Writing
I wrote about 9000 words, all on my fluff-novella.
I released my first fluff-novella on Amazon, under a Super Secret pseudonym, and it did better than I had any reason to expect, peaking at #152 in all paid Kindle books. I have made as much with this in about two weeks than I did with my own art the entire year of 2015, I think. There is a reason that I am making the next one my writing priority!
Other
I upgraded the EMG coloring book page significantly! The first two sampler pages went up, for Dotminatrix and the Collected Faeries of Victoria Griffin.
1099 tax stuff. (Whee)
Worked on the bathroom - paint and plaster, and shelves, oh my! It looks like an honest to gosh bathroom!
Installed new work tables in my under-the-stairs studio!
Favorite Guppy photo: http://hotlink.ellenmilliongraphics.c
Artwork
Finished the 78Tarot piece, but haven't released it yet. (It's IN COLOR!) I will be sharing it this month as part of the Kickstarter kickoff. :)
The high resolution version of this was my Patreon perk for January.
Four sketches for Sketch Fest: http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/ske
One of them I started inking for a coloring page (and finished this month).
Writing
I wrote about 9000 words, all on my fluff-novella.
I released my first fluff-novella on Amazon, under a Super Secret pseudonym, and it did better than I had any reason to expect, peaking at #152 in all paid Kindle books. I have made as much with this in about two weeks than I did with my own art the entire year of 2015, I think. There is a reason that I am making the next one my writing priority!
Other
I upgraded the EMG coloring book page significantly! The first two sampler pages went up, for Dotminatrix and the Collected Faeries of Victoria Griffin.
1099 tax stuff. (Whee)
Worked on the bathroom - paint and plaster, and shelves, oh my! It looks like an honest to gosh bathroom!
Installed new work tables in my under-the-stairs studio!
Favorite Guppy photo: http://hotlink.ellenmilliongraphics.c
My little Guppy just missed being a leap year baby, by about 12 hours. I was just as happy she decided not to wait.
I remembered to take bear photos yesterday!
This weekend was very busy and almost entirely wonderful. On Saturday, we worked in the bathroom, getting the hooks for towels up.
We also unexpectedly got a phonecall letting me know that my worktables were ready for pickup - I figured it would be another 2 weeks at least, and hadn't cleared off my current tables yet! This took very little time, actually, thanks to the massive purge I'd done a few months back. I dismantled the tables - one went directly to the transfer station, and vacuumed the impressive dustbunnies from the corners, and we assembled massive, heavy new tables to work on. I meant to take before and after photos, but forgot to. So here's a halfway through photo (imagine a second, sagging folding table across the left):
And the new tables set up:
My back felt quite strained after all the lifting and constructing, so I took a pain pill. I think it was as much impending illness as it was backstrain, on retrospect, because I woke up partway through the night with fever chills, which interspersed the next day with hot spells and horrible lung pain with occasional (very painful) coughing fits. A cold pill knocked most of the symptoms down so that I had a good birthday with Guppy. (With a few naps!) I was even able to help Jake finish the shelf in the bathroom, and it all looks SO good. Like a real, classy bathroom. Stylish, even. It's a little crazy.
I'm feeling mostly recovered this morning - some lung and coughing pain, but no fever, and the coughs feel effective and less horrible spasm-y. Two nights in a row of excellent sleep helped a lot; I have energy again, and cleaned up the house, paid bills, and took a shower without feeling like I needed to lie down again. (I have parent aide again tomorrow, and I'm thinking I'll be fine for that...)
My not-a-book is still doing awesome, and someday I will stop refreshing my stats and gabbing endlessly about. I had planned to write this weekend, but that just didn't happen... (see above).
I've got a second load of laundry to go move around and fold, so I should do that. There may be art, later, and maybe some words. There will definitely be a tea party in the blanket fort.
I remembered to take bear photos yesterday!
This weekend was very busy and almost entirely wonderful. On Saturday, we worked in the bathroom, getting the hooks for towels up.
We also unexpectedly got a phonecall letting me know that my worktables were ready for pickup - I figured it would be another 2 weeks at least, and hadn't cleared off my current tables yet! This took very little time, actually, thanks to the massive purge I'd done a few months back. I dismantled the tables - one went directly to the transfer station, and vacuumed the impressive dustbunnies from the corners, and we assembled massive, heavy new tables to work on. I meant to take before and after photos, but forgot to. So here's a halfway through photo (imagine a second, sagging folding table across the left):
And the new tables set up:
My back felt quite strained after all the lifting and constructing, so I took a pain pill. I think it was as much impending illness as it was backstrain, on retrospect, because I woke up partway through the night with fever chills, which interspersed the next day with hot spells and horrible lung pain with occasional (very painful) coughing fits. A cold pill knocked most of the symptoms down so that I had a good birthday with Guppy. (With a few naps!) I was even able to help Jake finish the shelf in the bathroom, and it all looks SO good. Like a real, classy bathroom. Stylish, even. It's a little crazy.
I'm feeling mostly recovered this morning - some lung and coughing pain, but no fever, and the coughs feel effective and less horrible spasm-y. Two nights in a row of excellent sleep helped a lot; I have energy again, and cleaned up the house, paid bills, and took a shower without feeling like I needed to lie down again. (I have parent aide again tomorrow, and I'm thinking I'll be fine for that...)
My not-a-book is still doing awesome, and someday I will stop refreshing my stats and gabbing endlessly about. I had planned to write this weekend, but that just didn't happen... (see above).
I've got a second load of laundry to go move around and fold, so I should do that. There may be art, later, and maybe some words. There will definitely be a tea party in the blanket fort.
When last we saw our intrepid heroine, it was Thursday, there was a show ahead...
Pretty much, I haven't stopped moving. We went to the park for a short visit. Guppy has been living in her Snow White dress:
One of the things I did Friday was pick up my custom drainpan... I was sick to DEATH of the cheap plastic drainboards you can buy at the store - they weren't big enough for me to use both sides of the drainer, and they didn't actually drain, so I ended up with this gross, warped plastic tray filled with puddles of septic bacteria farms, and my counter was constantly swimming in water. So, I designed a stainless steel drainboard and had it machined at a local place. It was not cheap, and the thing weighs a ton, but I am SO SO SO happy with it:
It ACTUALLY drains. It's also, comparatively, gorgeous. I'm terribly pleased. (We'll just skip that whole part where I went to pick it up on Tuesday and they had made it entirely wrong...)
The show Friday night was a bit of a flop - It was the first day of the state fair, and the location was at the end of a dead-end hall flanked by closed stores and an abandoned restaurant. I don't think more than 30 people moved past my table the entire night, and considering that, I did well, and it was worth it for one enthusiastic sale alone. I gave out a handful of cards, and got a lot of sketching done.
Saturday was fabulously domestic. I woke up early with Guppy and made a batch of homemade coleslaw, and zucchini blueberry muffins, then proceeded to process all of the excess farm share food that was clogging my fridge. Several quart bags of kale went into the freezer, and gallons of shredded squash. All day long, I cooked and cleaned, and then Jake and put up a piece of sheetrock behind the toilet, and then there was more cooking and laundry and scrubbing out the shower.
Sunday, I went table-top gaming, and followed up on a few local wholesale things. (The Comic Shop should have my coloring books for real now! They got misplaced for a while there...)
Garden Sprites is now out! I've made some improvements on the ordering page in general, though I didn't get as far as I hoped today, due to several hours without power. We played Playdoh by lamplight. It was very cold and rainy and windy, and depressingly dark. We went for a very brief walk to check our powerlines, but returned quickly.
Posting now, so I can watch a Jericho before bed!
Pretty much, I haven't stopped moving. We went to the park for a short visit. Guppy has been living in her Snow White dress:
One of the things I did Friday was pick up my custom drainpan... I was sick to DEATH of the cheap plastic drainboards you can buy at the store - they weren't big enough for me to use both sides of the drainer, and they didn't actually drain, so I ended up with this gross, warped plastic tray filled with puddles of septic bacteria farms, and my counter was constantly swimming in water. So, I designed a stainless steel drainboard and had it machined at a local place. It was not cheap, and the thing weighs a ton, but I am SO SO SO happy with it:
It ACTUALLY drains. It's also, comparatively, gorgeous. I'm terribly pleased. (We'll just skip that whole part where I went to pick it up on Tuesday and they had made it entirely wrong...)
The show Friday night was a bit of a flop - It was the first day of the state fair, and the location was at the end of a dead-end hall flanked by closed stores and an abandoned restaurant. I don't think more than 30 people moved past my table the entire night, and considering that, I did well, and it was worth it for one enthusiastic sale alone. I gave out a handful of cards, and got a lot of sketching done.
Saturday was fabulously domestic. I woke up early with Guppy and made a batch of homemade coleslaw, and zucchini blueberry muffins, then proceeded to process all of the excess farm share food that was clogging my fridge. Several quart bags of kale went into the freezer, and gallons of shredded squash. All day long, I cooked and cleaned, and then Jake and put up a piece of sheetrock behind the toilet, and then there was more cooking and laundry and scrubbing out the shower.
Sunday, I went table-top gaming, and followed up on a few local wholesale things. (The Comic Shop should have my coloring books for real now! They got misplaced for a while there...)
Garden Sprites is now out! I've made some improvements on the ordering page in general, though I didn't get as far as I hoped today, due to several hours without power. We played Playdoh by lamplight. It was very cold and rainy and windy, and depressingly dark. We went for a very brief walk to check our powerlines, but returned quickly.
Posting now, so I can watch a Jericho before bed!
I have so much to cover! I am positive I'm going to forget big chunks, and bore everyone to death with the rest.
The bullets point version:
*WE DON'T HAVE RADON. We got our test back and are an order of magnitude below the minimum action level. This is a huge relief. (Backstory: we failed the test twice and have gone to considerable expense and effort to mitigate.)
*We went swimming on Friday and Guppy loved it. She clung for only a few moments before kicking off on her own. It was my idea to leave, again!
*Sketch Fest was this weekend, and went swimmingly. I got 3 pieces done, and had
laylalawlor over for lunch and sketching.
*I'm trying contacts again. They have single-day contacts now, which offends my desire to reuse and reduce trash, but fits my actual use patterns perfectly. I pretty much only wear them for swimming right now, but for that alone, they are worth every penny.
*Cavity filling was awful, but past now. Mouth is mostly healed from the ordeal. Had to order a nightguard because of clenching. Am much, much poorer now.
*I've got FIVE of the coloring books thumbnailed now. You can see them at the coloring book order page. http://ellenmilliongraphics.com/colorin
*Sponsorships are trickling in for the Sea Monster Mini-coloring Book and we're down to $86.90 to get to professional printing. (And just $36.90 to get to the bookmark bonus!) I also made a better graphic to show how awesome some of the finished pages are:
I really feel good about the new pieces I'm doing for this - they are a challenge and turning out nicely. You know you need one. http://ellenmillion.livejournal.com/151
*I did tie dye this weekend with my friend M. and things turned out WONDERFULLY. New underpants and socks, horrah! I will provide photos. Eventually.
*Have to get Guppy up for eye appointment now. (Bring her in with you, they said. HAHAHAHA. Okay, then.)
A photo from the weekend. Penguin sleeper, peace boots, blue tutu, and a purple cape. It's SUPERGUPPY!
The bullets point version:
*WE DON'T HAVE RADON. We got our test back and are an order of magnitude below the minimum action level. This is a huge relief. (Backstory: we failed the test twice and have gone to considerable expense and effort to mitigate.)
*We went swimming on Friday and Guppy loved it. She clung for only a few moments before kicking off on her own. It was my idea to leave, again!
*Sketch Fest was this weekend, and went swimmingly. I got 3 pieces done, and had
laylalawlor over for lunch and sketching. *I'm trying contacts again. They have single-day contacts now, which offends my desire to reuse and reduce trash, but fits my actual use patterns perfectly. I pretty much only wear them for swimming right now, but for that alone, they are worth every penny.
*Cavity filling was awful, but past now. Mouth is mostly healed from the ordeal. Had to order a nightguard because of clenching. Am much, much poorer now.
*I've got FIVE of the coloring books thumbnailed now. You can see them at the coloring book order page. http://ellenmilliongraphics.com/colorin
*Sponsorships are trickling in for the Sea Monster Mini-coloring Book and we're down to $86.90 to get to professional printing. (And just $36.90 to get to the bookmark bonus!) I also made a better graphic to show how awesome some of the finished pages are:
I really feel good about the new pieces I'm doing for this - they are a challenge and turning out nicely. You know you need one. http://ellenmillion.livejournal.com/151
*I did tie dye this weekend with my friend M. and things turned out WONDERFULLY. New underpants and socks, horrah! I will provide photos. Eventually.
*Have to get Guppy up for eye appointment now. (Bring her in with you, they said. HAHAHAHA. Okay, then.)
A photo from the weekend. Penguin sleeper, peace boots, blue tutu, and a purple cape. It's SUPERGUPPY!
I did not blog on Friday. I called the truck dealership about getting the power steering fixed (It was a serious workout parking that thing!) and they surprised me with an invitation to bring it right in. So, Guppy and I packed up a bag of tricks and went in to entertain the staff and salesmen by gallivanting about the showroom like a pair of loons. Once we had the diagnosis and time estimate (broken pump, 2 hours), we got a shuttle ride to the swimming pool!
And that was AWESOME.
Guppy hung onto me like a little barnacle at first, then accepted a floaty barbell and a vest, and was off on her own. At first she wanted to cling, then wanted at least a hand on her, then nothing - but I'd better stay close, and by the time we left, she was paddling off by herself and not at all bothered that I'd swim a few paces away to catch a ball and talk to her from across the lane. She even off-balanced once and dunked herself under - and after I got her back up on her barbell, I backed off again and she was just fine. We were in the pool for a little over an hour, and it was my idea to finally leave. That's at least double any previous pool time. The swimming teacher was there and very pleased with Guppy's progress. She says Guppy's ready for the big girl class! Horrah! We'll start that in June.
Swimming success!
Back to the dealer, to get a truck that turns without having to throw all my weight on the steering wheel, getting a load of water at the fillup station, and then home.
At the water fillup.
Our Friday evening adventure involved broken glass. Lots, and lots, and lots of broken glass. Guppy stood up in my chair and pushed over the floorlamp, which hit the ground with an amazing explosion and shattered the glass lamp from one end the living room to the other. There was glass in the kitchen, there was glass in the bathroom (the door was open). There was glass in the pile of Guppy's favorite blankets. There was glass under all of the chairs. There was glass ON the kitchen chairs. So then there was a lot of sweeping and vacuuming. Miraculously, the lamp still works, just needs a new glass bowl. When I yelled at Guppy to STAY IN THE CHAIR, she buried her head in her arms, then she sobbed at Jake, "I need a timeout."
Saturday, Jake took me out for Mother's Day dinner (a night early, to avoid the crowds). Guppy has gone from wailing inconsolably when I leave the room to pushing me out the door, demanding, "Can you go now?" Because Aunt R is WAY more fun than me.
My little girl is getting all independent and grown up. *sniffles* Also, she just got another one of her molars, and she is starting to refer to herself reliably as 'I' instead of 'Me.' I think last week's dose of extra monster was another mental level.
We had dinner at the Lemongrass, and we were going to go play mini-golf, but in getting ready to go, the topic of coats came up and I bemoaned my lack of a light-weight nice coat. I have a fabulous heavy coat - absolutely gorgeous, and utterly useless at temperatures above about 10 below. But for warmer weather, I have a lot of fun, casual (mostly worn-out) things, but nothing appropriate for a date night or dinner. Not that it matters a LOT in Fairbanks, mind you, but sometimes you like to look good.
So, instead of mini-golf, we ended up going coat shopping. I got a beautiful little peacoat, light grey, that should go with anything nice that I have, a moderate winter clearance coat to replace the one I wore out this winter, a pair of pants, and a sweater that I love to pieces. Shopping without a 3-year-old in tow is blissful. Best Mother's Day presents ever.
This morning, we got up and motivated, and started cutting ceiling boards for the bathroom. We've got it about 1/3 put up, along with insulation for sound protection from the bedroom, and another 1/3 cut, waiting for Guppy to get up from her nap to go up. They are cedar boards and not only does the bathroom ALREADY look an order of magnitude better, but it smells AMAZING.
Now, sea monster coloring pages! I have finished two of the sketches I started (one posted earlier as a Mother's Day freebie), and have a third nearly there. We are less than $100 to professional printing, and I'm really, really hoping we get there so I can make these generally available. :) http://ellenmillion.livejournal.com/151
And that was AWESOME.
Guppy hung onto me like a little barnacle at first, then accepted a floaty barbell and a vest, and was off on her own. At first she wanted to cling, then wanted at least a hand on her, then nothing - but I'd better stay close, and by the time we left, she was paddling off by herself and not at all bothered that I'd swim a few paces away to catch a ball and talk to her from across the lane. She even off-balanced once and dunked herself under - and after I got her back up on her barbell, I backed off again and she was just fine. We were in the pool for a little over an hour, and it was my idea to finally leave. That's at least double any previous pool time. The swimming teacher was there and very pleased with Guppy's progress. She says Guppy's ready for the big girl class! Horrah! We'll start that in June.
Swimming success!
Back to the dealer, to get a truck that turns without having to throw all my weight on the steering wheel, getting a load of water at the fillup station, and then home.
At the water fillup.
Our Friday evening adventure involved broken glass. Lots, and lots, and lots of broken glass. Guppy stood up in my chair and pushed over the floorlamp, which hit the ground with an amazing explosion and shattered the glass lamp from one end the living room to the other. There was glass in the kitchen, there was glass in the bathroom (the door was open). There was glass in the pile of Guppy's favorite blankets. There was glass under all of the chairs. There was glass ON the kitchen chairs. So then there was a lot of sweeping and vacuuming. Miraculously, the lamp still works, just needs a new glass bowl. When I yelled at Guppy to STAY IN THE CHAIR, she buried her head in her arms, then she sobbed at Jake, "I need a timeout."
Saturday, Jake took me out for Mother's Day dinner (a night early, to avoid the crowds). Guppy has gone from wailing inconsolably when I leave the room to pushing me out the door, demanding, "Can you go now?" Because Aunt R is WAY more fun than me.
My little girl is getting all independent and grown up. *sniffles* Also, she just got another one of her molars, and she is starting to refer to herself reliably as 'I' instead of 'Me.' I think last week's dose of extra monster was another mental level.
We had dinner at the Lemongrass, and we were going to go play mini-golf, but in getting ready to go, the topic of coats came up and I bemoaned my lack of a light-weight nice coat. I have a fabulous heavy coat - absolutely gorgeous, and utterly useless at temperatures above about 10 below. But for warmer weather, I have a lot of fun, casual (mostly worn-out) things, but nothing appropriate for a date night or dinner. Not that it matters a LOT in Fairbanks, mind you, but sometimes you like to look good.
So, instead of mini-golf, we ended up going coat shopping. I got a beautiful little peacoat, light grey, that should go with anything nice that I have, a moderate winter clearance coat to replace the one I wore out this winter, a pair of pants, and a sweater that I love to pieces. Shopping without a 3-year-old in tow is blissful. Best Mother's Day presents ever.
This morning, we got up and motivated, and started cutting ceiling boards for the bathroom. We've got it about 1/3 put up, along with insulation for sound protection from the bedroom, and another 1/3 cut, waiting for Guppy to get up from her nap to go up. They are cedar boards and not only does the bathroom ALREADY look an order of magnitude better, but it smells AMAZING.
Now, sea monster coloring pages! I have finished two of the sketches I started (one posted earlier as a Mother's Day freebie), and have a third nearly there. We are less than $100 to professional printing, and I'm really, really hoping we get there so I can make these generally available. :) http://ellenmillion.livejournal.com/151
Inbox: 10
I've opened the Torn World Muse Fusion, come leave prompts! http://torn-world.livejournal.com/17717
I also posted an article on Kickstarter Clues: http://ellenmillion.livejournal.com/144
This weekend was busy - we got some work done around the house, and in particular, replaced the kitchen faucet. The installation of the new one was the easy part - ripping out the old one was a SERIOUS pain. Our sink is a little deeper than usual, so it's harder to get to the fittings than it should be, and they were STUCK. We finally ended up demolishing the faucet in place to get it out. The new one is LOVELY, and doesn't leak all around the faucet like the old one did. Which means the water pressure doesn't drop after its been sitting a while, and the water comes on promptly when the handle is lifted, instead of spitting like an asthmatic camel for a few moments first.
However, contorting around in the cabinet under the sink has left me brutally sore this morning. I think I twisted something, but can't decide where it hurts most: my hips, my back, my shoulder, or my neck. I've also got a new special foam pillow that I'm not convinced is right for me, so it's hard to know how much of my pain this morning is due to that.
*hobbles around after the toddler*
I've opened the Torn World Muse Fusion, come leave prompts! http://torn-world.livejournal.com/17717
I also posted an article on Kickstarter Clues: http://ellenmillion.livejournal.com/144
This weekend was busy - we got some work done around the house, and in particular, replaced the kitchen faucet. The installation of the new one was the easy part - ripping out the old one was a SERIOUS pain. Our sink is a little deeper than usual, so it's harder to get to the fittings than it should be, and they were STUCK. We finally ended up demolishing the faucet in place to get it out. The new one is LOVELY, and doesn't leak all around the faucet like the old one did. Which means the water pressure doesn't drop after its been sitting a while, and the water comes on promptly when the handle is lifted, instead of spitting like an asthmatic camel for a few moments first.
However, contorting around in the cabinet under the sink has left me brutally sore this morning. I think I twisted something, but can't decide where it hurts most: my hips, my back, my shoulder, or my neck. I've also got a new special foam pillow that I'm not convinced is right for me, so it's hard to know how much of my pain this morning is due to that.
*hobbles around after the toddler*
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