Success!

Mom's surgery went even more smoothly than the surgeon anticipated. Got to see her for a bit while she had a drink of water and settled into her room. Then she zonked out again, and I left her snoozing. Brooke'll be staying with her tonight, and all's well. I'm back home, relieved, exhausted, and gotta pack!

Thanks for all the well wishes!

The Sun'll Come out...

Tomorrow, I'm a little nervous about. Mom's scheduled for surgery at 11am. I'm going to try to meet them at the hospital before she's admitted. I'll be working on my laptop, so I'll stay occupied. I'm not *really* worried about how things will go. It's a routine thing to fix herniated discs. And it's not like Mom hasn't had a surgical procedure, like, when I was born. Still, I get nervous. And I don't much care for hospitals.

Still, I want to be there in case the doctor needs to anything. And because I want to know the score. When she'll get out, what she'll need. My sister's got class, then work, and, I dunno, I just don't want my mom dropped off at the hospital and left there until the next day. It's not likely anything will go wrong, but it could, and someone should be there. Family. I hate that my mom lives alone, and I'm just so glad my godparents are letting her stay with them in Bryan while she recovers, and that my sister will be in the same town if Mom needs anything.

And, well, I'll be there tomorrow, it's the least I can do. But I have to come back tomorrow night so I can fly out to Louisiana tomorrow. And I'll visit on Saturday. But... I feel bad I can't do more. I mean, she's my mom.

So, anyways, thoughts, prayers, fingers crossed. Here's to a safe, successful surgery and a quick recovery! It's going to be a long day.

Projects Beget Projects

My project for today was to get ready to do a painting. I've been tired of the canvas over my couch for a while, but it's better than blank wall. Still, it's an unfinished seaside landscape from Big Sur. I haven't touched it in years, and now I realize I never will. I've lost interest in the project, and I don't see a way forward.

Still, I need something over the couch, and it's a $65 canvas.

I decided on something that would pull together elements of the Tuscan countryside, the architecture of Siena, and the colors of the contrada flags I brought home. I've been working all day on some ideas. I've been working with Photo Shop and a picture I took through an archway at San Bernardino. I cropped and moved and scaled and copied and pasted to get something that looked right. Then I used Visio to work out a technique I learned in drawing class, superimposing a grid and cross-hatch over the image, to give me landmarks to work with when I begin painting, to get proportions and spacing right. I still have to piece together my print out, which will end up being the same size as my canvas. Still a lot of work to do, but I feel better about being able to finish this one.

I do need to get some photographs to figure out how to do the draping on a contrada flag I want to include. I've had them hanging above my patio doors, folded and fastened with hem tape. I need this one to hang differently for my studies, and I've been wondering if the tape was the best idea anyway. Thus a new project is born.

I've discovered that pulling at the tape doesn't rip the fabric, but it does distort the weave. And it's hard to detach. It turns out, Goo Gone is my friend. Which then washes out fairly well without bleeding the color. So the next project is to pull them all down, remove the tape, wash them out, and press them. After I get my photos to help with my painting, I plan to fold them the way I want to hang them, press them into that shape, then hem them with a minimal amount of stitching. Then I'll need help hanging them again.

I think when I finish my painting, I'll post pictures of all the things I've done in the process. But for now it's a surprise. :-)