The Veggie Burger

There is a chef named Bruno Albouze and he makes amazing things.  Rob found him.

Bruno is awesome.

Bruno has a veggie burger recipe and Rob made it for me.

It was amazing.  Seriously amazing, a perfect balance of flavor.  Genius combinations.

The Night Before Christmas

Rob came over to spend Christmas with us and stay overnight.

I made my white zinfandel poached salmon and king crab.  Everyone was happy except for the cats because they didn't get any.

We also finally decorated the trees. Daya liked that I hung her old pointe shoes on there.

I made her do all the hard tree stuff like put the star up, but to make up for that I put lights on her bed.

Daya only had three things on her list but one was MASSIVE and I didn't even bother wrapping it.

I did, however, have a secret surprise which I wrapped early and made sure she noticed.  So she could wonder and wonder and not know.

                       

We made cookies and left them out for Santa.

                                            

                                            

Dusk in Auridon

9x12 pastel on Uart 600.  All Unisons.  This entire painting was FAST- about 2 hours!

I usually use the Uart 400 but I have a pack of 600 that I haven't tried yet.  It is nice and I'll use it, but not re-purchase as I prefer the 400 grit.  Unless I decide I love it madly after I use the whole pack, which could happen.

Sunset

Here is a sunset for the Solstice.

It is based on a sky photo I took a couple of weeks ago. :)

9x12 pastel on black Mi Tientes... still trying to make friends with non-sanded paper.

Solstice

I went and lit my Solstice candles at St Patrick's Cathedral this year as I always do.

Good intentions for the birth of light and the new year to come.

I am on vacation until Jan 2 and I LOVE being on vacation!!

Show Choir

Daya had a Shoe Choir performance.  It was a great show, better than I expected.
The kids are so good it's a shame Daya decided to quit show choir... so this was herfirst and last performance.  She had a special dance part too, which was cool.

Dead High School

My high school is dead.

I'm ok with that; I don't feel sentimental about it.  High school was not a great time, although I did have a great art teacher and I am still in touch with my Spanish teacher.

I went to high school in Georgia.  The school had a reputation of being very hick-Southern and that was kind of true.  It's roots were very small-town Southern. The kind of place a lot of people lived for generations.

Culturally I did not fit in there at all and I hated living in Georgia. Everyone cared very passionately about high school football and I did not.

The school was very old- from the 1920s I think.  It evolved as the area grew and changed.
We had an historic log cabin in the front which people generally liked, other schools made fun of, but I didn't care about. (I think the cabin got saved by the historical society, or people are trying to save it.)

The building changed through the decades as well with new additions and reorganization.
But a few years ago they closed it and moved to a completely new building.
The old building is scheduled for demolition in January.

A lot of people are extremely sentimental about that high school and a final walk through happened last weekend. Or maybe two weeks ago, I can't remember. I looked at the pictures and some places I recognize while others I don't remember at all even though I know I was there.  The place looked dead, like the building had literally died.

On the Facebook group people were asking about the rolls and chocolate chip cookies that were made from scratch at the school.  I have to admit they were pretty fantastic, except when a friend of mine found a fly on the bottom of the roll.  Someone asked for the recipe and it was posted.

The cookie recipe makes 600.....
The roll recipe makes 40-50........

Piano

A draft I forgot to post....

We saw this guy with a PIANO on the subway platform.

I see a lot of instruments down there... keyboards, drums, strings, buckets, things that no one knows what they are... but never a piano!

Everything at the same time

Everything is happening at the same time and I can't catch my breath.

I have to get through the next six weeks.

Daya's MRI results show a bone lesion injury and fluid in the joint, so she is on complete elbow rest for six weeks plus physical therapy. That means no weight at all on her elbow.  she can still dance but some warm-ups she cannot do, and she cannot do acro.

In addition Daya has been very high anxiety including panic attacks....it has happened in school.  So she needs a little help and I am concerned.  The high anxiety is her personality, it is not from her schedule. It has happened both when she has had an empty schedule and a full one.  She prefers being at dance anyhow, it helps more than if she wasn't there.

I found a holistic functional neurologist (who is also a chiropractor) down in the Village. We went for the initial appointment.  He said her parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems are out of balance and this makes a lot of sense to me.  He does not medicate; rather he works to strengthen the parasympathetic nervous system which is the one that should be active most of the time.

Daya has to go for 12 appointments over the next six weeks.  12.  TWELVE!! He does take my insurance but I have to pay for the last 4 because my deductible resets in January. So that will be $400.

Daya has physical therapy as well, they also want her in 2 times a week...I said no we can't.  She'll have to do it at home.  I was able to book 4 appointments for her through the end of the year.

We both like the arm bike.

She had a dentist appointment, then an orthodontist appointment (I never go to those).

Plus dance.

It is ridiculous. I do not like being this crazy-busy.

Thankfully I won't have to go to most of her neurologist appointments.  She can go herself.  Several of them are in the morning so we can take the train in together and she can go down to the Village and I can go to work.  Then she'll just go to school late with a dr note.

I did miss her dentist appointment-- I was supposed to work from home that day but I had an unexpected 8am meeting I had to be in the office for.  So I left early and told Daya to meet me at the dentist.  She got there on time and I waited 20 minutes for the bus and missed the whole thing. When I finally arrived Daya was finished with the appointment (perfect checkup), had filled out the postcard for next appointment, AND signed the insurance papers!! (I guess that was ok since the dentist said so)

Delegation.

Kids are so very capable when you delegate stuff to them.

Daya is amazing.

Birds & Mummies & Discovery & The Senses & Soup

I'm so behind blogging...here's another catch-up post.

*****
Daya and I made another trip to AMNH.  They have a new show about the 5 senses
So we went.

They also have a 3D Imax movie about birds and flying--- it was stunning.  The cinematography was pretty astounding.  Then I took Daya through the Mummies exhibit, which I have been to with Drusilla. (no pictures allowed in that one)  Daya got a cute Egyptian cat animal which she named Gypsy.

We had some time before we were scheduled to go to the Senses exhibit, so we went to the Origami Tree which is in a new location. (I think a better location)

                   

Then we headed over to the Discovery Room.

Daya has literally grown up in that room.
It is one of the spots I always have to take a picture of her through the years.
When she was a toddler she loved this thing:

The Discovery Room has an upstairs area.  It is only for children 8 and up.  Being able to go upstairs in the Discovery Room is a NYC Child's rite of passage.  It's really fun up there. There are microscopes and specimens and puzzles and stick bugs you can hold.

I loved these wonderfully bizarre beanies...I think they are either strange sea creatures or different types of bacteria. Or viruses.

Then we went to the Senses exhibit which was pretty fantastic.




This is the story of my life. I have a super crazy sense of smell.

Here is the Last Handstand Daya did for the year, more on that later. She was not disoriented in the disorientation room.

And the holiday Brontosauruses were out.

************

The next day (Sunday) I went to see Rob and he made this amazing butternut squash soup with snow crab.  It was so amazing I need to have a pic here.

                           

Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving at Jackie's.

Then on Friday we put the trees up.

Two this year, but we haven't decorated them yet.

                                       

The cats hindered the process.

                                         

They like to sleep under the tree.

                           

Stupid Wind

I went out painting in the cemetery again.

After not-too-much-looking-around, I found a really lovely tree with amazing clouds behind it.

In the time it took me to set up my gear- less then 10 minutes- every single last cloud had disappeared and the sun was shining directly in my eyes.

I paused.
Looked around.
Texted Carey.
Decided to move.
Changed my mind.

So I stayed and it was a bit of a struggle with the sun.
AND THEN... the wind started.

The wind was literally slamming into me on the right.  It was strong enough to move the brush.
My gear stayed standing but it was shaking, just like me.  When I was finished painting I realized I was half frozen, even with my hand warmers.  The wind sucks.  Or, as Sid would say, it blows.  :/

One of the things about plein air is you have to think about all the problem-solving and planning in the painting while in a state of pure physical misery. 

I have no idea why I do it.

I would have fared better with pastels (more control in the wind), and I might return to this spot and do it again in pastel.

8x10 oil on panel.

Block Island Beach

Here is a painting I did from a picture I took at Block Island over the summer.

I'm giving the painting to Rob for Christmas.

Block Island Beach

9x12 oil on canvas

MRI

Daya has an elbow issue that is getting worse and worse...a dance thing I am sure.
We went to a sports injury doctor who took x-rays and saw nothing.  So they ordered an MRI.

We had an appointment at 7am this morning.  Early.  Very early.
It was noisy but Daya did great.
She thought she would either die or lose all her teeth (because of her braces) but neither thing happened.