Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, in Austin, Texas ~ Part 2

Journal Day 2

Today was rather interesting.  We went to the Circuit of the Americas.  It’s a new race track for Formula 1 racing among others.  I am not a race fan, but my brother is.  He really enjoyed the view from the observation tower.  I have a rather irrational fear of heights, but I went up to the top anyway. I did get quite a few pictures (coming later to Facebook).  I will admit that the track looked really good.  There were all sorts of curves and different elevations.  

The guide was a young guy named Cameron.  My guess is that he was the son of one of the other guides.  He was rather knowledgeable about racing and the track in general.  He said that the track was built in under a year and had a price tag of $400-500 million dollars.  That seems like a lot to me, but then I know nothing about that sort of thing.  Cameron stated that this track is the best in the world according to many of the racers who have raced there.

There is an amphitheater at the base of the observation tower.  The red bars that come off of it serve several purposes.  The first one is to give stability to the tower itself.  During concerts there are different colored LEDs that can be set to the rhythm of the music or just glow steadily.  The bars are also a representation of a race car’s lights racing on a track at night.  

The tower itself is rather tall.  I forget how tall, but there are 420 steps.  Thankfully, an elevator was installed as well.  During races people can buy passes to go to the top to observe the race for ten minutes or so.  It isn’t limited to V.I.P.s which is really nice. During the last race several thousand people went up to the observation tower.  At the top part of the floor is made of glass that one can see down to the bottom.  I wasn’t thrilled about that, but I attribute that to the fear of heights.  Actually, I was getting dizzy and at one point I thought I would throw up over the side.  I could feel the building swaying in the wind.  Not a fun feeling for sure!  I did get several pictures from the top of the tower. The track is impressive and also massive.

Afterward we went home for lunch and I took a nap for a bit. I didn’t get very much sleep last night. I never seem to sleep very well.  I toss and turn all night long.  I’m not quite sure why that is, but I know at home it has a lot to do with the mattress I sleep on.  When I lived in Boise, my sleeping issues had a lot to do with the small twin size bed I slept on.  I am sleeping on a twin sized bed here, but it seems to be a bit longer as my feet don’t hit the footboard.  

Mom and I went grocery shopping after lunch.  I would really hate to be the one to count the grocery store we went to.  It was some place called H-E-B.  Needless to say we don’t have them in Reno.  The closest I could compare it to would be is Harmon’s in Salt Lake City only not as nice.  They had food tasting stations which reminded me of a Costco.  They also had a huge health and beauty section which reminded me of Walgreen’s.  

When we got home, I took a nap.  After a nap we went to the County Line, which is a barbeque place.  There will actually be a full review on my review blog, but suffice it to say that the food was good, but they lacked several key dishes that my mom and I thought should be there…like mashed potatoes and a green salad.  Perhaps that isn’t standard or traditional BBQ food, but it sure would have been nice.  I’m not a fan of potato salad or coleslaw. 

Mom had done a search of karaoke bars in the area in case I wanted to go singing.  After dinner we stopped by one to see what it was like.  She is not a fan of smoky bars which is not surprising although her disgust for cigarettes goes a little overboard in my opinion.   Texas has yet to outlaw smoking in bars so of course any karaoke bar we went to would be smoky.  If I had my own car I would have totally gone even though she offered the use of the truck for my brother and me.  

I decided against going because heaven forbid I come home smelling like cigarette smoke.  She even told me that if I did go that I would have to get undressed in the garage and put my clothes directly in to the washing machine.  Yeah.  Not really worth all that trouble just to go singing. I’ll save that for when I’m at home, on my own time.  In all honesty, the bar wasn’t even THAT smoky.  Believe me; I’ve been in much worse.

The rest of the week looks like it is going to be rather busy.  We are doing a lot of baking on Tuesday and riding on the metro tomorrow to downtown. I might even get to visit with an old coworker of mine from my days at Peterbilt.  That should be fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him.  He moved here before I left Peterbilt.  He plays in a band; in fact, the entire band moved their families down to Austin to play music.  It seemed strange at the time, but from what I can tell, they are doing well.  He plays extremely well.  I asked him about shows he might be doing this week, but the only one was in Houston which is about three hours away.

My stepdad and brother are playing video games again and I’m not a fan so I’m left to my computer.  I am SO glad that I brought it with me otherwise I might be totally bored.  I brought a few books to read.  I haven’t really touched them yet. I read one page of the Brad Thor novel that I brought.  My mom and I don’t have very much in common.  Not like she and my sister do, but we both like to read.  I believe we are going to find a bookstore tomorrow.  I turned her onto the Thor novels.  She read the first one.  I hope she looks for the second one if we go to the bookstore tomorrow.  It’s a used place, so hopefully they have a copy or two.  I am missing some books out of the collection although I don’t remember which ones. I really need to make a list in case I get the chance to look.  

So far this trip is going well.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas ~ in Austin, Texas Part 1

Trip Journal Day 1

I hate to fly.  Flying makes me absolutely nauseous.  There are few pros  that outweigh the cons for flying.  The best thing about flying is that one gets to where they are going a lot quicker.  Big deal.  I would rather take two day to travel this beautiful country by car and see all that I could in the time I have.  Granted, the scenery between Reno, NV and Austin, TX is not the best, but I have taken many car trips where the scenery was definitely worth the drive.  

The only other pro about this trip was the fact that I didn’t have to pay for it.   That’s certainly a plus.  It probably would have cost around $500 in gas money to get from here to there.  Even though that is cheaper than flying, I couldn’t have come up with that kind of money.  Thank you, Mom.

I really don’t like to fly.  My stomach gets queasy and I feel dizzy long after the plane lands.  I never get that way when I’m driving.  Sometimes I do if I’m a passenger, but otherwise I fair really well in cars.  

This trip has been interesting so far.  My brother and I checked in more than a few hours early and the check in gate person said that the flight we were supposed to be on was delayed which meant that we would have missed our connecting flight to Austin.  They booked us on an earilier flight although we lost our really sweet boarding numbers for this first flight.  We were among the last to board so we both got stuck in middle seats.  The saving grace is that this flight is less than an hour long.  And, the ladies I’m sitting with are quiet and that’s good for an introvert like me.  I don’t like having conversations with people I don’t know.  They are probably wondering what I’m doing.  

It’s hot and stuffy in here.  I’d really like to roll down one of the windows right now.  The air from the above head area is okay, but it isn’t cooling me down any at all. 

I’ll be glad when we land in Vegas.  Since we are going to be there early, we have more time to spend doing whatever.  Perhaps we’ll win some money at a slot machine.  I ended up seventy-five cents ahead just before we left.  That’s not bad for an airport slot machine.

Are we there yet?       

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

Phew!  We made it to Las Vegas.  When we got off the plane we checked the arrival/departure screens and found that our connecting plane was going to be delayed about 50 minutes.  Okay, no problem.  We went to find some food. I don’t think I’ve ever paid over $10 for a small combo meal from any place.  The airport is definitely not the place to eat lunch, but what did we know.  Even after that we found a few other places as we were walking toward the gate where we were to catch our fight…later than we hoped.  

Instead, we decided to take a walk out of the airport to see what we could see.  We were on the side of the airport that was lined with not taxis, but LIMOS and shuttles.  I’d never seen that before, and here I was joking with my brother about commandeering a limo for a ride.  One could actually pay for the driver to take them to the strip or to the airport.  If I ever visit Vegas for a trip, I would totally do that!  

My brother had the idea of going to the hotel that had the roller coaster, the New York New York.  We got some information from one of the shuttle services who told us that we should only get a one way ticket (knowing that we were only here for a few hour layover) and that we could catch a free shuttle from any of the hotels back to the airport.  We got to the New York New York at 2:30. I didn’t realize that it was already that late.  We arrived at the roller coaster area only to find that there was about a 20 minute wait, which probably would have been more like a half hour, and then the time for the ride itself.  I advised that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to stay because we needed to go through airport security again once we got back to the airport.  My brother was disappointed, but also didn’t want to pay the $14 for the roller coaster ride. 

We went down to the airport shuttle area outside the hotel to wait for a shuttle.  One pulled up.  It was a different company than the one that dropped us off.  The driver was really nice, but informed us that there was only one hotel in Vegas that actually had a free shuttle.  We ended up paying full price for a trip back to the airport.  At first, it was disappointing.  The driver made it better.  Elmer was his name and he was awesome.  He told us a story of a time when he and his wife visited friends in Reno and he got totally plowed.  He was funny.

We arrived back to the airport at 3:01.  I remember clearly because my brother said that if we got back to the airport by 3:00, he’d be really upset.  It was a minute later, so I told him he wasn’t allowed to be that upset.  We walked into the terminal and when we looked at the arrival/departure screen, we were in for a shock.  The flight that by the time we had left the airport was over an hour delayed was scheduled to leave now at 3:20!  How cruddy was that?!  

We raced through airport security.  I made sure to take my laptop out of my bag this time so that we weren’t delayed going through.  I didn’t know about that and it took forever to get through security in Reno.  After we finished with that we hoofed it for what seemed like forever to make it to our gate in time.  We were at C24.  We needed to be at C9.  Ugh!  My brother is a really fast walker, but I’m out of shape and I could barely keep up with him.  We made it with only five minutes to spare.  Our bad ass boarding numbers went to waste AGAIN!!!  We were of the last to board the plane and ended up sitting in the middle seats again.  Ugh!  

It’s a good thing that we didn’t pay for round trip tickets from the airport to the hotel.  We would not have gotten to ride back with the same company and ended up having to pay more just to get back.  The Universe works in mysterious ways.

When we got off the plane in Vegas I had nearly thrown up.  My stomach was really nauseated, so we went and tried to find a place that sold Dramamine.  I couldn’t believe how much it cost!  I wasn’t about to fork over $11 for a small bottle just so that I wouldn’t feel the need to puke when we landed in Austin.  I ended up paying $8 for Bonine, which worked just as well.  Although my head was dizzy when we landed in Austin, I didn’t feel the need to puke. 

 While in flight to Austin I broke out my laptop and tried to watch some free Dish TV that they had available.  It was making me dizzy so I decided to turn it off and listen to music instead.  That really helped me focus on the fact that the ground was several thousand feet below us.  I sat in between two averaged aged gentlemen.  The one on my left was not much of a talker at all.  The one on my right spoke a bit, but mostly it was to complain about the guy behind us who didn’t shut up the entire trip.  We both complained to each other about that. I made a reference to duct tape or something and we both chuckled. 

We finally arrived in Austin just as I was changing my music set list to stuff I hadn’t listened to in a while.  I was very happy to be on the ground.  I borrowed Titan’s duffle bag because the stuff I was bringing for my mom didn’t fit in my Adidas bag. I didn’t recognize it as it was coming off the luggage wheel.  

My mom and Gary picked us up and we took the trip 50 minutes to their house.  It seemed like a long trip.  My right knee got cramped on the way, but then it has been acting up again due to the last time I worked.  I hurt it and had to wrap it the next day.  But the drive to their house was well worth it.  It is a beautiful brand new home that they waited a long time for.  It has several rooms including 4 bedrooms, a magnificent kitchen and formal dining room, living room, upstairs area they call the playroom.  It has a television that my brother is currently playing video games on.  It’s a really amazing house.   

I gave my mom her birthday gift after the house tour and before we ate dinner.  It is a butterfly stylus that I had engraved from Things Remembered.  She really loved it.  I showed her what it was used for.  She really liked it a lot.  I told her that I wasn’t going to let her celebrate her 60^th birthday without a gift from at least one of her children.  

So far the trip is really good.  The plan is to go to some race track tomorrow.  Big deal for me really, I’m not all that interested, but my brother really enjoys racing and he is looking forward to it.  I tried to see if there were any karaoke bars in the area, but since I don’t have my own car it doesn’t really make sense for me to even ponder that. 

 

We’ll see what tomorrow holds.  For now, it’s getting late and I’m rather tired.  Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.  

To be continued....

Happy Halloween! 100th Blog Entry!

I wish I could say that this is going to be a nice upbeat blog entry.  For the most part it might be, but today is Halloween, and it's my favorite holiday and I am spending it with the flu!  Ugh! 

So, moving on....

My relationship with Titan has been a veritable roller coaster for sure.  We have definitely had to work out a lot of kinks with communication and I have really had to dig deep to find ways to be more positive in my outlook.  But, for the most part all is going well.  It seems that no matter what, we move past whatever is bothering us and are reminded of how much we mean.

We got a place together.  A small place, a one bedroom, but it's ours.  Already we've had to have the heater fixed and the refrigerator replaced after nagging the landlord to get it done, but I think that everything else is working fine.

Work goes good.  Titan just got a better job working at a hotel/casino just outside of town.  I had gotten a seasonal position working for a warehouse outside of town, but I am not able to keep that position because Titan doesn't drive so I will be taking him to work and back.  Our schedules work out for the most part in this fashion and I know for a fact that my hours will be cut back a lot, but that is the nature of the industry that I am in.  However, come January, I won't get any sleep at all.  Again, the nature of the industry.  And, Titan keeping this better paying, full-time, PERMANENT job was way more important to us than me working seasonally 45 minutes outside of town.

Being back in Reno has been great so far.  Titan and I have done a lot of things together...singing, walks in the park, out for drives, etc.  I do wish that we could do more of that , but our schedules are somewhat backwards right now. 

School goes really good.  So far I am still maintaining my 4.0 average.  Although, lucky me, I forgot to submit my assignment after uploading it this past Sunday.  Imagine my surprise when a big fat F showed up.  And, I wasn't even aware of the mistake until the grades came back.  Oh well.  I'll take this as a learning experience. She'll grade accordingly I suppose.  Bleh.

Well, I know this wasn't much for a great 100th blog, but such is my life right now.  There really isn't much else to me.  Just work and school. 

Anyway.. Happy Halloween.  Blessed Samhain!

Twenty Years of a Fermented Relationship - Aged, Like a Good Wine!

Many of the details have been forgotten, but some were thoughtfully written down in my hard diary over twenty years ago.....

My family had moved, yet again, in the middle of my 8th grade year.  I ended up going to a completely different junior high school where I knew absolutely no one.  There were many kids there who took one look at me and decided that I was not worth their time, or worth their time enough to give me absolute hell on earth.  I had very few friends.  Except for one....

I do not remember how we met or who introduced us.  I believe we were in band together.  As I recall, he played clarinet, and I played flute.  He was the nicest person I had met at that school. 

The 8th grade trip to D.C. was coming up and I begged my parents to allow me to go on the trip.  It was very expensive, and finally, they allowed me to go.  This guy was also going, and I was so excited!  I read in my diary that I really hoped I got to dance with him on the riverboat cruise that we were going to take on the Potomac River.  I don't recall if we did or not, but I asked him a few weeks ago and he said that yes, we did.

We were like peanut butter and jelly on that trip and he sat behind me on the tour bus.  We walked together through most of the attractions that our class stopped at. I remember almost getting left behind at the Library of Congress because I had gotten separated from the class somehow.

The summer passed, and he and I went to 9th grade together.  I do not remember anything about that year except for being in band with him.  I do know that we weren't very peanut butter and jelly that year, but we were still friends.

The summer after my freshman year, my family moved away to California.  I left my friends behind in Reno.  Two years later, as a senior, I moved back to Reno to live with my father.  Somehow, this boy and I reconnected for a short time.  My diary speaks of a movie date that we had.  A friend picked us up and we stopped by Video Maniacs (for those who are too young to know what I'm talking about, it was a place like Blockbuster Video where you could rent movie... like Redbox, but more personable..hehehe.. )  and picked up Sleepwalkers.  I have always been a huge fan of Stephen King, and he likes horror movies as well.  My diary says that it was the scariest movie I had ever seen.  I think back on that now and laugh very hard.  I have seen it at least once since then... lol... My diary further says that I tried not to scream during the movie as his mom was trying to sleep in the other room... hehehe...

Valentine's Day that same year he cooked me the best dinner I had ever had to date.  Steak and lobster and it was so romantic, and it was so tasty!  I remember music playing. I remember declining the offer of champagne.  I remember how everything was so very perfect and it was wonderful.

I also remember how I returned to his house the next day and broke up with him. 

Suffice it to say that I left him for another guy who ultimately treated me like absolute trash.  I cried because the decision was a difficult one for me to make and I was afraid, back then, of being treated too well.  I thought I didn't deserve happiness.  There are times when I still don't.

Our lives went separate ways, yet followed a somewhat parallel path.  We were both married, had kids, divorced, not necessarily in that order.  We've both known heartbreak, disappointment, deceit, and betrayal.  We've both thought about each other over the last twenty years.  Many times I would go through my yearbooks and see his picture or read the words he wrote and smile.  I often wondered if he ever thought about me.

In 2009, technology brought us a bit closer together.  Thank you, Facebook, for allowing connection between people from times past over long distances.  When we reconnected online, we sent a few friendly messages back and forth. He was married at that time, I had just moved to Boise.  Then a lot of time would go by without a word, but he was always there in the background.  I even posted happy birthday messages on his feed a few of those years. 

During the early times on Facebook, I had even told him what happened the day after that Valentine's Day so very long ago.....He forgave me a long time ago, but the weight of that day had been sitting with me in the background.

Earlier in August, he returned to Reno.  About a week after he got there, he decided to send me a random message on Facebook.  It simply had his phone number and a request for me to call or text him.  And thus, a relationship was rekindled. We talked, texted, and yahoo video chatted for at least three weeks, and I made my decision to move back to my hometown, Reno, the place where we met, the place we both grew up.

I had asked him at one point why he took so many years to tell me how he felt about me.  He said that he was really scared, but he was tired of living in a scared reality (or something to that effect) and he was just going to lay it all down on the table.  Now, before you guys go off on things like, "you haven't seen each other in twenty years.  How do you know it will work?" etc, let me just say that there are other underlying things going on that will not be written about here.  Circumstances that prove beyond any doubt that he is sincere about everything he's said. 

His mother passed by while we were video chatting one evening.  He took a few moments to talk to her, then he returned to me.  He said that she was off to bed, and that she loved me.  I asked him if he meant that she said she loved him, and he said no, that it was love for me.  She's seen how happy he's been over the last month, and that makes her very happy as well. 

I've spent the last two days visiting with him.  I met his family.  I do not recall meeting them before.  Maybe his mom, but definitely not his dad.  I hope that I have made a good impression.  I hope that they like me.  Our families are already intertwined.  His mom went to school with my dad and stepmom although they graduated a few years apart.  His parents' anniversary is the same day as my birthday.  His mom's sister is good friends with my step-mom's sister.  It's really bizarre. I don't think I need anymore omens than that!

This evening he and I went for a walk at Idlewild park.  He's been trying to lose weight, as have I, so walking is really good for us both.  We have so much in common, and enough not in common as to keep each other on our toes and interested, likely for a very long time.

We are both getting back on our feet, and starting life over again, kind of.  It is nice to be able to start it over again with the most kind, caring, romantic man I have ever known in my life.  And yes, I said the "m" word! (man)  It is not a word I use lightly because it means so much more to me than the basics. 

Even after twenty years I have come to realize that I did make the right decision twenty years ago to break up with him after Valentine's Day.  If I hadn't, we perhaps would not be where we are today and that is finally ready to be with each other now and always.  Perhaps we would have gotten tired of each other and broken up or even married and divorced like so many people do these days.  Who knows. I left my crystal ball in my other computer.  But, I do know that I am very ready to pursue a life with him now.

I told a friend of mine in Boise about all that was going on. I told her that our relationship has been fermenting like a good wine for the last twenty years, which is how long it has been since I had seen him.  She giggled and thought that our story might make a good fairytale/romance novel...lols....  And the truth is, that I love him with all I am.  And, I know that he loves me in the same fashion, if not moreso.  I'm looking forward to spending time with him again tomorrow.

I haven't even unpacked anything yet!

The Biggest Little City in the World!

Tomorrow I will be traveling back to Reno, Nevada, where I began.  I am leaving behind some really amazing people here in Boise, but even as amazing as they are, the ties were not strong enough to keep me here.  I am loyal to myself, first and foremost.

I will say this, though. Reno is kind of a central location if ever there was one.  Two hours to the West is Sacramento and another hour and a half beyond that lies San Francisco.  Boise to Reno is only seven hours and of course there is Las Vegas about 8 hours to the South.  I've traveled them all, and I must say that there could be a lot worse places to be than Reno.  Home for me, will always be where I began.  Some do not think the same as I do, and that's okay, too.

I am super excited to see my family and friends again, but most of all, I am excited to see my junior high/high school. sweetheart again.  See my previous blog for more info about that.  The time that we have spent together online and on the phone have been amazing fun.  He really knows how to make me blush, which isn't easy to accomplish by just anyone, and he really knows how to help me to feel good about myself.  After talking to him for a while, I actually did see a beautiful woman in the window of Yahoo's webcam service.  I saw the bright smile that makes him so happy and excited.  It was not easy for me to see those things in myself, and even now I sometimes tell him that he's wrong, but know that he's right anyway.

I cannot wait to begin this adventure, so I will start now by going to bed.

New Life, New Happiness

It is strange how some thing simply hit you like a freight train.  I have been living in Boise, Idaho for about four-and-a-half years now, and man, am I sick of it.  While it is true that I have made some awesome friends, it is simply not home, and I am very ready to return to my hometown of Reno.  It's funny because whenever I have told people that I am moving to Reno, they get this shocked look on their face and say, "Reno? Why would anyone move to Reno on purpose!"  When I tell them that Reno is my hometown, their expression relaxes and they say "Oh. I see."  Or something similar.

But, not only am I going back because I miss my family and my friends, I have reconnected with someone that I knew in high school.  I haven't seen him in twenty years and even though our lives took separate paths, we have remained friends and in contact on and off over the years. Our paths took on a similar journey.  We've both been married and divorced, had kids, had drama coming out of our ears, but we remained friends over the span of decades.

He also recently moved back to Reno after being in California for many years. Though we have stayed in contact off and on, he most recent message caught me a bit off guard.  We talked about old times and what has been going on in our recent pasts, and it was like we had never spent any time apart.  He is the most caring, gentle guy I have ever known, and I am so happy to be in his life again and he in mine.  This relationship hit me like a freight train although it has been fermenting like a beautifully aged wine for twenty years. I cannot wait to be back home.

Depression and Black Roses

It's near the end of my second class in my return to college.  Though I'm finding the class challenging enough, I do wonder sometimes if I am worthy of the high grades that I am getting.  I read back on some of my papers, and even though there are no errors, I wonder.  I am the most critical of my work, as I believe we all are.  I don't even really like for people to read what I write here, but it is a great outlet, and if the truth be told, I want to be heard, even by the anonymous masses.

I've been super depressed as of late.  I don't know if it is the lack of human companionship in my life, stress of school, lack of personal path, spiritual path, or just life in general that is causing it.  I'm willing to bet that it is all of the above.  I haven't really dated much since I got to Idaho.  There were a few attempts that failed miserably and I attribute that to not being ready to be in the dating pool again.

I think I'm ready now, though.  Well, are any of us ever really ready for something like that? hahaha..  We put ourselves out there for others' scrutiny.  We take the chance on being rejected. No one likes to be rejected for whatever reason.  An ex's roommate once told me that the reason the ex left me was because I wasn't pretty enough to be with.  Damage to the ego much?  I may not be pretty, but what I lack in looks, I make up for in other areas. Like personality. I have plenty of that.

I was planting flowers in my garden the other day and someone asked me what my favorite flower is.  Wild black roses, I told him.  Needless to say that I won't be planting any of those in my garden anytime soon, but I looked back at that and realized that they are rare, just like me.  There is only one of me on the planet.  Just like there is only one of you.  We are each our own rare flower which cannot be replaced.  How we are cultivated, raised, and accepted is a huge part of how we turn out.  Do we wither away? Or do we thrive and bloom?

I feel as though I have been withering away slowly over the last eight months. Probably longer than that, but it is really the last several months that I have had to take a look at and ponder about. What I do know is that I am on the right goal path as far as school goes.  I have a goal for after graduation, and it will probably end me up somewhere other than Idaho, which is fine with me. I don't really have any ties here anyway.  At least, they are not strong enough to keep me here. My mother called me a gypsy for a reason.

There really isn't much else going on in my life right now. I go singing as often as I can.  I think I've gotten better, although I would really like to take lessons so that I can get better.  Too bad they are so expensive.  I knew I should have taken choir in high school instead of band! hahaha...

::endtransmission::

100% and Failure

Actually, this is an update about school and also of my Hundred Hours Project. 

School is going very well.  I am at the beginning of week four of a five week course and so far I have maintained 100% on all my coursework.  Go me!  Actually, I wonder sometimes if the professor reads the actually papers that I turn in.  Either that, or I actually write really well.  I'll pretend like it's a combination of both.

This week we have a group project due.  None of the others in my group have posted anything in the small group area, which is a little disconcerting as the main paper is due on Sunday.  True, it's only Monday, but I like to make sure that I am on top of things at all times.  I have volunteered to lead the group, but so far, no one has responded to my email regarding this.  It is a little frustrating.  Especially considering that by the time the weekend comes around, I will have little time to work on the actual paper and get all of their information in as well.  No matter.  I will work to make it happen.

Okay, Onyx, so where does the failure come in?  Well, it's not really a "failure", but I need to reevaluate my Hundred Hours Project, again.  I thought that the lessons on that website were going to be just the thing I need, but so far I haven't been able to learn just by reading.  I think I need a different approach to this whole thing.  I'm still going to learn how to draw, but I need a different avenue from which to learn.

I can do it.  I know I can.

Learning to Draw - HHP Update/Another First Hour Down

Here's just an update on my Hundred Hours Project, which I recently changed to drawing.  Keep in mind that I know very little about drawing, so I need a very basic starting point.  I decided to do some research, even before buying any supplies this weekend.  I found a most wonderful website that I am more than happy to share.

Drawspace

Within this website is any lesson that one could possibly imagine.  And, the best part is that the lessons themselves can be viewed or downloaded as pdfs for free, OR, one can sign up to take the actual class and update artwork, get peer and instructor feedback and more.  Money is tight for me right now, so I'll be sticking to the free downloads, but I am very excited to have found such a gem among the millions of webpages out in the cyberexpanse. 

I have already read most of the introductory lessons, so I'll be ready to start buying supplies this weekend on schedule.  I know of a few art stores where I live and I'll be hitting them up one at a time and getting started on the wonderful path of drawing. 

I can't wait!