be inspired...

i seem to have taken a slight "blogging break". i hate it when that happens...

so...we had the albuquerque rubber stamp show....then a party after at our house that was very fun. linda and marykay stayed for a week after and that was very much fun too. we did get work accomplished. important computer stuff.

and now...i'm working on art for the rio grande art festival in albuquerque thanksgiving weekend.

and....we launched a new website...it will be for classes, kits and retreats. the winter mini retreat/art day info is there if you would like to take a look.

www.createoutsidethebox.com />
copy and paste the link if you need to. i am having trouble making it be "clickable"

it is a beautiful cold and crisp morning in new mexico. i am happy....very very happy.

i got this great email from my daughter in law, christy. i am borrowing a line from it for this blog.

i couldn't have said this any better....

"There is a lot of happiness going out into the universe right now and only good can come from that.

Yeah! Very exciting!"

CELEBRATION!!!!!

favorite glass....favorite beverage...and favorite PRESIDENT!!!!



we did it....i am relieved, happy, grateful and most of all hopeful. it is a great turning point for America.

i can't believe i didn't get this post up in a timely manner.....so my oldest son turned 30 on 10/20.

spending the week with my 5 kids was a huge delight. (yes...my 3 are now 5) pretty much my favorite thing to do.

it is not fun living far from them all. but the new benefit of that is when i do see them i get to be part of their daily lives while i stay with them....i love that!

so...ben's celebration was in tahoe...i seriously can't believe i could possibly have a kid that old.

and lilah....she is the most adorable child....she is growing so fast....



looking forward to lilah's little brother coming in february....

ok...i am going to "go all political" on you today.

as we approach tuesday....and none too soon....i am disappointed and mystified that this election is even close.

i look at it from a common sense perspective and the choice is blatantly clear.

we have this opportunity to turn our country in a positive direction....to move forward with a new hope and optimism. to stand behind a man with a vision that we CAN be better. it is difficult to even imagine that anyone would want to take this on......i am grateful to barack for giving us this opportunity.

i want a country i can be proud of again....

if i could sit down with each and every one of you i would say. look at the choices here.

this is our best chance to choose a positive direction. a man with a positive vision...an intelligent thoughtful man who we can trust to take our country's future forward to a place we should never have left.

we need to take a sharp turn in the opposite direction from the spiral downward that we are in.

this is the most important election i have seen in my lifetime....this is the candidate i have felt most passionate about. when i first heard barack speak at the democratic convention in 2004....one word came to mind. "WOW" and then i thought...who is this guy...we need HIM....and now we get the opportuntity.

if you haven't already voted....if you are one of those who are "undecided"...and if you are reading this and you support the "other" side.

i hope you really think about it. and more than that i hope you vote. i hope you vote so that we have a chance to get out of this mess.

i don't want to live in a country that is guided by hate and bigotry. i am tired of hearing that mc cain "knows how to get us out of our problems" but doesn't tell us what he "knows". i am frightened when i hear palin spew nonsense just to come up with an answer to a question. i could go on....but i don't want to go in that direction..... these people seriously scare the hell out of me. i mean that as much as i can mean anything.

harsh words? maybe....but these are harsh times.

when i'm working in my studio i am generally listening to talk/news on radio or tv.

maybe more then most, i hear alot....i want to know alot. so i can make appropriate decisions.

if you haven't already, check out barack's website so you can see his plan...his vision.

we are at a turning point....what will we choose?

i have voted.. i have a sign in my yard....i have donated jewelry to be sold at my local obama campaign headquarters. i will be working there on election day. i want this to happen....

"i am asking you to believe not in my ability to bring about real change in washington. i am asking you to believe in yours" Barack Obama

drove almost 600 miles today....

miles and miles of beautiful desert scenery....through new mexico....across arizona.

then just before i reached the days destination i came across hoover dam....it was stunning....

off to see my kids tomorrow! yeah!

this is one of my favorite balloons each year. we were fortunate to get him over the house!

then....this happened
this is the next door neighbors home.

so....it landed in the street next to our driveway! pretty spectacular.

and...she's down....this was an awsome morning.

i took these on thursday. turned out the next morning the balloons were more over the valley and not at all over the house. and the weather here forced a cancellation of all of the flights on the weekend.

later in the morning i was working in the studio and zoe was outside barking....at a coyote! it was sitting on one of the little hills in the back, right next to the dog yard. i had an excellent view of her from my studio window. she howled for awhile and then ran off to meet her partner. we don't see the coyotes here in the daytime. this was the second day we saw them out in the morning. it seemed like the balloons overhead had them pretty confused. poor things....

so....balloon fiesta is over for another year.

all these little dots in the sky are the balloons as they headed over the hill in front of our house.
its balloon fiesta time in albuquerque. we had a front row seat this morning. it was spectacular!







i have to save some for tomorrow's blog....we had some excitement!


so...here is a picture of my friend, lisa and me. http://zoaart.blogspot.com/ /> we were at the bead show in the detroit area this past weekend. we got to talking about our blogs......and were puzzled by the fact that so many people apparently read them but very few comment!!!!! what is up with that? so comment people....comment!!!!! go to lisa's blog too.....give her a comment....she and her husband, tony do excellent and edgy work. very cool stuff.

we LOVE comments.....really....