Watercolor detail

Did this in highschool and found it behind the leaf and pod picture.

The Shelves, A to Z

Scrap wood from work. (used)

Lots of ripping, cutting and sanding.
Routing the backs to mount the hardware. Then lots of paint. (Thanks Ali for the final coat-age.)

The finished product. Ready for storage.

Our House

Today I showed a new guest the work Ali and I have done to remodel our house. Coming home tonight, I thought about how I do that with new folks, and how nice it would be if I could show guests the house that Ali and I have built. The one made from stolen glances, shared smiles and the occasional tear. The one I'm most proud of.
And for good reason too. Our relationship has come so far since a fledgling weekend in New Orleans. We've got something tangible. Something beautiful. Ali called me out this weekend for not paying so much attention to her the last couple of weeks. She said I haven't really talked to her.
Her words hurt, but they were right. She makes me walk the line. That's what I think the difference is, we discuss, and we self-correct. I did need to talk to her more. I think that sometimes I take it for granted that she knows things. Like she's always with me and hears all my conversations. She's a little bird on my shoulder. Just kidding, but when you spend so much of your life with someone, it feels like your lives become one. And you take for granted that they can read your thoughts, after all, you share one mind.
Here's our house, guests. I love Alison with all of my soul. I always will.

*Note that she points out where our house needs tidying. She's a good housekeeper.

Obscurity Memory

If I asked you to think back to a time in your life where you weren't near a camera, during a few seconds that would be considered as life's segway between events, could you do it? I thought back today to a car ride, going over a bridge by myself in the rain. If I had a USB cable that hooked into my temple and could record what my mind played, it would seem distorted. Grainy. Rusty. And the longer you try to remember, the more you're really not. Instead your mind imagines the details for you.

I probably went over this bridge 1000 times, it crossed three sets of rail road tracks, bent in a way I always appreciated by kind of curving around a church's steeple. Then it dumped onto a light next adjacent to my home town's court house. But I only know that because of my mind's imagination. What I can really recall about this particular crossing was the small beads of rain that seemed uniform, with certain quicker drops overtaking the ones higher, racing off into oblivion. I remember going downhill.

That's a segway in my life. A crossing of the tracks. And I wonder how much of our lives is filler. Thinking back, how many recordings can we make? Should we let our minds imagine us waving to our memories like friends wishing following seas.

The Hummdinger

Last weekend AJ and I went halves on a brand new 1976 Sure Cast 15 footer with a 1976 35 horse Johnson! I want to name it "the Hummdinger" but Ali and AJ (not the teeny-stars) don't like it.

We already had to buy a 1 7/8th inch hitch, a paddle, an anchor and rope, a whistle, a floating key ring, etc. Then Dad popped off one of the bearing caps to the trailer and salt-water poured out. So we went back and bought bearings and new hub assemblies. Seen below. But it's perfect for shrimping, and completes my boats-the-colors-of-skittles collection.

Another Going Away

I drew the below tonight for another of my Marines going away. It's a little more interpretive. I think it's more fun. (Scroll way down to see the last one)

I think drawing for goings-away is a good way to force myself to draw. I would not draw at all otherwise.

I also am weirded out by how quick drawings are in comparison to my expectations. I thought this would take me two to three hours, but it only took 45 minutes including finding my charcoal, some tape and an eraser.

Learning the Details

Alison's primary care manager changed (without notification) and we've been having difficulties with authorization with her care. So in order to ensure the new doctor knows she's not paperwork, but a real person (and a cute one at that), I arranged for a meeting. It's Tuesday morning, and the nurse asked if I could bring some of her files in so the doctor could review them.
Side-step a moment to allow me to confess that I haven't looked at Alison's medical paperwork since we went to Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa in December. Instead, we've simply been getting the summary from the doctor.
Okay, so I asked for all of the paperwork to include the CT scan images from December 25 to July 11Th. And when our great paperwork extraordinaire Natasha finished with the copy machine, Alison picked up the paperwork.
That's when she called me at work. It turns out the cancer spread in an area we didn't know about. Jarring. I guess just reading the details gives you a much better picture of the way it is, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So since the doctors has used about 4 (Your cancer is stable), we learned a lot in a small amount of time.
I won't divulge the details because we haven't spoken with the doctor yet, but it spread more in January and February than we were aware of. She's still feeling great. She's still pain free. She's just got another nodule that I lay in bed at night and think about. Some have shrunk slightly, some have grown. Overall impression is that it is a stable metatastic disease, and we'll continue the same chemotherapy regime.

CT Scan Results

Alison had a doctors appointment today, before starting chemo. We were to hear what the CT Scan showed last week. The doctor didn't keep us waiting, either. The scan was identical to the last one six weeks ago.
So the chemo is still suppressing the disease's growth. The doctor reminded us that her pain level was the good indicator of how it was going, and put my worries to bed about needing blood more frequently - it's because of the chemotherapy. He'd actually thought she'd have needed a lot more platelettes by now.
So we're fortunate, and Alison is sitting in the chair for another round. Not where she wants to be, of course, but atleast she's there and it's working.

Into the Waves

Feels Like Home

I don't know the background people that might peruse this blog, but most of the people that I know read it have already found the one. But I feel compelled to write about what finding the one feels like, and how you can tell.
I realized this last week while I was gone. I think those whose search is already over will relate.
You know you've found the one when if she/he feels like home. Their voice, their face, the way they smell, their mannerisms all make you relax the same way you did when you were at home growing up.
They simply make you feel like you're home.
Talking on the phone with Alison last week, while I was 1000 miles away, sitting in the hotel room, I felt that way.

New addition to kitchen

We decided to fill up the unused wall in the kitchen. This was the first piece I EVER bought new... It has the same characteristics of everything I build though - BIG.

I bought it at the same place Penny bought her couch and ottoman at. And for cheap!

Beach Scene

This little girl was feeding the seagulls, and they displayed trust enough in her... check it out.

Black to White

Last night we got a stove, microwave and dish washer from our friends who had just upgraded. I just finished replacing the dishwasher. We think the white instead of black makes a big difference...

Orange'ya Glad I'm Gone

We had an orange kitchen this morning. I was proud that we were able to pull off that much color.... AJ said today that I 'know more about color than any other straight guy in America.' And all I have to say about that is 'maybe.' We're all affected by color whether we know it or not. And you know me, I'm good for an analogy, so here it goes: Color won't steer you in one direction or another, but it could make a suggestion. If you're in a boat and are controlling the rudder, sure you're steering, but I'll be damned if you don't notice the tide's effect.

But with the lighting (lack of natural) it was too dark. So we chose one object (a set of three actually) and went to town.