Working at Starbucks-day 1.

 

I have not started working at Starbucks for real. I am not qualified to make coffee unless it is a Keurig.  But if you follow me on Facebook  you have noticed my curiosity about people that bring in their laptops and do work in Starbucks. I am hoping to find someone writing a novel or something.   I decided to join in so that I can see what these yahoos are actually doing.  I make art and it is usually 1/3 hand drawn or painted and 2/3 digital.  So I decided Starbucks was where the digital part would occur.

 Well lets start out with the fact that I do not have a computer bag, so I had to use my kids backpack that she stopped using....It looks like this.

I did my best to hide this as  I am sure no one would share what they are up to with a mom legitimately using this bag.  I thought I would start off easy, it is my first day after all. I got a table near the counter where the baristas take your order. So truth be told, not many laptop workers near me.  I will make my way over to their area, I have to take my time.


 I noticed a tired mom come in with a toddler. They sat near me. after the balancing act of getting her kid a milk and cake pop and then getting herself a coffee I looked over and remembered that tired look. She face-timed her own mom so her little girl could talk to her grandma. This is when the mom said that she was " so glad to be out of the house, her toddler (the one with her) was throwing up all night".... Say wha??  Not cool. I watched other people come in and sit where they had sat. I wanted to warn them. I also was questioning the seat I was in.  I should probably just work from home.  ewe.

Now this next part was the best part. The two baristas were guys in their early twenties.  One said to the other "DUDE. I saw this guy in concert awhile back, I really think you would like him. I had not heard of him before."   guy #2  " What is his name?"   guy #1 John Popper.   Guy #2 Cool I'm heading to lunch I will check him out!!!     Here is where I sat with my mouth open. um. what.  OK I have listened to John Popper (along with everyone else my age), since 1995. If I had to "look him up"  then, it would have been  in a card catalog at the Brownsburg Public Library.  If you do not know John Popper I am not making fun of you. You are either too young or too old, not a big deal. BUT if you are near my age. this is an equivalent conversation  "Hey I found this amazing stuff you put on bread, it makes it so much better, its called butter."----"No way, I'm heading out I will check it out!"
So..... guy #2 comes back from lunch and says "That guy is awesome! He used to sing with Blues Traveler!----guy #1 "Hmmm, Oh yeah?" (He had no clue who Blues Traveler was)   Again, I salute these young men for finding great music.  I am by NO means making fun.  Everyone has an age.  It just felt like I was in some sort of time warp.  I am sure that when I was 19 people listened to me with the same eye rolling.  If blogging were cool for 19 year old baristas, they would be blogging tonight about the 39 year old mom with the ancient laptop,( that has to stay plugged in to keep charge) that also carries a dinosaur space bag.  I am sure they are too busy discovering Dave Matthews.

Two women came in and ordered coffee and only spoke Spanish.  The barista did his best to relay the order back to them in Spanish. I could tell by the way the women reacted he was botching it. Then he started talking to other baristas about their order in Spanish like it was what they had done all day. The others played along and also spoke in spanish.  It was kind of funny like they had pretend it was a  Spanish Starbucks or something.  When the women left " El Starbuckos" was closed and back to normal.

I am sure I will find out more when I try to sit near real Starbucks patrons. I know it sounds like I got zero work done, but the work is easy to do while I am listening to people do their thing.  I noticed that I really have a ton of distractions at home and will probably do more work in Starbucks. I will be periodically reporting back my work day stories.  The new project I am working on is crazy intricate and I have questioned myself on why I am actually tackling this, but hoping that I love it when its done.  Hint. If you are a dog lover you will love it!!

little eyes....

Hello everyone! This post is not art related but I really feel like I need to share this. 

A couple of months ago my oldest (12 yo) said that she was having trouble seeing the board at school.  I took her to the eye doctor and was wondering if she was subconsciously trying to get glasses (she always wanted them!) Nope.  She needed them.  (Not a shining moment in parenting) :)
She came home and told her little sister all about it (she is 7). How you get your eyes dilated, how they ask you a ton of questions. Her sister said "I want to go to the eye doctor"  I explained how J was having trouble seeing and that she (L) had passed the vision test at school so she might need to go later.  She very quietly said "I do have problems, I see two of everything."  Um. what?  I glanced over at Mark to make sure he had heard too. Soooooo, I made an appointment for her too.  After a few tests the doctor asks us to schedule another appointment she wanted to run more tests.  We come back a week later and she confirms there is in fact a problem. I figured there was. As I looked at the one giant H on the board in front of her. L said there were two, and after 40 minutes of the Dr. flipping lenses in front of her and the H's "moving in different directions" the doctor could not get them to ever line up.  She gave an initial diagnosis, and scheduled an appointment in a month with  a specialist....a month.   It has been a long month.    I did the bare minimum of research on her initial diagnosis and saw the frequent mention of eye surgery, the unknown part was overwhelming.

Yesterday was her appointment with a specialist. I was so ready to get this done. I promise I am not putting this out there as a pity party.  This is more of a public service announcement, because of the diagnosis.  The tech came in and did a few tests without her dilated.  Looked at me, told me that her initial diagnosis was wrong. What L has is called Convergence Insufficiency.  He made me watch as he asked her to follow the tip of the pen as it moved to the bridge of her nose. She should have been cross eyed. She looked straight ahead during the test. She cannot move her muscles in that way. It will cause double vision if this is how you are made.  It will be fixed with exercises and potentially glasses.  YAY!! To say we are relieved is an understatement.   Once I researched more about this I feel like I need to stand tall and scream to people about this condition.  
ONE IN 20 KIDS have this. It goes undetected in most school eye appointments.  SO most likely there is a kid in each class that has this. It effects learning and many other things. Sometimes the kids are diagnosed as a having an attention problem or even (rarely) ADHD is diagnosed  and this is the actual problem.  here are more facts.... I just want others to know. SO many of these things were going on with L and we just didn't put it together because she never mentioned it and was doing pretty well in school.

Convergence insufficiency disorder interferes with a person's ability to see, read, learn, and work at near (close distances).

In the past, convergence insufficiency disorder has often gone undetected because testing is not included in (1) pediatrician's eye tests; (2) school screenings; or (3) basic eye exams¹.

A person can pass the 20/20 eye chart test and still have convergence 

      What are the Symptoms of Convergence Insufficiency? A person who has convergence insufficiency may show and/or complain of the following while doing close work (i.e., reading, computer work, deskwork, playing handheld video games, doing crafts, etc.):

• eyestrain (especially with or after reading)
• headaches
• blurred vision
• double vision
• inability to concentrate
• short attention span
• frequent loss of place
• squinting, rubbing, closing or covering an eye
• sleepiness during the activity
• trouble remembering what was read
• words appear to move, jump, swim or float
• problems with motion sickness and/or vertigo

It is not unusual for a person with convergence insufficiency to cover or close one eye while reading to relieve the blurring or double vision. Symptoms will be worsened by illness, lack of sleep, anxiety, and/or prolonged close work. Many people who would test as having convergence insufficiency [if tested] may not complain of double vision or the other symptoms listed above because vision in one eye has shut down. In other words, even though both eyes are open and are healthy and capable of sight, the person's brain ignores one eye to avoid double vision. This is a neurologically active process called suppression.¹ Suppression of vision in one eye causes loss of binocular (two-eyed) vision and depth perception. Poor binocular vision can have a negative impact on many areas of life, such as coordination, sports, judgment of distances, eye contact, motion sickness, etc. Consequently, a person with convergence insufficiency who is suppressing one eye can show some or all of the following symptoms:

• trouble catching balls and other objects thrown through the air
• avoidance of tasks that require depth perception (games involving smaller balls traveling through the air, handicrafts, and/or hand-eye coordination, etc.)
• frequent mishaps due to misjudgment of physical distances (particularly within twenty feet of the person's body), such as:
  • trips and stumbles on uneven surfaces, stairs, and curbs, etc.
  • frequent spilling or knocking over of objects
  • bumping into doors, furniture and other stationary objects
  • sports and/or car parking accidents
• avoidance of eye contact
• poor posture while doing activities requiring near vision
• one shoulder noticably higher
• frequent head tilt
• problems with motion sickness and/or vertigo

If untreated, in some cases, convergence insufficiency can lead to an outward eye turn that comes and goes (intermittent exotropia).^{1, 2}                                                                       
Detection and Diagnosis of Convergence Insufficiency
Convergence (eye teaming) and accommodation (focusing) tests are the important diagnostic tools. A basic eye exam or screening with the 20/20 eye chart is not adequate for the detection of convergence insufficiency (and many other visual conditions). A person can pass the 20/20 test and still have convergence insufficiency. A comprehensive vision evaluation by an eye doctor who tests binocular (two-eyed) vision and who can refer or provide for in-office vision therapy is recommended for all individuals who do reading and deskwork -- particularly students of any age.    

   

Here is a link  about how simple these tests are to diagnose this... in other words its not invasive.
  http://convergenceinsufficiency.net/detail.asp?id=18&pid=13

I am just putting all this out there in case you have a kiddo that has more of these symptoms on the list above and you cant figure it out. 

Very happy for the results this week and the people that kept us in their thoughts and prayers!
L
 

concerts

Hello friends!
 It has been a long time since I put on the blogging hat!  Well here I sit, with the kids at my parents house wearing that hat! (It looks fabulous)  I could chat it up about my kiddos as they have kind of dominated things around here, since it is summer time.  They are now ready for school to start, and to be honest so am I. They are saturated with sunscreen, chlorine and general laziness.  I think they are ready to see all of their friends and get a schedule that does not include any level of spf.  I am ready to work again with some regular schedule and ready for no one to roll their eyes at me, I will however miss the mid-day hugs and chats!  

I will talk about something random that I thought of recently.  I find myself a bit teary at concerts.  Aren't you anxious to attend a concert with me?? I never realized why until recently.  The time has come in our lives that we do not attend every concert we might like to. In other words if we are there, we LOVE the music.   There is something about hearing a song live, that a real person is singing. I think there is more to it than that.  To flashback a short while (relatively) in our twenties, previous to kids we went to MANY concerts. If there was extra spending money to be spent it went to live music. I am so glad that my husband shares this hobby as well. 
Oddly enough there were no teary times then.  Now that I am a "real adult"  I think the teary part comes from perspective.  Look at the path these musicians went on to get here. They take up a big stage and play for big crowds. This is not how their story started. While we were off being sensible, this band was driving around in a van from bar to bar, playing music.  Can you imagine what their aunts and uncles had to say at Thanksgiving?  "When are you going to get a real job??"  Is this going to go on like this forever??"  They knew that this is what they were supposed to do and they ignored the sensible and did it. Don't you think that is brave!!? This goes for entrepreneurs, actors, authors and artists too. Art galleries, and book stores are filled with these brave people. To go against the grain is not easy and the keep going, well that is the hardest part! But here we sit on the  lawn with what seems to be a gazillion people singing the words to the same song together.  pretty cool!  Who knows maybe I'm crying because I have a night without kids :)  Either way, I raise my glass to the flip floppy, squirrely determined people who stay true to who they are supposed to be! 

Well this week brings no concerts but trips to the Intermediate school to meet the teacher and off to the State fair!  I will be thinking of that ear of corn until Wednesday. You can't beat an ear of corn at the fair!   Later people!

Hello friendly friends!!
HAPPY SPRING!! WE made it! I swear all of us in the Midwest did not think this day would come.  I get nervous celebrating for fear that enjoying it will end up meaning a few surprise inches of snow. So for now it is a quiet celebration. -shhhhhh-

This blog post will be about some art business. It is a shameless plug. This has to happen every once in awhile, the blog is called Seven Lemons after all!  I have a few prints that are new and would be AMAZING for mothers day. If you want to even buy one for yourself for your own mothers day, go ahead! You deserve this!  They can all be found here-  https://www.etsy.com/shop/Sevenlemonsart  
I also have a favor to ask you all. I am going to pin these pieces of art to my boards. If we are friends on Pinterest....Would you mind repining them? That would be so awesome of you! You are pretty great. 

This is one for all of those that have a sweet little boy at their house! One that loves being a brother!
This is also sold as just the paper print, not mounted on a canvas.

 

 

THIS ONE... I have to say I am a fan. This is for all the moms and teachers out there. It is sometimes for me, as I should just be quiet! :) This is also sold as just the paper print, not mounted on a canvas.

 

 

 

 

This print is one of my favorites and is a redo of an older one. I have always loved this hymn and think this picture goes well with it. This is also sold as just the paper print, not mounted on a canvas.

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to check out the hand painted birds nests. The nest will be painted with the number of eggs, that you request. Usually representing the number of sweet little ones you call you own!

 

 

 

I cannot tell you how thankful  I am for all of you wonderful people keeping me busy painting and painting some more!

 

It has been a busy spring so far. Both my kiddos have spring birthdays, there is Easter and spring break.  Every year at the end of April I feel like most people do after Christmas.  Lots of fun but...kind of glad its over! :)

 

I need to watch that attitude as the birthdays just keep flying by! (both for us and the kids) This year my sprouts are 11, and 6. sigh.

 

This seems impossible. This one hit me hard. I swear I was just at the hospital having my oldest. How is it that birthday requests include technology and gift cards, she must be to young for that right?? no barbies, no play-doh. just giftcards.

 

We are counting down the days until summer. Everyone is anxious for a break. 

I hope everyone enjoys the new flowers and spring! (not too much, the snow can hear you)

Christmas....

Good day to you and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

First of all I need to thank all of you that have supported me and my art throughout the year and especially throughout the Christmas season! WOW! I have been so busy. You can usually find me painting late into the night, like an artsy little elf! Some of the gifts I have done for people I wanted to keep for myself! :)

We are getting ready for Christmas like all of you are. Christmas talk tends to start in November, the early birds start planning.  This planning stage coincidentally happened at the same time my youngest and I were cleaning out the toy room in the basement. I found myself picking up toys that no one played with, the same toys that  I had panic attacks while shopping for less than a year ago.  I wasn't mad, just kind of sad. Every year I say I am not doing it, then.... I do. Christmas Crazy.  My husband and I decided that we were going to do an activity for Christmas. We live not too far from Chicago, so that is what we picked.  We had talked about going to see Wicked while we were there. Getting any tickets on ground level proved to be and insane idea with prices to the tune of $250 a seat. (We are a family of 4.) At that price there would be no bathroom breaks during the show and every family member would have to sign a contract that they would speak of how amazing this show was at least once a day for the next calendar year.  That is a lot of pressure.  We are staying at a "super fancy" hotel (thanks to my husbands travel points) and going to tea at said "fancy hotel". We are pretty sure that we are not the same caliber of fancy that this hotel is, but we are going to do our best to blend in. (and not get thrown out)   SO...It has been decided, each child will get a few stocking stuffers, one present from Santa, and the trip to fancy town.

On to Santa.... My oldest knew what she wanted, Madden for the Xbox and a pair of combat boots and or high heels.  :)   My mom and dad already bought the combat boots for her, but "santa" is taking care of the game.  NOW....the 5 year old wanted a big stuffed polar bear like she saw at Costco.  Costco was sold out. This is when I said we HAVE TO SEE SANTA TODAY. In otherwords, she keeps changing her mind and we need to get her in to see the big guy so it is written in stone (so to speak)  On our way to see Santa, she tells me. "Guess what I am asking Santa for??"  what?  "AN AMERICAN GIRL DOLL!" WHAT??????? Even Julia my oldest picked up on the crazy. She said.."Dont ask for that, I will just give you mine. I never play with it." L said" You have one that looks like you, I want one that looks like me"  DANG IT. I did not see this coming. She never plays with dolls. She draws and colors and that. is. it.   Fast forward to Santa.  J- tells Santa about Madden and he looks confused. Initially I thought it was because it was more of a boy gift. Nope. turns out santa was just literally confused, about everything.
 L then tells him that she wants an American girl doll. He said, " How about Saige?" 
THE AMERICAN GIRL DOLL THAT YOU HAVE TO KNOW SOMEONE THAT KNOWS SOMEONE TO GET!!! I found her on EBAY for $300!!  Thanks Santa. (She will not be getting Saige)
.................THEN......................he said, How about some clothes for Saige??  The elf girls were looking at me to see if I was still breathing (I was not) 
SHUT .....YOUR....... MOUTH......... SANTA!!!! 
Have you recently checked the price of American girl doll clothes??  I spend less on my own clothes (this says many things about myself and the American girl doll empire.)

  Now maybe Santa didn't understand that we are trying to not be materialistic this year. My kid shared that plan with us, until she saw Santa.  She nodded yes, with her mouth open as Santa asked her if she wanted more, and more, and more??? AHHHHHH!!!  He finished with a "if you have any more ideas, leave a note under the tree"  OK great idea, I will leave my strongly worded letter under the tree! :)

The American girl problem will solve itself as I imagine we can snag a "normally priced" doll while in Chicago and hide it in the car.  I have asked my kind facebook friends to sell me there gently used dolls to no avail.  :)

With all the hubbub with santa aside. The getting rid of kids gifts has left me time to make art for Sunday school teachers and others that have helped us through the year. I did that before but was usually cursing under my breath, and my blood pressure was sky high.  I hope this trip is AMAZING, as this is what I want to do every year!  Merry Christmas my friendly friends!!

The game changes.

Well folks.
 I am the mom of a 5th grade girl.
 I know there are certain emotions that are packaged  with having a tween girl.  There are people reading this thinking, OH LINDSAY, sweet, sweet  Lindsay, this is nothing. It is only downhill from here. I know this "could" be true. I am working very hard on just rolling with what we have going and not worrying about what is coming next.
 My 10 year old is bold. The child wears the craziest outfits without a care in the world. She sings from the time she wakes up until she lays her sweet, freckled face back in bed again.  She is confident and sometimes a little cocky. There are little cracks in this attitude lately. I see her doubting herself. I see her questioning the actions of her friends.  She knows what is right and wrong, but not sure how to react to those doing the latter.  There are times she is crying and isn't sure why. Blasted hormones.

I love Ben Folds. He can tell a story with his songs and I have a lengthy list of them that make me teary. This was never one, until now.  I will give you the jest in case you don't listen/ watch the video. (please do).  We know from growing up ourselves, that there are parts that suck.  We now are in an odd/painful place in watching our kids jump thru the same wonderful and yet sometimes painful and crappy hoops that we did.  One day they will be great, and fine, but until then....I'm just sorry. I also heard him talk about this song and say that when we are kids, we think that this cycle ends when you are an adult. It doesn't. You are always the new employee, neighbor, mom, dad. whatever. (hence the title)
 Being who you are is still hard to do as an adult.  Mean girls/boys grow up and sometimes never change.  I will stop talking...just watch.  UGH. Its just so great!

 

A couple of weeks ago my 10 year old tried out for her intermediate school's talent show. She practiced singing her song ALL DAY AND NIGHT. It was beautiful, but endless. I picked her up after her audition and she was super excited. She thought she did pretty great!  She had to wait 4 days to find out if she made it or not. She was given an envelope at the end of the 4th day to take home. Inside was whether she made the cut to be in the show.  I walked to the bus stop. I was so nervous for her!  The pixie got off the bus and with a straight face said. I didn't make it.

UGH. WHAT?? OH NOOOOOOOOO!!! She looked so sad. She said quietly" its alright, I've been in other vocal shows, and it will be fine"

She was pretty quiet the rest of the evening.  My heart was just breaking.

I asked her if she would feel comfortable asking her music teacher (who was one of the judges) if there was anything you could do to improve for next years try outs.  She said a very definitive

(with eye roll)  NO.

 

Two days later I got an e-mail from her music teacher. She said that afternoon J had come up to her and asked what she could do to improve for next year. She then said that she was so confused because her records showed that she was in the talent show.  J HAD ACCIDENTLY BEEN GIVEN THE WRONG PAPER!!! :)  Her music teacher apologized over and over. I was not one bit worried about the mistake.  It showed J that if you are humble, and genuinely voice that you would like to improve....AMAZING things can happen! 

 

 I couldn't WAIT to see her get off the bus! SHE RAN out of the bus and was jumping up and down.  I am so so, so proud of her! Not only did she know what was right, but she did it! That is a big step for my tiny 5th grader.  It is painful to watch her struggle, but OH MAN the good parts are so great! So this is why the roller coaster analogy is always used!:)

On Friday we are going to pick out an outfit for her intermediate school ...stage debut.   If I cried at this Ben Folds song, you just wait until the talent show!  Spread your wings little J!

 

 

 

 

 

 

ReStyled Barn Sale and other craziness.

Hello friends.  I have coffee in hand and I am ready to tell you about my weekend. My art and I were at the ReStyled barn sale. The weather was PERFECT and the venue was BEAUTIFUL. Pictures will not do this justice. I will try, but WOW. It is the prettiest show I have been to, or participated in.  Applause from this girl. 

This is my booth.  It was in a horse stall. FOR REALS.

Here are some other displays  that were around me......

 

 

 

 Look close. you can see me taking a picture in the mirror!! :)

 

 

 

Want to see even BETTER pictures...Head on over to my friend Lori's blog. 

http://freshpickedwhimsy.typepad.com/

She is a fellow artist and I was moved to tears to see her beautiful face in my booth. She has been so kind to help me along the way with many questions I had. SHE ROCKS!

If you live in the INDY area you would be CRAZY to miss out on her open house!!

 

I met so many amazing creative women.  When things wrapped up, we got a chance to chat.

We discussed arts, crafts, our kids and how shows work out for us. 

One of the awesome gals  I met this weekend (Allison- of Time and again http://www.timeandagainshop.com/ )

 posted a quick snippet to facebook. I could not agree more....it is as follows.

 

"This weekend I am reminded of how many crafty customers there are in the world. And while I absolutely appreciate that you are all amazingly talented and probably have a Pinterest board dedicated to the crafts that others make that you can...

easily do yourself, please keep your thoughts to a whisper and perhaps away from my earshot.

Petty? Perhaps.

But when someone comes into my booth and looks at a pillowcase dress and says "oh, I can just make this - the sewing is practically already done for you!" I try very hard to let it go and smile but it does slowly chip away at my morale. 

Let me just send a reminder to those of you who read this (and hopefully are not offended by this post) that the holiday season is beginning and there are a lot of us crafty girls out there peddling our wares. Please be careful about what you say and do at the next show that you attend.

Yes, you probably COULD make it. But it's already made and ready for you to take home and enjoy.

Yes, it's probably not the hardest thing in the world. If it were, I would have to charge a heck of a lot more than I am.

Yes, if you take a picture of it, it might remind you later to check the Pinterest boards for it but we have spent years coming up with creative ways to set up our displays and even longer perfecting our products to present to the public.

Could you make it for less money? Maybe. But keep in mind that there is more than supply cost that goes into most artistan's pricing. It takes in to account the time to find the supplies, the time to make the item, the machinery costs (for example, in the case of my friend over at Jilly Jack Designs. She uses an actual letterpress to create her amazing creations), and, yes, supplies but much more.

I, personally, spend hours and hours traveling around the area hunting for linens then taking them home and photographing them to catalog.

Then I lovingly and carefully restore MANY of them because most have some sort of stain on them that I do not want to pass on to my customer.

After it's been cleaned, it's ironed. Yes, ironed.

Then each case "speaks" to me to tell me what size it should be made into and then I use a pattern that I created all by myself to size, cut, sew and finish the dress with a carefully selected ribbon which is then heat sealed so you don't have to deal with fraying or chemicals because who wants a baby to chew on a ribbon that has chemicals on it?

Each step is thoughtful.

I'm not saying that you are a perpetrator. I'm asking that you remind those of you that you're with that many of us make our livings doing this. Many pay for private daycare or school. Others pay their mortgages and bills. And others do it, like I do, because I love creating and sharing my creativity and products with others and the joy it brings so many.

This is me.....jumping off of my soap box.

 

With that said, and me agreeing. Of the comments I heard this weekend 99.9999999% were AMAZING and encouraging , wonderful and generous. It made my heart smile.  HOWEVER. the few negative I hear do hurt. I understand that there will NEVER be a job that negative feedback isn't heard. I do think that the people that give it do not realize how they hurt the artists by what they say.

 

On a more chipper note. My art is now hiding in the Bizzy Boutique! Look at this amazing store ON WHEELS!!!

COULD IT BE CUTER??? SQUEAL!!

 My art is now mobile, and traveling in very capable hands!  

 

All in all it was an amazing weekend, that I was so blessed to participate in!