Why Adoption is BETTER!

This:

plus this:

gets you this: 

only by way of adoption!

(Thank God!)

Extensive 4th of July decorating

This is the extent of my holiday decorating. I wanted to do a pennant banner, but I don't think I'm going to get around to it. Hats off to you if you manage to do delightful, handcrafted or otherwise artsy holiday decorating. I can't seem to manage it. Will BonnieBlue be a deprived child because of it?

4th of July Subway Art

I am totally into subway art, thanks to the gals over at eighteen25.

Not only do they show cool subway art, but they provide the pdfs for download FOR FREE! Gotta' love that kind of deal. So, since I'm too busy to really do any kind of crafty holiday decorating, I just download each season subway art pdf, print it at Costco, and put it in my big frame that I got at JoAnns with a 40% off coupon. Here are a few of my favorites:

And this next
one is a "filler" one they put up in May (I think it was May). It's my favorite.

Each  new holiday or season, I look forward to the new art they'll post. This 4th of July was no different, but I'm a little chagrined to note that I was disappointed with this patriotic piece.

Don't get me wrong. I think it is TOTALLY cool that these girls give away for free what a lot of people charge for on Etsy. I just didn't like this one.

So I made my own. Let me tell you, making subway art is a GREAT way to procrastinate. It took me about 4 hours total to create this:

and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with myself. Later, I'll post a picture of it in my frame on my mantel. I'd give this away for free, in honor of the example of the ladies at eighteen25, but I have no idea how. It's baby steps with this blog thing.

The Big C

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I'm a breast cancer survivor (Yay for me! 8 years out!). I have a former friend who would cringe every time I would mention that. In fact, she had a hostile reaction whenever I mentioned it, hence the "former." Relatively recently I un-friended her on FB because every time I saw an update or comment from her, I was reminded of her penchant for negativity regarding my speaking of my cancer experience. I don't need to be reminded of such negativity, as I have enough in the present. My character flaw perhaps, but so be it. I'm sure she must know about the "unfriending" as I saw her at a conference in May and she ignored me. Kay sera sera.

I'm tempted to email her this link about Showtime's "The Big C," just for giggles.

http://www.sho.com/site/bringiton/home.sho

I've watched only about 20 seconds of the trailer and am interested in the portrayal of the Laura Linney's character, whom I assume is the one with cancer. I like to think I handled my experience with quiet dignity, though I may be deluding myself...I suppose my former friend would argue that I wasn't at all "quiet" about it. Showtime tends to be "in your face" so I'm interested in seeing more of this character. I can't quite describe her from the little I've seen, but I want to watch season one to see how these writers/producers/etc. are choosing to portray this woman's experience. One more thing for my to-do list.

I've been away from blogging for awhile. It's been a nice break. I've been busy submitting an IES grant. Essentially, a colleague and I (I think I have referred to her as Melly in previous posts, but I would have to check for sure) wrote a 25+ page paper asking the government for $1.2 million. We want to develop an intervention package to help middle school kids with high-incidence disabilities write cohesive coherent paragraphs about their IEP goals. We submitted it last Thursday. Whew! Just in time!

I'm currently working on preparing my promotion and tenure materials for submission on Friday, July 1. Then, I hope (and pray) life will return to some semblance of normalcy.

I am working on a couple of crafts that I hope to share soon, and there are pictures of BonnieBlue coming!