Zidane the Bear

This is the bear hat I made for Zidane.  I decided to go a little over-the-top with his hat like I did with Ella's, just by adding the nose panel under the button nose and the special knot stitch on top of the button eyes.

Also, today is my mom and dad's 29th wedding anniversary...next year at this time they'll be in Tahiti celebrating their 30th.

Ella Monster

This is the hat I made for Ella.  It's a monster like the 5 other monsters before it, but this monster is much, much more than the others.  It's got stuffed spikes, scales and a pretty bow, making her both badass and beautiful at the same time.

Matt's Best Friends

This is a companion painting to the one of baby Ella, also 8"x10" acrylic.  It is of Matt and Jessica's dogs Blue (left) and PeeWee.  They loved this one as well.

Baby Ella Painting

This is an 8"x10" acrylic painting I finished about a week ago, framed and gave to Jessica and Matt for Christmas.  I knew the picture was a personal favorite of both of them and they loved the painting.

Continuing Christmas

I was so exhausted last night I didn't really go into much detail about anything but the new baby bump.  Since Z is pretty content playing with his new toys, I will do so now.

So we celebrated our immediate family Christmas this year for the first time ever somewhere else than Mom and Dad's house.  We spent it at Jon and Marcy's new home which is larger and better accommodates my ever-growing family.  I arrived after work, just in time for dinner.  We had our recent yet continuing tradition of a breakfast themed meal.  There was a large ham, a sausage and bacon egg bake, cheesy hash browns and caramel monkey bread.  I was a little bummed that Jessica didn't make her savory monkey bread, but I'm going to get the recipe from her and make it sometime this week for Matt and Angela and myself.  There was an assortment of juices and milk to accompany the meal.  Chloe was being a little goofball all through dinner, little cutie.
Afterward we all went downstairs to open presents.  Overall, I think everybody did pretty well.  It was very chaotic having 9 adults, a little kid and 2 babies yelling and unwrapping and carrying on.  From what I saw, I know that Jon and Aaron each got a fire-pit.  Terri and Aaron got a blu-ray player.  Each of the couples got a few coupley gifts from Mom and Dad.  All the ladies got cool glass brick Christmas light things...Terri's and Marcy's were filled with seashells as well as lights, and Jess's and mine had bows to make them look like a wrapped gift.  Marcy got a big shoe rack (to keep her organized, hah...the girl's more organized than an organizing specialist).  Little Chloe and babies Ella and Zidane got a lot of new books from my folks.   Matt got some funny t-shirts.  Chloe got tons of princess paraphernalia.  Mom and Dad got a George Foreman grill.  That's about the extent of what I saw in the madness.
I personally received 15 neckties from Terri and Aaron for my tie rug.  From Jon and Marcy I got a bottle of my favorite perfume (Fantasy, which I've been out of for months!).  From Jessica and Matt I got a variety of flavored coffees, including Southern Comfort and Jack Daniels.  I got a string of lights that have cool paper lantern covers on each of them; I think Terri and Jess picked them out.  I got 3 t-shirt dresses and a sweet new tank top.  I got the laser level I wanted from dad and a 1/2 hour massage certificate from my mom.  Most of the stuff I got obviously doesn't amount to monetarily what the others received but my mom and dad told me that my main gift is new tires for my car.  YAY!!!  I'm totally stoked that I'm getting new tires...it's one less expense to worry about and I'll be able to relax a little bit when I'm driving in the snow.  Right now, it's always a white-knuckled chore worrying about sliding off the road.
After presents and whatnot pretty much everyone decided to head home...I ended up going to Matt and Angela's to exchange gifts with them.  They gave me a eucalyptus mint candle, a really neat handbag made from recycled plastic, some body cream that smells amazing and a little wooden mind puzzle.  Altogether, I had a pretty awesome Christmas and New Year's is just around the corner.

Awesome News

So we had our big family Christmas this evening with a tasty breakfast dinner followed by copious quantities of presents.  But the biggest and best gift of the night was the news that Marcy and Jon shared after everything was unwrapped.  They're having a baby!!!  Marcy is already 14 weeks along, so they've known since mid-October.  That's quite a secret to be toting around!  She's due June 25th...though if she goes early, my new niece or nephew could potentially share a birthday with Aaron (6/9) or Terri or me (6/8) or even Aaron and Terri's anniversary (6/18).  Maybe we should have placed bets on Jon and Marcy's conception...we all said she'd be pregnant by the end of the year, though I was initially betting they'd be by the end of the summer (hehehe).

I'll post more about the rest of Christmas in the morning...for now I'm too tired to think about it.

Merry Christmas to you...

I did it.  I finished all of my Christmas gifts in time for tomorrow's gathering.  And the new art pieces and yarnworks are superb.  Pictures to come...

More Gifting...

So I'm starting to notice a trend here...I go through phases of blogging between projects with deadlines.   When I have something that needs to be done by a certain time, I devote as much of my spare time to it as possible.  And while I could have easily posted a quickie before bed (heh), I've been watching a lot of Christmasy things these last few days.
I LOVE Christmas movies and tv shows.  Actually, just a minute ago I was looking for something to watch and a movie called Nothing Like the Holidays is on one of the Encore channels...It seems way more inviting than the show I'm watching on NatGeo, Seconds from Disaster, though it's good as well.  The movie doesn't start for a few minutes still.
Strange thing is that Z is still sleeping.  I thought for sure he'd be up by now, but I don't mind.  I guess he didn't sleep well last night...I personally think that Aaron and Terri should start letting him put himself back to sleep.  He's over 8 months old now; gotta break bad habits like that or he'll forever think it's ok to wake up frequently at night.

So anyways, the projects I've been working on are obviously my Christmas gifts.  I finished the painting of Baby Ella and have moved on to the painting of Blue and Peewee.  I've also made the hats for Z and Ella and plan on today finishing up the appendages and choosing eyes for them.  Saturday night I worked at Empty Bowls at the Wash Pav.  I ended up paying the 10 bucks to take a bowl made by the Action Arts kids.  I decided I wanted to give the bowl to Matt (as in my friend, not my brother-in-law).  So the next day when I was working at Michaels, I got a couple of super soft dark purple skeins of yarn (Loops and Threads, Charisma for like $1.50 each!!!) to make Angela a nice hat and scarf set.  I think I'll be able to get everything finished in time for when we actually celebrate Christmas, which this year is going to be the 26th.  Sunday night we'll have our big breakfast dinner and exchange gifts at Jon and Marcy's house.  So I have until then.  If I can, I also want to knit my dad a hat but that's less likely to be finished on time because knitting takes so much longer than crocheting.  I figure since he just reminded me of it the other day that it'll be alright if I work on it while I'm there.  It'll be strange to have Christmas somewhere other than Mom and Dad's.  Strange but good since Jon and Marcy's place is huge.

That reminds me that last night before I fell asleep I was thinking about my family in linear terms.  I had this idea last Christmastime for a kid's storybook about my family, sort of a Seaman Saga.  Starting with my dad, each page would be about one person.  I still don't know how exactly I want to make the book.  I had thought of canvas pages with fiber use and painting but that's just a start.  I did decide the order in which I'd like to put the pages though.  In numerical and chronological order, my family line is as follows:
1 Ron Seaman
2 Nancy Wingert Seaman
3 Aaron Seaman
4 Jessica Seaman Christiansen
5 Ashley Seaman
6 Jonathan Seaman
7 Terri Kessler Seaman
8 Chloe Seaman
9 Matt Christiansen
10 Ella Christiansen
11 Zidane Seaman
12 Marcy Wagner Seaman
The book will probably have birth dates and places for everyone, anniversaries for the married, and some sort of differentiation between generations.  I like this order because then I can continue adding to the book as the family grows.  I guess what made me even remember this scrap of an idea was that when I was over at Mom and Dad's on Saturday morning for coffee I read dad's latest Christmas newsletter the "Seaman Saga 2010".  In it he talked about how the family has grown for 9 members to 12 all in the last year.  It's pretty crazy since our additions have been infrequent in the past...like Terri June 2004, Chloe February 2007, and Matt October 2008.  So this book is going to be a sometime-down-the-line project that I'm going to just stew on for awhile.  In the meantime, I'm going to get back to working on my gifts.  Z will probably wake up soon anyways and I've been blogging for a long time since I keep getting distracted by this movie...it's really good and it's set in the only other place besides home that's close to my heart...Chicago.

Winter Workout

Have you ever felt like your body was screaming "no, no, no" at the same time as sighing "yes, yes, yes"?

Well, that's how I feel today.  We got a nasty snow storm over Friday night and into yesterday morning.  I ended up spending about an hour outside in the whipping wind digging my car out and shoveling the driveway.  I did get stuck getting out onto the main roads on my way to work, and I got stuck pulling into the parking lot when I got there.  But I spent my breaks at work shoveling my car out again in order to have a successful exit and drive home.  I had planned on taking a long route through town via 41st Street to Minnesota Ave.  However, when I was on Louise pulling up into the turn lane I whipped a shitty right in the middle of the road!  I ended up facing the complete opposite direction but was on the right side of the road so I went that way instead and took the interstate (which was clearer than the main roads in town anyways).  I spent another half hour or so today clearing the end of the driveway so I could leave for work again.

And now I ache.  I think they're mostly good aches though...like I'm obviously out of shape and shoveling is a good workout for my lazy ass.  So despite my muscles groaning in protest the rest of me thinks that gradually shoveling the rest of the driveway clear would be a great way to burn some extra calories in the next week or so.

The parts of today not spent shoveling, working or watching Z, I worked on my Christmas presents.  Chloe's painting is finished for the most part, I just need to find a float frame that'll work; I may possibly add another piece to it if I can't find one that will fit nicely.  I also did the base drawing for my painting of Miss Ella.  I plan on starting the one of Pee and Blue tonight while I watch the start of "It's A Wonderful Life".  If I don't finish, I'll be working on it tomorrow during my Z day.

Work work work and sick to boot

I woke up very fluish early this morning, after having gone to bed pretty late...It was a Z day so I was home for the day and then worked again this evening.  I've got lots of hours this week and it's been kinda nutso.  I went to Matt and Angela's house last night for a little art night.  Strange thing is that both Angela and I were sick sick sick this morning.  Actually she was all day.  I stopped feeling nauseous long enough to eat earlier.  But I've been feeling queasy since shortly before I left for my shift.  Despite having had very little but water today, I'm still debating whether to try eating something before bed.  Better not; better safe than sorry.
Anyways, my key projects outside of work now are Christmas presents for my family.
I'm still pondering Mom and Dad, though I'm considering buying a ready-made open back frame for one of my paintings that is hanging in their house.  I'm pretty sure the size is 16" x 20" but I'll prolly sneak over there during the day to measure and to check how wide a frame can fit in the space allowed.
For Aaron and Terri, I'm thinking of basically doing a scaled back version of Ella's nursery mural only frog-themed.  I'd probably be able to use the leftover paint from Ella's if it's still good.
For Jessica and Matt, I want to do 2-8" x 10" paintings; one of little Miss Ella herself and one of Blue and Peewee.
I'm still not sure what to do for Jon and Marcy yet, though another open-back frame for the painting I did for their wedding is a potential idea.
For Chloe, I'm doing a small gouache painting of my goldfish silhouettes forming transparencies by overlapping.  I plan on putting it in a little float frame...I know it's not a super exciting gift for an almost 4-year old but knowing her dad and stepmom, she'll have it forever.
For Ella and Z, I'm making them baby hats...a monster or 2 for Ella, a bear and a basic brown hat for Z.
That about covers everyone.

I totally lost a ton of potential work time today on my gifts because of this nasty bug.  L.A.M.E.
I just didn't feel like painting...you know something's wrong with me if I don't want to paint.  Sheesh.
Well, I don't work till 2 tomorrow so I may indulge on some breakfast in bed (ie my guilty pleasure show on soap net) and paint.  I look forward to real breakfast too...my morning today was just all sorts of outta whack without my coffee.  And with that I bid you adieu...

New Meaning to 'I'll be Home for Christmas'

It's official.  After several conversations with my parents and many long hours contemplating my options.  I have decided to move back to South Dakota by Christmas.
It is the most fiscally responsible thing for me to do right now.
I've been job-hunting for a couple months now with no luck and can't stomach the idea of working full-time again for my current boss.  I like living in Chicago, I do.  But things are getting worse every year.  In the almost six years I've lived here, the city has gone from being an exciting adventureous place to live and work to a place with increasingly high crime, high stress, high unemployment, and even higher taxes.
I don't have the same support structure of friends that I did while at school.  Even though I'm a severely independent person and I tend to not keep a lot of close friends, I still need support sometimes.  Of my three closest friends, one lives about three and a half hours away in Indiana, one is considering making her eventual move back to her hometown of Manhattan, and the closest is considering moving back to Los Angeles again soon.
Now I have high aspirations.  Within 2 years of moving back to South Dakota, I hope to be on my feet again and ready to relocate to another city.  I'm thinking Portland, or maybe Seattle.  Whereever I end up going, I need to live cheaply for awhile in order to save money for the move.  Going home affords me this option.
There's some serious drawing aspects to this decision as well.  When I came back from home to Chicago on New Year's Eve last year it was the most disappointing and crushing feeling, knowing that I was leaving the support and love of my family and going back to a major financial struggle (that would last almost all year).  My brother Jon came to see me in February, and then again in March with my folks for my BFA Show at SAIC.  Then the whole family came out for my graduation in May (except my sister-in-law Terri).  A week after graduation, I made a major roadtrip to move Holly back from LA and we made a very, very brief appearance in Sioux Falls.  We were there for one night only; I didn't even get to see my sister Jessica or my brother Jon.  That one night was the only time I've been home this year and it's been wearing me thinner and thinner.  My family is changing and growing and I want to be a part of it again.  I miss the joy I feel being around them.  I want to be a more integral part of my niece's life.  I want to be around when my sister and my sister-in-law each have their first children.  I want to break some bad habits I've formed living away from them and share the good habits I've learned.  I want to spend more time with my extended family members.
I want to live alone.  I know that at first I'll be back under my parents roof, but free room and board plus meals for a couple months should be enough to help me afford an apartment all my own.  I've been wishing I could live alone for the past year and a half; I've just been too stubborn to leave the comfort of my space in this apartment.  At this point, I'm even looking forward to living at my folks's place because of the clean and cozy upkeep that they maintain (and I will help maintain).  Oh to live in a clean place with people who think like I do.
When I talked with my mom yesterday, she said she wants to make sure that I don't feel like a failure for making this decision.  Well, I don't.  Things would be completely different if the economy wasn't in the crapper just now and a lot of people are making far more desperate decisions than I.  I am actually lucky to have such an accommodating family to help me in my time of trouble.  And I feel just a little more grown up by being able to finally admit that I can't do what I've been trying to do by myself anymore.  I think that means I'm evolving as a person...


Now it's time to get some things done.  But first, here's a snapshot of our family Christmas tree from the first year I lived in Chicago.  This year, I'll be home for Christmas, but not only in my dreams...