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Hello.

How are you?

Good I hope. :)

We are starting to get better around here, thank you so much for all the well-wishes, and it looks like the weather is hopefully going to be a bit more consistent in the next weeks....perhaps Spring is Springing?   

This last week has been interesting.   It started off pretty mundane and then Wednesday night shook me a bit.  My hubby, who had to run into work with his boss at 11:00 pm phoned me and proceeded to tell me that they are ok.  I was sleeping and it took me a minute to figure out what was going on but then it hit me.

WE ARE OK???

WHAT HAPPENED?

Well, it has been extremely windy here the last few days and as they were driving down the road they came across a tree that had fallen over the road from all the wind.  Unfortunately they didn't see it until they were right up on it and hit it.  The air bags went off and thank God they just "jumped" over it and landed on the other side....although not good for his bosses car.   No one was hurt but I was shaking so bad at the thought of what could have happened.  

This morning our wonderful washing machine decided to leak AGAIN so I spent the morning cleaning up water AGAIN and trying to figure out why it was leaking AGAIN.  I have a front loader and will never ever get another one.  They are great for some things but they smell and they get plugged really easily, at least mine does.  I use all the right soaps and try not to wash anything weird, I do have two children so I can't guarantee that weird things don't go in from time to time but this machine has done this about 8 times in the last two years.  I am not happy about that.  

Does anyone else have issues with their machine?

I have also started volunteering for an organization that my dear SIL is director of.  It is the Down's Syndrome Association of West Michigan.  I am their new Volunteer Coordinator.  It is not a paying job but that's ok, I love helping and it gives me a chance to do something for others.  This week I spent some hours trying to figure things out and setting things up, sending out emails and other little things.  I still have a ways to go to get in a groove but I think I am headed in the right direction.

I also had a few hours to try to paint.

Here is what is going on in that world.

This is what I am trying to paint.

This is what I ended with today, didn't even finish it, and decided to start over.

I am having the worst time with this area with the grasses and shadows,

I just can't get them to look right.

This was the first attempt....

 and second attempt.

 The second attempt was better but not what I had in mind.

I need to practice my grasses as well as techniques.  I still have to get over some things like the feeling that I am wasting paint and learning more about mixing colors.  

I will not give up and if anyone has any great books to go from I am all ears and eyes.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and please forgive me if I am a bit absent in the near future, I have some things coming up that will be taking some of my time.

Hugs!!