Hi! I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know that this is 'blogging' is new for me. I also want to get over the typical background bog that seems to follow us around, this way you know the basics and we can move on to the good stuff.

I am a 38 yr old mom of two boys, 18 & 14; divorced, single mom for most of the boys lives until I remarried in the fall of 2002, to a bachelor 6 years my junior. According to most of my friends I tend to live life in slightly faster motion than others. I am a mother, work full time [gotta pay the bills], attend college full time ["Yes I realize that I am nuts!"] as well, not very good at half measure.

In the spring of 2000 decided that finishing my degree would be the best for all of us. I am a senior at a major university in the fall, my major is Bachelor of Fine Arts with a minor in Art History, my concentration is painting. I have been a working artist for over 20 years, selling my first work at 13 for $50 bucks, talk about heady stuff. I've run the gambit of art-side jobs to murals to private teaching, enjoying most of it along the way.

During the final days of my divorce, and not exactly provable, my ex had a bon fire, ashes in my back yard and the fact that my art and my portfolio/organizer was amazingly gone, doesn't take Kojack to decipher the end of that 'who done it'. So I got the angry, frustrated privilege to have the chance to start over. I made one promise to myself when I entered the studio at college, to utilize techniques, materials and approach my subject matter and myself from a new perspective. Actually very liberating - having a blast and do not plan on stopping.

My boys are my one and true joy in life and I could not picture my life without them. Josh or JD as he has recently requested, @#$%% teenagers, is actually starting to show the advancement into young manhood with only minor set backs. Of course my minor set backs for him are major for him and what he considers minor I consider major but we are in negotiations and no ones left the peace meeting yet.

Bryan is starting to enter the realm of early teen-hood and is showing all of the signs hormones that are associated with that transition. He has had a rough year last year but both of us worked at his issues and concerns where in the end both of us feel he is succeeding and moving forward. Each day that passes he is showing more and more of his personality and of the individual he is becoming. I enjoyed seeing his brother cement the base of this character and I am certainly enjoying Bryan work through to his; no matter how frustrating it is to both of us to traverse this mine field called pre-teen land.

My husband is thankfully my best friend. We met accidentally and he was there through some of the roughest times as a friend. This is where the story differs, he says he convenienced me to take the plunge and I say I convenienced him, but after many discussions we have come to the conclusion that - he stood still, I chased, and he let me catch him. Either way - it works! LOL

Picture this, mom had never brought home a boyfriend, they wanted me to be happy but were leery of the new guy; then on my husbands side, he had had the stereotypical evil step fathers, so he was extra cautious, then he had been on his own since he was seventeen. Also he had never really given much thought to having kids himself. They systematically circled each other for quite some time and in the end decided to call it a draw. So now he has a semi-sane artist wife, a teenager and a pre-teen, along with all the responsibilities of those and he says he has never been happier - go figure?

We purchased our first home in December of 2001 and have been trying to fix it up ever since. If you are a homeowner you know the kind of frustrations associated with the purchase. The second week in our home the plumbing decided to break in the master bedroom. The the sink in the kitchen decided it didn't need to send the fluids out side of the home and instead sent it onto my kitchen floor, this was last year. Also last year the AC went on the #$@$^ and we are now in negotiations with our budget to get that fixed. Along with the joys and pain of trying to make a house a home, we love our little place and hope it won't be the death of us.

Well, now that you have an outline to my hectic, often scheduled to the last minute life, hopefully you will enjoy reading my entries and seeing my artwork. Hopefully you will enjoy sharing my fast forward world from a very opinionated - outspoken, talented, funny woman; but that is just my opinion. Thanks and Welcome.