Jean

Posted on 2/07/10

No school on Friday or tomorrow (Monday), because of the big
snowstorm here in Virginia. We got approx. 32 inches here
hur. My husband and teenagers did a LOT of shoveling. I
wasn't able to help because of my back. We've just been
sitting tight all weekend. Since I have had tons of
schoolwork to do, I've been spending most of my time doing
that. The kids brought up some boardgames at one point (when
we lost our electricity for one night and most of the next
day) and we played Apples to Apples. At first, my husband
couldn't get the generator started, but it finally cranked up
and we were able to have a little light and run the microwave
and a space heater.

Before that, we were concerned about keeping the hamsters
warm, so I set the aquariums farther away from the outside
wall, on the floor. My daughter partway covered the
aqauriums with a blanket and snuggled up next to them on the
floor to help keep them warm. They did fine, but they were
jumping around because they knew something was up. :) We
just heard that the roof collapsed on the skating rink my
daughter's friend's parents own. Fortunately, nobody was
hurt in the incident. We have a few tree branches down in
our backyard. My husband offered to cook hotdogs in our
microwave for our neighbor's children, but they said they'd
manage alright since they had a grill.

I made it to my Celtic Myths class before the storm hit. I
got my first writing response back. I managed to get a B on
it. I'm hoping I'll do as well on the one for this Thursday
night (we're expecting a little more snow on Tuesday night,
so my folkart class might be canceled).

I'm still not sure what to write about for my folkart
project. I'm thinking about writing about my mom and her
talent at making crafts and sewing. Mom has tried to market
homemade games, and one Christmas when we had very little
money she created a game for my little brother as a gift.
When she was little, her mother used to have her pin up the
things her mom was sewing. Even though Mom claims she didn't
really learn how to sew from her mom, as an adult mom sewed
matching clothes for dad and my brothers and for me and her.
She told me a funny story about how her best friend decided
that she and my mom should make molds of themselves to use as
dummies for dresses. Her friend slathered Mom with all of
this gook. After it hardened and it was time to cut it off,
Mom got the giggles and then her friend got the giggles and
it took quite awhile for them to calm down enough to get it
off of her. Mom made ceramics, also. She sold some in a
local shop, and she made personalized Easter Eggs (that
opened up) for us (the kids) and made and decorated a plate
to look like my face (as a child). Of course, mom claims
that she isn't a very interesting subject to write about, but
many folk artists are modest.

Oh! And on the same Christmas that we couldn't afford much,
Mom gave me a big dollhouse. She had talked a store owner
out of a doll furniture display - it was rooms of Pretty
Princess furniture set up in a bookcase-type style. She then
cut wood doors for it and side panels in the shape of our
side porches on the house. She then decorated the front and
side doors she'd made with pictures she'd cut out from
magazines and other items to make it look like our house.
The display had lights that really lit up (later, we learned
it hadn't been wired well so it was a danger. I still have
that house and the one-room dollhouse that my uncle gave to
our family.

The other idea would be to write about the tradition of music
in our family. Dad sang. My mother's mother sang and played
the piano. My mother played the piano by ear as background
music on the radio and later on for her own pleasure and
still later, after having finally learned to read some music,
in a band after she'd retired. And I sing, of course. My
parents made a record of my dad singing to my mom's playing.
My dad always had a fascination with media. He was among the
first to buy a Polaroid camera when it came out. We had a
big Wollensak tape recorder and player, too. My younger
brother always wanted to sing, but he can't carry a tune.
Instead, he works on taping things for public radio. I don't
think my older brother an sing either. My daughter has a
lovely singing voice, though, and she says my son can sing
well, but I've never heard him. He plays the guitar instead.

I have to write up an idea for my project by Tuesday night.
I guess I'll submit these two ideas...
-Jean

More | Report Post

Next Post >>

Posts on this thread, including this one