On track...

Well gee, yesterday's college orientation was fun. Just like going to the dentist is fun.

I had said on the previous post that my plans for a schedule would probably change 180 degrees after talking to an Advisor. I should have said 360 degrees. I'm not taking a single class that I researched- either it was a class that I didn't have to take or it was a class I couldn't take yet due to prerequisites. Actually at this point in my college career there were few classes that I could take- I've finished most of my core curriculum, but can't take most of my art classes yet because I haven't taken Drawing II or Design II which are prerequisites to the rest of the studio classes. Argh.

So after a lot of juggling, the classes I registered for are:

Design II
Drawing II
Art History Survey I
Context of Chemistry

My Advisor talked me into taking my last math class at TCC rather than UNT. Also, it turns out my Painting II class doesn't transfer... that sucks. And, one of my summer classes that I'm registered for isn't required at all... but I don't want to drop any classes so I'll take it anyway.

And another thing... I guess I was spoiled at TCC with being able to schedule all my classes to attend only 2 days a week. At TCC, the lecture is built into the lab time. But, at UNT even for the art classes (and the Chem class of course) you have the lab hours and then a lecture is at a separate day and time. So for my 4 classes, I had to schedule 7 classroom units (as in Mon-Wed-Fri is one unit). What it boils down to is driving to Denton 5 days a week. I hadn't planned on that, especially with the cost of gas nowadays. Ugh.

Alright I'll stop complaining now. What's important is I'M IN!!!

School notes...

The summer term has started this week for TCC. I'm a little bummed on it, because my two classes for the first half are both online courses. That disappoints me because I actually LIKE going to lecture classes. The online classes just aren't as much fun. But, it's what I had to do schedule-wise to get the courses in before transferring to UNT. The second half of the summer I have one online and one lecture class, Intermediate Algebra. We could have taken that class online, but I figured it would be better to take it in a classroom so that Hubby and I can have an instructor explain the math as it gets harder. Trying to learn math online leaves a lot to be desired.

Tomorrow I have Transfer Orientation to go to at UNT. At 8am, yuck. I received an itinerary, and apparently they will have me register my classes for the Fall during the orientation. So I've been doing my homework of researching what classes I want, and when. Although I know after talking with my Academic Advisor tomorrow my plans will probably be changed 180 degrees. It's to be expected!
Other than that, I have no idea what to expect for tomorrow.

Painting project...

One nice thing about college- sometimes a person in the public contacts the school to have a student do a project for them. The art department has given me a couple of paid projects as a result of this.

The latest project is a woman who contacted the campus because she wants two large paintings of cowboy boots. She likes the art of artist Kathleen Lack, but didn't want just a print of hers, she wants a real painting. So, she requested to have a student create the paintings for her, similar to Lack's style.

Here is the first one that I did for her living room:

She wants the paintings to have a "loose brushstrokes" style to them, rather than be realistic looking. Hard to tell from the photo, but this is more of a looser Impressionist type of painting. I thought I'd title it "Meeting Place."

Something different about this project, is that she gave me a bunch of decorating color swatches to use as a palette. This way I know exactly which colors to use to match the colors in her house. Seems like a good idea, and has worked well. I'll have to get a color wheel or something to use with future customers who want specific colors used in paintings.

Anyway, luckily she loves it. I have a few minor alterations to make, but then I start on the second boots painting for her dining room. After that, I should be sick of painting boots for a while!

Another thing I learned from this- thrift stores are a good place to pick up items to use as still-life models. I ventured to one in our town and bought several pairs of cowboy boots for $3 each! Unbelievable price. One pair is Justin boots, nearly brand new. So now I know where to pick up things to paint for class, on the cheap. If only they sold art supplies!

Doggie diary...

The new pup Athena is learning some things:

She overmatches Oreo in rope-tug-of-war, easily pulling him across the floor...




So, to even out the playingfield, she lies down...




She's also learning some other important items such as:

• Kitties do not like to have their butts sniffed
• Kitties have a sharp end that is used when said butts have been sniffed
• Mom yells when doggies tear whole squash plants out of the garden

We have a makeshift fence around the garden, but it's not much of a deterrent against a 100lb puppy. We're working on that.

One last item, that is something she has yet to learn, but will (trust me, WILL) learn in the coming future:

• We do not have to be woken up at 7am every single day. The barking alarm clock has got to stop. We take her outside, but then she thinks it's playtime. No Athena, it's back to sleep time.

Other than that, and having to watch her every second so she doesn't chew up everything in the house, she's a pretty good dog!

Scooby Doo, where are you?...

Sighted driving around our town lately:

Some teens take retro-70's a little too far. Those meddling kids!

The driver does indeed look like Shaggy, but I have yet to see Velma or Daphne.

Not to mention, Scooby Doo would be like 266 in dog years by now. "Ruh-row, Raggy!"

Chew monster...

I may be offline for a couple days, other than heading to the library like right now to get on the Internet.

The dog ate our Internet. Literally.... chewed up the modem.

After that, she started eating the the kitchen floor. Oh well, we planned on getting something to replace the linoleum anyway. We just weren't ready to do it YET. And of course all the while her chew toy was right next to her.

I never would have thought we would have to puppy-proof the floor.

That'll teach us, gotta keep her in her crate when we're not around until she learns better manners!

A new addition to the family...



Irony hits again. I always said I wanted a Great Dane.


Since Ashley died last year, I figured it was just a matter of time before we'd have another dog to keep Oreo company. And, since Hubby's birthday is in June, I asked him yesterday if he wanted to get a puppy. He said, "No, not until after we graduate from college."


But that was yesterday. And this is today:







Hubby comes back from our elderly neighbor's house today and informs me that she can't keep her 9 month old Great Dane. So we now have a Great Dane puppy. And as you can see, she is a very BIG puppy. Her name is Athena.

The pic above shows how she "sits"... tell her to sit and she swings her butt over to the sofa and, well, sits her butt down! But she keeps her front legs standing on the ground. It's the funniest damn thing.

It's also funny watching her walk and run. Her gangly legs are everywhere, moving completely independent of each other flying every which way.

And here she's making introductions with Oreo. They got along well.




Then they started tearing around the yard. Athena was just galloping along, and Oreo was moving just as fast as his stubby little legs could carry him. Around and around and around in circles they went. Right through my garden. We gotta put up a fence soon!



So Hubby now has a new best friend. And the cats are even coping with it.



So one last question... anyone know how to Great-Dane-proof a house???

Funtime at 1am...

I came across simpsonizeme.com and made a Simpsons character of myself. Pretty lifelike, don'tcha think? And had to be surrounded by the 7 cats (but couldn't move them, so they're floating)

Getting closer to that 4.0 ...

Grades for the Spring term are in, and all are A's:

Texas Government 99.45%

English Comp II 97.75

Beginning Algebra 97.6

Digital Imaging (Photoshop) 96.31

Painting II 95.5

I never would have thought my lowest grade would be in an ART class! And that my highest one would be Government... I hate Government. But I guess hatred has nothing to do with comprehension in regards to getting a grade.

Hubby also had all A's for his classes (hmmm, I wonder if he was looking over my work...? hahaha)

So, we're both on the Dean's List again. woohoo.

For the Summer terms I'm now registered to be taking:

Summer I-
World Literature since 1650
United States Government

Summer II-
Intermediate Algebra
World Civilization II

No fun classes. Oh well, I have a couple artwork projects that I'm working on for customers. They'll keep me sane.

State of the Garden Address...

For apparent lack of anything else to talk about lately, I thought I'd update y'all about my garden.

Yes, it's still alive. My black thumb hasn't killed everything yet.

In fact, it's growing like weeds... er... grass, in our case. After the roto-tilling and planting I was planning to put down the black plastic garden fabric to keep the time-consuming weeding to a minimum. And then the Texas wind gusts hit. You should have seen me trying to lay these big long sheets of plastic down in 40mph winds, and digging up dirt to spread on top and hold them down. Anyway, I got a few strips laid out but need to put down more. So, grass has taken over a good portion of the garden.

Here, mixed in with the grass is rows of radishes and one of carrots.







Then here's some bush beans. The overabundant rains seemed to have stunted their growth some, but they're hanging in there.






I've had a compost heap going for about a year now, to use as fertilizer. I threw some old potatoes on it a while back, and next thing I knew I had potato plants growing out of it. So I replanted them into the garden, and they're doing well.




I also started my Big Max pumpkins, watermelon, (top of pic) and bell peppers (bottom) in pots. I'll let them grow a bit more and then plant them (then cross my fingers that they survive the transplant!)

Can you believe my grapevine is still alive? The cold snap really shocked it, but it finally sprouted new leaves again about a month ago. Gotta get a trellis for it.

So after roto-tilling up half the backyard, fighting 100 yards of plastic in the wind, digging in the dirt, watering, and spending countless (future) hours pulling grass/weeds....
I can at least boast of ONE REAL VEGGIE:

Derby talk...

Between cramming for final exams.... I've made my Kentucky Derby picks, mostly from pouring over PP's and race replays on YouTube. Let's face it, in a field of 20 horses ANYTHING can happen, and you have to pray for a clean trip, but here's who I like:

Pyro- been on his bandwagon since his closing run in the Champagne last year.
Court Vision- keeps having to run wide around the turns and still game to finish. Good traffic horse and likes distance.
Colonel John- Worries me that he's only run on polytrack, but nice work over the Church surface. I don't normally give any credit AT ALL to works since you don't know any details about them, but this is different.
Cowboy Cal- Has a chance I think. Might have the power to stay on the lead. He's got game. Questionable on dirt track though.
Big Brown- I don't know what to make of him... may be a freak, may bounce for the first time. I dunno. I still had to put some money on him, no value to win but played some exotics with him.

These and more ramblings on the Sports-talkers board.

After that, there's LOT of "maybes" in the field, and a lot of "that horse needs a compass to find the finish line." But it is the Derby, after all. No sure things.

My Budweiser longshot of the day- Big Truck.

Good luck to all, and pray for a superfecta! :)

Oh, and pray I make A's on my exams... :)