Exhausted by corn

First off, the steps to my front door rotted through at the platform.

So, we called Richard in to build me a new set. I got the opportunity to request a wider platform and more shallow steps. So happy with my new set of stairs!

 Pics of my old and new steps, and the wood spirit face that features at the bottom of my railing post!

Freaky, huh?

Now, on to the corniness of the weekend. . .
Julie and I got the privilege of bringing the rest of the corn crates down to our festival site on Sunday morning. Upon starting to go down the sidewalk I heard Julie say from behind me "Oh, oh, oh no. . .no. . .Jamie . .Oh man!" and I turned around and saw this. . .they fell down off that cart exactly like you see in the picture.

Here's a couple more candid shots from our booth. . .

 And, to tie it up. . .I bought the first and really thought about buying the second. . .or maybe making it myself!

Air plant hanging for my swing

Old gas can bird house

WOW. . .long time no see

So. . .yeah. . .

Been a while.

Haven't really felt like writing in the last few months.

Been pretty busy.

Well, that's not completely true.

Never did finish up the last blog about Costa Rica. Needless to say, it was a great trip.

Had another great mission trip after that to Hayesville, NC. Painted another mural.

Vacation Bible School came after that.
Great times.
Great t-shirt design if I do say so myself (I admit to a personal bias as the designer).

Couldn't have been any better.
Oh wait, yeah it could have.
I could have not fallen backwards out of a pool deck lounge chair at the City of Winter Garden pool.
Fallen backwards, down a concrete wall, onto a concrete sidewalk, on my head.

I was laughing at Matt, and the predicament above that he found himself in. In fact, the chair fell backwards at the precise moment I laughed at his girlish scream of "you're pulling my chest hair!"

The next week, nothing happened.
The week after that, nothing happened.
The week after that, Youth Week, lots happened. And it ended with me playing Putt Putt Golf.
Second hole, tripped, lost my balance, and snapped my left pinky at the knuckle.

I don't have a picture of the event. This pic was taken right before my turn. The aftermath is all a blur, I know that I fainted, I know that they called an ambulance. I also know that they had to take me out on a sitting stretcher, because I could not walk without fainting again.

Did I receive a simple cast and get sent on my way?
No.
I got three nights in the hospital, lots of pain killers, and oh yeah. . .
SURGERY. . .A PLATE AND FIVE SCREWS!

 

That happened in August. The second week of August. It is now October 31st, and I still can't straighten out my finger. I'm still on pain meds.

Oh. . .I almost forgot. . .

Russ, Lana, and Leya got to come down to see us twice within the past five months! YAAAAYYY!
The first time was a birthday surprise for mom.

The second was for Leya's first birthday.

 

I also got a dog. . .Toby. . .so. . . .

Everything's great!

Just Jamie

I have no idea what the etiquette for writing a blog might be. The idea of sitting down to write my thoughts on the in and out, daily occurrence, general lah-di-da, ho-hum-ness of my life seems a tad bit ridiculous to my way of thinking. However, the idea of having these writings to look back on in later years also strikes a cord in my heart. I wish I had more examples of writing from family and friends who've passed on.

My cousin blogs. You can find her at http://hopeabound.blogspot.com/. She's the main reason I'm blogging. I love getting to read about her daily life and that of her twin girls. I wish I got to see them more, but reading about them and seeing their pictures is almost as good.

So, here I am.

I'm on the cusp of 30 years old. How dreadful. . .lol. I don't mean that.

Mom at 2011 Cane Grinding 

My life is not a normal one, I'll grant that. I spend my days taking care of my mom, who lives out her life dealing with the difficulties of being confined to a wheelchair. She came to this situation late in life. I'll tell that story another time. Needless to say it's extremely frustrating to her and to my dad and I. It's not something that any of us had in mind when it came to how the two of them would live out their retirement years.



 So, I am a caretaker. From 8:30a to 12:30p most days I run her around on errands in her specialized wheelchair van. From grocery shopping to taking her to get her hair cut, we spend a lot of time in the van. This also includes managing our 25 rental properties that the family owns. My mom and I are extremely close, and I'm very glad that I am in the position where I can be as much help to her as she was to me when I was growing up.

From 12:30p through the rest of the day I'm employed by my church where I do a myriad of tasks, most of which do not actually fall under my "job description" but which I undertake with no qualms. . .ok maybe a few qualms. . .but not a whole lot. I am "paid" to create and run the Power Point slideshows for both our 9:00a and 11:15a worship services. I also created and maintain our two websites as well as our facebook accounts.

I'm also a youth counselor, and so a lot of my extra time is took up with youth group activities. Needless to say you'll probably end up seeing lots of photos from our events and mission trips in later posts.

But the name of my blog is "Eraser Marked Soul". This refers to the fact that I am an artist. . .with a caveat. I am an artist and I fully understand and give complete credit for all my artwork to God. The Creator works through me in all my work especially my art. As such, He is constantly at work on my soul, creating me to be what can only be a perfect creation when I am with Him again in the end. So, from hereon until that end, I am a work in progress. . .
So, to leave you with an idea of just what some of that art looks like, here's a pic of a recent project that I and the children's ministry here at the church put together for their Christmas play. It's tissue paper glued onto poster board sheets. I then drew out the letters onto white bulletin board paper and cut out the odd shapes to make it look like stained glass windows.