Peg Kerr's Journal

Me, to Fiona : “So, IF I started thinking about dating again, what sort of guy do you think—“
Fiona (adamantly): “No.”
Me: “No, really, I just wondered—“
Fiona: “No. I’m not going there.”
Me: “Fiona, this is purely theoretical. You’re a mathematician, right? You can deal with the theoretical. Think of it like, um, pairing numbers.”
Fiona: “I happen to dislike even numbers.”

At which point, I cracked up and abandoned the conversation. No dating advice will be forthcoming from my daughter. (And it’s really true. She likes odd numbers better than even numbers. She likes prime numbers best of all, bless her nerdy heart.)

In other news, I donated 460 books to the Friends of the Library yesterday. They were mystery hardbacks, a genre I hardly ever read (except for a few selected authors). Many of them Rob BOUGHT at the Friends of the Library book sales over the years (he would go at the end of the day and bring home grocery bags full of books that he'd gotten for $1 each--uncaring of my shrill complaints: "Where are we going to PUT them all?") I hope to consolidate three of the remaining bookcases into the open shelves, which would allow me to remove bookcases that are sitting in the archway between my living room and my dining room. Then I can go shopping for new furniture.

Rob loved his books so, so much, and I did, too, but the number that he collected was excessive. It is incredibly painful to get rid of some. And hopeful. I sent the Snapchat below to the girls, and Delia called me up to console me and tell me that she was proud of me. And I am, and yet...ugh. I slept badly last night.

Week 37: Curse
The campaign is having some difficulties.



This card is about how the fanart contest I had planned for EverTwixt ran into some problems. The day the contest was launched, Kelly (the owner of EverTwixt) fell down the stairs, resulting in a concussion and broken arm. An inauspicious start. We decided it was due to the malign influence of Baba Yaga, the nemesis of the stories on the website. We also determined that the contest had to be rejiggered, because we weren't getting the response to the ads that we'd hoped.

Week 38: Redesign
I spent the week redesigning the contest, hoping to still find our mystery artist out there somewhere.



This card represents both the fact that I redesigned the particulars of the contest, since Kelly was unavailable (landing pages, email automation), and the silhouette also represents that mysterious artist we still hoped to find.

Week 39: Certification
I took the test and finished the Hubspot Academy Inbound Marketing course.



The Inbound Marketing course is built on the four stages of inbound marketing as Hubspot sees them: Attract, Convert, Close, and Delight.

Week 40: Treats
I begin designing the website for Barking Good Healthy Treats.



Week 41: Girls
Meals with my girls mean love.



This combined two Snapchats: Fiona and I send this a Snapchat to Delia informing her of our brunch at Turtle Bread Bakery. Delia also sent us a Snapchat, showing the set up of her table at her new apartment in Eau Claire. The vase of peonies were the ones I brought with me when we moved Delia in.

Delia's home for the holidays, which means it's manicure time. Since it's the holiday weekend and I don't have any job search meetings set for awhile, I can be a bit more whimsical. Today's theme: The Marauders' Map. I did it this time. Got a little wobbly on my right thumb, but I re-did it and it looks all right. Rather pleased with the overall effect.



Delia's is more artistic, featuring fall-colored dots and a turkey.

Week 7: Fall
The beautiful and familiar are falling away, leaving bare spaces for winter's approach.



I think this may be one of my favorite cards I've ever made.

The original title for this was 'Leaf Fall' which I originally visualized as one word and then realized that wouldn't work. And because I'm limiting myself to just one word as titles for these cards, I played around until I realized that 'Fall' could refer both to the season and the falling of the leaves. Excellent.

One of the impetuses for this was a discussion I had with Delia about an art project she was working on for her Introduction to Drawing class. She was to draw a common object (she used a hole punch) and then draw it different ways over the course of fourteen days, using a different medium each time. The trick is to keep finding new ways to convey the object when you start to run out of ideas. I suggested that the line could be conveyed by negative space. Two of the ideas I gave her were 1) to use pinpricks through the paper to outline her subject, and then 2) to use cut outs: negative space in other words, like you see in some of the marvelously ornate pumpkins that people have been carving the past several years for Halloween: you suggest the line of an object by illuminating what's around it.

The autumn here has been gorgeous, and the fall colors just about reached their height last week. Even as I was enjoying the colors, I've been feeling increasingly uneasy about what's coming next. I was struck by the very strong correlation between what I'm going through, with this job search, and the leaf fall all around me. When I was laid off, I had my severance period, I could enjoy my suddenly free time, take walks, visit with my family, etc. A lot of people who are laid off initially treat this time as a mini vacation. But I'm aware that world I lived in of my job (routines, friendships, tasks) has fallen away. It felt a little unreal at first, but it really feels real now. My severance period will eventually be coming to an end, and then my income will drop precipitously when I go on unemployment. And if I can't find a job then...

So I see the beautiful leaf fall and at the same time, the bare spaces left behind that are growing. Winter is coming. Hard times are coming. Have I stored up enough acorns to see my family through?

I loved, loved, loved making this card, and to do so, I used a method I've never tried before. I cut out small delicate leaves from my collected images, but instead of gluing them on the card, I used them as templates; I laid them over the card and drew tiny brush strokes of paint away from the leaf edges, first in white and then with a wash of autumnal colors over the white (the color on black alone wouldn't have shown up). Then I peeled the leaves away, leaving the finely edged outline of a leaf behind. Finally, I added a few, spare touches of gold.

I had a tough time capturing a good scan of the card with the scanner app I have on my iPod touch. Reflections of light on the black kept washing out the paint. Finally got a good one on my screened in porch (indirect light) and toned down the brightness to make the scrim of white reflection disappear while keeping the leaf color true, but that made the card look almost as if it is deep purple rather than black. Then I had to monkey with other parameters to make the card look black again.

Made this card yesterday, as part of a lovely day I spent with minnehaha K. Thanks for the use of your paints! And I really enjoyed your company.

Some of you may know that Delia has been studying jewelry design with elisem (fabulous teacher) for nine years now. She started out as an apprentice but now has achieved the status of journeyman.

Elise is having an online sale, and a little over a dozen of Delia's creations are included (including three wandering wire necklace crowns). Please go admire and buy! Remember that you are helping a very bright and beloved daughter with her college expenses.

Thanks!

(And if you like the work she's doing, please leave a comment here for Delia. Creators can always use artistic encouragement!)

I like my new ring, and the manicure that Delia gave me to show it off.

because it's late and I'm exhausted.

Rob is out of the hospital. He finally got out yesterday afternoon.

We learned on Monday that Delia is officially a college student again. Yay! We leave tomorrow night--Rob's brother Phil is coming from Eau Claire to pick us up with Delia's stuff, for complicated reasons, and then we move her into the dorm Thursday morning.

Today, Fiona, Delia and I had one last Afternoon Tea at Cafe Latte to celebrate. Sorry the selfie's blurred.

5:40 a.m.: Alarm goes off.

6:40 a.m.: Get into car with Rob and Delia

7:00 a.m.: Drop Rob at hospital for antibody infusion. Drive Delia to another location for a medical appointment.

7:20 a.m.: Delia and I stop for breakfast

8:00 a.m.: Delia has her medical appointment. Receives her prescription for a light box for seasonal affective disorder. Appointment lasts until 8:50 a.m.

9:00 a.m. Drop Delia off at home

9:10 a.m. Drop off prescription for light box at medical supply company

9:30 a.m. Arrive at work. As I work, monitor Rob's progress in the hospital (via phone) and Delia's progress (via email) in trying to get her student status unstuck with her college (see previous entry).

2:45 p.m. Leave work

3:00 p.m. Pick up Rob, who is tired, hungry and rather grumpy. Also irked that they can't take his PICC line out: he is extremely low on platelets and will have to go back into the hospital on Friday and possibly Monday to get some.

3:30 p.m. Arrive home. Rob decides he really really really must have pizza.

4:00 p.m. Arrive at Little Caesar's Pizza and buy something totally grease-laden that he just has to have.

4:30 p.m. Bring pizza home. Rob asks, "Don't you have to pick up the Open Arms delivery on Wednesdays?" Curse a lot. Get back into the car.

4:45 p.m. Arrive at Open Arms and request this week's allotment of food.

5:00 p.m. Arrive home with the food, which Rob and Delia put away.
At this point Rob informs me that Delia is hosting a birthday party for a friend at our house tomorrow night and has invited 30 friends via Facebook. This is the first I have heard of it.

5:10 p.m. Go to Delia's room and ask, in a rather shaky voice, what, exactly, she expects me to do to help with this party. She looks alarmed. "It won't be 30 people! Promise! Maybe two people will show up, and that's just because we texted them. We can serve spaghetti. It'll be easy!"

5:30 p.m. Go out on an additional errand. At this point I decide I deserve dinner out myself, dagnabbit, and so I eat at Chipotle.

7:00 p.m. back home. Make previous entry and this one. Still to come tonight: at 8:15 I'll be flushing Rob's PICC line with heperin (?) to keep his blood from clotting, a ten to twenty minute ritualistic procedure (involving a fair number of steps to ensure sterility). This has to be done at least once every twenty-four hours.

After that, I am probably going to be curling up with a good book. Somehow I doubt I'll get around to doing laundry, washing the dishes or balancing my checkbook. And nobody better disturb me, dammit.

We can't spend this VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY with her because Miss Delia is off on a mission trip with kids from her church in Colorado. But we'll celebrate when she gets back!

In the meantime, here are some pictures that we displayed during her graduation party, both of the adorable baby she was, and the beautiful young woman she has become. So proud of you, honey!

A few days after the fact, but this past week has been crazy. Delia is now a high school graduate! We are so very proud of her.



Her high school graduating class was quite small: about thirty-five students or so. It was the most personal graduation ceremony I've ever attended. Each student has the same advisor all the years they attend, and that advisor gives the graduate a diploma and told a story or two about them.

There was no valedictorian. Instead, any senior who wished to was allowed to give a speech, and Delia was one of them. She gave a three minute speech, and she was poised and confident.

Hurray, class of 2014!