Hand Drawn Portraits

Where to begin?...........well, let us see. First thing this morning, before the sun comes up, my cat jumps up onto my bed and purrs in my ear. This I love because she is a new addition to our house and this is the first time she has said good morning to me in such a friendly manner.

A little bit later, my alarm triggers with the sound of ocean waves, sea gulls and breezes...I love the ocean and I find this a very pleasant sound to wake up to...I lay there snuggling with my cat (who's name is Tribble by the way) for a moment longer before grudgingly throwing off the covers and dragging myself out of bed. "ughh" I think to myself, "not another head-ache". I really hate when I wake up with a head-ache, which is often the case because I clench my teeth at night.

I find my robe and then quietly leave the room so as not to awaken my husband. I hear the soft jingle of Tribble's collar bell as she jumps off the bed to join me. She spends every day following me from room to room. If we somehow get separated, she will meow loudly until I call her so she can find me......very cute :o)

My first stop is my middle child's room. Her name is Julia and she has to get up earlier than everyone else because her bus arrives at 6:55 A.M. I walk into her room, switch off the fan, turn on the lights, pull off her covers and tickle her nose and ears until she wakes up. She sleeps like a log and never hears the loud annoying beeps coming from her alarm.

Once I'm sure that Julia is awake, I start down the stairs, carefully watching my step because I know that Tribble is going to zoom past me at any moment to get ahead of me. She always wants to lead the way.

The house is very quiet as I follow Tribble into the kitchen. I sigh as I look around and see that the kids have yet again neglected to do their chores the night before. The sink is full of dirty dishes, the counters have not be wiped and the garbage is over-flowing. I think to my self "what's new?" and move straight to the coffee pot to fix myself a full 12 cups, knowing that I should not drink that much coffee by myself, but not really caring.

While the coffee perks, I mosey on over to the pantry to get Tribble's food so she can have her breakfast. I try to avoid stepping on her as she rubs on my legs, anxious to have her first meal of the day. I notice the laundry piled up in the laundry room, and think to myself "I really oughta get some of that done today." knowing that it probably won't happen.

I check the coffee pot to see if there is enough in there for me to snatch before going into my office to turn on my computer. Nope... Not enough yet. I walk on into my office and flip on the computer so it can warm up a bit before I check my messages and such.

I peek up the stairs and listen for Julia, to make sure that she actually got up and didn't just crawl back under the covers when I left her room. This morning she is a good girl and is up getting ready for school. Yayy! I don't have to walk all the way back up the stairs to wake her again!

Back in the kitchen, there is just enough coffee in the pot for me to have a strong cup to start the day...I love the pause and serve function on my coffee maker :o) With a cup of coffee in hand, I make my way around the kitchen, picking up trash, gathering dirty dishes, wiping off the counters and putting stuff away. All in all, doing the chores that the girls were supposed to do last night before they went to bed. (big frown here :O(

I don't have to get dressed right away this morning, because there are no scheduled appointments or errands on my list of things to do. So I stop for a moment to enjoy my cup of coffee while looking out the window at the bunnies hopping around the yard. I think to myself that I would really like to draw something cool and colorful today but first I must work on some drawings that I've been commissioned to do......gotta work on the paying jobs before playing......and yet...here I am blogging instead of working.

Julia comes down the stairs to get her breakfast and we both make our way to the basement. Every morning she and I watch Medium together (which I've DVR'ed) while she has her breakfast. This is our special one-on-one time that we both enjoy. By 6:48, Julia gets her back pack and since it's a nice day today, she walks to the bus stop. I give her a kisses and hugs and wish her a good day at school. Tribble and I watch from the window as she walks to the corner.....One kid is now off to school.

Now I go back upstairs, carrying Tribble, to wake my youngest daughter Andrea. She is my 8 year old wild child who looks like my mother with her wild curly hair but acts like my father with his onry sense of humor.

Andrea's curly hair is splayed across her face and her poison ivy covered arm is thrown over her head. She is so cute when she sleeps. I put Tribble on the bed and gently tickle Andrea's nose. She pretends to be asleep, but I can tell she is playing possum again this morning and I pretend not to know that she is playing possum. Finally she jerks her head up and throws her sparkling eyes wide open and giggles when I jump in fake surprise. Once again, she has fooled me. Or, at least she believes she has fooled me and I love to see the joy on her face when she thinks she's pulled one over on me.

Lately, Andrea has been frustrated with Tribble because she won't snuggle with her. So this morning, I decide to make Andrea feel good. I say to her "Since when does Tribble sleep with you?" Andrea looks at me with her blue eyes wide and says "You didn't just bring Tribble in here with you?" I struggle with the fact that I'm about to lie, but I really want to see the happiness in Andrea's face so I innocently say "No, she was sitting here snuggling with you when I came in." Andrea's face lights up with joy and she exclaims "Tribble Loves Me!" I know at that moment, that the little white lie was worth the tiny mark it might leave behind on my soul.

Back in the kitchen, Andrea and my oldest daughter, Samantha, are bickering over who gets to eat the last of the left over pancakes.....Andrea wins :o). Unfortunately, I'm not June Cleaver and I don't cook breakfast very often, usually only when we have company and even then, my husband most often cooks it.

Andrea eats the pancakes and Samantha whips up some eggs for herself. She is in a rush as usual. She has to get to work this morning and then more than likely has a college class tonight. I'm not sure what her schedule is today. It gets harder and harder to keep up with my 19 soon to be 20 year old. I'm just happy that she is still living here at home so I can at least catch a glimpse of her every now and again.

My husband finally makes an appearance. Sometime this morning he has gotten up, showered, eaten breakfast, packed a bag and is now headed out the door. He probably won't be home until late tonight because he going to a game with his co-workers.....maybe I'll get to talk to him on the phone for a few minutes while he is in between GM dealer contacts at some point today.

Samantha rushes out the door with a quick hug and kiss and then my phone starts ringing. First it's my cell phone. I pick it up just as the caller hangs up. I notice that it is my friend Tori and I know that she will call my home phone next so I go to grab the home phone, but of course, it's not on the base. Someone has taken off with it again and I can't find it as usual. We have 4 cordless phones in this house and I can never find one when it's ringing! Luckily, I've plugged in a phone that has a cord and nobody can run off with it. I snatch the phone up with a sluggish "hello" (because I've only had 2 cups of coffee, I'm still a little sleepy this morning) and just as I suspected, it is Tori. She's been going through some business difficulties lately and she wants to talk about it this morning. I poor myself another cup of coffee, send Andrea down to her bus stop and sit down for a long conversation. After only a few minutes, Tori's other line beeps and she has to go.

I poor myself another cup of coffee and sit down at my computer. No really interesting messages in my email and nothing grabs my attention on facebook. So I check my list of things to do, pay a few bills, order some signs for my Dad and think "Now I should work on my artwork." But for some reason I start typing this blog. I'm not even sure why. It's not a very interesting blog but what the hay. At least I can now say that I'm a blogger.

Now my phone is ringing, my cat is playing with my fingers as I try to type this and my neck hurts along with my head. Cell phones ringing...it must be Tori calling again.

10:20 in the morning, the sun is shining. I'm going to get a hot-pack for my neck, some ibuprofen for my head and I'm going back to bed.

Maybe I will follow up later with "An Afternoon in the Life of an Artist"

http://BarbaraPortraits.com