Sunday ... Day of Rest - Maybe.

TODAY should be a total day of rest for spiritual as well as bodily reasons. In theory, anyway.
However, after breakfast this morning with family, which was fun, we have a total body "couples" massage scheduled, since today is our 12th ANNIVERSARY - the Mister and me.
Thank you, thank you. Congratulations are greedily accepted.
And we can't decide if we should come home after the nice relaxing massage at 2 p.m. and then attack household chores and outside chores or fall onto the sofa and sleep until Monday when the stock market opens ... and then trudge off to work.
I think we'll wait and see how we feel after the massage. If we have turned into some sort of gelatinous goop then we'll opt for the sofa for sure.
I HAVE TO TELL YOU, the Chalk Art Festival turned out sublimely well. It was a great deal of fun and this year I actually got to do a sidewalk square.
Ben and Heather (not shown) Young, above, did a square together: an insect on a flower. They have both participated in Chalk Art since they were in the third grade. Here's another of the work further along.
Eduardo Tecum did a magnificent job as usual, portraying Barack Obama this year. So many talented artists!
Here's a photo of one artist contemplating his canvas before starting. Intimidating, indeed.
Erin Brist (I think that's her name) did the lovely lady with the flowing blond hair.
We had five featured artists and a few returning featured artists who just wanted to create something on their own this year.
Dan Chen chalked out an exact replica of his puppy - such a tiny thing to have such a large representation of itself!
My granddaughters had a great time. They brought a couple friends and dancing to Big Mama Gayle and her Sugar Daddies was something else. Woowee! The kids had inflatable "instruments" to play along with the band, hats, hula hoops, leis, and all sorts of enjoyable accouterments.
Joe Mishkin, the Balloon Man, Not Your Average Joe, created wonderful balloon hats and butterfly wings. He is a kick in the pants. I hope others followed the link to his space on the Web from the earlier post.
Here are a few more photos. The titles of them, if you click on them and open the larger shot, tells you just a little about them. The full link of photos will be at valleyartorg.blogspot.com as soon as I can get to it - femminismo

Just A Little Update.

RAN into Forest Grove tonight after work to ready the guest artist's kits for Chalk Art. Put in chalk, brushes, knee pads, whisk brooms, drinks and treats.
Things were looking good inside and out. The sidewalks in town were being swept - no fooling, with brooms - and students were unpacking chalk and getting things ready for tomorrow.
And some of the Living Leaves I hung are still on the trees. Yippee!
Tomorrow I need to be in town early to help set up signs and block off the street. It is going to be so much fun. Big Mama Gayle and Her Sugar Daddies are going to play, along with a couple of other bands and Joe Mishkin will make balloon hats. Just wait until you see the pictures!
While I was working on dinner, back at home, the setting sun caught my eye when it lit up the fence in the back yard. It looked as if someone sprayed it with red paint. Cool!
I also made a batch of Stomach Pump Cookies for energy tomorrow. Everything is in them. Oatmeal, chocolate chips, raisins, walnuts. So yummy you'll eat too many and need ... you guessed it! A stomach pump! And I put all the right ingredients in, unlike the biscuits I tried to make a few weeks ago. You can read about that by searching this blog for "biscuits."
One of the students helping at Valley Art had the greatest hair. If I were 16 again, I think I'd try it. How about you? - femminismo

Would You Remind Me, Please ...

PLEASE remind me that when I start whining and feeling sorry for myself it's MY OWN FAULT! That's where I was yesterday.
Today, because I bypassed going home and exposed myself to some fun at the First Wednesday Farmers Market, I met up with a lot of friends I hadn't seen in a while and met some new ones.
Marbella and Ramona, above, are part of Adelante Mujeres. Some of the group's many goals are increasing opportunities for family and community and advocating ecological awareness and action for a sustainable economy and healthy community. Immigrant women and families face challenges and Adelante Mujeres supports many of their ambitions by providing educational opportunities. I only wish I had been smart enough to get pictures of Bridget Cooke, executive director, and Gina Bell, market manager, two of the powerhouse women behind this group! Wasn't thinking - was talking.
Check out their Web site. And wouldn't it be fun to gather our forces and produce one work of art each (painting, sewing, pottery, jewelry - whatever it is, I know there's something you'd do that's just great!) and donate it for one of their fund-raisers? What think you, gang? Let me know. I was inspired by this idea and would love to help them.
I also scored some enchiladas to take home for dinner tonight. Excellent! They were offering these tasty treats at the market as samples, so you see where I got my menu planning. (Sorry about the blurry photo. Must have had the setting wrong.)
MORE of the sidewalks in Forest Grove have been newly redone and inset with numbers. There are also very artistic pedestrian crossings.
This is exciting news for those of us who are planning for the Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival on September 20. Downtown Forest Grove will be literally crawling with artists on hands and knees creating colorful works of art on each numbered square. Check out the link for more. (Yes, I know I could use a pedicure. There's that curly "tall" toe - just like my sister's.)
WELL, what else do I have to show you? Oh! This one thing. As I was leaving I drove past the labyrinth dedicated to Dr. Faith Gabelnick, president emerita of Pacific University. The grasses planted around the labyrinth have grown and are now at least 6 feet tall. The tops were flowing in the slight breeze of the coming evening and I had to stop and take a photo. The sign at the labyrinth says the metaphor of walking it is that of life's journey. Taking it a step at a time shuts out the distractions of the outside world and makes you concentrate on your inner thoughts. It is a very peaceful place and the tall grasses isolate the pathway so you can truly feel alone with your thoughts. That's where I'll leave you now; alone with your thoughts - femminismo