Please Meet Bradley

Chapter One

Hello. My name is Bradley. I already know what you are thinking. Odd name for a girl, huh? Well, I got my maternal grandmother's maiden name. I was just lucky that way because my grandmother's family had pretty much dwindled to nothing. My mom figured naming me after them would be a great way to honor them. When I was very small, I resented having a boy's name. As I grew older, I began to appreciate the coolness of it. I valued having a name no other girl had. It made me strong. It made me independent. I recently graduated from university and scored a fabulous new job. Today, I am packing to move to London. The thought of living and working in London makes me insane with excitement. It has been my dream forever and before me, it was my aunt's dream and before her, who knows whose dream it was? My skin will hardly contain me. Admittedly, the thought of packing all of my worldly possessions in order to set up housekeeping 3,000 miles away makes me insane in another way. I hate packing especially since I have issues with being easily overwhelmed. Still, this must be done in order for me to begin my new life. Sure, I am sad to leave my old life. I have a great life here with a family that loves me and loads of friends from high school and college but the call of a new adventure beckons me. Okay, back to packing. We will speak again later.

Valentine Psychology

I have been making some Valentine vignettes. This top one depicts a self assured woman. All of the lovely colors indicate her happiness. The fogginess of some of the hearts indicate that she has a past but it is not bothering her. It is just that...past and somewhat forgotten. She knows that everything makes up the whole package. Without a past, she would not be the woman she is now.

The many layers of the one above indicates this woman has not walked a simple road. There was darkness at times but she thought she knew love. It was not real. She only thought it was at the time. If it had been real, it would have been red and not pink. She lets it bother her unlike the other woman in the first vignette. This woman is a bit old fashioned indicated by the lace. She should banish the darkness, focus on the experience of it then, learn from it. She will eventually. She is young and there is still lots of time. Someday, she will be like the other woman in the first depiction. Okay, 'nuf of those vignettes...on to the cute stuff.

What would you do if you never could use your laptop computer because 'someone' is using it for a warm bed all of the time? 'This Boy' (remember his theme song?) has developed a liking for hanging out with my 'puter. I tried to trade him an electric blanket set on the lowest setting but he soundly rejected it. I actually think he prefers this hard bed. Hmm...maybe 'this boy' has back problems. Just a thought. I cannot imagine how he would possibly hurt his back though since he never lifts a claw.

Squirrel Super Bowl!

Does it ever sound as if a couple of teams of squirrels are playing the super bowl on your roof? That is how it sounded on my roof today. Here is how it goes...quietness, suddenly a roll, then running, running, running, stop! Quietness, a roll, running, running, running. Their little feet sound as if they are stomping. Such small creatures are able to make such loud and reverberating sounds! I had to go outside at one point to see if there were at least 100 squirrels on my roof. When I checked, there were only four!

Illumination

Lately, I have been obsessed with lighting. It is so much fun to look at light fixtures. Knowledge could be depicted as a tree as it was in the Bible with its fruit being gems of truth. I see knowledge as a light. Stand in the light and warm yourself. The world will become even more awesome.

The Fashionmongers

Do you like to watch the awards ceremonies like the Golden Globes? I do because I love the fashion. When I was small, my older sister and I used to 'design' clothing. We had so much fun drawing dresses, jackets, pants, hats, jewelry and anything else we could think of to design. We would even design hairstyles. I must admit I still do this in reality. My hairstylist would tell you this too. I use her prowess to achieve the look I want by telling her to snip this and snip that, put a foil here and take one out there. I know I have no cutting skills and I definitely have no dying skills. I have done it before to my own hair and to others. It might look "okay" but once she gets a hold of my hair again, she tells me that I did it all wrong. So I just leave the technicalities to her now while I have the vision.

The Mysterious Nature of the Cat

Cats are mysterious little creatures. I find them to be immensely interesting. When my Maxie passed away a few years ago, I assumed incorrectly that someone would step up to the plate and fill his alpha shoes. No one did. I did not have any other alphas in the household. I only thought I did. Claude, Ollie and Nigel were not alphas. I thought Nigel might be an alpha but as it turns out, he is just rowdy. Now that Claude is gone, I still have no alphas. That is okay. We do not need one. I am the boss after all...well, sort of. Claude was my special boy in the sense that he was always with me. He wanted me to hold him. He wanted to follow me. If I left the room, he would come find me. If I was at home, we were never apart. At night, he would lie beside me with his head on the pillow. He would purr to beat the band! He was always a very happy fellow. Ollie must have been envious of all of that. Since Claude has been gone, guess who has taken up that burden now if it is a burden? Ollie. He has been nearly inseparable with me today. Yes, they are mysterious little creatures.

To My Sweet Boy

I never will forget the night you came into my life. Almost nineteen years ago, on a new moon, June night which meant it was very, very dark, I went to meet you in  the country far from the city lights. I loved you from the first second I saw you as you came bounding down the back steps of your house and out into a field of tall grass in which you so obviously felt completely at home. I picked you up,I looked into your sweet eyes, I held you and I never let go...until today. Today, I said goodbye to you at 3:45 in the afternoon on a day that so starkly compares to the day we met. That is as it should be. On the day we said goodbye, the skies were cold and gray. Again, I looked into your eyes except this was for the last time. I tried to memorize every aspect of them. I hope you know how much I loved you and always will. I am sure you knew. Someday or somenight, I will be with you again. I wonder what kind of day that one will be. Will it be warm? Will it be cold? Until then, my sweet, sweet boy, please know I will love you forever and I that am keeping your booboo lamb safe for you. Bye, sweet boy.

I Need Flowers!

When it is dreary and raining, do you ever just need flowers? I do. At that time, I go in search of flowers even if it means I have to run up to the store and buy some. Today, I just made some.

Not My Style But...

I tried to venture from my normal creations. It did turn out creepy and that is what I was aiming for but I do not think it is something I will be doing again anytime soon. I like pretty stuff. At least I did give her a bow and some nice cattails for background plants. This reminds me of a movie that I saw when I was a kid. It was called "House on Haunted Hill" with Vincent Price. As a result of watching that movie, I was terrified of seeing a walking skeleton for years after that. I even got banned from watching movies, period, because it caused such a hub-bub in our household. I could not sleep by myself because I thought a skeleton might peak through the window at me. Every once in awhile, someone will ask me if I am still terrified of skeletons. You know what? I might be just a little bit.

Christmas Crafts

I thought I had posted my last post regarding Christmas 2010 but I found these pictures of the bracelets I made as gifts. I love to make bracelets and earrings. Those are my favorite pieces of jewelry to make. These bracelets, honestly, look prettier in person than they do in this picture. I have grown so lazy with my picture taking. Use your imagination to envision these bracelets as being much shinier and sparklier than they appear here.

There is a cobalt blue one, a spectator black and white one, an orange and bronze one, a pink one and a topaz colored one.

Multiple Uses for a Tea Cozy

Have I ever mentioned that this girl also does stand up comedy?

Christmas Finale!

Tonight is the grand finale of the 12 days of Christmas. I like these patriotic drummers. I think the bright colors often used to depict the American Revolution are very pretty. It was not a pretty time in history but the vibrant colors capture the intense feelings the colonists had about achieving their freedom to govern themselves. If I was getting a history degree as many archivists have, I would focus on either Tudoresque England or Colonial America. I am certain either of those two are often chosen as the focus of history degrees.

My niece went to San Francisco for New Year's to visit her boyfriend's family. Here are a couple of pictures she texted to me.

Here are some pictures from Christmas Day.

My recently widowed sister, Carla and my brother-in-law, Tommy. I think they are about to watch tv but I am not sure. Maybe they were looking for a football game.

In this picture, I see my nephew-in-law, Jeff, my niece Andrea's boyfriend, Patrick, my sister, Terri and my niece, Andrea (I think my brother-in-law is hiding behind Andrea. I can say 'my brother-in-law' now without specifying which one because I only have one now. It seems so strange.).

My two grand nieces, Victoria and Elizabeth playing a game. I cannot remember what they called it but it seemed like loads of fun. It was a word game. I never got the chance to play. Vic likes the same kind of boots that I do.

Is it 10 pipers or 10 lords or 11 pipers or 11 lords?

I cannot think straight anymore not that I ever could think all that well. I hope I have the pipers and the lords all straightened out now. These things really got a lot jazzier as time passed since their subdued beginning. I think I may try to put them all on a single page to print then apply with mod podge onto a canvas. It could look interesting because they are all different sizes and colors. One more on Wednesday and the 12 days will be over.

12 Days Are A Lot!

Okay, somewhere along the way my counting got off. I know why too. The days of Christmas go from sundown to sundown. I should have counted Christmas night as the beginning of the first day of Christmas but I was still celebrating at that time and had not made anything to post. Okay, I am catching up today. This is the ninth day of Christmas. January 5 should be the wind up or the twelfth night. So here are both the 8 and 9 days. Don't you just love these maids? The cow looks slightly worried.

Happy New Year 2011

I would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year, 2011.

and also, the seventh day of Christmas.