FRIDAY MAY 26, 2006 "OF COURSE IT IS MOM!"

Friday, May 26, 2006
"Of course it is, mom"
I believe I have mentioned several times before how overly clever my 3 year old daughter is BUT really, she just is too clever and a little smarty pants for being only 3, it scares me!!!
SO yesterday morning I took my kids to meet my mom in Tulsa before I went to work and we were listening to the radio!! Well that raggae sounding song "Temperature" came on, and I changed it because frankly, they play the song too much and its getting old!!
When I did my daughter got so upset and shouted that I had just changed "her most favorite song in the world". A few minutes later I changed it back and the song was over and I told her I was sorry that the song was over.....and she says with all the assertiveness in the world "OF COURSE IT IS, MOM, BECAUSE YOU CHANGED IT!!!" and she was mad the entire way to Tulsa.
Daughters.....what I can say....I think I am paying for my raising with her, that is for certain!!!

FRIDAY MAY 26, 2006 "MOM I KNOW JESUS IS REAL"

Friday, May 26, 2006
"Mom, I know Jesus is real"
okay....so most things I love to write about revolve around my children and I suppose this is because they are just so stinking funny!!!
My son Daxon is playing baseball this year and his team is #1 in the league right now and he is pumped about it!!!
The other night they won their 9th game in a row and on the way home he said he knew that Jesus was real and I replied, of course he is real. Then he says, "you want to know why I know that Jesus is real?" and I said "sure" and he says, "because when another team starts scoring points and a kid gets up to bat I pray, 'Oh Lord Jesus please let this kid strike out' and everytime I do, the kid strikes out"............HOW FUNNY IS THAT!!!
I can just see him in left field with his hand son kness, ball cap on, ball glove on, and just praying away!!! I always wondered why he didn't pay attention out there- now I know- he is too busy PRAYING!!!
The "Lord Jesus" part really cracked me up!! I think he has heard that way too many times!!
TO end this blog- I have to add-
GO SKIATOOK FIREBALLS!!!!

TUESDAY MAY 9, 2006 "WORKING OR WORKING OUT"

Tuesday, May 09, 2006
"Working or Working Out"
Okay, we all desire to have children who are clever, quick witted, smart, outgoing, athletic and beautiful....but what if the clever part is a little too prominent in one child???
That is certainly the case with my 3 year old daughter, Mady, she picks up on any and everything and just states her opinion and synopsis on things 24/7. She pretty much runs our house and she pretty much knows it as well!!
The other day a friend of mine, a stay at home mom, saw Mady at school and asked her what I had been up to.....Mady's reply.....as she shrugs, rolls her eyes, crosses her arms and says with all the power in the world....."Oh my mom, she is so busy, she is either working and working out....all the time, I'm sick of it". YES!!! SHE IS ONLY 3!!!!
So today I run into this mom while dropping Mady off at JOY Preschool and she asks me how work has been going and I tell her how busy I have been and she said she assumed so because Mady had informed everyone how I work all the time or workout all the time and she told me what Mady had said!!
Not only was I shocked at how Mady felt about my working all the time and spending some time in the evening at the gym (now that I work I cant workout during the day like I used to while the kids were at school) but the fact that she has the ability to express her irritation with the change in my schedule!!
So I guess my point is that we might (or shall I say I) might want to rethink all that we wish for in a child, being too smart, means they pick up on your hectic life and are not afraid to voice their opinions about it!!
But I always said I wanted a daughter who would stand up for herself and tell people how she felt, so I guess I got what I wanted, we will see what the future produces for her, maybe she will be an attorney!!

May 3, 2006 I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!! I AM FINISHED!! GOODBYE SCHOOL, HELLO WORLD!!!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006
I DID IT!!!! I DID IT!!! I AM FINISHED!!! GOODBYE SCHOOL, HELLO WORLD!!!
My letter reads............
"Dear Ashley, Congratulations. Your capstone project has been accepted by the Capstone Committee. The Committee was particularly impressed with the following:
- Well-written paper
- Strong display of the importance of the arts and management skills and the connection to your own personal identity and growth through lived experiences.
Congratulations again on your successful completion of this process.
Sincerely,
The Capstone Committee"
So about one million pounds have now been lifted off my shoulders!!! Look out world- here I come- degree in hand....finally, after all these years of hardwork, sleepless nights, raising kids, meeting deadlines, writing reports, reading textbooks and paper and after paper and numbers after numbers after numbers- I AM FINISHED!!!!
SIGH!!!!!!!!!!

April 14, 2006 WHAT IS ART??!!??!!??

Friday, April 14, 2006
WHAT IS ART???!!!???!!! Current mood: confused
WHAT IS ART???
So that is the question that lies herein. After seven rather lengthy but enlightening years of getting my college eduation I am ultimately stuck with this question. I am taking Art Theory I and Western Art History 1400-Present this semester and these two classes have my head spinning!! All the questions and so many answers!! I mean with Construction Management- it is cut and dry- the nubmers make the rules- not people!!!
I have loved most of the classes but this semester, with the completion of my Senior Capstone Project, I find myself searching ever more critically for the answer to the question of what makes ART art???
I respect and enjoy reading the arguments and theories of Various 20th century Artists such as Henri Matisse who said in 1931 , "What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity", I also admire the works of Claes Oldenburg who in 1961 said, "I am for art that embroils itself with the everyday crap & still comes out on top", Most recently I fell in love with sayings of Jasper John in his interview with David Sylvester in 1965, he said, "I think that one wants from painting a sense of life. The final suggestion, the final statement, has to be not a deliberate statement but a helpless statement". Then there is the deep thinking artist Wassily Kandinsky who said, ""When religion, science, and morality are shaken [...], when the external supports threaten to collapse, then man's gaze turns away from the external toward himself." Kandinsky focuses his theory on the link between art and man's soul. He also created his own Color Theory that suggests that each separate color has a significant and profound impact on man and man's emotions.
The entire modern art era suggests that the meaning of art lies in the eyes of the beholder. It is not the painter but the viewer who interprets what an artwork really means.
With that I am at a loss. I have always been a huge fan of Renaissance Painters and of course, the works of Michelangelo, specifically The Sistine Chapel. WIth the new Modern Art movement and the arguments I mentioned above, I find myself moving away from the Renaissance way of thinking and embracing the new Modern way of thinking and perceiving art and the artists that define this era.
I will go as far to suggest that trash can be art- because in a way trash can impact one's emotion- usually in a vulger way- but it is still thought and emotion provoking- am I right to feel this way or am I just caught up in the ways of the Pop and Modern Art movement......that is the question of the day????