My BFF "Big Pink"

Recently I have acquired a new friend. Her full legal name is Ms. Pink Pearl; but to me she is my "Big Pink". We hang out at least 5 days and nights a week. She has my back. If I make a mistake she tells me to just hold on tightly ~ she is there to help me see the way of my error and get it fixed. Whatever the challenge, she is right there by my side. She has seen me angry and frustrated; confident and relieved.

I love her deeply at this moment. And I have this feeling that as the days and weeks progress, my love for her will only deepen.

And come Friday, August 14th she and I are definitely going to be celebrating; my final math Final and her retirement!

Status.....CO-ED!!!!

When I grow up..............
Guess who is the cutest college co-ed in Portland? Yep....ME!!



Tuesday, after taking a card class with my favorite card making teacher Dawn Sorem, Mandii and I went out for lunch. Unscrewing the top off my drink, it revealed my fortune:



After reading that, I knew my months of pondering the possibility was right. That afternoon I took the placement tests and tomorrow I meet with my advisor for a degree in Gerontology. I am so excited!!!!

I don't think they use No. 2 pencils anymore, but....... I do get a new sexy backpack and a picture ID that gives me $2 off at the movies!!!!

Cheerleaders and Giorgos My Art Buddy Makes His Debut

Dayna the creator of the Art Buddy Invitational had ask that we forward a picture of our final Art Buddy creation. I sent her mine along with a story as to what happened the day of his photo shoot. She is blogging about each one as they come in. You need to check out Dayna's Blog. They are all so different and unique. Today she posted mine along with the story I had shared with her and also the REAL picture of the man that inspired mine.

Giorgos: The Lost Greek God



Bobbie. Bobbie somehow discovered me through my offering classes in The Artist's Way and signed up for my winter session at the beginning of this year. Well, from the moment Bobbie entered my life she has been a bright spot. Always cheerful and positive, she has gobbled up anything I've proposed or offered. She lives in Portland and made the weekly drive to Salem for twelve weeks. She took classes I offered in Portland and one time drove to Salem for a class with two hours notice! That's dedication. But the other thing about Bobbie is that she is loyal, committed to her friends, and she's funny, too.

Bobbie recently returned from a two-week trip to Greece. While there, she met a guy named Giorgos and Giorgos became the inspiration behind Bobbie's Art Buddy. When Bobbie sent me a photo of Giorgos, she said: Here is the real Greek God Giorgos that brought about the inspiration for my Art Buddy. Is he too gorgeous or what?

Yes, Bobbie, he's gorgeous. But there's more. The best part of Bobbie's Art Buddy is the story behind the story. Bobbie said I could share the adventures of Giorgos (the Art Buddy one). After you read the story, then see the photos!

Hi Dayna~
I have to tell you my funny story about what happened to my art buddy today.
Well......

I have been working on my Greek God "Giorgos" (pronounced Yor-gos and means George) for the past 4 nights. I completed him last night. Today was a preplanned walk around the esplanade with John a friend from high school. Since Giorgos is finished I'm thinking it would be a great time and place to take his first photo.

John and I meet at the Goodwill Store on SE 6th & Clay so that we will have easy parking. I have Giorgos in a plastic bag but I also have my Greek pictures in another bag. I decide to put the pictures bag in my purse first since they weigh a lot and then the Giorgos bag on top, not zipping it cuz I don't want to smash my Greek God. We head out going down MLK/Grand toward the Hawthorne Bridge.

We get half way across the bridge when I touch the top of my bag and realize that the Giorgos bag is not there any longer. My heart sinks. John and I turn back to retrace our steps but knowing that we have already gone a ways and that there are a lot of people out today my heart is a little sad. John tries to assure me that we will find Giorgos. I am thinking that I could possibly try to recreate him as I saw one of the wooden buddies at Collage last Friday night.

Anyway....

We go back across the bridge..no Giorgos. We turn to head south on MLK/Grand..block one, block two, block three....no Giorgos. Then....two blocks away we spot one of the huge cement trash bins and an old man with a walker. He appears to be holding a white bag. John hollers, "Hey, that's her bag." The old dude says "Are you sure....tell me what's in it." I proceed to tell. The old man pulls Giorgos out. IT'S MY BUDDY!!!! But, something has happened to him. It now appears that his decoupage t-shirt is torn and his shoulder has been smashed a bit as well as his waist/hip. The metal stand is bent. Did someone run over him or ??? But the rest of him is looking pretty good.

I first think of taking him home and fixing him back. But I come to decide that he was meant to be just as he is. I have Giorgos back and the three of us head back to the esplanade for our walk and picture taking.

I have two favorite corners in Portland. One of them is SW 4th and Alder. Even though it is now a parking structure the corner has fond memories. So for the "Wreck This Journal" page where it says to climb high and drop....we did this today and John took pictures. And Giorgos got his picture talem again at 4th & Alder.

I'm going to take a couple more throughout the week with him and send them to you.
I love my buddy and as you can see....we're meant to be with each other!!!!

And (drum roll), here is Bobbie's version of Giorgos, the Greek God in Art Buddy form:





When she sent out the original email, she said she was sending it to "HER" cheerleaders. But after reading what she has to say about each Art Buddy creator, I think it is her subtle way of letting each of us know that she is "OUR" cheerleader!!

Glass Pendants and Traveling Buddies

Friday night and it's a great one. Lynda and I had signed up for a class she had been wanting to take "Glass Pendants" before I went to Greece. The classes are good on Friday nights, but they are GREAT when she is there. We arrived early so we could pick out our supplies for the night. I love trying new art projects and this one turned out to be one I think I will continue doing.





We talk and laugh all through class. I tell her about my Greece adventures and she tells me about her daughter Andrea's wedding. And then she reminds me that right before I left on my trip, she had sent me something in the mail. I never got it cuz it had been returned to her. She hands me the envelope. Inside is something carefully wrapped in a page out of the Wreck This Journal book.

I open it. It is an Itty Bitty of her! She had wanted to come to Greece with me in my pocket. She said she will just hold on to it until my next trip. I am not giving it up. I tell her she is going to Leola, South Dakota for the 4th of July! It's not Greece, but I know there is a story to be found there and that she will have a ball!!

The class is over and we walk to our cars. She has something for me from her Dad ~ Sonny. Sonny (my brother-in-law) is the only man I know that shares the love and appreciates Sir Tom Jones as much as me. He and I saw him perform exactly one year ago. She hands me a box and inside are wooden boxes that he has built for our art projects and creations. They are wonderful and perfect, just like he and Sir Tom. My head is swirling with more art project possibilities.

Beautiful Glass Pendants, Wooden Boxes, 1 Itty Bitty Travelin' Lynda, sharing stories and big laughs. Did I tell you I love Friday night art classes with Lynda?

Yasas!!!!

Is there anyone out there that actually "likes" to look at someones vacation pictures? How many pictures of stones are we going to have to look at here? Well, happy to say my trip to Greece yields the same kind of pictures that Kristi and I took in Italy and Germany. No scenery, just pictures of us. My theory is, that 20 years from now I will toss aside the picture of the statue and look at the one that shows how cute I was 20 years earlier.

Upon meeting the group, David the guide asked us to tell about why we chose this tour. I said I had no idea where this tour was taking me. My new way of thinking is that if there are no expectations~then there are no disappointments. I planned to have 17 days of surprise adventures; and that I hope to meet a friend.

It all came true and then some!!

Kristi and I flew to Santorini before the tour began. It was gorgeous, very quiet and we rode the donkeys from the Traveling Pants movie.

Our tour guide for the next two weeks was David Willett from Australia. He has this infectious laugh and he was born in 1955~we decide we are kindred souls. The three of us quickly became great buddies. We couldn't decide if we were tagging along with him after dusk or if he was tagging along with us (I think he was tagging along with us since we are a blast to be around!) We got to see things others didn't, and our after tour nightly escapades soon became my most favorite part of the trip.

We had many towns to visit staying at 8 different ones. Highlights were: Seeing The Acropolis, the Parthenon, the agora in Athens. Many many museums, Gods and Goddess', statues. We go to Delphi and I am one to hike to the top (proud of myself but very out of breath). Then to Dimitsana and on to Olympia where I actually get to run at the same location as the first Olympic athletes. I learn that the men participated totally naked and that the women wore clothes but had one bare breast out. I pull Kristi aside and tell her to wait until the rest of the group are on their way out to take my picture. I then pretend that I am running in those first competitions. On to Kardamyli where we get to have the most fantastic room and view. It is there that David takes us on our nightly adventure to meet some of the locals, which turns out to be the best part of the entire trip. Alexandra (initially from Wales but married to a Greek) can speak both English and Greek and is one of the most inviting, funny, beautiful women there; but Giorgos (ahh) is 100% Greek and is now my "pen pal"! We spend two nights there and then on to Monemvasia where Kristi and I climb and climb and climb the "Gibraltar of Greece". (That hike actually did pain me). On to Sparta and Nafplio where David threatens to leave me at the convent. We then take a boat ride to Hydra for two wonderful nights and then finish the tour back in Athens. We did a ton more than written here, I'll "tell" you about it in person. I did eat Octopus, Red Rooster and Anchoives. I got splattered with a squirting cucumber and my toes touched the Mediterranean Sea. I made Mr. Grumpy Pants smile. I had wonderful new adventures and learnings. And the best part of all......I met a new friend!!!!

Santorini ~



Ready, Set, Go in Olympia ~


I'll have another heaping plateful of that octopus please...yummmmmm ~

Trying to catch me to commit me into the convent ~

Climbing The Greek Rock of Gibraltar in Monemvasia and David showing me the Pleasure Dome. It was marked "55" - either Serendipity or seeing too many stones! ~




Theater of Epidavros ~

Hydra sunsets, cool bars and doors ~





Ahhh...the Mediterranean Sea ~

Mr. Grumpy Pants ~

The Tour Group ~

The wonderful and beautiful people of Kardamyli....Alexandra (and her spring onion), John, Jill and Giorgos - They are all an inspiration ~





And just as I think life can't get any better, I turn the calendar page and see my next trip adventure. Leola, South Dakota ~ Life is Great!!!!

Efcharisto David!