The Turning of the Leaves

So another summer has come and gone. And what do I have to show for it? Some good things. I had my first art exhibit at a winery up in Lancaster, PA. It went well. Had a good time and hopefully some sales will come of it. I have to be proactive though, so I'm now banging out even more landscapes than ever before. Castles seem to be the order of the day, which is cool, but I don't do straight lines very well (even with a ruler) and especially not well when I'm trying to paint them. So I'm having to adjust my technique some to be less photo-realistic with the art so the wavy lines of that Castle rampart won't look so horribly wrong. :)

Fatherhood (or Step-Fatherhood in my case) has been something of a learning experience. It's nice to have a 9 year old (well, he's 10 now since his birthday just passed) who can actually understand the words that are coming out of my mouth. Problem is, they seem to rattle around for a bit up there, then slide out his ear, but not after some snide comment that he thinks is funny slips out of his mouth. Oh, joy. Funny thing is, my own family thinks I've fathered this child and just got around to introducing him now! He acts WAY too much like I did when I was his age. Like, scary similarities. The difference is, I'm trying to take an active role in his development unlike my dad did with mine, and I'm kind of coming to the conclusion that my dad may have had it right. Saying nothing seems to get you farther than trying to teach him. Because he doesn't retain anything (he doesn't know how to read a regular clock, doesn't know what day of the week it is, and can't remember his own family's names, let alone his friends and neighbors) it becomes frustrating to try and impart any kind of knowledge to him. It doesn't help either that we only see him part time, so we have to go through the entire week deprogramming him from his father's bad habits. Can you tell I just spent the entire day yesterday with him?!! LoL!! I love the kid, but I can't work and have to baby sit him too. Well, I can, but it ain't easy. He had off school because of Columbus Day, so it was take your kid to work day for me. Whew. Glad it's over. Now I need about 6 months to recover before I'll do that again! :p