Snow on tulips, hail pelting on me in my friends’ Lake Oswego Garden on Sunday. Is this Ice Age II, or what?

A weekend in Portland, Oregon restored my spirits. As always, facilitating a group of talented and motivated artists leaves me invigorated and refreshed. I taught the class” The Journal is the Destination.”

It was snowing intermittently while we created art!

The week prior to the one in Portland was a bit different. I was in Scottsdale, Az, where the temperature climbed to the 90’s. Shorts and sandals were the order of the day. It was a challenge to re-pack my suitcase for Oregon, diving into my closet where I had already packed away all the winter stuff.

For anyone reading my blogs, please forgive me the mispelling of Senator Obama’s first name. For some reason, I want to leave out the c in Barack. I have since corrected my error, along with a few more. Having been a good speller in my time, I am mortified by these mistakes. Sigh.

And now for something completely different: bragging about Maeve. This Spring, Maeve won first place in a regional speech contest (modern oratory category), as well as first in vocabulary and second in spelling. All wins qualify her to compete at the State level. Ms. Richards is faced with a dilemma: compete at State at the speech tournament, or play with her volleyball team in a pre-scheduled tournament in Houston. Both are the same weekend. One is in Houston, one in Fort Worth. Upon careful reflection, Maeve has opted to play with her team, noting that “she doesn’t want to let them down.” I am very proud of her decision, difficult as it was. I might have been more selfish, choosing to compete in the speech tournament.

Maeve also won first place in painting in a regional art competition last weekend. None of us could attend the show because Maeve and Clark were in Dallas at a huge volleyball tournament, and I was braving snow and ice in Portland, Oregon. Besides this particular art win, Maeve also won a gold key award in the regional Scholastic Art Award competition. We are waiting to see if she places in the national level.

Maeve’s sister Jennifer is soon off on an exciting adventure: a three week trip to Senegal, Africa with her Evergreen State College class. Jennifer has become very interested in politics and world affairs since becoming a “born-again” student at the Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington.

And for me? No rest for the weary. A soiree tonight, visitors tomorrow, a gala on Friday, and teaching for my beloved guild on Saturday. Somewhere in the midst of all that is another volleyball tournament in San Antonio, Eyeore’s birthday, and an art show for our dear friend Tom Cronk.

My life could not be more full or interesting.