I just thought I would post thid again, 'cause it is so freakin' cool

Seriously , I drew this somehow... Never knew I could get that much detail in something. I love art/

My Pop-Pop. Thank you for your guidance on this drwing. I know I could not have done this myself.

Not to be narcissistic or anything, but these are the coolest drawings ever. You should be asking me for a copy that I can sell you, because of course it is so cool. ;-)


Ok, if I were so cool, I would have been a better person and would have gotten off of my ass and sent the litho's of Pop Pop to all of my sisters and cousins that I promised to send them to. I will (here it is now in writing) be sending them after the school year ends. That is a promise. Hold me to it (call me if I owe you one, and you don't get it). I learned through drawing this that Pop and I have (had) the same teeth - I never saw his real teeth as far as I can remember, but the photo that I drew this from had his real teeth in it...neato...

Guatemalan Carpet Painting with local artist Lyn Parsons

Me working on the carpet that my class designed.My students working on their design

The finished carpet

Details

Yesterday we celebrated Art Fest 2008 at the High School. It is a festival where the students are treated to a large variety of arts, such as music both by students, faculty and the US ARMY Rock Band, poetry, student films, 2-D and 3-D art where they can both watch and participate, visiting artists, face and henna painting and more.

The festival was my first, and it was nothing short of wonderful. My students (along with the students in some of the other art classes) helped design patterns that we used to create Guatemalan carpet paintings outside. We used colored saw dust along with other natural materials (pine needles, etc) to create large murals on the ground. It was a lot more fun than I would have anticipated, and I plan to do something similar to this with my students next year (though on a much smaller scale I think). Enjoy the photos!

By the way, it is OFFICIAL

I will be a full time, tenure track art teacher starting in the fall! I will be teaching grades 1, 2 and 3, which should be a real challenge. It will be a very busy summer for me, planning my syllabus for the year and getting my visuals ready for the year. Absolute craziness, I can assure you!

Nonetheless, I worked damn hard for this, and I know that I earned it. Good for me! :-D

Anyone who wants to celebrate with me, identify yourselves! If you read my blog, you can clearly see that I really NEED a celebration. It is nice to have a reason to!

Forward progress

Both things are really great news.

Loren has been sick, as she often is with her chronic kidney problems. Last night, she was sick enough that she was brought to the hospital to be seen since she has edema in her legs and hands, and has been fighting an infection that won't seem to go away. She also had a lot of pain, which turned out to be small kidney stones.

The people from the facility where she has been living dropped her off and left her unattended. Of course, she is voluntarily at the facility anyhow, so anytime she chooses, she could leave. Anyhow, after she was seen in emergency, they decided that she was not sick enough to admit her, and upon her discharge, the doctor wrote her a prescription for Vicodin for the pain until she passes the stone. Loren, for the first time in I don't know how long, refused the prescription. Instead she went with 800 mg of Motrin. When she called the inpatient facility where she is a resident and asked if someone could come and get her. They said no, that she would have to find her own way back. I know this because she was calling me at 4 this morning in a panic about the whole situation. In fact, I was not sure if she would go back to the place that she has been living, but left that decision up to her. Turns out, she did go back to her facility, and I will be seeing her in less than an hour. Not too shabby.

The Latest Chapter in the Story of my Sister, Loren

From the blog, you know that Loren came to live with us for a bit. She moved here in February and got a job right away at a bagel place. She also got into an outpatient clinic to help her with her mental issues and her drug addiction. That all lasted until the Tuesday before mother's day. Loren left for her meeting that day, and didn't come home. In fact, we didn't see her again until she showed up at our back door again on Mother's day. Sadly, she was found by a woman and her pre-teen daughter wandering the streets in Albion (which is about 40 minutes from here, out in the middle of nowhere really). You can probably conclude that she was on a binge. We had filed a police report for a missing person, printed and hung missing person posters, posted that she was missing on this blog, and had done all that we could with our network of friends and acquaintances to see if anyone could find her. In fact, a city cop friend was able to locate her within about 6 hours, but by the time that they went to pick her up, she was already gone from the crack house that she was in for a bit.

When she came home, we told her that we loved her and were very sad for her, and happy that she was still alive, but that she could not come back into our home anymore. We suggested that she go to an inpatient facility and get help, and she said that was what she wanted. It was a Sunday though, and nobody would take her. The woman that found her wandering in Albion then took her to a hospital in a far away town called Medina (closer to where Shawna lives) and sent her to the emergency room since she thought that Medina's inpatient would accept her. Though they didn't take her into inpatient there, they kept her in the emergency room overnight, and I went to get her the next day. Through more networking and a lot of string pulling, we were able to get her into an addiction center here in Rochester for inpatient help, where she has been since last Tuesday. So far, so good. I went to visit her there yesterday, and although she really wants to get out of there because of some of the people there (she says some of the women are bullies, and the men try to get her in trouble by trying to get her to talk to them - they are not allowed to talk with men), she is making progress. It is smoke free too, so she has not smoked in nearly a week, and they provide all of the help and meds that she needs, including her $5/pill suboxone, chantex, and even acupuncture!

When she leaves the inpatient, she will of course have some more choices to make, such as what her next step(s) will be. We have helped secure her a bed at a halfway house here, so if she chooses to continue to accept help, she will have that as a place to continue her recovery. After that, I don't know what she will do, but we have been very clear that our house is no longer an option.

Sooooooooo, that is what is going on with Loren. As always, I will post any and all updates to the blog to keep everyone informed on what happens. All in all, this has been a true trial, but we are doing all that we can to support her without enabling her, and I honestly think that we have done a very good job at that. The rest is of course up to Loren!

Of course, she welcomes any thoughts and prayers. If anyone wants me to get a message to her of any kind, just let me know. You can post a comment and I will make sure that she knows that you are thinking of her.

Update on Loren

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to hang posters, cry with us, read the blog, say a prayer, whatever it is you have done to try to help with Loren.

I want to tell you that today, Loren was brought back to our house for a brief time. A woman picked her up about 30 minutes away from here in Albion and brought her to our house. Loren was wandering about and did not know where she was.

It was likely the most difficult thing I have ever done to tell her that she could not be here anymore. I gave her the small package that her 5 year old daughter sent her for mother's day, a bag of candy bars that she had bought, and $4 for cigarettes. I gave her a very long hug. I told her how sad I am for her, I told her that I love her so much, and that I hope she loves herself enough to help herself. She could barely stand - she said she had not eaten since Tuesday, and her lips were white and chapped. She was very dope sick, and said she wanted help. I pray that this is the rock bottom that she needs to finally let go and accept the help that she really needs.

We were advised by the woman who brought her here that Loren was brought to a hospital in Orleans County (I believe that is the county). I can't get information on her - they won't confirm if she is or is not there. The best I could do is give my name and number and ask them to ask her, if she is in fact there, if she can call me to let me know that she is there. It is so hard not to know.

My little sister, my little chubbs, I know you don't read this, but I love you. My heart hurts so much for you.

***Missing - Have you seen this person?***

Loren is on the right in the above photo

Loren is on the left in the above photo

Loren is on the right in the top row in the above photo

As of yesterday afternoon, my sister Loren Kennedy (DeAgro) has been missing. Loren is addicted to crack and other upper drugs, and has not been seen since yesterday morning, and has not been heard from since yesterday at around 4pm EST. She is 5'8", 160 lbs, brown/brown, and may have a black jacket with her. I have no idea what she was wearing, but I know that she did not go to work today, did not go to her group therapy yesterday, and her cell phone goes right to voicemail when I call it. Loren is bipolar and is often unable to make out the difference between lies and truth. I am honestly not sure if she knows the difference between her own lies and the truth.

I have filed a missing persons report with the police, and will begin posting photos of her around town, though as a 29 year old adult, she has the right to not come home. Loren needs help. Please contact us via the blog comments (or if you know us personally, through our home or cell numbers) if Loren contacts you, or if you see her at all.

Thank you,
Catherine

Friday Night Fun at Kate & Vince's Wedding!

I just wanted to share with all of my readers that Aubrey and I attended one of the most fun weddings ever this past Friday - Our friends Kate & Vince were married that evening, and the party came right afterward. We knew so many people at the reception that the conversations were full and plenty! It certainly didn't hurt that the wedding was also at a winery! (love wine). We have been blessed over the years to have been invited to (and attended) many very cool weddings (Erin & Dr. J, Frank & Danielle, Chris & Sara, and so many more), but this one was very comfortable for all who attended.

Please enjoy the photos, and if you have some to share, let me know and I will upload them to the site!