A few days into 2015 and I find myself hit with a nasty cold…so while I sit here sniffling, sneezing, coughing, and rubbing my watery eyes, I thought I’d share a few photos of what’s been going on around here…
around here…
Tag Archives: father-in-law
not much painting going on…
the past several days have been very busy around here. unfortunately, no new artwork has been created in that time!
this past week, my mother-in-law ended up in the emergency room. she ended up undergoing another angioplasty to open up a blocked artery. so Lawrence and I have been spending our days at her house, keeping a watchful eye…
on a more positive note, renovations are finally under way at my in-laws’ house. a little backstory on that: when my father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer in January 2013, Lawrence made the decision that he wanted us to move in with his parents for the time they had left with us. unfortunately, there were other individuals in the house who stood in the way of us doing that in time to live with my father-in-law (we lost him within a month; he passed away February 2013). I won’t get into the details, but I will say that we are FINALLY able to get necessary repairs done to the house, getting us closer to moving into Lawrence’s childhood home so we can live and care for his mom. so we’re also dealing with contractors and renovations! I’m enjoying seeing the work being done – I really wanted to join in and tear down some walls…
so, as you can imagine, I’m not getting much artwork done. today’s the first day I’ve been home for awhile, and it was spent printing out invoices and letting customers know orders were shipped out. I do have some photos to share, at least!
’til next time…
newest pieces: mixed media wood plaques
on our way to Kaiser Permanente on Sunset Blvd.
lavender hibiscus in my in laws’ garden
bougainvillea flower hanging on to Lawrence’s shoe
spent most of a hot Friday under this…
around here…
i’m not in a celebrating-the-holidays mood. losing my sister in october and losing my father-in-law in february did not leave me in a party mood. our thanksgiving here was a quiet meal with my parents, my brother, and my nephew. (my husband lawrence was with his mother.) it was quiet, peaceful, and simple. we also had a small cake for my mom; that day was also her 79th birthday.
lawrence and i did visit Huntington Library again a couple of weeks ago. (read my other post about the gorgeous library and botanical gardens here.) this visit was more about just clearing our heads and getting some exercise, so i was not concerned about taking too many photographs…
(i love how lawrence’s shadow looks in this photo!)
we watched some ducks for a while…
bridge in the japanese garden…
so – not many pictures to share this time, but we enjoyed the day. we even finally had lunch in the tea room: garlic shrimp spring rolls with jasmine tea. it was delicious!
i haven’t been painting as much as i should be, but i did start up again. funny thing – even though i don’t feeling much in the holiday spirit, i have been painting ornaments for my Etsy art shop – and enjoying it!
i added a pretty metal heart charm on sheer ribbon around the birds’ necks…
if you’d like to see what i’ve been adding to my Etsy shop, please check it out – hopefully you’ll find some holiday gifts you can check off your list! ♥
my wish for you…
tomorrow (thanksgiving day) will be a quiet day here. it will be the first thanksgiving day without my father-in-law, and without my sister patty…
I’ll be cooking a simple birthday dinner for my mom (her 79th birthday) & hanging out with my parents. I do want to wish all of you a wonderful holiday, surrounded by those who matter most to you.
remember what’s important. life changes in an instant…
i leave you with these words:
live with intention. walk to the edge. listen hard. practice wellness. play with abandon. laugh. choose with no regret. appreciate your friends. continue to learn. do what you love. live as if this is all there is. – Mary Anne Radmacher
until next time…♥
loss…
i’ve been trying to write a blog post for a while now, but i keep deleting everything i write…
on february 15, 2013, we lost my awesome father-in-law. quickly. within one month we found out he had liver cancer, and then – he was gone.
i wanted to write a post in honor of him, but it’s too soon. i’m not ready.
and as i was trying to write, the mail came. the latest issue of Sunset magazine, which we did not subscribe to. i read the address label and it read “Mr-Mrs L-S Aguilar”.
Mr-Mrs L-S Aguilar. only my father-in-law wrote our names like that. (i kept my last name when i married lawrence.) i guess he ordered us a gift subscription to Sunset magazine as recently as december or january.
the tears came. and continue to come. i’m not ready yet to write about my beautiful, funny, handsome suegro (suegro = father-in-law in spanish; “suegro” is what i called him). just let me share a photo of him in happy times (at my mother’s 76th birthday party, 2010)…
he is greatly missed…♥
i tried to create new work, if only to help with the sadness and anger i feel, but i couldn’t. i had put my Etsy shops on vacation but they’re up and running again as of yesterday. slowly…slowly…i’m getting back to business. i forget, for a while.
and then a gift from my father-in-law arrives in the mail…
susie carranza studio 