Coolest Magazine Cover EVER

I was getting the oil changed Friday and noticed the latest issue of Time magazine on the counter. I LOVED the cover for the November 24th issue. I know it was Photoshopped but I think the comparison is spot on!

Check it out:

In case you don't know the origins of the photo, here is the original:

My little artist

This has been a pretty busy week, so I'm putting several days' worth of blogs in on one day.

My pretty Katie is now an official artist. She has sold a piece of her artwork.

Katie is my crafting buddy. Anytime I am doing a craft, she's right there.

Now, she is an artist in her own right. The Hurst-Euless-Bedford (HEB) Shool District has an Education Foundation that gave a fundraiser dinner Saturday night at the Hyatt at DFW Airport. As part of their fundraiser, they auctioned off pieces of artwork done by HEB students at all of the different schools. HEB has two high schools. five junior high schools and close to 20 elementary schools. Katie is a third grader at Lakewood Elementary. She and one other child had their artwork chosen to represent all of Lakewood at the fundraiser. Here is the text of the email sent to me by the art teacher:

11/3/08
Ms. Costello,
I’m sure that no one minded your viewing the art at the gala. Each piece of art had an opening bid of $20 and increased in increments of $10 each bid. I sent 3 pieces of art to represent Lakewood. They earned a total of $100.00 for the HEB ISD Educational Foundation. The one by our sixth grade boy placed 3rd Place in the Elementary Division when the pieces were juried. Katie’s art was purchased by our superintendent Dr. Buinger’s wife who loved the colors and was charmed by it. She purchased it for her daughter who is a 3rd grade teacher because of the colors, and because the little white bird Katie had sitting on the table reminded her of a pet her daughter owns.
I’m so glad you had a chance to get a picture with Katie beside it all matted and framed before it sold. I have a digital picture of it that I will also send home to you soon.
Thank you for your support. Congratulations to Katie for being part of the 50th Anniversary of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD and the ongoing support of grants to teachers for the benefit of children in our district through generously donating her artwork.
Sincerely,
Diane McClure
Lakewood Art Teacher

Here are the pictures Maggie took of the artwork:

Yep, we're awfully proud!

Yahoo!

As soon as the Electoral Votes reached 270 on Tuesday night, I headed down to Tom Thumb to purchase balloons to hang on our Obama yard sign. When I told the man at Tom Thumb what I was doing, he gave me a weird look and said, "Obviously, I hadn't heard." I wasn't going to let him rain on my parade!

My balloons didn't make it through the night very well, but I did manage to get a picture Wednesday morning of what was left.

Did you catch the speech? That was some inspiring speech. Even if I hadn't voted for him, I think I would have become a fan after hearing that.

The kids and I had dinner at Chick Fil-A that Tuesday night -- it was kids' night and they have crafts for the kids to do. Lots of talk about the election was going around Chick Fil-A. One kid working at the counter asked everyone he encountered, "Who did you vote for?" He never asked me but I told Katie and Trevor it is rude to ask someone that. Trevor said they had partitions set up at school for the Kindergartners when they voted. I told him that was to make sure it was a secret ballot. I tried to tell them how the secret ballot is very important. If you want to tell someone who you voted for, you have every right to do that. You do not, however, ask someone for whom they voted. The secret ballot is to protect the privacy of those who do not want everyone to know. Of course, I've got a bumper sticker and a yard sign, so evidently I don't mind discussing it. Both kids told me that Obama won at their elementary school's mock election. They both said they voted for him, too. I asked each one why they voted for him. I said it's important to understand why you want someone to be president. Trevor said, bless his heart, that Barack Obama's grandmother died and he wanted to do something to make him happy so he voted for him for president. I replied that might not be the best reason to vote for someone, but at least he had a reason. Katie said she voted for him because Mama and Daddy did. I told her it's important to make her own decisions. Listen to what others say about the candidates but ultimately make your own decision.

I just read an article:

http://www.slate.com/id/2203910/?GT1=38001

It was thought provoking. The question is, "Did Obama's race help him win the election?" Nowhere in it did I see my theory. I think President-Elect (wow!) Obama's race helped in that it got others who may not usually feel voting is important to listen to him. Once they heard his message, it was a done-deal. I really do not think many people voted for him just because of his race.