The photo to work with:

I was anxious to see what these bloggers came up with because it’s truly a lesson for me in not being so uptight in my Photoshop work.

There were only four entries and I have to throw kudos to Phil but I loved Hammer’s roller coaster entry.

Check it out here.

Mid December I came down with a cold and the next day I started a new job. I was terrified about leaving my old, small, company and starting with The Borg. That first week of the new job I was also finishing up my Illustrator class and still had a lot to do to complete my final project. That final project was tough and took weeks to complete due to the details.

Our first project was easy and was all about just learning the Illustrator tools. The second project pushed us into drawing a writing tool. This one was tough but I learned a lot. The third project was much easier and we had to design the front and back of a CD case. I hated what I did but I met all the objectives. Then it was time for the final project and for this one we had to draw a transportation vehicle. It was hard to find a photo of what I wanted to draw but in the end I took a photo of a friend’s 69 Cougar.

The tough part about drawing this car is the reflections that include trees and buildings. My drawing needs clean lines. Plus you’ll notice the inside of the car is unfinished. I talked to my Professor to make sure but I would have to use some of my own artistic licensing to pull it together.

Just getting started was probably the toughest part.  That last week I had started the new job, was sick and worked till after 1am every night but when I sat down to work on the car I have to admit I enjoyed it.  Mini Red would be sleeping and the TV was on for background noise and there were no distractions… Just me and the Cougar.  In the end I was pretty happy with the result.

Hopefully, it’s difficult to see all the little details it takes to pull this together.  To give you an idea of the details I took the front tire, which took me most of a Saturday, and broke it down in the picture below.

I was so happy to turn this in.  I tried to take it easy the next day at work and was feeling like the cold was going away.  I got through the day and even met up with a friend that evening.  The next day was Saturday and the goal was to finish up the Christmas shopping I had put on hold.  Christmas was only a few days away and I needed to finish so I could wrap on Sunday because Monday I had to work and Christmas was Tuesday.  But on Saturday I was feeling worse and it all went down hill from there.  It took all day and I was everywhere but I did finish.  This was the Saturday that I also ran into issues with FN.

By Monday I finished up working then more wrapping and had to lie down for just an hour before we had to head off to the big family Christmas Eve party.  Thank goodness for Mini Red because she loaded the car so I could finish up and get ready.  We were late but I dropped Mini Red off and headed over to The Folks to unload the car before I could get to the party.  It was a long night and I didn’t get much sleep since I can never seem to sleep anywhere but in my own bed. 

Christmas Day was crazy.  7:30am Mass, opening gifts, off to my Aunt and Uncle’s for brunch and dropped Mini Red at her Dad’s.  I hadn’t stopped for weeks I was sick and just couldn’t do one more thing.  When I got home I sat on the fat ass couch and fell asleep mid flip of the TV stations.  I finally got some sleep and I was thrilled Christmas was over.  Hopefully, I could feel better soon.

But the cold continued into this horrendous cough.  I wasn’t sure what to do since I hadn’t gotten my insurance cards yet.  Mom mentioned the Minute Clinic and they were able to give me a prescription.  It helped a little but I was told I would probably still cough for a few more weeks.  The cough finally started subsiding by the end of January just in time for Mini Red’s 13th birthday.

Mini Red’s big gift from me was to see Cirque Dreams at the Hippodrome in Baltimore.  I took Mom too and she ended up buying us dinner at Maggie Moore’s.  We had such a great time except Mini Red had been sick all weekend.  I’d never seen her like that and all she did was sleep.  She was feeling better in time for the show but couldn’t stop her nose from running.  At one point she just stuffed tissues up her nose during the show.

Unfortunately, I came down with something else the next day which brought the cough back and worse than ever.  At least I had my insurance cards now so I went in to see a doc.  I was put on this inhaler and it’s helping but still having to use it.  Hopefully, one more week will do it. 

Lastly, I’ve decided not to take a class this semester.  I need to finish getting better and make sure I’m doing well on this new job.  Plus I’m hoping to have a little more of a social life.  From what I hear this was the semester to take off.  A friend that did decide to take the class HATES it.

So now you are caught up and I will try to post a bit more.