Why do I always feel like I am trapped in some perpetual cycle of always having to play "catch-up"? Happy Monday. 9:01 am. April 27th, 2009. *sigh*

1. I'm sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. The preverbial plate has been very full of late. LOL. *rolls eyes*. Well, the past few weeks have seen my father in and out of the hospital about two or three times (again). This weekend, he was readmitted Saturday night, and released early Sunday morning. He complains of a general sense of malaise, but all the blood tests, scans, and examinations show nothing. Nothing. He takes an unbelievable amount of prescription medication to combat not only diabetes and high blood pressure, but heart disease as well. My sister and I are about at our wits end trying to figure out what's wrong, and what to do about it. We believe he's been fighting a silent battle with depression ever since his quintuple by-pass ten years ago. Very possible. On another and more serious level, he has given up. My best friend, jokingly stated my father's malaise... is my mother. LOL. Sadly, there's some real truth to that. I've dedicated too many blog entries to her negativity and its effect on the people around her. It has to end somewhere.

2. My journey down the yellow brick road is about to take its last step. The "Oz-mania" calendars are available at all three of my shops. Check the side bar for the links. There are seven variations... three different styles at Shop Azodnem, three different sizes at Azodnem on Zazzle, and one more at Azodnem on LuLu. I had to make about 48 panels, and 4 different cover variations just to accommodate the different sizes. *collapse* Now... I've got one more Oz illustration to work on. It's a surprise, but I promise it will be my Oz-masterpiece. I so need to detoxify from Oz. I need a weekend of nothing but horror movies or porn. ROFL.

3. Dreaming of Angels... here's something interesting to share: Now... I'm getting wierd tingly chills across my arms and shoulders... and down my back just as I started to write this. Lately, I've been drawn to websites, books and blog entries about guardian angels and spirit guides. Friday night I had a very vivid dream, as though something was acknowledging my search. I was in an old room filled with books across the one wall. I think this might have been my old apartment. Superimposed over the bookshelf (as though I was watching a ghostly screensaver), I started seeing countless of paintings and images of Guardian Angels, Spirit Guides, Spirit Guardians... works of the old masters, modern artists, and images I have never seen before. Different cultures. Different religions. Different customs. But they were there. Always. Guiding. Protecting. Just a hushed whisper away. I turned my head to the other side of the room, and began to see a faint sparkling outline take shape. Humanoid, but large. The soft whisper of a woman's voice in the air broke the dream and woke me up... 'Good morning, Robert."