Can't... do... housework... too big...

This is the point in pregnancy at which washing dishes becomes a feat of endurance and ingenuity. For those of us who don't adore housework to begin with, that is.

It actually tires my arms to stand upright, reach over my belly and wash pots/pans/storage containers that can't be machine washed. Leaning on my elbows doesn't work either, because then my back starts complaining about the redistributed center of gravity.

And have you ever tried to wash dishes with your body facing the side, and your hands in the sink? Wow, does that ever not work.

Yes, I've thought of getting The Husband to wash the dishes. But he does wash some of the biggest dishes, thank goodness. The other day I came home while he was washing ALL of the dishes, and if I weren't incapable of moving that fast, I would've mauled him right there on the floor in gratitude.

If my belly is any indicator, I'm thinkin' TwoBoo will weigh in at least 10 lbs when he arrives next month. The Boy was 9 lbs. 1 oz.

'Scuse me while I go lay down.

Shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

Former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan reacts to the latest Sarah Palin interview.

Naw, just kidding. She was responding to Jon Stewart talking about the code words politicians use to talk to their bases.

But isn't the other version more entertaining?

Ancestor paintover

I'm trying to practice a technique I learned at Artfest last year and make it my own. Long way from that, but this attempt was a lot better than my first. Thank you, Lisa... things didn't go so well in class, but I guess I learned enough to keep trying.
This is a higher-contrast copy of the original photo. (My grandfather is the guy seated on the far right.) Painting skin color would be tricky in any case, but man... these guys are brothers, and they're all different shades. All of them except my grandfather were long dead by the time I was born. So I'm kinda guessing what their skin tones were like in real life.
This was my first attempt at Lisa Bebi's "paintover" technique, at Artfest. (I've only had two classes so far in acrylic painting.) Not much time to experiment with mixing colors. I also did more of a wash than solid paint at the time. When I first posted that picture, Blaiz gave me the paint colors that would work for African American skin, and I practiced this week.
First, it helped to copy the photo a little darker and more high-contrast than usual. The eyes came out sharper, and the shadows didn't get blotted out so easily by the paint.

I mixed Transparent Red Iron Oxide (Golden) with Burnt Umber (DecoArt Americana) as his basic color, then mixed in a little Warm White (Americana) for the highlights. The shadows are Ultramarine Blue (Golden) blended with the basic color mix, to produce a muddied shade. It looked a little stark, so I washed it with the basic mix and that seemed to smooth things out.
This brother looked like he had more red in his skin. So I did the same basic color mix, except in a 2:1 ratio. Also washed the painted face with the 2:1 ratio.

Oh yeah -- the hair on both men was a wash of Burnt Umber and Lamp (Black) Ebony (Americana).

Not worried about the little bleed-over spots; I'm going to mess with this a little more. Then I'm going to scan the final piece and put it into a genealogy photo album.

Hey, does anyone know a way to scan something that has a transparency in it? Or do you really just need to photograph it at the appropriate angle with the right lighting? Thoughts?