Sunday, November 23, 2014

Working out the details

So, Mark is leaving Frog Valley, and me. I guess MS took that round, eh? Frog Valley is too much for me to handle on my own, but someone will come along, to help with all the work, and enjoy the benefits of being part of this little collection of art and artists.
I am not going anywhere,  so time will tell.
I hope everyone who loves Frog Valley, and me will continue to come around, wish Mark and I both well, enjoy the property, and enjoy the art work...
I am going through all my old posts, so if it sems disjointed, it isn' you, I am clearing the decks, getting prepared for the next phase of my journey. Love to everybody, peace and love. V


















































































































































































































































Saturday, November 22, 2014

having a new roomie, but I think I know him from somewhere

Oh, yeah. He's been my partner for 24 years, and I thought I knew him.
Then he became the most dreaded of all beings
The wasband. That sounds so formal, lets call him the wubbie
You have probably met other wubbies before and each one is unique, let me tell you, but the story sounds familiar.
You know, going on 50, feeling trapped, looking for the easy way out, but there isn't one, ok? Somebody tell these pathetic jet lagged manopausal men that life doesn't just let you walk away, someone gets to pick up all your pieces
 and when you have MS it's hard to pick up anything
there is a funny side to this, but mostly it is pretty sad, to think you spent 20 some year with another person, and then to watch all your dreams and plans just melt away.
maybe this takes a while to get to the funny part, I am still at the somewhat bewildered part.
I'll work on it, get back to you 
It definitely takes some creative thinking, to get along with your wubbie, and he even talks to me about all his new friends and partners. That's ok, as long as I don't have to hear any more about the toxic chick from hell that is finally out of his life, and mine, and this time it's for good.
Where to even begin? Can I just write and publish everything I think? No, too brutal, even for me. I believe I need another blog, where I can write anonymously, that way I don't offend my fans sensibilities. Maybe you can catch me on the flip side, eh?
Maybe I can make a game of it, and folks can find me
drop me a note if you figure it out

Trying to blog, but why?

I feel like I should be writing, and I have amazingly vivid dreams, but when I start to write, everything dries up
I feel dried up
at 43
I can't even get to work in my studio my brain fog defeats me, as does the pain
I am feeling entirely cast adrift by everything I  thought I was heading towards
where do you go from here? unknown
thats a first
A true first for me, I have always felt as if I knew where I was headed,  but right now?
Lost is the only thing I feel, I operate on a daily basis, just getting through the day, the weekend, the next few hours
MS causes depression, as if it wasn't depressing enough just to be diagnosed, that is also part of the package of delightful side dishes, just letting you know
So I am going to use this as a daily (hopefully) exercise, and eventually things will start kicking, hope you are ready for the ride

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Part two, or three, who know how many yet to come?

So, I left off when we got to Berkeley Springs right?  That's as good as any to begin the tale again. When we got here we built my pottery studio first, we lived in a tent while we built the pottery shop, and moved into the pottery shop while we continued to grow Frog Valley, I worked 2 million shifts a week, continued making pottery,  and began learning to do stained glass with a local artist, ragtime.
I didn't know where that would lead, but I am glad that I have ended up here, even with MS.
Right now I have just finished running a contest called "Mosaix for the Masses" and I just finished the silent auction site, to sell off the completed pieces to donate money to multiple causes.  I  want to raise money to help other people who are struggling with MS, and our second cause is for veterans, because I cannot believe how poorly they are treated when they return from overseas,  and how little is being said about this. I believe that everyone has the ability to create art, and with a bit of support, they can use their work to rehabilitate their lives, whether for the love of the work, or just getting into a group, and having interaction with others. But I am getting ahead of myself. There is much more before I got to the point of the mosaix for the masses contest. I worked in town and at home for many years until I was diagnosed, and for a few years after, until I couldn't anymore.
Then I just worked here. Let's see, I quite working at Tari's October 16, 1996.
Wow.
I have been a stay at home artist for almost 8 years.
What a blast, excepts that my customers seem to have forgotten that I am up here, and the market right now is brutal, and my hands aren't working right, but hey, MS gets to call most of the shots, at least I can still type (at least well enough for you to read)
I am planning on doing a bunch more writing, so hang in there with me, I have some stories you have not heard yet.
I think I will start this as a daily log/journal, and see where it goes from there.
Keep in mind that I jut got this new laptop.
Be patient.
Very patient.
Also keep in mind that I am also cleaning up my archive, and publishing anything old, just to get it out of my way.
Peace and love
Many more to come













Workingwithms or not?

I am tired. This MS crap is not working for me at all anymore. I am trying to ramp everything back up, as if I was the same person physically that I was in 2003, and guess what? I am not that person anymore, I can't do the same things pre-MS me could do
.Yes I can sort of get myself where I need to go, but I need help unloading or loading my mobility gear and anything I am trying to do, yknow? The shopping needs to go in the house, the mosaic project needs to go into the van, then get to the table where we are working for the day. Every time I try to plan a day, I forget,  oh, wait, you need help doing some of that.
MS Bites, that  is the bottom line of this post.
Do everything while you can
Live your life to it's biggest fullest full color event, and don't listen to any naysayers, ok?
This is just me cleaning out my old blogs that I never finished, and now I am back to learning about my new laptop.
what fun.
Not
Just by the way, MS is not working with me right now



Wednesday, March 5, 2014

I have a MS. I was diagnosed in 2003.
 Before I wandered on to that wondrous pass I was a waitress. I was  a bartender.
 I had been a bartender and a bouncer.

 I've been anything you can imagine in the food industry.
 I worked  for my dad first,  my glamorous career as a power server started when someone didn't show up at the restaurant where  my Father was the manager.
I washed dishes, lots of them.  Dishwasher to salad girl, salad girl to bus girl, then I cooked for a while at a Denny's of all places.
 Then I graduated and got the hell out of dodge
So when I finally got out of my hometown I moved to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania  and I went to art school
 I met Mark Schwenk  in an elevator, and we hit it off right way ,but that's another story
 My whole family is in the service industry my Moms a waitress and a hostess and could be a manager if she wanted to be( but all good servers don't want to be the  manager, they want to get  out on the floor and make money) my brother's  a chef , my other brother joined the army because they told him he could cook, and why oldest  is brother is a cater- waiter in California.(also an AMAZING artist)
 I  need to mention something real  quick here; rules are not my thing,  they never have been.
 Ask anyone. really. Start with my Mom.

 But I was born to wait tables: after I worked for my dad I started working tables in Pittsburgh. After a couple jobs ( mostly with people who did not have a clue) I landed a job at a strip joint downtown and their my career as a power server began I was a waitress and a bar back but I was also pretty much the bouncer: We .will get to all those great stories another day.
Suffice to say that it was interesting and it made me what I am today, at least in part .
When I was 20 I found a great old store front on the south side of town
it was condemned and it needed someone to love it
 we needed a place to live where we wouldn't pay outrageous rent and we did love the storefront
 it was a true labor of love we both worked on the house and I tended bar, again. I was a bartender 6 or 7 days a week, lots  of doubles, went to the house to work then back to the bar.
 The neighborhood was a bit rough, but that was never an issue for us.
 I had a place to live,a job I loved, a man I loved, and a big old store for us to live in
we were on  the south side of Pittsburgh, and it was a good place to live and learn 
Best of all I began to work with clay.
 Mark built my first wheel,  I took some classes and the artist inside of me took off .
We live in Pittsburgh for a few years but we wanted  land,  room the live, room to garden, to build a little house and to create beautiful things.
Then, right at the peak of my waiting table prime, I was diagnosed with ms.That was in 2003.
lots of stories to come, and a book, too, but lets just start here.

Veronica Wilson
Glass artist extraordinaire.
frogvalleyvee@gmail.com

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

a new idea, I want to help.....

So,
 I have this idea, and I am going to tell you all about it.
The end program will be called working with ms dot org right?
But getting there is the problem.....
see, there is this building in town, and it is for sale
the building is old and ugly, but in a great location, AND fully accessible, for absolutely anyone. it will be gorgeous after I renovate it, but there is lots of shit to be done before we get there.
That is the end of the good news, btw.
The building has just been reduced to $475,000. That's a bunch of money, for anybody, but a super big number for  me, ok? But it is the perfect building for my idea. Check it out, a fully accessible working glass shop, and pottery shop, (and someday blown glass too) with a helper on staff, to work with people who have autoimmune disorders, like MS, and also for veterans. Hey, I know, but it's my idea, and if you are gonna dream, you might as well dream big.
There would be a gallery there as well as housing for clients who came to be rehabilitated. There would be a room where I could stay, a functional kitchen, a room for therapy (massage and acupuncture) space for yoga
accessible bathrooms, (of course, who has to pee more than an MS sufferer?) a wet room, kilns, a small computer area, ooh, an accessible garden, solar panels on the roof, and maybe in the parking lot, too.
Sound good? Yeah, sounds good to me too...the problem is getting there.
There are grants to make this all happen, it's all there, believe me, but this is going to take a bunch of energy to make happen, and I believe that I am slightly scared of realizing this dream. I know that I can do it, I know the right people, I know the guy who owns the building, hell, it could be some other building downtown, there are plenty of them empty. I  have contacts who have the cash flow, and I believe that these individuals will back me up, the question is, do I want to do it?
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not afraid of working hard. I worked as a waitress and a bar bitch for 2 + decades, most of the time 7 days a week. Double shifts, too.
the thing is, I have settled into my handicapped world, and my space is fully accessible, at least for me, and my particular  handicaps, and do I really want to do this? I know that there are people who need help, and I have the resources to help them, but, do I want to spend my spoons? I am sure most of the MS folks out there know about the spoon theory ( written by Christine Miserandino) but anyone who doesn't, go find it, read it, and you will understand about the spoons.
Anyhow, do I want to  spend my spoons on other people? Well, sadly for my fun filled studio days, the answer is yes.
Yes I want to help other people with AI disorders.
Yes, I want to help veterans.
Yes, I think that art is a beautiful therapy for people who are not able to function as they had previously,   in their new bodies, so to speak.
Yes I also think there's a of resources for people that they don't even realize are out there and the I want to help these people no matter who they are I don't even like saying autoimmune disorders and veterans because it won't be limited to just that,  anyone who has any handicaps or   disorder I want to help, anyone who wants help to work in the studio or to try to find work doing something that is similar to what I can show you how to do in a studio, I will help
yes,
 And people who don't know about the resources that are available I want to help them too, that's what the little computer room is for,  a lot of people don't get Interne or 
 they don't understand how to use it efficiently, I want to help all those people.
so, what do you think? I really want responses here, I want to hear from anyone who has an opinion or anyone who has no idea I want to hear it I want to make this happen for me but I want to make it happen for us and for my town small town it's a fantastic town with a huge art community but ever since the economy took a dive its been slow here, it's starting to pick back up but it's pretty slow. This is a healing town and I want to help people heal at least psychologically, so that their bodies can adjust to their new normal ( stole that one from the wheelchair kamikaze thanks Marc)