Nothing of importance...
Getting me some culture
Yesterday R, Baby A and I spent hours at the Atlanta High Museum. I have been wanting to go there for quite some time as they have a new rotating exhibit from the Louvre. This exhibit will be in Atlanta until September of this year. It includes the "Kings as collectors" exhibit, which highlights some of the most magnificent paintings and sculptures acquired by Louis XIV (the Sun King) and Louis XVI (the last King of France). The French royal collections are the heart of the Louvre's present day holdings. We spent three hours walking around the entire Museum which housed works by Claude Monet, Frank Lloyd Wright, Giovanni Maria Benzoni, Deborah Kay Butterfield, Tilmann Riemenschneider, Sebastiano Ricci, Nicolas Tournier, Giovanni Battista Gaulli and many others.  The High Museum of Art, founded in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association, is the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta 's Midtown arts and business district, the High has over 11,000 works of art in its permanent collection.
The High's first permanent home came in 1926 with the donation by Mrs. Joseph M. High of her family's residence on Peachtree Street. In 1955, the Museum moved to a new brick structure adjacent to the old High house. After 122 Georgia art patrons died in a plane crash on a Museum-sponsored European tour in 1962, the Atlanta Arts Alliance was founded in their memory, and the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center opened in 1968, constructed around the existing Museum. In 1979, Coca-Cola magnate Robert W. Woodruff offered a $7.5 million challenge grant to build a new facility; Museum officials matched and exceeded the grant, generating a total of$20 million. Atlanta 's children broke ground for the new facility in 1981 and the building opened two years later.  In 1983, the Museum's Richard Meier-designed building opened to worldwide acclaim and has received many design awards, including a 1991 citation from the American Institute of Architects as one of the "ten best works of American architecture of the 1980s." Meier's 135,000-square-foot facility tripled the Museum's space, enabling the institution to mount more comprehensive displays of its collections. In 2003, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Richard Meier-designed building, the High unveiled enhancements to its galleries and interior, and a new, chronological installation of its permanent collection.
Due to the unprecedented growth the High has experienced during the past decade in exhibitions, community programming, and collection building, the Museum initiated a building expansion program. The High Museum of Art opened its expanded facilities to the public in November 2005, creating a vibrant "village for the arts" at the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown Atlanta. Three new buildings, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, more than double the Museum's size to 312,000 square feet. This allows the High to display more of its growing collection, increase educational and exhibition programs, and offer new visitor amenities to address the needs of larger and more diverse audiences. The expansion will strengthen the High's role as the premier art museum in the Southeast and allow the Museum to better serve its growing audiences in Atlanta and from around the world. Learn more about the High's recent expansion. We were amazed at the size of the museum as well as some of the items it housed. We spent a great deal of time looking at the Claude Monet's (of which there were three but I cannot locate the third one they had). 
Claude Monet
1840-1926
Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil 1873
Oil on canvas
Claude Monet
1840-1926
Houses of Parliament in the Fog
1903
Oil on canvas I loved the Denial of St Peter by Nicolas Tournier. 
Tournier's favourite subject was without a doubt The Denial of Saint Peter that he painted on at least five successive occasions. These paintings must have been popular at the time, as we have come across innumerable old copies. The episode, taken from the New Testament where it is recounted in all four gospels, tells of how Saint Peter denied knowing Christ when questioned by a woman who had been present at the moment of Christ's arrest; a dramatic subject that Tournier interprets as a reflection upon the human condition. The woman's denunciation of the apostle does not stir the indifferent soldiers who are sitting playing cards around an old tomb. As he gains an increasing mastery of technique, Tournier increases the number of figures resulting in ambitious compositions such as the Madrid Denials and those in Atlanta. There were a great many sculptures as well. One of my favourites was The Veiled Rebecca by Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1809-1873). The way he managed to create a sheer veil over her face in marble is amazing. I have never seen anything like it. I was so struck by the beauty of it. He somehow managed to make marble appear to be fabric in such a way that is was actually startling. Unfortunately, I cannot get a photo that clearly shows the veil or the beauty of the sculpture itself as a whole. 
The Veiled Rebecca
Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1809-1873) marble
ca. 1866
Gift of Mrs. Edwin Clapp, 1884, to the Berkshire Athenaeum; transferred to Museum Giovanni Maria Benzoni was trained in Rome, eventually establishing his own shop where he trained numerous students. This biblical sculpture depicts Rebecca, bride of Isaac, as she draws her veil about her before being presented to her future husband. This piece represents innocence and purity as Benzoni skillfully creates the appearance of a transparent veil, an exceptional technical achievement. Being a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright I was thrilled to see a few of his pieces there as well. The two most beautiful were the desk and the window panel. I love the fact that Wright, when he designed a building, also designed all the furniture to go in it. 
Frank Lloyd Wright
1867-1959
Window
1912
Oak, colored glass, and leading 
Designed in 1936 for the S.C. Johnson Wax Company, this iconoclastic desk and chair still satisfy the needs of that person looking for a functioning work of art to place in their home or workplace. Brick-red metal frame with natural cherry wood accent top and arms. A pendaflex file drawer, wastebasket, and accompanying file rack complete this state of the art design. All in all it was an amazing day. I was so impressed with everything and am even thinking of becoming a member so that we can go back all year, any time we want, to se the permanent collection again as well as the remainder of the Kings Collection.
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Tiny Frankenstein walker
That's right.. she is now Toddler A. She has decided to take her first steps on her own. Sioned standing in bathroom fixing hair - "I will be done soon sweetie. Just give me a minute" Baby A - "Mamamamama..." Pulls herself up using the doorjamb. Sioned- "One more minute darlin" *frowns at crazy hair* Baby A - "okay oky okay" Disappears Sioned - "Sweetie I will... hey!" *looks around corner to see Toddler A Frankenstein stomping her way to the bedroom door. She is the coolest little person in the world. Even more so than Mini Me from Austin Powers. 
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Angels, Christmas and new (old) blogging
I have not posted on here in a long time. I have jumped ship to the other blog world where a lot of us have gone. I decided to try and post on here again as well as give the whole HTML thing a try.. again. Last time it almost made me cry. This time I am determined to work on it and try and figure out what to do. So, what better way to start off my new blogging back in my old blog but with a photo of My Angel and our crazy dog.... 
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Five Years ago...
Tomatopuree asked where we where five years ago when the planes hit the Twin Towers... On September 11th, 2001, I had stayed home as I was not feeling well. I was laying in bed, mostly asleep, when R opened the door to the bedroom and I woke up. He looked... horrified. I asked him what was wrong and he could not say. Tears started and he walked out the door and closed it behind him. I ran out the door only to find him sitting at the top of the stairs. He tried to tell me what was wrong, but he just went down the stairs to the TV and we both watched as the second plane hi. And we spent the rest of the day, watching, as the towers burned and fell, and took the people with them. The people on the streets, cried out and ran for their lives, the firefighters and police ran into the rubble, that burning heap, those collapsed buildings and tried to save who they could. I watched as they reported that another plane had hit the pentagon and another had crashed, trying to fly to Washington, maybe the White house. Courageous people had taken that one down, and in doing so, had given their lives for so many others. They had sacrificed themselves so that so many other people did not have to die. They made calls to their loved ones, to say goodbye and that they were loved. And then they charged the cockpit and......died. I am Canadian, but I live in the US. I saw as people who did not know one another, cry together. I watched Canadians come across that border and held Americans in their arms and wept with them. I went to a memorial service and watched, Arabs, Indians, Americans, Canadians, English, Australians, French, men, women and children, hold hands with each other, strangers, and cried and prayed and wondered how this could have happened. It has been five years, but I remember it like it was yesterday. it changed the world as we know it.
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And the fat lady sings...
Well, I think that is it for me... I do not like this new platform at all. I miss the old one with the sense of community and the ability to see who has blogged without having to click a million links and sign in.. I miss the old 20six. I used to love coming here and looking at who has just blogged and comment with ease... now, it is a chore. I am done. I will not delete this blog and might check on it once in a while but I am headed over to my platform27 blog from now on. Now I just have to fix that one to look ok and I am golden.
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Well, things have been busy around the ole Sioned Homestead. Changes to 20six aside, work has been hectic, I have had no time to really get to my personal e mails. R, Baby A and I have done two races in the last two weeks, coming in eighth in one and second in another. Coming in second - R, Baby A and I were in a canoe race this past weekend. Since our canoe was stolen a few months ago we had to borrow one from a friend. His canoe was still so new that it was shiny. R and I were so scared we were going to scratch it. Anyway, we strapped the Baby to R with a front water tot carrier, made just for things like this. R and Baby A sat in the back while I took up the position in the front of the canoe. We were pretty excited as we came in second place last year, while I was pregnant so I knew that this year would be a piece of cake. Little did we know that they would have a record year in terms of the amount of people that were in the race! We finally got to the water and they blew the whistle and off we went. We were passing everyone we saw so we knew we were doing well when... baby A got hungry. Egads! R had to root around in her bag and get her a bottle while I, alone, kept paddling. I paddled a 17 lb canoe with 40-50 pounds of gear and a 200 lbs man who had a 17 pound baby strapped to him. I still managed to pass people. It was amazing! I mean, I was not going fast by any means, but I really wanted to win. In the end, we came in second place because of that break we had to take but it was all worth it. We had a blast and Baby A was so great during the whole thing. Who said having a child has to chance your life that much?
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Paying for Services
I think I might just have to pay someone to build my page for me. I am at a loss for what to do to make this look nice. Can I cry or would that embarrass everyone?
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