It. Goes. So. Fast.

Tomorrow is a big day in the deRosier house. Not just big - huge. Trevor is moving into the dorms at UC Davis. Our only child is going to his top-choice university to study what interests him most in life. He has wanted this for so long; we've wanted it for him even before he knew what a university was. We are thrilled for him and so, so proud. 

But there are other emotions too, of course. Sending your child out into the world is hard, in so many ways. Somehow, 18 years has flown by. My baby is an adult. How?! 

Mary Louise Kelly, host of NPR's All Things Considered, gets it. I just finished listening to her memoir, It. Goes. So. Fast. I loved it. Affiliate link here and below. 

In terms of parenting experiences, Mary Louise Kelly and I don't have a lot in common. She was reporting on war zones during her children's early years; I was a stay-at-home mom, spending my days with other moms at parks and libraries. Her kids had a nanny; Trevor literally never had a paid babysitter. In their teen years, Kelly was live on the air when her kids got out of school; I volunteered at the school and picked Trevor up from school every day. But we both love our children with our whole hearts and we both now know firsthand how quickly the time with them flies by. 

Kelly's book is as much about her career as it is about being a mom, because the two are intertwined. And honestly, if her memoir wasn't about parenthood at all, I would still have loved it. She's had a fascinating career and is such a gifted storyteller. I usually recommend printed books, but in this case, get the audiobook. Hearing her words in her own voice is powerful, especially when she is talking about her sons. Pure love. 

Subpar Parks

I've been doing a lot of jigsaw puzzles lately, on my doctor's orders. (Best prescription ever!) Along with proper rest, healthy eating, and exercise, puzzles help with the brain fog that is associated with cancer treatment. Jigsaw puzzles have many other benefits, including reducing stress, improving short-term memory, and preventing cognitive decline. And not just for cancer patients. Everyone, including children, can benefit cognitively, emotionally, and physically from regularly solving jigsaw puzzles. 

My friend Kathy recently sent me the Subpar Parks puzzle. If you're not familiar with Subpar Parks, you're definitely missing out. Artist Amber Share has illustrated the actual 1-star reviews tourists have left after visiting each of the National Parks. They are hilarious. 

Subpar Parks is also a book. (Affiliate links here and below.) In addition to the illustrated reviews of each park, it has information about the history and features of the National Parks.  

I've been to quite a few of our country's National Parks. I'm a fan. I give the concept of National Parks 5 stars. They are, without a doubt, America'a Best Idea. 

That said, I don't love them all equally. Each park has many 5-star qualities about it, but I definitely think some parks are better than others. I thoroughly enjoyed Gateway Arch, but I don't think anyone could argue that it is better than Yosemite, for example, even at its most crowded. Hot Springs was really neat, but I preferred Acadia. I wouldn't have loved it nearly so much in the winter. I had a fantastic time at Congaree, but an even better time at Badlands... even though it was 105° when we were there. 

Obviously, there are a lot of factors that can impact how much someone enjoys a visit. I can see how crowds, high prices, bad weather, a closed visitor center, aggressive insects, and other factors could completely ruin a park for someone, but I have a hard time seeing how anyone could then leave a 1-star review. I'm glad they did, though. Not only are they really funny, but presumably the authors will not be returning, and that's one fewer miserable person there the next time I visit a National Park.

My Breast Cancer Journey

It has been less than four months since I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It's hard to believe, as it feels like breast cancer has been part of my life for much, much longer. Fortunately, I am at the end of active treatment (surgery and radiation) and now consider myself a breast cancer survivor. 

To be clear, I do not consider myself cancer-free, in remission, or in any way "done" with cancer. I have ten years of endocrine therapy and oncology appointments still ahead of me. I may have late side effects or even a recurrence. But I have survived so far. And I'm doing well. 

Throughout my breast cancer journey, I've been keeping friends and family informed through CaringBridge. I've now copied all of my posts over here to my blog, where anyone can access them without having to create an account. I hope that sharing the details of my journey will help future patients, or their loved ones, to learn more about breast cancer and see one possible outcome. 

https://www.cindyderosier.com/p/my-breast-cancer-journey.html

Crayon Melt State Fruits: Pear, Peach, Strawberry, Watermelon, and Tomato

It's been almost four years since I've pulled out the warming tray to do a crayon melt project. I'm surprised it's been that long, since it's one of my favorite techniques. I love the painterly effect it gives on these, each of which is an official state fruit.  

Pears are the state fruit of Oregon. 

Peaches are the state fruit of Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. (Technically, peaches are Alabama's state tree fruit.)

Strawberries are the state fruit of Delaware, Louisiana, North Carolina (technically, the state red berry), and Oklahoma.

Tomatoes are the state fruit of Arkansas, Ohio, and Tennessee.

OK, I lied. Watermelon is not a state fruit. It is the state vegetable of Oklahoma. If you think a tomato should be considered a vegetable and watermelon a fruit, don't take it up with me. Botanically, tomatoes are fruit and so are watermelons, but Oklahoma has valid arguments for considering watermelon a vegetable. 

I didn't make crayon melts of all of the state fruits. Others include oranges, apples, huckleberries, blackberries, plums, blueberries, grapes, cranberries, chokecherries, grapefruit, cherries, and pawpaws. Feel free to make those, or anything else, using the technique below. The materials list includes affiliate links. 

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Crayon Melt State Fruits

Materials:

• warming tray
• white paper
• crayons
• microtip scissors
• craft glue

Steps:

Plug in the warming tray. and put a sheet of paper on top. Scraps are perfectly ok. Use crayons to color in the fruits you'll be making. You can blend and layer colors as much as you want. 

I recommend removing the wrappers from the crayons and laying them on their sides for faster, more even coverage. When you do that, you're going to get wax that transfers to the crayon, but that's not a problem. Here you can see that I put the white crayon into an area I'd colored dark green, which blended and transferred to the crayon. To clean it off, just color on a clean area of paper. 

You have two choices when adding details to your project. For the watermelon seeds, I just dotted black crayon directly onto the hot red wax. Since the black shows up really well on red, this is a good option. 

If I'd tried to add the yellow strawberry seeds on top of the red wax while it was hot, they would have blended in too much. Instead, I removed the strawberry, let it cool completely, cut out my shape, then returned it to the warming tray for just long enough to warm up. Then I was able dot on little bits of yellow. 

Don't forget to color the stems and leaves that you'll be using on your fruits. When you've colored everything, unplug the warming tray and let the wax set. Then cut out the shapes using scissors. Glue the leaves and stems to the appropriate fruit. Have fun!

50 State Quarters: Coloring Pages Using Flair Pens

I just finished two more coloring pages featuring the 50 State Quarters. I've previously shared the first four (Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, and Wisconsin) that I colored with Ohuhu markers and the next four (Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri, and Montana) where I used inks as a base and layered colored pencil on top. Can you guess what I used for the Indiana and Delaware coloring pages? 

If you guessed Flair pens, I'm impressed! (Affiliate link here and below.) Specifically, I used this 12-pack of 0.7 mm tip pens. 

I printed the images as 7" circles, which is a ridiculous amount of surface area to fill with a fine tip pen. If I'd colored them in using just the 0.7 mm pens, I would have: 

• run out of ink partway through and had to buy more pens
• wrecked my hand
• lost my mind

Instead, I took advantage of a fun characteristic of Flair pens: they are water-based. By using a moist brush, you can drag the pigment beyond the place where you colored. Look at the tires below. For each tire, I colored part of it solid black, then drew horizontal lines on the remainder. Then I used my brush to blend them out. You can see the difference between the ones I've moistened (left) and the ones I haven't (right). 

Compare the blue outline of Indiana above with the finished project. See the way I dragged the blue in toward the center? I did the same thing with the black outline around the entire design. I really like the effect. And this technique lets you add color to large areas and still save your pen, hand, and sanity. 

A few precautions before you try coloring pages with Flair pens and water. First, print or copy the image onto watercolor paper for the best results. I did a trial run using printer paper and, as expected, it was a disaster. I ended up using Neenah Bristol Vellum because it was the best option that works in my printer. It didn't allow for as much blending as a watercolor paper would, but it didn't fall apart like the printer paper. 

Second, expect to have a lot of drying time. You can't apply Flair pens over moist areas, plus if you moisten two adjacent colors at once, the colors will run. Instead, work on one section at a time and then wait for it to dry before going on to the next area. I worked on both Indiana and Delaware simultaneously so that one could dry while I was working on the other. 

 

To cover a large space with visible texture (like the grass on the Delaware quarter), you can draw lots of little lines. I wasn't consistent in blending it out, but it doesn't bother me that the grass looks inconsistent. What does bother me are the lines on the horse. The 12-pack of Flair pens doesn't have a brown, so I had to use the black pen in different ways on the horse, the tack, and the boot. I suppose I could have used the purple and embraced a horse of a different color. 

I'm looking forward to coloring my next batch of State Quarters using a different method. I've printed out the designs; now I just need to pick my next medium and get started!