How Many?

Working on my 1,000,000 leaves project again. I've been neglecting it. I haven't counted this one yet: Anyone want to let me know how many leaves there are in there? :D

Peter Pan

I was watching Peter Pan (the one that came out 2001-ish) and, before I fell asleep in the middle of it, two beautiful lines caught me by surprise. (I love Wendy.) (That's: "We shall build a house around her" [the lost boys, re: Wendy] and "Please be our mother" -"I haven't much experience" "Do you tell stories?" -"Yes" "Then you're perfect" [the lost boys and Wendy] in case you can't read my handwriting.) Fitting that I had my new green ink out at that moment.

A Pretty Good Week...

It’s been a pretty good week.

Back from a week off – and nothing (too terribly) dramatic was awaiting me at the office. Except the chaotic lack of order which is forever my workspace. Can’t seem to shake that…

I ordered my first study book for my AREs. I am oddly excited about starting to study (my inner nerd is surfacing)…

Ate some frog legs last night. They were surprisingly tender and very tasty.

And my friend Casey’s store, Wanderlust, was featured in the NY Times travel article “36 Hours in Key West, Fla” – and guess what! The “whimsical watercolors of Key West houses” at the 1 p.m./Saturday stop are my little note cards!

Great way to wrap up the week. And great motivation to paint some more!

Happy Friday!

Resolved in 2011

Balance

+Creative Process

-Processed Food

+Activity

-Idleness

+Restfulness

-Anxiety

+Giving (make time for volunteering)

-Dwelling on the (-)

+Take (at least the) first of AREs

-Putting off studying

Enjoying the moment,

seizing the day,

and taking the ups

and downs one at a time.

(And figuring out how to make my blog to let me single space paragraphs...help!)

Juicy

Healthy start to 2011: Yum. (Oh, Krystyna, you white liar [nibble nibble on the last of the holiday sweets...])

The First

A lovely slow morning, the first of the year. Breezy, balmy, and the clouds rolling in – there’s a twinge of cool in the air. Barefoot in the yard, picking a sweet, juicy tangelo. Indulging my love of books written for children and adolescents. Stacking up my quarter-a-copy books from the Friends of the Library store – on deck is Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. Dreaming up dreams for new cards for 2011 – everything seems so light and airy right now. Can I capture that in my paintings and keep it throughout the year? What does 2011 have in store for you?

Christmas Tidings

Wow! We're already upon the next holiday it seems. Christmas is right around the corner. (And I've finished my present shopping!) (I have yet to finish my cards though, which I started nice and early and then...hit the pause button. I have decided to write them after Christmas day [still during the 12 days of Christmas] when I am on vacation and embracing lazy mornings. For someone who makes cards as a business I am setting a terrible example...) I try to celebrate the season by giving where I can - donating the extra bit when I buy my groceries (or tonight it was six-pack, I'll admit) at Publix; Christmas shopping from the Greater Good site; donating a book through Anthropologie (and resisting the pretty pretty shoes calling my name); and giving to St Jude...and of course the Salvation Army Santas! I sound like some sort of commercial for these places, but my point is...there are so many ways to help someone less fortunate. In my quiet little life I feel quite fortunate. It's only little bits here and there, but I figure, every little bit counts, right? I hope you and yours have a joyful, beautiful, safe and warm Christmas and New Year! Here's to a lovely 2011!