Yesterday I began my day with a morning run with my two frieght trains, er, I mean dogs. (Kept my time good anyway!) As I was running, once I caught my breath and could pace with dogs thinking they were apparently training for the Iditerod, I was able to notice what an absolutely breathtaking day it was. I was thankful for the meetings and errands I had to do because surely no human being was meant to be indoors on a day such as this! After my run, I got ready for the day and grabbed the paintings to deliver and everything else I needed. I brought my trusty Be Good Tanyas (Chinatown) and was off. I am surprised I didn't get in a car accident because of my constant looking at the sky and trees, and all the saturated, gorgeous colors around me. It really was a day to celebrate. I really felt so lucky to be alive, lucky to be able to be out in it, observing it. At the end of my errands I stopped to buy flowers. I just had to bring some of this beauty into my home. I purchased 3 perfect scarlet gerber daisies to celebrate this gorgeous day. They have been smiling at me all night and all day as I pass them and made what might have been a moment of delight during the day last and last. I really need to remember to celebrate more often!

I can remember as a kid laying on the couch and hanging my head off the edge so I was looking at everything upside down. To me the world looked so different. So intriguing. So much better than the world I had to live in on my feet. I imagined walking on the ceiling, and in general just getting to be different than everybody else. Now, I had a very pleasant childhood, without any tramatic events, I consider myself very lucky. But when I would look at my upside down world I imagined that there was more to this life. Something much more exciting. It was just a feeling of knowing there were wonderful, exciting things to see and do out there and I knew that I controlled getting to them all. I still feel that way. There is so much I can't wait to see and do. Maybe now as an adult I have begun to live in my upside down world. Because now I don't have to hang off of the edge of a couch to see and feel all the possibilities around me. I still have to patient about the when part though-and that is ok. For now my life tends to bring me just into the next room where my computer and easel are, but I know eventually it will bring me on some really fantastic adventures. Not sure when or how, but someday. And maybe sooner than later. I've been allowed in the past year to look at the world from a different angle and I have come to love the view from here. Ups and downs included. Amazing what a little shift in perspective can bring about.

So last Friday out of nowhere my husband's family offers to fly us all out to Texas for Thanksgiving. With our budget being fairly tight and me having all my holiday orders, we had said we just could not make it this year. After talking it over we decided that my husband and kids would fly out there and I would stay home.So yesterday we all woke up at 4am and by 6:15am I was back home. Just me and the dogs. I did what any reasonable mother would do that has not been alone in a good 2 years. I slept. I crawled into bed and slept. Oh sure, I set the alarm for 8am thinking I could get an early start on work, but shut that alarm off within the first second of it going off! I awoke later to a gorgeous day at 10am and got to it. I painted-uninterrupted mind you- for the next 7 hours. Bliss. Then I did my magazine layout revisions, did my newspaper ad resizes, caught up on emails, then took a break. Called my best friend for a long girl-talk session - again, uninterrupted! Finally I decided to go rent some movies so that I could watch anything I wanted to while I painted that night. I got The Hours. Wow. Heavy movie. It sure made me appreciate all that I have in my life that satisfies and stimulates me. Finally I went to bed. I woke up at a lovely 9am to the sound of rain outside my window. Lovely. I have no other plans except to get loads and loads of work done this week. No my priorities are not skewed, though it may seem it. With a husband that works from home and 2 children, you have to understand that alone time is, well, nonexistent. You take it when the opportunity arises. Sure I will miss them all this week, but I am so very grateful for this time alone to recharge my batteries and remember myself in all of this. Don't we all need to do that once in a while?