Ok, so I am a bit crazed and just realized today that my kid's last day of school until Jan 6th is tomorrow. I totally thought they had school next week. I found out at my daughter's class party today. Yeah, ok, that was a bit embarressing. Um, no Mrs. Abeyta her last day is tomorrow. Ok, so I am a tad scatterbrained these days. I am leaving in 15 mintues to go deliver 3 paintings at Starbucks where I will be getting one final coffee of the night although I think I may need to eat as I can't recall if I actually ate today. 3 paintings left. 3 paintings left. It is a mantra. Ya know what keeps me going? The reactions. The smiles. It is a natural high I am completely addicted to! I have no time to post new paintings, so I am attaching a triptich of a farm scene someone ordered for their mother of her two horses and dog. I love how it turned out. It is 3 6x8's. Remind me tomorrow to tell you how my two dogs are now masters of escape and I have had to hunt them down twice and met 3 new neighbors who have returned them. Yeah, I need to be hunting down these two numskulls right now! Good thing they are so darn cute!

Still on schedule to finish on Saturday. I am pretty much running on adrenaline at this point. So many marathon painting sessions will do that to you. I am surprised I don't have carpel tunnel! Yesterday I did get to take a break though. My husband has come down with a nasty bug of some sort, so he has been bed-ridden the past day. Normally he drops the kids off, picks them up and generally plays with them after school so I can conitnue to paint. Yesterday, as he was so sick, I picked up the kids. After school we made cookies and laughed and danced in the kitchen to some Lyle Lovett. (love him!) We had a great time and it was such a nice unexpected break. I am of course, sorry my husband had to feel so sick for this to happen, but it was a sweet time with my kids. I did, however, pay the price. I was up until 2am to stay on schedule. But it was worth it. And again, when you love what you do, it is not really so hard to stay up late painting. Plus, Saturday night I intend on celebrating in a nice warm bubble-filled bath. My best friend sent me a birthday package that included Zen tea, candles, bubble bath, a bunch of great books, and new cute jammies! Ahhhh, Saturday...it is like the carrot in front of my nose getting me through the week. Well, that plus knowing these are Christmas presents and they HAVE to get done!

Well, on Saturday I turned 31. So it's official. I am now 'in my thirties'. It was a nice birthday weekend. I worked at a small local holiday festival here in Decatur on Saturday and Sunday. I love this little town. The people that live here really support the local artists. Even with the dreary weather, I made a nice little profit. A bunch of people bought gift certificates and holiday cards. The best part however, was getting to know the fabulous other artists at the show. They were a really creative and friendly group and I felt really lucky to get to know them over the past two days! At the end we all traded art with each other, so for the first year in many, many years my family won't have to get my art for Christmas! They can finally have some wonderful art from other people!

In other work news, I am happy to report that if I stick to my schedule and I get everyone to pick up their paintings from me instead of having to deliver, I should finish my last painting this Saturday. It means pretty much non stop painting until then, but it will be really really nice to be able to relax the few days before Christmas. So with that being said, I have THE cutest bearded collie ever to finish up and get in the mail to Boston!