Changes

2008 has started with a bang. The last few weeks seemed to last about a million years. My husband interviewed for and got a new job. Hell on the manicure. (This is a joke. Ever see an artist's hands? Nail polish doesn't have a chance.) With this job change, for which we've been waiting eons, it seems that the family has breathed out a collective sigh of relief. Perhaps we've been damming up all our own energies, waiting for this outcome. And so it has begun.

Mark's schedule has changed, which means my schedule has changed. My car died in the middle of a downpour when I had no cell phone. We replaced it with a better model (car, not the cell phone). Mark traded his car in for better gas mileage for his longer commute. We aren't the kind of people to trade in cars. We run them to the ground. Last time we bought cars was 1998. Then, as now, we both bought cars in the same week. Who does that?

Both kids are heading toward some pretty intensive spring activities some of which called for auditions/tryouts and honest-to-goodness swashbuckling. More nailbiting on the part of the mother. Outwardly, I am calm and supportive. My cuticles tell a different story. The kids have even more opportunities before them. I am truly excited for them in a way that only a parent can be.

My artwork went on display at Red Raven Art Company on gallery row in Lancaster and I sold a piece to a pretty well-known citizen and art collector. (Let's just say that a local university art building is named after her.) My mind reels. Seems I now have credibility as an artist (either in the public spectrum and/or my own head. Can't decide.)

I revisited my second novel--aiming for some hefty revising. This is a major breakthrough for me. My writing was lagging behind painting the last couple of months.

Lots of swirling movement. I'm beginning to think it had to do with the rearranging of furniture. Feng Shui? How else can you explain all the changes? Somehow, this shift in reality begs for answers. But maybe I don't want to know. Maybe right now, it is just enough to send out prayers of gratitude, a few well-meaning thank you notes, and accept that we have been laying the groundwork for these happenings over the period of some seemingly stagnant months.