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.

I forgot my gratitude for the day!

I have to remember to include my gratitude moment this month since I have also signed up to be grateful in this month-long blogging project. Today I am grateful for my husband. Yes, his technology makes my life a bit messy sometimes, but he always fixes more problems than he creates. He is great with the kids. If I need something, he finds a way to make it happen. He even tries to keep ahead of my needs. Little things, but they let me know he is thinking of me--and that's a big thing. Yesterday he bought me some power bars because they were on sale, and he gave me a $10 bill as I was on the way out the door to dance. (I have a little indulgence on Thursday nights. While my daughter is at her 90 min dance lesson, I go with another mother to the restaurant across the street. We hash out our past week and give each other support over a glass of wine. As far as therapy goes--it's a bargain.)
This morning I was very early for a hair appointment, and I shared waiting room time with two widows. They were both telling stories of their husbands and how much they missed them. Mark and I have a date planned for this weekend. It's a silly date--I'm sure I'll blog about it later, but I am happy we are making time for one another, and I am thankful to have had him in my life all these years.

November is here!

With all that I have planned for November, I sit here today and wonder what I will be saying to myself on December 1st? Will I have accomplished all I set out to do, or will it be a disappointment like October, riddled with colds and odd deviations to the schedule? Right now I sit next to November like it is a present waiting to be opened. I am idealistic. A palm reader at a Halloween party told me as much. She also said that my idealism can easily turn to cynicism with the world. And yet I turn my cynicism around and embrace each new month. Today I am going to write like crazy, get my walk in, and await the great mysteries. As I have promised to blog (NaBloPoMo) every day, this is a journey I will take with others. As I have also promised to be grateful each day, I think I'll have a better chance of keep the cynic at bay.

So here is my first bit of gratitude: I am thankful for new beginnings and for opportunity.