You Can't Have Just One

 Greetings, fellow swimmers! The water is a little cool these days - thanks, Mother Nature! Ahh, almost two weeks off. I know some of my colleagues went away for some fun in the sun during this time, but we chose to stay at home and enjoy family, friends, and a little down time. 

You may have been intrigued by the title of this post, and it was carefully chosen for more than one reason. First, and very importantly, there will be two new grandchildren in 2023! Yes, Didi and Big Brother will be welcoming their second child sometime in January, but many of you knew that. We were delighted to hear that Morticia and The Doctor will also be having a baby, sometime this summer! We're so happy for all of them. Looking forward to that new baby smell...Come on, you know what I mean.

Then, of course, there is that other side of me, that creative side that constantly needs attention. A couple years ago, I bought one of those journals that is made up of dots - a bullet journal, I believe it's called. I had decided it would be my Creative Journey Journal. One of the aspects of a bullet journal is to come up with a word for the year. I think that's pretty much the trend anymore, anyway. It's hard for me to come up with one word to focus on for the year - so, I thought I'd go for a word a month, along with a quote about creativity. After all, it was to be my Creative Journey.

Here is page one - what fun I had creating that page! And, if you notice, the right side of the page is cut out so that when you open it, you come to a calendar for the year.

                                             As you can see, there was a lot of work that went into making the journal! There were even spaces for every day of the week, with lots of room to write. Coloring was also a fun part of the experience. I love to color - bullet journal pages, coloring books - it sure relieves a lot of stress! I also love to write, which some of you know. This would give me that chance. 

Yup. There was a lot of writing that went on...for about two whole months! Ah, the best of New Year Resolutions and intentions! Then, I was recording something a few days a week, then maybe one day a week, and well, you can probably guess where it went.

Yeah, it got to this point! Of course, that was 'The Year of Three Addresses', two moves...with a surgery in-between! Was it any wonder there were blank days? (Well, those were the excuses I chose to believe!)

So, excuses notwithstanding, the next year didn't go much better. For 2022, I thought it would be better to just make a page for the name of the month, and a word that I would focus on. I decided to come up with a 'word for the year', but it was more than one. It was 'The Year of Endless Possibilities'. Sparing you pictures of details, it followed the same direction as the previous year, but without wasting so many pages! Still looking for those possibilities...

So, In thinking about what to do this year - because, I really did like the idea of journaling what I had experimented with, and what was accomplished - I thought that this year I would be focusing on making more time for creative endeavors. But, could I find one word that encompassed my goal? Not really. There were all sorts of words, but they mostly had to do with hurrying, rushing - you know, making better time. I found a couple -'Dedicate' was one, 'Incorporate' another. Still, not the best descriptors. I would need at least two words, maybe more, and 'Make the Effort' was the best I could come up with.

Step One: Clean the studio. Once again, as so much of my life is, clutter was becoming an issue. So, I made the effort at the beginning of the week to straighten up.

My studio is divided into sections. This view is of my main work table, drafting table in the corner (with tubes of acrylic paint on the wall), and a drying rack. Painting is my main focus, mostly watercolor, which is laying out on the table, along with an unfinished picture of Little Man that I've been working on for several months. Okay, I worked on it, then let it sit for several months. There is also one somewhere of Simon, also unfinished. The Amazon cards are there because you can actually use cards, or straight edged objects for painting! (BTW, they've been used!) The studio is now ready for use. The bullet journal is going to simply be a journal - not spending my time making fancy pages - where I will still record notes on works in progress. However, I now must focus on a completely different problem...

Step 2: How to work around Art Cat! Simon seems to think I can't possibly make any art unless he's a part of it. Literally - he leaves his fur in my paintings, and water? Well, paint water must taste really good! (I'm certainly not going to try it!) I tried to remove him from the water container one day. What a disaster that was! He's a pretty laid-back sort of cat, but not that day. He's never fought me so obstinately!

So, more than just one word to describe something, more than just one grandchild to look forward to the arrival, more than just one Christmas cookie, more than just one Lay's potato chip...more than just one hug to all my friends and family.

As you roll into 2023, I wish for all of you a year filled with happiness, good health, and time to explore your passions. Stop by the Stress Pool anytime - but you may have to bring your own refreshment - I don't trust the cat!

Trees, and Wreaths, and Santa Hats - Oh My!

 Wow, it's been awhile since I've come up for air! 

Just treading water these days here in the Stress Pool. After all, the holidays are fast approaching (did I hear someone out there giving a primal yell to relieve that stress?!) and along with that, the end of the semester. (Now I'll give my own primal yell!) Amidst trying to get work in for grades, cleaning brushes before storing them, and packing everything up before I move to the other intermediate school, all the while listening to and rehearsing the Vivaldi Gloria (we're singing that for our Christmas Eve concert), I'm also peeling children off the ceiling.  

"Play Christmas music!" they whined. I put on the Vivaldi.

"No, Christmas music!"

"This is Christmas music."

"It's opera."

Spoilsports. I found a lovely Christmas instrumental site on Youtube. All guitar. They're rendered speechless, however, as I make my rounds through the room, occasionally I'll hear someone quietly singing along. Everyone is happy.

All in all, December whips past in a whirlwind. Add to that the Sprinkle for DiDi - yes, baby number 2 arrives in January, and because it's a girl, there were some things that they needed. In case you aren't aware, if you don't need an all out Shower, for baby number 2 it's called a Sprinkle. Not sure if somewhere in the world there isn't something called a Downpour. DH had a birthday - even though he won't let us 'celebrate' it, and so did Little Man - his is two days before Pawpaw's.

However, we're not so busy we couldn't take time to make cookies! Morticia mentioned sugar cut-out cookies. Easy! We'll get some Pillsbury refrigerator cookie dough, and we'll be all set to go. Guess what all the stores are out of a week before Christmas? Yeah, I don't know why I thought they would still have some. Fortunately, Mrs. Fields came to the rescue, and I found a recipe in my Mrs. Fields Cookie Cookbook. Low and behold, we had everything needed to make them! I made the cookie dough when I got home from church and put it in the fridge to chill. Morticia came over in the early afternoon and we set about rolling out the dough and cutting out the shapes. She mixed up the colors for the icing. It really didn't take long for the cookies to cool down, so we were ready for decorating! Moink came down to join in the fun.

Moink started on the red stockings- we found he was a real natural at decorating!

Morticia did a fabulous job with the wreaths and the trees - she is also very creative and talented when it comes to decorating!

Two of Moink's creations.

Here, we have a vast array of our creations. You can really see the wreaths and trees. Don't look too closely at the angels or snowmen...I might be an artist, but cookie decorators everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief that I won't be trying to take their jobs any time soon! 

And, if you look closely, you might spot one, lone Santa hat. There's a story behind Santa hats at our house, which I might have related in an earlier post. Long story short, in the middle of a tirade, I apparently was interrupted by spotting a Santa hat in with the decorations, stopping me mid-yelling-at-children. They will never let me live that down! Since I don't have a Santa hat cookie cutter, I took what was left of the dough and formed one. Once it was decorated, well, there it was - a Santa hat!

After we were finished - and it really did take the entire afternoon- Morticia mentioned that it had been quite taxing!

But, we had a good time, and it was a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

So, Merry Christmas to all of you - hopefully, I'll be able to write again soon - at least, sooner than 4 months! I'll also try to include more pictures - after all, they're worth a thousand words! In the meantime, stay warm, watch out for the elves - they're not always nice, you know - and stop by the Stress Pool anytime for a cookie and hot chocolate!