At the Finish Line

The horse painting is finished.  Yay!  I' m so pleased with it - I've never painted horse before!

Back to Reality

I had so much fun last night! Fiver is a fantastic band, and Simone is super talented! I saw old and new friends, too, which was fun. And, Dobrila smuggled in a bottle of Crown Royal and spiked my drink of pop - she did it in the dark, so my drinks were very strong! I did my giggly, happy drunk routine.

Now it's back to reality. I had a nice treatment with Anita, she soothed my sore body, even though Rascal insisted she do a treatment on him. Other than that I've been working non-stop, emailing, getting stuff ready for the market, and trying to finish my horse painting.

I'm close - very close - I can almost smell the horses' manure!

Fiver

No time to write.  I'm racing out the door to see my friend Simone play in her band Fiver.

Yay Simone!!!!!!!!!!!

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Growing up, my father always said, "Anne Abbott, you're burning the candle at both ends again!"  This meant I was staying up way too late and not getting enough sleep.  It's true!  Even back then I loved staying up late and working on my art, or writing.

Times haven't changed much.   I'm still burning the candle at both ends.  Most of the time I can handle it, but sometimes, like today, I say to myself, "Ok, Ok, maybe I'll take a nap and recharge."  So I did.   I took a nap with Rascal for two hours this afternoon, and now I feel so much better!

I went to an OCAP meeting, had a snack, and now I'm going to do some more work, but I'll try not to stay up till 3am.

I hope this makes you happy, Dad.

Back to Painting

I've been happy today and sad, hopeful and depressed.   I've laughed a lot and cried a little.

All, in all, I think it's a good thing that I'm going back to painting tonight. It's a good way to clear the cobwebs from my mind.

Movie Night

All afternoon I designed and ordered cards, calendars, tree ornaments, gift tags, and tote bags.

Now, I'm going to finish my dinner and go see a movie with Lucy and Yuula.

Woo-hoo!

Tired but Happy

I had a good day at the market today.

It wasn't spectacular by any means.  It was still painfully slow, and I had time to have my usual 30 minute nap.  People were nice, though, very friendly and chatty.

And - tah-dah! - I sold a painting!  It was one of my favourites, actually ....

I'm so happy!  And, what made me even more happy was the joy I saw on the face of my customer as she took the painting with her.  I always feel so gratified when people appreciate my art.

Now, I'm home, eating mini Aero bars, watching Breaking Bad, and chillin' with my cats.

I'm tired but happy ....

Taking a Break from Pain-ting

I did more work on the painting of the horses last night, but I couldm't finish it.  For one thing, I ran out of paint, and for another, I was in extreme pain!  Neck, arm, shoulder - a triathalon of pain endurance!  (Thank god for pain meds.)

I was going to do more on the painting this evening, but I've suddenly found myself swamped with other types of work.  Kelly helped me put my new Holiday Season cards into packs.  She took pictures of them too.  So, now I need to edit the pictures and then post them on Etsy, Facebook, and my website.

I also have a dozen emails to reply to, and I need to update my finances and my employees' schedule..

Like my mother used to say, "I don't have time to be bored!"

Still Horsing Around

Horse Play

Forgive me, but I'm obsessed with finishing my horse painting!

I'll write more tomorrow ....

Happy Guy Fawkes Day

What a Day! There was two kinds of news today: 1) Hourly updates on the farce at City Hall and 2) the amazing and fantastic gatherings of people all over the world in the Million Mask March.

Where do I start with Rob Ford? I have many different feelings on this subject. I feel anger and frustration over what he has actually done to Toronto. He has reduced the number of TTC busses at night, which has made it very dangerous for women to stay out at night. All sorts of social programs were cut, such as the Start-up Program for people with disabilities, people who are poor and people who are abused by their spouse and need to start over. I could go on and on and on about how Ford has ruined Toronto but I'm tired. Its been a busy day. (When is it not?!)

And yes, yes, I am one of those people who is getting off on listening to the latest news on our mayor. How could I not?! This last year has been a rollercoaster of inuendos, crack cocaine, booze, missuse of funds and using a TTC bus to take his football team out. Oh yes, I forgot that he is also implicated in a murder of somebody he had drug connections with. And most people, like myself,  are waiting for Ford to either step down or get arrested. Neither has happened yet, the police Chief has simply sighed and said, "I'm very dissapointed". This makes it sound like he thinks our mayor is a naughty child. Its so ridiculous! And, because it is so ridiculous, people can't wait to find out what happens next.

However, on the other side of the coin, it's Guy Fawkes Day and people all over the world have been demonstrating in Million Mask Marches. People with disabilities who need to protest the cuts to their allowence, people who are getting baely enough to scrape by, people who are against fracking and wasting money on war all came togther and said we've had enough!  Fantastic! Fantastic! Fantastic! I wish I could have been in their numbers.

Instead, I was painting my two horses and celebrating my friend's birthday. Interestingly enough, Laura's partner got everybody to sign a petition to ask the Queen to change November 5th from Guy Fawkes Day to Laura Mac Day. Now, I'm visualizing next year with people wearing Laura Mac masks.

Cool! 

Getting Ready for the Holiday Season

Yes, yes, I'm one those annoying people who starts producing merchandise for the holiday season right after Halloween!

Cards, calendars, mugs, and t-shirts etc -  all evening I've been designing and ordering these things.  And, I'll probably continue to do so until the wee hours of the morning ....

Tomorrow I'll paint - a horse maybe!

Way, Way Too Busy to Write

I'll write tomorrow ....

For now, this picture of one of my adorable cats!

A Day Full of Promise

All in all, it was a pretty good day at the market, despite the fact that I had only gotten maybe four hours of sleep.  (My cats kept fighting on my bed, which, of course, periodically woke me up.)  I made $79.00 - which is better than a swift kick in the behind!

I also received a beautiful bouquet of tulips from a fan - the same person who had given another bunch of flowers a couple of months ago!

My customers were more friendly and chatty today. Some, because they liked my artwork and wanted for me to get more exposure, gave me a few suggestions where I could show/sell my work online.

One of these people was an old friend named Mike Harris. I call him The Good Mike Harris Not the Evil Mike Who Plunged the Most Poor, Marginalized People in Ontario into Deep, Fathomless Poverty.

Mike is the manager of Show Gallery.  I used to have a showing there every year until the gallery got very busy and so did I. Mike said they didn't hae very many artists these days and I quickly offered myself. So we made a tentative agreement that I could show my artwork there in January!

As I was heading out I talked to my friend Andrea who runs the salt store and I casually mentioned that I was running home to do the payroll for my employees. She gave me a brilliant idea and told me she does her employee payroll in Googledocs. She said she gets all her employees to enter in their own hours and it automatically calculates what each employee will get paid. I love that idea! It sure would get some of the work off me!

I'm so happy! I'm dying to try out some of these suggestions! However, right now I'm going to bed.

Hopefully, the cats won't fight on my bed tonight!

Every Little Thing is Gonna be All Right

The times when I'm the most happy is when I'm cuddling with my sweet cats ...

Painting, especially when there's cool tunes in the background ...

Chillin' with people I love ....

And, it makes me happy when I get things done.  I had a list as long as your arm, and I got 97% done.  That's pretty good, right?  I'll do the rest tomorrow.

And, as I was looking through my emails, I found an old one that had a video attachment of Bob Marley singing Every Little Thing is Gonna be All Right.  It made me feel even more than I had already been. My usual cynicism melted away.  Maybe every little thing will be all right!

Thanks, Bob!