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Wonderland Lettering Completed

I’ve been avoiding writing. But since I’ve been avoiding writing by doing something creative, I don’t actually feel too bad about that fact. I spent much of my evenings last week and part of my weekend finishing the “Sienna in Wonderland” art work for my niece’s room by adding layers of paint to each panel. I always kind of kick myself when I do super thin lines in the forms of spirals like this, because I don’t have great brushes for that kind of detail work. It turned out fine, though, and I’m happy with the final product.

Sienna in Wonderland wall art

in

Sienna in Wonderland wall art

I have also painted the frames, so that one will be bright blue and the other bright purple. It should make a great addition to my niece’s bedroom.

The wood cutout of a teapot will be painted by my sister Pilar (aka, Auntie No. 2), so once it’s all complete and hanging on my niece’s wall, I’ll be sure to take a final picture to show you guys.

I’m not posting a goals list this week and probably won’t next week either, since it’s impractical to expect myself to complete a big long list of to-dos when I’ll be traveling both this and next weekend. The first weekend trip with be half for work and half for play with me spending a few days on the Pensacola, FL beach. The second weekend trip will be to Washington, DC to meet up with some of my tumblr buddies, and we’ll be checking out the local museums and other fun stuff.

Still, there’s opportunity over the next couple of days to, as Pilar says, “get sh!t done,” so we’ll see how it goes. Mostly I don’t want to overwork myself, because I want to stay healthy for my trips.

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"As human beings, we have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces." – Will Shortz

One submission was made last week of a previously rejected story and I finished the sketch stage of creating my niece’s wall art, which you can see below.

Wall Art – Part I
Wall art for my niece

Wall Art – Part II
Wall art for my niece

In between these will be a wood cutout of a teapot with the word “in” on it (which my other sister will be creating), so it will read “Sienna in Wonderland” once it is all completed. The next step with these pieces will be to add paint in yellow, teal, purple, and/or blue. I will probably do some test patches before deciding.

I have been out of the groove with writing lately and I’m having a hard time getting back into it. I need some deadlines I think, or at least a schedule to kick me back into gear.

To be accomplished in the coming week:
– Finish second half of Chapter Six of Under the Midday Moon
– Submit something (poem, story, whatever)
– Workout at least three days with two workouts being running training (0/3)
– Do three morning yoga workouts (0/3)
– Practice my Spanish
– Do color testing and final paintwork on niece’s wall art

– Make Progress on Organization (do one or more of the following):
• Buy shower curtain hooks for organizing scarves
• Find a way to better organize shoes with double shelf or slots
• Buy a tie hangar for necklaces and create rack for earrings
• Shred papers and dispose of them
• Measure pictures and buy frames

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My mom is awesome and other news

Saturday, my mom and I decided to hit the local trail in Los Gatos. I had intended to just do my run and then head home, but upon hearing my mom’s plans to walk the entire trail loop (a 4-ish mile stretch that involves some steep hills). In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best idea I’ve had.

We did the running intervals first, which went smoothly, then started walking up the hills. It was hot and one of the hills looked almost like this /, so it was very difficult. I probably didn’t drink enough water or eat enough food that morning, so I got extremely light headed halfway up. I was fine when I reached the top and the trail leveled out, but it was rough going for a while there.

But the trail being rough isn’t the point of the story. The point is that my mom is awesome.

At one point during our walk, my mom drifted ahead of me with her headphones in her ears. To music only she could hear, she began to fan her arms over her head in circles and loops and spirals in a kind of walking dance. She followed this with childlike skips and hops and tippy toe sprints, all smiling and in tune with what ever she was listening to. I couldn’t help but smile at her dancing, at her freedom of self, at her willingness to just play. It made me want to skip and cavort, too, so I did (for a little bit). It made me think of the way as a kid I could just run around and play without embarrassment, and that I wanted more silliness in my life.

Here’s a new goal for myself: Live life with childlike abandon and joy.

So, in other week roundup news, exercise was very successful with four of three completed.

Writing and organizing was less successful, as in nonexistent. I’m giving myself a break on the organizing, though, since I’ve been housesitting and thus haven’t been at home to work on it. I’m housesitting this week, too, but I’m leaving my organizing goals on the list, because maybe I’ll work on it next weekend.

That which must be accomplished in the coming week:
– Finish Chapter Five of Under the Midday Moon
– Submit something (poetry, fiction, whatever)
– Edit Letter Box poetry chapbook and submit it
– Workout at least three days with two workouts being running training (0/3)
– Practice my Spanish
– Make Progress on Organization (do one or more of the following):
• Shred papers and dispose of them
• Find a minimum of ten items (big or small) that can be gotten rid of and get rid of them
• Take box of items to donate to Goodwill