What I've been up to lately!

It's been a whirlwind of travel and business upheaval! I no sooner get home from travelling and teaching, and I open a hearbreaking email that CREATE has chosen to no longer put on it's retreats.  Which really suck, as I love love loved them!  Great professionally run retreats.  Maggie Reinholtz, Sally Slack and Jeannine Stein, and before her Jenn Mason hold the bar high for anyone wanting to put on a well run event!  They all worked so very hard, and it just burns my biscuits that some suit somewhere didn't appreciate how life-changing these events can be, and can just axe a fabulous program!

That being said- if you want venues to continue in your neck of the woods yall- you have to attend in large numbers!  Bring every friend, sister and cousin you can round up!  Next year, I'm already slated for Dublin, OH, Minneapolis, MN, Stamford CT, and Petaluma CA.  You can bet those venues will fill immediately with their limited seating!

So, as teaching is a huge part of my income- I spun my wheels for all of 5 seconds, and jumped at an opportunity I have had on the back burner.  I have always wanted my own space in an antique/art boutique.  My favorite place is "Harry & Annies" in Washington Courthouse OH.  (Bonus, it's side by side with my Mom's favorite place "Memories Gate".)  Because I have been on the road so much, it's been an impossible dream.  So- I made a call, signed a contract, and began gathering art and antiques I've had around the house for a long time.  I also made a few purchase at a local auction or two, and when I was on the road to TN to see family.

Mike hasn't been able to get down to see his family for about 2 years, so after a couple days home (not near enough to unpack) we loaded up the car for a week in TN.  A great time was had by all, Mike, his Mom and I went to several thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales, and I found wonderful bargins for my shop space!  At night I would work on paintings and developing future classes for next year.  We ended the trip with an early Thanksgiving dinner!

We headed back up to the cold northern tundra, and on the way, stopped in to visit with the stellar gang at DecoArt!  I have been playing with their new Media line for several months now, and could not be happier with what I have discovered.  The new mediums and the new fluid acrylics are really something!  I will be posting more on that soon!  (with some videos!)  After an awesome tour of the factory, and realizing the line was so much more vast than I realized, I couldn't have been floating anymore!  My brain hurt all the way home with ideas!

The next day, we ran down to Harry & Annie's and set up the booth, taking a full blazer and a full pick up truck.  It felt good to get the shutters out of the garage!  Racing home, we realized we had to stop at the grocery- usually not a problem, but oh-la-la it was Wednesday night...5:30 pm Wednesday night before Thanksgiving.  You can figure how that went!  One poor woman was asking Mike how long she would have to thaw her 21 pound turkey before she could cook it the next day...I think she almost cried.  Mike being the kind heart he is, took her over and showed her the fresh turkey breasts, and told her 2 would feed her guests....Home to make pumpkin roll and fresh cranberry sauce...

Thanksgiving came and we had a wonderful day!  Grandma Waller was able to make the car trip in fine fashion from the nursing facility where she is recovering from a broken femur.  Uncles and Aunts stopped by, and hearty games of SLAP were played!  Food was eaten, thanks was given and the day ended way to quickly.  Poor Mike had to go in to work early in the day, and ended up working a 12 hour shift but at least he got dinner first.




The day after Thanksgiving was spent at home, organizing, and unpacking and making art.  No shopping was done!  It was delightful!

The next day was back to my booth, as things had wonderfully sold, and I needed to add inventory!  After that about 15 errands were completed, and several to-do's marked off my list!

Now I am happily catching up on life.  Organizing and hoping for a slower pace, where I can enjoy family and friends!