New Year's Eve Wish

It's January 2010 TOMORROW!

Wishing all of you a happy and healthy New Year! Celebrate safely, put out good energy, laugh with your friends, and plot a good steady course for 2010!


Wishes do come true; a great partner, wonderful children, great place to live, decent health, water! It's true. Wishing the same for all of you!

Love,
Ell

........not in my 20's anymore..........what happened?

The Holiday is almost over and as the year 2010 rapidly approaches I am forced to think about that walk.........the journey to today. WOW...........how did that happen so quickly? How did I get here?

That is the question I seem to ask myself these days. Twenty Ten! I thought turning 50 was amazing; a number that I never allowed in prior to the day. But 2010 that's a big deal. I was born in the 50's and it was different for sure. We, the five of us, would walk all over the neighborhood anytime of the day. There were not the worries about kids walking off or being snatched as there are today. We had tons of fun growing up in a neighborhood with lots of kids. It seemed almost every family had at least two kids but up to thirteen and five was the average. So, playing kick the can took a long time on a summer evening but no one worried about us being in the dark of night without supervision. I would think of that as I watched my children in the backyard playing. Of course we lived in a country setting and the freedom to romp and play seemed more safe than in the suburbs of a major city.
My husband and I just spent the holiday with our 'adult' children who, actually in their twenties, have lives they have designed for themselves. They are not following traditional paths. They are living lives of "their design". I use that term with my work and have heard people say more than once.............."do you actually say that, use those words?" Watching the two of them I can say "yes, I do", they seem to prove the point. It is amazing to sit back and see that these young people do what works for them not what they think they "should be doing". They approach their lives with confidence and wonder. At least that is the way it looks to me. Things are not always what they appear to be..........right? Maybe the only thing that may appear to be similar to the way we, the parents, live is that the they just don't "go with the flow".
I know that I have written about being happy in my recent posts and I can say one more time............life is good! Christmas was great with everyone home, weather not too harsh. There were no set backs time-wise, no one stranded at an airport or on a highway! Whew! We lucked into that and lots of laughs this year. The struggles of youth were not there between the kids. Not like when I used to go home as a young adult; I would find myself becoming that person I was before going out on my own; always seeking approval, not being able to make choices without a look over my shoulder to see if my parents and sibs approved. WOW, I would think to myself as I watched my children move about in "our" space as independent thinkers. Heck, they re-arranged the furniture to accommodate a tree and a new TV. How do they do that? Does it matter? I am thrilled that they make choices that are different from mine, choices that they alone make. I just have to "stay out of it!" I am sure that both kids and my man would say............that is a challenge for me. I catch myself moving in and then slam, I shut my mouth! At least that is what is going on in my head. They might disagree.
Anyway...............I see myself as a work in progress! And progress it is........moving forward in good ways, slow but sure. Finding more quiet moments to reflect and to agree with the move. I welcome this new year 2010 and embrace the opportunities to fine tune my own life, a life that works for me, my way!

Happy New Year to you all. I wish for you the same things I wish for myself;
Peace, Love, and lots of Laughs!

Live With Intention, Create Beauty, Embrace the Positive, Let the Rest Go

ECH

No Worries Duff!

The cake building competition was a lot of fun...........expensive but tons of fun! It will be a long time before I want to eat cake and butter cream frosting again! The Boys built a replica of the old rock house across the street from where we live and the girls built their version of a cruise ship. The most fun for me was watching the pairs work together, share [whisper] information, and put their vision to cake. I was the designated "trimmer" and built a "dingy" with a young woman rowing. The girl was crafted out of taffy and by the time the cake was complete, she had melted into a heap inside the little water craft..................looking as if she couldn't hold on until the rescue people arrived.........:(

Enjoy the pictures and know that there will be yet another competition this Christmas. Watch and laugh!

Oh, by the way, you think you are cold? Take a look at this........................

It's All Good!

OY
UPDATE:

I've been out of the blogging business for a while; back to it to let anyone who wants to know...................that all the issues which had gotten in the way of an 'easy breezy life' are over and all the work from outside folks has been completed! That is a big "hip hip hooray" for us on the prairie! And just in time for the holidays. Now we have to clean up.

We will be hosting a cake building competition; boys against girls at our place Thanksgiving eve and will post the pictures - cake outcomes - however they come out! Beautiful or ghastly; winners and losers! We are looking for good times and lots of laughs. It looks like we will have pumpkin pie and cake after our Thanksgiving celebration.

Check back to see the results on Friday!

Isn't it interesting.............................

Have you ever noticed that just when things begin feeling comfortable and you are "going with the flow"; everything seems to be in sync - life is good..............................you're coasting....All of a sudden little things begin to get in the way, you find obstacles in front of you - not of your doing but issues that need to be resolved and if you get flustered they become bigger problems and the mess gets stickier and deeper and the hurdles pile up.....................

That has been my recent life - feeling good about not working full time, having time to do creative things, see friends, pet the dogs, and plant some flowers. So I'm having a blast and life is good and smooth....... that must have been TOO easy for the universe to handle because all of a sudden the stuff hits the fan and I have one problem after another and no one can figure it out......I find specialists and they can............hooray! It turns out that the professionals I have used for years made a mistake which causes lots of problems and much expense! The professional turns to his insurance and they investigate and say that they won't pay - I should have known...............not specialist [the professional] but me, the one who went to school to become a teacher, the one who knows virtually nothing about ... except TO GO TO THE professional for help and listen to what he has to say............While this is going on we are dealing with the many steps to get support to drill for a new well and because it is a public bureaucracy and there are so many steps - it feels as if it will go on for ever....I await news of work to keep an income and the climb continues..........................................

Ok, life happens. The experience was a reminder to me that life IS messy and I have to allow it to happen, especially when I cannot change what is happening. Everyday is practice for tomorrow and the question has to be, what have I learned from this................It is a reminder that there are many things I can't control and when those things happen I have to breathe and allow things to be.................they will be done in their own time....

Then TODAY we signed the last paper........the well guys set drill in place and promise they will find us water! I continue to have work/income and one of my pieces of art got an honorable mention in an art show!




Life is good again!

Allow life to unfold like the petals of a young rose coming to full bloom, sit down and watch the sky change, pet the dog.................smile. Be grateful!

EC

I've been thinking of this so I re-posted!

Spheres, circles, cycles, beginnings, endings, change, growth, connecting...............spheres/made of many circles connecting to other circles which have beginnings and endings

Life, art, love, joy, gratitude, energy, wisdom........things to ponder.

Art and life, side by side. When I think about art I realize that without it my life would look very different. Art - line, shape, form, color, texture, and space - Understanding these concepts is important because..........if my senses are intact, I need to be able to use them well. Having knowledge and some kind of understanding about color, shape, texture, line, form, and how to use space/how to fill space.........I have a better 'quality of life.' For example; as soon as I swing my legs over the side of my bed and open my eyes I find myself in a three dimensional world full of color, texture, line, shape, etc; when I write a letter, the person I write to may get some idea of how I feel, not only by the words I use, but by the way I write/how intensely I put the letter on the page. If I am angry, my writing looks different than when I am relaxed and happy; as I ready myself to go out into the world for the day, the way I choose to dress, put on my make-up [or not], do my hair [or not], says something about me and what I want others to know about me.

Art is not just about something someone does for money, it is one person's way to express him/herself. That expression tells others about me [the artist] or at least the viewer sees what I want them to see [or not]. As an artist I put what I want to.........on to a page, into a piece of sculpture, through words on a page, or into a piece of music; that is me. I want you to see what you see, to interpret my art your way. I won't tell you what to see or to think...........when I am done creating - it's your turn.............what do you see? Enjoy or not, but feel it in the moment.

Human beings use these skills all the time, they just don't talk about them.

Live with intention - Create beauty - Embrace the positive - Let the rest go

"Working hard, I almost missed it!"

I have been at my table painting almost all day. I have been sitting her for hours............ ...painting three pictures at a time and cutting paper for cards............the many stages in the process; I finally looked up from my table and almost missed the amazing sky! There's a storm rolling in or rolling past but right now it is creeping over the mountains and I am the lucky one - sitting right in front of the San Juan Mountains in the southern San Luis Valley! It is amazing and one of the reasons we live here. There are many times on my way into town or back home again that I have to remind myself not to take this for granted - the amazing views and changes in the weather. Weather in this valley changes on a dime! One minute the sun is shining and the next the wind is blowing and it is raining or hailing or snowing. I love that it is not static or predictable. The only thing that seems to be predictable is a nice long fall. We are rapidly approaching that and I can't wait............the nights are very cool and the days are sunny and not so hot! We got the sky, here in the valley!
Here it is, the view from the west; the storm approaching and me almost not noticing. Scroll down to see different shots, I think you'll enjoy the trip. Have a great evening. EC


one more......................................
Well, I hope you enjoyed this little sky journey. I get to see this all the time and I love it! Life is good!!