good morning all! yes, it's 3:30 as i type this. (a.m.) it's still dark out, with the night things making their sneaky sounds outside my studio window. the air is crisp and fresh, but not cold...just the perfect shade of cool. diva has been up every 2 hours since our first attempted sleep at 9pm. it's looking more like a vet trip. i thought she had gotten into the cat's Hairball Remedy food, but that was days ago, even more than a week ago. she seemed better for a while, but again last night Blammo. i feel for the little cuddlebucket. she sits patiently near me in my studio, waiting for it to be her turn for attention, napping in a ray of sun, or chasing the cat away, as the mood strikes her. I dedicated yesterday to working on my business plan, and stuck to it. this has been an enlightening journey through the book. one exercise involves mailing a questionnaire with 5 questions to 5 friends that asks specific, provided questions about yourself. now that was enlightening. the common theme was that i am compassionate and funny, with more than 1 person suggesting i should do standup comedy. (as if being a fulltime artist isn't hard enough!) sort of a cross between Mother Theresa and Shecky Green, I guess. (oy, just google him). so my career path is at another crossroads. not really. see - that was a joke. yes, did i mention it was early, and i have been up every 2 hours like clockwork? i just got bombarded with 2 double-secret orders, and will be bidding my planned week off goodbye. i'm a fanatic scheduler. i have lists and calendars and am scrupulous about transferring tasks and having time lines so it all works together and i can go about my day/week/month snug in the knowledge that i am on time with a project. so a decided to take a few days off and actually experience summer from outside the studio...maybe a little kayaking or biking or geez who knows what. but these orders and a twist of fate have put a screeching halt to that. not that i'm complaining, but it will be winter before i can see summer. yes. i'm on facebook. i drank the kool-aid. i don't get the whole thing, and am surprised at how many people close to me find it imperative to update the world about their every single minute-by-minute day. i check in, and it's like a large group of people have been having a party in my house while i was gone...post after post about everything. they're all commenting back and forth to each other like a giant social gathering (duh) but they haven't noticed the host is not home. and i got a chance to reconnect with my favorite cousin. she is most special to me. we lived with her family for a while when i was kindergarten age (not sure why) and she was the ultimate big sister. she was the coolest. i have more memories from those years than from the next 4 years combined. her mother was my dad's favorite sister, and the matriarch of the family. when those two passed away, we kind of drifted from the anchor of family. time passed and for various reasons, contacts became fuzzy. it got to the point where it was awkward to just reappear and say, "ok - what did i miss?" like taking a bathroom break during a movie. but My Favorite Cousin and I reconnected a few years back like no time had passed. then drifted. then facebook brought us back in touch...each a little wearier, a little more tested, but still with the sister feel. at least on my part. i am rambling again, but the point of introducing my cousin into this long monologue, is to share something she said. she was on the phone with her 3-year old granddaughter who said, "play is play. You just have to know how to do it right." from the mouth of babes. look out Dalai Lama. so today, despite putting the hammer down in the studio, despite an ear infection that encompasses my whole left side, despite a dentist appointment, despite a 2-hour potty clock silently backtiming diva's Race To The Roses, i will take time to play. and do it right, and with the full force of what i am able, and with diva. kitten is on her/his own, having just walked across my resin work on my worktable, fully aware that it is a NO NO spot. (so if your resin piece has a darkish hair in the packaging, my profuse apologies. i can only do so much.) due to this need to ramp up studio time, and also take care of my ear/body/wellness so i can make the drive to NH in eek just a week, i may not be posting much, or if i do - it will no doubt be a scary/boring, in depth look at what raw panic looks like in print. call NatGeo...they love documentaries. all this blah blah blah aside, i feel peaceful, centered and ready to take on the challenges presented me with gratitude and trust. and an extra large mug of coffee with a belgian waffle on the side. be safe, be peaceful, be breathless...and "stay dry."