Thursday, July 21, 2011

A Quick Update

A fraction of the mouths I've chosen to feed
I'm so behind on blogposts, I know (sorry), but I've got my reasons.

A dental procedure I had done over a week ago seriously knocked me the heck out. And in the odd moments since that I've been awake and upright I've been up to my eyeballs in antibiotics and the occasional Big Pain med.... Unfortunately, when I'm at all under the weather either physically or emotionally, social media joins housework on my list of Things That No Way In Hell Do I Want To Do....

The thing I like about sleep is that my creative mind keeps working. And the only thing I like about the process of recovering from something like the aforementioned procedure is that my dreams are even more spectacular than usual. In one I had early Tuesday morning I got a Big Idea. I began working on it in earnest that afternoon, realized yesterday the errors I hadn't anticipated (I hate when that happens....), began all over again, and stayed up all night last night creating. 

Because the studio is set up to do something other than drawing at the moment (it frustrates me sometimes that I can't seem to just stick to one medium), I sat at the dining room table listening to "The Talisman" (King/Straub) on audio CD and working by lamplight in order to allow Miss Lily ample time to sleep. (If I don't do this she gets all wonky and vocal, and then within days she'll be minding her own business on her lofty perch and an egg will fall right out of her butt. And I swear she looks down at it in alarm with a thought balloon over her head that says (in all caps, too): "WHAT THE FLIPPIN' HECK!?")

Getting up from the table in order to put myself to bed at dawn was a joke. My back instantly seized, and I had to change my plans to allow for a boiling hot bath and a generous application of ActivON (big thankyous, oh inventor of ActivON). And this morning things felt relatively normal again....

The thing about Big Ideas is that you just want to work on them no matter what else needs doing. It was all I could do not to leap from my bed this morning (a minor exaggeration: I no longer leap, not first thing in the morning, not even if Matthew Macfadyen himself was standing right there with a gallon of espresso and a smile) and sit down to my work in my jammies and get back to it. I didn't even bother with coffee, I was that eager to get the fun underway!

However, caterpillars needed feeding (see photo: there's close to 40 now all munching away in their plastic cups on my kitchen counter), there were butterflies to release, the dewpoint outside felt pleasantly un-rainforest-y last time I checked so yardwork could (in theory) take place, there were gardens to water, and bedding to wash and hang on the line. And, of course, there was Dear You to write to -- something I actually enjoy doing and would suspend my play for.

And originally I'd thought today was Friday, James's half-day, and Fridays usually mean a movie in the afternoon, which would seriously put a crimp in the tail of my Big Idea work schedule. However, my tired self has since realized that it's only Thursday and I've got a whole 'nuther day in which to work -- yay! -- and since most of the things on my To Do list have been To Done, I'm now going to ignore the remainder and get back to work. (Apologies to my neighbors, but my Jurassic Park lawn is just going to have to be all wild and prehistoric for another evening. There's playing to be done!)

So enjoy your day, my friend! I'll share with you my Big Idea soon, k? And you'll be the first to know what I think of "The Talisman." :)
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Thursday, July 14, 2011

A Week Well Spent

The World's Cutest Toes
Last week was easily the busiest of weeks. The Grandbug's daycare closed after the Fourth of July holiday for a week-long summer vacation, and when asked, I eagerly agreed to step into the roll of babysitter once again. I used to provide Granny Daycare back in the day when the Bug was a baby, and I admit I went through some sad withdrawal symptoms when her parents decided to enroll her in a program with kids her own age. So opening the doors to Granny Daycare once more was amazingly rewarding. And thoroughly exhausting. But in a good way.
 
Together, Miss Bug and I painted our toenails red and our fingernails silver. We picked sweet, fat peas and ate them raw, straight from the garden. We released a newly hatched Monarch butterfly into the summery afternoon and rediscovered the magic handknit slippers, the ones that take us on spectacular indoor adventures. With a length of dental floss I repaired the sockmonkey's blown seam and she sealed the healing process completely with a sloppy kiss. We talked about dreams, we discussed the potty, we read books about big sisters and new babies. We poured imaginary tea into imaginary teacups, dispensed fairy-sized gingersnaps, and gave out dozens of hugs. And we rocked in the darkness of the nursery with our arms around each other....
 
Yes, I napped the evenings away afterwards, but with a smile on my face. My time was VERY well spent.
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Monday, July 4, 2011