Good Riddance 2010

I am just writing to bid good riddance to the year 2010.

I'm gazing back. The visuals that come to mind are pre-college arguments with financial aid offices. Hours upon hours looking at numbers only to get a letter stating that something is amiss with our payment schedule. I keep finding legal pads with my numbers.
I hate numbers.

I am not a left brain person. Numbers scare me. And yes, most of the errors were my fault.

Next visual...Stinkbugs. The damned things ruined my fall plein air painting.

I'd set up my easel, find something to paint, get everything prepared and then I was accosted by these nasty bugs. They would fly their shield shaped body armour into me. The damned things are still around. They swarmed the house in October and made their way into every little crack and crevice. The emerge when you least expect them.

I have a stink bug death chamber now. A cottage cheese container filled with vinegar and detergent. Every time I find one of the buggers I deposit it into the death vat. I love to watch them die!

Death. My husband's best friend succumbed to leukemia in October at the young age of 51. One of my students also died of leukemia at the age of 15. Both were diagnosed about a year before their deaths.

World news. Haiti's earthquake and cholera epidemic. I spent three months there in my youth. I was an idealistic young person. That country was terribly poor then. I cannot fathom what they are enduring now.

The Gulf Oil Disaster.

Politics. Fucking tea party. Stupid American people who are targeted by these groups. Why are there so many "stoopid" people here?

I'm having issues with my artistic mojo. I'm working things out, but overall 2010 has been a year of struggle.

Blog traffic is down. Probably my fault to some extent. I've not contributed much.

Blah is a good way to describe 2010. Haha. Back in 1982 when I lived in Haiti, the local people called us white people "Blahs". It was creole for white. It seems oddly appropriate for 2010!

May 2011 be a better year!

Resolutions are Crap

Happy 2010.

Yay! It's resolution time!

I have resolved to be a realistic resolutionist.

Like Gerald the Sheep. (Isn't he adorable?) I will only resolve to do the things I can.

I did manage to accomplish just about everything on my list last year. I decided I was too "driven".

I lost the ten pounds. I also found them again. (Sigh) I finished my master's degree. I stayed in my pajamas for at least two entire days. I sent out Holiday cards. I turned fifty. I went to the doctor and discovered that I had high blood pressure and an underactive thyroid. I survived the swine flu.

I have spent most of my holiday break trying to do nothing. It is wonderful! I have been painting. I have a solo show coming up in March. I am working on several paintings. The paint application is very thick with layers of paint. I have to wait at least three days between painting sessions. One of these days I will post them.

I'll get a round to it. If I don't. I don't. No worries.

I have resolved to relax.

I feel better already! Happy New Year to you all.

New Year's Resolution: Take More Naps!

Okay, so I've not lived quite up to my expectations this year. So what?

I didn't send any holiday cards. So what?

I didn't send a year end letter like I promised. So what?

I didn't clean the pantry, or the basement, or the garage. Who cares?

Another year of clutter will not kill anyone.

In 2008, I did accomplish a few things:

I started a blog to post some of my art. (I didn't realize it would also be a fun recreational activity) I successfully entered and was accepted into three juried shows. I completed four graduate classes. I lost 10 pounds. I regained the 10 pounds with 2 additional friends. I am continuing to paint. My students finished a large mural at the Windy Hill Senior Center. I successfully survived another year of parenting two teenage daughters.

For 2009...I have set goals but no real "resolutions". I do not like the word "resolution". I feel that I am setting myself up for failure just by making a "resolution". I don't think "Eddie" makes resolutions.

Goal One - Finish my Masters Degree. (I hope to finish by August)

Goal Two - Get Healthier. Note that I am not resolving to lose those 10 lbs. again. I did join a gym. I am actively watching my weight. I have to do all of these things. I will be turning the big Five-O this year. OMG!WTF? I just want to be around long enough to finish "my masterpiece". (I haven't even visualized it yet).

Goal Three - Take time for myself. Do whatever. Take an actual vacation somewhere. Paint, relax, sleep with my belly exposed on the loveseat.

Goals beyond three - Start an actual webpage; keep a creativity journal; submit paintings to the "Art of the State"; begin a masterpiece; clean the pantry; clean the basement; clean out the kids' lair; clean out my own lair.

Final goal - Take more naps.