New Work – YEA!!!

I am so excited to be painting again. I had started to work on a new art piece just before receiving the news on Alex which put a hold on anything creative. After the good prognosis I am feeling especially positive and creative. I spent Friday at a friend of mine’s art studio painting and that really got the creative juices flowing. I ran around on the weekend gathering and buying additional materials and supplies (duct tape, plastic, stretcher bars, etc.). I will spend this evening working on the final composition/drawing and hope to start the final painting tomorrow evening.

Today’s a day when I feel the internal conflict of the double life. I have to spend the day working on the books, filling orders, answering emails, starting the next newsletter and answering to various shop’s needs when I want to be in the studio painting on either a new fabric line or new art piece. Because the table I draw at is right behind me as I sit at the computer typing, it is so tempting to just turn around and indulge my desires - leaving everything sitting on my desk until tomorrow.

My creativity seems to ebb and flow like the tide. It rushes in and fills me up with all kinds of creative energy and things just seem to flow. Then the tide recedes, leaving behind little remnants of the creative spurt in the sand. And right now, the tide is in.

Have a great day.

Update on Alex

Alex was a real trooper yesterday as he went through the radiation treatment and he is happy to be back home in familiar surroundings. The spot where the radiation was done will get red and angry looking and then heal over the next couple of weeks. I’ll take him back down to Cornell in a month for a checkup and then several times a year for the next several years so they can monitor his health. The key word in that statement from the Doctor was “years”.

We're Living with Seniors

Paul and I were faced with the reality that we own senior pets over the past couple of weeks. Alex, whom we have had since he was a kitten in ’97, had a bump removed from his lip several weeks ago. It was sent out for a biopsy and came back as lymphoma – cancer. I won’t go into all the details but we are lucky to have the vet school at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY about 2 hours away. I drove Alex down to be tested at the Oncology Department this past Thursday. The good news is that he doesn’t have lymphoma anywhere else in his body. The bad news is that they did not get all of the cancer cells when they removed the bump on his lip, Monday I will drive him back down to Cornell for a radiation treatment that will take care of the remaining cancer cells.

Needless to say, Alex is feeling a little tired as he lies on my desk while I type and he’s a little embarrassed to have the other cats see him. His belly is shaved from where they did the ultrasound, bare spots on each leg and a few shaved spots on his back from the other tests they preformed.

It just so happened that I was already making the drive down to Cornell for a follow up appointment for our other cat Simon who has been diagnosed with lung disease. Simon was a stray we adopted in ‘97 as an adult cat. We aren’t sure just how old he is but he must have led an interesting life before he came to live with us from some of his quirky habits. He sure belongs in this house though because he can sniff out the fresh fabric to lie on.

The two cats became fast friends and often eat, sleep and play together. They have a mutual respect for each other as neither cat will play with the other one’s toy no matter how enticing we may make it look. It’s been a couple of week with ups and downs but we are glad both are on the mend and will be with us for awhile yet.

Now you can Subscribe

I've added a subscription option that appears on the right side of the page, you can now receive emails of the new posts to the blog. It's pretty simple, click on the link, enter your email address and confirm the security code. You will receive an email of the new posts. What fun.

Fun in the Sun!

I’ve kind of taken this week off for a vacation of sorts. The phone still rings, emails need to be answered and orders have to be filled - but I’m not in the office all day and that makes it a vacation of sorts. Some friends of ours are in town visiting family for the week and yesterday we spent a relaxing day hanging by the pool and catching up. Another one of our friends and his kids were able to join us later in the afternoon. It was the perfect day, hot enough to enjoy the water but not to hot to be sitting outside - much better than today's rain. Playing in the pool brought out the kid in Paul (center) as he was jumping in. It's so nice to have a day to spend with friends, hope you all have a chance to spend some time with friends and family this holiday weekend.
Happy 4th to everyone.