After a Vacation I'm ready for a Staycation!

Miami Zoo
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com

Please excuse the extended absence, as after vacation we all ended up sick. Everything started out great when the three of us went to the Miami Zoo where Alex had a blast. We got to see Avatar and Fantastic Mr. Fox and enjoyed them both. But the day after Christmas on the long drive to see my family in Sarasota Alex started showing signs of a cold.

Once we got there it was full on and led to a lot of family stress. By the time we got home I too had the cold and a week later I'm still sick. Usually I'm the one that recovers the fastest since it is hardest on the family when I'm sick. Now here I am feeling a lot better in many ways, no more awful cough and I'm not exhausted, but my congestion has gotten so much worse and traveled to my ears. I'm getting checked out for an sinus infection tomorrow. The headaches I get are enough to knock me on my butt and that makes the days caring for Alex quite difficult. Alex is still a little snotty but happy overall.

But I'm sure that once I get better things will be great for us as I have a plan of direction for this year. Last year started out bad but ended on an upswing and I'm working to continue that trend. I've apparently lost more weight than I feel I have lost as people have been commenting a lot on how much better I look. The looking better comes from inside as I feel so much better as well, and this better feeling is tied with the lifestyle changes I made in 2009. And since I made them so gradually they feel natural and ingrained in me now.

We're still trying to get pregnant and it isn't going as I hoped, but I'm not letting myself get discouraged. Every month without pregnancy is a month I can prepare my body to be more healthy for it and hopefully not get so dang sick like the last time.

Last chance for some art!

Framed! Last Chance
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com

The Night Before
White Stripe
She Dances
Misty Beauty
Feminity
Dragon Fly!

Along with all of my stretched canvas collages these pieces are getting hung for a month long show here in Boston on Sunday, but I am not opposed to selling them and swapping them out for different pieces. Sunday morning they will be taken down from Etsy for a month and may not return. Mention show in the notes to seller and I will give you free shipping on any of these pieces. Frames are not included.

I was supposed to hang this show this afternoon but I decided to postpone it to Sunday that way I can have some help. I've got a cold and blee is teething and the weather is bad so the last thing I want is to drag a stroller full of art while wearing a baby around town and then hang pieces while hoping that she doesn't erupt. And she is sick herself on top of teething. Fun times!

In case you missed my earlier post I am going to mention the three of us walking in the Walk for Hunger on Sunday. Well, in reality Jon and I will be walking and blee will be hitching a ride. She may be teething but walking is one of the few things that makes her feel better.

Hope you have a better Friday than we are having and a kickin weekend filled with good weather.

Ugh! What a week!

Shrouded by Leaves - ACEO/ ATC
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

I have some wonderful fresh ACEOs left and one mid-size, but other than that they are all oldies but goodies left. I haven't been in this position since the beginning of the year when I was sick puking three times a day. I may have some small 4"x4" pieces that I didn't get to scanning that I may go through today if I have the time. But I am pretty much out of stuff from my last printing (way back in mid-July) to list.

This week has been very hard. It started with me feeling overwhelmed with keeping up with the baby and trying so hard to keep the house clean and never having time for myself. I ended up pretty depressed for a couple of days. Snapping me out of that depression was a bad case of Mastitis, the key word in this illness that I had no idea about until I got pregnant is "tits". This illness is some serious business. Wednesday I went to bed with a fever and the chills on top of the pain and I woke up barely able to move with sweat pouring down my back. I can't remember the last time I had a fever, and this one was bad. Jon had to stay home because I was completely incapable of caring for myself much less the baby. I had one duty and that was to feed her. And even there he had to help me as much as he could. I called my doctor right away at 8:30 in the morning but got the bitchy receptionist. She left a message and told me a midwife would get back to me. Two hours of misery after still no call and this seemed odd so I called back. She basically told me that they were busy and I would just have to wait. All day I waited. My fever broke for a bit and that is the only reason why I put up with waiting, that and I was scared that if I tried again this woman would give me grief again. I fell asleep and around 5:30 received a call from a very upset and apologetic nurse. Apparently the incompetent and world hating receptionist had shoved the message in her box in a way that she totally didn't see it until just then as she was leaving. She talked to me about my symptoms and then consulted with a midwife before getting back to me. They agreed to put me on an antibiotic since my fever was returning and called it in so I wouldn't have to come in or wait until morning.

I see my midwife for the final six week appointment either next Friday or the one after that. If that receptionist is working then I am tempted to give her a "fuck you very much" goodbye. All the nurses, doctors and midwives there are wonderful. But the receptionists and people in billing are just terrible. They are either mean or incompetent. Or sometimes a lovely combination of both, like this woman.

Now as much as I want to clean up I need to take it easy and keep my stress down. I can do the basics but today I take care of the baby and myself by resting. Having me ill is not only hard on me but it is hard on Jon.

Messy Desk
Originally uploaded by m.Lee.

Still sick, going on three weeks now. The doctor gave me antibiotics and I am better than I was, am no longer throwing up which is very nice, but I am far from well. Stil, I need to put what evergy I do have to climb out of this artistic rut that I have gotten myself into. My studio is a disaster so my first task is to clean it, starting with my desk. Once I have that done I am thinking it will be much easier to get back to work. I also need to get my butt to The Museum School store and pick up some paper.

Not having the motivation or energy to do art for over a month now has been really difficult. It is depressing really. I put so much of myself into my art that when I don't have that part of me dies. I'm thinking that doing the clearing of the big block in this picture is a bad idea at this time. It is boring and overwhelming. What I need to do is pick up a small block that I can carve quickly and have fun with. Working small is rejuvinating when I am down like this.

At least my Etsy sales are still pretty good. They were down for about a week or two in mid-January, but now they are up again. I'm pretty tickled about this since I am doing no promotion and am not even listing anymore yet buyers are still managing to find me. Too bad a lot of the money I have in PayPal has to go to taxes from last year. But I still have enough leftover to buy a fancy brayer if I really want to.