We Interrupt This Workaholism to Bring You . . .

Some artsy fartsy time.

I turned in my second lesson of four on this project and have one final push to go in the math project. Then I'll have two final reading lessons to do, but things are already looking up. I was sooo close to messing all this up (with my inability to say no) but then *just* in time I grew a backbone and I've been saying "no" and "I can't" left and right this week.

Which is good because it's still enough work to push me to the edge, Itellyouwhat.

After I turned in the work I let Chris know and then I told him what time to wake me and went and crashed for a half hour. Sometimes those short naps make all the difference in the world. He woke me at five and I took Max to his group piano lesson, then went in search of cheap wool for Ben's santa mittens. At Michael's I returned some fabric paints that were designed for people with way more experience than I have with a brush, paint, and fabric, and bought two replacements in something more user friendly. Then I went back to the music academy, picked up Max, and headed home.

We had grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches. (Well, the family did. I had a salad. I'm not really dieting now--I'd like to be, but that's asking for disaster with the work situation the way it is--it's just that sometimes after making dinner--I suddenly don't want it.)

Then I cleared the table and we started on an art project I've been wanting to do for a couple of years now. I had someone make me a Christmas Tree skirt out of canvas. Then I bought fabric paints. Having each child go one at a time, I had them each paint their names and then . . . whatever they wanted. Milo went with shapes. Ben did a star and a present. Max did an orange tree a green present, and then went to town with the bronze doing shapes and scattering the letters of their names randomly.

To avoid smearing paint, I used cloth tape to mark off a square for each of them. They painted in their square. That worked well.

The next step is for Himself to airbrush the year at the bottom of this section and add whatever personal touches he wants. Then I'm going to come in and kind of paint around everyone else with some design elements that will seek to pull it all together.

This year, it will be a tree skirt that is 3/4 blank. But in four years, it will be full. And in 20 years it will hold me over while I wait for them to all come home for Christmas.

And now for my next art project this evening . . . I shall tape plastic over the bedroom windows and use a blow dryer to shrink it tight. Ta da!