Guess I 'm Doing OK

Fields, 2007, Oil on Panel, 16x20

Even though I feel like I have been spending too much time on the computer since the kids went back to school, looking back at this last week, I see that I did actually accomplish quite a bit.

I have cleaned the house. Not super thoroughly, but good enough for now.

I sorted through the girls clothing and delivered the outgrown items to a local charity program. I also washed nearly every single item in our entire house; clothes, towels, sheets, bathroom rugs, even the dog's bedding.

We attended our son's middle school open house on Tuesday evening, where the parents were herded through their kid's daily class schedule in order to listen to a short presentation by each of their teachers. I found myself still making a beeline for a desk in the back row, still feeling self conscious when walking into a full classroom and having everyone turn and look at me, and I also found myself inexplicably happy when my friends would say hi to me, while passing in the halls. Some things never change.

I have spent a number of hours in the kitchen each day, peeling and removing the seeds from our nine million garden tomatoes. I have made a number of different versions of tomato sauce and they are now all in the freezer, ready for the coming winter. I have also been preparing peaches, zucchini and apples for the freezer as well.

I have been continually preparing panels as well painting each day. This week I finished up seven pieces, all of which have to be shipped out right away to various galleries.

Got a few walks in this week, which is lots of fun now with TWO dogs on leashes and have spent some time tidying up the gardens. There is still much to do with those though. Sigh. And I can't even begin to describe how much preparation we have to do in order to make our vegetable garden more productive next year.

Oh yeah, all of the usual daily stuff, dinner, writing notes to school, picking kids up, phone calls, running errands, etc. Thank god for multi-tasking or I'd get really off track.

And I have been trying to keep up with my reading, getting in almost an hour each day. Not as good as during the vacation, but better than before! Although last night I skipped that and watched a movie which I highly recommend, The Lookout. It was so good, and it was really nice to see Jeff Daniels, where has he been lately?

Anyway, I am being productive now, and it's a very welcome feeling.