hi, I have not fallen off of the planet, lets catch up

Well it has been awhile since I sat down and wrote a few words. some of you probably think I have fallen off of the planet. I figure I better try to catch you up a tad on my life. sorry if things are a little mixed up and crazy.......but that is my life as usual. things have been a bit crazy in my world, not that is not usual, but maybe a bit more than what usually is going on. seems like life is a whirlwind and I am in the eye of a storm at times. I think most of you know that my husband Bill had a second surgery on his ankle. a nice 12 hour wait for me and the kids in an uncomfortable waiting room . it went well this time. he had the first surgery a year ago and after months of casts and lots of pain , it was in worse shape than before, so it was a second trip. so far this one seems to be sooooo much easier on him and he seems to be handling it all so much better. maybe to much better at times, the kids and I have to reel him in sometimes, because he feels so much better and pain free, that he wants to be doing things. I have had to adjust to finally an empty nest and a huge room for my art and a quiet house that I can do art until the wee hours if I feel like it. make many messes in the late hours when I can not sleep, which is often the case with me. now we have the kids living with us to help out and take some of the financial and physical strains off of us. I am so grateful to have them and amazed that we all can gravitate around each other again and not kill each other. we have had to make adjustments and get used to a full house again, but it has went much smoother than expected. I am enjoying the fun times, playing games and doing things with the kids. you do not realize how much you miss that , until you get the chance to have it back. of course then there is the other side of the coin, my beautiful daughter kryston still likes to leave our bathroom looking like a tornado hit it every morning. Tyler my youngest son, loves to leave shoes and socks in the middle of the front room floor every night. but I guess if I have put up with Bill leaving his clothes six inches in front of the laundry basket on the floor, for 23 years................I can enjoy the quirks of my kids again. in all fairness, bill has but up with me always putting the tea pitcher back in the fridge with only a drop left in it. it is his greatest pet peeve. It has become a game I think after all of these years.
OK, enough about my wonderful family, my world of art...............I have had a tad bit of a slump. mostly the changes in my life I think. working around all of the new things and events. I have done some things for some swaps that were a blast. Diane's chunky bling pages......an art deco set of add to the pattern.....right now I am doing some chunky house pages for an amusing muses swap. I think the structure of the swaps makes it easier for me to create right now. my brain is on such an overload that I need to be told what to make and what the parameters are. but I am trying to keep my creative sided brain going......I have started a few altered art projects and have alcohol ink stains on my hands as we speak. kryston has always hated 'my man hands', as she called them over the years. even though we look alike , and sound alike.........those close to us know we could not be more different in many ways. she has always been my beautiful girly girl princess. me just a pony tail tom boy. she has always been my rhinestone, feather, purple and pink sweetie. as a teen she would get so frustrated when I would have my hair up and paint head to toe............'mom can't you fix your hair' and I would reply 'I did it is in a ponytail'............'mom do you have to always have paint and stain on your hands and clothes, you look like a car mechanic and have man hands' . some things never change.......although for almost a year, I finally cut my hair off short for the first time in a very many years. It is in a style she likes, and me too for different reasons. her because it is a 'style' and me because it is not in my face all the time and have to be pulled up while painting etc. I love to still tease her with my 'man hands' though. when she got home from work the other day I held up my very colorful hands and then told her I just finished cooking her dinner. really bill had thrown some pizza in the oven because it was 'football ' night. I don't know if any of you artists out there like me can't seem to work with paint, stain and such without wearing it. it kinda reminds me of when I was in high school and college, playing softball as a catcher..............if my uniform was not dirty, I didn't play hard enough. lol OK I am warped and different, I admit it. I wear my messes like a badge of honer ! lol don' t all of you out there that can not get your fingernails messy.........wish you could. just once, you know.........go wild a little. OK , so then I am a lone wolf that is totally weird, messy art is my thing. I have found that in times of stress, which I have had much of lately, in times of sorrow, in times of emotion...............I can turn to my messes. if i can totally immerse myself in my art, it is a way to let go of the things that hang on. instead of a good cry, or sometimes alongside of a good cry......I pick up my charcoal pencil and just draw. don't plan it, don't use any model or picture...........just draw. and charcoal is the best, because it is messy you know. but I love the boldness of the charcoal, the ability to blend it and move the lines. sometimes a shape surprises me and turns into a drawing that totally surprises me. if I did not have my messes..........who knows, what is your way of totally letting go......do you have anything that can allow you to express the things that are too far down to express in words. the emotions that sometimes we do not even know are there. I think that is why I have always found an art outlet of some kind over the years. I often joke and say it is my sanity, my healing and my therapy. although in reality , that is exactly what it is. my family is my life, heart and soul.............but my art is something that no one can take, alter or change.........unless I chose to share it with them, or give it as a gift. I hope all of you are taking a second to 'de-stress' and have your own time. holidays are so wonderful and a happy time, but they are also stressful and tend to put our brains on overload. try to find a second to have to yourself. I wish the few of you that see this regularly, and any stranger that found my blog on accident.................A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND HOLIDAY SEASON! hugs and best wishes everyone, sandy