Hello!

I’ve been trudging along, working, making art, trying to have a social life…

Self-care. It’s a thing. A thing I’m working on…for my sanity. I have to be good to me. I deserve it.

Part of taking care of me includes being around other people. Preferably folks that like me…

I had company last weekend, ; my beloved Juli traveled for hours just to come see me. It was wonderful and lovely and healing.

I’m spending part of this holiday weekend at one of my Brother’s (I have 3) south of Sacramento. He and his family seem to like to have me around. I have 2 nephews who are here for the weekend, and they seem to stay impressed with their Aunt Nancy.

Coming to see my family is good for me, and not just because they cook for me (grilled steak yesterday, tacos al pastor today). I hear music here that I don’t hear at home, in my musical rut…and I think highly of of my family’s musical tastes, mostly. They all play instruments of some sort. Our parents were singers, Dad was lead in a barbershop quartet back when that was the bee’s knees, Mom was asked to sing a solo at every church we attended. My oldest brother has played the drums for longer than I have been alive and I’ll be 50 in a minute. My second brother plays the sax and flute, and his sons play drums and keyboard respectively. My youngest brother plays keyboard, and me? I am the audience that claps the LOUDEST!

…

I drove home the long way so I could see the river rather than the Sacramento skyline…I rolled through green-dappled, tree-lined curves along some river in the delta, thinking about how many shades and tints of green there are and how grateful for my silly little life I am…

And I am home, with my Emily on my lap, planning a nice, fried-egg supper…right after I play with my juicy new metallic watercolors:

I am an opportunistic artist, and I bought them at Hobby Lobby and only threw up in my mouth a little bit doing it…

A happy new week to all…and I’m making 2 copies of that…

Do you hear me?

Do you care?

• I dyed my hair blue.
• I signed up for iHanna’s Spring postcard swap, so…10 postcards ready by May 30th.
• I signed up for Effy Wild’s Book Of Days course. It’s a heaping fuckton of content: videos, pdfs, guest artists teaching lessons…I’m still in boot camp and it’s already completely awesome.
• I am creating 26 illustrations for a book of someone else’s songs/poems. This sounds impressive but please note that I am totally winging this…
• My BabyGirlKid, Emily, is adjusting well to being an only cat. She likes my undivided attention and all of the treats & toys to herself, apparently.

• The Fed Gov’t is attempting to raise my student loan payment amount (over $200 more) and I’m still dealing with health insurance fuckery from when I was on medical leave.
• I am going to the gym after work today then home to art this shit right outa my head.