Must remember the power of baby steps in the fall...once the time changes here it is dark so early. Add to it a round of bleak, gray, wet weather, and a cold snap to boot, and the days just don't have much more in them than work. And puppies, always puppies. And parrots, and cats. Oh yeah, and a guinea pig.

Ellie da Pug has a cold, a pretty bad one, too. She is on antibiotics and will be having time in the bathroom with a vaporizer today to try to clear her stubby little airways. Because she can't smell well, she isn't excited about the little cheesebomb I give her with her pills in it, so has missed a couple doses over the past few days. Yesterday, Teddie was a shark and zoomed under Ellie's head to retrieve the dropped treat -- and consumed an NSAID. Amazing Carol let me know that she would be ok, and I gave her extra wet food to try to dilute it in her system. She was her perfect little self all day and night. Just perfect. 

This past week had me and the dogs staggering to bed "for a nap" earlier than I would like, and awaking somewhere around dawn wondering what the heck happened. I gave into sleep as my brain was so foggy and tired staying awake didn't make much sense. Used up all my mental energy at school, gritting teeth and ignoring a significant flare in my feet and legs, and digging deep into preparing quarterly grades and planning new projects. Never a shortage of distractions at school! That is a great thing. Tiring, though. I think I am coming out the other side of the tunnel -- with coffee, lots of coffee. 

The current piece has sat on the front table trying to get my attention through it all. "Hey, you!" "Over here!", "Ain't ya got five minutes?" it seems to grumble as I walk by it and leave it where it is. Thanksgiving break is coming, thankfully. Hang in there, bud. 

The house got a little needed organization and cleaning yesterday. I tackled the sewing room! Discovered that there were so many Homegoods bags filled with bits and pieces of the same thing that it is just a matter of organization. Tim found a terrific metal flat file-type cabinet being tossed out at work, so I had to reorganize all the furniture anyway. Got a new plant, threw out the dead spideys (sorry guys!) and best of all, hung a new shop light up last night so I can see what I am doing on the machine in its new location. Next will be the room I sleep in, as there is a real need for a similar treatment.  

Watch out, QC Auction, stuff is coming your way! For now things are filling up the back room, and it looks like hell, but I know it is temporary. I am at a point now where I am sorting things into zones -- upstairs is yarns, sewing room is fabrics, front room is beads, back room and kitchen is paper/cricut. My "sleep room" used to be the paper place, but is now drawing and painting supplies, but haphazardly organized in a panic when I was hospitalized last summer. When I think about it, I am living in my studio -- never mind a loft, this house IS an art space and just so happens to have a few residents. A living space needs to be useful...I will never be the type to have a gorgeously decorated living room that is never used. I am in awe of people who can do that, but know it isn't me. Too many interests, and with each, comes stuff. 

Concert tonight in Boston, early end thank GOD, and not a performer that makes me go gaga. I really like the music, but am not over the moon with idol worship, so it will be less stressful. I swear seeing Marc Almond contributed to the arthritis flare -- good stress is still stress! Lots on my plate for the next six months. The Boldishol Tapestry piece is due in June, the C&G coursework needs completing, and I have a series to make for the Library. Gotta be organized. Gotta be healthy. Gotta be rested. Gotta do art!

Veteran's Day...thank you to all who keep the world a better place, even when it is unpopular or difficult. Amen. 

Grateful for the day off and hoping to include a myriad of things that have waited impatiently on my lengthy to do list. Gathering legitimate dust, actually. My sewing room is inaccessible, and the hack I've used as a table for the past ten years is finally giving up. I'd balanced a hollow core door on two bookcases along one wall to have a nice long table that would allow me to draw, trace, cut, and have space for the computer and the cats. While excavating the room last night, I found that one book case has ruptured at the seams (thank you, kitty, for sharpening your claws on its cardboard backing...) and the "table" has bowed to the point of falling. Time to empty out the room and give it a good clean and reorganization...but when?  C'mon coffee!

Have to visit a laundromat today as well. The washer is coming next week, and thankfully the plumbing situation should be sorted by then. Apparently (but not surprisingly) the way it has been hooked up has been incorrect, and this will be fixed along with the bad hook up. God bless the plumber! Thank you, thank you, thank you...

The front room table that my friends and I gather around for class is heaped with a variety of art supplies and things that need to find new places to live. But where? When? Better be by Tuesday night, when they come over! 

Having lots of ankle trouble on both sides which is challenging. Which foot do you put weight on when they both are out of whack? The swelling is pretty consistent, and it is slowing me down, for sure. It isn't just the ankle as the tendons and ligaments that connect the ankle to the leg and foot are inflamed too. Trying not to say "uncle" and gag down a whopping dose of prednisone...but man it is tempting. It feels better to be off my feet, and the increased ouchies are energy draining, so I get more tired than usual.  When this first started years ago I went to a podiatrist who put me in a walking boot. Knowing that is the protocol and it is impossible to walk in two of those, and that there really isn't anything to do about this, I am not bothering to go. Even if there is a break in there somewhere, there isn't much to be done except resting it when possible. So, I look around me at all that needs to be done, and try to remain calm...lol...!

The current art piece for the course I am taking is moving along nicely, when I find time to work on it. I am delving into the nitty gritty of beading and loving it. Beads are the icing on the cake, adding light and reflection to the soft fabric and thread surface. So many kinds of beads to audition and use -- and I don't even need to go to Michaels as I *think* my bead hoarding has reached capacity and I have just about everything I'd use that they have. Is there such a thing as too many beads? Hmmm..

And finally, Teddie the puppy is turning out to be the most well behaved, lovely dog I could have ever hoped to have. She is affectionate, playful, obedient, and just so, so sweet. Her hair is growing rapidly and she looks like a mop head, but it is getting cold and she loves to run outside. Every day she is happy, and it is contagious. A definite angel, in the true sense of the word. 

​

The unicorn of all music events has now come and gone, and it was really special. None other than Marc Almond himself appeared at (of all places) The Paradise in Boston on Thursday night. To put the show in context, the last time I saw Marc play was in 2004 in London (during a trip just for that purpose.) His visits to the US are far and few between, and there is great inequity in his popularity here and in the rest of the world. I remember hearing his songs on the radio in Istanbul in the early 90's and being shocked -- that would never happen here. In America, he is sadly known as "that guy who sang Tainted Love." To the rest of the world, he is known as a prolific, multifaceted artist who fills concert halls and is considered a British National Treasure (awarded OBE, even!) And here he came to Boston, to a club only partially occupied by his die hard fans. As he hit the stage, he laughed and said "Maybe I should have told people I was coming!" and went forward to give us 110%. 

To say I enjoyed the show is a controlled understatement. The days leading up to it were filled with excitement as I made plans to also go to NYC to see him play in Brooklyn.  I had a car rental, a hotel, and was planning to meet someone at the show. Pre-RA, this would have been no problem. I wanted it to be no problem -- wanted it so, so much - that I fooled myself into thinking I could do it. 

But, leaving the Paradise, I found getting to the car was harder than I thought it would be. Standing for so long added to the leg and foot issues I normally have. Even Tim said his legs hurt as a result of the long standing time. Once home, I begrudgingly logged in online and cancelled my reservations, knowing the worst would be coming the next day. Thankfully, I planned for it, and accommodated the painful reaction to what most people would find unbelievable. Was it worth it to feel this bad after a concert? Yes! But, I am very disappointed in not being able to get to show #2, and to know that those days are most likely officially over. I used to be able to do a Boston to NYC RT in a day. Not anymore.  At least I could see Marc Almond play Boston, for what might be the first and last time, ever. Be still my heart! 

During the show Marc played one song from his upcoming album called Chaos and the Dancing Star. As always, his writing tends to reflect something in my own life, and offer perspective.  While I don't know the entire song yet, it's chorus is about having the world seem to fall down around us all, and how we've got to embrace the chaos. Truth be told, as I look around my house and know that now that the concert (and forgone travel plans) are over I have to deal with the broken washer, the pipe issue, the yard, and many more things that need doing. Thanks to Marc Almond's beautiful vocals and insightful writing, that becomes a whole lot easier. Art has to be on the menu, too. Every time I think he has released his last album, there is another. Every time I think I have seen him for the last time, he pops up again, wearing new found creative excitement and revealing another side to his complex artistry. What inspiration! Cheers.