December already???

Here it is, December 7, and it's now been over a month since my last post! With the combination of teaching, taking care of a house and yard, and travel to visit family over Thanksgiving, it's been quite a busy month. All this, and still trying to get my Etsy shop up and running by the first week of January. What was I thinking anyway?

The leaves were slow to fall this year, and the snow a bit earlier than usual, so we actually had some piles of leaves raked up that were frozen before they could be hauled back to the wooded area behind our yard. As a matter of fact, when I was shoveling the sidewalks this afternoon, it seemed that I was shoveling as much leaf debris as snow!

I am making some progress on the Etsy shop, although at a much slower pace than I had hoped. Right now, I'm listening in on The Thriving Artist Summit, an online seminar for artists and crafters who are either running a business already, or planning to do so in the future. It's been an inspiring series, although I am a little bit behind on listening to all the interviews with successful artists and business coaches. Fortunately, each interview is available for three days after the first time it is scheduled, so I've managed to hear most of them and I've been able to download all the great information that each of them is offering...for free, which is great for someone on a budget.

 

The highlight of the past month was my visit to Rochester, NY, to see my daughter and her family for Thanksgiving. The boys, Aiden and Jackson, are growing up so fast! I saw them last during the first week of August and it seems that Aiden has grown at least an inch taller and Jackson is now actively crawling and beginning to pull up and cruise the furniture. Aiden generously gave me some of his latest artistic creations, which I will be framing for our family room here in Ohio...so cute!

Even more fun was being able to watch Aiden helping to decorate the Christmas tree. He loves all things Christmas, especially Santa, so just watching the joy on his face made my heart sing!

And now here it is, December, with Christmas just a little over two weeks away! I was blessed with the words every teacher loves to hear... "snow day"... on Friday, which gave me some extra time to clean house and decorate for Christmas. Although I no longer put up a large tree, I have three table top trees, plenty of lights, my Santa collection, and other holiday treasures to make up for it.


Although it has been a hectic and crazy month, I have so much to be thankful for...good health, a loving family, dear friends both near and far, and a career doing and sharing the art that I love so much. As we continue through the final weeks of Advent and prepare for the joy of Christmas, I hope and pray that each and every one of you are blessed with a spirit of gratitude for the goodness in your own lives.