My Weekend

I attended Kathy Bannon's memorial service on Friday, in her hometown of Kettle Falls, WA. I fully expected to work on Saturday and Sunday, as I'm on a deadline and "Garrett" is flowing so well. Alas, saying good-bye to a dear friend and cousin took a lot more out of me than I expected.

On Saturday morning, I took my time with my journaling and did a few sketches. Later I visited JoAnn's and Spokane Art Supply, which is one of my favorite haunts. When I got home, Sadie and Bernice threw a welcome party, as they do whenever I come back from anywhere, be it the mailbox of the Great Wall of China.

Alas, I ended up playing with paints from then on. I did backgrounds, watched videos, experimented with colors and textures. I napped and read and listened to books on my iPod. I neither tweeted nor blogged.

I was totally self-indulgent. This would normally arouse a lot of guilt--protestant work ethic and all that. Zero guilt this time, though, because there's a reason why 'you've got to refill the well' has become a trite old saying--because t's been true so long.

Be kind, not only to others, but to yourself.

More on Gratitude

It just seems natural to write more on gratitude, so here's my Thursday list:

I am thankful that:

1. The book is coming along, and I'm loving the writing process.

2. I start an online art class on January 29, and I'm so excited!

3. My editor, Joan, is an angel. She brings out the best in me.

4. Sadie and Bernice are here in the office with me, Sadie snoozing in the recliner.

5. It's cold outside, but the sun is shining.

All simple things. All good. Try it--you can come up with at least five things to be thankful for, I'm thinking.

Tomorrow I will be attending my cousin Kathy Bannon's memorial service, so there might not be a blog.

November Thoughts

I suppose it's appropriate that, with the approach of Thanksgiving, I am thinking a lot about gratitude. As my dad used to say, if you can get out of bed and put your feet on the floor, it's a good day. I heartily agree--now that I'm older and wiser.

Back when the Simple Abundance craze was on, I started keeping a gratitude journal--simply put, in case you were in a parallel dimension when Oprah championed this most humble and most holy of virtues, you make a practice of recording 5 or more things, each and every day, that you are grateful for. Obviously, this causes you to look for good things during the day, thus there is a positive focus.

I must have a dozen of those little green books, neatly filled with one-sentence thank you's. Somewhere along the line, I let the habit fall away--it wasn't that I wasn't grateful. I was just busy. Little by little, things got to me--like that big snowstorm last December--though mostly they were really small annoyances.

Recently, I have gotten back into the habit of keeping a gratitude journal. There are other factors, of course, but I think this is one of the main reasons why I feel a little better every day than I did the day before. I've realized that even in the darkest times, I had heaps to be grateful for. Counting blessings really DOES seem to attract still more blessings.

I recommend this highly. No need to buy a special journal for the purpose, unless of course you really want to--a composition book or plain notebook will do.

Among the many things I am grateful for, here are 5 for today, not necessarily in order of importance. :)

1) Sadie-beagle weighs 31 pounds. Finding a trainer and getting the weight off my sweet dog was a miracle.

2) I am no longer a smoker. Ditto. This seemed utterly impossible at one time.

3) I have the most amazing daughter, and I get to spend Christmas with her this year!

4) I have the best crew of ranch-hands ever--people who show up, suit up, and Get 'er Done.

5) When I sit down to write this blog, I know you're out there, ready to read it. Thank you for showing up so faithfully, and for buying all those books, too.

Be blessed and be kind. You never know what other folks are going through.

Artist of a Thousand Faces

It stands to reason that if I do something 1000 times, I will get pretty good at it. And because I want to be a better artist, I have set a goal for myself, to draw at least 1000 faces in my sketchbook. I'm making real progress already, folks--I've been posting sketches on Twitter (@lindalaelmiller) for the past few days.

Of course my real love is and will always be writing stories. I mean, I can't believe they pay me to do this!

My sister Pam arrived safely back in Scottsdale last night, and was happy to be home and see her kitties. Her husband was away for an important job interview--we're all crossing our fingers, because this would bring them back to the NW.

I just proof read the beautiful printed newsletter that will be going out to everyone on the snail mail list. You might want to make sure you're signed up, because it's a wing-dinger and a dandy. There's even a blurb written by my baby brother, Jerry "Bubbie" Lael. :)

Mom forgot her cane after her overnight visit--it will be delivered to her tomorrow--and every time I look at it, standing in a corner in the kitchen, I remember that scene in the original version of Miracle on 34th Street. At the end of the movie, a very small Natalie Wood makes the hero (John Payne?) and heroine (the incomparable Maureen O'Hara) stop the car because they're passing the dream house, the one she asked Santa for. They stop. They all go into the house. And there is the cane, proof that Kris Kringle had indeed delivered on his promise.

It must be getting close to Christmas.....

Visitors

My Mom and sister, Pam, arrived yesterday and spent the night. We had a great time catching up on our visiting and playing with art supplies.

Pam will be returning to her home in Scottsdale, AZ today, and Mom will be heading back up north to her retirement community.

I'll be going back to Blue River, Texas, to rejoin the Texas McKettricks.

All kinds of exciting things are in the works--keep an eye on the website for updates.

More tomorrow.