I Meant to Post Here on Monday...

...We keep eating dinner late (I blame it on the time change) and then everything in my life gets pushed back, overlapping with my-getting-ready-for-bed time (which makes me sound about four). And then blogging gets put aside for tomorrow, because I am too tired.

I am tired now, but also upset that writing is getting neglected. So here I am.

We booked our tickets for our honeymoon and last night settled on a place to stay in Paris. Five nights at a mid-range hotel that is within walking distance of the many, many sites and things to do. It is hard to be here now, in this moment, and not be floating in Paris land, with a croissant and a cafe in my hand. We will get our city fix and then fly to the lazy island life of Kalymnos, Greece (right above Rhodes Bryna), where we will get our climbing on stalactites on and our tans. It hasn't quite hit me that I get to leave this country soon. But it has hit me repeatedly that I haven't escaped to another culture since beloved NZ. That trend has to end, because I never pictured myself being someone that didn't travel, that didn't experience the newness and freshness of being away from America.

Meanwhile, the snow continues to fly. And unlike most, I am not, surprisingly, minding the white stuff. The skiing is still amazing, and I feel like I get better each time I click into my skis. Olive loves it, and whatever gives her joy seems to give me joy double fold. When I am in my day to day life, brushing off the car & dodging the slush puddle, it is not as fun for sure. But it is what it is.

Jamie, Olive and I walked this evening to the border of the elk refuge, by Putt Putt trail. Olive, walkless until then, was running circles around us, her energy pouring out of her. The Tetons were pink, all the new snow blanketing the peaks. At the fence border we saw a coyote, who watched us for a while and then slowly made his way into the woods, pausing to look at us occasionally, especially Olive. Olive was transfixed for a while, as if she knew it was some long lost relative, and not her normally spastic, barky self when it comes to spotting wildlife.

The last few pages of my book beckons, Great House by Nicole Krauss, the author who wrote The History of Love. A beautiful writer who takes words and weaves them into phrases that should be cliches, but just are not. I love her writing.

Peace and much love.

Daydreams of Warmth

What I am daydreaming about today....About a summer filled with climbing trips to places with red rocks, flowing streams, and open space for my dog to run. About working outside, doing a job that allows me to be in the sunshine and works my body. About being an artist and working in this space of mine daily, about seeing what happens when I commit to that. About traveling to Maine and seeing my family and the ocean, about having an art show with my parents. About finding a way to make my mark in my community in terms of advocating for artists of all ages and all abilities. About finishing my house with my husband and moving upstairs so that we can see the Grand and open the windows and feel the warm breeze of summer on our faces.

It is a grey day today. A cold, damp day. Spring is perhaps the hardest month here because everything is brown, the mud is everywhere, the skiing starts to be bad, and the trails are too slick to run on. I know that we will have more winter, but the days are starting to feel different, as if everything is awakening and stretching.

I am in my studio space. Working on a piece for the Art Assc. show that is due on Friday. Loving my pod shapes. Making them is so soothing to me, the same shape forming in my hands, but each one different in terms of how the needle catches the delicate cheesecloth.

Feeling so tired. The time change is really making it hard to get up in the morning and I almost feel like resorting to coffee again. Going to the climbing gym right now, climbing with good ladies. That will energize me for a while. And then I will crash tonight. Hopefully Jamie makes dinner :)

My Weekend

This weekend was so much better than the last one....Started with an early sneak-out-of-the-office on Friday afternoon into the sunshine. Jamie and I walked to the newly reopened Trio (it almost burned down last December when their pizza oven caught on fire) and had delicious blood orange margaritas and pizza. Slightly tipsy we made our way over to our friends house to play an impromptu game of Settlers of Catan, one of the best board games around at the moment. Quite fun, and Olive only attacked (ran at really) their cat once.

Saturday. Waking up alone and rousing myself to make it to a 9am workout at Augies. It was hard to get there, but as I saw the remnants of the previous nights drinks drip down my face as sweat, I felt glad and proud of myself for rallying. Came home and cleaned my house and then made my way down to the studio to work. Which felt good. It is starting to feel more cozy, thanks to things on the wall and a piece of carpet, that we tore up from our upstairs, on the floor. It is great to just go down there and have nothing to do by make art, to force myself to create, even if it is just doodling. I have been thinking a lot this weekend about why it is such a force to make art, that maybe I am making myself do something I really don't want to do. And that when I get excited about seeing artwork, maybe those feelings are telling me something different than, "make art, make art, make art"....maybe I am just supposed to be around art, around artists, around creativity. I don't think that this is necessarily true for me, but it does amaze me how much of a struggle it can be. Went out for a late dinner with my friend Jen (another dinner out!) and we had good laughs and words shared.

This morning I ventured in the misty mountains with Julia. We had an ambitious route chosen, and upon climbing a couple of thousand feet, decided that the fog was too thick to keep going up. So we took off our skins and skied down the crusty snow, grateful that it was firm enough to stay on top and not posthole. We saw no one all day, and the sun was out full force in the valley. We decided to go shopping. Now, I lie contentedly in bed after a team made dinner. And sleep is heavily on the mind.