Dear Friends

Dear Friends,

I have had an eventful week. After taking my dog outside with a long leash and allowing him to pull me off balance down my deck stairs, many things happened since then. I have also learned a few things . . .

• We went to the emergency to see if I broke any bones (found out later I just sprained my knee)
• Slept all day the next day with ice on and off my knee
• Called 911 the next day when I broke out in a cold sweat, breathing very hard and my hands and feet started to turn numb. I had been taking a walk around the house with my crutches
• Stayed in the hospital for 4 days with blood clots in my lungs - ouch
• Found out through sonogram of my heart, that I have a heart murmur
• I am home now, hobbling around on crutches
• My family is the most awesome caring family
• My friends and neighbors are wonderful, caring people
• Hospitals and technology are amazing
• People who are emergency technicians, nurses, and doctors should be applauded - they saved my life
  

All this seems like too much information to post here on my art site. I hesitate to post it, because it seems crazy to me that so much can happen in so little time and what good will it do you, followers and buddies online?

I would just like to encourage everyone to thank a person who smiles at you. Help a person who needs you. Give a lift to a person who cannot reach. Notice the colors of a nurse's shirt. Notice the fragrance that your friend is wearing today. You never know when your time to leave this world will be. I am grateful to have more time on this beautiful planet, to share this message with you. The sun shone through my window today and today it is different than last week. I value that sunshine a little more today. It is more beautiful than ever. . .

Thanks to God for sparing my life, for He is ultimately in control of what will happen. He is the divine creator of us all. I give Him and His Son the glory of all these beautiful things in life and my abilities to perceive them.

Here is a watercolor on eBay right now. It is in a group of watercolors. They already have bids, so I guess that these were a good idea. I used to do watercolors all the time. I love them. This one tells you to follow your heart. I wonder what that really means? Do you just do what you want? Is it really truly diving deep into your soul and searching for what your heart yearns for? Is it asking God for the best for you? He does know what is best, after all, He created us. I think that God wants me to become me and make those decisions though. If I let Him do it all, then I don't learn who I am. A little philosophical today. I think it is that I do not want the summer to end.


Here is another painting that is on eBay right now. I think I captured a thoughtful mood. I had a lot of fun doing this one. I am going back to teaching school in a week and a half. Training next week. I hope that I can keep posting art at least once a week when school starts. I hope, I hope, I hope. Sometimes it is all a little too much and I don't get much art done. We will see.

Baby Angel

Here is my latest attempt at painting a face. I really like how this little baby turned out. I have painted a couple of babies in honor of my little Baby Michael who left this world before he was even born. I was 5 months along in my pregnancy when we discovered he had died. I am so grateful for my other wonderful children, but this little baby always will have a spot in my heart.