Tuesday is dawning slowly. I have been busy gathering up pieces for a new store in Marble Falls Texas. I have two commission pieces to do for the Stanges and their new store as well as some gorgeous canvas Giclees. LARGE ones. They are all embellished and I cannot even begin to describe the creativity and delight that went into these! In some ways it is so critical as you embellish and in others it is like icing a cake and doing all the decorations. I had not printed the large Canvas Giclees on my printer until last night. Terry and I were mesmerized by the clarity and color. There are tremendous in quality. Each is hand embellished (which takes about an hour of time with the size they are) and hand signed again. I printed up some posters for him too and have one of my new The Painted Pony Book Second Edition on it's way here to ship with his things. I do not remember the name of the store, but it opens in March and I will make sure I continue to keep everyone posted!

Walking with the dogs yesterday was interesting. I have been wearing my pedometer and egads realized I do not walk enough steps in a day. I am sure I have computeritis with my sudden weight gain of 15 pounds.... I am either at the easel or at the computer or cleaning the house. Neither of these entail major walking....so walking will become an obsession to get to the required 10,000 steps a day. I imagine it is good for all of us to set goals, especially since this is January. We need to depend on each other to remind gently when we stray. I know Stacey decided she has to loose weight. She is trying to get pregnant and doesn't want to battle weight afterwards. She had lost quite a bit of weight last year on Weight Watchers, but after the death of their 11 year old son...my special grandson that still tugs at my heart every day....she succumbed to the stress and put back on part of what she fought to lose. She decided she may try the blog system where she has to be honest about her thoughts, her food intake, her weight, etc and share it with her close friends. I don't know if I could go international with my weight loss. Terry cringes as it is when he sees me blogging now. That is why he is still asleep.

My son has a goal this year too. I need you all praying for him! After the death of little Grant, Morgan realized he had the gift of teaching. He is fourth generation to teach! He connected with Grant like none of us could. Morgan has been that way his entire life though. He always championed and befriended the special folks around him. He seems to have that innate ability to make those around him feel special and important. Folks like him have something seeded inside that allow them to feel what is truly needed in situations. He is substituting for Northwest ISD right now and has interviewed for a special education position with Nance Elementary. I told him last night, even if he didn't get the position, he had to hang in there because God was guiding his path and he would find his place through God's direction. Truly I say to you, it is impossible to live on the substitute salary, so continue to keep him in thought for me as he finds his way to a permanent teaching position.

So in celebration of my brave daughter and son, Goals it is for today. Set a simple one for the week. Add a prayer or a meditation moment somewhere in your day today and do it for a week. OR add a habit. Call someone you haven't spoken to in a long time. Do that every day for a week. Or, rearrange your priorities. God should be first, you should be second, your spouse third and then the crazy kids. Put your life back in order for one week. AND everyone...hug yourself today and each day for the rest of the week. Close your eyes and hug yourself. Breathe ~ relax~ and know God is with you always.

Laurie

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20