I didn’t get a ton of stuff accomplished today. At least not as much as I probably should have, but oh well. I did manage to finally post photos on here of the last photoshoot. And also posted photos from the most current photoshoots. That means the website, for the most part, is caught up. Took me long enough. Also was able to get more stuff posted to the etsy site, and posted another photo on instagram. So I guess today was actually a little more productive than I thought. It was one of those off days though, where you just don’t know what you want to do. You try to do one thing, and it doesn’t feel right or you can’t get in to it, so you try to do something else, and just keep going through things until you finally just settle on something, and even then, end up doing other things while doing whatever it is you settled on. Just couldn’t pin point what I wanted to do with the day, so I turned it into a somewhat relax and recharge day. Always good things to have. I can start back up with productivity tomorrow.

I really love Sundays. I’m able to get so much accomplished on them. I was able to complete a photoshoot today! I’m really happy with how it came out…even though I had a comment that shook my confidence. I’m still pretty happy with the outcome…at least I’m trying to be. I struggle with self esteem issues…which I’m learning is something almost every female I know has issues with in some form or another. So I’m trying to push past the shy and awkward me to get my stuff seen. It’s hard to find models to work with because my schedule is so crazy all the time that it’s hard to make plans and hard for any one else’s schedule to match up. So I do the best with what I have. I figure it’s a start, and it is all leading in the right direction. Plus, I’m getting better with camera settings :). Oh look, another smiley face made it into a post! They just seem to fit certain sentences, lol. Now that this design is photographed, I have to start working on the next one. And eventually get this one…and the previous one… posted. I haven’t forgotten that detail…just haven’t had time. I guess there isn’t much point in taking the photos if I don’t do anything with them though, is there? Maybe this week I can get them all posted on here. For now…here is a sneak preview!

So you know how, sometimes, if you aren’t careful, its easy to miss the last step on a ladder. Whether its a really tall ladder, or a little step ladder? Well…I did that today. Yep, missed that last step and hit the ground pretty hard. I didn’t completely fall, but it jarred me…I didn’t realize how much until my back started hurting…and let me just say, it is very unhappy with me. I’m glad I was able to catch myself and not actually fall in to anything…and I’m sure the look on my face was absolutely priceless. I’m sure I’ll be laughing about it once the pain goes away. Such a silly mistake, and I’m usually so careful on ladders…for that exact reason. Oh well. I was able to accomplish my mission, so at the end of the day I consider that a win. The irony comes when I remembered last night’s post was about dancing…and tonight’s post proves that I don’t have the grace and balance of a dancer at all, lol. Maybe dancing lessons wouldn’t be the safest thing for me to do. Then again, maybe they would make me safer. 50/50 chance. Could also do some weird combination of both. Who knows.

Two days in a row I titled before posting! Yay! I watched two movies today that cracked me up more than I expected them to…Keeping up with the Jones’ and This Means War. They both had me cracking up pretty hard, and I really enjoyed the story lines. Just fun movies to watch when you need a little pick me up. Although, one of my favorite movies for that is Pitch Perfect…that one always cheers me up. And Burlesque…I really like movies about singing and dancing. I think it’s because I’m not really very good at either of those two things, but love trying to do them anyway. I think it would be a lot of fun to learn how to ball room dance, but it looks really difficult (to master) and I just don’t have the time right now for that kind of an extracurricular activity. Fun to dream though. And fun to dance around the living room or my studio like a crazy person when a good song comes on. I’m sure if anyone actually saw them, they would think I was having a fit of some sort, or wonder if I was possessed by something. It isn’t a pretty sight. But it is fun none the less.

I actually remembered to title last night’s post before I published! So proud of myself, lol. I am drawing a total blank for what to write about tonight. I have been staring at this screen for a while and nothing is popping out at me. Today was a good day, as far as that goes. The work day went well, got a lot accomplished…had my favorite style of meal for dinner… browsed Pinterest for a while (I don’t think it’s possible to browse Pinterest for a short amount of time) especially since I am trying to build up the Mae’d Pinterest account…and watched the Disney channel for a little while….yes…I watch the Disney Channel…and…yes…I am an adult. I like it because the storylines are catchy and easy to follow, and it doesn’t take any brain power when I want to just relax on the couch, and I know it will always work out in the end. I don’t have to worry about violence, terror, or sad endings. I can watch them safely. Might be childish, but it’s also fun to find the adult humor in a lot of the episodes. And, to be honest, a lot of the shows really crack me up.

Every time I write one of these, I forget to give it a title and have to publish it again once I come up with one. I would love to title it at the beginning, so as not to forget, but half the time I don’t even know what I’m going to write about until I’m done with the post. I could try to come up with a full on plan ahead of time…but I know myself well enough to know that isn’t going to happen. Speaking of remembering…it’s amazing how much of my drawing skill has gone out the window due to lack of use. I’ve been trying to draw some illustrations to go with some of my designs, but I’ve had to keep forcing myself to go back to the basics…practice drawing eyes, practice drawing lips, currently need to force myself to go practice drawing hair…I’m currently really bad at hair…and it was stuff I used to be able to draw in my sleep. Now I have to concentrate and end up really frustrated. Apparently drawing skill is like a muscle…you lose it if you don’t use it. So I’m going to have to force myself to practice every day…or at least much more often than I have been the past few years…to try to regain and keep up my skills. To any artists out there…do not let your skill go…it can be so valuable to you through any type of emotion…It is a way to express things that you may not have the words for, and a way to release emotions you don’t want. So don’t ever let that skill go. Hold on to it, practice a little bit regularly. It’s very difficult and frustrating to get it back once it’s gone, and it’s too precious to give up.

Today was a good day. I was able to finished my newest latex design, and so far I am really happy with it! I’m hoping to do the photoshoot for it next weekend and have the pictures posted some time after that. I just realized I haven’t posted any pictures from the last photoshoot yet…oops. I’ll have to do that soon. I posted them to my instagram account but haven’t had a chance to post them on here yet. I will remedy that :). I also got started on my next design idea, and have some new ideas for upcoming latex designs. Other than that, today was a lot of cleaning. Cleaning up the studio, and my house. I always want to put my effort and attention into so many other things that it’s hard to find time to clean, but it always feels so nice to have a clean house. And one of my favorite things in the world is a freshly cleaned and made bed. There isn’t much better than that. I hate cleaning bathrooms, though, it always seems like a never ending task. I know everything has to be cleaned regularly, but at least a bed can be made every morning, easily, and things can be tidied up and put away, but bathrooms always have spots on the glass door, and (for my house) cat fur in the sink. Its a never ending, never feels fully clean, kind of endeavor. Side note…saying the phrase tidied up…reminded me of Ula from The Producers in her scene where they asked her to tidy up the office.

I really enjoy watching this movie, and the music is so catchy! I think they all did a great job portraying the characters.

It seems like this week has been odd for a lot of people. I can’t honestly say it’s been one of my better weeks, and a lot of people I know have said the same thing. I even spoke with a customer today that was having a weird week, where everything seemed to not work out right and plans kept getting messed up. I’d be curious as to how many other people have had weird weeks. It goes along with the weird weather I was in the other day. It’s just, all in all, a weird week. Thankfully there is only one day left and then we get to start a new week, and hopefully that week is much less weird and has many more ups than downs.

I was in some very odd weather while driving around town tonight. On one street….just one street…I went through a patch of foggy, snowy weather that had the starts of blizzard like conditions..then, a street light later…There was no snow and no fog. A little ways up the street…more snow and fog. It was so strange. There were just patches of snow and fog through out town. Even the backyard…half had snow on the ground, the other half didn’t have any at all. The same backyard. Colorado has some very bizarre weather, even to those of us who are natives and used to the weird weather. We can still be surprised by what Colorado can dish out. I’ve even driven down the road where you could see a crystal clear line from where it had rained and where the rain stopped. When I was a kid, I was on a trampoline in the backyard of my cousins house, and we could see it trying to rain in the front yard, but no drops were hittng us. I don’t know what it is about this state…but the weather sure can throw you for a loop. It’s hard to plan clothes for the day, because it could start cold and crappy…and by noon its warm and beautiful…or the complete opposite can happen…it starts off beautiful and turns cold and dreary quick. We can even go from snow, to t-shirt weather in the same day…sometimes in just a matter of an hour or so. Dressing in layers is usually a very good way to go here…but then you have to carry around the layers you have shed throughout the day…or sometimes you didn’t wear enough layers for what the day brought. And picking a coat…practically a nightmare. So many Coloradans have multiple coats just because we have no idea what’s going to happen. It’s never dull weather wise, that’s for sure.

Went to help my friend look for a new truck today and it got me thinking about vehicles. There is so much involved in getting a new vehicle (even when the vehicle you are getting is used and only new to you.) First, you have to decide what type of vehicle you want…is it a truck, a car, a van, or an SUV. Let’s say you need a truck…there are so many options to choose from just for that one class of vehicle. Pick a company…Ford, Chevy, Toyota, etc. Do you want gas or diesel. Extended cab or regular cab. Extended bed or regular bed. Normal four tires, or add the two extra to the back. How big do you want it (such as for Ford and F150, F250, F350 and so on). You also have levels for each truck to pick (such as the XLT, Lariat, Platinum, or Limited, for Ford.) Each one has a separate amount of options available to it. To finish picking out your new truck, you also need to pick a paint color, and interior color, chrome or no chrome, tire size. Also all the technology (aka bells and whistles) that could be in the truck. So many things to choose from. Once you start to have an idea of what you are looking for, you have to decide do you want it new or used. If you choose used, you are now limited to what is available, which means you have to decide which options are least and most important. If you choose new, you still have to make that same decision based on what is available at that dealership, what is available to them, how far you are willing to travel to find it, or if you want to pay the extra money to just have it ordered and shipped. You can spend days just trying to pick a single vehicle you might like to have. You also have to take into account where you are going to store it (will it fit in the garage?), what it will do to your insurance, if you want to finance or lease it, so on and so forth. It’s an entire adventure just to buy a vehicle. I wonder how people can manage to pick one at all.