Ugly Fish, not yet named, by Tammy Vitale

These three  Ugly Fish are ready to be mailed to River View Gallery in Havre de Grace.  I’ve owed her some since we dropped off (early March?) – she’s going to think I’m sloooowwwww.  Well, in this instance she’s right.  Too much other going on.  Which is one of the problems of being an entrepreneur and doing it all.  Because it all has to be done sooner or later, and later is never better than sooner.  But better late than never. 

I also have a batch of replacement work to fill in the spots sold at Transient Crafters in Charlottesville, but I have to label them according to the store’s specifications before they go out.

I had great intentions of doing both of those things yesterday (I did get my Create a Connection swap journal out – 4 days later than planned), but instead (because Monday is part of Husband’s weekend – he always works Saturdays) we went grocery shopping and then shopping for Grandson’s birthday (April 25 he will be 5!) and then to the cottage to have the water tested (it’s probably fine but has a heavy sulfur smell, so I want to be sure in case we ever get around to renting it), then home to finish up some grocery shopping then back to the cottage to soak in the Jacuzzi and watch The Departed – a bloody Martin Scorsese (sp?) film that kept my heart pounding until the very end.  All the fine young men:  deCaprio, Damon, Walberg and Brad Pitt as one of the producers.  And of course jack Nicholson portraying an evil man – he’s so good at that.

Today is Port Tobacco River Conservancy all day, as is tomorrow and half-day on Thursday.  So the painting or two I had in mind, and finishing some more Ugly Fish will just have to wait until later this week. 

thought for the day:  If we share little or nothing of ourselves with each other, we will have little or no relationship.  The more we share – that is, the more we have the courage and confidence to reveal ourselves appropriately in the company of strangers – the greater the potential for creating a new social net based on communication.

We may never be best friends, but we can discover compassion for all the history and decisions that go into making the person in front of us…Knowing a person’s story softens our reactivity and judgment of each other.  Less reactivity equals more tolerance…more peace.  Loving the folks in front of us is a practice that lowers our blood pressure, teaches us to not take things personally, and helps us keep our hearts open…Anecdotes build an initial social fabric, but story builds a sustaining connection.  Christina Baldwin, The Seven Whispers