Art at the Speed of Life

Finally my wait is over. I just received my copy of Cloth, Paper, Scissors today, and there is my article! This is a dream come true. When I decided not to continue teaching art at a small private school, I searched inside myself to find answers as to which direction I wanted to go with my artistic life. I have always been involved with art, I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t creating in some form or other, but now I wanted to set some goals. It was time. It is a scary thing to put yourself, your art, ‘out there’. It’s personal in a way that some may not understand. And there is the fear of rejection. I tasted it with my first two submissions. Then I got serious. If I really wanted to make this happen, I needed to keep forging ahead. So I did, and I have had several things published. I can’t describe the feeling of seeing your work in print. I know many of you already know this feeling. It validates all those trips to Hobby Lobby and Michael’s, well maybe not ALL of the trips, but some certainly! It also makes you want to try harder, do more, go places you haven’t gone before. We are often our own worst enemies. We tell ourselves we can’t do something more often than others do, by far. There is one certainty, if we don’t try, we can’t succeed.

July 3rd this issue of CPS hits the new stands. I look at it with a feeling of great satisfaction that I did not give up. I did something I didn’t think I could do. I stepped outside of my comfort zone. If you have a chance to see my article, please read it with this in mind. It comes from my heart, it is something I wanted to share. I hope I have more opportunity for this kind of challenge. I loved every minute of the experience, even the scary parts! At 43, I am growing and changing. Who would have thought? This is a sneak peak at the first two pages of my six paged article, you will have to pick up a copy to see the rest:-)

warm wishes,
Pam
P.S. They even published my mom’s crock-pot roast recipe on their website! Thanks Mom!!

Great News, and more Great News!!

Today is just so full of good news that I have to share it with my friends! The first thing that happened, was that I got the layout for my article in Cloth, Paper, Scissors! I actually cried, I’m such a baby, but this is such a dream come true for me. The article is titled ‘Art at the Speed of Life, how a busy mom finds time for art and still gets dinner on the table’. It will appear in the July/August issue and is 7 pages long. The editor had asked for three ‘sets’ of artwork (that will be explained in the article) so that they could have some to choose from. They ended up using all of it. I’m still just dazed. I love that publication and to think of being in it leaves me pinching myself.
Now for the OTHER exciting news, that had me bawling today! My PFC, son, Christopher sent me my first letter! I have been waiting to hear from him and I won’t lie, it’s agonizing. I didn’t even have a way to write to him until he sent the address. It was so good to hear that he is well, and ‘really liking the whole army thing’. I can’t send him any cookies though, because the Sargent will make him do a push up for each cookie and eat them while he’s doing the push ups🙂 Oh well, that will come later. I am just overwhelmed right now and no one is home to share any of it with. Thanks for all of the support, it is so encouraging to hear from you all. Hope your day is going great too!

Basic Training in Child Rearing

I just spent the last few minutes teary eyed again. My oldest son, Christopher, is going to Basic Training this coming Wednesday. I am so conflicted, one minute PROUD and the next wanting to tell the Army they can’t have my son, he’s still a baby! I know that this is what he wants, it is his dream and that is what makes me happy for him. This dream of his was even more realized by me this morning. My husband is out in the garage with (this is another looooong story that I will share some other time) his new project, restoring a 1972 Buick Skylark, it is snowing, and really cold. I told him I would go in and get him some gloves (funny how you wouldn’t think you’d need them in April:-). I reached up to the top shelf in the coat closet and found this shirt while searching for the gloves. This is Christopher’s from his “I wanna be a soldier, playing army” days. Seeing this made me realize how long he has wanted this. It is his dream and he is about to embark on it. I am hanging this in the front hallway and there it will stay until he comes home. It will remind me that while this is hard for his mom, it is what he has been working toward for almost his whole life. I am very proud of him and I will be the best ‘Arm Mom’ that I can. I will smile and hold my head up high and proudly and try not to let him see my “mom’s tears”, while praying for him constantly.