Recently in Art! Category

Another double-digit week, yay! The next two weeks are full of Ash-time, though, so I won't be getting much running in. I can't wait for winter, when it's cool enough that I can run at lunchtime.

I went up Mt Lemmon yesterday and it was beautiful. A great hike, followed by pie. Mmmm...

Did my first spinning class on Saturday since the injury - it went well, although it kicked. my. butt.

My wisdom teeth will be removed next week. I'm not looking forward to that.

Here's some of what I've been working on:

I saw an aerial photo of a wildfire in the newspaper over the weekend and it struck me - the severity of the orange line of fire, green life on one side and blackened charred earth on the other. I immediately set about creating that using acrylics, newspaper and pastels:

6"x5" mixed media collage on a children's board book page. Available at my shop. SOLD!

I'm on Facebook now, and I love it (especially scrabulous, an online version of scrabble). C'mon over and join me!

Also, with no running and too much emotional upset in my life, I'm hard at work at expressing myself through art. Here are two new pieces (if you click on them, it should take you to the flickr page with a description):

They'll be available soon at my shop.

Click here for details. The giveaway is this week only. Also this week only, free shipping on anything in my shop.

Regarding running...it hasn't been happening. The pain behind my knee is still there, and that worries me. I'll take it out for a couple test runs this week. If the pain goes away, then it's road trip time over Memorial Day weekend with five of my friends as we'll head up to St George, UT, for a 50k! But - and that's a big but - I don't know how my knee will hold up.

****UPDATE: I just found out that Taryn can blog from her phone. Provided she has coverage, she'll be posting updates throughout the weekend. You can check her blog to see how things are going!****

A new addition to my ever-growing collection of art pieces to eventually be sold at some point...it's not listed on my etsy shop yet. Also in art news, I donated a piece for an online Save a Child auction benefitting Child & Family Resources. Bidding starts Monday!

In taper/race-related news, I'm still freaking out. I'm doing better than earlier in the week, but I'm still twitching like mad. I went back to the dentist yesterday and got a new temporary crown that fits much better. I also talked to the dentist about my race on Saturday. When I asked if I was ok to run that distance, he said, "Well *I* wouldn't recommend running that distance, but that's even without a root canal." He gave me the okay, and told me what to do if the crown comes out (clean it off and pop it back in). The dental assistant gave me my old temporary crown, "just in case the new one breaks while you're out there," so I now have a fake tooth in my wallet :)

My gums are still sore, and have an ulcer on them. The dentist prescribed a steroid ointment to help it heal, and told me to wash three times a day with listerine. They'll let my gums heal up more before they take an impression and give me the permanent crown.

The new temporary crown feels better than the old one, but it's still bothersome. Sigh.

And the antibiotics have screwed with my birth control pill and therefore my hormones, making me PMS early - everything's amplified!

And I'm worried about money, and root canal (is it healing right?), and my hormones, and being a woman, and being slightly overweight and undertrained, and getting all my work done before I leave, and getting packed and ready on time. I have a public meeting the night before I leave! Argh!

But I journaled this morning and used my OCD to my advantage: I wrote out (3 pages long!) my schedule from this morning till Friday morning. Everything that needs to be done and when. And I've got my packing lists ready and packing has commenced. I am finishing up packing tonight. I will run 2 miles at lunch tomorrow. I keep telling myself that I'm doing my best and to let go and trust myself that I can make it happen. I'll be okay no matter what happens.

I had a really good chat today with jeff, who offered to pace me for the final miles at Zane Grey. He was so upbeat and goofy and funny and I came away from that feeling so much better. Thanks jeff! I'm looking forward to our time on the trail :)

I don't think I'll get a chance to blog again before the race on Saturday, and I'm not sure when I'll have the update ready afterwards (probably Monday). Wish me luck!!! I need all I can get!!!!!

Total miles scheduled for last week: 26 with 2-3 hours cross training

Total miles ran last week: 7 with 1.75 hours of cross training.

OMG, I'm so sick! Sunday's 17-miler turned into 12 hours of sleep instead. Cough, cough, cough. Cough some more. Yuck.

But the good: between this blog and my shop, I was mentioned three times this week. And I made my first sale to a total stranger! I've sold like 10 pieces to various folks I know, but never a total stranger. Too cool!!!

Still coughing, but feeling slightly better, so I'll head to the gym tonight. Hopefully I'll get more running in this week. Chris was so awesome this weekend, taking care of me, traveling to Phoenix with me to see my folks, having a Super Bowl party with me'n'Ash. I can't believe it'll be a year this month that we've been together!

OMG, the big event I've been working on went off this morning without a hitch, and was proclaimed the best ever by my clients and their agency. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Still waiting to figure out if/how my insurance will cover my laptop. No computer at home means I'm not keeping up on my bloglines as well as I'd like to. I'm readjusting to my new dayplanner and hoping I have everything in there that I needed to remember (have I forgotten a meeting? An appt? I hate my brain being gone!).

I've got most my Xmas presents bought, my Xmas cards ready to go and art pouring out of my hands quicker than usual.

Here are some new ones:

And here is Jessica's custom piece:

Isn't she cute with her angel wings?! They're cut from an article written about her awhile ago. I had fun with this one.

5.5 tomorrow morning, then hopefully back into the swing of things next week. Can't wait!

~.~UPDATE~.~
It's official. I just registered for Zane Grey 50k!