Kid's Are Out, Painting Is In :)

What a whirlwind week! We flew to Cape May, NJ to see my son graduate from the Coast Guard boot camp on Thursday. My daughter flew in from Hawaii the night before and along with my youngest son and my hubbie, we all flew out together. It was incredible and emotional to see my son walking in front of us with his uniform, all 20 pounds lighter and full of military bearing! I just couldn't hold back the tears! We could not be more proud of him!

We've cherished the few days of leave that he had at home and now he's left to start his new career in New London, CT. My daughter flew back to her home in Hawaii the day before he left. So my heart is heavy but I know that we've raised some amazing, independent children. I wonder how did that happen? LOL! Now my youngest feels like an only child again and I think it makes him feel sad also. But I know that he's looking towards his future and he has some incredible role models whom he loves dearly, his siblings. How did I get so lucky?

I haven't painted for about a week between the trip and the studio having an air mattress on the floor. But today everything is cleaned up, put away and the room is calling me back inside. I need to get back in that head space that envelops me when I paint. It's my therapy :) I put my music on, my painty clothes (do I have any other kind?) and just settle in. The time goes by so quickly and all of a sudden the house is dark and I haven't even bothered to turn on a light! Laundry? Bills? What's that?! I have a hard time separating my brain between my hot air balloons that are my current project and the far away buzzer of the dryer calling to me from downstairs. Maybe one day I'll be able to reconcile the two and be the most productive painter/mom/housekeeper on the planet! The reality of the situation is that the mom brain kicks in when my son is asking me for the second time "what's for dinner!!!" and the dirty socks from 3 days ago still haven't found there way back into the drawer. My always-testing-his-patience husband will nicely say "are there any clean socks?" which reminds me that there are other things around me happening besides me and my paint :) Reality, go away!