#2843 weekly wrap-up

 

I missed writing here on Wednesday again. We had our appointment with the tax guy, and it went kind of long. I was at home, and I could have written, I guess, but I wasn't in the mood, apparently. Maybe I only write here once a week? We'll see.

The month of March seemed to drag on and on to me, but I saw on Mom's blog that she thought the month flew by. It's interesting how different people perceive things. I think this month, April, will fly by because the trip to Spain is coming up in May and I still have several things I want to do to prepare. Even though I've been doing trip stuff for a couple months, departure day will undoubtedly sneak up on me. Time to make lists!

I had a couple of big things going on this week. The first was on Wednesday, when we met with the tax guy. Marty goes to the office, and I stay home to find missing info or for clarification. I did have to find one 1099 form, so it was pretty easy. We have to pay taxes - not surprising with the rentals - but our tax bill is a lot less than last year, thankfully. 

On Thursday, I ended my volunteer career with the company credit union. I've been on the Board of Directors there for over 18 years, they tell me, and I volunteered on a committee for a few years before I got elected to the Board. During my time on the Board, I have served as secretary, vice-chair, chair, and secretary again. I have a lot of love for the CU, and because of that love, I felt it was time for me to step down and let some new blood flow through the Board. I am ready to release myself from that commitment, and I feel good about my service to the organization. 

Yesterday, MT and I took all three dogs to the dog park for the first time. It was fun. We took Stella's warped frisbee. It was windy, and the frisbee was all bent out of shape anyway, so it didn't fly very nicely. A big husky took the frisbee from Stella, and she was looking at me like, "Do something, human!" The husky's human gave it back to us and kept his girl on a leash. That made me feel bad, but dude! Spend $1.99 at Petsmart and get your girl a frisbee if she is motivated by toys! Speaking of spending $1.99, MT and I stopped at Petsmart later in the day to buy new frisbees for Stella, and we retired the warped one. 

Today, MT and I went to Clearfield to visit my BFF LA. She was in town to watch her baby grandson while her son and his wife were out of town for a little vacation. It's kinda weird to think that LA is a grandma. The baby, who is five months old, is a cutie, and a happy little boy. 

Back at home, I took a nap (as I do), then played with the dogs a little bit in the yard. It was pretty mild, in the mid 40s (mildness is relative!), then I came up here to my desk to do the bookkeeping, order the groceries, and draw. Yeah, order groceries. The past couple of weeks, I have ordered groceries online, then gone to pick them up on Monday after work. It's kinda cool, and it saves money because I'm not wandering down the aisles picking up random stuff that looks good. 

As for art, I listened to a podcast that Jill the Artist does with a guy called Danny Gregory. It's called Art for All Podcast, put on by Sketchbook Skool. This week's topic was about finding your style as an artist, or at least identifying what you like about the art you like. I'm only five months in to my art journey, and I like lots of different things. Currently, I am drawn (pun intended!) to splotches of color and loose, scribbly lines. But then I'm also drawn to very graphic, bold, simple type art, too.  Here are a couple of things, art pieces if you will, I did this week to show you what I mean.

This one is the cover for my April zine. I was trying out markers that I got for Christmas from Mom. I think she got them from the Japanese store. They are pretty fun because I can make a bold line and thin lines with the same pen. 

This piece was in response to the prompt from the art group. The prompt was to identify three elements that you like, then create a garden. I like splotches of color, loose, squiggly lines, and drawing with my eyes closed. I painted the colors, and when they dried, I closed my eyes to draw flowers. I did open my eyes to move the pen to the different colors, then closed again to draw. I opened my eyes to draw in the green splotches. 

I think both of these pieces are fun. I enjoyed doing them, and they both satisfy me. 

What's coming up this week? I've got my monthly Facetime call with Mom and Lizzie on Monday. On Tuesday, MT and I are going to another anthropology lecture. Wednesday I have book club and I'm not even close to being done with the book we are discussing. It's kind of weird and I'm not really into it. I don't have plans for Easter. It's not really a thing for me, plus T will be working the whole weekend. That might be a good time to switch out my winter clothes for my spring/summer clothes. Then again, do I really want to swap out my warm clothes? We are supposed to have another big storm come through tonight and last a couple of days. It is currently drizzling at my house.

Have I mentioned how tired I am of winter?

Here's hoping y'all have a little bit of sunshine this week. Do something nice for yourself!