The Big Move

"Lime and Pink"
2.5 x 3.5" oil painting
on miniature canvas panel
Click here to bid in auction

The time came in May to begin thinking about selling the house. In June I listed it with a real estate agent. She got the MLS listing all ready and turned it live on a Friday morning at 10:00am. By noon I had a wonderful offer, more than I was asking-I took the offer. The end of July I closed on the sale. I had actually found a lovely apartment in a walkable neighborhood the end of June. It was a little risky to sign a lease before the closing, but I would have been crushed if I lost the apartment.

So, getting 2500 sq feet of accumulated "fluff" down to necessary "stuff" for a 628 sq ft apartment was most challenging and emotional. My sister came from Omaha to help, she kept me moving. When I got bogged down in the sentimentality of my stuff, she would say "go ahead and cry, but keep sorting." I couldn't have done it without her. My son was the muscle, but not good at sorting into piles. Only I could really do that. Most of my furniture and good things went to the Salvation Army. They came in for free and moved it all out. Then smaller things went to the local thrift store, and the junk hauler took the rest. Then I had professional move out cleaners come in. When it was all done I cried my eyes out and then I breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as soon as I signed my closing documents I took off for Tacoma for a week for the annual Colored Pencil Society of America convention. I was exhausted, did my tasks for the convention, but I slept a good deal of the time.

Just this last Wednesday was the most normal day I've had in many months. (And that's a long story, and it doesn't merit reliving it here.)

When I start off painting again, I usually have to paint something small, and the subject is usually a lemon, lime or cherry. I could paint those in my sleep by now. But after a month of not painting, the brush feels a little unsteady in your hand and you second-guess every brushstroke you put down.

Today is the first day back painting. I managed to live through it!! And now my mantra is "I choose to live a joyful life." It's been dark for too long.