Day 41, 100 Happy Days: Anticrastination

Anticrastination is a word I just started using, although I can't believe I only just discovered it. When I google it all that comes up is the www.urbandictionary definition, which works for me. I'm running with it.

As you might have guessed, anticrastination is the opposite of procrastination. It's finally dealing with crap you've been putting off.
Today, it was a trip to the cell phone store. I've been overpaying for my cell phone for ages, and I finally got down there to deal with it. I know I could have just called but... those people at the call center are robots! (No offense to the humans answering the calls - I know they're instructed to follow those scripts. It's awful.)

So I dragged myself down there and dealt with it, face to face, with a human being. And in 20 minutes (max)  I was done with this thing I've been procrastinating for months. 

The question I have to ask myself is - why do I procrastinate something that really wasn't a big deal at all? The answer: it involves answering questions and making decisions... Am I in fact, overpaying, and if so should I switch to another provider? Should I upgrade to the newest model, or is it time to switch to something else? If so what? I need to do research... should I poll my friends...?
I could go on and on and on with the garbage that goes through my brain preventing me from dealing with stuff.

The upside of procrastination is that when you finally deal with that thing you've been putting off, you feel really good!!

Next things I'll be anticrastinating: Dealing with my internet provider, and getting my car to the mechanic.

By the way, the picture above is from my edition of The Consolidated Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary, A Library of Essential Knowledge. Copyright 1954. Once belonged to Georgia Paddock. (No idea who that is, but her name is written on the inside in perfect cursive.)
I love dictionaries. And I love things with history.

Check out the lovely artwork on the inside cover...

Day 40, 100 Happy Days: One Damn Good Meal

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake with quickly melting ice cream.

Okay, so it wasn't JUST the damn good meal that made me happy. It was also the fact that I was
celebrating a birthday with an old friend. In fact, this makes 25 birthdays that we've celebrated together... actually 50, if you count the 25 of mine that we've celebrated since we met. That's a lot of celebrations!

Today we spent four or so hours in my studio painting, and then we went to dinner at Table 6. So good! If you would have told me that brussel sprouts could make me happy, I'd have said you were off your rocker. But... happy they made me! Granted they were fried... with horseradish, gouda and some sort of a sweet and tangy "special sauce". The amazing Butternut Squash Rissoto made me equally as happy. Out of this world.

Day 39, 100 Happy Days: Being Easily Amused

It's getting to be a habit (again) to look for things to be happy about. Sometimes getting from "not happy" to "happy" is the matter of a simple focus shift. And some days it's easier to focus on the good stuff.

Today was easy. I had a great class with some great ladies, then I ran around town getting supplies for classes, office supplies, and doing some birthday shopping. I went to Cost Plus World Market for the birthday stuff. I've got to have some energy to go into that place because there is so much great stuff! And I seem to need to look at every little thing. But hey - it makes me happy!

I didn't buy them, but I found this awesome pen set. It's called "Borrow My Pen?" and people might not be inclined to steal these pens... then again, I suppose it depends on the person. These are pens from fictitious business with great slogans. For instance, Shecky the Clown is available for Bar Mitzvahs, weddings and interventions. Because really, a clown at an intervention would really help lighten the mood. And I love the proctologist whose slogan is "Turn your head and cough". His address is "301 South Main (please use rear entrance)".

Why yes,  I am easily amused!

Day 38, 100 Happy Days: Stress-Melting Shower

What color is stress?

Steaming. Hot. Shower. At the end of the day. Yes, please.

I was fairly stressed lately. I have too much that I want to or need to do, not enough time or resources. It got so bad today that at one point I just collapsed into a puddle on my couch, and stayed there for an hour (or more). This was some serious analysis paralysis.

Getting out and teaching tonight helped. But stress had waited patiently for me back home at my desk. I sat down to get a bit of work done before bed, and was soon overwhelmed by it all. So I walked away, and headed for the shower.

Showers have a way of bringing me into the present - especially evening showers by candlelight (or night light as the case may be).  Listening to the water rushing past my ears, hearing it drop onto the bath tub, and feeling it pour over me... everything else can melt away except for me and the water. Happy!

Day 37, 100 Happy Days: Dreaming Up New Classes and Other Studio Stuff

This is what we'll paint in the first oil Painting Soiree!

It was another great studio day, and today I got to paint with a good friend. Also, two people I didn't know - other artists - stopped by my studio and we had a nice discussion about art.

And someone else stopped by asking for a private lesson on the nuts and bolts of painting - she wants to know how she can assure that she is selling a quality painting to her customers - quality materials. This may just lead to another class. How exciting!

Today I tried my hand at a Robert Henri painting: The West Coast of Ireland. I saw it in a book recently and fell in love with it. The way the hills blend into the sky just makes me crazy. I had a good time experimenting with different brushstrokes to try to see how he captured that beautiful stormy sky.

And after today's adventure in painting, I've decided that I CAN do a Painting Soiree in oils after all! I've been thinking I couldn't do it without painting like Bob Ross, but I found a way. It just takes the right painting. I'm imagining that a lot of my current students who are curious about oils will sign up to check it out. How exciting to be able to introduce people to beauty and wonder that is oil painting!

Day 37 Bonuses: 
The weather (high of 58 degrees!), the incredible sunset (and that I live in a place where I can experience both those things), help from friends in the form of a much needed dry erase board, and an unexpected dinner and visit with a friend. 

Sunset from my studio window. I LOVE that if you look closely you can see one of my sunrise paintings reflected in the glass. (Right above the Grease Monkey sign.)