What have I been up to for the last few weeks?! I have been on an incredible, whirlwind of a ride the entire months of November and December. It has been ridiculously crazy on a personal, professional, and artistic level. November started with a HUGE bang in the form of Lynne Perrella. I have waited for almost 10 years to take one of her workshops. I finally got the opportunity to do just that during the long,Veteran's Day weekend. I took a 3-day workshop at my dear friend, Carol Parks' home/studio. At the end of the first day, Lynne asked me to lead the group of artists in creating a Frida altar. This is a shot of the altar I took the next morning, before our class resumed. At the end of day 2, Lynne asked me once again to lead the group in creating a new altar. Well, instead of it being the entire group creating the new altar, it became only me. Everyone just watched as I kept moving and adding things to create a completely different altar from the day before. To say I was honored, does not really capture how I truly felt. Afterall, this is Lynne Perrella, artiste extraordinaire! It was pretty fucking amazing! I was both honored and humbled.

This is one of the 2 pieces I created during Lynne's workshop. It took me most of the 3 days to finish. I have 2 ways of working - either it is very fast, where I will begin and work until that piece is completed or I will work painstaking slow to get it to look 'just right'. This was one of those pieces that came together in my head very quickly. And I wanted it to be done quickly, while all those ideas were meshing in my head.

The next photo is from our school's Winter Formal. The guy on my left is a colleague and good friend. His name is Matt. My husband took this photo of us. I can't believe my husband actually agreed to go with me to this event. He is such a sweetheart! This is my first Winter Formal, as an assistant principal. When I was still in the classroom on a full-time basis, I sponsored the Student Council/Leadership class for 3 years, so I attended many dances and a few Winter Formals. Anyway, we looked pretty damn good - my husband looked stunning, as usual, in his suit. After all these years, I can still look at him and see exactly WHY I fell in love with him.

Speaking of my husband, here he is on the left, with 2 of our nephews. Josh is in the center and Frankie is on the right. They are my older brother, Frank's boys. My nephews are such good boys - they are a REAL source of pride for me. Frankie was my first 'baby' - when he was a baby, everyone thought he was my child since it seemed like we were always together. He was born my junior year of high school. I took this shot of the guys after our annual family golf tournament, which is held the day after Thanksgiving. The golf tournament is more than just shooting the breeze and a ball ... the tournament is done in conjunction with my family's foundation, the Kathryn Elizabeth Millan Memorial Fund, named after my niece, Katie, who died of pulmonary hypertension, at the age of 14. Each year, the tournament raises BIG bucks that fund Katie's favorite charities, including "Make A Wish". The foundation not only honors Katie's memory, but it also carries on the charity work she so tirelessly supported during her short life.

Well, you might be tired from reading all of this. It was a very, very busy month! These are the highlights from November. Tomorrow, I will move into December. I am SO excited about Christmas! I feel like I did when I was a kid. I could hardly wait for it to be December 25th each year. It has always been my 2nd favorite holiday; my favorite is Valentine's Day. But this is where I will end for today.