These are the last pages of my book. I started a new book during the week and have completed my first 2 pages. I am officially on vacation! I don't go back to work until January 11! Absolutely fucking fantastic! And I hope to make some new art during that time. In fact, I have a very short list of things I want to accomplish during my time off.

My list consists of the following:

1) rest

2) enjoy my husband

3) spend some time with my family and friends

4) go to the movies - 3 movies I really, really want to see

5) go to the museums

6) work on my garden

7) pick a yoga studio

If I can accomplish half of my list, I will feel that my time was well-spent! Happy Saturday, everyone!

Here are 2 more pages from my book. Actually, I just finished this book yesterday; there are still a couple more pages I need to photograph and add to my photos before I post them. I started my new book (FINALLY!) tonight! I have the 1st 2 pages completed in the new book. It is hard to believe that I worked on my last book for about 6 months. I think part of what took so long was that I tried to work with a specific theme instead of just letting the artwork go in its own direction. But since I am 5 days away from my 3 week Christmas vacation, I have vowed that I am going to spend a lot more time on making art than I have these past few months.

My latest artwork. Kelly gave me several black and white copies of hand and palm prints awhile ago. I drew this hand based on 1 of those prints. And I added my letters, which are thick, to the palm. I painted the hand in my favorite base color: buttermilk. The leaf is a leaf that I brought back from our trip to Sonoma. We were up in Sonoma mid-August. I had this leaf tucked away in my studio, waiting for it to be called upon.

Baby, it's cold outside! We Southern Californians are SO spoiled when it comes to our weather! We are SO accustomed to having warm, sunny, and gorgeous days! But we do not do well when our days are cold! Today, the high was in the low 50's and it was rainy. You would have thought we had a blizzard! However, I do long for warmer, longer days again! If it were up to me, every day would be 80 degrees!

I had a lot of fun playing with these pages. I incorporated paper and stickers Kelly gave me and an email that my dear friend, George sent me sometime ago. The email congratulates me on being promoted to principal. This was back in February 2009. Now as the year is coming to a close, SO many things have happened to me on a professional level since that day 10 months ago when I got this email. When I have needed a pick-me-up this past year, this email has done just that. And with 2010 just around the corner, I anticipate that there will be more changes in store for me...