365…10

Today was almost the end of the painting of a day. I considered many excuses of why I could skip it tonight, including painting two tomorrow.

I went for a walk at lunch, even though it was downright bitter cold! I was ever so thankful for doing so, because I saw a tiny piece of blue sky peaking out from the grey clouds that have become the colour of our sky for way too long this season. I noticed two young women, walking ahead of me, carrying skates over their shoulders and then I remembered that Brewers Creek (ruisseau de la Brasserie) was close by, and must be open. I made my way to the creek to take some pictures. As cold as it was, it really was beautiful. Some of the houses along the creek are stunningly beautiful, big and old.

I met a sweet dog on the path, on my way back to work. There is nothing quite like puppy love, is there? It was a good lunch break and I felt energized and ready to get back to it.

Now fast forward four hours, two late nights and early mornings catch up to me and I’m sleepy and feel my energy drop. I have dinner with my family – thank you to my nephew James for cooking a superb meal – followed by a really nice visit and a couple of glasses of wine. It’s a 30 minute drive home and I think of excuses to skip my painting and writing and just go to bed when I get home.

It’s late when I arrive home…well, late for me (9:30 pm) and, after feeding my cats, I decide to stay up, have a tea and paint. I figured if I went to bed, even though I’m tired, I’m also wired and would probably be on my phone, reading Reddit posts for god knows how long! So, I might as well be painting.

The painting started off pretty well, then took a turn I wasn’t overly happy with, so I kept at it until I got it where I liked it. It took me about 35 minutes from start to finish and I can say that the feeling of accomplishment, of sticking with it, even though I was tired and ready to throw in the towel, I’m proud of myself for sticking with it. Just goes to show how much this project means to me, how committed I am to making a change in my life and embracing this time to be creative and connect.

Now, if only I could summon that willpower for loosing weight 😉