Hello December!? When did you get here?!
As you can tell, I’m now officially unstuck in time…maybe it feels like there should have been more days in November? Or time is really becoming meaningless in day 250+ of staying at home. Dunno.
But I couldn’t let a little calendar confusion stop me from sharing the latest update with y’all! So here we go!
Lately I’ve been focused on building a routine to my work day. I don’t super love structure, but it’s also kinda helpful. I want to enjoy the “perks” of self-employed-work-from-home-shop-closed-due-to-a-pandemic but also stay reasonably productive, and not let weeks go by where all I’ve done is glance at my sketchbook “thinking of ideas” while really I’m working on a giant jigsaw puzzle (Oh noooo, how did that happen?!). So, yeah, there needs to be a little balance…
For me, it looks a lot like taking it one day at a time, and setting the pace at “the smallest step I can take toward my goals I can do today.” This attitude is actually letting me approach some new long-term goals as well that normally would have seemed absolutely impossible, too time-consuming, etc. Now I’m just breaking them down into the super smallest reasonable step forward, knowing I’ll get there eventually. (And I usually do a little bit more than I expected)… It’s the luxury of not having hard deadlines for anything, I guess. But that’s the reality of where I’m at, so I’m making it work! I don’t do “hustle” but it does feel nice to feel consistently productive in some small measure! And let me say, it adds up quickly!
Specifically, I’ve been regularly working on painting in watercolor and gouache, and practicing drawing cute little cartoon characters. I’m really having fun playing around with that, and have even started working on little comic strips to start sharing. My goal is to do one a week, but the babystep of “coming up with an idea” is way harder than I expected! I’ve got a few I’ve made already and I plan on sharing on my Instagram regularly(ish). I hope you enjoy them!
We’re still watching The X-Files. It’s ridiculous but I love it… And we binge-watched all the Thanksgiving episodes of Bob’s Burgers on Thanksgiving, which may now be a new tradition in this house. It’s a fantastic show anyway, but it’s especially entertaining to watch Bob AND Mr. Husband get super excited about cooking a turkey! (My only contribution to dinner was thinking up a “turkey and winter veggies pot-pie” but Mr. Husband developed and executed it perfectly! With a squash soup! It wasn’t traditional for us, but it was soooo good! Apparently we really really like parsnips, who knew?!)
During the holiday weekend I also binge-read (is that a thing?) Leviathan Wakes. I’d read it before years ago but for some reason felt compelled to revisit it. Goodreads informed me I was NOT a fan the first time around, which is weird because I remembered it pretty well? Anyway, I super enjoyed it this time, and have already jumped into the next in the series, Caliban’s War. (No, I haven’t seen the show…yet). I’m also reading the Hilda children’s books/graphic novels, because they are delightful. Like a more juvenile Lumberjanes, almost. And I LOVE the artwork and colors. (I guess it is also a show, but I haven’t seen it either).
Thanks for joining me at The Shallow End!
Summer Child Designs 