Some Conscious Ink

I'm a list-maker, a trait I've passed on to our daughter. She makes a huge list every day and manages to get through it, too. At the beginning of the weekend I made my list, imagining that I'd do say, half on Saturday and the other half on Sunday. It's Sunday night as I write this and I can say that I've crossed off not even quite half of the things. It's been a while since I've written a diary post, and instead of saying what I didn't do, let me tell you what I did accomplish this weekend: I applied some temporary tattoos! 

I'm thrilled with the one I got from Conscious Ink saying, nevertheless she persisted. 

And while I like the other one I had made at a different temporary tattoo online place of the tagline from this blog, you are required to make something beautiful, the quality isn't as amazing. It actually looks better now, a day after application. I have a number of them, so if you'd like one send me your address using the comment form and I'll mail you one. (Just hit the menu button, top left corner, and contact). 

So there you go - my experiments in temporary tattoos. 

What we've been preoccupied with over here is our daughter who has been working all year, really, on her portfolio to get into the animation program at Sheridan College. This young woman has been intense, and we're so proud of her. You might remember she's attending the same college, taking a one year (amazing) art fundamentals program. She's applied to four colleges, and heard back from two so far (both yeses). We know her future is going to be wonderful, and are just hoping she gets into her first choice which is Sheridan. Whatever happens, we couldn't be more impressed with all the hard work she's done this year. She handed in her portfolio last Tuesday, and we made sure she had pizza delivered to her dorm room that night. A good moment. 

We had a lovely snowfall at the beginning of the weekend - the big, pretty, fluffy stuff. Ace, as you can tell, had a ball with it. (I know he's hard to see in the above photo because he's hiding so well). So yes, I can tick off "walk the dog" from my list. 

Last week was insane with the insomnia....I mean seriously. Why??? lol. But after having wine with good friends on Saturday night, I had the best sleep I've had in ages. So perhaps that's the secret? 

We just started watching Trapped on Netflix. I admit I'm watching it pretty much solely for the weather scenes and the Icelandic landscape, so far. Which isn't to say it's not a great drama, but that's just where I'm at these days. Show me the weather. 

I have a couple of chapters left of The Round House by Louise Erdrich which I'll finish tonight. It's an incredible book, and beyond devastating. I opened it and just started reading, knowing little of what it was about and was immediately hooked by the characters, couldn't stop turning the pages. Which is a pretty rare thing for me. 

Also.

Wishing I could see the Irving Penn Centennial show upcoming this spring at The Metropolitan Museum. 

Lastly. Thinking about "A Prayer to Be of Benefit" by Kaitlyn Hatch on Lion's Roar. She prefaces her poem by saying:

There’s a teaching Pema Chödrön once gave in response to someone who told her the story of how the threat of rising waters meant a dyke near his grandparent’s home was likely to break. According to the storyteller, his grandfather said “Let’s pray” while his grandmother, who prevailed, said “Let’s go.” Pema chuckled at this and said, “I would say, ‘Let’s go, but pray while we are going.’”

I tell this story because what I want to offer here is a prayer, but not one given in the hope that “wishing it” will make things better.

Wishing you all a great week ahead. May beauty find you. May you find beauty.