I'm BAAACK...I hope!

Thanks to inquiries and the encouragement of quite a few friends, family members, colleagues and an awesomely inspiring artist by the name of Jackie Battenfield (author of The Artist Guide: How to Make a Living Doing What You Love...she recently visited So FL and gave an awesome workshop), I have decided to resume writing this blog!

True to form, I had somehow convinced myself, despite evidence to the contrary, that nobody was reading or cared whether I wrote another word...but I guess that wasn't at all the truth (shout out to all my friends/family)! While perhaps the whole world doesn't care about what I have to say or what my kids are doing...I experience something akin to euphoria every time I successfully complete and post an entry. I move closer to my artistic goals every time I re-engage the craft of writing; every time I accurately and artfully capture an idea and share it with whoever may care to read.

Consistent with my personality, I had gotten myself totally worked up about the nuts and bolts and forgot to focus on the enjoyment of the creative process. Case in point, I had tricked myself into believing that I needed to do more research on the topic of blogging, that I was somehow not capable of blogging without some sort of instruction and therefore had to learn more about all the tools and tricks of the trade...despite the fact that I had already been posting updates for over a year and had a whopping four followers ...(don't laugh).

In essence the disease of procrastination coupled with the often simultaneous ailment of self-doubt had infiltrated, taken over my brain and resulted in an all encompassing bout of creative paralysis! Many very creative and otherwise intelligent people fall prey to this combination of ailments and even more devastating, is the failure to recognize this brain drain for what it is and as a result remain stagnant, fail to move forward and ultimately become ZOMBIES...you're laughing, but you know what I mean!

But, I think I'm better now...at least I hope I'm better now...but I guess this is a part of this whole process (at least it is for me anyway). I mean, after all, this (blog) is about my having gotten derailed in the past (and obviously in the present) and my desire to and pursuit of getting back on track...isn't it (see my profile for clarification)?

Stick with me folks, apparently its gonna be a bumpy ride!

BIRTHDAYS ARE THE BEST!!!

Birthdays are ABSOLUTELY my favorite event of the year... an appreciation which has been exacerbated by motherhood.

The most exhilarating part of the whole thing is the energy of everyone in the house during the days preceding the celebration. Everyone is excited and waiting anxiously for the festivities to begin. Zen is usually the first one to start the countdown...Mommy, there are 12 more days until so and so's birthday,she announces giddy with anticipation. Then Tafara chimes in and eventually the entire household is worked into a birthday induced frenzy!

I’m a proud mama when my children are genuinely excited for each other on those days leading up to their birthday…I feel like I’ve accomplished something major!

I remember growing up my birthdays were always special. We would start the day by opening a present (usually a doll, which suited my just fine even if it was the same one from the year before...you know the ones with the pony tails and open/shut eyes) I would have a party at school with refreshments and presents…

Last year Zenzele and I came up with “birthday eve”, a sort of kick-off to the celebration of one’s birthday…just another excuse to extend the festivities (I celebrate my birthday for whole month). On birthday-eve, you get to do cool things like open one present (usually new pajamas) then you take a bath (to wash off last year’s dirt) and go to bed early (to make the next day come faster).

Then while they're sleeping...mommy runs around like a crazy person, making preparations for the celebration 9no matter how small)....Hey, Lion's 2nd birthday is tomorrow betta get my creative juices flowing!

Zen's 5th birthday luau...complete with picture on the cake...this party was the deal breaker...no more BIG birthday parties at home...too much work and money!

Lion's 1st birthday with Pooh ears in lieu of bday hats!

Tafara's 5th birthday-SAFARI at school...see, I finally figured out the formula!