It is amazing how much I put off getting started on things that I am interested in doing, but have never tried before. I found all kinds of ways on Saturday morning to avoid starting the collaging work that I wanted to do. I had set my up supplies and got my workspace ready on Friday night, but even with that preparation I was still hesitant to get started, so found ways to procrastinate. I put the small Christmas tree in a bucket and placed it in my bedroom so that I could decorate it with my sisters ornaments. Then I had breakfast and made sure I had everything ready to take with me when I had to leave home later. Finally, I didn’t have anything left to distract me, so I started to work with the paints. I put on Pandora to a Christmas music station and started to experiment. At first I wasn’t very happy with how it was working, I wasn’t sure how to mix the paints to get the different shades I wanted or if I had enough paint or if my brushes were the right type. When I started painting it felt very amateurish, like I was a little kid again, but not in that good, playful way, more like I was just making something that looked strange and unappealing. I reminded myself that this was an experiment, I was just trying different things and I was going to be cutting up these papers and using them in different ways, so it didn’t really matter what happened. I was able to let go a little bit then and by the fourth piece of paper, I was becoming more comfortable using the paint and the various brushes I had, as well as paper doilies to create different patterns. After an hour and a half I had completed several different papers and was excited to try it again the next day. I did have to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t about perfection, it was about experimentation and following my instincts, doing what felt right and fun.
After I finished collaging, I headed to Walnut Creek. My first stop was to WheelWorks to drop off my car to get my tires rotated. Also recently the low air pressure warning light had come on so I asked them to check that out as well. From there it was a half hour walk to my hairdresser. It had rained on and off the night before and early in the morning, but by the time I was outside, the rain had stopped. I was able to walk most of the way on the canal trail path which was filled with trees vibrant with beautiful fall colors. Vilda, my hairdresser, was running behind, so I sat and read my book, listening to the background den of the very busy hairdressing salon. I had decided I wanted to go really short with my hair, it was time to change things up and do something different, and Vilda agreed. The next thing I knew half my hair was gone! I’m always so impressed with what she can do, and I just so enjoy talking to her while she works on my hair.
When she was done, I went to the Bedford gallery, a small art gallery inside the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts. I I spent a fantastic hour wandering the gallery enjoying the amazing miniature art works. It is so impressive what people can do! My favorite were the wishbones with weaving in between them, they were colorful and creative, and very inspiring. I thought the thumbprint people were really neat, and a great way to just do a little bit of art wherever you are. I was struck by the fact that most of them seem to look very unhappy. The whimsical pieces where artists used every day items to collage on top of was pretty cool as well. And, of course, unicorns you can never go wrong with. After the Bedford Gallery, I picked up my car and was very happy to learn that there were no problems with my tires (except them needing to be inflated) or anything else on the car, so it cost me nothing.
Next, I stopped to see my old college roommate Stacy, who had recently had her second hip replacement surgery. I was very surprised when she answered the door with only her cane, when I had visited her at this point after her first surgery she was still using a walker and was in quite a bit of pain. She very happily told me that the surgery recovery had been much better so far, probably because she had a good hip already, so the recovering one wasn’t under as much pressure. We had a good catch up and then I headed home.
On Sunday morning, I put lights and my sisters ornaments on my little tree (shout out to my sister Lori, who spends a small fortune buying 5 sisters ornaments from Hallmark every year!). Afterwards I did some collaging work, with less procrastination this time.
Later in the day, I met Emmy at Larson Family Winery where we had lunch and did some wine tasting and I picked up my biannual wine club order. I had unknowingly booked us in for the day that Santa was at the winery, so almost all of the other people there had young children with them. I offered to bring Emmy to see Santa, but she declined. In addition to a lovely Labradors, they have goats and sheep, the goats were just adorable, and the sheep were very noisy!
I spent the evening working on the November pages of my reverse planner, and sketching out the framework of a volunteer tutoring program that I’m helping a friend organize for her nonprofit. After dinner and watching a bit of Jeopardy with Mom, I was ready for bed. It was a nice balanced weekend with time for creativity and socializing, as well as time to myself.