Working on two charity events and... and...

I've been a little busy lately. OK, OK, yes, I'm always busy... When I was a kid my Mom's constant complaint was that I could never sit still. I haven't changed!

I should probably put this in my Hummingbird Hollow blog as most of the things I'm doing lately are somewhat or mostly arts related. I'll probably pop something over there later, too... but with a different focus.

Here's a quick run down of a few things on my current calendar:

I'm currently working with a number of other artists to create a Christmas tree for Noel November.  We're doing an 'Ocean Blues' theme. None of us looked at each others ornaments, we just created what we thought fit the theme. It's going to be interesting on Friday when we put it all together!

Noel November is an annual event hosted by realtors in Fayette County from all or most realty companies. Groups donate beautifully decorated Christmas trees, wreaths and other items which are auctioned off. It's a day long event with lots of fun things for the entire family. They choose one or more charities to receive the funds raised. More info here.

I'm also working on our annual Children's Chair-ity Event to benefit the Children's Village at Christian City. Local artists paint chairs which are auctioned, along with many other cool items. This year the event will be held at the Dolce in Peachtree City on Thursday, Dec. 2nd. The cost of the ticket equals one month of supporting a child at the Village.

It's a wonderful group and one I'm proud to support.

I also have a number of pottery shows coming up in the near future so I'm trying to squeeze in some studio time. I'm participating in one that will benefit the Life Enrichment Center (Fayette Senior Services) this weekend. It's called Apples and ArtFest. They have over 30 artists who'll be selling their art this Saturday.

Tonight I have a Board meeting for the Clothes Less Traveled. This is a fantastic organization! They take in donations from the surrounding community, sell them to others, then donate the proceeds to many, many well-vetted local charitable groups. They run a tight ship and I'm proud to serve on the Board. I volunteer over there once a month and wish I could do it more often.

I'm also in the process of switching a couple of websites I manage from Miva Merchant to another service. If you're looking for a store-front service I would highly recommend that you don't choose Miva. It has to be the most labor intensive, pain in the tush, convoluted, expensive, hard to manage service I have ever worked with. It doesn't have to be that difficult and it doesn't have to cost as much as they charge! Every little thing that you want to do has to be done with a module --- which you have to buy. Grrrr...

Let's see, what else? I can't forget our news websites (Arts Across Georgia, Georgia Front Page, Fayette Front Page)! They require constant updating and attention. Plus I handle my own pottery website (Hummingbird Hollow Studio) and some rabble rousing political sites. Oh, I also have at least ten Twitter accounts... we have over 200 blogs...

I'm trying to get into a routine, but it's tough. Between painting chairs for the Chair-ity Event, trying to corral artists to get their bios and chairs complete, working on the Christmas tree ornaments and getting the artists together for that, spending time with my family (yep, they are extremely important and I drop everything to spend time with them), getting ready for shows, scheduling shows, trying to set up websites for my customers, going to meetings for the various charities, closing bank accounts (previous blog), shopping (food, not fun stuff), oh, you get the idea.

Busy is the word of the day.

Couple of good things I'm looking forward to: We're going to see the Canadian Tenors in two weeks, then we're going to see Joe Bonamassa! Love Joe's music...

With all that going on I took time out to whine a bit in my blog... critically important! Seriously, I'm not complaining at all. I love every minute of my life and I love doing all the things I do. I just wish that time didn't fly by so quickly, that I could do more, that I had more time for friends, family, could wrangle a bit more time in the garden... oops, now I'm getting into whining territory for real!

Did I mention that I usually read a book a day? Good thing I'm a fast reader...

Hmmm, just saw a cat heading toward the porch. They like to hang out under the back porch, birth, and do whatever cats do. Mothballs keep them away, but they're not good for the environment and they stink. Wonder if that deer repellent would work? Kind of expensive, but worth a try.

Where was I? Doesn't matter, I'm going to go grab a bite to eat, work on my websites a bit then head out to buy something at the Clothes Less Traveled to finish up my tree ornaments. Board meeting tonight.

p.s. you can check out my Facebook page (facebook.com/ArtsAcrossGeorgia) to see pictures of some of the artist's chairs (Chair-ity Event) and tree ornaments (Noel November)