Interpretation

So, are you a glass half-full or glass half-empty kind of person? I consider myself (generally) a half-full person, though we all have our moments, yeah? I was bemoaning 2009 to a friend the other day, who said "you know, a lot of great things happened to you this year too." She's right, they did.

January of 09 began with a mixed bag. Dick Cheney was on Face the Nation talking about Iraq and whether or not the U.S. made a bad decision about the invasion. All I could do was look at him and marvel about how he looks like Satan's evil brother.

An old boyfriend got engaged to someone 20 years his junior. It was announced that the Kennedy Gallery was going up for sale, and I actually considered the possibility. There was a lot of painting in January, getting ready for the 100 for 100 show. Read "Pull of the Moon" which was one of the best books I ever read. Had a bad feeling that the relationship I was in was headed south and I had no idea why. Went to Atlantic City with Haley for a dance convention. Had several commissions to work on.

February 09 - Became part of B.A.S.E., our studios on Baltimore Avenue. Now had a great place to work and be with other artists. Old boyfriend got married to the younger woman. My engagement was going on 2 years with no marriage in sight. Fiancee on probation for some big errors in judgement. House on the market and off the market for months. Sold nothing at the Lewes Historical Society show. Close friends marriage dissolving. Painting, painting.

March 09 - Haley turned 14. Dustin firming up college plans. Relationship seriously hitting the skids, still clueless as to why. Attended a great St. Patty's Day party with even greater theatre folks. Long, cold, snowy month. House still on the market, but someone interested. No hours at the gallery, but great creative time at the studio.

April 09 - The sound of screeching brakes followed by mass destruction. Relationship ends with an enormous, sickening thud. Sickening thud is followed by immense grief and a bad one-time (and last time) experience with Ambien. I'd rather go sleepless than ever touch that again. Immense grief is coupled with huge, flashy car accident that totals my beloved convertible and leaves me banged up, but lucky to be alive. The top was down in this very embarrassing, very public accident. If the car had flipped, well, let's just say I wasn't wearing a helmet. A great, sporty, new red car is purchased. My grief is being soothed by its beauty and Bose system. An offer comes in on the house and I am now alone. It's great exercise packing up a 3,000 square foot home by yourself, and super good therapy. Oh, the things I threw away/gave away/sold. Cleansing. Healing. Found a new house and bought it.

May 09 - Great, sporty, new red car gets sideswiped in the Gallery parking lot. Hit and run. Utterly exhausted from the packing/moving, but so glad to be out of the old house. My FRIENDS are amazing. They were right there with me, helping with moving, helping with healing, helping with it all. There was never a second they weren't there. The house has a fantastic energy. Haley loves it, we get settled and happy, and things feel peaceful at times, but grief reigns supreme. Funny how bad things can get covered with great things. The great things try to smother out the bad things, but those bad things are persistent little buggers - like cancer cells eating up all the healthy cells. Time is the chemo.

June 09 - June through August is a blur. Busy at the Gallery, busy at the studio. 100 for 100 show at the Gallery went well. Hung a show at Cafe Sole and began busily selling from all three places. Painted several new originals - bigger ones, as I was so sick of painting mini's. 100 mini's...hard to know how tedious that is till you do it. My eyes haven't been the same since. Summer. Sun. Beach, friends, long days, moments of smiling creeping through. Great, sporty, new red car gets hit in the Convention Center parking lot. Hit and run.

July 09 - More of the same, getting ready for Dusty to leave for school next month. Great, sporty, new red car gets hit by a guy on a crotch rocket in the Bronx. Hit and run.

August 09 - Dusty leaves for school. On the train. I'm not going back to the Bronx in my car. He turns 18, I turn 45. Fun with friends on my birthday, beginning to feel some lightness. Interview with the Art League, a dream job I never thought was possible.

September 09 - Haley begins high school. Dusty is a freshman at college, and I am facing the inevitability of an empty nest. Several commissions come in, which keep me busy until the end of the year. Job offer from the Art League, and I stand back amazed and wildly happy.

October 09 - Participating artist at the LDAF Blue Jean Ball. Great fun, great exposure. Uneventful Halloween - first time in years. Haley's first high school homecoming and she looks amazingly beautiful and much older than her 14 years. Job is going well, still in shock over the amazing luck.

November 09 - Acupuncture to try to release some of the leftover "stuff". Yoga, meditation, contemplation, life adjustments and realization of some major paradigm shifts going on in my life. The shifts feel good. Some fear there, but learning to ride with the tide and let the shifts happen. Feel like I'm being guided down the right path with very little effort on my part. Still working on commissions. Holidays are here, and there is some trepidation.

December 09 - Not the easiest holiday season. A very different one for me, but again, a change that is okay because I know it's all happening for a reason. some kind of lesson going on here and again, I'm rolling. I have a great job, family, friends, home, and want for little. Life is good and healing takes time and patience. Spring is a few months away and I know that 2010 is going to be a great one. So, my glass is most definitely half-full and getting fuller. :)