Is there an app for that???

Yikes! I am just coming out of a state of mind known as the Plein Air Easton! hangover. The week of Plein Air was, as always, exciting and fast paced -  full of fun events and lots of opportunity for us artists. This year I was allowed to co-ordinate a multi-media show called The Out of the Box Art Exhibit and Sale. The event was a success! The energy was amazing! Exhilarating! Oh, and also......exhausting.

The week of Plein Air flies by - I always have fun but it can often feel like I'm trying to survive the week as much as enjoy it. The kids are given a stern talking to - they are busy trying to make a few bucks at their annual lemonade stand - but they know not to test me during this time. Arguing, whining, complaining and all other annoying behaviors are banned during this week. Any infraction of this rule will result in an overzealous lecture from their stressed out, preoccupied mother. I always promise that it will all be over and things will go back to the normal, acceptable level of craziness the following week.

Another side effect of that busy week is that absolutely no housework or yard maintenance is accomplished. Miraculously I cannot even see the dishes or laundry that need to be done, grass that needs to be cut or demon weeds that threaten to take over flowerbeds or even the driveway. Mosaic "stations" pop up all over the house. It is normal to have two or three projects in the living room, several stations in the family room, where most of the frame painting takes place, as well as multiple projects on the back porch and in my studio. I am grateful for this temporary blindness -without it the mere thought of housework at this point in time can send me straight to Crazy Town, a place where logic and reason don't exist, and overwhelmed, exhausted, emotional responses dwell.

When it's all over - there is a long period of rest. And then re-emergence into regular life. It can be shocking - there is work to be done everywhere! And there's no food in the house! And we have no clean clothes! Oh my! A bit overwhelming, and has me asking, do I really have to do all of it??? Is there an app for that?