bonny that is hypnotic.

I know, right?

I give it a lot of thought as I'm planning, but while I'm doing it, it's hugely meditative. And when I'm done, the finished product just gives me a rush.

I can't think of a hobby, besides my dog, that has given me as much good stuff!

That's gorgeous! It makes me want to do one of my own.... I'll be right back, see if I can find my decent pencils....

Colouring with pencils scares me.

Well, colouring scares me. I just don't get it. I'm a monochrome sort of a girl.

I know it when I see it--that's really lovely, bonnie. But boy, does my brain ever curl up and die when I try it.

Found my pencils, and found a page of free mandala coloring pages - printed up a few, will take to work with me, see if any of the individuals there would like to try their hands at them, too.

Hoping the best for Japan... and no more quakes for a long long time.

Today has been a comedy of errors, without the funny part. I didn't sleep at all last night. Two trips to the 24-hour Wal-Mart for things I forgot I needed (comfortable insoles for dress shoes, not merely a luxury item). My own fault entirely for putting things off so long. Got away 45 minutes behind schedule because I couldn't leave without making sure no cats were locked in closets or something, and I couldn't find Percy. Drove 80 mph to airport, arrived 3 minutes after gates closed. Realized the flight was 7am, not 7:30. Oh, goodness, how could I possibly have known *that*? @@ JetBlue has few flights out of Richmond, but they were kind, and moved me to a later flight with only a $40 change fee. Now I leave at 6:40pm. I decided I was too tired to drive 1.5 hours back home, so I checked into a hotel with daily rates for stranded travelers like me. (Doubletree, not a vibrating-bed daily-rate hotel.) The upside: their wireless internet is really fast, and they give out the BEST chocolate-chip-walnut cookies ever. The downside: someone has been smoking in my non-smoking room, and after a mere 3 hours of fitful sleep, I cannot sleep anymore. So I'm working instead. Which is, really, what I expected to be doing at this point, just in a different hotel, and with *no* sleep, so all in all... whatever. It could certainly have turned out worse.

Erin, I hope things are going well for you today. Regardless, I am proud of you for knowing yourself and your needs and taking care of yourself. I wish more people would treat themselves with such love.

Zen, honey, your day has been crap and I so hope it gets better, post hastey!!

Shir, thanks for your lovely post. It made my morning.

Found my pencils, and found a page of free mandala coloring pages - printed up a few, will take to work with me, see if any of the individuals there would like to try their hands at them, too.

I hope they enjoy it Andi! And you too. I've seen some really nice designs for kids, but I have the say that the more intricate designs are more fun for me.

ita, the great thing about the things I'm doing now is that the color doesn't have to cover a large area (that's were markers are better) so coloring with pencils in the smaller spaces feels less intimidating to me.

I pulled out an old sketch book and noticed that my colored pencil life drawings were just terrible. Without the boundaries of the printed designs, I'm just terrible with the pencils. I'm good at rendering in black and grey, but not color. Not sure why that is, although I think it stems from not being able to get enough subtlety with limited colors.

I see that Prisamcolor has a portrait set with 24 tones. I suspect it will be a really long time before I give that a try. After all, this whole venture is about relaxation and meditation. Drawing portraits would be too stressful.

Oh dear, the quake news is very upsetting.

I'm emotionally all out of sorts today. I'm trying to deal with it by just plugging through a bunch of crap that just needs to get done, which is kinda working. It's not making me happy, but at least now I'm not about to snap someone's head off.

Damn it. I got another parking ticket. (Which will join the pile of, um, six, that I haven't paid yet. I should get on that.)