Reality check

We have 4 days left until we depart for places west, and I've been on the edge of panic all day.

We'll be gone just about a month, and despite my best efforts, I'll still have to take one illustration project with me when we go. In my mind this has meant packing up my 20" iMac and all its attendant gear. Art supplies, of course. And what to do about my Etsy store, right smack in the middle of the holiday shopping season? Do I also pack up prints and books and MORE packaging material and....

It's getting out of hand.

Thankfully I just had a great conversation with friend Carla, during which I came to my senses. Taking my entire office with me would mean I would end up feeling compelled to do MORE work as it came in. And that is so not the point of this trip. David's going to work on a new CD and I'm going to work on the Underfoot project and THAT's the point. So... I dragged The Brick (ancient, barely-operating laptop) out from its place as a doorstop, just to make it into an email and blogging functionary. THAT took all night and made me slightly grumpy, but I think everything is working now. The Darling Man will have his far more up-to-date machine with him, too, so if things get too hairy I'll just have to smile nice and beg for indulgence. I'm hoping I can limp along with outdated software and limited memory long enough to get my illustrations done and files shipped out. And that's all. Really. I swear. Then it's sketches and lino reference and maybe even some carving. NO contract work.

I'm afraid I haven't a single image for this post... but Saturday we're having a local sketchcrawl, so I promise something after that. Two more days of contract insanity, one day to crawl, one day to pack... why, I've barely any time left to obsess about things like weather and groceries and what clothes to pack and paying bills and....