Big sigh of relief...

It is finished. It is scanned. It is packaged. It is on it's way to the publisher. Thank you so much for all the good wishes along the way.

I celebrated this morning by sleeping in as long as I possibly could (I refused to go to bed last night until I was completely done. Which ended up being rather close to morning. It *was* morning, actually - about 45 minutes before my very early-rising family members get up). I've gotten to stroll around my sun-drenched yard and say hello to all the new plants coming up. Pulled a few weeds. I can tell it's been far too long since I've been out in the yard much - I've lost most of the callouses on my hands and feet (I like to wander barefoot. It's nicer when your feet aren't so winter-soft. I have lots of paths with wood chips - not so fun to walk on if you haven't built up hobbit-soles on your feet). Felt the wind in my hair. Smelled the thyme that I brushed against. Tasted the baby arugula that is still coming up from self-seeding last fall. I've missed my gardens.

You know you've been working far too much when the thing you are most looking forward to is *cleaning your studio*. Two books and three classes worth of materials are strewn about, waiting to be organized and filed. I am greatly looking forward to doing just that.

I do have some more projects upcoming, but they are more the self-promotional type (this year's Black Book, etc..) - not quite so many pieces and with a longer deadline - thank goodness! What to do with myself without 14 hours of dedicated studio time per day? I may read a book! Or see a movie! Or go to my daughter's volleyball game. Maybe feel like a person again...

These last two books won't come out until September or so, so I can't post full pictures of them, but I will post these couple of snippets to tide us over until this fall...