I haven’t been on much of a writing kick lately despite still having an itch to create. So as a part of Christmas, I stocking stuffed myself a sketch book. I was originally going to give the small sketch pad to my daughter, but as you can see below. The art desk, large drawing pad and pastels were sufficient.
I am hoping that the desk will help keep her room manageable as she will have a table top to do one of her many projects; namely making slime.
The sketch book was a nice addition as I enjoy sitting and having something to keep my fingers and brain busy. The Christmas tree was penciled during a lazy Christmas day with my girlfriend. She’s getting over a cold and I had no plans as the kids were with their mom’s family so we just lounged and relaxed. I also humored her by watching (in my opinion) awful movies on the Hallmark channel. It is interesting to test the steadiness of my hands and see how well my drawing can match my eyes. Such things really channel the focus. A couple of days earlier I drew my cat (Jack). He’s 16 and really takes to lounging around as well. He’s also a rather social animal so is quick to climb up and hang around with the girlfriend and I.
Overall, it was a good Christmas. There was a lot more quiet time, which was good for reflection and peacefulness. I did get to enjoy my kids on Friday and Saturday. Again, my daughter is a chef/chemist in training so she was more than happy to spearhead the making of sugar cookies for decorating.
Our “Santa” morning was simple. My son’s birthday was a couple weeks prior and his mom and I pooled our monies to get him a laptop. Needless to say, that resulted in his pile being a little smaller. Still I got him an Arduino kit for building circuits and robots. My daughter received the art desk and some supplies. She also got some essential oils for the diffuser I gave her last year.
While they are a little beyond the Santa magic younger kids experience, it is still fun to see their more tempered excitement.
The New Normal 