Time for a Milestone

It’s that time of year when kids are heading back to school and parents give a collective sigh of relief having made it through another summer.  #justme?

For my little tribe of 4, this week marks a new milestone of both our daughters going away to college. I know, I know, I look TOO young to have 2 college-aged kids, but when you look at Dean the story checks out.

Earlier this week we experienced the controlled chaos of hundreds of freshmen bringing most of their earthly possessions to a new place of residence.

I’m pleased to say we successfully leveled up our experience by schlepping a futon through the insanely long line, up the elevator and then for funsies adding one more flight of stairs to its final resting place. Seriously, I will gladly come back for my girl and all of her other things, but I think we should consider “gifting” the futon to the next resident.

Please enjoy a few photos documenting the journey and I think we can all agree Dean Gallagher keeps it real no matter when a photo is being taken.

The very next day we helped our oldest move into her first college apartment, with its charming mismatch furniture and a kitchen with one outlet to be shared between 5 appliances.

Before “move-a-palooza” began, I went with my daughter Gwen as she got a tattoo I had drawn for her.

When it was clear I was diving deep into lettering, Gwen asked if I would draw “let it be” because she wanted it as a tattoo.

In addition to it being a lovely reminder to let things go and the significance of me drawing the look of it, she wanted it because Dean is a huge Beatles fan. Anyone who has 15 versions of Strawberry Fields and sincerely thinks there’s a reason to have 15 versions of Strawberry Fields, is clearly a next-level fan.

I was amazed at how good the tattoo turned out, but more importantly pleased that Gwen was so happy with it.

What struck me was that I was able to do this because:

1. I have been sharing what I am working on. I am not alone in this journey.
2. I keep putting in the time to practice.

You can be damn sure that I worked A LOT on the drawing that would be permanently scribed on my firstborn. #nopressure

So how about you? Are you taking steps, no matter how small toward growing a skill you want? Are you sharing what you are working on with others? Remember, it gives them a chance to cheer you on and share in your victories and progress.

For the longest time I didn’t share anything I did and was super critical of my own work. When I finally started sharing, first with just a few close friends and ultimately posting daily online, that’s when I really started making progress and liking the work I was doing.

We are under a month to ArtPrize and I’m somewhere between thinking I’m totally on top of it and I’m probably forgetting something important.

Let me know what you’ve been up to or share your thoughts about the post. Also, thanks for passing along my posts. It means a lot when I hear from someone who was forwarded a post from a friend or family member. You guys rock!