McLinky Monday: What-do-you-do-now!

Today, Monday's question of the week from RHOK is What Do You Do Now...They are talking about what do you do when the kids are gone, when the house is void of the pitter-patter of little feet running around.  Well, I've been living that life for awhile now and I can say it is glorious.  The Hubby always said that when the kids are gone he would be able to run around naked.  When the youngest A moved to Phoenix about 2005 we were in the process of moving into the newly remodeled house we had purchased in the fall of '04.  It was kind of a whirlwind of movement that year.  I actually didn't have too much time to truly enjoy the empty nest concept because after the remodel and lots of workmen around I was thrown into the death of my best friend and the deterioration of my mother and her passing in that year.  I was in a tailspin of depression and then I turned 50 in the process.  It was not good for me but I sought a little life coach counseling to get me focused and onto the next part of my life, life with out kiddos, without mother and friend.  That is when we went to Paris and London and last year Ireland. 

I tried to decide whether I wanted to write or paint, and experimented with both.  I joined writing groups and took a couple of classes and at the same time enrolled in the art class.  I found my voice I feel.  The art has given me a new thrill in my life and I feel that it will carry me through the rest of my years.  I had not attempted anything like the stuff I'm doing now since I was about 14 and I think the brain has changed.  I am doing drawing like never before.  I amaze myself with it.  One thing I'm afraid of though is turning into one of those gray-headed old ladies that picks up art and paints landscapes and vases of flowers.  I would rather be a Georgia O'Keefe kind of gal and be innovative, I'm trying.  I belong to an art group that meets once a month and it is scary to sit in the meetings and see all the gray staring back at me.  I AM NOT OLD DAMMIT!  I still write, in my journal and here on the blog but the feel of spreading paint on the canvas and mixing the colors just moves me.  I have also discovered that I can draw fairly well when I thought I was not good in that area.  I'm not sure where all this will lead me but I am happy and I wasn't for a few years there.  It's kind of hard to become an empty nester, lose a parent and best friend all in the same time frame, takes a toll on the emotions but I'm here to say I'm well on my way to good.  The next phase I think will be grandkids sometime in the future. 

So to simply answer the question "What do you do now?"  Well, I work, still.  That will be until The Hubby decides he is ready to shut down the business.  I work, I am an artist, I am a wife, I am a mother-still, I am a daughter, I am!