What a week!

Wow, I made it through one of the most intense weeks I've had in a looong time, and I am still all in one piece, and pretty happy! I can't believe I just got back from Denver only one week ago.

My show on First Thursday at the Show & Tell Gallery went really well (pardon my shiny face in the picture--it was SO hot!). It turns out all of the craft shows really HAVE helped me relax about talking about my work, plus I spent several hours re-working my artist statement so I had a good idea of what to say when people asked. There was some great spoken word from writers Luke Lefler and Christopher Luna, then during the last hour the band Hellpets played, drawing in a pretty huge crowd. We are going to hold a closing reception for my show at the end of the month, which I am really looking forward to.

Yesterday was the final PDX Etsy show of the year, and that turned out pretty well too. There was some construction on one of the streets leading out of the Park Blocks, which helped to drive a good portion of the Farmer's Market crowd up to our booths. There was also a great dj playing fantastic, upbeat music all day, which helped to lift everybody's mood and draw a bigger crowd. I had only gotten 3 or 4 hours of restless sleep the night before (my neighbors were having a huge party late into the night), so I was pretty wiped out, and started dozing in my chair! So I stood up and danced a little bit to keep myself going through the rest of the day. My sales weren't stunning, but I did manage to make more money than I have at any other craft shows that I've done all year!

The week was intense in other ways, too, some of it too personal to write about here. But getting back into the swing of things from Denver was a bit overwhelming. While I was there, I found out that my old friend Don Becker had passed away recently. On Monday after getting back, I got some coffee with my friend Katie, who moved here with me from Denver over a decade ago, and knew Don really well. Monday also happened to be the 4-year anniversary of the death of our good friend Zaq Rogers, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident. So Katie and I reminisced and shed a few tears at our favorite local coffee house.

But don't get the idea that I'm being a downer, things are good. I think everyone needs weeks like this sometimes, mixed with the intensely good and bad. It is exhausting at the end, but it is also a reminder of our strength, that life is good, and even when it's overwhelming it is certainly good to be here.