I finished the news magazine that I do for the USCGAUX District 7 and one for my flotilla, now I have time to do things for myself again. The first thing I took the time to do was to paint an image for my Christmas cards. I really liked the pose of the woman holding the baby by the beach, so I used it again here. It expressed such joy, and I think Mary must have felt great joy holding baby Jesus. She is usually depicted in a more reverent pose, which I think sometimes makes them hard for ordinary people to relate to. In my mind, Jesus is freshly bathed and Joseph is arranging his bedding. If Joseph was a loving, supportive father, then he would have helped with the ordinary, daily tasks of taking care of a baby. This painting is not my best work, but it will do for this year's Christmas cards. Today I am off to buy ink for my printer so that I can get this job out of the way.

Even though I thought I was too early and getting ahead of myself, I checked with the Coast Guard Fine Art program to find the 2009 submission forms. So glad I did! The deadline for submissions is January 2nd. Had I waited, I would have missed the date! I went ahead and made my submissions electronically, and today I have to mail the printed forms. The last painting I posted, the one of the shuttle launch was submitted as it was with no significant changes. The only thing I did was to correct the crooked transom.

I have no Christmas decorations up this year, and I don't know if I want to decorate. I so miss my son! Let me not think about him now or I will start crying again. Got a lot to do today. I will stop back tonight and catch up on your posts.