four things | fifty-six | Miss Mustard Seed

I cannot believe we are a week away from Christmas!  When I was a kid, I felt like December would last forever.  It was torturously long.  As a middle-aged adult, it flies by.  I blinked, and over half of it is gone.  Such is life, though.  The hours are long and the years are short.  I’m looking forward to the quiet, slow days between Christmas and New Year’s, though.  I think that might be my favorite week of the year.

Here are my four things for the week: Manet & Morisot, Band of Brothers, doing instead of consuming, and things that make me smile as a business owner.

what I’m reading

I finished Paris in Ruins, and it was so good!  If you love history, impressionism, and a good story, do yourself a favor and read this book.  If I could wish a new period miniseries into existence, it would be this.  Anyway, this led me to look into other books about Manet and Morisot specifically, since they are the book’s primary subjects.  I have several books on Manet and Morisot, as well as the other impressionists, and how they all worked together, but not one on their work together.  I searched to see if one existed, and guess what?  One just came out in October, so I bought Manet and Morisot as a Christmas gift.  I haven’t read it yet, but I am looking forward to it!

what I’m watching

Jeff and I first watched Band of Brothers by renting the episodes on DVDs from Blockbuster.  It was over Thanksgiving break, and we were cat-sitting and house-sitting for his parents, so it was just going to be the two of us.  In addition, we were getting significant snow, so we planned to watch movies and have a low-key holiday.  We had only rented the first disc or two and, as Easy Company was about to go into Bastogne, we realized we needed to get the rest of the series!  So, we put on our boots and coats and drove over to Blockbuster in the snow, hoping the discs would be there.

Anyway, it has been one of our favorite series ever since.  We haven’t watched it for a few years, so we decided to watch it this week.  (As you would expect of a WWII series, it contains war violence, language, and other content, earning it a TVMA rating. Just an FYI.)

what I’m loving

“Let us ask the gods not for possessions, but for things to do; happiness is in making things rather than consuming them.” – Will Durant, Fallen Leaves.

As we’re in the season of present-giving and receiving, it’s a good time to think not only about the physical things we’ll unwrap and how we’ll enjoy them, but also about the things we want to do.  What do you want to learn, to make, to create, to write, to share..?

what I’m working on

I’m still working on Christmas decorating, painting, and the usual things, but one thing that has brought me more joy than I expected was working on some new branding materials.  My assistant and brand designer, Heidi, and I worked on a rebrand this year, and now that the website is done, we’ve been working together on some printed materials – gift certificates, envelope seal stickers, note cards, stamps, business cards, stationery, and more.

For me, it’s one of the fun parts of having my own business!  There is my name and a design I drew by hand on a stamp I can put on the back of paintings, packages, and envelopes.  It all makes me smile.

Now that I’ve completed all of my commissioned paintings for Christmas presents, I have been painting some of the Costwold sheet I photographed in England.  That has made me smile as well.

What have you been reading, watching, loving, and working on?