Dolls, Dolls, and Bits of Life

         I have had a lot going on recently. I never seem to have time to do all the things I need and want to do. Or maybe it's when I do have a bit of time I am so overwhelmed thinking about what I could do (or should do) that I sometimes do nothing at all. Spring is a weird time of year. It's not winter, but sometimes it does still get pretty cold. It's not Summer, but sometimes it's hot or humid, maybe both. It rains a lot or will just be cloudy for days at a time for no particular reason. We have had some nice weather, more than usual actually, but we have had a lot of flip floppy weather as well. That makes it hard to just keep on functioning sometimes. But I am going to keep on going. That's what I do. 

Driving doll (sold), cross country doll, dressage doll, showmanship doll. $230 each

     Today is Mother's Day and I don't think I have ever gotten so many texts wishing me a happy Mother's Day before. It's kind of cool. I am going to go and see my Mom a bit later and Elecktra asked me to go and pick her up. So I will do that. It should be nice, even though the weather isn't very nice. It's just a chilly, gloomy kind of day. Makes me want to take a nap. And maybe I will. 

Casual English riders. All have removable helmets. $220 each

     I have reached the point in the school year where I just need it to be done. My job is not easy, even though I really love it. I will miss my team over the summer, though we are likely to get together to hang out, and I will miss the kids. Some of the kids are moving up to the high school so very likely I won't even get to see them again. That is the sad part of not going with them to the different grades. But it is better this way. They need to learn to work with lots of different people, not just a few. Some of our kids we will have again next year. And the year after. I am looking forward to seeing how much they grow over the next couple of years. This is only my second year in the middle school and last year all our kids moved up to the high school. Now, for the first time, I will get to spend a few years with them. It's exciting! But I still need a break. I need some time to have a bit less that I have to do every day. That will be wonderful. 

Hunt seat dolls. $230 each

      I started working out again and I started collecting injuries too. Not because I am doing things incorrectly, because my body is fighting me. I got a shoulder injury from sleeping. It's been about 5 months, or more, and it is still not healed. It's improving, but very slowly. I always have ankle issues in my right ankle but now I am dealing with plantar fasciitis in my left foot. My knees are pretty angry with me a lot of the time so doing most anything is a challenge. But I am stubborn, so I will keep going. I have been rowing every other day (roughly) and I have been adding in some weight lifting when I have time and can manage. Yesterday I got to do some deadlifts and that made me incredibly happy. I seem to really love the exercises that a lot of people hate. Today I have the vague soreness that tells me I worked the muscles enough, but not too much. And I feel strong. At least stronger. And weight lifting makes me feel held together. Which I guess could also be seen as feeling strong, but whatever. I like it. 

      I have been managing to get into the studio a reasonable amount. I think I have that whole work/life balance thing down pretty well now. For years I was working probably about 60 hours a week, not including packing and shipping, or any time to find materials and supplies. Now I work a few hours a day, 4 days a week, in the studio. And if something else comes up I will do that and I have no guilt about it. I don't need to work constantly and it is perfectly OK to leave a doll unfinished, even if I am really close, and come back to it another time. I feel like walking away from a project has actually made me more productive. It's really nice. 

red shirt cowboy $240, tall cowboy $280, green shirt cowboy $240

     I have been working on getting ready for Breyerfest and I am both excited and a bit nervous. I have never been to a Breyerfest and have been wanting to go for years. Now I get to go and I keep on finding out that more people I was hoping to see or meet won't be there this year. That sucks, maybe next year. I am excited to experience a Breyerfest for myself but I have had so little interest in collecting I am wondering if I will get caught up in the buying atmosphere and then have regrets. I am definitely nervous about a lot of things. I haven't been on a plane since I was 15 years old (that was a long time ago, BTW). My Dad walked me right to the gate, I just had to get on the plane, and then I got off the plane and my sister met me at the other gate. Now I have to be responsible for me, Travis, and all our stuff. I have to be the one that finds and follows all of the rules. I have to plan things out so Travis isn't ever alone (because if someone asks him something he will not respond) and I can't leave anything unattended anywhere. And then when we get to Kentucky (after being in 2 other airports because of the layover) I have to find out where to get the car, and then find the hotel. I actually quietly freak out about not knowing where I am supposed to go or what I am supposed to do. And then there is Breyerfest itself, I have no experience with that at all. I have talked to people a bit about what to expect with parking at (lol not happening) the CHIN so I can go and experience room sales. But until I do it, I am going to be nervous about it. I can't help it. 

Casual western dolls with removable hats $220 each. Black top sold. 

     I do also have a bit of a fear that Travis and I will end up drifting on our own. I really want to go to Breyerfest for the people. But what if we somehow don't find any of the people I want to see? Or what if I find people and they are into their own thing and we are just sort of annoying third (5th, 13th, whatever) wheels? These are actual things that my brain has thrown at me. I think maybe the biggest fear is making the trip and just being alone. I am alone enough in Massachusetts, I don't want to go to Kentucky and be alone. Alone in a crowd kind of sucks. That was our last show experience in 2019. It just sort of happened that we ended up isolated. And we did interact with some people sometimes... but there was a lot of isolation as well. 

Western Pleasure dolls $240 each. Purple doll and blue without roses are sold. Black and silver on hold.

     We will be in Kentucky for an entire week, and I am sure we can find some fun things to do. I want to tour at least one distillery, and if anyone has any recommendations I would love to hear them. I do enjoy a good glass of bourbon but there are SO MANY options, I have no idea what to choose. And I am apparently easily overwhelmed. We switched hotels, so we will be at the Marriot Griffin Gate. I figure that way we are in the right place for everything Stone as well. I'm definitely excited about all of that!

      It's kind of hard to think about heat and humidity when it's been so chilly again this week. We did have some really excellent days, but it's Spring, and we don't have consistently excellent days. But I know I have to think about heat and humidity. I have to think about how I will force Travis to drink plenty of water. He doesn't always want to. I have to remember that dehydration is totally a thing, even if you drink plenty of water. So hydration tablets or Gatorade is a good idea. I have to think about Summer clothes, and do we have enough Summer clothes to not have to do laundry for a week? Or will we need to do laundry while we are there? These are also random things I am thinking about while it's about 50 degrees. But there are laundry facilities at the hotel, so that is a good option. So many random thoughts. Welcome to my weird brain. 

    Another semi-obsessive thought I have had lately is I really want to try oil painting. I have done plenty of oil painting, on canvas. Now I really want to put oil paint on a horse. I think I want to get into venti scale resins but either I haven't seen anything I really want, or they are priced too high for me to personally consider them. So I am reminding myself I am going to Breyerfest. There are likely to be resins for sale. All sorts of resins and all sizes. So I should just save my pennies and shop around in July. And I should try for self control and not get swept up in the buying stuff atmosphere, which I know will be there. 

     Speaking of buying things, I have a whole lot of dolls for sale. I have more photos of a lot of them, but can get more photos of any of them. If you are interested in anything please send me an email at fieldofdolls@gmail.com