ScoutDog Studios is back after a fun and crazy Thanksgiving week with family and friends.

First the Thanksgiving ... Matt, ScoutDog, IzzyCat and I hosted both sides of the family ... total of 9 ... for Thanksgiving dinner. Matt's family arrived Tuesday night so Sue (Matt's mom) and I started prep work for the meal on Wednesday ... cutting up veggies, making pies, putting together the dressing, making the famous Sebastian green jello and don't forget the cranberry sauce. I am addicted to the Food Network so most of the recipes that I used came from FoodTV.com. But it all turned out great ... I am so grateful for having such great family and friends.

Then on Friday ... with all of the great family help around we finally got the ceiling fan hung ... yippee ... now we won't be freezing downstairs and roasting upstairs. And IzzyCat enjoyed climbing up the ladder and having to be rescued by Chris.

Also we hung the fish that Matt's grandma Joe caught ... it is now above the mirror in our bathroom.

And now things are getting back to normal and I have a lot of work to do ... finishing up holiday orders and putting together the holiday gift guide that will be online tomorrow to help you fill those last minute gifts and stocking stuffers.

Have a great Sunday.

ScoutDog Studios has had a slight makeover with more to come soon. I've been crazy busy getting all of the holiday orders completed and deliver them all today so hopefully I will have a little time to update the website with more holiday gift ideas and update my portfolio with some of the new commissions that I just completed.

Also I have to get busy with finalizing the Thanksgiving menu. Crazy me ... as if I don't have enough going on! I volunteered to host the big feast with the entire family coming ... my parents, little sister and her boyfriend, Matt's parents and little brother from California. I'm not sure how everyone will fit into our loft but at least we will be cozy. So this weekend we will be decorating the loft, cleaning and planning the menu. So I'm going to tune the television to the Food Network and surf the website for recipes. I'll keep you posted with the menu.

... and finally the finished product after day four! Yippee!!

... and after day three.

Here is my in-progress mural after day two ... so far so good but still a ways to go. Hopefully I will have it done by the end of the week.

So I'm off for a new adventure today ... painting a mural at a doggy daycare (see my sketch above). This should be quite an interesting but fun experience. The largest area I have ever painted has been a 30x40 inch canvas ... this is a 6 foot by 18 foot wall and I will be painting during business hours so I will be surrounded by the chaos and energy of all of the great doggies.

... Stay tuned this week to watch and read about my progress.

Yippee!! Today's posting is inspired by Keri Smith (though IzzyCat and ScoutDog seem to have other things on their minds ... cheese). Thank you Keri for reminding me of the importance of taking some time to play.

I have been taking everything too seriously lately and have lost some of joy that I used to get out of doing my work and play. I have been getting too wrapped up in fearing that I will fail and let people down instead of just focusing on the creating and joy of doing my play. Sometimes you just need someone else to help snap you back into focus and remind you to have fun and play ... after all I paint dogs and cats and hopefully make people smile ... and there is nothing to stress about there.

I spent Saturday doing an in-store painting at PawPrints on Saturday. At the same time, they were also doing holiday photos of dogs so I was able to enjoy a constant parade of adorable doggies all day (including the cutie above). Seeing all of these happy dogs and and their people helped remind me of how much fun my job is and that I should always remember to be grateful that I have the opportunity to follow my passion and do what I love.