Wow. I slept great last night. I had wanted to finish up the 3rd page of the day last night, but decided to just get a good nights sleep. Good decision on my part. I’m REAL energized today. So as soon as the wife gets back from helping out at the school with breakfast for my son’s class today, we’re likely headed into town to do some grocery shopping and stuff.

-We had basketball practice yesterday, likely for the last time this year, and I still need to call the other coach here and get things squared away, I’m not going to be head coach anymore after the New Year, but I MIGHT be able to help him out at some practices, and maybe at tournaments since I’ll be there anyways. It would likely benefit the girls to get more one on one coaching with shooting and dribbling and things if there was more than one coach. And..I have to say this since I used to play point guard in high school and I know the position well, that I’m actually rather surprised and impressed by my daughter the last couple of practices. She’s working hard, busting her butt, and taking control of things when she has the ball in her hand. Directing other players, telling them where they need to be, being a VOCAL leader, and also being aggressive and leading by example. This is something that sort of took me by surprise as she’s never been THAT aggressive or outgoing, she’s not SHY, but she’s never shown any sort of real leadership abilities. I think she’s realizing that she HAS the talent finally and she’s gaining a lot of confidence, which is great. It’s not like we try to ingrain that stuff in our kids, but I think that kids may absorb things from their environment, and she’s the top student in her class as well. My wife and I don’t SETTLE. I think in some ways, my kids see how hard we’ve worked to get where we’re at, and they’re understanding that subconciously (even if they aren’t picking up their rooms and stuff) I think she’s USED to being successful, so maybe that’s rubbing off finally on the basketball floor. I’ve seen some dramatic improvement, and it’s strange because I still think of her as a little kid, but watching her direct things out there yesterday, step up and take control of the other girls out there….it dawned on me that she’s NOT a little kid anymore. She really IS growing up, and that’s sad in some ways, but at the same time, watching her be a leader among her peers is also very rewarding as a parent and it makes me proud as well.

-It’s been like one extended vacation the last week or two, I’ve been dealing with some nagging pain issues but jeez…It MIGHT be because of the holidays, but I’ve just been having a blast working here, doing some GOOD comic book pages. I think I’m actually doing the best work of my entire career the last couple weeks. I’ve got like 30 published books under my belt now or something, and I finally think I’m starting to realize my potential and hit my stride. I’m not GREAT, but I think I am GOOD. So it just feels great to consistently to do GOOD work, be reliable, and just crank out page after page of solid comic coloring. I mean, I’ve even got time now if I wanted to, to start get into some more painting again. I’ve been actually getting through some Gnomon training DVDs I won last year in a digital painting competition the last month or so too, learning little tricks here and there, and generally just getting inspired.

-So when I get back today from hanging out with the wife, it’s coloring time here. I will do 3-4 pages today, nothing going on tomorrow so I can sleep in if necessary. Time to crank up my music, burn some incense, and just chill…