This so lovely mural is in Charlotte. DeLoss, Dell McGraw is a friend of mine, a former student of my ex-husband's who is so talented and well known now. I have a portrait he did of me which I cherish, and two paintings. So lucky. Enjoy.

Good Advice to Remember from the Brat Factor Post

As THE original SHE I can tell you that the most common cry among SHEs is, "I am overwhelmed." After the cry, the SHE will invariably go into the details of the over- whelming state. What I have learned over the 30 years I have been help- ing SHEs (myself included) is that when we get over- whelmed we need to STOP and take a deep breath! That is what I said, STOP and breathe. Don't talk and tell yourself or others about your state. Don't consume yourself with pity, hate, discouragement or whatever negative emotion you are capable of conjuring up. Just STOP and breathe. When you do stop and breathe you will become still. Stay that way for a couple of minutes. Then take your problems (you have created more than one or you wouldn't be overwhelmed) and make the collection of problems a smaller problem. WHAT SHOULD I DO IN THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES? Make your smaller problem the ONLY problem you have. You will then only-one-problem-at-a-time yourself to getting out of confusion and chaos. Try it.

Our New Cat Becky

We are in process with the cat, pretty she is, and certainly she is taking her time to accept and acquaint herself with us. We were told that it would take up to a month for her to be comfortable with us. We had her set up in the office on Thursday, with her carrier opened and the door a little open with her basket and bowls and litter box. First of all she took off and settled under the bed in the room across the hall where she stays most of the time. Once, when I was on the computer, she came into the office, nosed around a bit and left. And then last night when I watched the telly, she came in and rubbed on things and jumped finally onto my lap, she was nervous but accepted some petting and even turned over to get her belly tickled then flashed off and reappeared in the middle of the night on top of me on the bed for just a second. Don has not seen much of her. Thinks she may be a woman's cat. She hasn't eaten or pooped that I can see. Her pre-owner is a breeder of the Maine coon cats, and Becky was bred for a couple of years. She is very territorial we are told. But the pre-owner says that when she gets hungry she will eat and not to worry that she has not seen a man for two years. And she also says that if we things don't go well, she will always come in a flash to take her home. And to be patient, a months patience.

Don's the cat person. He wants to hold and pet. I just want to watch him hold and pet. We will see. She is surely pretty. And hairy.

Here's a picture.