I followed a fresh set of mountain lion tracks down the driveway to my cozy little cabin at the end of the road near the top of a mountain in Montana…a long way from the warm nights of Texas ranch life! Temps dropped below zero soon after I drug my little suitcase up the patio steps and shoveled my way into the door. The little place heats up pretty quickly – by the time Zaydee has made her rounds sniffing out every visitor who roamed outside while we were gone – I can take my down coat off and settle in. I ignored cyberspace for the most part during President’s Day Weekend. I squeezed in a soul refreshing long yoga class, bought groceries and hunkered down happily on the mountain content to stay put for a few days. I enjoyed a slumber party with a girlfriend – drinking hot toddies and peering at paint chips for the studio, finished reading a book while soaking in my big claw foot tub, poked around my freshly sheet rocked studio, hiked and post-holed my way through deep snow late one crisp cold afternoon. The last afternoon was sunny - I strapped on skis to enjoy the sunshine and powder while skiing up and down the mountain behind my home. Ranch life with cute furry babies seemed a world away.

My work week started with a 3 hour dentist appointment. Dr Amy Madden Kinney is a talented dentist AND my cousin. Lucky for me we trade art for dental work. After a round in the dentist’s chair I scooted to Bridger Bowl to ski with little Jackie for the Eaglemount program, and then to the school to watch the girls' basketball games before unpacking my truck and settling into a week in Bozeman with Paul and the kids. Already it is nearly time to get them up for school and launch into a business-part-of-art day while itching to get back after it in the studio…soon!