oh boy! the school year is speeding to a close. 43 days, 19 hours, 35 minutes, and 15 seconds left to be precise. yes. there’s an app for that!
i feel it’s only right to reveal that my leave of absence for the next semester has been…(insert royal trumpet) APPROVED! instead of slogging back to school in early august, and educating another group of cute punks i’ll be on the lam till january of 2016.
you know what that means. i’m ecstatic!
my plan to take periodic breaks is in place. not waiting till retirement to slow down and savor everything. NOT that this life right here and now isn’t delicious. it is! but i need more free time to make art, read books, pet cats, take naps, travel, “pay attention, and be astonished”. period.
i think ingrid, from sweden sent me that wallpaper on the right. thanks ingrid! i drew it this week along with a book, some of my bottles of earth & water from my travels, and a few other things around the house. i feel stiff and confined if i don’t get a chance to put brush to paper every day. no matter how quirky, strange, or imperfect. it’s the DOING that i love.
hope you’re happy. hope you’re making big plans. preparing yourselves to be astonished and whatnot. keep me posted.
over and out from moss cottage, where all the women are strong, all the cats are good lookin’ and all the ideas are above average. xo
I’m so excited for you! I so enjoyed your last sabbatical. I’m sure you enjoyed it more. Whatever. I really enjoyed living through your adventures. I think you are my alter ego which sounds way creepier than it really is.
Congrats on being granted the leave of absence, You take such good care of your creative and adventurous self. You inspire me and many other people to pursue our dreams and hopes as well. I have completely changed the way I journal and especially the way I do travel journaling because of your influence and your classes. Thanks for shining such a bright light on your amazing life and setting an example for so many.
Happy trails to you!!!
oopsy daisy… “you’re”
I second, third and forth the sentiment of the others, YAY on your extended time off! Truly.
NOW tell me more about the super, duper, yummy paints used in this post! Oh, be still my paint loving heart! There is an art supply store with 20 minutes of me and I am ready to hit the road and find some gouache for myself! If I only knew what your using!
How great that you can practice being retired for a while. I know you will absolutely love your time off. I must say I absolutely love your painting of water at the top of this blog entry. It REALLY looks like water in a bottle.
Oh Happy Day! How wonderful your adventures will be and we’ll be tagging along thanks to Cyber space. Can’t wait to see and hear what will happen on the sabbatical. I know it will be fun for all of us.
Hurray hurray hurray hurray!!
Now, where to??
If you land in Pescadero to see those adorable baby goats, pls let me know! I’m a full blown introvert, but I’d love to meet you & chat about paint and birds and trips to Scandinavia over a big fat slice of Duarte’s Apple pie. With goat cheese on the side.
One thousand congrats!
Sabbaticals are the greatest, only topped by retirement! Congratulations. As with everyone else, I look forward to following you around.
Congratulations on your Leave of absence, do you have any travel plans? I love virtually traveling with you to Europe and other exotic places. I am so glad that you are enjoying your life now and doing what makes you happy.
Congrats on your LOA Ms. Moss xxxx
enjoy every single delicious moment of it.
xx
Gabrielle
Reading your posts always makes me a little bit happier in my already happy world. Hooray (!!!) that you get a hiatus in the fall, that’s wonderful news. I look forward to getting to peek at all the exciting things you’ll be up to. Much love, Tia
Hooray! So happy that the leave was approved. You are doing things in such a delightful way. We are all going to benefit from your sabbatical. Fun and glorious wanderings and whatever you get up to. As always, I am prepared to be astonished!
Ms. Moss I am always astonished and filled with glee when I see a Dispatch from LA waiting for me to view. I often wonder during the day what you are up to. I am usually smiling when I wonder about you. You bring such delight.
So happy that you have been granted some wonderful play time. You are doing it the right way. Don’t wait just do it. I see you smiling. So happy for you.
“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” – Mary Oliver
Hurray for you! You’ll also love retirement when that arrives.
Congratulations! What an opportunity for creative renewal!
I am thrilled for you Mary Ann. And excited too, I love it when you tromp around the globe and get into mischief of one kind or another. Go you. I ordered the book Nomad by Sibella Court
Found a used copy for cheap on Amazon and when I came across the book, I thought of you and surprisingly of your little bottles of earth and sea and how you’ve kept all those sweet mementos from your travels, tucked here and there in Moss Cottage. I was happy to see them make an appearance in this post. I love em so…I got the book for it’s photos, to cut up and use in collage…I think you’d thoroughly enjoy paging through it, with your traveler’s heart and all. I am celebrating for you…raising my coffee mug high in the air CLINK!!!! 😉
Taking time off now, that’s a wise thing to do. Life is short so enjoy the days of freedom!
Yay for you!!!
Add this to your toolbox:
https://www.facebook.com/ErnestoCasciatoCalligraphy/videos/480822785398970/?fref=nf
Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes to another block of time just for you and all the possibilites it holds. Yes to feeding your soul with art and books and travel. Yes to seeing and always being astonished. I am so over the moon happy for you!
Very happy for you! And very happy for me….because when you create – and when you travel you share – when you share – i learn and grow and feel inspired and get super excited for what comes next from MAM – always the best!!
yeah for you Mary Ann – free until January – how great is that
So wonderful for you. Congratulation!! I understand completely, that you want more time to do what you love and enjoy.
The bottles are so beautiful!! You are so right to take your time for ‘freedom’ when it is possible!!
Congratulations!
Yay, you! Happy for you that your leave was approved! Let the adventures begin!
Congrats on the leave. looking forward to seeing what you’ll be up to during those “low” months. Oh yeah- I know, they aren’t really going to be low. And love the attitude about enjoying life with little breaks before retirement.
I can’t wait to see and hear what else you will be doing on your time off! You are always so inspiring to me! So happy for you!
Oh, how incredibly fun! Can’t wait to see what you do during your time off. And I love your bottle sketch – you are getting so good with gouache. The wallpaper sketch is pretty awesome, too.
Mary Ann, I am SO thrilled for you; a semester off is a wonderful thing! All of us will be watching the wondrous times you will be living! Leslie