Human Again

November has been a rough month for me, but I'm finally starting to feel human again.  After my last post I started getting really sick.  I struggled with it for almost a week before I finally went to the doctor.  It was that or go to the emergency room, and I've already had to go to the emergency room once this year for illness and didn't want to go again.  The doctor diagnosed me with a respiratory infection and put me on an enormous dose of antibiotics.  It still took a really long time for me to get better, and I actually didn't feel markedly better until I was done with my antibiotics.  Usually they help right away, but this was one stubborn infection.

I am still coughing a lot of junk up, but other than not particularly enjoying the flavor of the inside of my lungs, I feel pretty good.  I'm going to try to take better care of myself, working maybe one or two less hours a day, sleeping at least 8, and eating decent meals from here on out.  I have been sick since we started having wildfires in July, and I think I have had a mild infection since August.  I've been on a lot of antibiotics in recent months, but my friend told me of an all natural concoction consisting of elderberry syrup and silver hydrasol.  I think that is what finally knocked it out.  I'm going to take some every day from now on, because I truly hate missing work!

Once I felt well enough to sit at my desk (I was really too ill to do anything but cling to my sofa) I managed to get a painting done.  Then I felt so good when I got home from visiting relatives for Thanksgiving that I made another one yesterday.  I need to finish two more this week and then I will hopefully be able to finish formatting Spellbinding Darkness.  I wish I could get it ready and released in time for Christmas, but I am running out of time and have a ton of obligations that have all stacked up since I've been sick.  Maybe I still can, we'll see.

Here's the two paintings I finished:

"Winterborn", 16"x20" in Photoshop CS5 with Wacom Cintiq 24HD Tablet (yes, I finally got used to it and am loving it now!)

 

"Winter Spirit", 12"x20" in Photoshop CS5 with Wacom Cintiq 24HD Tablet

The top one was inspired by some stock photos I saw of a girl sitting in a big "bird's nest".  I thought a fairy emerging from one would be cute.  The second one was inspired by Snow White on the TV show Once Upon a Time.  I really like Snow White, but I am not really fond of her "normal" half, Mary-Margaret.  If she wore some of Snow White's costumes and the long hair I'd probably like her more!  ;)