God....5am....I daydream of a cough free night.  Its been a week now of feeling awful but its back to work and actually its back to the home where I think I contracted this whatever it is, I hope this doesn't reactivate things.
Between feeling ill and the distraction of a move soon I got no painting done this past week.  Yesterday I spent half the day staging and taking pictures of this apartment for the landlord to post in his ad....not sure he'll be able to use them all, its pretty hard staging when you don't have much......trying to make two chairs look like a room full of furniture is a true test of creativity.  Then I spent the rest of the day looking online at my new home options.  Wish I had money......a nice long Jamaican holiday sounds good about now.........hot sun, cold Red Stripe, reggae in the background, ahhhhh yes :-)

Still fighting whatever this is that I've got...flu?...virus? 

I'm not getting much sleep with this constant nagging cough and work is proving to be a challenge......but this too shall pass.
The apartments I looked at aren't an option.  The first one just wasn't nice, tiny bathroom that was obviously built in a closet, literally and it had an electric stove which I hate cooking on.  I was taken next door to another efficiency apartment in a converted house and this one was charming, bay windows, non working fireplace, hardwood floors, gas stove, very cute except another teeny bathroom built in a closet.  And this place forgot to mention a $300 additional fee if you want to use air conditioners....that would mean paying $825 (not $765) a month for half the year, not much savings there.
The second apartment just didn't speak to me either.  It was in the back of the building and your views out your windows were just the building right next to you.  And before I even looked at the apartment they were asking if I brought 3 past pay stubs......sorry, you don't get pay stubs when you're scrubbing toilets for a living and I'd sort of like to see the place first ya think.  I was told a tax return would work but since I only made a whopping $19,000 last year that wasn't going to work.  They require that your one weeks net pay is equal to the rent amount.......lets me out of living in one of their properties, cross them off the list.

Hoping to get some painting done today.

Sunday morning 7am and sick as a dog since Friday.  I don't think I was sick once last year.....of course I was living an isolated life as a house manager in an empty 10,000 sq ft home in NY then.... this is the second time I've been sick in less than two months, its just one of the things I don't like about cleaning peoples homes to supplement my income, exposure to all those germs.  Boo-hoo right?.......things could be worse.

Anyway today I'll shower and try to look healthy because I'm looking at an apartment this morning, I decided to move from my idyllic little town of Narberth.  I asked to be released from my lease so that I could find a more affordable place to live.  Today I'm looking at a studio apartment HERE

 its not my best option for saving money at $775 but it does include utilities (I currently pay $895 plus utilities) but I love the look of this building and apparently several artists live here so I'm going to take a look.
Tomorrow I'm looking at a small one bedroom HERE not far from that location.

 It could prove to be a better option, it'd be nice to not live in a one room apartment and even though it does not include utilities at $665 I think I'd save a bit more...utilities here are not very high, at least half what I experienced in So Florida.  So this one I'm more anxious to see.
Its all going to be a bit tricky lining up a new home, although the landlord agreed to release me from my lease I have to wait until he finds a new tenant before I can leave with my deposit, which I need to secure a new place. Its been five days since I asked to be released and I don't think he has the same sense of urgency that I do because he hasn't started advertising it yet.....he said he could anytime.  Sometimes I do believe people with money forget (if they ever knew) what its like to have $28 in the bank.

So no painting this weekend I have no focus, hopefully during the week after my 'real' work is done.  Here are the last few I've done and I'm still happy to say that they continue to sell.......ok, still only on the average for about $10 some higher some lower but I think they are slowly rising and I'll keep at it. 

My goal?.......to be able to make what this woman does for her ACEO paintings.  Can you believe it, here's one of hers that sold for $383.00

Here are a few of my latest......

If I don't post sooner, have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

A couple of new ACEO paintings on ebay and some prints are available HERE

First my thoughts are with those you've suffered loss along the east coast.  Being a Jersey girl I have many fond memories of the Jersey Shore and wish everyone a quick recovery.  Having gone through a couple of hurricanes while living in So Florida I know how difficult it is to suddenly be without electricity, water and all the comforts we sometimes take for granted......stay strong.

Some new ACEO paintings.......

And I made my first international sale on ebay a couple of days ago to Australia!
I also got a notice yesterday that I had a sale via fineartamerica.com and made $45.  This was a very nice surprise because I honestly didn't expect to sell from this website.  A 21"x 24" print of the following is going to Arizona.

And two steps forward one step back...........my cars thermostat gave out yesterday no surprise, if its original to the car it would be 21 years old!
So with missing some work because of Sandy (I didn't lose power but clients did) and having to get the car fixed.........you guessed it.......rent will be late.  Bright side?.........I'm grateful the car died near my job scheduled for this morning AND that there was a garage a short walk away from that job where the car is getting fixed and that I had the funds (well sort of) to get the car fixed.  The home owner where I'll be working this morning was also generous giving me a lift from the garage to my home yesterday and picking me up this morning......nice :-)