Wizard Upgrade

Welcome to the next chapter in Cella's Seemingly Prolonged Bad Luck Streak, this title being: Poor Property Management Decides They Can Make Up Facts.

 Hello friends, you may guess that I have been having the time of my life since my last card came out, but let's be real, milennial adulthood does not allow anyone to have such joys last for too long.

I don't want to give you all the details, but what I can tell you it DID start while I was on my period, so you know it was bad. I'll just list a few of the fun things that have happened the past few weeks:

• The pen pressure on my tablet is not working anymore and I've tried every possible way to fix it but nothing has worked
• My bike was stripped (I rode it to see Avengers: Infinity War which of course was emotionally tramautizing enough already), I have no wheels or seat anymore on my bike
• The kitchen sink stopped working properly (clogged by an ancient rag from the Before Times) and did not get fixed for 8 solid days
• It has been raining heavily for a whole week and the water damage that our property management did not fix previously got worse and was dripping into my bedroom (still not fixed)
• Our windows have been painted shut since we moved here and they still have not taken care of it so we cannot air out the smell
• I fell down the stairs at home and am pretty sure I pulled a tendon in my leg
• I lost my headphones, got new ones, lost those ones simply because I am an idiot and it's embarrassing to even admit it (this is why I buy cheapish headphones)

And while I have not listed everything here, it is also good to note within this bad luck streak, there were also some good things that happened:

• The new bra I ordered 2 months previously finally arrived and it fit me perfectly (a true miracle)
• I got to see a high school friend who happened to be visiting the area (and made a new friend in the process!)
• Two of my relatives offered to pay for fixing and/or replacing my bicycle
• Everyone seems to have loved the mother's day card who had received it
• My dad's health seems to be getting better and better
• My brother finally asked out his girlfriend (THEY'RE SO CUTE, OKAY, THE NEWS WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY WEEK)
• I made it to Confession which I had been meaning to for a few weeks
• We have two new roommates pretty much lined up for next year, assuming all of our issues are resolved
• I got to dance to song originally by Asleep At The Wheel with someone else from Texas at the last dance I went to
• Realizing I'll be back in Texas in less than two weeks has got me pretty excited
• We got a new upgraded Wizard (mat cutting machine) yesterday and hopefully it will be all set up properly soon
• A difficult customer brought in baked goods to share with us today, it was a nice surprise.

As you can see, there have been some ups and downs in the past few weeks, and if I'm being honest, I have been letting the bad stuff really get to me. Sometimes it's hard to focus on the good when the bad seems to outweigh it. I can't imagine what it would be like if I was a freelance illustrator full time with all of this going down, I think I'd be stressed out to the max. But lucky for me, the people closest to me in my life are loving people. Yes, my only personal mode of transportation was stolen, but what did that bike cost me? $100. In the long run, it wasn't an investment, it's not that big of a deal, my life wasn't taken away from me, I can still walk. Plus, I will get a new one. It will be okay. Putting trust in God isn't easy, but what would I be if I did not? A grumpy bitter soul that probably would communicate just as well as our property management does.

I think as an illustrator, I still find it hard to balance everything while still trying to prove I am an artist. Just a few days ago my roommate's mother disregarded my illustration as something that wasn't full time, and that really hurt. Yes, custom picture framing pays my rent, but art is in fact my full time job. Just because I don't draw 24/7 doesn't make me an invalid illustrator, or no longer an artist. I have been a full-time artist probably since I was 4 years old.

I am an illustrator, dammit. Let me be.