M.D.

When I was little,

and people would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up,

I would always say, "A Ballerina!"

Except when I would say

Veterinarian!

Doctor!

Marine Biologist!

Actress!

Singer!

Teacher!

Artist!

I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

Which I suppose is okay since I am not sure

precisely when it is

that I will actually

grow up.

I still want to be a ballerina.

A doctor.

An actress.

An artist.

A teacher. 

I even tried my hand a little at each vocation.

I danced up until I was 23 years old and on the verge of

perfecting a really nasty eating disorder.

I consistently win "Best Dramatic Performance by a Female in a Lead Role"

at the Pelton Academy Awards.

Although Elena might be usurping my title this year.

I quilt.

I knit.

I take photos.

Which, I suppose, means I art.

I am not, however, a doctor.

I am not even a nurse.

Or a medical assistant.

I sell medical-equipment, instead.

I realized too late in life that medicine was the career I would most enjoy.

It has the most schooling...I excel at that.

It also has the most

math.

It is the thorn in my proverbial side.

There's a saying that goes, "those who can't do, teach"

well,

those who can't heal, sell.

Or so it seams.

And those who can't sell?
What of them?

They sit in their home office writing

nonsensical drivel

on their blogs.

And dreaming of the day they can attend Medical School.

Or make a career out of taking photos.

Maybe both.

Cheers,

A

NY in Pictures

I didn't snap one photo of Luc and I together.

This makes me a little sad.

But I guess now we have reason

(as if we need one)

to get together again.

I did, however, take 165 photos of our kids.

Mostly of Chace.

I see Stella every day.

Here are some of the best ones

from the weekend:

 

Cheers,
A

Four Days.

The last four days have been wonderful.

Warm.
Peaceful.
Amazing.
Crisp.
Funny.
Tiring.
Delightful.
Sad.

Treasured.

Thank you, Luc.
For all of it.

Thank you, Cooper.
For sending your Mama my way.

Cheers,
A

Live From New York

Luc and I are having an amazing time.

The weather here is perfect.
New York is gorgeous.
Chace is hilarious.

Stella has a prom date.
Forever.

I'll be home tomorrow.
Late.

I promise to share our adventures with you then.

Or at least by Tuesday.

Cheers,
A

Upstate

Tomorrow
I go to New York.

Rochester, to be precise.

Tomorrow
I meet Lucinda.

Before you read my thoughts on the matter
check out this post here.

Her post today made me teary eyed.
It made me smile.

I am nervous, too, Luc.
We have four whole days together.
To see if we "fit" in person
as well as we do
via text message
blogging
and knit birdies.

I don't care that you have a strict schedule to your day.
But know that I do not.
I am go-with-the-flow-er.
I don't feed Stella at the same time every day.
She doesn't nap at the exact same time every day.
But she eats.
And she naps.
And she laughs and cries
and whines like only little girls know how.

I don't drink much between coffee and pinot.
I should drink more water.
But I don't.

I am sure I will pilfer a few diet cokes from your stash.
Okay, maybe more than a few.
And given the presence of a fancy coffee maker,
I may drink that all day.

I am not fussy.
I don't require much.
Good company.
A bed.
Laughter.
(Coffee)

And I don't do busy.
I am boring, too.
Maybe that's why I am a knitter
and a quilter
and a blogger.

Because I don't get dressed up
in tight jeans
(or jeggings)
and sequined tops
and go out for a night on the town.

I much prefer a patio.
Crisp, fall air,
warm coffee
and relaxed, easy laughter.

Like you, Lucy
I, too, am nervous.

Will you think I'm crazy?
Or crazy funny?

Will my sarcasm annoy you?
Will you think I am a good mom?
Will I live up to your expectation?

Will I be able to sit through an entire UT game on Saturday?

Will you think my toes are ugly
even after my pedicure.

Yes.  Yes you will.
And I am okay with that.
They are ugly.

Years of dance'll do that to you.
And genetics.
(Sorry mom. But it's true...)

But when my worry starts to get scary
I take a deep breath.
And I think of Cooper.

Which makes me realize
with stark clarity
that Luc and I would not be friends
if it weren't somehow meant to be.

From the moment I first read her story
on Susan B Anderson's blog
I knew.
I knew that we were destined to be friends.

Somehow connected.
I couldn't figure out how.
or why.
I thought it was my grandmother bringing us together.
Her love of birds
intermingled with this little boy
"birdie"
who left a momma with a huge hole in her heart.

I wanted to help her heal that hole.
Make it smaller.
Ache less.

I wanted her to know,
above all else,
that though I may never know exactly what it is she has gone through
that I am right there beside her
through it.

I cannot wait for 6:50EST tomorrow
when I step off that plane
and navigate my way through the airport
and meet Luc
face to face.

I have a sneaking suspicion
that it will
just
fit.

As if we've known each other our whole lives.

As if we've already met,
and we're embarking on just another
of our wild adventures.

But I guess,
we'll see.

Cheers!
A
(photos courtesy of stolen from luc's blog)

Namaste

I do yoga now.
Twice a week.

It hurts my hips.
And back.
And legs.

And I like the way it hurts.
I crave it.

I am crazy.

Cheers,
A

Hoot.

Elena wants to be an owl for Halloween.
The only owl costume I found
was for sale at Pottery Barn Kids
for $60.
SIXTY dollars.
No way, Jose.

I decided I could make one.
It can't be that hard, right?
So I googled something or another
that led me to a website
with a template for an owl mask
and owl feathers.

All I had to do
was cut out a gagillion of them
and sew them onto a shirt.

DRL decided Elena needed to be
a white-bellied owl

I am glad he gave his input.
All brown would have been a little boring.
I even threw some white "feathers"
on the back to add depth.
Or character.
Or depth of character.

I have a few final touches to make before it's completely finished
 but all in all
I am very pleased with how it turned out.
And how easy it actually was to make.

Two years ago, I couldn't even thread a sewing machine.

Chew on that for a minute the next time you think
you can't do something
just because you've never done it before.

Hey Elena,
Mama's done taking pictures,
can we take the Owl costume off now?

Guess not.

Cheers,
A

I *heart* You

Isn't technology neat-o?

Cheers,
A

A Day In The Life

Today
I woke up,
got out of bed
dragged a comb across my head
went down stairs and drank a cup...

No, wait, that's a Beatles song.
True story though.

Most of you don't really know what it is that I do for a living.
You know that I left you
freezing in Minnesota
for the deathly heat of Tejas.

But why?
WHY? You ask.
I will tell you:

I left because I enjoy staring at the gauges on my instrument panel
day in
and day out.

Because I don't need to see the front seat of my car:

Because I like coffee,
cell phone chargers,
and wallets strewn across my center console.

I left because Elena's carseat looked like a perfect

elbow splint holder.

Because I got sick of having to wear

worn in, formed-to-my-body jeans

and feet freeing flip flops

every

single

comfortable

day.

Because Panera Bread caters:

Because I randomly see a Lamborghini driving
through one of the seediest parts of town.

Because when I get home
my girls pilfer my bag for snacks
or toys
or candy
or money.

Or nail polish bottles.

And because I love driving 100 miles
to come home to this:

and this:

And oh
sweet lord in heaven
this:

Cheers,
A

The Women.

Thanks to MCP actions via the Pioneer Woman

I learned how to do this today.

Thank you Nadia,

and your lovely

amazing

powerful family of women

for helping me create this photo

"blog board"

as it's called.

I even adjusted the margins of my blog to fit the photo.

That's how great I think it is.

Hope you enjoy.

PS: My toes are painted burnt orange. 

Just thought I'd share.

Cheers,

A

A New Level of Crazy

Because it was Monday.
Because I apparently don't already have enough to do.
And, mostly, because I am crazy,
I started yet another quilt.

This is one of my favorite blocks that Luc made for our
friendship quilt.

So much so
last night I decided to use my Far Far Away fabric scraps
to make a quilt based on this block.

It's a lap size quilt.
Nothing too terribly large.
But I'm small, so it'll be just perfect for me.

Or the girls.

Maybe even as a gift...

Cheers,
A

Almost

I started a quilt a few weekends ago
using Laurie Wisburn's
Tufted Tweets collection.

I am using a pattern that's kind of
a square within a square
within a square.

I was excited when I started cutting the fabric.
Then I started piecing the top....
and I had some second thoughts.

It's just SOOOO Busy.
Loud.
There's a lot goin' on.

I started doubting my creative genius.
I almost
almost
ripped out every
single
seam
and started over from scratch.

But then I realized I was four squares from being
completely done.

Coincidentally I also decided that I like it just fine
busy.

It adds to its charm.

I just have to make sure I pick something
very very simple
for the backing.

In other news,
I bought this today:

Anna Maria Horner fabric.

From her Little Folks fabric line.

It's glorious.

Cheers,

A

Double Pointed

Fall is in the air.

Not in Texas.

In Texas it is 90˚ with 80% humidity.

Because we just got 15 inches of rain.

In one day.

But somewhere

maybe, oh, Minnesconsin, per se,

Fall is definitely in the air.

In a nod to the crispy air

I started knitting again.

I dusted off my trusty

8mm circular needles

and set to work on this:

It's a hat for my co-workers little girl, Nevaeh.
Yes, that's heaven backwards.
You read it right.

She was born exactly one week after Stella.
Her older brother?
Born 11 days before Elena.

The kicker?
Her momma was due a week before me.
She was not happy that Stella came first.

I wouldn't have been if I was her, either.

So, to make up for my shorter pregnancy
I am sending this to adorn little Vay's noggin.

I hope she loves it.

I love it.
Fair Isle makes me happy.

You know what else makes me happy?
I mean,
besides sarcasm.
And Pinot.
And The Biggest Loser.

A sparkly camera necklace.
Bling.

Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got,
I'm still
I'm still 'theenie from the block.

Hello?
Readers?
Are you still there??

Anyone???

Cheers,
A

Thief

Hey Elena? Whatchya doin??

Uh...nuthin, mama.

Busted.

Cheers,
A

Did I Ever Tell You

About the time I saw a funnel cloud
pass over the front porch
of my mom's house?
(It's fuzzy because a)it was practically pitch black out and
b)it's-a-fricken-funnel-cloud-people! It was windy)

This summer?

While I was holding the baby?
And my camera?

OUTSIDE?

No?
I didn't?

hrm....

I thought,
seeing as how I'm smack in the middle
of Tropical Storm Hermione Granger
or whatever-you-call-it,
that now would be as good a time as any
to finally fill you in.

I should probably let you know
that immediately after this photo was taken
I ran into the house
headed straight for the basement
with my baby and a flashlight
and
covered my head with a pillow and rocked slowly back and forth
stared out the window.

Cheers,
A

The Bottom Corner

of my quilt back

sits

a little birdie.

It seems only fitting.

Cheers,

A