Day 30

Really? Is it only Day 30?


Not much to report for this mild Monday. It's crazy warm for January. I saw it get up to 68 degrees on my car thermometer. 


Got lots of work finished and shipped out (with plans to hang out with mi madre manana.) 


Had a Zumba buddy! Alison joined me in some booty shakin' sweatin' and it was kickin' good times! 


Over and out.

Day 29

Another lazy day, spent mostly inside, on the couch. That's what Sundays are for, yes?

Lazy, lazy, Sundays.

Day 28

Paper streamers littering the living room furniture. Empty beer bottles stacked in the recycle bin like fallen soldiers. Bits of cheese, cracker crumbs, and melted ice cream puddles scattered over the kitchen floor. The remnants of festivities well-enjoyed.

And I'm not getting off this couch all day!

Hooray for lazy Saturdays.

Day 27

Adam's birthday party went smashingly! It was great to see his friends come celebrate with my old man. <3

Day 26

Finished up making the paper version of the Blazer family by adding Ester and Evie. (So cute!)

Had a sushi lunch with Alison and Mae, where we caught up and enjoyed each other's company. Mae talked about the possibility of having a paper doll somehow involved in her new album art, so when I got home I made this happen:

Mae with ukulele

Date night! This was supposed to be the night I took Adam out for his birthday dinner, but he opted to stay home instead. Sloppy joe's and mac'n'cheese for dinner. Mumford & Sons on Pandora. And then we got busy brewin' beer. Turns out he is excited about it! He even said so himself! And then he made an excited face! I should have taken a picture, because I don't see that very often. (hee hee)

Once the wort was cooled and siphoned into the fermenting bucket, we cleaned up the kitchen and put on Captain America for some couch/movie time.

I love date night.

Days 18 - 25

It's been a tough week. Getting a couple days behind on my blog has turned into over a week, and the more I put it off the less I wanted to get back to it.

Day 18 was a rough one for me. There were many small anxieties all piled up on one big disappointment that basically rendered me useless for the day. So grateful for a gentle, loving husband who indulged my pity party and comforted me sweetly. A few sweet emails from my girlfriends and Zumba in the evening help boost my mood, too.

Day 19 was better. We had a date night at the Playhouse which was a welcome distraction and a light-hearted time together.

Day 20 was a lot of sittin' around. In the evening we met with some friends to glean information about midwifes, home birth, doulas and the like. No, we're not pregnant, but I thought it wise to research our options ahead of time. They were there with their sweet almost-two-year-old who grinned and flirted and made faces at Adam. The whole vibe and demeanor of this little family is so warm and welcoming, and I felt quite a bit of encouragement and diminishing of fear just sitting and listening to their beautiful birth story.

Day 21 we were supposed to have gone to a leadership event at CR that I was really looking forward to, but had spent the night before battling sleep. (Or lack thereof.) Having finally fallen asleep at around 4:30am, I growled at the alarm when it woke me at 7:30 and decided that today would be spent in bed. I did, whoever, finally get recovered enough to head over to my brother's house to have dinner with him and his lovely wife. We feasted on a pork roast, potatoes, wine, and apple fritters. AND I finally learned how to play Uecker! (It's much easier to learn with people who are patient and not yelling at you.) ;0)
Krista is so ready to have their baby, and was sweet to entertain us, even though she was obviously pretty tired. Any day now!! They were excited to show us the nursery, Jade's coming home outfit, and Curt was surprisingly pumped about the car seat he picked out for her. Oh, little brother. You'll always be a geek. <3

Day 22 Sunday was Kids Club with Molly, and then home for some football couch time. That about sums it up. Lately Molly has been very interested in my camera phone:

Day 23 My energy is back up, and in preparation for Adam's upcoming birthday party, I start cleaning house like a crazy person.

Day 24 I had been wanting to make something like this for a while... Custom paper dolls! I started with Adam and myself:

Posted some pics of these on Facebook, and got a great reaction! After coming home from Creative Team, thought I'd try some of our friends, the Blazers:

Day 25 Adam's Birthday! Birthday mochas, birthday breakfast, and the unveiling of the secret basement birthday project! He said he guessed right; a home beer brewing kit! I think he's excited. It's hard to tell sometimes. In the evening, he went out for wings with a friend while I kept up the mad housecleaning. Even dug through the living room closet and either tossed or donated about half of the stuff in there. Man, that feels good!

Day 17

IT.    IS.    almost.    FINISHED!!!

The Ballroom Project, the thing our Creative Team has been working on for nearly a year, reached a milestone! We're building this big play area ball contraption for the kiddos, and we finally got the shooter installed!

Check it:

Next up will be a big conveyor belt and another set of tracks. Whee! So glad to get this far!

Day 16

What a day for staying in, sleeping until 11, not getting dressed... 

OR! A good day for working on a super secret mystery project in the basement, which may or may not have something to do with hubby's approaching birthday!

muahaha!

Found a great piece for this project at Goodwill, but upon opening it at home, realized that it was missing so many pieces and hardware that it was virtually useless. Moped about it for a bit, and then decided to break out the power drill and the duct tape. Oh yeah. I made that sh*t work, yo.

Looking forward to the big reveal.

Day 15

Girl Scout Day!!

I had the privilege of teaching a papermaking workshop for some lovely little Girls Scouts. They were so great! About a dozen girls, ages 11-15, were the sweetest and funniest kids... and very excited about making paper!

lifting the deckle frame out of the slurry

soaking out water with a sponge 

patting the paper sheet out of the deckle frame

so pretty!

finished paper detail

Day 14

I had signed myself up for this fund-raiser 2-hour Zumba class... Weee! Mom happened to be up in Cinci that morning while Dad and Adam were finishing up a project at church. So she decided to join me in the Zumba-ing. We stopped over at TJ Maxx to pick up some exercise clothes for her and then got to stretchin'.
Wowzas! Two solid hours of non-stop kickin' and bouncin' and scrunchin' and booty shakin'!

Oh. The. Glorious. Hurt.

Came home and crashed for a good hour and a half.

And then! My old pal Brian called to see if I wanted to go out. So I stretched my aching bones, put on something pretty and Adam and I went to meet Brian and Borden at Stanley's pub for some music and good times. Turns out, the guys playing were some friends of Adam's from back in his rock'n'roll days, and several more of his music buddies showed up, too.

Glad I didn't wimp out and stay home!

Day 13

When you go to the birthday party of a multi-talented musician, this is what happens...

Several different instruments come out, and we all stand around doing a Beatles sing-along... With tuba.

Day 12

My hubby's been working so hard, lately. I hadn't posted the news on this blog, since I had been on a 7 month hiatus... But Adam got a job as an animator for Epipheo Studios! It's so great to see him working at something he loves, and is so talented at doing!

So tonight he comes into my studio with his eyes all glazed over and said, "I can't look at a screen anymore tonight. Let's go out."

Oh boy! An impromptu date night at Mayday. 

white russian

Day 11

Had the sweetest conversation with my little brother. He and his wife and expecting a baby girl in about three weeks or so! I'll be an aunt for the first time and I'm super excited about that!

He called to get my insight on his camera purchasing, and we ended up talking babies. It's kind of amazing and somewhat baffling to see how my baby brother, whom I used to dress up in scarves and skirts and pull around in my wagon, is now all grown up. He's married to the sweetest little lady, and now he's going to be a papa! It was fun to hear the excitement in his voice, talking about buying baby seats and putting together a babysitting schedule. I'm so proud of that guy.

circa 1985

*sigh* 

I guess we all have to grow up.

Day 10

Another good work day, getting into the swing of things again after a long winter's nap. Spent some time digging through my scrap bin and tearing apart paper in preparation for the papermaking worship I'll be teaching this Sunday.

Found a nice little juicer set at Big Lots, and then went grocery shopping to fill our fridge with heaps of fresh produce. The first juice I made was a yummy combination of strawberries, grapes, blackberries and plain yogurt. 

Between Zumba, daily vitamins, and consuming mass quantities of liquid nutrients, I'm feeling pretty fit and healthy! Like I could jog some steep stairs and have a big musical moment like Rocky.

Tuesday nights Creative Team is back in session! We got the shooter almost ready to install and I'm SO excited to see this thing coming together. I'll post some pics and probably a video after next Tuesday!

When we got home, I whipped up another juice with spinach, carrots and some tomato juice. Mmmm.. Blech! I tried... I really tried to drink it all, but ended up making some popcorn and soda instead. :o} The fruity juices are awesome, but I might have to look around for some more appetizing veggie juice recipes. Oh well, all things in moderation. (Even healthy things!)

Day 9

Do you not know? 
   Have you not heard? 
The LORD is the everlasting God, 
   the Creator of the ends of the earth. 
He will not grow tired or weary, 
   and his understanding no one can fathom. 
He gives strength to the weary 
   and increases the power of the weak. 
Even youths grow tired and weary, 
   and young men stumble and fall; 
but those who hope in the LORD 
   will renew their strength. 
They will soar on wings like eagles; 
   they will run and not grow weary, 
   they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40 : 28-31

Monday. First time in quite a while that I've had a "regular" work day. It was pleasant and sunny... and productive! Had quite a few orders to finish, and put together invoices for more. Glad to have the Holiday lag coming to an end!

And then... Zumba! Boo-ya! I think I'm getting into this...

Ended the day with a relaxing bath and hot tea. 

Hello, two thousand twelve. 

I am so ready for you.

Day 8

Sunday! Sunny, sunny, Sunday. Following a huge and fabulous breakfast, I put together a little treasure hunt in the back yard for the boys. How cute are they?!

Later in the afternoon, these two cousin buddies found a "secret" hiding spot behind a bed. Perfect spot for some quiet-time movie-watching.

After more eating and games, the folks and I headed back south to Cin City. So grateful for a fun and loving family!

Day 7

Saturday at the Straussers brought more family fun. Everyone kept working away at the 12 Days of Christmas artwork...

And in between the eating, washing dishes and preparing the next meal, there were naps, playing and goofiness. For example... This is what happens when a roll of tape is passed around at a card game:

After the kiddos were in bed, Mom put together a fun wine-tasting game to test our taste-buds. Then we did the White Elephant present swap and things ended with everyone throwing wrapping paper at each other. You know, like families do.