a birthday

Yesterday was Will's 1st birthday!! Woo hoo! Toot!
It's hard to believe a year ago I received this picture:










And then this year for my birthday I received this picture:

He is growing so fast...Both Rob and I are looking forward to seeing him on Saturday to celebrate his birth.

Pop! goes my heart

I woke up with a song in my head. It is the lead-in song for the movie, Music & Lyrics, with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, "Pop! Goes my Heart". The movie is a very sweet (though quite predictable) romantic comedy. As a dancer, Hugh Grant has a way with his hips. If you've seen Love Actually you've gotten a preview of his swiveling hip action.

I watched M&L while waiting for Rob to come home on Monday night. It was just right for that kind of waiting. I am so glad to have him home. My heart is full. Full of love and gratitude and hope. I could go on but I just noticed the time. Yikes! I am soooo late.

Have a good one y'all.

weekend slipping away

I can't believe how this weekend is slipping right by me! I made some progress on an ArtFest project yesterday but it took a long time. I think everything is dry now so I can at least stack 'em up and move on to something else. I also finished a gift that now needs to be wrapped and packaged for shipping.

I still have a couple of gifts to make in preparation for next weekend's trip to Oregon. Neither of them are started except in my mind. However, I have cleared out some correspondence that has been bugging me so this is a good thing. Lots to do including laundry. Oh, joy!

I recently heard a couple of songs that I really like and wanted to share with you. I tried to buy the cd but found out it won't be available* in the US until mid-March. Dang! I'll have to make do with these two pieces for now. The artist is an Israeli woman named Yael Naim.

The first one you may have heard on a tv ad. Apple is using it for one of their new products. I like it anyway. It is called New Soul.




The lyrics of the second one really resonate with me. Especially these two:

"How can you stay outside?
There's a beautiful mess inside."

The song is called Far Far.




Listen to the clips and let me know what you think.

*It appears to be available now on iTunes but sometimes I just want the physical cd. I like iTunes more for when I just want one or two songs from a cd.

I'm off to tackle my list of "to do's". It will be good to keep myself busy, too. I am looking forward to hearing from Rob tonight. He's been away in Seattle for the follow up course to the one he took last month. I'm eager to hear how it's gone for him...

ArtFest trades

These are the inchies I've made to trade* at ArtFest this year. As the name implies, each of them measure 1" square. They have been fun to make though more time consuming than I originally thought they would be. I have 19 of them finished, and another 64 in process. Of those in process, 20ish are half done and the rest a third done.

Last year I made way too many charms (or perhaps I didn't trade enough!). I still have a bunch of them left. I just don't know what to do with them. If I have these inchies left over I feel much more confident that I will use them after ArtFest in my journals or something.

* So what is this "trade" thing? It's an informal activity at ArtFest as a way to share our art, communicate our loves and meet people. At least that's the way I interpret it. There seems to be a vast movement among this type of artist to make things and share/exchange/swap them with each other. I was nervous about it last year and I probably will be again at first this year. However, after approaching a few people and being warmly greeted, I started to get the buzz and enjoyed myself quite a bit.

we're tired

As you can see, we are kind of tuckered out here. Tiika is tired from playing with her Valentine's Day toy from Grandma. She always sends the best ones. Thanks!

Rob is still dealing with being sick. He went to the doctor on Friday though and got some super cough medicine that is making it easier for him to get some rest.

I am going to spend the day doing housekeeping chores. Tomorrow is all about playing. I have a gift certificate I need to spend and I intend to bring out the inchies I am making for ArtFest trades. If I have enough finished, I'll scan them in and share here.

This morning I finished reading a really good book, Free Food for Millionaires. It is about a Korean family in New York. At times I didn't want to put it down, I was pulled along wanting to know more. My favorite kind of read.

The weather here has been warmer. It is actually more of a problem when taking hikes. You never know when you step if it is going to be slippery or if your foot is going to fall through a drift disguised as the path. It is almost more tiring to go out now.

Not much else to report for now. It's been slow and quiet here. Spring is just around the corner and with it, a flurry of activity: a trip to Portland and the coast, a class for work and ArtFest just to name the biggies.

Hope all is well with you. Off to get something done today...