1/22

painted xylophone for my niece's 3rd birthday.

last week we received our second shipment of drums from Ghana through a customer of tom's. i also had my eye on this, and got it for her. i thought about doing more painting on it, something intricate and delightful, but in the end i thought a more simplistic approach was better, wrapped in a playsilk.

SOUP OF THE WEEK: CARROT CURRY (not the best "first baby food"...i shared some with desmond, and he ended up with a terrible rash.)

RESOLUTION #7: i made the desicion to just be brave and do away with ALL regular breakfast cereals. it's been over a month, and it hasn't been all that difficult...whole wheat pancakes and oatmeal muffins, whole grain oats, eggs, sometimes homemade tapioca pudding with raisins.

1/15

a different sort of project...mermaid twins photo shoot.
yes, i obviously was barely able to pass my one required college computer course, and it shows. it is very fun to play with photoimpact : ) even if i can only figure out basic lighting techniques. i do have to say, the pics i was able to get are outstanding and i absolutely love looking at them. the top photo is only cropped and not changed otherwise.
SOUP OF THE WEEK: AFRICAN PEANUT

RESOLUTION #6: 3 lbs down, 27 to go : p

resolution #6

i decided resolution #6 was not progressing very well. although there are abundant good intentions, i had to contemplate whether eating oreos while watching The Biggest Loser would get me any closer to my goal.

now, starve me if you will, but for the love of God do not make me work out! i mentally tortured myself by committing to 30 minutes on the 'hamster wheel' even if i had to spend the rest of the day laying on the shower floor. (yes, i know, PATHETIC!!!!!)

it amazes me that it even happened, i had to hunt down an extension cord that wasn't being used by all the construction, only to find out that our jr. contractor had lost the key to it somewhere in his tools. since i had actually managed to find and put on a pair of gym shoes, i didn't give up, and took the suggestion from my husband to track down a round magnet and gorilla tape. (if this isn't willpower, people, i never want to see what is)

i ended up finding a personal trainer. he wasn't my first choice, but since this was a last minute workout, i had to take whoever i could afford. he ended up being pretty damn effective, yelling "you're getting bigger!!" and "daddy's gonna take a picture of you!!" but i lost it when i did my required 5 minutes of jogging and he screamed "you're breaking it!!" i screamed back "go find some play doh!!", at which point he cried and i felt really bad. to get me back, he did the ultimate fake-out of "pip's crying!" and i actually risked the baby's emotional wellbeing for the dedication to my last 3 minutes. It turns out he was faking after all (or that the rush or hormones flooding a baby's brain that they talk about actually hppened, and he fell back to sleep, all in 3 minutes)

in any event, 30 minutes went slower than any hated activity i have ever done in my life. i think i would have chosen a third episode of thumb stitches.

1/8

exactly 60 silks, 30 play wands and 2 silk satchels for several orders, all finished in less than 48 hrs.my hands are grayish and aching!!

SOUP OF THE WEEK: BEER CHEESE SOUP

1/1

bunches of new jewelry.

New Year's Resolutions...

since i started this one in august, i decided to think hard about what i want to work on this year. i've decided that i will:

1. find two additional galleries or boutiques for selling art

2. have a home show (someone offered to host, so let's do it!)

3. serve homemade soup every single week of this new year ( i say serve, because i plan to probably make 2 batches every other week and freeze...also we're having a soup exchange this month!)

4. have an in-depth family art project once a month, such as paper making. 1 x a month doesn't sound like a lot, but believe me, i'm sort of regretting putting this one in writing as i think about the disastrous mess.

5. a personal goal having to do with fulfilling family responsibilities that i won't mention for fear of people saying "uh...you don't already do that...?"

i'll offer a free silk to anyone who guesses it on the first try. NOTE: it has to be the one i'm thinking of, not just any responsibility i'm not keeping up with.

6. lose 30 lbs. yes, how mind numbingly commonplace, but yet it makes the list.

7. pancakes. whole wheat ones every single week of this new year.

SOUP OF THE WEEK: POTATO

12/25

christmas presents...jewelry, silks, hats, scarves, and market bags.

no sir, 4 hospital trips in one month does not interfere with the 52 things...in fact, it's the whole reason i have this page, what else are you going to do there? : )

12/18

lots of kaleidosilks

and a handmade and dyed silk satchel