This is what happens when I feed little Joey at my house. Now, if this was a full sized picture, you'd see that those carrots are not just on his face, but between his toes, in my hair, and all over both of our outfits. OK, he was wearing an outfit and I was wearing grubby old sweat pants, but you get the point. Isn't he the sweetest? Right now, he's sleeping on our couch, tucked in with a bunch of pillows so he doesn't fall off. I'm trying to type quietly. He was a tough bugger to get to sleep.



I'm savoring my last few days of freedom around here. As are a couple others that I know. There are so many things I'd like to do before next Monday.
I'd love to head out to the Minnesota Arboretum and wander around. This year their theme in The Secret Garden. Have any of you seen the movie? I remember very little about it, except that one of my friends suckered me into sneaking into after seeing some other movie, and we got caught. I was so humiliated. My cheeks still burn when I think back to it. Anyway, I'd also really like to go see the Calder Exhibit at the Art Institute, and the Diane Arbus show at the Walker. Oh yeah, then there are about a million and a half people I'd like to spend time with before time is ultra limited. Did I mention that this Friday is our 5th anniversary? Any ideas for a Friday/Saturday get-away?

I'm crabby this morning. Today I've got another appointment with Dr. Clomid. No, that's not really his name, but that's what we talk about, so that's what I call him in my mind. I guess it's a bit of a dangerous thing in terms of appropriateness, because one of these days it's just going to pop right out of my mouth, and I'll be embarrassed. ...On the topic of Clomid, I'm going on a little mini rant. I know it is difficult to always know what to say to a woman friend about miscarriage. I get it. I feel weird a lot of the time, too. If you feel that uncomfortable, save that woman who is already going through enough, and don't say a fricking word. Especially if what is going to come out of your mouth is advice about what your woman friend might have done wrong in the first place, or advice about getting it right this time. You see, your advice will be the last thing she thinks about at night and the first thing she thinks about when she wakes up to in the morning. That sucks. And, it will almost certainly guarantee that it will make her even more irritable than the Clomid already is. I know that lots of you are reading this right now thinking, was it me that caused this, am I to blame? And the answer is probably not. Mostly what I hear from you is love and patience and hope, especially when my own hope is a smidge down in the dumps. Thank you for that, and thanks for loving me even when I'm crabby.

This, on the other hand, cracks me up.

Little Miss Sunshine

I'm SO not a movie critic. Jeez, I see movies for the pure entertainment of it. Rarely do I want more from a movie, because a movie is just not a big deal. Really I just love a night out of the house to hold popcorn greasy hands with Zander and snuggle in a freezing cold movie theater. That all aside, go see Little Miss Sunshine. Go see it as soon as you can. I laughed outloud a lot, I covered my eyes because I was so embarrassed for the characters, I cried a little bit, and I left with a warm glow.

Campbell DeNormandie Mahoney

Adorable little baby Mahoney was born early this morning! Zander's sister (Becca, of course) is doing great and so is Campbell. Doesn't she look precious? I can't wait to spend time with her in October. Today I've been sewing little "welcome to our world" gifts for her. I'll post pictures of my projects as soon as it won't ruin the surprise.

I made this stuffed Boo out of all reused and thrifted stuff. The wool on the front came from a pair of pinstriped pants that I always thought I'd wear, but don't. The eyes are from a set of napkins I picked up at an estate sale. I made this for my nephew Joey because now that he notices that Boo is a cat, he's decided that he LOVES him. He loves him so much that he just buries his face is Boo's side and giggles. If you've been to our house, you know how much of an affection hog Boo is, so it all works out just right. I might just have to make another Boo for us too.

Pigs in Space

It's official, I'm back to school on August 28th. While it'll be difficult to give up all this wonderfully juicy freedom I've got right now, this lunch-box is definitely getting me in the spirit. I'm hoping it'll even make packing a lunch at 6:30 am seem like wacky fun.

In other news, today I had a little bit of time down in my studio. I did another t-shirt applique project that I'll post pictures of tomorrow. I also altered a vintage dress that I picked up for a quarter at an estate sale. It's pretty cute, except that it'll require ironing after each washing. I've been known to let something sit in my closet FOREVER just because I hate ironing. Tonight we're watching Who Wants to be a Superhero with some friends that are nice enough to share their cable with us on Thursday nights. I'm so surprised to love this show as much as I do, but honestly, it's so much fun.

Etsy

Some women in the Crafter's Conspiracy pointed me to Etsy. If you're not familiar, don't feel bad because I certainly wasn't, it's a selling service for people that what to sell their hand-made stuff on line. Jeez, I've been wanting to do this for a while now, and Etsy just seems like a really easy way to start. Here's my store front. For now, I don't want to sell stuff here because it feels like my friends and family might think I'd be expecting them to buy something from me. Ick. That feels weird. Weird and untrue. Ick. Anyway, as you can probably tell from my Domokun posting, I'm into embellishing recycled t-shirts right now. This is my first of a new Frida series. I might put a few of the last series up on Etsy as well.

Dork Out

Yes, this is the dorkiest picture ever. In my defense, it is difficult to set the self timer, run over to a random spot that'll hopefully not cut off my head, and look poised too. Anyway, I finished this dress this afternoon and I like it. The pattern was on sale for 99 cents and the fabric came from a box of assorted vintage fabric that my mom gave me a while ago. I think she got it at an estate sale. I do want to acknowledge that my sewing room sessions are bordering on obsessive lately and that it is a little silly to spend two whole days sewing a dress that I could buy at an end of summer sale. It's just that I'm having fun and it feels like playing. I wish a had a cooler hobby like race car driving or karate. What am I going to do when school starts and I have zilch time to play, and I have to wear real clothes and sometimes even makeup?

Powderhorn Greatest Hits

Well folks, the Powderhorn Art Fair keeps getting bigger and bigger every year. It is, by far, my favorite out of the three big ones of this weekend. I love that it wraps around the lake and I love that not everything is super expensive and/or it doesn't all look like craft time at the senior center. I didn't buy a thing, but I wish I would have gotten a little wood block print I saw toward the end. My two favorite vendors were Amy Arnold and Marlys Kunkel. Amy makes hats and dolls sculptures out of recycled sweaters and her work definitely looks folksy to me. I'm not really motivated to start up any projects involving boiling sweaters right now, but come February, I'll be all over it.


Unfortunately, Marlys Kunkel doesn't have a website, but you probably get the gist of what her work is like. The lyrics to Beatles songs wrap around the pottery. I bought several pieces last year, and I love 'em because they're so interactive. I found myself sitting on the floor at home turning one of the vases around and around and singing "Let it Be".

And here's a let's hope it's the Clomid update... Losing my marbles... Earlier in the week, I did an entire load of laundry only to find nothing in the washer. Duh. Today, before I left for the day, I accidentally left the fridge partially open. The thermostat inside the refrigerator said 104 degrees. I'm guessing the milk definitely went bad. Super Duh.

Today started with belly dance class, which I LOVE. In fact, I love it so much that I really want to sit in the back and take lots of notes and maybe run a video camera so I can remember exactly what to practice for the next week. Right now we're working on undulations, which make me feel ridiculous because they're so hard, but I'm getting there. I was going to say that undulations are kind of like walking and chewing gum at the same time, but that's a stupid example because everyone can do that. Not everyone can isolate two different muscle groups and move them at the same time, in different directions. After that we went to the Loring Art Fair, which was kind of like Snoresville. I saw a seven foot tall metal flower for my garden, but it was $70 and geez, that feels pretty steep. I'm sure when you look at the materials and time spent that it's a reasonable price. But seriously, at this point in life I want at least 10 things for $70! Go ahead and click your tongues saying, "cheap, cheap, cheap is what she is", I can take it. Speaking of cheap, I HATE spending $15 on a light lunch and iced tea. That's Joe's Garage for you though. After that we headed into St. Paul to check out Lula's new fall stuff. The woman who runs it, let's call her Lula, is a genius. If I pick out one thing I want to try on, by all means-she'll let me, but then brings about ten more things that she knows will look a hundred times better on me. She's almost always right. Tonight is all about sewing, and Franzia, and missing Zander who's in Chicago for another convention.

Domokun is one of my favorite little characters from Japan. He's really just a mascot for NHK, the television company, but I think he's pretty charming. My students in Japan found my love for Domokun absolutely bizarre. Even more so than my breasts, which were also quite fascinating. Still are. Anyway, when I asked them what he is supposed to be I got a variety of strange answers like: cute monster, angry poop, crazy monkey with no tail, ferocious animal, and bad teddy. Yesterday I was looking on eBay for some Domokun merchandise that I don't have yet. I have magnets, buttons, tablets, dolls, pens, and one lame t-shirt. The t-shirts they have for sale are kind of lame and expensive, so I thought I'd make my own. I already know what a few of you lawyer types out there are thinking. Copyright, eh?

I promise, I won't sell them. I won't even try to call what I'm doing a type of parody, which could possibly bail me out. Nevertheless, I made two. One for me, and one on a light purple t-shirt that's pretty medium in size. Yours for the taking. Just be the first to say you want it in the comments.

And... Thanks for all the sweet comments and emails about yesterday's entry. I agonized all day about just deleting the damn thing. I'm so glad I didn't. Thank you sweet friends. I feel very loved.

It's been a while. I've lost a bit of my blogging fervor lately, and I think it's because my brain is on overload. I've been thinking about all the things I'd like to accomplish before going back to school. Some creative stuff and some non-creative stuff. Stuff like trying to figure out where the water in our basement is coming from and unpacking our pack-rat tendencies. This might be a news flash, but we keep way too much crap. Every bit of plastic that enters this house does not ever leave. It lives in a cupboard that is so crammed full of more delightful plastic that it barely closes. I'm throwing it all out. Ok, I'm not that tough. I'll recycle. But plastic is only one small example in a very small house overflowing with junk. (Insert casual flowing transition here) However, this is all a kind of a smoke-screen for what's really going on. We are trying to have babies. We're having a difficult time. After four miscarriages, the Dr. feels that I have a difficult time staying pregnant. I say DUH. He says that Clomid helps people get pregnant. I say the problem isn't getting pregnant. He says it can also help people stay pregnant. I hope he's right. He also says this drug allows them to do all kinds of tests that they normally can't do. I just started taking the medication, and I keep waiting for hormones to strike and release the evil beast that I don't really keep hidden all that well anyway. So far, so good. I'm a bit jittery, and I've got a (not so) "beauty mark" on my cheek, but really, I feel good. I know that this is kind of a public forum for such a private issue. I have conflicting feelings about sharing, but I'm through keeping this as my very scary secret. I talked about all of this with a sweet friend recently. It felt oh so vulnerable, but her reaction was like medicine. There was nothing flippant in her reply, not even one "poor Julie", just listening and giving us the gonna-make-great-parents-someday-seal-of-approval. Now, I'm going to go down to the basement to make stuff. I'll update tomorrow with something a bit lighter. Unless the Clomid REALLY kicks in...