"Take wrong turns. Talk to strangers. Open unmarked doors. And if you see a group of people in a field, go find out what they're doing. Do things without always knowing how they'll turn out."

~Randall Monroe, xkcd

Here's Dawn (not my favorite name in the world, but I know who the boss is in this department):



Rowan took a picture from an angle that never occurred to me, which I think is cool.

Look who Amy made for me!


She's making a real live baby, too, but for some reason she wants to keep that for herself.

The sign has gone missing.



My car feels oddly naked.

I hope it was taken by some kids having as much fun as we used to have stealing street signs (I won't name any names, Lisa *g*) and not by some grumpy adult.

I guess it's back to window paint for us.

Have you ever noticed that the more people who are involved in the decision, the harder it is to come up with a name for someone?

After some slightly fierce debate, here's Adrienne Claire:






She's not sure what all the fuss was about. Really, she's just glad Rowan noticed she was missing her hands *G*.

Dolls are appealing to me most right now, but I have managed to felt some other things too. These two have landed on etsy:




I would not want to tell anyone how insanely long that bag took me.

No felting (yet) today, though. Rowan and I spent a couple of very cold hours at an ice skating rink. In hopes of warming up afterwards, I turned on the oven and somehow tricked Dagny into making banana bread with me (with bananas professionally mashed by Rowan, of course). We followed that up with a big pot of our new favorite - a bean stew recipe from Lisa H.

Yum.

Back when Dagny and Andrew went on their roadtrip, Rowan decided that we should get a piano before they got back to surprise Dagny. We just barely pulled it off, thanks to Craigslist and Uncle Drew. Jon and Drew showed up at the door with the piano about an hour after Dagny and Andrew got home. (Yes, the doctor did tell Jon not to move any pianos after he had neck surgery. He'll do anything for daddy bonus points.)

The kids have jumped right in, learning Deck the Halls, Heart and Soul, Ode to Joy, Imagine, Hallelujah, and in Rowan's case, On the Planet Mars Where the Ladies Smoke Cigars. Lots of happy noise.

I don't know who took this picture. I found it on my camera after Rowan's birthday party.



Yummy Eli fingers.

I'm still a big fan of finding pictures on my camera. Here are some I found this week:

I know I can thank Andrew for the first two, but I'd bet the resident flower photographer took the last one. **I stand corrected. Dagny took those pictures of herself!**

More crafting going on here. I added some note cards to my etsy



and I've finished two more dolls, Marguerite





and Rose





I wonder which will happen first - me getting my fill of making dolls or Rowan feeling like she couldn't possibly want another. Any bets?

Frozen Grand Central

Bit of a boring blog lately. I'm in winter mode - cooking more, crafting more, watching more TV and movies. (Anybody got a favorite movie I should see?)

I take a lot less pictures in the winter, but after a dismal morning the sun came out today - so let me introduce you to Jenna:

Meet Lilly Patty Annabelle:







I'm fairly sure she's a princess, but she is, as Rowan says, of uncertain parentage.

Check out the other two episodes, too!

The very talented Julie Persons has inspired quite an addiction to needle felting. In hopes of supporting my habit, this bowl's heading for etsy.



Amy caught the bug, too. Check out the pretties she's been making.

1975, which means I was seven and Jeanne had just turned four. The ornament right in the middle/bottom of the picture (or one just like it) hangs on my tree. Well, this year it hides in a drawer so as not to entice a kitty.

Maeve wanted to know what she and RoRo were doing in this picture. It is a bit freaky.

I've been tagged by Madeline, who has one of my very favorite heads of hair.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

Since I did this relatively recently, I'm going to give myself a little theme. So here are 7 weird things from the ocd part of me:

1. I have to walk 'evenly'. One foot feels heavier (not literally, just in some weird ocd way) and I have to step on 'heavy' things with the other foot to balance it out. Heavy things include cracks in the pavement, designs on linoleum, curbstones, etc.

2. I feel compelled to close any drawer or cabinet that's open.

3. I much prefer books on a shelf to be flush - no spines sticking out. By "much prefer" I mean I must put them that way or I get, as Rowan says, a bit twitchy.

4. I can tell to a very tiny fraction of an inch whether something's even. (Much to the annoyance of the contractor who was working on our house.)

5. I need my feet to feel the same. If one's hot, the other should be hot. If one has a sock on, the other has to have a sock on too.

6. I want to organize everything. In the whole world. Just for fun.

7. I will walk around the bed any number of times to get the top blanket to lay straight.

None of these things get in my way, but I know if that changes Rowan will help me kick some butt. She is the world's greatest ocd-butt-kicker.

Here's a vision for you Ro - imagine the ocd World Championships: I have to walk by the couch without fluffing the pillows, then go stand in the kitchen with all the cabinets open - Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!

Ok, someone who prefers to remain nameless has told me to play...

On my next birthday I'll be forty.


That's supposed to freak me out, I think, but so far I'm ok with it.

I want to go so many places. I've always wanted to go to Africa and Australia. And Fiji. But a trip around the world, staying with people who live there, not in hotels, is something I very much hope to make happen.




My favorite place is the beach. Any beach. This one would do nicely.




Favorite object: books. Lots and lots and lots of books.



Ah, ice cream. It's always been my favorite food. I can, and very often do, eat it every day. Chocolate, please.



Favorite animal. That's really hard. If it's not a rodent, I love it. I guess I'd pick the People of the Forest. But don't tell my puppies!



Favorite color: purple.



Everything looks good in purple.

I have a lot of nicknames. I love nicknames and I'm glad so many people have made up names that they think suit me. The first one that came to mind is Blue, which is what my brother-in-law calls me.


I was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, at St. Margaret's Hospital.



Last and least, I bite my nails.



I think it's really gross, but I'm going to keep doing it anyway.

Dagny's on vacation, traveling from friend's house to friend's house, so Rowan and I are doing lots of fun things to help us not miss her so much.

Friday we took a trip to the salvage store, where Rowan found a homemade dollhouse just waiting for her to fix it up.




Saturday we had a visit from Amy, Luis, Taye, and Darius. They enjoyed meeting Lucky, a very friendly and patient black lab we are puppy-sitting, who hardly seemed to notice there was a baby climbing all over him.



When Lucky decided it was time to go for a walk, Darius turned his attention to Ro-ro (whose name he said for the first time that day!).




They were having so much fun that Lucky decided he wanted to get back in on the game.



The Oroscos are going to Peru next month and wanted to get some winter coats to bring to Amy and Luis' nieces and nephews, so we all drove up to the thrift store. Rowan found just the teacup she wanted to use with her teapot.



We thought about going roller-skating on Sunday, but ended up having a quiet day instead. By Monday Rowan was ready for action, and luckily Chloe was able to come over. For ten hours they played and laughed and talked and did giggly things with everything from food coloring to vinegar to shaving cream.




So we're having fun. And I'm very happy that Dagny is having a friend-filled adventure. But I do so miss my baby and her partner in crime.



They're stopping at Ren's next week. Any bets on whether they come home with another cat?