Current Projects

Crocheted toys for the boys and a scarf for me.

I have not been in the mood to paint for a few months now...but I have started crocheting again. I came up with an idea for little mesh bags. They are supposed to look like fish nets. They'll have a drawstring top and will hold a bunch of little crochet fish. It's sort of a quiet toy to keep kids occupied in church or restaurants. That's the idea anyhow. I am modifying a mesh shopping bag for the fish nets. I've made about a dozen little fish, but haven't found the perfect pattern yet. When my gnarled old arthritic fingers get tired of holding a crochet hook, I switch to loom knitting. I'm making a cowl neck thing--like a scarf only with all in one piece. Nevermind. It will look great. Take my word for it. Well, Thanksgiving is over. Me and Miguel spent a QUIET day at home watching bad movies and eating nachos. All the kids were spending time with their significant others, so we went no where and did nothing and LOVED every second. This has to be the first holiday EVER that we weren't obligated to be somewhere. I know I sound like Ebenezer, but sometimes you just need to be left alone. So now, with my batteries recharged, I can face the upcoming Christmas season with renewed interest.

Sunday at Kidzu

James One with his mommy

James Two with his grandmommy

The boys in the kitchen

I took the boys to Kidzu Children's Museum at University Mall in Chapel Hill. What a fun place. They had a good time running around and exploring all the stuff. James One was mostly interested in the tree house. Luckily his parents are much more spry and have young knees, so they could climb up the steps several times. I stayed on ground level with the rest of the oldsters. James Two was fascinated by the kitchen set up. He went all Gordon Ramsey whenever anyone encroached on his space. He wasn't mean about it....but he CLEARLY didn't appreciate other kids messing with his stuff!

Current Diversions

My much loved Midori and new Moleskine

I've been creeping around the interwebs lately and discovered this HUGE community of folks obsessed with planners and journals. It is amazing and wonderful. I thought I was some kind of freak and it turns out I AM....but I'm in good company. I've been a journaler for years, most of my life in fact, and I've experimented with all kinds of systems. I may have discovered a system that works, although I'm sure I will continue to tweak it for years to come. I'm using the Midori Travelers Notebook for monthly and weekly planning. Plus I have an extra notebook in there for my version of bullet journaling and record keeping. I resisted as long as I could, but finally had to go out and get a Moleskine notebook. I'm using it for daily notes, diary type entries and a little bit of junk journaling. I find that "brain dump" activities are very healthy. There are some things that you just need to get out of your head and onto paper so that you can move on with your life. I tend to perseverate on things that bug me and helps to work it out on paper. I'm old school, man. I love good paper and pens. Maybe eventually I will get back to making art, but in the meantime, my creative efforts are directed more to writing.

JT blows his nose