My girl feeding two of the thousands of parakeets at the Atlanta Zoo. She loved doing this.


Andrew and Azalea posing in a huge bronze nest in the bird aviary.


Posing next to mama and baby gorilla statue.


Mama and baby posing with a giant ice cream cone at a gelato cafe.
It seems like we just got home from Atlanta (even though its been three days) and I'm just now returning to my daily rhythm. I'm beginning to feel the weight of baby two...tired, listless, heavy and hard to motivate. This is inconvenient, as I know I have tons to do before I give birth, then nothing gets done because I'll be busy staring at my freshborns face! So, in my haste, I've strung everything out, doll making tools, felting, sculpting, painting and more, my desk piled high with projects I'm hoping to finish. Oddly, not a lot is done. I have lots of almost finished pieces....now I'm wondering what's the best way to tackle the stuff without going crazy. I'm a list maker, so I've surrounded my area and loaded my sketchbook with countless lists of things to do. I took today to play designer and sketched in my book, attempting to relax my brain and find focus. This usually works for me, if I feel burnt out or unmotivated, but it is harder since I'm physically wore out. Maybe there's a special food or tea that will give me a burst of speed (since caffeine is out!).

Here's proof of the massive size of Frickademus! Note that the brown tabby resting next to the big blonde is Paddy and he's 15 lbs. Frick has lost a few pounds since his diet (no longer 30lbs. closer to 28 ), but he's still a nice armload of fluffy and emotional cat! I love him.

Its been one of those weeks where you think you know what your doing, but turns out you don't. For example, attempting to self medicate my long-lasting and still not gone ear infection by researching the internet and then carrying out said research. Intially, I went to my doctor, got drops and drugs and they worked for a day, then back to half deaf and in pain. I don't suggest ear candling when you have an ear infection, it burns like hell fire; also not fun is hydrogen peroxide poured into your head. I basically made myself worse. A lot in life can be compared to these moments, at least in my life. I tend to force myself to heal, push myself or others until the goal is achieved. This mostly works, but sometimes, it makes matters worse. Now I'm really behind schedule and as a list-making, workaholic type, this makes me crazy. I'm prepping for the Atlanta show this weekend and working on some new pieces, I'm hoping to finish everything before we leave. I guess I'm what you'd call an optimist.

This is my repaint of a 16" Gene doll, original paint removed and acrylics applied to the surface. I thought it looked a little like the girl from Tristan and Isolde. I'm pretty happy with it.


Here's a bunch of masters in various stages of completion, executed in polymer clay. I work for dolls and shoes. Lately, I'm obsessed with obtaining a certain doll and scan ebay like its critical to my survival. Its easy to work and scan ebay with an ear infection, my hands and eyeballs are fine.
So, my ear infection FINALLY left today! Yay! I've been muffled to the point of deafness for over 13 days. I am super relieved. There's nothing like being hindered in some way to really appreciate good health. It makes all the little annoyances of the day seem like the slightest of trivialities, like taxes, or insurance. Everything sounds so crisp and loud and close. I love it. I've been blasting Michael Jackson and Pandora (on Coldplay) all day, its good times, even though only Azalea likes it with me. Birthday Boy Greggy is not down with the all the pop and suffered greatly today, but was nice enough to indulge me (for awhile). Anyway, I'm happy, my hearing is back, I had cake today and I'm getting new dolls for all my sculpting extraganza!

morning

Photo Azalea took of Baby Cat from Sylvanian Families (or called Calico Critters) good sense of design, wouldn't you agree?


Pear and dark chocolate flourless cake with vanilla ice cream from Corner Kitchen Cafe, my new favorite restaurant.
I am not an early riser, never have been. This morning, I was up with the sun and marveled, as I always do, at how beautiful and quiet and strange the light is. I've been ill with an ear infection and an assortment of other unpleasantries, but sitting at the kitchen table with my book spread out and strawberry vanilla tea in the pot, I feel pretty content. I'm looking forward to operating at full capacity. This strange cloud muffling my head feels like I'm underwater.

I think I'll have a new appreciation for music, songbirds and my girls sweet voice. Maybe even my husband's robot music. Every morning I try to think of all the good things in my life that make me happy and thankful for while I'm getting ready. Sometimes my list gets lost amid chores and worries, but not today, I have alot to be pleased about. I think I'll list some of today's items (of course some things are always on the list):
1. My family, particularly Azalea.
2. The freshborn baby in my tummy (names we like lately are: Marcellus, Maximus and Googler -Azalea thought Googler Ogden had a nice ring to it)
3. My book looks damn good (I love Pam, the designer).
4. A new episode of True Blood comes on Sunday.
5. Mine and Azalea's doll collection (recent acquisitions: Sylvanian Families Brown Bunny Set and Mama Mole and daughter)
6. The Corner Kitchen Cafe
7. Birds- I love them, pretty much my favorite animal, except for Frick the 30 lb. cat.
8. My job, or our company. Its pretty cool.
9. My studio, even though its a mess, its a space for my own particular use.
10. Cake, which everyone should be thankful for, particularly chocolate.
What makes you happy?