All the little things, and no complaining today!

I was hanging out at the mall, 3 weeks ago, waiting for the daughters to finish their business, and lo and behold, right in front of me, was a little cheapy-deepy boutique that does ear piercing. I thought, "Cool!" and went and had this little number done. I've been meaning to do it for a few years, but I HATE going to the mall, so only go maybe once a year, and I get what I need and leave. No wandering around, no window-shopping for Moi. But this was time waiting, which I also hate doing, so I snuck into the boutique and got myself pierced. I'm tellin' ya, it's gotta be 99% operator skill that makes or breaks a piercing. The girl who did mine barely touched me, and it was finished. No pain. Nada. And I can hardly feel it. Keep forgetting it's there. I was hoping to surprise the daughters, see how long it'd take them to notice, but Daughter #1 noticed within about 23 seconds. The boys took 2 weeks, and I had to tell them before they noticed. Oh, well. Turns out they noticed, but thought it was something I've had for a while (knowing me and my tastes), so they didn't say anything.


This is Ginger, our 11-year-old terrier/spaniel mix. She loves having her picture taken, and it seems to us that her previous owner must have had her wear sweaters and other doggie clothes, because she never minds one bit when we ask her to wear something ridiculous, like this bowtie for St. Patrick's Day.





This is Lucy, our soon-to-be 4-years-old Border Collie/Lab mix. She's usually a ham about getting her picture taken, but she intensely dislikes being made to look stupid, which is what she's thinking here: "Man, I hate doing this. This is stupid." We have another photo of her with the bow up on her head, but I thought I'd leave her with a little of her dignity intact.



Our Vernal Equinox tradition. (We also do it on the Autumnal Equinox.) Daughter #1 and I sat outside on the porch on a windy, freezing day, balancing eggs. We got more up than this, but the wind kept blowing them over. And our hands were so cold they were aching, so we called it a day, took a picture, and went in and got warm.






And this is an update on my first beaded doll. I've done some more since taking these pictures, and I'm almost finished. Needless to say, beading is addictive! I keep telling myself, "Okay, one more pass, one more pass, I'll just add this and then I'll stop, one more thing..." and next thing I know, it's 'way past time to stop and get moving. Oh, and see? Told you those weren't Venus de Milo's shoulders-- they're boobs! Only now you can tell.