A Feel Good Evening

I have not watched the Oscars for the last few years because well, quite frankly, I'm more interested in the Red Carpet. I have never been let down by the Red Carpet like I've been when watching the Oscars. Most times when I'm done watching I'm just so upset because of course I have my favorites and why didn't they just ask me who should win in the first place? It would have saved The Academy a whole lot of money and effort. This year I was not let down in both regards.

I was very impressed by the showing on the Red Carpet this year. I love, love, love Anne Hathaway's Marchesa gown. Is there ever a time when she's not stunning?


Dame Helen Mirren was equally stunning in her Georges Chakra gown. Check out the pattern the crystals make on her sleeve.


Atonement's Saoirse (Sear-shuh) Ronan had on the cutest little Alberta Ferretti princess dress I've seen in a while. It's the type of thing I would have loved to play dress-up in when I was a kid. It almost reminds me of something they might have Clara from The Nutcracker wear.

As for the Oscars themselves, I was impressed with the bare-bones, under produced musical numbers for the Best Song performances. Ever since I saw Enchanted I've been just that with Amy Adams and was glad to see her perform "Happy Working Song." And Kristin Chenowyth singing "That's How You Know" was just so darn cute!

My favorite feel good moment of the evening was when Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (aka The Swell Season) performed "Falling Slowly" from the film ONCE.

I had totally forgotten it was nominated and was pleasantly surprised when they were announced to perform. Now, I've never seen the movie but I love the song. It's beautifully melancholic and those two sing with such... oh, I don't even know what to call it. You can watch their Oscar performance here and watch their acceptance here. It was so touching to see Glen get all verklemt. Marketa didn't get to say anything because the orchestra jumped the gun but Jon Stewart brought her back out to say a few words and I'm grateful that he did. She is charming.

So, how did you like the Oscars?

A Thaw in the Ice

Today I found out that Pitchers and Catchers will be reporting for duty in Scottsdale, AZ soon... VERY SOON. The first Spring Training game will be Feb. 28th. That information for me is like watching ice drip off a frozen flower. It just drips, drips, drips away as the sun comes out from hiding until it's totally thawed. "What am I talking about?" you may ask.

I'm talking about BASEBALL!


I love baseball. From March to October my family breathes baseball. I and my brothers played Little League Baseball. My career didn't last through T-Ball. I literally stopped playing not even halfway through the season. I was more interested in being a spectator. Ryan did pretty well in Little League and Robin's got one more year. It will be exciting to see what he has to offer us this season.


We've had some exciting times at Baseball stadiums.... Like the time Mom thought I was lost or had been taken because I wandered off while she was talking to customer service. I was bored and tired of waiting for her and had decided to walk back to our seats where Dad and Ryan were. That was the last place she checked but there I was, watching the game, and wondering just why she was crying and livid at the same time. This was back in 1986 when the modern convenience of everyone having a cell phone did not exist. Fun stuff.

But I have to say that my feelings for baseball can be summed up in this quote from a movie you've probably seen. If you haven't, go get it and watch it.

"People will come, Ray... For reasons they can't even fathom.

They'll walk out to the bleachers and sit in their shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along the one of the base lines. It will be just like when they were children and cheered their heroes, and they'll watch the game, and it will be as if they were dipped in magic waters. The memories will be so thick, they'll have to brush them away from their faces...

This field, this game, it's our past. It reminds us of all that was once good, and could be again.

Oh, People will come. People will most definitely come."

-W.P. Kinsella, Field of Dreams

And on that note, Peaches, I hope you all have a charming day!

Unexpected Adventures and Paper Flowers

Let me just say OH MY HECK!!

I had quite the adventure last night on my way to over to Santa Cruz to teach. All I was doing was driving along, minding my own business the best I could on Highway 17, and when I went to give the car some gas to get around a bend... there wasn't any. No gas. Nothin'. The car was still on, the car was still moving, but when I stepped on the gas the pretty-pretty revving sound wasn't there. I have to say I was very proud of myself for not freaking out more than I did. I was frazzled and worried, but I didn't get all hysterical like I thought I would in a situation like this.

So anyway, I got the car over to a shoulder-ish area (the little triangular spit of land between the two lanes and an on-ramp) and then called home for help. As I was sitting there with my hazards on and waiting patiently for the tow truck to arrive, I was very very glad I had stashed a book in my tote before going over The Hill. Once the car was on the bed of the tow truck and we were underway to the mechanics, I was exhausted! Mom and Dad met me at the mechanics and made sure I got something to calm my "frazzled" nerves... they took me to Willow Glen Frozen Yogurt. Hee hee! What a nice treat for not such a nice night.

When I got home I was still a little wound up so I got to making a paper flower for one of Robin's Valentin's gifts for Shannon. It came out so awesome!


It come in a kit from Paper Source. It has directions and enough paper, floral, tape, and wire to make 14 small (6") flowers or 4 medium (9") flowers. All you need is scissors, PVA glue, and a paintbrush or Q-Tip.


Mom and I are going to experiment trying to make these with fabric. They go together so easily and the most tedious thing about it, like with any other project, is the prep and cutting... Oh, and the clean up.

Have yourselves a charming day!

Doodling in the Dark

I hate it when life gets in the way of of the things we really want to be doing. Here is my ideal day: Wake up, shower, breakfast - walk with Piper - Post a Blog - Create, create, create - Pedro's Nachos for lunch with some sweet Icing On The Cake chaser (and bring something home for later) - Create, create, create some more - Make dinner - Someone else cleans up ; ) - walk with Piper - Take photos of all the creating for tomorrow's blog post - Watch some TV while nursing dessert from IOTC - Go to bed with a good book - Fall asleep with same good book in hand...

That right there would be one near-to-perfect day. It's a day I would like to relive over and over again... Well, maybe one day... when I'm independently wealthy and I don't have to worry about looking for a job or going for an interview! Until then, the daily grind continues. Fun fun!

Last night for Family Home Evening we did something really, incredibly fun that you are so going to want to do... We made Light Doodle Pens! What are Light Doodle Pens? They're little pens made out of clear plastic tubing that have little LED lights at the end of them. What's so great about that, right? Well, you know how you can take sparklers and, using a camera, draw a picture and take a photo of it? You can do that with these and not worry about burning your hand!

About 4 months ago Sprint came out with a series of commercials using this idea. They used flashlights with a colored cell over the glass for a thicker line. I found the commercial on Youtube, but then I found this. Pretty cool when you think about how it's done and the finished product is always a surprise. We had so much fun making these last night. I hope you enjoy them!