Happy Valentine's Day to all of you.

Happy Creative Christmas Eve :)

making Christmas tree ornaments with Aunt Vinnie and Eliot

Grandma JoJo helping

My cutest cousin named Eliot

Uncle Craig, my favorite uncle since childhood

A bit of creating from November

Friday 56 & Book Beginnings , a horrific day, and an origami giveaway

Well, I've had many, many better days. (and I don't normally evaluate each day before bed) Today was ludicrously rotten in all kinds of different ways -- but I'll focus on some positives --- I got new nose-pads for my glasses, a nice Craigslist man brought my heavy heavy laundry basket and box inside for me, I was not

Image via Wikipedia

hit by a car (today), my friend Holly is okay, and . . . um . . . Jeremy made me a gin and tonic while I was waiting at the apartment to come home.  There.  Good things.  Now I will probably read with Mark so Amy can get Lilly to sleep and then snuggle into bed myself.  I'm safe, I have comfy pajamas and Nico the cat is curled up with her body between my side and my left arm.  Good stuff.  Here is Mark to read, so I'll do some Friday memes and sign off.

Welcome to The Friday 56, now hosted by Freda’s Voice.
Here’s how it works:
Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

The closing installment likened McCarthy to" a drunk at a party who was funny half an hour ago but now won't go home.  McCarthy is camped in America's front room trying to impress everybody by singing all the dirty songs and using all the four-letter words he knows.  The jokes are pointless, the songs unfunny, the profanity a bore."
~Getting It Wrong:  Ten Misreported Stories in American Journalism by W. Joseph Campbell

(Since my quote was a quote, I took the liberty of including the complete quote.) I'm just starting this one and think it will be very interesting but that it may be one of those books that keeps me very aware, while reading it, that it is non-fiction.  We'll see...

How to participate: All you have to do is share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading (and can go pick up a copy if it sounds good!). Then, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line and whether or not you liked the sentence(s).

"Hello, Gollie," said Bink. "What should we do today?"

~from Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

This is my latest book crush -- DiCamillo and McGhee have already written many beloved children's books on their own and have now teamed up to write what we can only hope will be the first in a delightful new series.  The quirkiness of this book is right up my alley.  There are three chapters: "Don't You Need a New Pair of Socks?", "P.S. I'll Be Back Soon", and "Give a Fish a Home".   Really -- check this book out -- it's good stuff -- It's the kind of book that has some great quotes you'll find yourself incorporating into your household conversations. (-Do I smell pancakes? -No.  -Will I smell pancakes?)

While we're at it, head over to Freda's Voice to enter to win World's Best Origami!  What better way to spend your next rainy/snowy day?

An overload of Halloween pictures

A beautiful Halloween sunset in Highlands Ranch.

First off, giant thank yous, love, and kudos to my friends Dara and Amy for all the help they gave me while I made Fiona's purple wings -- my first endeavor of this kind.  And Dara graciously, in the midst of many, many other things going on in her own life, made Fiona's black and red skirt. 

Fiona made my necklace at school last year.

Glitter.

Trying to avoid the camera.

How cute are the fairy and the garden gnome (Fiona's dear friend Kolya)?

Psychedelic.

Kolya and Fiona were ready to go home before we were.

They did agree to pose for one more picture, though.

Loot.

Luckily, Lauren is very organized.  ;)