round up: before winter

Clockwise from top left:

My mock-vintage bulb reflectors look great on a burlesque costume, too;

trimming;

ready for the show to start;

the mess that is our kitchen/my workspace.

Teaching in reindeer antlers;

a new take on the acorn cap;

some wonderful students at Handcraft Studio School;

final products.

Napping with Oliver;

Oliver has really dug into drawing;

a wonderful hike along the ridge of Tiburon;

Oliver helping me deliver more acorns to the shop.

 Street mirror;

two peonies ready to be shipped and me utterly demolished;

sangria and popcorn;

the antlers again.

 Hams;

frost;

Bare cupboards save for Ricola and astronaut ice cream;

morning walk shadows in the Panhandle (I miss this so much).

Oliver eating a gingerbread house;

his favorite friend;

mini-trees;

Stella finishes a 5K, with much walking, but she was very happy.

Coffees from Sunday night all-nighters, which I have just given up.

The kids had a big meltdown one night when we were away for Thanksgiving. Stella said she was so happy I had this new work, but she wanted things to be the way they used to be. Then Oliver got going, really sad and crying, asking for me to play with him more again. Then he started taking advantage of the situation while we were all huddled in a pool of tears, asking for me to never get mad at him for having a tantrum again. Nice try.

It was a touching scene and a major reality check for me. I had been staying up all night two nights a week for a couple of months. I was already wondering if I needed to go to some kind of rehab or something, because when we left for our trip I was so tired I slept ten hours in the car, then all night, then the next day I couldn't get un-groggy. Then the kids told me how they really felt and I realized that all-nighters are not the answer anymore to a big work load. That was fun for a while. But now I'm on a different schedule that has me getting work done and in bed by midnight most nights and that's working for all of us. I was a mess, though. Wow.

We have such a full weekend this weekend. Stella's winter concert tonight, a major all-night crab-fest party tomorrow night and then birthday parties and Oliver's preschool party fit in somewhere, too. I think next year we might do something crazy for Christmastime, like a "no-commitment" Christmas, where we don't go to any dinners, performances or parties. Probably not, but it sounds good right now!

Next week I'll be back with another donut pan project and a giveaway with it. Have a great weekend! 

xoxo