We are back at the 433, and happy to be “home”. Mikey did well on his exam he thinks, Hazel cut the last of her teeth (until second-year molars, that is), and I was mildly useful for over a week as a single parent. I napped almost every day with Hazel, and I plowed through the last half of The Poisonwood Bible (omg), and did silly things like paint my nails and let them dry all the way and watch bad lifetime movies while my mom bathed my child. I am still trying to get my bearings and try to figure out how to catch up from being away. I keep puttering around, floating from task to task, and not completing any of them.

My friend Jenn got married over the weekend, and asked me sometime last year if I’d create jewelry for she and her girls. I happily obliged, excited to have almost totally free rein. This ended up making it a lot more difficult to decide on a design in the end, and I have spent A LOT of time bead-shopping over the past several months. I’m super happy with the finished products, though:

More importantly, Jenn’s face lit up when I handed them over two weeks ago at Panera – where we met for old time’s sake – and they all looked stunning on the big day. I’m not used to making such fancy things. Her photographer, Amberlee Christey, did a MUCH better job of making the jewels look pretty than I did, so I emailed her to ask if I could use this photo on my blog. She didn’t mind at all, and casually mentioned that I might know her brother and sister-in-law. Of course I do, because I live in the smallest world ever.*

*I am still working on blanket information, but have so far gathered the following tidbit: the priest Mikey thought of when we discovered the woman’s name on the label? The one who I found out is the cousin of the blanket-maker’s husband? Someone very near & dear to me got drunk for the first time at age 15 at that man’s ordination. Am I allowed to say that on the internet?

Listening: Hank Williams
(I am) Reading: Last Child in the Woods
(Hazel is) Reading: Each Peach, Plum, Pear and a bunch more yardsale books
Working on: trying to organize my life