Peeling Back the Layers

Annie and I just returned from a wonderful road trip to LA to hang out with LaLa and the new kittens. I enjoyed the travel part more than I thought I would and I LOVED being with LaLa and Annie! Thank you Pat! We'll be back soon. And we'll stay longer if you can take it.

I did this months Virtual Sketch Date while away. Annie wasn't interested in painting this image. She said she really wants to choose what to paint. I don't blame her. It was a tricky, very contrasty image . If I had had more time, I would have taken time to do a variety of approaches, sketches, mediums and had some more fun.

Wedded Bliss

We just attended a wonderful wedding in Washington of Bill's cousin Steven. It was a beautiful affair with bright colors of orange, pink and magenta's. Annie and her cousins had a wonderful time running and playing and rolling down grassy hills in their best clothing. Oh well, so much for the white dress! It was great to see everyone from Bill's family, and to watch Uncle Pete and Aunt Ruth see their son get married to such a wonderful woman. Weddings always move me and this one was no different. I was lightly dewy eyed until I saw the bride dance with her father to Van Morrison's Have I Told You Lately That I Love You. Without warning my throat tightened up and I burst into tears and had to walk away into the forested part of the landscaping. The cake I was eating just stuck like a clod of dirt in my throat. I couldn't believe I was having such a reaction! I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to have had a relationship with my own father as an adult and what it might have felt like to have danced with him to a song like that. I felt so, so overwhelmingly sad. This whole move has left me feeling so rootless. I am grieving and missing my mother terribly as well, and it's been five long years since she's died! I'm feeling sad and confused about my relationship with my brother and sister, and judging myself for not being enough, or more of something. Ugh! I knew I had to get to this place. I've met all of this change in my life with a lot of excitement and good spirit, and now I'm grieving all of the loss and change.

Four More Things About Me

Four Jobs I've Had

1. Teenage salad and dessert girl, Boulder House Restaurant

2. Entertainment industry graphic designer

3. Small business owner, Houseworks

4. Residential mural painter


Four Movies I'd Watch Again and Again

1. The Quiet Man starring Maureen O'Hara

2. Any Merchant Ivory production

3. My Life as a Dog - Lasse Hallstrom

4. Babette's Feast


Four Places I've Lived

1.Born in Berkeley, California

2. Raised in Santa Cruz Mountains, California

3. Colleged in Pasadena, California

4. Worked in Santa Monica, California



Four TV Shows I'll Watch

1. 60 minutes

2. The Dog Wisperer

3. Designed to Sell

4. Flip This House



Four Blogs I Like to Visit

1. Big + Little

2. No Appropriate Behavior

3. Little Birds

4. Green Kitchen



Four Foods I Like

1. Spinach & Onions

2. Freshly laid eggs

3. Anything Billy cooks

4. Chocolate & Nuts



Four Places I'd Like to go to Again

1. The west coast of Ireland

2. Ubud, Indonesia

3. Swimming in a cenote in the Yucatan

4. Joshua Tree in the Spring

Irish Heartbeat

The first time we went to Ireland was in 2001. A few days before we left (we bought non-refundable tickets) we heard through our adoption agency that Annie's Birthmother Patricia wanted us to parent her baby. It was our first "nibble" in the nine months we had been waiting. What a thrill! Only we still hadn't heard from her. Not a call or any signal from her at all. So it seemed like a vague possibility, and one with high risk factors. One of which, it was still unknown whether or not Annie's Birthtfather was going to agree to the adoption. So we went to the West of Ireland. We wandered. We explored. We were healed and renewed by the enormous amount of green. We walked. We ate. We breathed. We absolutely loved it. We also wondered...is our baby on it's way to us?

We arrived home on Presidents Day weekend. We met Patricia that Thursday. She was 39 weeks pregnant. We (Bill & I & Patricia) knew immediately that it was right. The following Tuesday we were in labor. Ten hours after that we had a daughter. We cut the cord. We came home. We became a family! We had grafted a whole new branch onto our family tree.

Then three years later, we took Annie back to Ireland for her third birthday. My Sister Fran Fran and Aunt LaLa Pat came too. We rented a cottage in Dingle bay together and had a wonderful time!

This time of year reminds me of Ireland.

We'd go back in a heartbeat!

(Photos from the top)
Me in the garden behind the cottage we rented in Sligo.
Annie the morning of her birthday.
Annie and I in Doolin.