Yesterday, Luke turned 18 months old. Big boy. We celebrated with a trip to the toy store where we acquired a very nice shiny set of cooking pans, just the right size for making dinner for Bear and Mr. Ray. Afterwards we went to my favorite coffee shop and split a snickerdoodle. Luke sat in his own chair, with his little sneakered feet not even long enough to dangle over the edge. He munched his half of the cookie slowly, looking around at the birds and passersby on the sidewalk. A Unitrans bus went by.

“Whoa!” he said.

“Whoa.” I agreed. “That’s a bus. Bus.”

I can’t resist pansies this time of year. They just look like spring. Home improvement projects took me on multiple trips to the hardware store this past weekend and on the last of these trips, 3 six-packs of pansies followed me home.

I’m not an avid gardener. Perhaps because it’s something my mom and sister are both naturally good at and so I’ve stayed out of it. Based on the historical record, green things turn brown when I touch them. I’m much better with mammals; they get in your face when you forget to feed them.

I visited my prior place of employment this week. They’re in a new office, but the walls are the same, if you can get that. A few of the scientists and geographers I knew have endured. Lots of new faces in the admin departments. Nice folk though. Seems like a good crew. The crew was never the problem. I don’t care what you sell or how revolutionary a product it is. Your team is your business and you’ll never be successful until you get that. I learned this from my dad.

Can you tell my work load has been light lately? So be it. Here are few more recently finished projects. Yet again, I’m all dressed up with no place to go.

My Bad-Ass Spiderweb Gauntlets

My friend Ania recently created an online quiz that identifies the ballet heroine that you are most like. Apparently I’m most like Odette. That puts me somewhere between