The return of the Tuesday Ten!

1. It's good to be back from Spring Break and return to the routine that school and work bring... I love vacation - but I love routine better, I think.
2. I saw a squirrel outside this morning running head first down the side of the fence. Can you imagine climbing downward, head first? God must have made little squirrel bodies quite differently from ours, because I'm quite certain we could never do that. It makes me get all quivery and scared just thinking about trying.
3. I found this little travel sized Scrabble game in a box in my studio over the weekend. I'm slowly working toward complete and total organization in there. Anyway - I bought this at a garage sale, I'm sure. I probably thought I could use the pieces for some altered project someday. But as I started to play with it, I made this happy little family grid and decided to glue it in place and put it up on display. It makes me exceedingly happy.
4. I cannot get a grip on cleaning... the dusting and vacuuming is just a never-ending need, isn't it? I know I complain about this a lot. I wish I were a man for just one day so I would know what it was like to not notice it. (I know that's a sweeping over-generalization, but I'm telling you, the members of the male species in this house NEVER see dirt. Or fingerprints. Or dust. Or socks on the floor. Can you imagine the freedom they must feel?)
5. We're doing a screen-free two weeks here... trying to ease Tejan back into the reality of life without screen-ish diversions. I love it. It's so quiet. And the kids really are amazingly good at finding things to do when screens are not an option. Of course, here I am, sitting in front of a screen. But the point is to help T, and he's not here. I told the kids I would still be blogging, because this is my journal. Do I sound like I'm making excuses?
6. Asia is working this week in Moses Lake, Washington. It's an armpit. It makes up for all those weeks he gets to spend in Seattle or other fun locales while we plug away at home. I don't feel particularly sorry for him, can you tell?
7. I'm probably the last seasoned blog-reader on earth to subscribe to Bloglines. Why, oh why, did I wait so long? I love efficiency. And Bloglines is a VERY efficient way to read blogs. Silly me for not doing this sooner.
8. I ate lunch with Ethan over the weekend at Madeleine's, a new-ish french cafe and patisserie in downtown Spokane. I simply cannot wait to go back. The food was amazing. I become easily obsessed when I find a restaurant meal I love and can't stop thinking about it... it's a little scary. Ethan and I shared a plate of 'sliders' - which consisted of three adorable little hamburgers on homemade buns with Gruyere cheese and grilled onions and yummy little crispy pomme frites (french fries.) They were to.die.for... Anyone local want to meet me there for lunch soon?
9. Kyler's fighting a sore throat - not strep, thank goodness, but still, it's pretty painful. I let him stay home yesterday so we could go to the doctor for the strep test, but he went back today... loaded up with lots of Tylenol... poor kid. Don'tcha hate a sore throat?
10. I'm working hard in the studio, getting ready for an art show I'm participating in at the end of the month. I have a student who owns a frame shop and gallery and hosts two shows a year - and she asked me to participate and put things in their Spring show... It's a little intimidating, because most of the people who exhibit are fine artists, and what I do is a far cry from fine art... but I'm confident there's a market for my stuff too (and apparently so are the owners...) So I've been working tons, creating little hand bound books and lots of banners... It's fun. Here's the banner I made yesterday... isn't it cute? I kind of wish I could keep it. (And maybe I will, if no one buys it!)
    

Happy Tuesday, friends!