breathing again

The madness feels like it's almost lifting a bit this week.  Girl child's final show was Sunday.  I'm almost going to feel a little sad that Grimm is over although, I maybe just need to remember having to show hair every day for two and a half weeks and the sadness passes quickly.  Plus we still have a strike party to endure enjoy on Thursday.

Just for fun, here is The Man doing headband curls with girl child.  Looks like they're having fun, yes?

It wasn't fun for me.  This was, unfortunately, the one and only time he helped with hair during all four of girl child's major productions to date.  Also missing is the after picture when I try to pull them out the next morning and end up with a nine year old with big ol' white fro who needs to be on stage in less than an hour.

Here is girl child part way through boring yet reliable hair spray and curling iron torture.  No, it's not fun.  Not even when wearing stage make up. 

We may all be suffering from hair spray induced emphysema, but damn, her hair looked good when I was done.

Now that the show's run is completed, I've had a little bit of time (twenty minutes?) to work on my own project.  I think I started this doll back in January.  Not much has happened since then, but I'm hoping, maybe, by January next year it'll be done?

It's a bit of a departure from my previous dolls.  In this one, inspired by The Grimm Brother's Rumpelstiltskin, I will be stitching in the feature and clothes with words from the story. 

Hey, random blood orange!  Because I love blood oranges.

There is all sorts of spring-like signs about.  The snow drifts are still five feet high, of course, but little hints of spring are about.  I saw a Canada goose today.  I also spotted this handsome guy back at our feeder, although, technically he is not a spring bird.  He's visited us every few weeks all throughout the winter. 

Now, this is what spring looks like:

Our deck, dwarfed by snow banks on all sides, is a warming shade of brown and, having kept the snow off it throughout the winter, clear from all winter detritus.  Being sheltered from the wind, we have our own little micro climate that is about five degrees warmer than the rest of the yard.  In the summer it's awful, but right now it feels about perfect.

Girl child took our home school time outside today to the deck.  Today girl child decided that wanted to do some workbooks.  I don't know why, because I never ask her to do them, but some residual angst from conventional school has given her the idea that sometimes learning has to hurt.

Here is girl child's self-inflicted workbook trauma. Look at the tension in her body, her forehead wrinkles, and her go cup of caffeinated beverage (hot chocolate, actually).  She looks like a middle aged human resources desk jockey, working through the lists of employees to be downsized. 

You'd never believe that the front of that workbook says the word, 'Fun!' three times.

While I was watching girl child beat herself up with a workbook, I was writing in my journal and stumbled across this page that girl child had co-opted for herself.



Translation: "I got up and read Big Nat for two hours.  I saw that there are a lot of pieces lost [from] a police Lego set.  I have suspicions that there were robbers in the house but that's impossible.  My dad would know and why would they want police Legos anyway?"

Obviously we have a mystery on our hands.

This is when girl child says to hell with the workbooks and asks if I want to play cards instead.

Yes, yes I do.

So happy we have time for this again, the sun is out, and life is finally slowing down to a pace I can breath.