Day 343

We finally got to have Ghost Daughter's birthday cake...only 3 weeks late. When your daughter asks you to make a cake with her favorite My Little Pony (Apple Jack) and an apple orchard on it, you do what you can.  So here it is.  Apple spice cake with cream cheese frosting.  The trees are rock candy sticks dotted with red icing for apples.  Cinnamon candies stand in for the fallen apples. And the ponies came from Blind Bags (you don't know which pony you've bought until you open it.) Can you believe the luck? I actually got Apple Jack (notice the 3 apples of her "cutie mark") and no duplicates! It was providence.  An extra bit of awesome came when the flames of the candles burned in different colors. Ghost Daughter really enjoyed that cake.

Day 330

The amazing illustrator, Elizabeth Dulemba (Don't you LOVE her hair!), Ghost Girl (me), and JRo Brown (my #wipmadness buddy and roommate for the weekend). The #wipmadness gals are going to have a couple of kick-ass contracts by the end of the year...

Day 329

Kirby Larson & Me

One of my favorite people, author of HATTIE BIG SKY and many more wonderful books, Kirby Larson shared her experiences and techniques with us in several amazing sessions at the Spring Mingle.  My favorite moments were chatting at the bar with her and Elizabeth Dulemba about our work, our inspirations, and all the fun things that fill our lives.  Oh, I just wish I could take these wonderful ladies home with me for a while!

Day 270 — ...After

Ta Da!

Day 269 — Before...

We are working on the kitchen...tile and paint.  This is the "Before" shot.  As you can see, we are getting a late start.

Day 266

Christmas from Ghost Hunk!  Yes!  My Christmas wish came true!  Now I just have to figure out how to operate it.  Two of the most amazing gifts ever...something to satisfy the photo nut in me and affirmation of my writing life. Thank you, my love.  That kind of support means more than I can say...

Day 265

This holiday card arrived in the post today, all the way from Japan.  A very dear editing client of mine sent it to me.  Every inch of it is so lovely, right down to the beautiful writing.  

メリークリスマス

Day 264

Ghost Hunk's project.  For the last year and a half, we have stumbled through a maze of junk in the garage, some of it tossed into any old box in the last mad dash move.  Ghost Hunk spent the last two days cleaning, organizing, and putting up shelves.  Bravo!

Day 262

The Man Cave...II

Part one of Ghost Hunk's home improvement bash for Christmas break—Ghost Son's lair.  He re-configured the loft bed to use the space underneath and set the son up with his own amazing man cave.

Day 260

There's no jelly in this belly!  This little Santa is stuffed with Hershey Hugs...and he's gonna be giving a lot of Christmas hugs over the next couple of days...

Day 259

Tigger is ready for Christmas...

Day 256

This is the only snowman we'll see this year...

Day 255

From the iPhone:  Yes, it is the holiday season, all full of wonder...I wonder what UPS guy handled this package.  Good thing it wasn't a present for anyone in this house.  This is exactly how I found it when I got home today.

Day 253

The wildest critters in the park...

Day 247

One of the eerier moments of our trip to the zoo...

Day 246

Quincy

Another new friend from the Zoo.

Day 245

Ivan

Today we made a trip up to Zoo Atlanta where we met the grand old man, Ivan.  Our library has a wonderful program:  We check out a video about the history of the zoo, which is amazing, and when we return it, we get 4 free tickets to the zoo.  That is no small favor...$20+ each!

With the camera a little fritzy, I will post a few highlights from our trip throughout the week.

Day 241

The project is in danger...the good camera is on its last legs, so I had to resort to the old, old FinePix.  This is Ghost Daughter's personal Christmas tree...hosting its only party, as you can see.  Santa, if you're listening, I have been a good girl (mostly) and I have only one thing on my list:  a Canon Rebel EOS 18 mp digital camera (18-55mm lens) with an extra 55-250 lens.  

No matter what, we'll keep the project going, even if the quality is variable.  Jingle bells, jingle bells...

Day 240

Let the season begin...

Day 235—Happy Thanksgiving

The bird was glorious, but perhaps a little too glorious...we ate it before I could snap a picture.  So you'll have to use your imagination.  Mmmmmm...it was good.