Happy Mole Day!

We've been very busy with home stuff.  Both our master closet and mudroom are finished!  As soon as the master bath is done we will finally be able to move all of our clothes and toiletries downstairs. We're crossing our fingers that the master bath is finished this weekend.  And because we're hopeful, we moved quite a bit of stuff down today (after another backbreaking round of thorough cleaning).

This is the entryway to the mudroom!  

And here is my side of the closet!

Because Rachel joined the International Baccalaureate this year, she is spending way way way more time studying.  She's doing an amazing job, and we are so incredibly proud of her. We have noticed that she is easily distracted however, and really needs her own place to study. We were originally going to set up a desk in her room but there were two problems with that.  First, she needs a place to get away from it all and sleep. Also, her room is upstairs and her homework help hangs out downstairs.  So we talked with Rachel about the idea of setting up a desk area in the guest bedroom, which is on the first floor, and she loved the idea.  Robert and I flew through ikea last Monday, and Robert put all the furniture together at lightning fast speed.  Really.  He was a beast! Last night we revealed the space to her, and she seemed quite pleased!

Today is also Mole Day!!  So what the heck does that mean? The Mole is a unit of measurement and Mole Day commemorates Avogadro's Number, which is 6.02 x 10^23 (Avogadro is a famous, very dead scientist). Rachel has been preparing for this day for awhile.  Last year she participated in Mole day, and this year, as a Junior, she helped organize it. Because the party started at 6:02 AM, she was out of the house before I was even awake!  

Here's this year's Mole Day shirt:



So yes, there has been much excitement here as we nest a little more in our house that's so very close to being finished.  And I'm so hopeful Rachel loves her study space.  She is already doing awesome things in there. Like her self portrait.



Amazing, huh?

interesting solution to an everyday problem

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Yesterday, a patron approached the desk and asked if I could look up her library card number.  After looking it up and writing it down for her, she shrugged her shoulders dejectedly and said she may never find her library card again.  I told her I'd be happy to make her a new card and it was free, and she politely said no thanks and asked if she could use one of our permanent markers.  I fanned out a selection of markers for her (she chose black), and I went back to discharging books at a different computer.

A few minutes later I noticed the patron was still standing at the help desk.  I began walking towards the desk to ask her if she needed anything else, and that's when I noticed what she was doing.  She was very carefully writing her library card number on every single card in her wallet - credit card, insurance card, punch cards, everything.  She was very intent on the task at hand and didn't notice me approaching or backing away from the desk.

After several minutes, she put the cap back on the permanent marker, flipped through her stack of cards, and satisfied that her library card number was on each card, put them back into her wallet.

Hebe

A friend/coworker of mine used her thinker and googled the mysterious statue and her animal friends.

Turns out the statue's name is Hebe, and it looks like she's been demoted from Goddess to Geocache.

orange flower

I have been in the mood for neutrals!  I've actually stepped back from journaling because a couple pages pretty much look like camouflage.  There's nothing wrong with camouflage of course.  I just don't want the last few months looking the same!  

Hopefully embroidering this flower fulfilled my current zest for neutrals.  It was a very peaceful project.

Autumn in my city

Though oak mites are gnashing their terrible chompers right now, weather in my neck of the woods has been perfect and worth every miserable oak mite bite.  

We've been gallivanting around the city, enjoying the weather and soaking up the beginnings of a beautiful autumn.

I cannot resist picking up hedge apples, even at the risk of my fingers going straight through a soft spot right into the rotten gunk inside.  So I applaud this unique way of displaying hedge apples and may even try something like it next year.

We've spent quite a bit of time in the creek when it's not raining.  I love how this ground cover is slowly sneaking its way down.  



And I have no idea what this is.  A shrine?  Is this a Saint? I'm enamored with it but only have speculations.  All of the figurines are animals and birds, and there are quite a few doves.

Sedona!!

Last weekend Robert, Rachel, and I went to Sedona to hang out with... 

You guessed it!  More brothers!

Sedona is magical.  It's my new favorite place.

These are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip:

While we waited for the rest of the family to arrive, Robert, Rachel, and I did a little hiking in Sedona.  

While off-roading, we stumbled upon the Palatki pictographs. Naturally, like most unexpected moments of trips, this tiny hike along the cliffs was my favorite part of our Sedona trip.  I love this picture because it best describes the feeling of being tucked inside the cliffs.  From left: Rusty Heather, Scott, and Harper.

We went for another tiny hike on what is now my new favorite trail - the West Fork Creek Trail.  A few steps away from the car I found myself completely transported into a fairytale forest.  I cannot wait to go back and give it my full attention. This is Scott and Harper coming out of the fairytale forest.

We spent half a day at the grand canyon, which is a much more spectacular sight when I'm not squinting through a snow storm to see it.  Though it doesn't look it, I'm somewhere in the middle of this huddle.  Turns out Rachel is taller than me.  

Harper stole the show in most of our pictures because she's the cutest and she knows it.  

The more I looked at this mural in flagstaff, the more it drew me in.  I'm so glad I took a picture of it! 

On our last day, Scott and I explored the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.  This is an exceptional garden well worth the steep price of $25 per person.  I loved every second we spent exploring the plants, artwork, and bugs.  Both of these pictures were taken by Scott, who had the patience to photograph the dragonfly while I simply stood dumbfounded by its presence.  We both agreed we've never seen a dragonfly stay still for so long - several minutes!

It was a relaxing, cathartic, and silly visit.  I feel very fortunate to have had so much brother time and family time these past couple weeks.  I will be joyfully scrapbooking my favorite moments for pretty much the rest of the year.   

pretty much an A to Z month of reading

September was a great month for reading!

Here are my favorites:

Hand Lettering A to Z by Abbey Sy

I loved this book the very first moment I laid eyes on it. There's more than enough inspiration from the cover alone. I liked this book so much more than other lettering books because the letters are likable, no-fuss, and easy-to-read. There's also gobs of instruction, which seems to be lacking in other lettering books. I cannot wait to get started and will probably use a combination of styles in my first project simply because it's impossible to choose just one.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. Vs. Inequality byJonah Winter and Stacy Innerst 



This is the second book I've read about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The first, "I dissent," is pretty good. This one is excellent. I really loved this glimpse into her life. The moments about her mom were incredibly bittersweet. The nod to her childhood library made my heart glow. And then there's the fact that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a very inspirational, hardworking, stellar lady who has positively impacted the lives of millions, possibly billions, of people.

P.S. The illustrations are marvelous, particularly the endpapers.

Love Is by Diane Adams and Claire Keane



The story was a little too sugary and perfect for my tastes. But I do have a fondness for happy endings, even when they make my eyes roll. And there's no way that illustrations of a girl and her duck can ever be too sweet, right? I loved the attention to detail and how the muted colors really spotlighted the little girl and her duck. My favorite moment is the giant hug shared between the little girl and her duck towards the end.



Armstrong: The Adventurous Journey of A Mouse to the Moon by Torben Kuhlmann



The illustrations are flawless, imaginative, and profoundly absorbing. And the story is superb as well, with such a clever ending and fascinating blurbs about human astronauts at the end. Every piece the mouse used to construct his space shuttle was ingenious and appropriately-sized for a mouse. This is one of those rare books that consumed me the moment I opened it. It also gave me that same special feeling that my favorite hidey places gave me as a child. It's quite possible I shrunk to the same size as the mouse in this story and scurried everywhere he did, collecting parts, Once I begrudgingly closed the book, I became the size of a human once again. 



Lindbergh: The Tale of A Flying Mouse by Torben Kuhlmann



I have nothing but praise for Torben Kuhlmann. I love Lindbergh as much as Armstrong, and for most of the same reasons. The illustrations are sublime and so incredibly absorbing. The story scoops the reader up and doesn't let go, not even at the very end, because it's so indelible. In this story owls and cats are after the mouse, and I was so delightfully spooked by the illustrations of the owls.

Professional Crocodile by Giovanna Zoboli and Mariachiara Di Giorgio

This is another wordless book that completely slurped me up. There are so many beautiful details - for instance on the subway when the crocodile has to stand with his head up so that he can squeeze in and the fact that he gets dressed for his job (which I'll keep mum). This is definitely one of those books that can be read over and over again in dozens of different ways. I also really love how the crocodile's morning routine is depicted - he dresses with care, moseys to work rather leisurely, buys a baked treat and flowers for a special lady, and even has a personalized locker at his 'office.'  It's very much how my six-year-old self imagined my adult self would get ready and commute to work.