Birthday Boy

We celebrated Jack's 35th birthday last week with a fantastic Sponge Bob party. Our friends (The Claysons and the Winsors) came over for a pineapple-inspired dinner, and pineapple-upside-down birthday cake. We even had a pinata.
Happy "5th" Birthday Jack!

Beautiful Baby

Our birth mom Melissa had a 3d ultrasound last week, and here are the photos.

Is this a beautiful baby, or what?

Her due date is just 9 weeks away, and we are so excited! We can't wait to welcome this baby into our family.

JUMPIN' JELLYFISH!

We went to Florida over the weekend. (about 3 hours from here) We went scuba diving on Saturday, and we spent most of our time dodging the jellyfish! I had heard about them before, but had never seen one. (the water in CA is too cold for jellyfish, but the water of the Gulf of Mexico is so warm that it is a perfect breeding ground for them!) They are beautiful to look at, but I was freaked out about getting stung.

I was so careful and dodged them sucessfully for the whole dive, but when we were coming up I wasn't looking, and one got me on the hand. Ouch! It left white bumps all over my hand, and it was red and itchy and tingly all over! Luckily, it only lasted about an hour, so it wasn't too bad.
The jellyfish are interesting because they seem to just float along in the current. I mean, they obviously don't have eyes to see where they are going, and they didn't try to get out of our way (like the fish do) they just float along till they bump into something. I was intrigued by them. Jack touched one with his finger (only the tentacles at the bottom will sting you) and he said it was really firm. (Like jello? I asked.) Firmer than jello, but still rubbery. That suprised me because they look so thin and transparent, like a piece of Saran Wrap floating in the water. Hm.

They told us that the boat we were on was in the movie Jaws. And why would they bring up such a thing while we're out in the water???? Yikes. We also went to the beach, where the water was a bright green (They do call it the Emerald coast) and the sand was pure white- like sugar. Again- a total change from the beaches I'm used to in California. (where the water is dark and the sand is brown) And the water was so warm, it was really nice!

Art Show

On Tuesday I put up my installation at the gallery in Georgia. It's called Current.

Jack and I recently moved to Alabama, and are experiencing the South for the first time. His job takes us to a new place every few years, which is always a wonderful learning experience. As we prepared to leave our last home in Utah, I was thinking a lot about the good times we had there, and the friends we had made. I considered the things they had taught me, and how they had influenced my life. I thought about how those people and those experiences have become a part of me. Now I take those things with me, wherever I go.

This piece, Current, is about the people and places that flow into our lives, and influence how we develop. I started with 135 pieces of fabric, identical in size and shape. I hand-dyed each piece, then stitched the pieces together to form something that would fill the gallery. You can walk into the piece, so it surrounds you.

I started with identical pieces of fabric because the individual pieces can be read as moments in time, or specific people and experiences that have left their mark. I applied the dye to the fabric in different ways, sometimes allowing the dye from one piece to seep onto the fabric of another piece. I also soaked some pieces in one vat of dye, and then moved it into another vat to see how the colors would blend and change one another.

When I first visited this gallery I noted the wonderful length of the space, and I could immediately envision a river running through the space. Not the curvaceous, looping rivers of Andy Goldsworthy, but the long, wide rivers that I’ve seen here in the South, since moving here. And the colors of jade and turquoise, those came from a recent trip that we took to the Caribbean, where I saw the most incredible colors of water!

Our new home

Well, I unpacked the final 3 boxes today... so it's official. We're moved in!

It's taken a few weeks to get the last little bit done, but we did it! Here are a few photos:

Below is a photo of the field behind our house-- it is surrounded by trees, and is crawling with Kudzu. (Google it, if you don't know what Kudzu is. It's crazy stuff!)

Baby Room progress

Jack's mom has been sewing like mad! She has sent us several boxes of quilts and blankets that she has made from the fabric I picked out.
They are so cute!

And since we won't know the gender of the baby, she has made two sets- one for a boy, and one for a girl! Here are the two quilts, on the crib.

I have a lot to do to get the baby room ready, but I am holding off for a couple of months.

I have just 3 weeks to get ready for an art show in Georgia, and then 4 weeks after that to get ready for another art show in Georgia! When those are both done (mid-October), then I will devote all of my time to getting ready for this baby. I have a stack of books to read, diapers to buy, products to research, curtains to sew, lullabies to learn, safety products to install, and a house to baby-proof. Just thinking about it, I get so excited!
January just can't come soon enough...

Graceland

On our drive to Alabama, we stopped in Memphis for a tour of Graceland. It was nothing like what I expected.

Apparently, rich famous people in Elvis' day didn't live in the 10,000 square foot mansions, like they do today.

I mean, Graceland seemed like a fairly normal-size house. And the decor, well, it's straight out of the 70's.

Every room was different. There was the jungle room, with thick green shag, and crazy decor. Can you tell it was decorated in the 70's? (I had to laugh because on the audio tour, they kept emphasizing that each room was "professionally decorated"... in case you were wondering)

My two favorite rooms were the living room, with a mirrored wall and sleek white furniture; and the TV room done in bright yellow and navy blue. They were a little more timeless, and almost 40 years later, they're still cool.