Doll of the Ninja

Yesterday, UPS brought Kumo a box. I don't think she'd gotten a chance to get into it until today. I heard her talking and cooing like you would to a baby, and had to check it out.

Kumo told me that after hearing about Wendy's plan to make an Atsushi Sakurai doll, she was inspired to make a doll of her all time favorite ninja. She sounded super excited and I know she's been wanting a ball jointed doll for a while. I asked if I could take a look and like any proud mom she turned the little dolly in his box so I could see him better.

Upon seeing the doll, I was a bit confused, and I asked (what I thought) was a perfectly legitimate question.

"Harpo Marx was a ninja?"

Kumo apparently did not see the legitimacy of my question.

Because, honestly, I don't think this is the legitimate way to use a towel rack, either.

Out and About Bunny

True to my birthday promise, Wendy and I have been getting out more. Oh, just little trips, but she's been such a hermit I'd hate to throw her into shock by taking her somewhere foreign. I figure I'll ease us both into getting out and doing stuff. So we started with a quick trip to her Mom and Dad's house.

Took the time...


... to stop and...


... smell the flowers.


I found a bunny burrow, and called down "Hi!" but I don't think there was any bunny home.

I was looking to see if there were bunnies on the other side of this hole dug under the fence. And I wasn't STUCK, I was pausing to watch, no matter what Wendy and Frank say.

They say that to understand a person you must walk a mile in their shoes. I tried it, but couldn't walk much of anywhere in Karen's shoes.

While we were taking in the view (Frank says on a clear day you can see the Mother Cabrini shrine way over there!) I asked Wendy why she's been so down lately, and she said she's just been having headaches, and wouldn't tell me anything else.


Apparently her headache wasn't bad enough that I needed to drive home. Though, I did offer.

As I thought about it, I realized I know EXACTLY what's causing Wendy's headaches, because I get headaches from them too! All the time! PIXIES!

And I knew how to fix the headaches, for both of us.

As soon as we got home, I grabbed a shipping box and some of the postage labels and using my trusty Sharpie, I made a "Free Pixie Movers" box. (Most people don't know this, but according to my internet research, Pixies are unable to resist anything free.) I figured I'd get the pixies to pack up in the box, close it, slap some shipping on it and put it out with the rest of the mail the next day.

I finished up my box, and hid around the corner, waiting for my first "customer".

Unfortunately, the few pixies that noticed it were just not going for it.

Though, Miranda did tell me it was a nice try.

Also rather unfortunately, the only OTHER person who noticed my Pixie Relocation plan was Wendy. I put on my best "innocent bunny" face and told her I had NO idea who would've done such a thing as to try to pack up and mail pixies to a random address in Idaho.

It didn't work. But it did make her smile.

And so much for internet research! They resisted just fine. I'll have to come up with something else.

Happy Birthday to ME!

It's been a really nice, laid back birthday weekend for me, even if my birthday was on Friday the 13th.

I decided that I didn't really want a party, or a lot of people coming over or anything. So Kumo and Wendy got me a cake, and we had a nice little celebration, with just us and the dogs.

I made my wish, took a deep breath, and blew out the candles. Upon turning to look at Kumo, she did not say anything about finding her own place. So I thought maybe the birthday wish might take longer than that.

Kumo and I enjoyed some yummy carrot cake.

Kumo enjoyed a LOT of yummy carrot cake. And an entire carton of Ben and Jerry's.

Between mouthfulls, there was still no mention of getting her own place.

Finally, Kumo decided moving another piece to her plate was just too much effort. I wandered away and Wendy and I enjoyed our coffee in the living room, ignoring the sounds of defenseless cake being brutally devoured. Still no mention of moving out. Stupid birthday wish.

While sipping our coffee, Wendy asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I suggested maybe leaving the house occasionally. She looked sheepishly at me, and sure enough, the next morning we went to the writers' group!

I missed the writers' group a lot. More than I'd realized. And I was glad Kumo had eaten most of the cake the night before, because Wendy bought me a nummy, chocolate, birthday muffin!

While listening to everyone slam the book we're reading for the pagan book discussion group next month, and share their animal rescue stories, I enjoyed my birthday muffin. Mmmmm... muffin.

Anne (Dragonhorse) brought several little ceramic dragons to show everyone. The yellow one had apparently been in a car wreck. Or he was a stylized "whiplash dragon". I don't know much about dragons, so I don't know.

I got the honor of speaking to another stuffie writer! Mr. Beary Cornelius, a romance writer, had attended with his human companion. She's a writer of fantasy/scifi, and apparently there is much lively discussion between the two of them concerning their writing styles.

Beary seemed very nice, and it was great to get to talk to another stuffie! I did have to ask about the lei, though. He told me that he wears them as a constant reminder of his goal to attend the Maui Writers' Conference this year, and I think that's wonderful.

Festive too.

So, my goals for this next year - get out more, see more things, go more places. If I have to learn to drive the freakin' Hamster Van MYSELF we will be going out more (you hear me, Wendy?). But it's been a great year, and a great birthday weekend.

Even if birthday wishes are bunk.

Graduation Day!

So, my blog entry is only two weeks after the fact, but Wendy graduated from massage therapy school Sunday March 25th.

Now that she and Kumo are bestest buddies, Kumo wanted to come along too.

Always fun to hang around with Kumo in public, but she was actually pretty well behaved this time around.

Wandered around, and got to visit some of my former classmates who were graduating with Wendy. Jeff and Ashley were hanging out.

And the ever adorable Megan and Liz(ard).

Then the graduation itself really started, and Gina called everyone to order. She spoke about where all the graduates were going, and about the field they've chosen. It made me a little sad that I'm not going into that field too.

It apparently made Kumo fidgety, because she was suddenly rummaging through Wendy's purse looking for snacks, or breathmints or something.

The lovely Sandy was asked to be one of the two student speakers for graduation, and she did great, though there was apparently some question about how many husbands she had.

And Barb Smith, one of my favorite classmates, was also a student speaker. She was awesome. I think Barb is destined to do great things, and I'm glad I got to meet her, and massage her in class.

There aren't pictures of this part, but Wendy did the kindest thing for me. She knew that I've been a little depressed since things didn't go as well for me with my massage therapy career. Had things gone as planned, I should have been graduating about the same time. So, when Wendy's name got called up to come up and be acknowledged as a graduate, she took me with her. And as I walked up with Wendy, Gina called MY name too!!

It meant a lot.

The owner of the school, Dennis Simpson, spoke at the very end and told us about dreams, and focus, and how what you focus on expands. He's an amazing speaker, and he recited a poem he wrote that was very moving, and meaningful. I think it unlikely I'll ever hear "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or "Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd" without thinking about Dennis from here on out.

And then it was over. There was much milling about and chatting, and cake.

Carrot cake, of course.

I got my picture taken with the fabulous Gina Simpson.

And also with Dennis, who I think is a great guy and really admire.

Wendy will be seeing them both again when she goes back to school in July. I don't know if I'll go to school with her this time around or not. I learned a lot, but it's really her thing, not mine now. I guess we'll see.

I DO know I'm going with her to Washington to visit Mal in May. And I ALSO know that we don't go out and do enough stuff, so I'm going to be after her to actually get out of the house occasionally too.

In the meantime, I'll miss the folks I went to school with, but I'm glad I got to meet them all. It's been a grand adventure. I'm looking forward to whatever adventures we get into next.