Recently

Today is a gorgeous day. I've had the front door open all morning as I worked on a sewing project, and I went outside for a bit and folded some laundry that Dave hung out to dry last night. It's four in the afternoon now, and Dave is out sitting in the sun while I write this. It's a far cry from the cold and wintry weekend weather.

We had snow on Friday night, a proper storm. It's snowed so rarely this year that naturally we had to go out in it. Dave was off having drinks and dinner with a friend from one of his old jobs, so I went with Chris and Grace for some upscale pizza. (We started off thinking we'd have dim sum but the restaurant was closed for their Chinese new year celebration.) I took this photo of the storm in progress as we waited for our pizza and salads.

After dinner, we ran by Trader Joe's and I bought a bunch of snacks and things that I don't need to be eating. (Especially considering that I've dropped about 15 pounds in the last three weeks or so--that pace will slow down soon enough--and I want to lose more, of course, as part of my plan to keep my A1c from continuing to rise.) I did find some completely sugar-free chocolate (I'm still sugar free!) with cocoa nibs, so that was good. I bought Dave some danger snacks, a kind of mochi cracker that is impossible to stop eating once you get started. I also bought chicken breasts because right now I'm living on poached or baked chicken and vegetables. That was pretty much the extent of my Trader Joe's haul.

In other news, Dave and I spent a precious few hours at the studio over the weekend. My neck and jaw are still bugging me, so doing too much that involves my shoulders (as does pottery) is not great. It did help to get some movement in, though. Made my neck feel a bit better just to get some blood moving through. I made a few beads from the last of a bag of clay. And I worked a tiny bit on the new girl, who will go into the next bisque kiln.

She has a somewhat earnest expression, I think. I'll paint the roses blue, maybe turquoise and cobalt or mazarine blue.

While I worked, I chatted with Judi. Dave played with Buzz and then the two of them went out for a walk.  We made plans to go to dinner with Judi and Paul this week, to the old-school diner where I can get liver and onions and everyone else can have a burger and fries.

On Sunday, Dave and I had lunch with my brother and mother at a nearby restaurant. I was surprised to see that, though they are a relatively small and local chain type place, they have their nutritional information online. I went through the menu prior to lunch and was able to choose something that wasn't going to completely blow my diet. (I had a chicken club and side salad.) My mother had news of my niece and grand-niece, neither of whom I've seen in almost a decade.

Crazy.

Speaking of crazy. I made this sculpture a month or so ago, and painted her weeks ago. She's still green, of course, and will go into the next bisque kiln with the larger piece. I like how insane she looks. Sometimes, especially recently, I feel that way, too. All I need is a headband of purple roses.