2nd Week of February

A little while ago I was looking at dresses online and noticed a line that said the model was 5'10" and a size 5.  I know models are tall.  I know models are thin.  I know dresses won't look the same on me as they do on models.  But knowing the actual numbers gave me pause.  Actually it took the pause away.  I glanced at a few more dresses and left the website.  No way was a dress going to look even similar on me as it did on a woman significantly taller and smaller than me.  I didn't even want to see them.

I have never been particularly skilled at picking out clothes.  I find it stressful and it makes me feel inept.  I can read a recipe and know if the meal will taste good, but I cannot look at clothes and know if I will like them.  I find this especially difficult at retail stores because any item is available in any size.  I do better in thrift stores where an item is only an option if it fits.  It takes some of the choice away and the less choosing I have to do, the more relaxed I am about it.  I also like that thrift stores let you sample different brand names.  Since clothing is so abundant these days, I find that if I need something specific I can almost always find it second-hand.  It also makes me feel like I'm doing something good for the environment - recycling sort of.

Last week, Caleb spent most of it in the Keys.  He fished and fished.  He even caught a shark.   He got back in time for enrichment on Friday.  We had a busy time in Lewis and Clark - lots of costume changes!  That is all going ok.  It is not going to be spectacular, but it is fun and I think they will like the end result.  I disassembled the keelboat and made it into two canoes (the real Lewis and Clark sent their keelboat back home midway and continued on in canoes).  I turned the walls of the Meriwether Lewis's private office into more trees.

The opposite side is spray painted white and was for the White House scene.  I am going to make that side into snow covered mountains (The Bitterroot Mountains).  The nearest tree section is already painted that way.  It has never been anything but trees and mountains.

The girls and I visited the French Bakery while Caleb was gone and he has not forgiven us.

Natalie made and decorated these cupcakes for a bake sale last weekend:

She used leftover icing from this FSU cake I made:

I made it for a friend who works with students at a local high school.  Most of them are homeless, including this girl who was accepted into FSU.

And a tomato update:

Heirlooms - the tomatoes are getting really heavy.

Chocolate Sprinkles - we've eaten a few of these already.