Hey everyone, don't forget to check out Bjorn's new blog entry on BjornPages: B J O R N P A G E S: Yes, I'm a Rockstar.

~:L O V E * L E T S * G O:~

I came across this beautiful quote yesterday in our Emotive Alphabet calligraphy class at PC yesterday. Christy brought in a bunch of great quotes all about traveling and being free, letting go, etc. I wrote this one down for myself. It reminds me to let go of those who need more than what I have to offer. Especially those who have died - who have moved on, whether that choice was theirs or not.

Tommy was one of those folks who needed to go. Was unhappy for too much of his life. In respecting his choice, in the end, I chose honor him by letting him go. It is very freeing. Sure, I still get mad and angry and relive the process of letting go all over again. But coming back to this point of surrender is beautiful, welcoming and real.

When someone makes a choice that puzzles me, whose left a trail of destruction for all to remember and I'm thinking, "What an asshole - what's their fucking problem!????" - I will try think of this quote and to remember that it's not up to me to save ANYONE, except for myself.

Thanks for the epiphany. {{sigh}}

~: O H * M Y:~ And I thought I was creative! Thank you to Wogah for this fun link. Check out the terrificly brilliant wit in Patricia Waller’s Alluring Crochet Works. Can't decide if my favorite is the bunny stabbed with carrot or the pink fetish ware. Hmmmm. What are yours?

~:D O G * C H A T:~ Ruthie and Bjorn took over our fancy iSight cameras and had a little chat yesterday. One would bark, the other would look around the room, behind one of us, then back at the camera. Very confusing. Mom and I are laughing all the while. This is what I do, instead of doing something productive.

~E A S T E R * N A P:~

Holidays are hard work, as you can see here. It's hard for both of these creatures to stay so cute. Who can say no to a man in pink? Lying down in a bay window with a papillon? I can't. We took many pictures during our time up in Clayton, during which I first told you and my grandmother Nonie that we were pregnant. I spent that Sunday reading through your gazillion lovely comments and answering e-mails from friends and family. Lots of fun. I can't thank you enough for your support and love. Really means a lot.

We also graduated Bjorn to almost free status of life without a leash (for the most part). Dad's dog Alice Faye was wonderfully calm and very gentle with BjornMouse, as were other dogs who visited us that day. If you'd like to see more Easter in Clayton photos, there are more here.

~:C H A T T 'N * W H O R E:~

My dorky (and generous) little brother Peter got me an iSight thingie for my birthday! Woo hoo! Mom got one, too. And we've been chattn away. Now that there's an Elser baby on the way - it makes sense for our family to have cameras, so we can enjoy each other virtually and for virtually nuth'n.

Today, Audrey graciously allowed me to interrupt her important school work and accepted my iChat invitation. So for those of you who have one - look me up!

The latest and greatest photo of my niece Mia. There are more Easter photos here, if you wanna see 'em!

~: I N T R O D U C I N G * B I M P :~

I have some very happy Easter news for all of you. This little sweater I just finished belongs to the new Elser baby who will arrive to meet you all in mid-October! We are calling him/her "Bimp" for now and are sooooo excited. I have been dying to tell you and at last have said goodbye to the 1st trimester (and I hope nausea as well!). We are at 13 weeks - heard the heartbeat yesterday and saw Bimp wiggle and dance at week 9. UH-MAY-ZING. Quite a little miracle this pregnancy is. We are counting our blessings and I am feeling kinda like Wonder Woman. It's an amazing experience.

So now you guys know I have not just let myself go and gotten FAT! For the first time in my life, I have boobs - thank God in heaven I have boobs! Sorry - don't have a picture for that one. And Bjorn will have a little sister or brother! And God has been good to us! And Spring is here! Remember those little seeds I tried to plant in the little indoor greenhouse kit? They DIED. Who cares - I've got something better growing in my belly.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for the next few months. Happy. Excited. Nervous. Grateful. And my husband Doug? He's been a dream. I can't wait to see him as a father. Oh happy, happy day. Happy Easter everyone!

~Anne

One of Mom's new landscapes. Sorry about the glare. But isn't it beautiful? Luscious.

~:L A T E * T H I R T I E S * F E E L * F A B:~

We took many more birthday pictures of dinner last night, if you care to see them. My actual birthday isn't until Monday, during which I will be ushering in a new group of first quarter PC students - so we decided to celebrate last night. Mom, Dad and Doug pitched in together and bought me this lovely Elsa Perretti necklace from Tiffany's. She's the same designer of my wedding ring. This necklace is en route to atlanta - so I should receive it Monday. Thank you so much Mom, Dad and Doug! I can't wait to wear it.

~:I S * I T * M E ?: ~ Ahh, the hosts of Atlanta's Classic Radio. Is it me? Or does the radio voice of FM 90.1 WABE'S Wanda Yang Temko sound like she's ripping the upholstery off the seat of her chair with her asshole? Listening to her makes me extremely nervous and uptight. I have to admit that she was much more uptight when she first came to the station in 2002. Sadly, now the affected voice of Lois Reitzes (who sounds like she's speaking with cotton balls in her cheeks and is guided by a broken metronome) isn't the only voice that makes me cringe. God help me.

I'd have to say that after all this needling complaining, my favorite radio personality on WABE is H. Johnson - Saturday night's host of Jazz Classics. What a character and what energy and what fun to listen to him on a Saturday night with friends. Even though you are guaranteed to be interrupted by his energetic comments for the first 2 minutes of each piece, you're sure to be entertained by a truly genuine and upbeat voice. The classics don't have to be boring, people.

7 THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE:

1. Have a baby
2. Finish my wedding album
3. Spend a week in Provence
4. Talk to Tommy again
5. Have multiple orgasms
6. Convert the back porch into a ceramics and painting studio
7. Get a female Papillon for Bjorn and name her Inga

7 THINGS I CANNOT DO

1. Wait to have a baby
2. Imagine life before marriage
3. Run
4. Put the left sock on before the right without falling
5. Have multiple orgasms
6. Sight read sheet music
7. Feel at peace without the house being clean

7 THINGS I SAY MOST OFTEN

1. Bjorn! Come!
2. Bjorn! Go to bed!
3. Jesus Fucking Christ!!
4. Honey - can you do me a favor?
5. What's for dessert?
6. People are so fucking stupid
7. No, thanks.

7 BOOKS I LOVE

1. Chicken, Shadow, Moon and More - Mark Strand
2. Socks Socks Socks - (Knitting patterns)
3. Cloud Nine (A Dreamer's Dictionary)
4. The Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy
5. Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
6. Please Understand Me - Meyers Briggs
7. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

7 MOVIES I CAN WATCH OVER AND OVER

1. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
2. Raising Arizona
3. The Pink Panther
4. Young Frankenstein
5. The Sound of Music
6. West Side Story
7. The Jerk

~:S U N S H I N E * I N:~

Doug and I have one common "sport" we love to do together (other than going to see movies or watching the Sopranos). We love taking care of the house - working on the yard, gardening, painting, laying brick, etc. And we love taking a whole day to do it together. We find a little shady spot for Bjorn and set him down in between us while we work. Owning a house and taking care of it is one of life's great pleasures. It's the only thing you can spend money on without feeling guilty. Curb appeal just makes life rosier. For everyone.

SO! One of the things Doug started doing last year wass removing the screens from our windows. The difference is night and day, I tell you. Screens make your windows look sad and neglected. Gray, muddy, like a smoker's car windows, TV screen or computer keyboard. Tinted with tar. Totally gross. Being a smoker for 15 years (I quit 3.5 years ago) I should know. Back to the window screens - we got half way around the house last year - and then got distracted. All the screens from the front of the house had gone to the Dekalb County dump while the back of the house remained smothered in screens for another season.

Just last weekend, Doug took the remaining screens off the back of the house. This means the kitchen and music room. Oh my goodness what a difference. We spend most of our time together in the cozy bay window nook in our kitchen. The photo you see here shows the difference. Crisp, clear true-to-life color beaming in with no inhibitions. Green that's proud of itself. I swear - there is no place - I mean NO place I'd rather be than in my kitchen bay window.

So I took lots more pictures, if you'd like to see them. I know many are of Bjorn, but man - can't you just feel that sun? Sheer heaven.

I found the following mean spirited comment on Mary's blog and just HAD to add my two cents:

Audrey said...
did you know at 5am mary resembles the stray cat that hangs out across from PC? meow! just wanted to add some love to your neverending comment list....

Mary said...
HEY NOW, Audrey...that was studio week...Hank's class and NO sleep all rolled up into one. If you post that picture I will kill you...

So our dear friend Tania generously sent me the above pic she took of Mary during studio week---or what she likes to call Week of the Living Dead.

Mary must be some kind of Exotic Longhair???

Mom's website is up! Check out her work and bio. Very proud of her.

~:W T F:~So I was chatting with Mary this afternoon and we were lamenting the fact that our blogs don't get nearly as many commentors as our friend Tania's blog does. WHY FUCKING NOT!?!? Are we that boring? Want me to start making shit up? Sheese!~

------------------------------------

Mary: does Tania pay people to leave messages on her blog?

Anne: i am SO envious of how many commentors she has

Mary: I feel so unpopular after I see how many people leave messages on her blog.

Anne: I mean COME ON.

Mary: HELLO! We have pretty cool blogs, too!

Anne: That's why I put a counter on my site.

Mary: me too!

Anne: So I know people are there - even when they don't say so.

Mary: exactly...but it is ridiculous how many people leave her messages...maybe that is a writer thing.

Anne: INSANE

Mary: maybe I should ask people to leave me thumbnails.

Anne: or she's just more fucking popular than we - beeotch

Mary: or, I'd like to believe she's paying them. There has to be some kind of incentive.

Anne: she probably IS paying them

Mary: and she scolded me for not posting to her blog after just 1 week.

Mary: 1 week!

Anne: oh Tania

Anne: she has really lost it

Mary: I think I'll blog about her on my blog and see what happens.

Anne: yeah - me, too.

Anne: i hate her - don't you?

Mary: she is such a bitch.

Anne: we should post this conversation...

Anne: see how she likes it.

Mary: lol

Mary: on her blog.

Anne: i think i will!

Anne: LOL

Mary: that'll teach her a lesson

Anne: yeah

Anne: those writers

Anne: "writers"

Mary: fucking writers.

Anne: lol

Mary: god, and writing is soooo easy.

Mary: everyone can do that.

Anne: as if they do any REAL work

Anne: sheese

Mary: yeah....they just sit around, smoke pot and write silly poetry.

Anne: BAD whiney poetry!

Anne: Oh dark garden of my heart, like tears in the rain, I long for you...

Mary: lol

Anne: ...and under partly cloudy skies, i will sit here alone, by myself and cry of the aching world.

Mary: I would like to see Tania paint.

Anne: YEAH

Mary: actually, that would be rather interesting.

Anne: let's tie her up and see what happens - or put her in Hank's class

Mary: nah, she'd probably fuck it up.

Anne: yeah. prolly

Mary: Yeh, I'd like to see the bitch write with her hands tied.

Anne: upside down

Mary: you should definately post this to her blog.

Anne: i'll do it!

~:F A L L I N G:~

No one likes falling. This time of year, at Easter, I often wonder why we go through the morbid motions of The Stations Of The Cross. It's been a Catholic thing since forever, and while we Episcopalians are not as morbid as our Catholic bretheren, we still get down and dirty with the bad news of Christ's death every Easter.

Since a few years back I've been involved with creating a Station of The Cross with other members of the congregation at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church. Every year I find the thought of interpreting yet another station overwhelming, yet the actual exercise is always cathartic. So I guess that answers my question. Why bother thinking about the bad stuff when it's going to hurt? Because iIt teaches you something different every time. It feels as good as seeing a sad movie. An opera. Shakespeare! These are good stories because they all have moral centers. The crucifiction is no different. It helps me identfy the purpose of my own pain. That it actually DOES something for me.

This is the second year I chose Jesus Falls for the Third Time. No one likes this station - what's the big deal about falling? How exciting is that? Well, plenty exciting. Falling is something we must get used to doing over and over and over again. When you fall, you learn. When you learn you grow. When you fall - you get right back up and try again. This relentless struggle of life is the story I wanted to tell in this station.

I remember the first time I fell and chose not to cry. I was in Kindergarten and SO proud of myself. Skinned my knee, even. Dad came to pick me up that afternoon from school and I ran into his arms, band-aid on my knee with my proud news. "I fell and skinned my knee and DECIDED not to cry!!" So that was a learning experience for me. So powerful, I never forgot it. Thirty something years later, that falling got interpreted into the image you see here.

Jesus eventually fell the third time - and straight to his death. And then to his rebirth. As we also fall again and again and are reborn each time we continue in spite of the fall. So I'm not alone when I fall - as painful and embarassing at it is. I hate falling. But fall I shall. And grow I shall. And learn I shall. And love I shall. Again and again and again.

~:O N E * S T R I P E * T U R T L E N E C K * S H R U G:~

Well it's a good thing cooler weather is still around here in Atlanta, because I just finished my Turtleneck Shrug! I was worried I'd have to wait until next year to wear it. Woo hoo! I used Andean Silk from KnitPicks.com and knit with a size 4 needle. The sleeves are about 2.5 inches shorter than the pattern calls for. Still - they're pretty long on me. On one sleeve, I knit a lighter green stripe with some leftover yarn from my stash.

This is a very comfortable shrug, but I am considering shrinking it a bit. I've knit 2 others from another pattern that fit really snuggly and stayed in place. This one, after a few minutes of moving around (I'm right handed), shifts off my right shoulder. I think if it were tighter, it wouldn't move around as much. Any opinions? Advice?

~Anne

~:Mr. BjornHead Feet:~
Tired of seeing pictures of Bjorn? Too bad. Take a look at his back feet - like he's a Mr. Potato head and they were stuck on as an afterthought. Silly boy.

~:S L E E P I N G * I N:~

This morning, Doug learned the hard way what happens when you sleep in too late in our house. The bed gets made regardless of whose still in it. He he.