Wexford Girl

Happy New Year

From Annie, Eric, and Willie the cat.  

Character Limits Make Me Sa

At work I write a lot of error messages and similar little snippets that need to be very short and fit within tight character limits. I thought of the title of this post and it made me giggle.

It's cold in San Francisco. Not Minneapolis cold, not Chicago cold, but cold for us. Why, I almost had to wear a pair of gloves this morning!

Eric is in Seattle for work and it's snowing there. We will be seeing lots of pretty pretty snow next week; we're going to Big Sky, Montana for Christmas to be with Eric's brother Jeff and his family.

I anticipate plenty of warm evenings by the fire looking out at drifting flakes, and afternoons with hot chocolate and a good book, looking out at the white landscape. I will mostly be Looking Out at the snow, which is what I prefer than being in it. I also don't do anything where there is a substantial risk of injury, so no skiing or snowboarding for me. I am perfectly happy to watch others, feeling glad that all my bones are intact.

Here is a drawing that has nothing to do with character limits or snow.

A Night Out

Last night was great fun. First stop was Absinthe for a cocktail and a wonderful antipasti platter to get some food in us. Yum. Then it was on to Reaves Gallery for the 11: Eleven show. Sharon had emailed me that 4 of my pieces had already sold, and when we arrived she was writing up a sale for a 5th one! Chatted with Kate Durkin, who was also participating in the show, and Eric and I both absolutely fell in love with Kirstin Tradowsky's gorgeous paintings.

Then we walked to Rare Device for the opening of Trish Grantham's show. It was great to see Trish again and her work looked lovely in the space. We caught up with Elizabeth too, who looks just dazzling these days.

Then it was home to watch The Office, write Christmas cards, and relax a bit. Because a night out that ends at 9:30 is the kind I like.

I discovered this brilliant video on The Subtle Rudder, one of my favorite blogs. Anne is a cracking writer; this is how she describes it:

Take several superprincesspony fans of American Idol finalist David Archuleta. Add the final results show. What unfolds is a lesson in the stages of grief, as filtered through the Hello Kitty prism-o-pain:

Eleven:11

This is going to be a great night! Come out next Thursday the 11th to Reaves Gallery, on Gough St. near Fell. Lovely owner Sharon Reaves organizes a "Toys for Tots" event every Christmas season, and this year I'm involved (that's my "merde" girl three-across-three-down on the postcard).

Don't forget to bring a toy!

thursday, december 11th 

6 to 9pm

join us for our annual toys for tots fundraising event

bring a toy or suggested donation of $10 

confirmed artists include:  
matthew frederick, blair bradshaw, michael mcconnell, kate durkin, katie gilmartin, dave crosland, lucky rapp, fernando reyes, mark paron, kevin grady, annie galvin, kirsten tradowsky, max rodriguez, roxanne worthington and more.

Saturday

Last Saturday, Eric and I were in Monterey for the sad (but also joyful) event that was Nan's memorial service. This is me, Desiree, and Paddy - my original friend in the United States and the reason I came to San Francisco. If Paddy had lived in Boston or Atlanta, that's where I would be now. Here is the post I wrote when Paddy's mom Martha passed away a few years ago.

On Friday, we spent the night in the Laurances rambling old house in Pacific Grove. It was wonderful; the house was filled with food, people, babies, and laughter. I've spent a lot of time in that house over the years, and it feels like home.

 

And here is Desiree's youngest daughter - our Godchild - Renee, 17 months old. I don't know what it is about her, but I am madly in love with this one. I don't feel like that about many babies; I tend to prefer them when they can string a sentence together and say adorable things. But I want to gobble Renee up!

Other Granddad

And here is my other grandfather, my dad's father, holding me when I was a wee tot. (Both my grandfathers were John, and both my grandmothers were Mary.) 

He died when I was about three, but I do have one memory of sitting on a flatbed cart pulled by a horse on the family farm in County Kerry. I didn't like sitting near the horse's tail, because it would swish at me, and my grandfather lifted me and moved me back a bit.

Memory is weird though. It could be that my mom or dad told me that story and I think it's a memory.