This is not going away any time soon.

First lemme just say that I'm a little disappointed in myself for waiting a whole month to post another entry. My life is still half packed away boxes. My brain is full of "to-do lists". My day follows a relentless rhythm: unpack, arrange, clean, repeat.

However. I did have a fabulous break last week. Went home and hung out with my fam- Daddy, Mama, all my sisters and my nieces. It was fabulous. Then we had a big wedding weekend for my cousin Sarah and her new husband, Jud- the entire fam was there! Aunts, Uncles, cousins, Grandmama- we all had our party pants on and OH MAN what a party it was!
Heres a few pics of my week.......

It's Wynnie-poo!!!!

Sisters and cousins rockin' the karoke!!

Don't really remember whats going on here, but I'm pretty sure it was fun.....

Now I'm back in bham and doing the unpacking dance once again. Its gonna be great tho. At least once its all done. And then I'm gonna have a rockin party!!!! You are all invited!! Wanna see my little house? Ok.



But what I really wanted to write about, whats been driving me totally crazy is this horrendous oil spill disaster. Oilpocalypse. Oilmageddon. This is whats not going away any time soon. Friends, this is SERIOUS. What are we going to do? I just can't stop thinking about it. I don't think enough people understand how devastating this is. We are poisoning the ocean. We are killing sea life. We are killing wetlands. Fishermen are going broke. The tourist industry is in the toilet. This is not going away. That thought makes me feel helpless. And I'm angry! I'm angry at British Petroleum, but I'm even angrier at myself and the American people as a whole. We continue to insist on driving gas guzzling cars, flying in airplanes, buying plastic products and refusing to recycle them, propping up this antiquated and unsustainable system. For so long we have refused to change our ways and now, my friends, we are going to pay for our ignorance, for our flippant attitudes, for our hubris. Tens of thousands of barrels of oil are spewing, into the ocean every day and BP has NO IDEA how to stop it. This is not going away. This is going to permanently change the landscape. Our beautiful beaches are going to be black, sticky, and smelly. Men and women will be out of work and our already high unemployment is going to surge even higher and for far longer than this government is prepared to sustain. And the wildlife... it just kills me. What are we going to do?

I hate to end on such a depressing note, but the reality is.... well.... our reality is not looking good. If there is any silver lining, I pray that this disaster drives home the fact that oil is unsustainable, destructive, and must be supplemented by alternate forms of energy. Its no longer the dream of hippies and people from Vermont. We have to make a change. Whos with me?

Just around the corner....

We're moving! I'M CRAZY! We're MOVING! I'm crazy! WE'RE MOVING AND I AM CRAZY!!!!!!

Yes, the insanity is upon us, but its not near at the level I've achieved in past moves. Maybe its because this is the 6th time I have moved in 7 years.... (shut UP! Have I actually move six times in seven years...... it appears I have. shut up.) Anyway. I am a pro at moving.

I can't wait to upload pics of our new cute house. We signed the lease today! And let me tell you it was so simple compared to what we have dealt with in the past. Trying to sign a lease in NYC requires two grand, a law degree, xanax and a can of silly string. Today we strolled into that office, signed our name there, there and there, initialed here and here.... and it was over. Took 15 minutes. Beautiful.

So thats just around the corner.... (literally! we are moving around the corner from our current house! Well maybe its more like walk 2 blocks and then turn around the corner, but still. What can I say? I love this neighborhood.)

And something else that is just around the corner......

This is my big debut as "event coordinator"! I have a friend who worked on the film and one day I was emailing her and thought, "i should organize a screening." So I went to my excellent friend Sally, who is also my pastor at East Lake UMC, and proposed the idea..... she was all for it..... so the ball started rolling and now here we are a week away from the event and I am simply AMAZED at what this has become. The movie is only the beginning! Its actually a kick-off event for a summer long book club! And then, WHO KNOWS......i have so many ideas.....

Because of this movie, I have had the pleasure of meeting some fabulous people here in Birmingham. People who care about the same things I do- community, healthy living, sustainability, family. And one thing I have learned about coordinating an event: no one can do it on their own. A coordinator is like a "people manager". You have to know people, you have to know how to get people excited about what you are trying to do, and you have to know when to ask for help. I can't wait till Thursday night when the movie starts rolling and I can stand back and just take it all in.....

So many good things are happening!

Aunt Fabulous.... are you there?

So it seems ever since I was laid off, my blogging has slacked significantly. I guess there are a few positive aspects to being chained to a computer all day long. What's funny is I feel just as busy as I did when I had a job... I have no problem filling up my day with "To-Dos"!

Allow me to fill you, the world wide interweb, in on what has been happening in Aunt Fab's life over the past few weeks....

1. We are moving! We have 2 options for cute little houses with fenced in backyards (Hazel is SO happy about that) and cheaper rent (The humans are SO happy about that). We have to make a decision in a few days and then.... let the packing begin!!!!

2. School is almost over and I have the month of May off before summer semester begins! YAY.

3. I am producing a movie event! With the help of some stellar individuals here in B'ham, I am producing a screening of FRESH by ana Sofia Joanes. The movie night is a kick-off event for a Book-Club/Discussion Group that I am also organizing. The Book Club will meet once a month for 6 months and we are starting it all off by reading a collection of articles and essays written by famous "food scholars" like Michael Pollan, and Wendell Berry. Its gonna be awesome.

4. Speaking of movies, we saw a screening of the movie "Lifted" last night. Clarke was Art Director on that film! It was a sweet little movie- no big blockbuster or anything- but it has a nice message and some great talent (Ruben Studdard, what WHAT!?!)

5. I've been busy creating.... wanna see?

Collage Art...

Headbands....

learning how to Appliqué...

Happy Thursday!

Spring!

Its here, its here! My favorite time of year! And not just because I have a spring birthday (yep, I turned 31 last week) but because spring means baby birds, green grass, daffodils, wisteria, warm winds, long days...and my birthday.

I took a few pictures of "spring" on my most recent walk with Hazel.....

This one reminds me of "praying hands".... itsn't it lovely? And I didn't really do any touch-ups on it besides warming it up a bit, the light was just that nice.

Happy Spring everyone!

Sally and her Blue Bird

Once upon a time.....






Sally B and I made a little bird puppet together and then had a sweet little photo shoot. Is she precious or what?

In which Aunt Fabulous pretends to be Martha Stewart

I have always wanted to work on a Martha Stewart Living photo shoot. Every recipe, every craft project, every story about organizing your closet contains pictures that are true works of art. The lighting, the color palette, the props- its all gorgeous.

So the other day I decided to make clay and document it "Martha Stewart Style"! Here's my attempt......

Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1 cup of water
1.5 cups of salt
1 T of veggie oil
1 egg

Pour the flour, water, salt and oil in a bowl and mix it up!

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface

Start creating your shapes. If you want to make ornaments now is the time to punch your holes... Oh, and now is the time to preheat the oven to about 300

Lay out your creations on a greased cookie tin. Brush each with a little egg wash... I don't really know why, I think its something about being shiny or harder.... (I'm not Martha) Bake for about 30mins or until the are hard and very light brown.

Now you can decorate them any way you choose! I chose to paint mine, and to be perfectly honest, I had more fun setting up my photo shoot than actually painting the shapes. I wasn't terribly impressed with my final product- but I think the pictures look awesome!

So. There you have it- My first attempt at telling a story through photos.

Being unemployed has its perks.

FUNemployed

Aunt Fabulous has been laid off. That's right, world wide interweb, I am unemployed. Those two of you who read this blog regularly may be preparing yourselves for another tense and terrified post full of hand wringing and nail biting. Sorry to dissapoint, but thats not what I'm handing out today! Because I am not worried.......(does a double take).......huh? That's right and I'll say it again- I'M NOT WORRIED.

Wanna know why?

Me too.

I have no idea why I'm so comfortable right now. Yes, it was a let down to be laid off. Yes, it was a bad day to be Aunt Fabulous. But today? Today I feel good. Clarke says it's because I'm in the "honeymoon" stage of unemployment. That stage in which one rises with the sun, pens a healthy To-Do list, and prepares breakfast for the spouse. "Have a lovely day at work dear", she sings and, drawing her bathrobe snugly 'round her waist, pads back to the kitchen for another cup of coffee. Its all true- I'm am currently sipping coffee, watching the Today show, and deciding what needs doing and in what order.

A fabulous fact about Aunt Fabulous: I LOVE "to do" lists. I love doing things and checking them off- its SO satisfying! Today, for example, its only 8:00am and I have already crossed 3 things off my list (walk the dog, bathe the dog, blog).... only 5 more things to do and my list is complete!

But one can only bask so long in the after-glow of a completed To-Do list....why am I not concerned about being out of work? How we are going to pay our bills this month? I haven't a clue. We already have a little debt to deal with due to a hard winter and a ridiculous gas bill. (Thank you, Global Climate Change, for 55 nights of below freezing temps in ALABAMA. You owe me nine hundred dollars.) And the bills just keep rolling in! I open each one, look at the total and say, "Hi there, Birmingham Sewer and Water Bill! How badly do you want that $35.47?" But as I file the bill away in the "to pay pile" with all his other friends, there's no noticeable rise in my blood pressure, no sweaty palms, no sick feelings wash over me. What is wrong with me?

Well friends, I think I figured it out. I have faith. A calm certainty is settling around me. This is the right place and now is the right time. I am open to whatever God is preparing for me. I have faith. I have learned from past crises that worrying gets you nowhere, that what first appears to be a curse is usually a blessing, and that nothing is insurmountable when confronted with Faith, Hope, and LOVE.

So....... Today is a great day to be Aunt Fabulous. I'm gonna finish my breakfast now and then get crackin' on that To-Do list. Have a lovely day, Dears!!