Good Lord, have I really not written a single word since the year began?? How is this possible?? Perhaps I only have so much creative energy, and since I've been focusing on painting more, the writing retreated meekly into a dusty corner.

Well, don't know if that's going to change that much, but Hallie did just make me chuckle enough to want to share it...and did I mention that she's going to turn 4 next month, and I'm pretty sure I didn't authorize such a step?? Where are my babies going??

Okay, so current funniness:

Hallie asks what that white line in the sky was, and I explain what little I know about skywriters and their smoke trails. She then looks pensive, and wistfully states, "I wish I could be a person who takes other people for rides in airplanes when I grow up."

I am delighted by such an out-of-the-box aspiration from my girly-girl, who until that moment was pretty much stuck on being a princess, which, as near as she could tell, was totally achievable once she'd found the right accessories. I am now barraged by images of a fearless young lady flying around the world, bold, daring, her own person, unfettered by society's conventions and expectations.

Me: "A pilot? You want to fly planes? That's a great thing to be!"

Hallie: "Yeah." (big sigh) "The only problem is, I just don't know what I'd wear."