What is something your dad always says to you?
“I love you, Annalie.”

What makes your dad happy?
When I laugh at some stuff that he says.

What makes daddy sad?
When I don’t listen to him and I lie to him.

How does your daddy make you laugh?
When he says something, like…kickapowah! Or chicken bubbles.

What did your dad like to do when he was a kid?
Um, draw.

How old is your dad?
25?

How tall is your dad?
89 inches.

What is his favorite thing to watch on TV?
The race!

What does your dad do when you’re not around?
Watch racing.

If your dad ever became famous, what would it be for?
Um, for watching the most races in the most days.

What is your dad really good at?
He’s really good at…making me laugh! Hahaha!

What is your dad not very good at?
Watching ballerinas.

What does your dad do for his job?
Works at the Pentagon.

What is your dad’s favorite food?
Chinese.

What makes you proud of your dad?
He’s really funny.

What makes you happy that he is your dad?
Because he’s really funny and he has a good sense of humor. And he likes to help me with puzzles.

If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be?
A cartoon racer!

What do you and your dad do together?
We eat together, we play together, he takes me to the movies sometimes, and to lunch.

How are you and your dad the same?
We’re a lot the same. We both have blue eyes, and we’re both very funny. I thought of one more thing that’s the same about us: we both like rainbows!

How are you and your dad different?
Well, I don’t really like racing, and he likes it. And I like ballerinas but he doesn’t really like it.

How do you know your daddy loves you?
Because he says it all the time.

What does your dad like most about your mom?
You both laugh at the same things.

Where is your daddy ’s favorite place to go?
The movies.

I interviewed Annalie about Troy last year, and asked the same questions about me last year and last week.

Why am I showing you a photo of all* the dottery in my house? Because at the end of this month, I’m teaching a dottery-painting class at the local pottery-painting studio where I’m a regular! If you’re a DC/SoMD local and are interested, leave me a comment and I can email you the info. I’ve been painting at this place for years—it’s the same place where I painted when we lived in Maryland—and I’m excited to teach a class. I think it’s gonna be fun!

*Except for a bread tray, a veggies-and-dip tray, and a large serving bowl. And maybe a Christmas ornament or two. Basically this is all the dottery that was within easy reach in the cupboards.

This is the look Troy usually gives me when I tell him how late I stayed up the night before, crocheting and watching movies or TV. I’ve been doing that a lot recently. I can’t give you details or show you pictures of the finished projects because they are gifts for people who might be reading this. Right now I’m working my way through Bones from the beginning (the first four seasons are conveniently available on Netflix Instant) and have been pleasantly surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed it. Also, I’ve decided once and for all that the best way to watch a TV series is in large chunks—say, one whole season in a week. Since I have a show to watch, I’ve been crocheting more than usual.

All this crocheting and TV-watching has been happening at the expense of the time I might normally spend editing photos and writing blog posts. But there hasn’t been much to write about lately anyway.

What exactly have we been up to? Well, I think I mentioned that I’ve been crocheting a lot. I’ve also been working on our container garden, and three months after moving I’ve finally gotten back into the swing of cooking most meals at home instead of eating out every other night. Troy’s been working hard; it’s a busy time of year for his job, and when he’s at home he’s been catching up on yard work and projects around the house. Annalie has been getting a huge kick out of observing the recently-emerged-from-their-chrysalides butterflies in the butterfly garden that Unky Ben and Angie got her for her birthday. And almost every day this week there has been an restaurant set up in the living room including a little table & chairs, dishes, silverware, and “walls” built from footstools and pillows, where Annalie grandly serves us apples and water and goldfish crackers.

Okay, I guess I could have been writing about all those things I mentioned. But I haven’t been. I’ve just been living them. I go through stages sometimes where I get annoyed at how I always have a camera in front of my face, attempting to capture all the moments instead of just enjoying the moments. I suppose I’ve been in one of those stages lately. It’ll pass eventually and I’ll be back to capturing every little thing for posterity.

Meanwhile, life’s just chugging along. Summer is coming. We’re all good.