Intro in case you don’t know about the Sunday donut:
(it’s sort of like that chapter at the start of every Babysitter’s Club book that you can skip if you know the world already! If you know, just scroll down to the donut pic. That’s where it gets started!)
Ok, I just had a blast reading my friend Jackie’s blog.
She borrowed something she loved from another blog:
A heart to heart sort of post about life,
as if we were sitting down to have coffee together and just chatting.
Um, I LOVE THAT!
Except I can’t drink coffee.
I mean, I CAN,
but the world is not ready for that.
It would be like this:
So instead I’m going with donut.
I used to be a paper carrier, and we would get donuts EVERY Sunday!
So I’ve sort of been conditioned.
I’ve even got a nice little donut shop within walking distance!
So, imagine that we meet at my house, walk down to get donuts, walk back (chatting the whole while!) and then sit in my kitchen, chatting some more and snacking.
Here’s the donut this week: this little mini guy!
And I figured I may as well get in the photo too.
If we were having donuts, I’d tell you that my knees starting hurting this week. Just a little bit, and probably because I started this workout routine AND I’m still going capoeira three times a week. I’ve taken a break and decided that I will only do the intense workout when I’m NOT at capoeira, and see how that goes. I’ll fully start that routine tomorrow.
If we were having donuts, I’d tell you that we watched the first part of LOTR: The Two Towers on Monday with our friends, and we are planning on watching the second half of it today. Like I’ve said before, it’s the extended edition, so each half is about two hours. It’s really fun; last week they made food and this week we are making homemade pizza to share.
Our friends literally live right across the driveway from us, but even then we don’t see them all that often. We will have to find something else to watch when we finish LOTR because I like doing this every week! (We’ll see if I change my tune when I start working!)
If we were having donuts, I’d tell you that I sort of WAS working this week, watching my friends’s little girl Luiza.
We had a fun week. She danced with me, we played many games, read many books, and did lots of art. She really likes to take my phone and take pictures too, which is funny. It’s tiring and I do have nap time to get stuff done which is good.
I feel like it’s a sneak peek into what my life might look like down the line; Danny and I have already talked about me staying home to watch the kids, since I would LOVE to do that. After watching Luiza for a little over a week though, I think if I wanted to “work” from home too that I would want a little bit of help, maybe just have the baby go somewhere for a day a week or something. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there (no babies for us yet!)
This is a selfie by Luiza
Painting! And in my case back there, drawing!
Jumping on the couch…I see a bit of the wild thing Max in this photo!
The picture she took of me. And the shelf.
If we were having donuts, I’d tell you that my sister in law is having a boy! That makes two new boys coming into this world soon, hopefully both in 2016! My sister, Debbie, is due on January 2nd with her boy and Jessica, my sister in law, due on February 2nd with her boy. They are both first time moms and I’m so excited for them. And since my sister’s husband is my husband’s cousin and the families are so close, these kids will unofficially be cousins, (officially second cousins?).
If we were having donuts, I’d tell you that we had so much fun at Izaak’s 8th birthday party. He’s the older brother of Luiza, and the middle child of his family. His older sister, Zoey, made him a soccer field cake, his mom cooked up some carnitas for tacos, and his Dad did the solid of playing on the all kids team in the soccer showdown we had.
It was so much fun especially to see the parents/grownups running around and goofing off while playing soccer. We gave him a pretty good gift: One sleepover at our house! He loves playing games so I know he will have a good time. Also, we have a really nice tv for watching movies 🙂
If we were having donuts, I’d tell you that I’m NOT feeling overwhelmed by blogposts and newsletters. This is a GOOD thing. I think it’s because of my writing routine in the morning; I devote ten minutes to writing something for a blogpost or newsletter. Even if I’m not completely done with something, I have a start, and it’s easier to finish. I’m hoping I can continue to feel this way while I’m working.
If we were having donuts, I’d tell you that I had an AMAZING night when I attended Hicklebee’s Educator Night. I’m going to write a post on it, but let’s just say there were surprise authors, food, fun, and lots and lots of books for me to take home. I’m still sort of in shock. My friend Alison said it was like Book Christmas, and I couldn’t agree more.
One surprise author/illustrator, Bob Barner, also is published by Chronicle Books, so he was especially fun to meet!
If we were having donuts, I’d tell you that I had a GREAT 1.5 hour talk with my editor, and things are moving along for my debut picture book! I’m still so excited and thankful that it’s happening, and that I’m working with someone so talented. Ariel (at Chronicle Books) is so great to talk things through with; we solve problems in no time, and I know my story is becoming stronger.
If we were having donuts, I’d tell you that we got our wedding pictures this week! My sister (she and her husband are professional photographers and took the pictures!) sent me the link on Thursday and I’m only halfway through them! But they look AMAZING.
I intended to only pick a few to put here, but I couldn’t! So here are a bunch!
Not sure what I’m cheering about, but I’m sure this is adorable!
Reading during the ceremony
Showing off the tulle
The handsomest husband 
Ring Bearer and Flower Girl who I babysat and are now taller than me
The First Dance which was actually a lip syncing of Somebody to Love by Queen, the live version! 
Some of my singing
Best facial expression ever goes to me 
This might be my favorite photo, even if legally I’m not a Gratien. Together we still are the Gratiens, so I’ll take it.
If we were having donuts, I’d tell you it’s been HOT here. I know, you think California and you think hot, but it’s not really that hot in Santa Cruz. Well, it was yesterday. Danny and I and our neighbor Vicki had enough and we went down to the ocean and jumped right in! Usually we don’t do that without wetsuits because the water is cold (usually not hotter than 60 degrees) but we needed that cold shock yesterday! It was really fun and silly.
Finally, if we were having donuts, I’d tell you that we watched Monster’s University last night, and REALLY liked it. Watching a movie is hardly EVER the first thing I want to do, but Danny REALLY likes to watch movies. He’s got a whole routine; he gets some ice cream and settles down right on the couch. Even though I don’t entirely enjoy it and most times would rather be reading a book, I know that he loves it, so we watch movies every once in a while. I was excited to see this one since I loved Monster’s INC and it did not disappoint. I was really impressed that it accurately portrayed college life but still in a rather kidlike way; not too much adult stuff going on. Very sweet and fun. Have you seen it?
Whew!
What a week.
How about you, friends?
Thanks for having a donut with me.
Now let me know what’s going on with you!
What are you up to? What’s making your heart sing?
and most importantly, what kind of donut are you eating?
Until next time, bye for now,
KE
First, I’d tell you that I love everything about the last photo. That’s the one to send in your thank you notes.
Next, I’d tell you that instead of donuts, I’d be eating (or rather ate) a deep fried carrot ball. We had dim sum with a group of friends today at a new to us place in Pasadena. This was on the desserts menu, and it took us all by surprise. We were joking around that we needed more vegetables, so ordered one (which was 4).
It was indeed bright orange and deep fried. But it did not taste like carrots. Inside was a creamy yellow center. It was a warm custard that was sweet, but not overly so. I cannot believe I ate the entire thing.
I’d also tell you that I had a great time at the Christian Robinson opening last night. My friend from high school, Sara, who is responsible for me meeting B (they lived across the hall at the dorms at Cal) came with her husband and three kids! We haven’t seen each other in a while, but it never feels like that.
The art from three of his books was upstairs, but the event was downstairs. They had set up a table with chairs and some work sheets that tied in with Leo along with some crayons. Sara’s kids dug right it. It was great, and I am sure that at first the organizers may have been worried that there weren’t any kids.
And yes, I talked him into signing the LA County Library’s copy of “Josephine”. I also bought my own copy because I loved her story, especially about how she adopted 12 children from across the globe.
Yay for progress with your book!
That event sounds so fun!
And yes, that will be our thank you note photo for sure.
I think it is AWESOME that you got the library book signed! So great!
Also, the carrot ball sounds amazing.