This past weekend I sang 4 services at Woodcrest church, and it was amazing. The second song I sang was by a young artist named Katy Hudson, called "When There's Nothing Left." It was bluesy and incredibly fun to sing besides having a wonderfully spiritually and emotional message. Otherwise, I've been making sure I'm totally healed from the "amazing strep experience"! Can't believe I went a couple of decades without catching that nasty bug and then got it as an adult.

Jane, my booking agent, is working on setting up our tour dates in other cities for November and December, and so it looks like we might not be playing much in Columbia for the next couple of months. (Hopefully we will be involved with First Night again for our Columbia listeners.) Besides showcasing in Nashville, the band will most likely be travelling to Chicago, St. Louis, KC, Bloomington, Champaign-Urbana, and some other cities as well, possibly. These gigs will be "CD release parties" for the Nashville EP wherever we play.

So, lately I've really gotten into decoupage. (Using a high-gloss glue to put image collages on wood, ceramics, etc, to create a decorative surface.) I've been working on Christmas gifts using this technique and I love it. Last year I think I knit about 20 scarves (OK - I exaggerate) but this year I'm going out on a limb, putting the knitting needles down, and trying my hand at itty bitty scissors, lots of thin tissue paper, wood and cardboard boxes, and MOD PODGE. I've made one really awesome (if I do say so myself) heart-shaped box (it's a song title too, eh? ARTIST anyone?) and I'm quite proud of it. I incorporated a butterfly and dragonfly theme, and put green and gold accents everywhere. I'm going to line the inside of the box with velvet, so it's like a little jewelry box. I feel like Martha Stewart without the prison jumpsuit. OK - bad joke. But I've always loved creating things with my hands, and I try to use that interest to make gifts. My family always knows they're going to get something hand-made, and they've graciously smiled every year when they get the latest installment. :)

I don't know why I felt the need to write about that, but it was on my mind, so there ya go.

It would be only fitting to describe my feelings about the recent election on this date, but I am going to defy expectation and remain mum. I do have plenty of thoughts on the subject, perhaps I will share them in a future blog.