Mondaily - vacation recap, photos, next Sketch Fest, new character at Torn World

Back to the grind! It's a little odd but comfortable to be back in the usual routines: scoop the catbox, vacuum the floor, feed the pets, pick up after the toddler, fill the woodstove, etc, etc. Post for Torn World, check my email, and blog.

I want to carve a little art time into each day this year, and I've got So Many ideas and such a lot of extra inspiration.

I have set the date for the next Sketch Fest: January 23-25! http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/sketchfest/
The Facebook event is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/869439066411155

It's looking likely the Torn World Muse Fusion will be the same weekend - so far users have said it would be one merry creative weekend, rather than diluting either event. I'm willing to give it a shot. (And hey, it simplifies my scheduling!)

Also for Torn World, a new character I wrote up, Effa: http://www.tornworld.net/members/cisdisplay.php?id=359

She has a lot of fun conflict potential, and I like complicated characters who are generally good, but have wide, unexpected flaws. (Deep-seated prejudice, in this case.) She's adoptable.

...

So, our trip! It was fabulous. We were gone for three weeks total, and I didn't let anyone know because I find it foolish to announce beforehand that my house will be vacant. The pets were safely settled at a pet-sitters, Guppy go her first passport, and we packed the toddler and selves up to travel a few gazillion miles on airplanes. We deliberately set out to do it with carry-ons only... and in fact, just ONE carry-on apiece. We made it work! We did come back with a little more than we left with, so we ended up checking a bag back. (Though technically, we COULD have carried it on.) This goal was greatly simplified by traveling to a hot climate, so we didn't have to worry about warm (bulky) clothing. I would have packed much differently going to, say, Siberia.

We stayed one night in Seattle, just to break up the trip a little. We got a suite with a door, so that Guppy had her own room.

"It's my BEDroom," she said proudly, delighted by having her own bed. "It has a mirror." Then, gravely: "No books, though."

The next three nights, we spent in Orlando. Nights were not as successful as I would have liked - someone did not deal well the heady power of having a bed she could get out of, and I ended up spending several extra hours getting her down. She ended up sleeping on the floor, instead of the couch. The third night, I finally got wise and ordered a crib for her. Worked like a charm.

The first day, we went to Downtown Disney. I wasn't sure if the cover charge for Disneylandworld was really worth it, and there was plenty to entertain us in their free tourist town. We rode on a train that was just her speed:



Floridians thought it was really cold - at 55 degrees. (It is 25 below here today, for a little comparison...)

Here's what Guppy thought of the day:



"I'm smiling!"

(to be continued)