My friend - and Alex's M-I-L - Anna is coming over this morning so we can hit museums and have lunch, and since Joe works the 10 pm - 7 am shift he's often sleeping when Dmitry gets out of school, so I advised Dmitry yesterday that It's Time.

Off he drove to school this morning and, at my request, texted me that he arrived safe and sound.

Thank the LORD.

Let's see.  I sing beautiful music courtesy of the CCBC choir, and I
went to an art exhibit on Friday evening, and finished seeing a stage
trilogy on Sunday....music, art, theatre.  What's left?

The world of fashion and design, that's what, and that's where I was this evening.    
My nieces, Meredith and Margaret, take sewing classes from a woman who
lives a few blocks from me and has been teaching sewing for decades. 
Tonight was the annual fashion show, where the students model their
work.  I'm utterly floored by the idea of these children sewing their
own clothes!

Here are the two of them, taken after the show:

Can you believe they made those?  I sure couldn't do anything like that. 

This is an interesting idea....pillow case dresses:

Fancy edging and embroidery really makes them a treat.  I thought I'd
try to track down how to do that and make them for the various female
poppets.  Knowing me, I probably won't, but perhaps I will.  Anything's
possible. 

Took this photo simply because I loved the dress.  It's made of raw
silk and is a Regency-style (not Victorian, surely, though I thought
that's what the teacher said):

Elaine, Mom, and Betty, the girls' other grandmother, with the girls:

It was a very impressive show, demonstrating a lot of hard work on the part of many girls. 

This evening I went to an art exhibition at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, where a friend of mine, Ron Cheek, was having his work shown.  Several other artists were also on display, as well.  Ron's wife, Jessica, is a good friend of my sister, Elaine, and it was her (Jessica's) bible study group that stunned my family by providing a veritable feast at Don's funeral.  Elaine and Hal were at the exhibition, and she took a photo of Ron and me:

Ron is a true artist, IMO.  Isn't this beautiful?

Not that I'm qualified to judge the technique in the following set of paintings, but I can assure you I wouldn't want them in my house:

There was an exhibition of glass, and there was one piece I coveted, called The Willow:

I fear the camera phone couldn't do it justice, but believe me, it's quite stunning.  Then there's this...

The one on the left puts me in mind of my friend, Bill's, gallbladder when it was taken out, only his didn't have spikes all over it.  The shape's pretty much the same, however.

There was an auction going on, and this bit of photographic "art" caught my attention;  who on earth wants a photo of feet in their house?

I hope Ron's work begins to get the recognition it deserves. 

In between the Easter service practice and the Palm Sunday practice we paused for the monthly birthday party (this time was Swiss Pastry Shop's Black Forest cake and homemade coconut meringue pie, which latter was gone by the time I got up there, darn it).

Suddenly there appeared Jennifer's - the assistance music director, I think is her position - sweet babboo, John, who went down on one knee and Popped The Question:

The ladies in turquoise and fuschia are the mothers of the now-engaged couple, and that's Jennifer's son seen to her right.

Getting a congratulatory hug from her daughter.

The newly engaged couple (sorry about the blurriness, but my fancy-schmancy phone's camera's still not that great).

Anyway, it was a wonderful rehearsal.