Little Ricë & Little Earl by The Fabulous Victoria Rose Martin

Omigod. I meet some of the most fabulous people. I really do. That's the very best part of my job--never mind the working-at-home-in-the-pj's part or the seeing-my-stuff-in-print part. That's all cool, sure, but there's nothing like when I call up someone for an interview and we make that connection, the one where you start going, "Oh, yeah, me, too!" about every two seconds, and you start getting that eery feeling that you've known this person before, never mind that they're hundreds or thousands of miles away and have never been anywhere you've ever been at the same time. That happens to me more often than I would believe is possible. I've met some fabulous people who seem like Old Souls--the kind you've known forever and who just make sense to you.

Victoria is one of those people. You heard the podcast I did with her, the one where she had so much fabulous information and good advice for people that we could have gone on forever. After the podcast--and the interview for the profile that will be out in Art Doll Quarterly in August (and has FABULOUS photos of her work--I saw the proofs last week!)--she said she'd like to make something for me. I absolutely love her work, so you can imagine how excited I was. She asked some questions and asked to see a photo. And then, last week, late at night--9:30 at night! Who knew UPS worked so late?--this huge box was delivered, and inside? Oh, my. Look at this!

 There's our metal roof, and our purple and green front door. There's The EGE's bucket (for his lawn-working tools) and his muscles--I love those! Well, duh: I love everything about this, and I can't quit marveling over it and the detail and the wonderful gift, and. Well. I don't even have words for how I feel.

 Thank you, sweetie! XO