Valentine's Day at last!

Phew! Two pair of Valentines pants done with no time to spare. I finished Jim's amazing plaid pants just half an hour before we needed to leave for the dance. Talk about crunch time! All week while I was working on these two pair of pants and still taking other projects, I was including at least part of Saturday as a work day. I guess I should have been more clear about that point with Jim, who waited until Thursday afternoon to announce that he had a Valentine's Day suprise for me that would take all day and was out of town. Friday night crunch time! Luckily, I was already doing the button fly on Jim's pants with hand-braided buttonholes, which can be done in the car. That is exactly what I did all the way to our secret destination. I fininished the second to last buttonhole as we were parking.

My suprise? The Newport Aquarium! Now, anyone who knows me well knows that I am a shark fiend. I count down to the Discovery Channel's Shark Week every summer and own multiple shark documentaries. The aquarium was great. We got all kinds of pictures of weird fish and frogs, some really beautiful jellyfish and other critters.

The very, very best part was the sharks. I got some really incredible pictures and some even better videos while we were in some of the little tunnels that the sharks swim around.

And then?! And then I got to pet some. I pet a shark! Several, in fact. One was really slippery but not slimey and it felt like it had a row of tiny little teeth down it's spine. My favorite was the 3 1/2 foot shark that felt like wet and velvety. I was in heaven and hadn't even gotten to go dancing yet!

The Louisville Swing Dance Society's "Let Me Call You Swingheart" dance was a huge success. The music was good, the dancing was even better and our new pants were a smash hit! The best part that my darling friend Emily, who was visiting from school just for the weekend, wore the 1940s style outfit that I made for her last summer. Needless to say, the dance seemed a little like a showcase for my work.

I knew I should have worn a black bra...