How do you???????

Where did 2009 go? Reviewing our original post on 100 New Things, it is quite obvious that we, the Roberts sisters, have fallen short of achieving our original goals. That acknowledged, we could take one of two paths at this time: give up on the blog and shamefully reflect on our endeavor as an unrealized, silly dream, OR change the rules and go forth on our quest. I vote for option two and since the other two sisters are currently not present, my vote is unanimous. Towards the end of last year, our cousin, his wife and their son visited for the holidays. Some people have hidden talents that you have to coax to the surface. Roman and Roxana are quite the opposite. They exude talent. To top that they are a gorgeous couple, exemplary parents and have a child with the cutest Mexico City accent. If only my little nephew could teach me to speak as beautifully as he does. That not quite being possible, I began my journey with Roxana, learning a bit about cejas...aka eyebrows. Eyebrows are a ...

So, what was that old rhyme really about anyway? And what exactly do you call that hand clapping routine that goes along with it? I am willing to bet that most people (especially ladies) around my age can recall the words to My Name is L-I, L-I, Chickali, chickali...although I am coming to find that there are some variations by region and age. For example the youngest of us three seems to recall something random thing being in the rhyme, and the older, wiser ones recall something about someone named Lester? Or was it Vester?  Anyhow, these "clapping songs" have been around a  long, long time and they seem to mutate every year. How do they have anything to do with our blog? Well, yesterday I was sitting around with my cousin's daughter, Bianca, at a birthday party. Now, the majority of the people at the party were adults, so it was no surprise that after a little while Bianca turned to me with that kid complaint, "I'm bored!!!!!"  Of course when a child speak...

What do you get when you mix a 6'2" stud, a lump of clay and some mouth watering bbq? Our first lesson! Our cousin, Shad, has been throwin' pots since high school. If you didn't know him, this might be hard to believe. He is a towering, powerful guy who, at first glance, might be a little intimidating. Once you start talking to him, you quickly realize that behind this hunk of man is a BFG (Big Friendly Giant). Once you see his pots, you realize that this BFG has a really gentle touch and skilled hands. We arrived to find our teacher grinning and ready to get started. Over dinner, he started giving us some key lessons in using the wheel... Rule #1: Take it slow, even when you freak out. If you are going to take your hands off the clay while it is spinning around on the wheel, do it slowly, even if you think you've messed up. If you move to quickly, you can really mess up your pot. Rule #2: Symmetry is essential. Pots shouldn't be lopsided! Refer back to Rule #1...