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blue girl presents
Roly Poly Me in an outfit made by my Dad!
Why, hello there!

i hope that you have been having a wonderful week.  I spent my week enjoying time with family and friends.  The weather has been so perfect for play and fun.

Today is Taiwanese Father's Day - the perfect opportunity to brag about my Dad for a little bit.

There is no doubt that I am my Mother's child, because I look just like her.  However, my personality and all of my craftiness comes from my Dad.  My Mom is a fierce cook, but crafting is just not her thing.  She has created lovely things in the past, but usually under coercion from a craft-loving friend.

My Dad is goofy, laughs a lot, and always has a camera with him.  That's me!  Friends who meet my Dad for the first time always say, "so that's where you get it from."

My Dad is crafty and talented.  When he was young he led a church youth group.  He has these memory books that he created for each member back when mimeographs were high tech.  Every page was handwritten and included his own illustrations.  It's pretty crazy. 

When I was in 7th grade, I had to make an Egyptian headdress and collar for school.  It was my Dad's idea to use a carpet-y toilet bowl cover as a base for the collar.  Are you old enough to remember when it was cool to decorate the toilet to match the floor mats?  Even though we bought a brand new cover from Hills, I was initially mortified by the idea.  But of course it was a genius idea, and I got an 'A' after adorning the cover with a bunch of gold trim.

One of my Dad's funniest creations was a window knocker.  While eating lunch, my Dad's seat offers a perfect view of a bird feeder he set up outside the large picture windows in an adjacent room.  One year, he was frustrated that squirrels and large black birds were eating up the seeds and scaring off the smaller birds.  My Dad set up other feeding areas for the larger birds and squirrels, but they loved the feeder right by the window.  My Dad created spiked rings from plastic containers to deter the squirrels.  But the squirrels loved the fancy new obstacle course they felt was created just for them.  He tried to create slippery covers for the bird feeder that would make it too difficult for the larger birds and squirrels to reach the food.  It only helped temporarily.  Finally, my Dad created a window knocker.  He had a pull string next to his seat that traveled up and across the ceilings over to a ball that would bang the window.  That worked.  It only stayed up for a month or two, but it sure gave us a laugh while it lasted.

My Dad also sews.  He doesn't sew regularly - only when inspiration strikes.  However, it makes me proud that he sewed me an outfit when I was a roly poly  baby.  It gives me hope that I will master a sewing machine one day! 

I could tell a gazillion other stories about my Dad's talents, craftiness, and goofiness, but with Father's Day twice a year it's best to share a few at a time.

I love you, Dad!  Happy Taiwanese Father's Day!

P.S.  My Dad's nickname is Blue.  That is part of the reason why I'm bluegirl.  :)
8/8/2013 02:43:39 am

Ah! I love this post so much!

1. You are an adorable Roly Poly you!
2. Both of my parents are artists and I feel so blessed to draw (ha- no pun intended) from their amazing talents. I love seeing that with your family too!

Is your Dad still in Taiwan?

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8/14/2013 02:50:49 am

Thank you, Candace! I love that your parents are both artists. That is so cool.
My Dad is not in Taiwan anymore, although I still have relatives there. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and my parents are still there.

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victor s. Lan
8/8/2013 06:10:32 am

Are you sure you are describing the right dad here? Sound too nice to be me! By the way, eventually dad was so angry and punched the glass, only to see the squirrel watching me breaking the window. It cost dad 95 bucks to fix it! The repairmen left his tool here and forgot about it till I called! Problems solved after we reluctantly cut the tall evergreen tree off! Thanks for the compliments. Love you and Victor.

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8/14/2013 02:52:02 am

Of course I'm describing the right Dad! Should I Be more mean next time? :)
I didn't remember you breaking the window. Haha. That's so funny.

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8/16/2013 11:15:57 pm

Karen, I am scrolling through your posts, just amazed at your beautiful and multiple talents. And then I read this post about your dad, "so that's where you get it from." :) Loved the Blue/bluegirl connection.

Love, Joy
<a href="http://yesterfood.blogspot.com">Yesterfood</a>

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8/20/2013 07:21:31 am

Joy, you are so very sweet! Thank you so much for your very lovely and kind words. I really appreciate your visit. :)

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