Here's Something I Never Thought I'd Be Saying:

I'm going to try to make a doll dress.

Mmm-hmm.

My experience in making any kind of clothing, doll-sized or other?

Zip. 

My confidence in my ability to do this?

Between Slim and Less Than Zero.

But my motivation is pretty fuckin' high, so we'll see.

It's for my daughter. See, some time ago she happened upon a book series entitled Alice in Bibleland at Half-Price Books. I have no idea which book of the series she started with, but she immediately fell in love with it, and every once in awhile she'd find another one (there are 28 of them, and I just saw a complete series listed on Amazon for $195--used), and they were only a buck apiece, so we kept on picking them up. Eventually we had to make a list to make sure I didn't buy duplicates if I spotted one on the shelves. (There was little chance that Jacqueline would do that, since she is gifted with a prodigious autistic memory.) And more eventually we got to where we only had six titles left to go. But search as we would, none of those books showed up at either Half-Price stores in our area. So I started scouting the internet on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, Jacqueline announced that once we had acquired all of the books, she would get a Special Prize. I asked her what the prize would be, and she told me it would be an Alice in Bibleland doll. So I scouted the internet for that. And guess what? Unless it's well hidden, no such doll exists.

And then I found all six of our missing Alice in Bibleland books at reasonable prices--five of them at Thrift Books and one at Amazon --and ordered them. When they arrived, I hid them away. No easy task, since Jacqueline is Jane on the Spot for getting packages from the mail...and because she regularly searches my room for gifts that I've hidden away. But I was determined (and successful) on both counts, and now I am determined to make Jacqueline an Alice in Bibleland doll.

If you've got any advice, I'd be glad to hear it.