Kitty Loving

July 1, 2009 in cats | No comments

I guess my kitties knew I was posting about cats, and not them. I guess their behavior isn’t atypical, I just happened to have my camera nearby. Enjoy the obligatory gotta show cute photos of my own kitties to not show favoritism to the little kitties outside post.

Here’s Sake’s Sunlight Vignette.

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Look at those shadows!

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Striped back end.

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She kind of looks like a jailbird.

The next set is something I found upon returning home after watching our softball team play last night. It is really kind of sick.

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Excuse our half-folded laundry. Look at the top left.

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They are totally holding hands!

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Scotch is a bit embarrassed.

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More hand holding.

Well, now that I’ve thoroughly disgusted you with my kitties’ cuteness I promise not to do that again–too soon.

Peace!

Happy July

July 1, 2009 in Musings | No comments

Are you gearing up for the 4th? I though a little Jim Gaffigan might be in order. He talks about the 4th of July towards the end of this clip. Enjoy.

Peace!

Minor Set Back

June 30, 2009 in running | No comments

Well, training and fund raising are going well. I made $35 selling Father’s Day Cards!! Woo Hoo!! Sunday I went out for a short run–just 35 minutes–after church. I made it less than two minutes into the run and ended up on the concrete after twisting my foot in a hole. I managed to sprain my ankle. It is a bit swollen and a few pretty ugly purple colors. I hope to start stationary cycling tomorrow–slowly. We’ll see how it goes. It doesn’t hurt too bad to walk. I’m supposed to start drawing the alphabet with my toes and that hurts quite a bit now. Looks like I could use some training on running and not getting injured or avoiding pot holes. During my training for my first Team in Training event, the Nike Women’s Marathon (pre-blog) I managed to trip and break my elbow. I guess I’m just a sucker for the pavement. :)

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I’m sure glad I managed to do my nails Saturday night. :)

Peace!

Kittens

June 30, 2009 in cats | No comments

These cuties have been occupying a bit of my time. I’m lucky to volunteer for an awesome organization, Humanimal Connection. Eric and I’ve been slowly making friends with this cat family living in our backyard. Mama is super-sweet. Once she is spayed–hopefully this week–she’ll be available for adoption. She is great–trust me I’ve thought about keeping her for myself, but Scotch and Sake have made it clear they aren’t interested! We’ve caught two of the kittens and the other two are missing. We think (and really, really hope) mama took them somewhere else to “hide” them and they’ll be back soon. The kittens will also be fixed and vaccinated and then available for adoption.

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Peace!

Creative Fund Raising

June 18, 2009 in triathlon | No comments

Being in the the Silicon Valley area of California, there is a lot of creative fund raising going on for Team in Training. For example, tonight I’m “selling”-for a donation-Father’s Day Cards at our Thursday night track practice. Complete with a stamp and post office drop off. These cards are way too cute to keep to myself–and I love how simple they are.

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The fund raising on this event is going particularly slowly. So I’m looking at any option I’ve got. I’m even considering doing what one past participant did and wearing my wetsuit around for a week straight. It was very successful for him, but I’m not sure I could pull it off myself–those things get a bit hot and sticky!

Other creative fund raising ideas on the docket are a fundraiser at a dueling piano bar and a good old-fashioned talent show. Thankfully I have someone co-brainstorming and planning these events with me.

Let me know if you’d like to donate and I can ship a few cards your way. Or I can write your note and send them directly to your friend/father too. The least I’ll do is send you a sweet (as in very cool) hand-written thank you!

Peace!

The Blame Game

June 17, 2009 in cooking, sewing | No comments

I realize I’ve been MIA for a bit.

I could blame Sake. As you can see, she thinks she is my main priority.

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Look at how intense she is! That face is typical Sake indeed.

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I could mention I was busy with the last days of school and volunteering at Maker Faire. I got to paint a few signs for Maker Faire and was pleased to be complimented. They said, “you certainly are a real artist.”

I finished my ambitious sewing. Here’s the shirt. It was fabulous. Though I’m not sure if I would recommend circular scallops on the back princess seams. If I stood just right, and the scallops popped straight out, I looked a bit lizardish!

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Sorry it is a bit wrinkly. It went great with the denim skirt. The skirt however, kept growing on me because of the 3% lycra I thought was a brilliant idea at the fabric store. So I sent it home with my mom–I hope she wears it.

I finished the dress.

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The necklace is something my dad randomly picked up for me 6 weeks earlier. Weird that it is orange too. I was a bit disappointed not to use the lace–but I’m not sure there was any good things to do with it this time. It is definitely on my radar for a future project.

I could also blame my mom. She stayed in town for a week. But we just did fun things–so it really isn’t her fault I haven’t been around.

I could blame my infinitely more exciting social life. We’re averaging 4 dinner parties a week both at our place and out. Fun, fun indeed. And those cloth napkins are getting a lot of use. I love them!

I could blame Team in Training. I am signed up for a new event–and you should totally donate! But that is fun too.

I could blame my summer art camp. The location change actually worked in my favor as I now have 5 weeks to teach instead of just 3! Camp doesn’t start until Monday, and while I have been working on preparing this week–it seems much more of a fun thing than a chore. Here’s my class rules.

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I could blame my volunteer sewing projects. I just finished this cover to keep dust out of the sound board at the church. And volunteered to sew at least 24 vests if not double that for a childrens’ musical camp that is performing in mid-August. What was I thinking??

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I could blame the quilt kit I got back in Long Beach last July at the quilt show. But really, I’m excited to be working on it. It’d be awesome to finish soon–or at least before we (Eric’s aunt, Eric’s grandma, and I) go back to Long Beach this July for the quilt show. Here’s all of the squares I’ve finished and the ones left to do.

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I’m onto the last block. I have 6 of those to sew, then sewing all of the blocks together, and a row of smaller squares on the border. It is pretty fun, except I am finding the squares don’t line up so well. I’m not sure if my cutting was off, or if I am bad at making quarter-inch seams. It isn’t terrible, but a little annoying for an anal gal.

I could blame the cherry chocolate chip ice cream I made. It was fabulous and lasted all of two days in our house. If you’re looking for a recipe, I’d recommend this one.

So really, I suppose I can only blame myself. I’ve been doing a lot, just not blogging about it. I hope you all are doing well too!

Peace!

Updates

May 26, 2009 in Musings, food | No comments

Well, when you see that title you can expect a text-heavy, picture-shy post.

Ice Cream Tasting–Well it was fun. Unfortunately that’s all I can say since I signed a non-disclosure or some other type of “keep your mouth shut this could be top secret food stuff” form. And since I liked “working” by tasting and ranting/raving about ice cream and getting a bit of money in return–I plan on keeping quiet.

The Weekend–Part I: Eric Graduated–Friday was Eric’s graduation day. We didn’t really realize it until half-way through the day. We still managed to make it out to eat for dinner and had a nice time celebrating. I feel like everywhere I turn around I am hearing about St. Germain, an elderberry liquour so I was tickled to find it on the cocktail menu of the restaurant we went to. It was tasty mixed with champagne and in a bubbly flute. I’d recommend it. It seemed strangely appropriate that I drank it considering they harvest the elderberries on bikes and biking is how we started out our Saturday.

The Weekend–Part II: Biking–We decided to go for a long bike ride on Saturday. I heard rumors that it was going to be in the three-hour range, but tried not to think about it and therefore avoid freaking out too much. But we rode, and rode, and rode. Into fog, out of fog. Up lots of slow inclines. And down a few fast descents. My seat got moved  a half  of an inch up about half-way through and my knees were quite grateful–I didn’t realize my seat wasn’t properly adjusted. My seat can go up some more yet. My seat also did this nifty thing where it pivoted up while I was speeding down a long decent. That was special. Thankfully, Eric knew how to fix it with his fancy tool that he keeps in his fancy saddlebag and we continued on our merry ways without injury. At the end of the ride we were just about at 36 miles. It was a doozy. We’re going to do a twenty or so mile segment of it tomorrow so I can start to kick more butt on hills instead of cursing under my breath.

The Weekend–Part III: BBQs–Our weekend consisted of BBQs. We partied with Eric’s aunt and uncle, their dogs, and wayward cat on Saturday night. Yummy tri tip on the grill. Sunday we met up with some other honored teammates and other Team in Training friends for another BBQ. Corn tortillas and steak. Monday was yet another BBQ tri tip, chicken and other yummy things. We did lots of meeting new friends, talking with old ones, eating and having a relaxing time.

The Weekend–Part IV: BBQ–Eric finally cashed in on his Christmas gift and is now the proud owner of rather large propane grill. It supposedly can fit up to 44 burgers at once. When we test it out, I’ll let you know.

The Weekend–Part V: Sewing–Sewing  has been a rather frusterating endeavor lately. I stocked up on some Simplicity patterns thinking maybe I could start my design off of them. This is the basis for the shirt. Um, can you say matronly?? Maybe it is because I’m not a model size, perhaps it is because the sketch isn’t as fitted, I dunno. It was a big disappointment. Try two is a bust. My next try will probably just include eyeballing it and cutting it out straight-away like I did for my red butterfly shirt. We’ll see.

One of the other patterns I bought was this. I have a muslin cut, so we’ll see how it goes. It has only three pieces to sew–plus a few more for facings. It looks like it’ll be a super-quick sew if it passes the muslin test.

I feel quite stuck with sewing. In school we only focused on sewing for a model size. So I can do that pretty well. I feel comfortable with pattern manipulation and everything–as long as it is a model size. I didn’t learn how to sew for “real people.” Especially myself–so whenever I start down that road I get immensely frustrated or disappointed. What do you do that works?

The Weekend–Part VI: Back to Work–Well my summer job has taken another turn. The camp I was supposed to teach at never received much public interest, only a few people registered. Instead the site will be closed and I’ll move to another site. I’m not sure if I’ll get some hours cut or what else might happen. It is disappointing for sure. I’m considering typing up some fliers offering sewing lessons. That could be an nice way to get more work.

This evening we had a “Rome Night” at school to end our study of Rome. There were lots of togas, and a potluck. I think eating seems to be a recurring theme in my life. Good thing I love food. It was fun.

The rest of the week will be steadily busy with school, training–I may have signed up for another Team in Training triathlon, and volunteering at Maker’s Faire. I’m very excited to help out and get some behind the scenes looks at the event. I’ll keep you posted.

Peace!

We’re Gonna Have Us Some Little Bitty Babies!

May 19, 2009 in Musings | No comments

As soon as I got home, Eric was so excited. He said he had something that would “make my weekend.” I admit, I was skeptical–didn’t we just have a weekend? I went through a mental list of things it could be–student loan gets paid off, a vacation somewhere for the summer, going back to Paris? Still very unsure of what he meant, I thought the opportunity had past and that he was just being his silly over-enthusiastic self. But I was wrong.

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Looks like an ordinary string of lights, right? Wrong.

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Looks like we’re going to have us some little bitty hummingbird babies. I’m sure the cats will be glued to the window, when they finally see the bird and keep us updated. I hope I can grab a photo of the little ones. They’ll going to be super teeny tiny-because mama isn’t that big herself. I’m excited.

Peace!

Weekend Wrap-Up

May 17, 2009 in Musings | 1 comment

It is so hot here. In the upper 90’s and without A/C, I’m pretty useless. I spose I’m a bit of a pansy. So in no particular order, here’s my weekend wrap-up. Photos would have been nice, but you know I didn’t manage to take any. You can improvise with some visualization.

1. I found a great way to eat spinach. I put frozen strawberries, frozen mangoes, spinach, some whey protein, plain yogurt and some water in a blender. I mixed it all together and it tasted like berry smoothie. No spinach taste, but all the nutrients! Awesome.

2. Hee Haw Hayride was the musical put on by the 7th/8th graders at our school. It was super-cute. They even made fun of all the staff with bogus newspaper headlines. Eric’s was, “Pastor Eric Caught Buying New Clothes without Holes!” He does wear a lot of distressed tee shirts and holey jeans. Too funny.

3. I attempted one prototype of my shirt for ordination weekend. It wasn’t quite what I wanted, but helped in the process. The scalloped ruffles are way too cute. I’m in love. I’m going to work on grading my basic bodice sloper and see where that’ll lead me. That’s on tap for tomorrow, depending on the heat situation (it is only supposed to be in the 70s). I may just melt into a puddle instead.

4. I’ve continued reading some library books. I’m nearing the end of Girl Meets God. I didn’t expect much, but I’ve been blown away. The author has one Jewish and one Christian parent. She chose to become an Orthodox Jew, then shortly after that became a Christian. On top of that she is an academic who majored in religion. I love her historical insights, her ability to explain complex theological situations simply, and her authenticity at how hard certain aspects of Christianity are difficult for her-evangelism, sexual sins. In a way it reminded me a bit of More, Now Again, which I read my junior year of college. Though I found Elizabeth Wurtzel’s book to be a bit whiny and haven’t experienced that at all with Girl Meets God.

5. I’ve been weightlifting 2 or 3 times for the last 3 or 4 weeks. I’m in love. I have muscles popping  up everywhere. Watch out Michelle Obama! I’m hoping to start adding more cardio to the mix. Still debating about Team in Training. Though, one our good friends is likely to sign up too, so I’m sure I won’t be able to stay away.

6. Random Team in Training info. Eric and I’ve raised over $15,000 fund raising for 4 different TNT events. The entire organization celebrated their 2oth anniversary in 2008. In 2010 they expect to reach $1 billion in total amount raised! Ryan O’Neal also has CML and takes Gleevec.

7. I was finally a match for a taste test. I’ll be testing ice cream/popsicles on Wednesday and get paid. I’m very excited.

Peace!

Baby Things

May 15, 2009 in creating | No comments

I’ve finished only one onesie since getting back from St. Louis. This one seemed to take forever.  I’m not really sure why though. You’d think they’d get quicker to make, not slower.

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I tried using snaps that attach directly to the shirt, but found they ripped the material. So instead I’ve been sewing on snaps. I like “rough” look better. Too cute.

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Here it is all buttoned up.

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I’m only two onesies behind the babies that have been born. I’m not too worried, though because the onesie is based off a 12-month size.

Now off to a bit of paper pattern work, then off to watch the 7th and 8th grade musical at church. Hee Haw Hayride is the show.

Peace!

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