March 2008

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Happy Easter

March 23, 2008 in family, food, self care, sewing | No comments

It was snowing when I woke up. It certainly doesn’t feel like Easter. My parents came to visit us for the weekend, and my dad is known around the family for bringing bad weather–so he got the blame. It really wasn’t too bad. It didn’t stick. Snow on Easter, however, just doesn’t seem right.

Happy Easter to you all. I feel like life is blasting by me–so it is nice to have a holiday to make me slow down and reflect on things greater than myself.

I just signed up for a “practice” tri. Practice and 5 mile run don’t seem to belong together though. We’ll see. It’ll at least get me used to transitioning–even if the entire event is capped at 250 people.

So, I mentioned my parents are in town. It feels like all we did all weekend was eat. The scale said I’d gained 6 pounds right after dinner tonight. Yikes! Considering I’ve already put on 5 with my training, even though I’m trying really hard not to eat poorly. I’m really not amused. Does anyone have any tips? I’m trying to add weight lifting to the workout plan–but it is difficult considering I already devote at least an hour 6 days a week to running, biking, or swimming. So needless to say, all of my projects are getting delayed slightly. I caught up a lot on my Alabama Chanin corset this weekend.

Here are my goals for the week.

1. Complete all scheduled training–yes I skip every now and again. This is a recovery week, so the workouts are a lot shorter.

2. Work on one Illustrator project with Eric. We just bought Adobe CS3 with his student discount and are both hoping to learn a bit.

3. Finish corset and finally pull together my thoughts about my Alabama Chanin experience.

4. We currently have 3 things scheduled for the weekend coming up, a 1-hour appointment on Saturday, a 1-2 hour lunch meeting on Sunday, and group swim practice on Sunday. We’ve resolved not to schedule anything else! As I write this I realize an invitation to a VIP party before a runway show finale for St. Louis fashion week sits in my inbox. I must stay strong and politely decline. I’m definitely the queen of over commiting.

I hope your week is full of spring-time goodness.

Peace,

^_^ Katy

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

March 20, 2008 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

I grew up on the old Nintendo. The original one with the gray gun–not the orange one. My brother and I got it when I was in kindergarten and he was in fourth grade for getting good grades. We’d sit in chairs, his in front of mine, and play Top Gun and fall out of the chairs when we were hit. I got blisters on my thumb from pushing the A button so much. I loved the original Super Mario Brothers. I was able to beat the entire game, after warping in Level 1.2 to Level 4 and then to Level 8.

Ask my BFF. I’d end up at her house playing Ninja Turtles on the Nintendo with her little brother. I liked playing with him because I was older–and a little better at the game. Whatever works, right?

Well, my husband and I now have a Wii. I highly recommend a Wii to anyone. It is a GREAT party pleaser. We recently acquired the game–Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I love that it goes very retro with the characters and sounds all the way back to the original Nintendo days. There are Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Yoshi and more of the original characters.

Last night we were on the level with Link and Yoshi–being a lady, I let him be Link. I was getting annoyed with Yoshi’s hoppiness. Then towards the end of the level, we think, there were several disappearing platforms you had to jump up and then catch onto a ladder. He couldn’t get Link to jump consistently high enough. So I took his controls and fiddled and out popped Link’s grappeling hook. I suggested he use that. He said it didn’t work. So we tried a bit more and only got more frustrated and turned the game off for the night. Today he tells me he’s looked up how to get past that point. Seems the grappeling hook was the answer.

So, now I’m gloating that I figured out the video game before him. He said it wasn’t a big deal and he didn’t care. But it is a big deal. I was always the less-experienced player that would die first. This is a huge deal.

Enjoying my little victory.

Peace,

^_^

Miscellany

March 13, 2008 in artist way, family, food, leukemia, patterns, self care, sewing | No comments

First off, this weekend was AMAZING. I had such a wonderful time and met some of the most interesting and caring women! What fun. More on that later. Thank you Natalie!

The lady in NY found a bone marrow donor! Yippee.

Fundraising is blowing my socks off. Seriously!! I’m so awed at people’s generosity. I will be updating the Fundraising Fun post with additional names. There are still several people that I don’t know at all. Thank you all!

This morning’s run was nuts. I didn’t have to bundle up–but it was so dark. Yay Daylight Savings time. I feared tripping. Instead I managed to trip when the sun had already started to come up. I was sprawled out on a stranger’s driveway with a little scraping on my knee and bruising on the bum–how did I hit both sides? Just as the other knee was healing from the bike debacle two weekends ago. Oi vey.

St. Louis Fashion Week is underway. I plan on attending a few of the events–mainly the free ones!

Much love to y’all and I promise more goodies and photos soon!!

Peace,

^-^

Shirt Progress

March 7, 2008 in sewing | 2 comments

Here are those photos.

Fundraising Fun

March 6, 2008 in leukemia | 1 comment

I am currently in awe. I sent out a plea for donations for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society via e-mail yesterday. In the course of 24 hours with Eric’s flyer (tntfundraising.pdf), my e-mail, and some people passing the note along–thanks Cindy! we raised $1000! Holy cow! $1000 in 24 hours!?! And I’m still getting donation notifications! Y’all’s generosity has inspired me. I will pull from your support on the days I don’t want to bike 10 more minutes or I don’t want to get out of bed to train at all. Thank you so much.

Several of the supporters I do not know–at all. To you, Thank you! I had the following post written to celebrate the completion of fundraising, but I think this deserves a celebration in and of itself, so I’ll post it early.

A lot of people donated to help us get to the goal for this tri. I thought it’d be fun to celebrate each of them and discuss how I know or don’t know them. This doesn’t include the people who’ve donated by buying beads at the St. Patty’s parade or the people that dropped in some change at the grocery store–thanks Schnucks!

Cathy-She was my first desk-job boss. She mentioned I was anal–and I vehemently denied it. In time I’ve come to embrace my anal-ness. Cathy has been a family friend for much longer than I can remember. She is an amazing hostess and a great family friend.

Sarah Beth-We went to Baylor together and also Baylor in Paris. Here’s a photo of her enjoying Nutella and flirting with French boys. Sarah Beth is always up for a great time. She also shared the information about my fundraising with her family giving me 2 more supporters–thanks!

Grace and Steve-We’ve hung out with these people on just about every Tuesday we’ve been in St. Louis. They love to encourage us and Steve is older than Adam–Eric likes to remind him. They are great hosts and we’ve enjoyed several glasses of wine and conversations over the years.

John-I have not seen John since the summer after 2nd grade. John was a co-worker of my dad’s and he lives in Alaska. I spent a few nights over playing with his daughter Jenny when we lived in Alaska too.

Helene and family-I baby-sat Helene’s kids when I was in 5th and 6th grade. Now they are going to college! Where does the time go! We keep in touch through holiday letters.

My parents–they support my fundraising efforts and plan on cheering me on during raceday. How boring for them!

Eric’s parents–They constantly remind me they don’t want Eric back, after his broken ankle, car wreck, and leukemia. Great in-laws and friends.

Sarah and Ted–Friends from the seminary. We were a part of their family on our first holiday with out relatives-Thanksgiving 2006.

Andrew and Daisy–Friends from the seminary. Eric was walking around when they were over he bumped Daisy on the head with his laptop while she was nursing her baby. Anytime I mention it Eric just hangs his head–he’s so embarassed. Both baby and mom were fine.

Jane–My first donater this time around. She was my mentor for my last event–she’s an excellent mentor–and shared with me the joy of walking. We walk fairly regularly between events.

Andy/Andrew/Dr.–He’s my orthopaedist. He helped heal my broken arm with my first marathon and work through Runner’s Knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome) I developed. I remember meeting him and not feeling well because of my pain medication. I asked him about it and he said he didn’t know what to do because he just dealt with bones. I ended up throwing up in the examining room trashcan.

Emilia–A co-worker. Lots of fun and always stylish.

Rosemary–A co-worker. Great doodler-you should see her gallery. We both have ADHD spouses.

Carrie and Francis–Aunt and uncle. They are lots of fun–I hooked them up by catching the bouquet at another relative’s wedding and giving it to Carrie.

Carol and T–Family. Lots of fun. We go on vacation to their house and veg. They think we are nuts but it is awesome.

Kenna–college roommate. She’s getting married soon and I get to stand up to support her. And see her–it has been a while.

Peggy–Family. Has a daughter my age. Is the most energetic lady I know!

Kim–a co-worker. She brings me things to work on with a smile!

Zara–a co-worker. She hasn’t been around long. She never gets tired of “shadowing me” and figuring out this company. She’s very enthusiastic!

Music Moves Me

March 6, 2008 in Musings, patterns, self care, sewing | No comments

Last night I planned on attending spin at the YMCA. I had a bit of time at home between work and spin. Eric cooked and did dishes–I am so enjoying his housework help! I caught myself running around the house singing “YMCA.” Even as I pulled the door open to the Y, I was still singing it in my head.

Spin class was lots of fun–it was a little less intense than I’m used to, which was a welcomed break. One of the songs the instructor played was “Yellow” by Coldplay. Every time the word “yellow” was said we had to increase the resistance on our bikes and do a climb (ride standing up for you non-spinners). That was fun. The next song that came on was Cake’s “The Distance.” I was immediately taken back in time to high school. I ran cross-country and that was a popular song with our gang. I lip synched as I remembered the words. I’m sure I looked silly, but I couldn’t really see anyone else with my glasses off, so it didn’t bother me. The last song before our cool down was “Eye of the Tiger.” I love music. It totallly motivates me to train faster.

I did take some photos of the top, but they are still in the camera. Tonight’ll be busy with going to the homeless shelter immediately after work, then getting home, packing and taking a few camera lessons from Eric on his Digital SLR. Tomorrow I am going to spin and run at the Y in the am (6am spinning class!) and then head out of town for my Alabama adventure. I will try to post the images before I head out.

There’ll be plenty of updates when I return Sunday night. They’ve given us sneak peaks into what to expect and I’m beyond excited. I’m going to stay at a charming (by the photos on their site) B&B. I am feeling totally spoiled.

Peace,

^-^ Katy

Snow

March 5, 2008 in self care, sewing | 1 comment

St. Louis was covered in snow yesterday. The amount varied greatly all over the city. In the area where I work, 11 inches fell from 8am-5pm. Here’s a look at the parking lot at about 11am. Since the snow plow plowed the parking lot, all of the snow was pushed up to our cars. We had people litterally digging out (with a shovel) a space in front or behind people’s cars so they could get out!

To give you an idea. When I got home and pulled into our apartmentment parking lot, my car door skimmed the top of the snow. This was in a parking space that hadn’t been shoveled. I am more than ready for spring.

Self-care was a hot topic! Please let me know via comments or e-mail if there is anything specific you’d like to discuss.

Monday, since self-care was on the brain, I did great. I read a lot on my library books. I even cut out a shell front for the Balenciaga shirt and attached some fabric. Instead of creating a terrible mental image description–it looks great. Really! I’ll be sure to take a photo or two and share tonight or tomorrow. Tuesday, the snow messed with everything. Like that excuse? Tuesday, I didn’t focus on self-care and I could really feel it.

So what exactly is self-care? Essentially it comes down to taking care of yourself-asinine I know. There is no magic formula. Everyone is different. Do you love having pretty nails? Then you’d take the time to make sure your hands are moisturized and maybe splurge for a manicure regularly. Do you love fresh berries? Then you’d purchase them at the store and enjoy putting them on your cereal. Self-care is self-pampering. I realize it is difficult and can be expensive or time-consuming, but it yields extremely high dividends. So for me on Monday, self-care involved investing time.

Artistic Irony

March 3, 2008 in artist way | 2 comments

I open up the Artist Way this morning. Week 10: Recovering a Sense of Self-Protection. Sounds interesting, so I read on.

“For many, work is the block of choice. Busy, busy, busy, they grab for tasks to numb themselves with. They can’t take a half hour’s walk. ‘What a waste of time!’ Must-dos and multiple projects are drawn to them like flies to a soda can in the swun. They go, ‘Buzz, buzz, buzz, swat!’ as they brush aside the stray thought that was the breakthrough insight.”

Looking at my weekend list, a few things didn’t really have to be done. I consume myself with busyness which in turn only stresses me out. Makes me angry at Eric, poor dear, because he “isn’t helping.” Busyness also distracts me. I am great at promising other people things will get done and following through no matter what. Why can’t I do the same for me?

Why is it, that I can’t carve out an entire weekend to creativity on my own? Instead I have to drive 6.5 hours to Alabama and attend a weekend workshop? Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely excited about this weekend and have been looking forward to it since I found out about it. I just crave creativity situations more frequently and should be able to set them up for myself. Also, I’ve essentially convienced myself that I need extended periods of time to work. When in reality, I could get a lot more done in my little 15-30 minute spurts. It may be time to get out the egg timer and sequester myself in the study. I’ve got a whole of of creativity bottled in me and need to allow it to come out.

I still think it is ironic. I was very pleased with my detailed list of things I’d done this weekend. Looking at it now, it seems like a detailed list of excuses as to why I’m sabotaging myself.

I shall carry on. And chuckle at my seriousness. Life is too short. This is what is meant in, “Loving God, Embracing Beauty, and Living Life to the Fullest.”

Peace,

^-^ Katy

PS. This seems to fall into the huge self-care philosophy a friend and I discuss regularly. I hope y’all will keep me honest in taking more time for these things, but ultimately it is my problem and up to me to fix it.

Weekend Update Continued

March 2, 2008 in Musings, sewing | No comments

Here is what Scotch was doing during my first update. He loves me lots.

Here’s the headboard. At work they just shot my first textile design for bedding. So we are planning on updating our bedding ensemble. I’ll show you photos as soon as it is available for purchase!

Here’s a close-up of the headboard. I really like how it looks.

Lastly, here’s a quick–2 minute attempt at draping the top. I plan on making a shell underneath and then I use smaller pieces to drape. Currently these are 2 yard cuts of two colors that I purchased in New York. The colors are a little fall-ish.

Weekend Update

March 2, 2008 in Musings, sewing | No comments

Well… first things first, the Balenciaga-inspired top did not get worked on, yet. I have everything out and am hoping to give it small spurts of attention tonight and throughout the week.

The weather this weekend was AMAZING. Tomorrow it is supposed to snow! Ugg..

So, here’s what I did do this weekend:
1. Went to a work happy hour on Friday celebrating a co-worker’s promotion.
2. Went for a 13 mile bike ride with the team on Saturday. I did manage to fall over on my bike with the clips–so I’m now “official.”
3. Took a nap after the bike ride.
4. Went to the library.
5. Joined the YMCA.
6. Saturday evening church.
7. Watched a movie at home.
8. Cleaned house.
9. Went out for Sunday morning coffee and pain de chocolate.
10. Visited Body Worlds 3. Today is the last day it is in town.
11. Read some of the library books.
12. Did ironing.
13. Got out pattern pieces for Balenciaga undershirt and ironed them.
14. Arranged car assistance and picked up headboard that I’d purchased in December at a sample sale at work.
15. Going to swim practice in less than an hour.
16. Loved on kitties.

Whew–so I really haven’t been lazy. I head to Alabama on Friday morning, so we’ll see what I can accomplish this week. Keeping in mind I have spin Monday night, dinner date Tuesday, and my final night working at the homeless shelter on Thursday.

I love my full-life, I just sometimes have to push sewing aside for a bit–which is probably why I don’t make more of my clothes.

Peace,
^-^ Katy

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March 2008

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