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!
