Project update time!

One of the things I love about keeping a blog is the ability to go back and read old posts...I've been trying to do this more consciously lately, because I use this blog a lot to "remember to..." and it sure helps to re-read!!!

Anyways - here is a list of some projects I had going, that it is time for an update on! It's been a really busy summer so far - I had a summer class, started my practicum, and have relatives visiting from Spain. I feel a little scattered, a little frantic... and like I am losing sight a little bit on some of my goals. So this is a good time to stop and revisit them.



1. Thesis
I've had one long thesis meeting this summer - which was both really helpful and really exhausting at the same time. My thesis is on measuring adult homeschooler's attitudes towards psychotherapy. I'm a little lost with some of the statistics, and feel like I need a refresher course. I have another meeting on Wednesday, so I have a lot of work to do between now and then. We are working on our 10-20 page "thesis plan" which is basically the skeleton of the thesis that we will flesh out over the next year. There are 4 other people working on their theses, and we meet as a group with our advisor. It's a great group - with a variety of projects. I really enjoy working with them... but definitely need to get in some good hours of thesis work in the next few days.

2. Craft Shows - I did several a few months ago, but have really pushed the pause button on it right now. I had to, for my sanity - but I am looking forward to getting back into it for the holidays.

3. Classes at CSULB
3a. Summer Class - This was a 7 or 8 week class that was HARD and I really enjoyed it. It was taught my our department head, and she knows her stuff. It was an in-depth treatment planning class, and I just got my grade yesterday: the hard work was worth it! I got an A...which I was really not sure I was going to get at the beginning of the semester. The next semester starts on August 29th, so I have 1 month of "freedom." (hahaha.)


4. Practicum - The last update was that I had a site... Since then I have started training at Mariposa Women and Family Center. It's been great, and informative. It's been a lot of policies and procedures training...we just started in on the forms and finances this last week. I'll keep doing training once a week until the end of August, when I start seeing clients!




5. Work - I am still working 3 days a week as A2A Coordinator and Auditor. I don't have a lot to say about that. I enjoy it when I am there, but it is hard for me to get out the door to get there. We did just get a few overnight events approved, so that's exciting. The photo is of me at our Bowling Blast event.

6. Exercise - The last time I wrote I was on week 3 of the C25K program, with the goal of running the Surf City 5k. Well - I made it all the way through the C25K program - and was amazed that I did it. I remember thinking how hard it was to run 60 seconds at a time....and I finished by running 35 minutes! Amazing. About 1 week before the 5K, I had some abdominal pains, and went to the ER. It turned out that I had another ruptured ovarian cyst. I did not need surgery this time, but I was put on bedrest for a little while. I was prepared NOT to run the 5k, but I was really, really, really disappointed that I would not be reaching my goal. The morning of the 5k, I decided to just put on my running clothes so I'd feel like part of the group (my husband, our roommate, and his girlfriend were all running the 5k as well.) I just sort of let myself get swept up in the 5k crowd at the starting line...and then started running! I decided that I could stop at any time, or walk at anytime, but that secretly I wanted to at least make it to the 1 mile marker. The 1 mile marker came up faster than I thought it would, so I decided to try for 2. Our friends took off, but my husband stayed by my side the whole time. The last 1/2 mile was the hardest - I was barely running, but I did it. My husband held my hand and we skipped across the finish line. :) It was an incredible moment for me. a)I had actually completed the C25k program, b)I ran a 5k - my 3rd ever, c)I triumphed over difficulties, d)I did it with my husband.

About an hour after, I started experiencing some real pain, and I am fairly certain that I pushed my recovery back about 3 days. But you know what? I am still glad I did it.

After that 5k, I sort of just...stopped exercising. I didn't have something I was training for, which I realize is a problem. My next goal is to compete in a Sprint Triathlon. I'm going to give that it's own category now.


7. Sprint Triathlon training - I have done a little bit of research and have found a few free training programs. I'm so clueless that I'm having a little bit of a hard time figuring out what to do. What I should do is to run 3 days a week, and bike and swim on the other days. What I am doing right now - is 2 days a week of Water Aerobics, and that is all. I really love this water aerobics class, so I don't plan on giving it up. What I think I will do is go 30 minutes before the class and ride the bike on those days. I do need to pick up my running training again. I need to make a schedule and stick to it.

8. Healthy living - I joined weight watchers a few weeks ago. I go Sunday mornings at 8am with my aunt. It's been great - except I feel like I've been sabotaging myself this week. Yesterday I took steps to get back on track - I bought produce and some basic ingredients. Today I made sure I ate breakfast, and I've been snacking on oranges and celery and drinking my water. I need to remember what is important to me, and where I want to get back to. In other healthy living news... I am feeling the need for increased beauty in my life. I need nature, green, trees, ocean - something. Even if it's just smelling my tomato plants or putting my feet in mud in my front yard. This is important for my mental health, and I need to remember that.

9. Therapy - I put it on my list of projects because it's a) a big chunk of my time each week, and b)it feels like a huge project and I think about it a lot. First off, I love my therapist, and I love the 2 hours a week I am in that office drinking tea. There is this feeling of expansion inside of me that I get while I am sitting there - I feel light and on my way to understanding everything. When I leave, that feeling contracts a little bit, but less and less each week.

10. Husband - it was DH's birthday last week and I organized a surprise LAN party for him and his computer-game-lovin friends. I even downloaded the game and learned a little bit how to play too. :) It was fun and I think everyone enjoyed it! Our ONE YEAR anniversary is next week, and I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around that one too. Any ideas for a gift??

11. Cousins - my cousins Keyvan and Yasmin have been visiting from Spain all summer. They are staying one street over with my parents, and have been the catalyst for all sorts of fun so far this summer. We've been to the OC Fair (my favorite place on earth),
Rancho Los Alamitos, many-a-beach, , the midnight showing of Harry Potter , the grunion run (Adam was working that night)



Anyways - crazy summer. This weekend I am heading to Santa Barbara for my friend's baby shower, coming back and doing thesis work! I've been commissioned by another friend to knit 5 shawls for her bridesmaids... and I'd really like to do more stuff outside. How do I have time for it all?? gotta figure that out.... :)

earrings and a little bit of daily life

A taste of some of the newest earrings I've made. They are all posted at royaboya.etsy.com and royaboya.weebly.com


Today I dyed my hair, cut my hair (yay bangs), made earrings, read a chapter, picked up a desk and set up a new office area - where I am typing to you from! It's a great desk with a hutch perfect for storing all of the zillions of textbooks I had no room for.

Still to come this evening - laundry, watering the back lawn, feeding the dogs, reading 1 more chapter, working on my paper, eating dinner, doing a load of dishes. I think it can be done! Adam is working late tonight because of the weather - he is on fire watch at Griffith Park. Hey people - when you throw your cigarette into the grass, it's MY husband who gets to work late. Dispose properly! heh.

garden is getting there!

I wish I had taken "before" photos of the garden-area, because it looks so dramatically different now! It WAS a corner in the back that was a mess of grape vines, rose bushes, and weeds - and is now a beautiful, weeded, TILLED lot, all ready for planting. I got home last night and Adam had spent his whole day cleaning the yard - including prepping the garden for me. I couldn't believe it. He also finished the fence!!! Now we just have to put it up! I'm SO CLOSE to being able to plant!!!

I am still debating the square foot gardening thing, or using the soil how it is. I can't decide. I'd have to build more boxes since I only have one, and the instant gratification of being able to PLANT NOW is a pretty strong force, buttt... will I be happier in the long run with the boxes? Not sure.

I want to do some "landscaping" while I plant - I want to make it pretty, in addition to fruitful. Not sure how - but maybe making some mosaic stepping stones or something. We shall see!

In any case, I have the best fiance in the whole world.


I am also about 1/3 of the way done with a granny square bag that I am making for my friend Dani. She makes beautiful jewelry, and so we are exchanging the bag for a turquoise/silver ring. This is how the world SHOULD work my friends! Bartering! Yay! I'm having fun on her bag - she took a photo of a bag she liked, and I am re-creating it. I really, really, really enjoy doing that - I did it for my mom with a beanie she saw in a store window. Cell phone cameras are a huge bonus to my work. ;)

As soon as that is done, I will be working on a dog sweater for a coworker. She gave me the dog's current favorite sweater to use as a pattern, so this should be interesting. I've never done any pet stuff before.

Tomorrow my family's coming over to celebrate some birthdays, so tonight involves housework, grocery shopping, and Juno training. Tomorrow is family party, Sunday is exercise, Juno, gardening, knitting, and prepping for the week. YAY!

I'm so glad that summer is here. Yes I said summer. It feels like it. It's warm, sunny...in fact, not even warm - but HOT. It's fantastic. I didn't realize how much the cold and dark weather was getting to me until it turned to heat and sunshine. I feel like a totally different person. Things that bothered me a week ago no longer matter. People are fantastic, interesting, beautiful creatures. I have energy! I want to do things! It's still LIGHT OUTSIDE when I get home from work!!!! I love this time of year! I am DONE with the cold, the chilly, the frigid. Bring on the tank tops, the tanning, the flip flops!

garden fences

Yesterday I spent some time painting the garden fence that Adam (and I) built. Once that's painted, we can set it up, and then I can start work on the garden without fear of dogs destroying it. It was really nice yesterday - listened to Harry Potter on my ipod and the sun shone and the dogs scampered....



A lot of my seeds are doing really well - the only one that hasn't come up at ALL are the jalapenos, which I am sad about. However, if I have to buy plants I can do that...I have always had good luck with jalapeno plans from the store.


The green beans are doing awesome.



Chris' brother, David, comes over many weekends and the boys spend the whoooole time playing computer games. It's just like Southpark - "We ARE socializing, r-tard"

who wins?

last night was a lovely night, and today has been a thoroughly enjoyable day. Last night Adam and I had plans for dinner, (all because filet mignon was on sale at ralphs and I was hungry when I went grocery shopping..whoops) but his sister got a flat and there were issues with her car, so he called around 7 to say that 8 wouldn't work for dinner, and maybe we should just do it another time.

Instead of getting resentful and not-nice, I was SO VERY HAPPY that my first reaction was "oh, that's totally fine - things happen." I almost bowled myself over with my magnanimous reaction to a change in plans. If you don't know me, I have a very hard time adjusting to change when I have a picture of how I want things to go in my head.

Anyways, when he got home, because I had been awesome, he could vent his frustrations TO me, instead of me adding to them. I know this is such basic stuff, but I want to pat myself on the back for being a supportive almost-wife. He watched some American Idol with me, then played video games with Chris while I cooked. I was low-key, low-pressure when I interrupted and asked if he wanted to take a break to come eat with me - and he did! We ate the BOMB filet that I made with baked potatoes and broccoli while watching Legend of the Seeker on netflix. He went back to his games and I went to bed - very happy, very content, very pleased with the entire night.

I was talking to my aunt julie about being married the other night - and the concept of "winning" in a relationship - whenever Adam and I argue, or if he wants to change plans or something, my reaction is to try to *win* - for myself, singularly. That's awful! I am trying very hard to adapt my thinking to winning as a couple, as a relationship - and the outcome of the specific fight tends to be very, very different when I think of it that way.

Anyways, I'm feeling good. Went to weight watchers today, lost 2.4 pounds! Had a good lunch of leftovers, and tonight is an A2A event! I finished another pair of socks I'd been knitting, have tons of wedding stuff for tomorrow, and plans to look at bridesmaid dresses with my sisters on sunday!

slumpy dumps and snowy photos

I've been in a weird and funky place the last week or two. Nothing horrific, just, not my usual motivated self. I've lapsed into laziness. I started drinking caffeine like a fiend. I haven't taken the dog out or gone to the gym. I do one load of dishes a day and nothing feels clean.

Yesterday I bought paintings for the house and have buyers remorse. I have vague guilty remorseful feelings on the fringe of everything I do, and I can't pinpoint them. I think my overachieving tendencies are warring with my love of leisure and recreation, and this is an uncomfortable place to be in. I discovered a new series that I love to sit around and watch marathon-style, but when I'm doing that, I'm sure as hell not at the gym or walking Juno. I vacuumed yesterday. That was my big success. But I only vacuumed because I spilled garbanzo beans and parsley all over the floor.

Le sigh. I'm not terribly down in the dumps, mood-wise, just not up and pumped like I usually am. This last weekend I had all these great big project plans and did NOTHING. I stayed up til 5am drinking caffeine and eating junk while watching tv on saturday, then slept til 11on sunday and didn't do anything.

The one big accomplishment of the weekend was actually BUYING a wedding cake!!!! We have it done son! Almond cake with an almond/chocolate ganache and buttercream frosting. Soooo delicious. We met with a photographer as well. Very professional, looks great - also super expensive. I started messing around with invitations, but lacked inspiration.

Anyways - I have some great photos from our June Lake trip to post, I started tracking food again this morning, and today I will stop at the gym ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK. I will trust in that making me feel so productive that the feeling will just continue on.










June Lake was snowy, obviously. It was Juno's first time in the snow and she loved it. We spent HOURS and HOURS chasing snowballs.

superbowl photos

seeds started and some dog photos

sunday morning rain is falling

Today was a Good Day. I woke up early and took Juno to Adam's dad's house (he will now be referred to as "Louis" since that's his name, and now you know who I mean when I say "Louis") for a training session! She has some very worrying aggressive tendencies towards other dogs, and Louis is beyond words phenomenal with dogs. All animals, really, but his whole life has revolved around dogs - he's Captain of animal control or something or other for LA. Anyways, I got there around 7:30am, worked with him and Juno for about 1.5 hours, got home and had a good morning with Adam, ate a healthy breakfast, then went over to hang out with my mom, dad, and Rosie. Made a sandwich, showed off my new shawl... pleasant times.

Got home and reorganized my home-office area. Moved a few things around to take advantage of the wall space, hung a cork-board and stuck a few photo booth photos on it. I am now sitting in dappled sunlight listening to Lady Antebellum while Chris and David blow up bad guys on the computer behind me.

Still on my list of to-dos is to take Juno for a walk/run, feed the dogs, do a bunch of laundry, a load of dishes, and take photos of my finished projects for ravelry.

Good, pleasant day.

banking and knitting.

On hold with my bank - trying to get my darn 1099-INT form, which is going to have all of .75 worth of information on it, but I can't file my taxes until I get it....three weeks ago I called them, they said they'd send it to me ASAP, but didn't - now it's online, but the link is broken. Soooo here I am, listening to the golden-oldies on the phone.

I called the two separate pharmacies I go to to get my compounded medicine, picking that up today, so, yay.

Planning on going to the recycling plant today also.

Adam and I are planning a super-cheap trip up to June Lake (Mammoth) for next week! Our friends Marco and Kylie have the chance to use someone's cabin up there - they are going snowboarding, but I will not be, I will be knitting! Hiking! Hanging out where there are TREEEEEEEEEEEES. That is, if I can get Friday off. We'll drive up Thursday night, come home Saturday. Sunday is my mom's birthday. I am so very pleased that Adam came up with this scheme, and recognizes how much I need some time with him.

Last night we took the dogs for a walk, and after sat on the front step and smelled the sombol (hyacinth for you english speakers). This morning I went out to the back and picked a bunch of tangerines for lunch today. Last night I made asparagus with parmesan, olive oil, and lemon zest, chicken with onion and lemon juice (can you tell I have tons of lemons?), carrots with garlic and thyme, and a pot of lentils. It's pretty much the perfect meal. Protein, veggies, healthy oils, and it's really very beautiful - orange and green and yum.

I am two sections away from being done with the shawl I started yesterday. I'm using up a bunch of my Lion's Brand Homespun from my stash - now that I get this pattern (it's really simple and beautiful) I forsee many a shawl getting made with stash yarn. I also started making a crocheted "market bag" - but I ran out of the cotton yarn pretty fast. Luckily, I'm making it out of pretty cheap yarn so I can go get more of it without breaking my budget.

I finished both of Katy's cat hats!!! They are SO cute. I need to take some photos, and then ship them off to her! I love them. I love beanies. I never wear beanies, but I love the idea of them. I don't wear shawls either, for that matter, but I see those making a comeback - it gets so cold in my office, I will definitely bring one here to use.

PB&J

My little sister, Rosie, had a tv-themed birthday party. It was faantastic, we had everyone from Mister Rogers to Wilson (from Home Improvement) to - Pam and Jim! Thank you Adam for dressing up as 3-hole-punch version of Jim. I was a little perturbed by the fact that I had everything I needed for Pam in my closet already...because that's what I wear to work.

piggy banks and urban dictionaries

Yesterday I received an invitation from sparkpeople.com to be part of the test group for sparksavings.com - a personal finance tool, with all the great resources of the personal healthy living tools that sparkpeople is. It's FANTASTIC. It's prompted me to figure out my financial goals, and start saving - even my pennies.

It also got me to empty my three change collections and count them - I have one old apple cider jug that has a beautiful label on it, straight from the apple orchards. That jug is so pretty it sits on our bookshelves in the living room. That's my "down payment on a house" fund now.

I have another actual piggy bank - it's a blue ceramic pig with orange and red stars all over it - I glazed it at Color Me Mine many many years ago. I had lost it, change and all, when my parent's house caught on fire, and found it in one of the boxes they cleaned and returned. It's my "a new pair of work-pants" fund.

The other change jar is one of those big 3 gallon blue glass water jars. It was given to me by Kim Fisher, my ex-boyfriend's mom, when I was about 18. She gave one to her son too. I decided when I got it that I would save all of the money in there for my one-day-camp. Last night I counted it for the first time and I have almost $300. That's a LOT of pennies.

Today was a co-workers birthday lunch, so we went to Red Robin. Now none of us feel like buckling down and focusing, so we are looking up our names on urbandictionary.com - I didn't think mine would be on there, but lo and behold -

Roya hot ass persian girl who is usually the best looking girl you can find. She is any guy's dream fantasy (hence the definition of her name in Farsi is "fantasy) usually she has dark hair eyes makes her mysterious and sexy.
Holy crap...i just saw a Roya...and DAMN did she look fine!

1. A Devilish Brunette
2. One dark haired beauty who's intoxicating company (hot bod, flashing eyes, sly smile, and dry wit) teases all your fantasies but never fulfills them, and yet makes you always want to see her again. Especially potent in combination with hot-tubs or practice midterms.


mwhahaha.

Maybe I should put "hot ass persian" on my business cards.

Today I *accidentally* woke up Adam before going to work, so we had a few minutes of nice in the morning - it's amazing how time of day affects us. We're both sooo tired by the time he gets home around midnight, that if that is the only time we interact, it drags us down. Having morning time with him is so important, and we haven't gotten much of that at all lately. The city of LA has been laying off so many people, he's stressed about that. They have a huge city meeting today - crossing my fingers.

Trying to think now of ways to make money to save. ;) I've got all that marmalade - where do I sell it?? I've used up my coworkers I think.
I have the two hats for Katy - one is done. Working on number two.
Julie's chairs - I need to print the rest of the fish out and then I'll be done with Chair 3, and can start on Chair 4.
I've also got a scarf in the works for Becky.
Those are my priorities.

Then I can get back into setting up my etsy shop, and trying to use the materials I already own, rather than buy new ones!

when the saints go marching in

This weekend was a fantastic reminder of finding happiness in the small stuff. Sunday we held a superbowl party, so Saturday Adam, Chris and I spent about 10 hours cleaning our house - we got a carpet cleaner, we scrubbed the top of the fans, the bottom of cupboards - we did everrrything our little house has needed for quite some time. We even rearranged all of the furniture in the livingroom. It looks great. It was a good day - we paused briefly for subway sandwiches and for them to play a computer game while I arranged the books on the bookshelves by color, and then back to cleaning.

At about 8pm, Adam and I got dressed up, took the carpet cleaner back, and then went out for date night! We ate at Taco Surf on Main Street in Seal Beach - which is one of my favorite streets in the world. We stopped at coldstones AND at Sweet Jills (land of the best cinnamon rolls in the world) - to get something for later. We went next door to a bar with a free pool table, and played a couple of games while a Super Hero birthday party partied-hearty all around us. Lots of capes and glitter.

Yesterday was fantastic too - the guys woke up early to go play some football, so I got my beautiful clean house to myself while the birds -actually- chirped outside. I opened up all the windows and worked out to my p90x dvd, then cleaned the kitchen floor, took a fantastically hot shower, and then finished knitting sock 1 of my santa fe socks while watching southpark. Roxana and I went to Smart and Final where I overdid it on snack foods, and then it was party time! Marco, Kylie, Steve, Kristen, Jesse, Chris, David, Roxana, and later Jaime. I won the first quarter score, we ate a bunch, and it was - so relaxing, to be around these folks. We're all in each other's upcoming weddings, we've all gone camping together - the guys have known each other since they were 10 years old, some of them. It's a good, very solid, group.

After the game the boys started playing Madden on the PS3, and the girls went into my room to look at my wedding dress. We broke open some champagne and I got the best fix of girltalk I've had in a long time. I am so glad that my soon-to-be husband's best friend's soon-to-be-wives are so wonderful, and I like them so much.

I am looking forward to getting off work today - heading home, straightening up just a little bit, and then doing p90x yoga. I am on the "recovery" week - although 1.5 hours of yoga doesn't feel like recovery to me. ;)

royaboya.etsy.com

Spent some time today changing the banner for my etsy shop. Still not exactly what I wanted, but it took me forever to figure out how to get it sized correctly - now that I can do that, I can go in and play with it more in the future.

i have so many projects on the backburner...Finished 1 of 2 of Katy's hats yesterday, maybe I will start number 2 today. Have Julie's chairs which I was just kind of waiting til a lack of rain and dog hair made it easier to paint without it getting messed up - and I have a whole closet full of half-done projects. I have a lot of socks that just need the toes to be grafted. I should get on that.

Thinking about what else I can do to make my etsy site look more attractive, and attract more business. Any thoughts?

My biggest sellers in person are my little felted coin purses - maybe work on getting a bunch of those ready to sell sometime too would be good. The Good Vibrations conference wiped me out completely!

Sold a few jars of my marmalade today - almost made enough money to pay for the sugar and jars. ;) That's fun...

Leaving here soon, then home - Adam took the dogs to his dad's, so it'll be my chance to...what? need to do laundry, need to do dishes, need to make lunch for tomorrow, need to do p90x... Tomorrow we have date night. Yay. Necessary.

Feeling truncated. Bye.

it's the small stuff

great sticker from Kelly Lovejoy

*the purple eyeshadow and really pretty way I did the eyeliner
*the new shoes which have received 4 compliments from the 4 people I've talked to so far today
*adam's skin against the green blankets when I left this morning
*the hyacinth bulbs that are getting some color to them
*the soft fur on Juno's ears
*Chris cleaning the shower door
*Protein for breakfast
*The desk calendar that Tulip bought me for no specific reason


A snippet from said desk calendar:

"Knitting is really good for your mental health - despite the moments when you think that it's the opposite. It's a great way to practice being successful, tackle problems without fearing terrible consequences, and watch yourself getting things done. Seeing these things on a small scale, like with knitting, can help you see them in the rest of your life."

That's self-efficacy, baby.

Adam and I started talking guest list last night. Phew.

clusters of crocus...silver and gold...

Today I am feeling like I am wasting my time a little bit being here at work. There are so many other things I'd like to be doing -

I want to sit and watch my bulbs grow. Yes, I do. I want to sit in the front yard, on the cement that's always covered in dusty dogprints and watch the hyacinth and freesia grow. Every morning when I pull the stuck and stubborn front door open, and trip down the three steps in my high heels to get to the car, it's like a whole new thing. They are growing so fast. I want to watch them.

I want to clean the fridge and chop vegetables for soups and stews and crockpot concoctions.

I want to hang out with my dog, for hours and hours. I want to use that weird red rubber brush that gets all the top hairs, and brush her for an hour, so I can let her romp all over the house and climb up on the couch and watch American Idol with me while I knit socks and cat-hats. Juno grew up lately - her legs got longer, and she looks more dog like and not so puppy like. She's got the most energy I've ever seen in an animal. I've been working on the concept of fetch - rather than the concept of grab-and-destroy, which she is familiar with already - and each one of these stupid dark days I leave too early and get home and it's cold and dark and I want SUMMER and now I am just whining. Whoops.

Yesterday I got a pedicure with my future sister-in-law, hate the color, but it was really fun to sit there and relax and just talk and talk. To be honest, I was a little nervous to hang out with her without a buffer, afraid we'd run out of conversation, but I shouldn't have worried. She is nice, and I can be sometimes too.

She loaned me her snake-thing for clogged drains, and Chris spent a while last night fixing our shower. It was such a pleasure to take one this morning, all clean and nice, instead of gross. He also fixed the short in the bathroom light switch! Now we just have to re-hang the door on the hinges, and the bathroom will actually be functional again.

We're holding a superbowl party at our house on Sunday, so the three of us have a cleaning date for Saturday. I miss Adam like crazy. It'll be nice to do housestuff with him. I feel like I haven't seen him in a week.

I bought new shoes last night, and now I need an occasion to wear them to, and an outfit to wear them with. Silly shoes. I love them.

new template

You probably have noticed that the look of the blog has changed! I was bored with simplicity and wanted to jazz things up a little bit. I don't know how long it'll last, but for now, I love the details in all of the stitching. :) I also am proud of myself that I was able to go in and edit some of the html!!!

Today I work until 5, then head home and brush the puppy dog. She's shedding like crazy and the whole house just feels FULL of dog hair. The bathtub won't drain because of it. glug glug glug. So I need to brush her, a lot, vacuum, do my 16th straight day of P90X (WOOHOO!) and maybe even do some laundry and dishes. I am debating another batch of marmalade. I've done nothing but make that for the last 2 days and I might be burning out - but I still have SO MANY lemons, and it's really not thaaaat time consuming...

I have a few knitting projects I would like to get back to as well - I have the two kitty hats I am doing for Katy - one is done, just needs pompoms, and then I can start on the other. I also have yarn for my cousin's flower scarf, and I've got two separate pairs of socks half way done.

Today I had a meeting at work I was nervous about, and about 4 minutes before I was supposed to go into it, Adam called to apologize for being sort of grumpy last night, that he wished he hadn't said anything except how much he loves and appreciates me. I am feeling recharged to go and take care of errands and house stuff...all because one little sentence from him turns it into a chore I have to do, to something I want to do gladly in order to make our house and our life better. Silly how that little perspective change makes a huge difference.

Today is also the good-tv day - American Idol AND Top Loser. This is the first time I've watched either of those shows - but I have to say, there is something terribly fun about keeping up with a popular show.

I bought the new Weight Watcher slow cooker book - it looks amazing. I want to make all of the recipes. I wish it had more photos, and I wish I had more money for groceries!!! Man oh man do I like to cook.

SUSS

Nancy came in with her 8 month old niece today - the one that was almost born during the A2A Cinco de Mayo event. I want to hold a baby that looks like me the way Klohee looks at Nancy! I want to belong to the thing. :P

Yesterday I made rosemary steak with potatoes and green beans, mooshu pork, and a kale salad. I had a fantastic time buying produce at Sprouts, listening to Tom Russel on my ipod, standing in line looking at the photos of babies in knit hats on the cover of hippie-dippie mothering magazines.

Theme?

yes.

Went to an unschooling symposium over the weekend - really interesting now that I am engaged how much I felt like I was split between younger and older generations of unschoolers. There was a time where I physically didn't know where to go - play games with the "kids" in one room, or play games with the "parents" in another room. I did a little of both. Ended up in the parent's game room for most of the night because I was knitting and they were playing a sedentary word game, rather than a jump-around-and-switch spots game.

Adam has been fantastic the past few days. Know the secret to my happiness? Think frequently about how I can make him happy. Really pays off. Wish I'd thought of this before. :) He suggested that we go look at wedding bands on Saturday (the ring kind, not the music kind) - and we will paint the rest of the fence we built, and figure out what we need to start P90X so we can start on Monday! I love projects with him!

Living with a bunch of families for a weekend in Santa Fe and seeing the Dodd's house made me think about the kind of home I want.

I worked 2.25 extra hours tonight, because I am going to Stuart's mother's memorial service tomorrow. I am not going to talk much about that right now. It's happening tomorrow, near Griffith Park. I will pick up Salvador, and maybe Adam will be able to leave work for a little while. I invited KJ.

Tonight I am going to fold my last load of laundry, feed the dogs, make the bed, run at 9 with Rosie, work on my camp, do some bootcamp videos, do some dishes, and knit!

gratitude and my life

I love days when I feel recharged by work, as opposed to drained by it. I wasn't terribly thrilled to get up out of bed at 6:30am this morning - Adam's been having some deep-coughing issues for the last few days, and his coughing and wheezing woke me up on a pretty regular basis last night. I have a new phone, and the unfamiliar alarm sound was jarring. But I did it, I got up out of the house only 15 minutes after I'd intended - and still made it to work 15 minutes early. I had time to DO things before my morning meeting, and at the meeting I created an actually manageable to-do-list, rather than an overwhelming list of vague wants and desires.

The reason I am recharged is because of the Walk for Independence - this has been both the most frustrating project AND the most rewarding for me. We had some issues getting up off the ground - all stemming to my vision being distinctly different than the executive director's vision. I felt like I wasn't being trusted to run a good event - and she felt like I was letting what was important to HER slide through the cracks. But now that we've got some stuff decided, we have momentum, and we actually have people registering, both of us have relaxed and can just enjoy the show.

I am personally gratified that my pleas to my friends on facebook have come through in such an amazing way. I wanted to raise $260 - because I couldn't quite get all of the food donated, and I felt bad about that. $260 covered the cost - I asked them to donate even if they could only donate $1.00 - and some people did just that. I received several $1.00 bills in the mail - which actually DOES provide an entire lunch to someone, and is a very helpful contribution. On the other end of the spectrum, in the last hour, I received 2 $100.00 donations. I've received everything in between, and have basked in the funny little notes and well-wishes that have also been included.

We have 59 people registered now, with many more people saying that they are *going* to register, so I am feeling better about that too. I was afraid it would just be us at the park...but it looks like we will have some company. :)

Because of this walk, too, we even got an elevator donated to our building. We still have to raise $100,000 to install the thing, but the elevator could have cost us as much as $75,000 - and it was DONATED. All because of the walk.

I've been interviewed by newspapers, we're in the AAA magazine, we have an inter-departmental competition here, we made a fantastic video of our clients, we've harnesses the amazing support of PI staff, clients, board members, family, friends and strangers... I'm inspired. Really and truly inspired today.


In other news - yesterday was a good day too. I went to a Bridal Expo with my sisters and cousin...it was intense, and made me really glad that I am not planning a wedding like that. I am glad to have had the experience, though. We got bored wit it after a couple of hours, so headed to the MAC store at South Coast Plaza, where we did makeup trial runs for my wedding! My cousin in law has a discount there, so I got to purchase a bunch of stuff and not break my budget. She's going to be doing my makeup for the wedding, too, so I won't have to pay a makeup artist.

After that we stopped by my aunt's for a goodbye dinner for a friend of the family's - played Pop5, the BEST PARTY GAME EVER, and then I went home and did a 10 minute sparkpeople video for day 1 of my new bootcamp. I realized at the last minute that I needed to cook chicken, and all I can say is - God Bless the Crockpot. I threw in chicken with some broth, a few carrots, half an onion, a bunch of mushrooms, some garlic, and a cup of dried lentils..and this morning had stew ready to take for lunch. After I did that, I fed dogs, crocheted most of a hat, wrote in my journal, and fell asleep watching The Office once Adam came home.

Today at 4:50 I will put on my gym clothes and head to the Brookhurst gym, where I will do 20 minutes on the exercise bike, and 42 minutes of walk/jog combo (5 walk, 5 run, 2 walk, 5 run, 2 walk, 5 run, 2 walk, 5 run, 2 walk, 4 run, 5 walk). Then I'm going to go to Walmart to use my gift certificate to buy a stability ball, go home, do my 10 min. bootcamp video, take Juno for a walk, make lunches, spend 10 minutes working on my camp-to-be, write in my journal, pack for santa fe, and take my bag/spinning wheel/rosie's yarn over to my parents.

Tuesday, work and working out, Wednesday work, Thursday work til noon, then Santa Fe til sunday! When I get back I need to remember to call Adam's dad for some Juno training sessions.

I am very tired. I am looking forward to habit getting me to the gym, and the gym waking me up. I need to increase my liquid intake over the next few hours, and head for fruit if I get snacky. Luckily, I brought a bunch of oranges, grapes, and an apple with me.


my backyard lemon tree, the inspiration for my wedding!

stuff n stuff

toooday, had crazy dreams, woke up and went to the gym with adam. he went to work from there, I did 25 minutes of biking and 20 of elliptical and then walked home. made ww smoothie, did a little bit of laundry. swasthi came over and we went to return all of my xmas gifts - went to joanne's, ross, wallmart and the mall, where we succumbed to the sampling of wetzel's and split a cinnamon pretzel. Back home now, laundry in dryer, chicken in oven. Going to do dishes, make lunches for the next few days, and fold laundry, then get my stuff ready to go to R's (a supported living client) for my shift tonight. Stuff I need to get ready includes: phone charger, new Sparkpeople book (!!!), toothbrush, razor, clothes for work tomorrow.

Go straight from R's to work in the morning (my shift is tonight 10pm til tomorrow 8am). Maybe exchange costco gift on lunch break and buy dogfood. Work, go home, get sleep/work stuff ready, go to gym at 8pm, head to R's for 2nd shift at 9pm. Go to work in the morning from there.

Adam and Chris are going snowboarding over New Years, so today when I said goodbye to Adam at the gym is the last time I'll see him til the new year! Augh. Sad. I am feeling co-dependent. Trying to decide the best way to celebrate my solitary new years. Have Office marathon? Eat Thai food? Start a new quilting project and spread it out all over the living room?

There were 88gajillion people at the gym today. I wish they had preferred treadmill seating for those of us who are NOT on a new years resolution kick that will only last three weeks. harumph.

According to my self-weigh in today, I've lost my holiday weight. We shall see!