ATTENTION ETSIANS!

As you may or may not know, I work for a company called Project Independence. We serve adults with developmental disabilities all throughout Orange County. That means we help over 750 people who have mental retardation, autism, and Down Syndrome live more independently. We do this through several programs - Independent Living, Supported Employment, Behavioral Supports, Day Programs, Banking and Budgeting, and Access to Adventure, our travel/recreational program.

We are a non-profit organization, and it is frequently hard to provide every service we wish we could give. This December we are holding a Holiday Ball in Anaheim for all of our clients - and one thing we would like to do is give every client a gift. Sadly, we can't afford to buy a present for every single person, so we are holding a raffle instead!

I have been soliciting items from corportations and businesses - and it suddenly occurred to me that I am part of a community that could make a HUGE difference! Why didn't I think of it before? Etsy + Raffle items = THE BEST GIFTS EVER!

So I am asking you, my fellow fine-feathered etsy folk, to donate something beautiful and handmade to our Holiday Raffle. I have a Federal tax ID # to give to you, and you will be listed in the next newsletter as a supporter of our organization. So not only will it make you feel warm and fuzzy, but you'll be spreading the joy of making and giving handmade to a population that has been exposed plenty to what they see in tv commercials, but maybe not to the fabulous handmade creation YOU can make!

Please contact me either through a comment on this page, through a conversation on my etsy site (royaboya.etsy.com), or by emailing me at rsorooshian@proindependence.org

THANK YOU ETSIANS! Together we can save the world from mass production!

--Roya

oh you know, stuff

Well, yesterday's doctor's appointment turned out to be a big emotional drain/letdown/hopeful visit. It was a weird mix. I didn't end up getting a biopsy...but I also don't feel very good about making progress in figuring out exactly what is going on. The doc gave me something else to try for another month, and, yet again, we'll just have to "wait and see." Grr.

On the upside, Adam took me to the doctor's and was wonderful and supportive and made me realize, yet again, how good it is to have someone like him to be able to lean on. I have a hard time asking for things like "hey I'm nervous about the doctor, I'd like your physical presence, will you go with me?" I remember once I had to go to the emergency room when we were first together, and I got my mom to go with me - I'm used to depending on her! It's a funny transition going from her to boyfriend, you know? But Adam did make it very clear that it's both that I *should* ask him of these things, but he really *wants* me to. I can understand that. I love to "be there" for him - it would hurt if I were never given that opportunity.

After the doctors, we had lunch at Souplantation, then I went home, did some work (I was working from home for the rest of that day) and then watched The Office while I knitted. I am working on my fingerless gloves in order to survive my freeeeeezing office.

Tonight is picture night at the karate studio, and I need to do some reading for psychology. Adam is frantically heading to Monterey as I type, and I turned down an invitation to go to Mammoth this weekend in order to see Roxana's show, And Then There Were None.

As far as karate goes - I hit a slump a few months back where I was just not interested. I had to force myself to go, and it took a long time for me to get into it once I was there. I consciously made the decision not to give in to that, and reestablished myself at the studio. Tonight I am testing for my first stripe on my greenblack belt, and I am excited about being excited. I am doing two lessons - one is a right forearm hammer to the back of the neck while stimultaneously kneeing them in the groin. This makes them bend over, and I do a choke on my right side (while making sure my right foot is placed beside theirs), then I plant my right foot behind them, and do a right sweep, which takes them to the floor. Then I do a stomping side kick to their throat with my right foot.

The second lesson I am doing, we both start left side up, they throw a straight punch, I block with my left (upwindmill block), then do a straight one-knuckle punch to their ear. I do a right side kick to their knee, which brings them to their knees. I do a right backhand to their neck, then I do a left upperarm strike to their throat while bringing them in to a four knuckle upper cut to the back of their head, almost in a scooping motion.

I am starting now preparing my lessons for my blackbelt test. These will be the first two I do. I will now never stop doing these lessons.

Friday morning I would like to wake up early enough to go running on the beach, since it's dark by the time I leave work now. Day 2 of the Couch to 5k involves two 8 minute runs. Adam will try to do his while he's camping in Monterey, so I have to make sure I do it before he comes home and wants to run 20 minutes straight.

Alrighty - that's all from me for now. I will miss Adam, but I am also looking forward to not having to negotiate what we watch on tv. :) Romantic comedies and "stupid" tv shows, HERE I COME! ;)

I've been tagged!

I was just tagged by leakymouth! I have to mention 7 random facts about me, then tag 7 others to do the same.

Here's the rules:Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.~ Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.~ Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their name as well as links to their blog.~ Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

The FACTS:

1. I am an elementary school drop out! My mom pulled me out of school to homeschool at the end of 4th grade. I consider myself an "unschooler" which means we never did curriculum or set lesson times or anything - we just lived life and learned because we are naturally curious people! I spent my time with swim teams, girl scouts, Rainbow Kids (our homeschooling park day group), and Bard in the Yard, the LB Shakespeare Company, until I was about 13. Then I also added classes at Cypress College, and fell in with the ceramics department. I did a lot of traveling, spent a lot of time in the ceramics studio, and eventually transferred to a 4 year university - although I would still, to this day, consider myself an unschooler.

2. My name means "sweet dreams" in farci. My dad is from Iran, he moved here in his early twenties to go to school. My parents met at USC - my dad was the only person in a tough economics class that got an A on the first test so my mom decided to study with that guy. She speaks farci as well, even though she's as white/blonde as can be from Long Beach, but they both speak it less now that they aren't trying to keep secrets from their little children. Farci was my first language, but I lost it when I started going to school. I can say "devar moosh derat moosh goosh derat" which means "the walls have mice and the mice have ears."

3. I have, on occasion, been asked to speak at homeschooling conferences around the country. One of my favorite talks EVER was the mom and daughter talk I did at the Live and Learn conference in Saint Louis, home of The City Museum. This year I will be speaking at the Good Vibrati0ns conference in San Diego.

4. I spent the summer of 2007 as an assistant Back Country Ranger for the Alaska State Parks. My boyfriend and our giant german shephard spent a week driving up to Alaska in his dad's white truck, camping along the way. The closest town to where we were was Willow - start of the Iditarod. Of course, Willow was basically a post office and a library, and The Burger Bus. The place we drove to to get groceries was Wasilla - now known as the home of Sarah Palin. We were working at Nancy Lake State Park Recreation Area - at the end of the road there was a trail that headed out to Red Shirt Lake. It was 3 miles to get from our truck to our cabin out at the lake. It was an amazing summer - one that I wish every day I could replicate. At "night" (lots of daylight, remember) we would sit in our yard and watch the eagles, the beavers, and the moose.

5. I once spent about 6 months living in Madison, Wisconsin. I heard Ralph Nader speak, learned how to knit, spent a lot of time walking, read every PJ Wodehouse in the library, worked at a Quaker camp, set my apartment on fire, shopped at the Co-op, got hit by a car, saw fireflies for the first time, lived in snow for the first time, spent a lot of time going to the farmers market, to state street, and using a friend's spinning wheel.

6. I once weighed 201 pounds. The day I stepped on the scale and was over 200 pounds I realized I needed to do something. That day I started exercising and watching what I ate. I lost 50 pounds. I lost the initial 50 by myself (well, with support from people, but no official "program") but now I am doing the weight watchers thing and tracking my points. Healthy living, exercising, and eating good food are huge parts of my life now - I can honestly say I have been changed forever. It's also not about how much I weigh anymore, but about adopting certain guidelines in my life and just feeling good! I never knew that I would get to where I would feel out of sorts and icky if I didn't exercise. Now it's a part of making my day good.

7. I want to run an art camp - I have wanted to do this since I was about 11, and it's something that burns inside of me and doesn't go away. Everything I do is with the thought that it might one day assist me with this goal. My degree is in Recreation and Leisure Studies, with certificates in Outdoor Recreation and Non-Profit Management. My current job is to run the volunteers/interns program we have, and to run Access to Adventure - the travel/recreational/social program for our clients. Our clients are all adults who have developmental disabilities, and one of the most rewarding parts of my job are not arranging transportation to Disneyland, etc, but putting on art workshops every few months and seeing the results. I am currently taking some online psychology classes in order to get my next degree - one in Art Therapy. Ohhhhhh how I want this camp!

so that's me, folks, and my 7 facts. I am now going to tag the following seven folks:

1. http://www.heidilogic.wordpress.com/

2. http://www.shellmitchell.blogspot.com/

3. http://maryeb-blog.blogspot.com/

4. http://twozanyzebras.blogspot.com/

5. http://lazytcrochet.blogspot.com/

6. http://lostmittenblog.blogspot.com/

7. http://paperwires.blogspot.com/

alphainventions

So I am using alphainventions... but I don't exactly know what it is. But I figured I should link to them. :)

My 2nd calorimetry

This is my 2nd calorimetry - made with manos del uruguay. It was a pleasure to knit! It fits better than the first one - I made it with smaller needles, and did a tighter bind off, so it doesn't have a funny little frill at the edge. YAY!

roya plus yarn

So these are the adventures of Roya, Amber, and dying yarn with kool aid! We each bought two skeins of 100% wool to work with. In this photo, I am separating mine - I did 5 different batches so I could play with colors. Amber did two really big ones.


The next few pics are the yarn heating up - we mixed the kool aid in cold water first, then added the yarn. At first we were worried that it wouldn't take, because the yarn didn't really soak up the water like we thought it would. We had to scoosh it around with a fork for it to submerge. But then we heated up the water and the yarn just soaked it up. The only issue we had was once the yarn went over the edge of the pot a leeetle too much, and sort of caught on fire...so I have one skein that's now a bunch of smaller pieces. :P
























After we dyed it and rinsed it, I hung it up in the backyard to dry. Pretty cool looking, huh? I like having curtains of yarn outside my kitchen window.
And here are the final products!

Tuesday morning update

I am so sleepy, that for once I am glad it's cold in my office. Last night Adam and I went to the gym pretty late - I worked on mah abs for a while and did the elliptical, and then we did day one of WEEK FIVE of the couch to 5k program. Holy cow, this week is going to kill me. But I do feel really good after I run - I hope I don't stop. It's pretty miserable, but I keep hearing people talk about how much they love to run and I want to be like them! :P I can see running has the potential, but right now, it's just pain. But I'm sticking with it - I have gone running three times a week for the last 5 weeks, so one day I hope it'll turn into a fun, good habit.

I made cupcakes on sunday using yellow cake mix and a diet soda. Very interesting. It totally worked and I was mucho suprised. I definitly want to experiment with this!

Adam will be gone from Wednesday to Saturday and then gone again all day Sunday. I feel the need for an Office Marathon with my little sisters already.

Today I have a doctor's appointment - that all throughout writing this post is what I've been thinking of. I finally have an appointment with a specialist, and I am a little (more than a little) nervous, but trying not to be. Wish me luck.

The thing that I keep focusing on is being able to finish my second calorimetry in the waiting room. I am knitting it with smaller needles and a smaller weight yarn - manos del uruguay, which is my one true love. then I am going to make some fingerless gloves using my kool aid yarn.

Here I go!