Author Archives: Chris

three point two (or when monkeys flew out my butt)

Posted on by Chris
6

Brace yourselves, people.

The following announcement may set some of your worlds off-kilter, spinning crazily out of control.

I ran a 5K.  That’s right. 3.2 miles.

In all previous known history, my response to any suggestion of running as exercise would be, in the immortal words of Steve Sanders: “When monkeys fly out my butt”. But for some reason known only to god, I got it in my head to give the C2 5K thing a try, as first mentioned here.  It takes 9 weeks to complete it, and I have not done that yet. I still gave in to the Stitchers’ plea and signed up for the Valentines’ Love ‘em or Leave ‘em race that took place this past Saturday at Green Lake.

Given that I was only in week 5 of C2 5K and I hadn’t run longer than 5 minutes at a time, I was a little leery of attempting a 5K.  3.2 miles is a long way! I had no idea if I could do it. We lined up at the 11 minute/mile pace banner which put us just about in the middle of the crowd of 3,000.

Waiting for the gun

After the gun went off, we really didn’t move for a few minutes, waiting for the fast people to get going.  Then we started shuffling a bit and gaining momentum.  There seemed to be a wide variety of folks – a guy with a dog and a double stroller, an old guy running barefoot, and lots of people who walked the course. We were swept up in the crowd, everybody finding their pace. Luckily the group we were with seemed to be pretty right on in terms of speed – we were passed but we passed a few, too.

Now, my 5 minutes of straight running before this race would get me about half a mile before the program would say “walk”, and believe me, I was usually ready for it by that point. So I was surprised when I didn’t really feel the need to stop and catch my breath or rest my legs. I went TWO MILES before I stopped for a minute or two! Seriously!  Started up again and maybe went another half mile and stopped, at which point Danielle said I looked like I was going to throw up, but I felt fine – just needed to catch my breath for a minute or two. By that time, the finish was in sight and was a great motivator.

finishers!

It was quite a scene at the staging area – booths giving away swag, music blaring, some guy announcing stuff that we couldn’t hear. Lots of pink tutus, red and pink socks and beads. Thank god for Danielle and Carolyn or I would have been lost.

Official time: 33:30, or 154th out of 330 in my division. The female first place finisher did it in 17 minutes. Wow.

Sam and Lauren (who have actually done marathons) asked if I’d keep at it.  I have to say I am a little amazed that I did it, and aside from sore legs 2 days later, I feel pretty good.  I don’t see any marathons in my future, but I am considering the St. Paddy’s Day Dash…

And let me be clear, if I can do this, anyone can.

 

any given day

Posted on by Chris
4

On any given day for awhile now, I’d say I am 30% frustrated about something, 30% holding it together, 20% bored, 10%  productive, 9% discombobulated, and 1% waiting to win the lottery.

I’m pretty sure that’s not how it’s supposed to be on a daily basis. I’d like to be 50% content, 10% inspired, 30% productive and 10% glowing/looking 10 years younger. Mixed in with a little creative and rich.

Clearly, these ratios have to change or the result will be one unhappy girl. I don’t know if it’s a midlife thing or just plain inertia, but  I need to shake things up somehow.

I don’t see a new job in my future, because I don’t even know what that would be, and honestly, my schedule is pretty great. I get to be at home 3 days a week when the kids get home. So I will suck up the boredom here and look for ways to add something new.  The bar is my other job, and there are plans afoot there for some fresh ideas as well.

Really, I think it’s the routine that’s holding me back in the doldrums. So I need to mix that up where I can, even if it’s just little things. To make the ordinary original again.  Some new songs on iTunes. Reconsidering what’s in my closet, making new outfits out of old things. The shoes I got at the Rack today should make that easier.

The recent spate of sunny days has helped.  The days without clouds have been few and far between. I’m hoping exercise in the form of running 3 days a week is helping at least a little.  It’s certainly more active than I’ve ever been. Ever. I even signed up for a “fun run” after being coerced by my Stitchers. I get a number and everything! (There, look, a little excitement.)

Less time on the laptop and more time at the sewing machine is a big part of the plan to increase the inspiration/creativity account. I’ve got lots of great projects pinned and a boatload of fabric, so it’s time to get cracking. Bags and skirts, I think.

Progress on the home front would tip the productivity/contentment scales. We did visit a nursery last weekend and picked up some conifers to keep the momentum going in the backyard. Did some clean up in the front and even planted an oat/pea cover crop in the beds, though it may be a smidge too late for that. SO looking forward to outdoor happy hours.

Here’s the thing, though. Yeah, I’m not super excited about the state of things, but I’ve realized recently that I would say only a handful of people I know ARE satisfied with the state of their life. Most would change something pretty significant if they could. We ALL are just keeping it together, and if we’re lucky, helping each other along the way. God knows things would be even dimmer around here if not for a lot of people making me laugh and propping me up.

I hope you’ve got some people helping you muddle through. And on the days when things look especially bleak, I find chocolate is quite effective. Also, cocktails.

xoxo

minor home improvement

Posted on by Chris
5

There are puh-lenty of large projects to be done around this place, the sort that are weather-dependent so you can lug piles of stuff outside or paint. Sometimes the best kind are the ones you don’t plan or even really know you need.

Our dining room is just an offshoot of our living room. There is a long wall behind the bench next to the dining table that has presented difficulties in hanging art – it needs to be hung high enough so diners on the bench can sit without bonking their heads but not so high that it hits our low mid-century ceilings.  Til today, these three Ikea pieces hung there (and I apologize in advance for the bad Seattle winter lighting and harsh reflections).

I liked them because they brightened the place up and they were cheap. But yesterday, we went to the Chinese New Year festival down in the ID and happened into the Wing Luke Asian Museum and the GIFT SHOP.  I love me a museum gift shop.  And without even knowing that I was looking for something, I found our new dining room art.

I have long loved Nikki McClure, an artist out of Olympia who does papercut books and calendars mainly. I found some prints in the gift shop!  You can also buy her stuff here.  I paid a little more than that but I figure it’s for the good of the museum.  After a quick trip to Target, we have this.

Yes, I know – dumb light reflection. But you get the gist. I thought they were very apropos for the dining area.  So long, Ikea mums.

Off to the boy hairs cut.

ba-bling ba-bling

Posted on by Chris
3

First of all. This is a bit of a ridiculous thing to post, kind of like how to make toast or something. But I am posting it anyway.

Also, my Facebook status this morning had to do with my current and utter lack of motivation.  Let me make it clear that I bought the supplies for this idea weeks ago and just completed it today, despite the fact that it took MAYBE all of ten minutes.

But I digress. I’d been coveting something like this for a while, a way to display jewelry on the wall. Too pricy, for sure, but I like the idea of seeing what I have so that I might actually wear it. My original idea was to get one of those old wooden thread spool holders at Goodwill but of course, when I want to find something, I can’t.  On to Plan B.

Cup holders! Those little hooks you can just screw into the wall!  I bought several in different sizes, and actually planned to tie a ribbon across two of them for earrings, but then I found two lovely little wooden bowls while searching for the spool holder.

In other brilliance, I’ve got several necklaces made by friends that bear mentioning. There are two in the bottom row with all sorts of lovely beads and rbbons were given to me by Jeanne, who has an Etsy shop where she sells her work.

And the one next to it was made by Sue, out of Scrabble tiles, and the best part, shrunken photos that I’d posted on Facebook! How brilliant is that!

And now I get to see my pretties every day!

But that’s enough progress for one day.  I’ll be lucky to finish making the chili I started.

pinteresting

Posted on by Chris
2

It’s sweeping the nation, nay, the world, you know. This Pinterest thing. I know some of you already are on board. “On board” – ha, that’s funny.

It’s basically a visual way to collect your favorite things online – a virtual bulletin board. Any time you see a photo of something, you “pin” it to the board of your choice.  I currently have 1,441 pins on 18 boards.  You can find things in your own internet travels, or on the boards of someone else – that’s called “repinning”. You can even “follow” the boards of friends or people who seem to have similar taste.

The problem is I’ve been spending too much time “pinning” and not enough time going back to try the stuff I’ve pinned!  What good is collecting it if you never use it!  So tonight I’ll be making this off my Yummy board -

Chicken and dumplings

In crafty land, there are MANY, MANY things I would like to do off my Craft board. One hardly knows where to begin.  Maybe this -

DIY Atomic Starburst Mirror

Or this -

Pleated Bag

The beauty of Pinterest is when you pin something, the original URL to the item is preserved, so you can go back to the recipe or pattern or whatever the source is. And it’s so FUN to see everything collaged in one place.

I’ve got a Garden board to help with outdoor inspiration. Scenes like this move me to get going on the backyard -

Now that's a garden

Or this paver patio I love -

Paver Patio

If there is a photo, you can pin it. Some of my favorites are my Little Bits of Awesome board.

B -I-N-G-O

Zombie Survival

To start pinning, you need to request an “invite”, which can several days or even a couple weeks. Once you’re accepted, prepare to lose hours of your life. Even the Geek pins! Mostly guns and robots, but still.

Happy weekend! I’ve got things to make and cook, zombies to survive…

holidaze

Posted on by Chris
2

Post Christmas Debriefing:  

The littles in our house, being 13 and 11, have been questioning lately. Not the boy/girl kind of questioning, but the Santa-Kind-of-Questioning.

Especially the 11 year old. I’d say most of his friends have firmly crossed over, but he is hedging his bets. He has asked several times “Is Santa real?’.  ”Of course he is”, I say. “Who else brings the Santa presents and fills the stockings?!”  The Girl Child has been threatened with pain of death if she spoils the dream, but I think even she isn’t QUITE sure.

So on Christmas Eve morning, we trekked downtown to see Santa, the REAL Santa, at Macy’s.  We now have photographic evidence that he is real. That night, cookies and milk were left, with a note reminding Santa about Jack’s unmarked stocking.

Santa did not forget.

It was a splendid day. Gifts, ham, friends. Ham. Although there was a minor catastrophe when the oven element burned out, and we barely squeaked the biscuits out. I hope Santa brought you some magic that day too.

(P.S. About my previous post where I vowed to take it down a notch, well.  Hmm. I did make some gifts, but of course caved to the allure of having a party – THOUGH it was only an open house thing. I made a couple soups and people came to eat them. Tasty.)

But now!  It’s time to put all this away til next year.

We have no New Years Eve plans because A) I am socialized out and B) I can barely stay up past 10 pm.  So we will eat well, including a coconut cream pie if the element gets fixed today (fingers crossed). And tomorrow the house goes back to non-Christmas. A fresh start.

I looked back at last year’s New Year post and was embarrassed to see that the big goals I had for the year were nowhere near completion: the garage and backyard and purging. To be fair, it was a jam-packed social year. Which is why we’re slowing it way down this year to focus on the homefront. For the first time in many years, I have not organized any camping trips for the summer. Not one.

Which should leave us plenty of time and energy to tackle that godforsaken pit of despair known technically as our garage. We are starting to save so that when it’s cleaned out, we can finish it and have another room for living. These kids aren’t getting any smaller.  Whether we’ll have enough money for that this year remains to be seen, but at least it will be ready.

The backyard is high on the list too. We did plant a feed trough with tomatoes last year, and this year plan to step up the edibles production. Luckily, our friend Farmer Fels and his lovely wife start many fabulous seedlings and share some with us. More conifers and less weeds, maybe some plushing of the spit of grass. So it looks less like a nuclear bomb cleared it and more like this.

I actually do love our little house, despite its one bathroom and lack of dishwasher. I have big plans for the kitchen if the money tree ever starts blooming and even the ceiling. But in the meantime I’ll have to settle for little fixes and lots of hard work. I’m excited to get started and have big hopes for 2012.

May the new year bring you health and prosperity and good times spent with those you love.  I’ll be busy getting the backyard ready for ribs and pie.

our youngest turns 3

Posted on by Chris
9

Today is Jack’s third birthday. Hard to believe it’s been that long. Technically we’ve only had him for 2 years and 10 months, but we’ll round up.  Prepare yourselves for cute overload.

This is Jack on his “gotcha” day, with his mom. We all looked pretty different three years ago.

And here he was at Grayland this summer. You might notice his nose is no longer black – he is what’s known as a “dudley”. Which seems pretty fitting, if you know him.

We love him to bits. Happy birthday, boobah.

and it begins

Posted on by Chris
7

Today is December 1st.  24 days remaining until Christmas.

In recent years, my holiday mojo has been declining. What used to be so fun now just seems like drudgery, something to get through. This year, I vow it will be different.

I took a look back at what brought the unfun in past years – it was the stress. From doing too much and buying too much. Things started off well enough most of the time, but then quickly spun out of control. I could not catch my breath en0ugh to find the joy in any of it.

Not this year, dammit.

New Rule #1.  Buy less.  Whatever we buy this year has to be paid for with cash, so we have to watch it carefully.  And really, we don’t NEED anything. Sure, I like a present as much as the next person, but I can get by with a new peeler and maybe a Tom Bihn bag.  And I will try to get the kids a few things they really want, but no need to go nuts as in years past. No more artsy kits that sit unused, or plastic bits of crap.

New Rule #2.  Make more. Which goes along with Rule #1.  I have several handmade gifts on my list.  I’ll be saving money and moving onto…

New Rule #3.  Do the joyful things.  Like making presents.  Decorating. Cookies! Christmas music. Lights. A day downtown.  Things that memories are made of.

New Rule #4. Keep track. I’m really hoping that my mom’s old-fashioned way of organizing will help me stay on top of the madness. I got a tiny spiral notebook, and made notes for food I want to make, each person on my list, crafts  to do, and money spent. I used to try to do that in Google docs, but for some reason it never really worked. In this case, I think physically keeping it all together might do the trick.  We shall see.

New Rule #5. Let it go.I don’t need to do a big party every year with lots of expensive food and work.  Soup and cookies are just fine. Ham sandwiches on Christmas Day.

When all else fails, have a cocktail and find some little thing to be grateful for. Find the quiet of the season.  Wishing you all peace this month.

bigness

Posted on by Chris
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Bits and pieces

swirling in my head

bumping

crashing

blocks of black

and gray, with the occasional burst

of yellow,

sometimes white.

Breaths that won’t go in,

can’t come out.

Lines growing deeper,

time growing shorter.

The path feels less familiar,

no signs to guide me.

Bigness all around me,

all inside me.

Shall I Make more

to Be more

to Get more?

Churn and turn the black and gray

into brightness.

Gripping whitely,

gripping tightly.

Finding light.