muffin

a new job and such...

2010-12-06T15:28:00.000-05:00

This has been a totally crazy time!
So much has been going on in such a short period of time, and yet again, I slack off on trying to blog about things so I don't lose track and yet I lose track getting to the blogging!

I find I am totally scattered about a great many things and am trying to get way more organized.
It is a slow process, but I am trying. I try to make notes, or to do lists about the simplest of things and it really really helps!
Sadly, I tend to space the note writing part! I find myself saying, I knew I forgot to do something, now I forgot everything because I never wrote that list and the day is gone!

OK, so I began this blog over a week ago!

Now I am going to post it so I can get it out of here and move on to other things to discuss, like maybe blogging this evening!

lost weekend and such...

2010-10-12T09:29:00.001-04:00

I recently made a new friend...he is from the greater Atlanta, GA area and we are very much alike. This was perfect because he wanted to explore NWNJ and I love to show people the lovely area of NWNJ!

His camera is way better than mine, so I was totally envious, and I did not shoot everywhere we went as I literally live a few miles from some of them and see them almost daily.

Our Saturday adventure had to begin late as Juju had a soccer game that was moved to 1:30pm, so we did not begin until 3:30pm. Oh, her team is STILL undefeated, thank you very much! 5-0!!!!

Our adventure began with us stopping off at the Mt. Villa Elementary school in Allamuchy.Why was this place so special, well aside from it being a lovely old mansion, it was also the residence of one of FDR's mistresses!
It has some lovely architectural features and a stunning view of the lake behind it.

From there we went to an abandoned farm complete with a 15 foot iron gate with a tree growing into the front of it.
Sadly, the gate was hit with graffiti since I stopped there a few weeks ago. Also, we hiked it up the road from the gate and found 4-5 buildings of the farm. All of them were covered in graffiti. I mean covered!
Whoever did it, spent days, if not weeks, writing on every part of these buildings.

Yuck Fu...even the trash was graffiti laden.

I like the part on the wall where it says, "More
obscenities upstairs"

That red paint was not there a few weeks ago!

We then drove through the Delaware Water Gap, went up and through Stroudsburg, PA and then back through the Gap at that lovely time of early evening, when the sun is golden and hits the Gap just right.

We took a long ride to Exit 12 off 80E and took 519 North through Newton and the pretty country up there before returning to Hackettstown too meet up with his roommate for dinner.

Sunday 10-10-10 was a whole day of exploring!
We met up around 10:30am and proceeded to the Allamuchy General Store for breakfast/Brunch. Their coffee was so good, and one of the few times I have had coffee at all in the past month or two.
I had the two scrambled eggs with taylor ham and seeing anyone try taylor ham for the first time is always nice! Though he tried to say it tasted like spam (pshaw....)...

After food we started out.

First we went to drove up to an ostrich farm not far from here, just to see what a few hundred ostrich look like in NJ!

After that we headed to the Newton area again, passing two red tail hawks flying together. I love me some birds of prey!

We arrived at St. Paul's Abbey, which is lovely in its early state of abandonment. It is not trashed yet and still looks great from the outside...good enough to be murdered in!

It had a very creepy feeling form the outside and upon seeing a broken window, I opened it to get a shot of the hallway (which reminded me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or The Shining) and the thought, maybe I need to go in.

At one point, I was on the second floor and thought, "What if there is a person or an animal in here and I scare it?!" No joke, just then I pass by a door that says "Showers" and it is closed, the wood under my foot made a sound and the shower door creaked open a few inches....I FREAKED OUT!!
Thankfully as I made it to the other end of the hall, R had come up the other stairs and we met up...needless to say, after that, I was not far from him the rest of our exploration!
Which is good since at one point we came across a creepy dead bird on a desk in a dark room and the bird was illuminated by the sun coming in through the window above it.

Then we were in a totally blacked out attic and phone flashlights were only enough to kind of light our way. At one point I found a picture on the floor and blindly snapped it with the flash on just to see what it looked like.

There was a beautiful fountain that appears to show a martyr scene (but I thought no one knew how St. Paul died) and the barn behind the empty abbey was nice for some shots as well.

By the time we returned to the car, I was covered in burrs.
We hit the road and sung down into Byram to see a historic plaque that I had passed a few times and never got to read. All I know was it said something about kidnapping and murder. Well of course we had to stop there! Turns out to not be as interesting as the title made it out to be.

We then went a bit further south into Waterloo Village. It is a historic Village on the Morris Canal that used to be the place of all kids in N NJ to go on field trips, until someone embezzled a bunch of money from it and it has been shut down.

Not a cloud in the bright beautiful, blue sky!

I laid down on the ground and put the camera less than
one inch above the water...I LOVE how this turned out!

I rang this bell, it is loud and works!

Just loved the detail on the railing.

Weather vain on the Blacksmith shop.

Church still used inside Waterloo Village.

Detail on church shutter.

They do host events there from time to time, and there is a chuch on site that remains active on Sunday's, but other than that, you are free to walk the grounds and explore!

After that, we drove down Rte. 46 West to see the Dinosaur Rock, then stopped off at an old Church in Vienna/Independence.
I was almost out of battery at that point, so I did not take any pics, but there were some older gravestones (mid 1800's) and some trees that had grown over the iron fence which was pretty neat to see.

It was fun, scary, exciting and glad to have someone to do it with me! Hopefully we can have a few more adventures before he heads back south.

baking, apple picking, more baking and such

2010-09-29T18:49:00.000-04:00

We had a lovely weekend apple picking!

The family-Noni, Juju and Bamfa
picking those apples

We have many many many pounds of gala apples and have been making apple sauce and freezing it and today I finally got around to baking an apple bread. The recipe I have is one I got from the farm where we picked the apples and WOW!!! It is so good. Juju has a bake sale at her school this weekend and I know what I am making them.
Usually I make them an all organic banana bread, and I have heard that it is sold before the bake sale begins every year (it makes me blush frankly).
I wonder what they will think of this not being organic (the apples are not) and me bringing a new bread into the mix, then again they have a few a year, so I can make other things at the next ones.

we had 3 full bags!!

Apple sauce...we currently have 2 quarts and
8 or more pints and still have 1 full bag left

Apple Bread with
cinnamon sugar top

Flowers sold at the apple farm

Banana Bread at 10:20pm

Banana bread by 3pm
the next day!!

Last night I had to make a banana bread as I have about 5 super ripe bananas and I can not let them go to waste!

This afternoon I also got back in baking mode easily with a super quick and easy and yummy organic terriaki organic tofu bites. I had a bit for lunch and some chestnuts (my new addiction is bags of precooked chestnuts, ones bag is 193 calories and I will eat a whole one easily!)

I am starting the Sookie Stackhouse books soon and I am getting excited. I truly enjoy True Blood, but once I heard that the books go into things more and plus a reason to relive the first three seasons, come on, total no brainer.

I have also begun my working with embroidering on leather experiment. I am making a sample piece for someone I know who makes knives. I noticed he always displays his finished work on pieces of leather, but I noticed a few look like leather jackets, so I figured why not make his logo on leather. It is not a hard one, lots of straight lines on the font and some curved lines. Whew...so dipping back into my old Girl Scout camp counselor, I remembered, no dummy, you don't go right into the leather with the needle like fabric, but you punch holes using a pattern or design, THEN embroider!

Tonight at some point I begin the hole punching and removing the first letter of stitching.
So glad I chose to practice on something first before going to town on the leather I have been getting ready for the pirate map piece.

Well I am off...I have a phone meeting with the nutritionist I did my sugar detox with a year or so ago and I loved it and lately I have been cutting out all the bad stuff again...slowly, but dairy is pretty much gone again, coffee is gone, meat cut way down...I am back on track again and losing weight and getting healthy means everything to me right now...my knee is awful and I want to be back in great shape so I can heal my knee and my soul. I feel great when I can run and I want that back and running has helped me lose weight so easily. I miss running and the other night made the mistake of pushing it and walk/ran 1.5 miles and stepped funny on it and the pain was back like I just hurt it back in August.
Good thing I see an Ortho tomorrow FINALLY!! I don't think I will have ever been so happy to see a doctor ever!

winner winner chicken dinner and such...

2010-09-15T14:06:00.001-04:00

Well I got a nice surprise in the mail this morning! A lovely pair of size 9.5 mens Simple Gumshoes!
I won the Branchwhipped.com's Gumshoe Giveaway!! They are made of Organic Cotton and Hemp with a 40% recycled tire and 60% natural rubber sole! A sole with soul!!

Read Simple Shoe's description about how LITTLE glue/adhesive they use!

Description

Men's GUMshoe – Hemp & Organic Cotton Blend casual shoe with hemp and certified organic cotton blend uppers
Vegan shoe! No animal products or even animal byproducts
Midsoles and arch cookie made of carpet padding for at-home comfort at all times
No glue was used in the assembly of this shoe! Thanks to a lot of stitching, it's made with less than a thimble full of water-based adhesives – most shoes use 2 shot glasses worth of glue
The small amount of glue that we do use is water based, not petroleum based. Just another way to reduce our dependence on petroleum, and it also means no nasty smelling glue for the people who put your shoes together
Partially recycled shoe – the bottom of this shoe is made from a recycled car tire blended with natural rubber
The foot form inserts are made of post consumer recycled paper
Shoebox made of post-consumer recycled paper, soy based printing ink, natural latex and starch based glue
Comes with a biodegradable hanger

Branchwhipped.com sent me a lovely pair of shoes in the color Bison which is a nice rich brown....I have to say, I put them on immediately and am in love!
They are super-super comfy and have a lovely arch support.

I can wear them with or without socks and being "cursed" with a womans size 11 foot, I tend to wear men's shoes and these are not super wide, but also not super tight as many slip ons tend to be, making me NOT enjoy them or even consider buying them.

And the box is currently going to some good use as well since Dora has promptly decided to recycle it into her new nap space

So thank you very much to the great folks at Branchwhipped.com for having this great giveaway and my comment number being picked!
Goes to show, sometimes those giveaways with all those ways to enter sure can pay off!!

Not only did I get a free pair of shoes, but they are from a company whose products I love and a product I have considered purchasing, but always put off for fear I wouldn't like it once I got it home...Was I wrong!
I love these!

If you would like to pick up your own pair of Simple Men's Gumshoe Organic cotton and hemp blend slip on shoes (I love them and I am a woman, so whatever to that!) just click the link and order away!

As I have said, I love simple and have owned a few pairs of their shoes over the years and I love them...they hold up to wear and tear and they truly take our planet into consideration with everything they do.

leather distressing and such

2010-09-14T15:56:00.000-04:00

I selected a piece of leather to work with, for sample really. It is about 14 inches by 12 and I was hoping to distress it by using it as a coaster at the Bar. Well leave it to that night for the bartenders to be so neat and not spill a drop!

Thanks George and Jackie!

I planned on trying out whiskey and beer spills and rings from pints and so on...nothing

We tried to burn a piece of it, but we only had matches, so that did not go very far!

My project will go on, seeking inspiration from old pirate maps in books and so on, but the distressing the leather is going to take longer...I must make the leather look right first, but in the way that is natural to how it would have been distressed, then apply the threads because if i try it other way around it would destroy the threads

Over the weekend we had things to celebrate and things to remember...

Sept 12th was my parents 53rd wedding anniversary...it was also my friend George's 36th birthday. For his birthday I baked a Bourbon Banana Bread and Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies...I was inspired by his serving bacon whiskey shots

Tomorrow I have to make a poppyseed chicken salad for mom's bridge girls. Mom's been loving my cooking lately and I love that she is willing to clean if I cook. This has given me many more chances to begin perfecting recipes I love and also try new ones, as they will eat just about anything

I enjoy cooking, but doing the dishes after using a ton of pots and pans, plus all the dishes for serving and eat, well, it is a pain. I try to clean as I cook, but there are many that do not get done before dinner hits the table, so at least I get through those.

Tomorrow I get to start on the massive winter corn put up. I am going to buy about 24 ears of corn and blanch then shack them. I will also look to bag them 3 or 4 at a time, so we will be eating to most wonderful and delicious corn at the sweetest of the season in the middle of winter!

just realized something and such...

2010-09-09T19:37:00.000-04:00

I was just looking at someones art/embroidery piece and loved the look of it...it reminded me of one of those old maps from a pirate movie, weathered and floppy and tanned and browns, stained and salt crusted...their piece was not a map, nor anything close to it, just fabric that appeared to be tea dyed with some lovely embroidery on it

anyway, I have had some pieces of suede and soft leather laying about since I ditched my husband about 4-5 years ago...he had started to work in the medium and had left some pieces in my storage drawers (pretty much the only thing I have left from that marriage I give a crap about really, my crafting materials! haha!!)

I want to make some maps....I am not sure what they will be maps of just yet, but as a child we had a few very very old maps hanging on the wall of my father's study/den and they were real and really old....they had uncharted territories marked with beasts and creatures and woods...I used to imagine an explorer used it to find treasures, or pirates to hide their booty!

At the same time, my parents loved National Geographic, something they passed along to me and I still love reading...docs are a huge part of my movie watching, esp if it is on Nat Geo, Smithsonian, or History Channels!

It is the first time in a while I have felt so inspired...lately I feel as though I have been stagnant...I have had all these great things happening to influence me, but yet.....nothing, just nothing....

no amount of music or lack of, reading or not, friends or bitter loneliness.....just blank, nothingness

sometimes it makes me sad to not feel inspired, and of course I do not try and force it, I mean nothing is worse than seeing forced art...it can be rather painful to see, even if it is the most lovely happy painting in the world, it feels wrong

Anyway, back to the task at hand...inspiration, move me brightly...

So I have pulled out some pieces of leather and suede and plan on trimming up a piece to practice on. I will trim the edges to be age appropriate and then plan on carrying it around in a pocket and fold and unfold it for a while....then maybe try scuffing it up a bit in some dirt and beer and whiskey....then see how it looks...

at that point I plan on attempting to embroider the "map" as it were...

Who knows where it may lead...buried treasure, hidden ships, mermaids???

labor day and such

2010-09-09T12:48:00.000-04:00

labor day was nice and peaceful...mom, dad, juju and I went mini golfing!
we kept score, but we all won, so who cares!
we took the packard for a spin to minigolf to give the ole gal a ride in the sunshine

we played at Farmview Golf Center which has a lovely mini golf course and juju and I even went back for a second round for half price

we all headed over to White Castle for some sliders and freezees. mom has recently become rather addicted to the pepsi slushie or whatever it is there, so we hit the drive through in the packard!

it was a lovely day and one of those that makes me smile thinking back on it

injuries, trips and much more and such.....

2010-09-06T20:55:00.000-04:00

this has been one heck of an interesting summer...

I had to stop training for the 5k while in vermont in mid august due to an injury to my left knee. I was training up there and had continued my progress nicely, but had a bit of a misstep and either tore my meniscus or sprained it.
I went to the ER at Grace Cottage Hospital in Townsend, VT and was treated by the great Dr. Montgomery and the amazing nurse and staff of Grace Cottage. My mother came with me and she was equally impressed with the hospital as a whole.

They x-rayed and found nothing there, but said i also have no signs of arthritis YET! I have never been nice to my knees or body, so the fact I have not started to show signs made me very happy.
I was given pain meds and an immobilizing brace and told to see my home doctor and get it taken care of.

Dr. Montgomery said he wants me to either call him or stop in when head back to VT this fall to let him know what has happened and what it was (he believes it is a tear but they do not have an MRI at Grace Cottage). That is very sweet of him.

A few days later Juju and I went to the Bromley Slide and I had to take a few pain meds and remove the brace (painful the next day, but we do it every year and could not let her down). We rode it about 12 times each in a row! It is always so fun and Juju is a bit timid, but here riding the chair lift and sliding on her own, she gets more and more brave....maybe one day skiing and horse back riding...or maybe just a carousel and escalator even? (told you she is timid!)

An employee gave my mom 10 more free passes to ride, so we cam back a few days later after Juju's camp one day and rode five more times each!

I attended a few shows and was able to take care of a little bit of business at the same time, you have to love that part of my job is talking to bands and agents and managers, so I "have" to attend shows to meet in person sometimes!
I was able to catch Dark Star Orchestra in Burlington and meet up with some friends (Ron and Bree from NJ were there and totally random to see them so that was great, as well as many friends new and old from VT).
I also took a trip to the Barn outside of Saratoga for JGB show and to meet one of the mgmt staff to talk dates and such. Nice to put a face to a name in situations like that.

I have attended Barn shows before and even seen JGB there, but it had been a massive rain storm and the place was 3-6" of mud, so the show was indoors and not a camping show (though we all stayed over and slept in cars and campers). It was a bit hard getting around in the mud with the brace, but I made due and a few beers helped ease that pain and stress!

Juju loved her tennis camp. She attended it for a total of 3 weeks this year, one early in the summer and two at the end of August. She attended last year and was excited to return this year. She attends the Clif Drysdale Tennis camp at Stratton Mountain.
My mother used to attend the John Newcomb tennis camp there when I was a kid! Her and her girlfriends would all go to VT for a few weeks and leave the kids with the husbands, then we would all come up and join them all for the rest of the summer.

Juju also attended 2 other camps this summer, each a week long and located at Pope John________ in Sparta NJ. One week it was soccer and one was basketball. They are not serious camps, but they teach and mix in other games and sports related activities. She really had a good time.

She had to miss another basketball camp in town because she injured her toe and her nail was coming off and since she couldn't wear a shoe when that was happening, she went to the pool a lot instead!

I am very disappointed in not being able to achieve my goal of doing the 5ks, but prior to the injury I had started to consider hiking the Long Trail next summer. I think this is an achievable goal and I would love to do it, so I am going to focus my training to that...I will not give up on the 5k, I WILL run one, just not right now.
I am going to begin with the Long Trail Training first, and then blend i the 5k a bit down the road once we know for certain what my injury it and the treatment it will require.

The Long Trail is 273 miles and goes end to end. I cannot wait to get into it and will be researching and collecting all the items needed and will spend this winter getting ready for it.

Well, I have typed enough about major events this summer. I know I am missing some and I am not even going to get into Furthur shows in this post....but I will keep up on my posts because as I heal I am back in training and will be documenting that and also I want to make sure I cover my cooking and eating habits from time to time since I have been making an effort to try new things and old favorites...I cook a lot for my mom, dad and juju, and they are enjoying it as am I...I cook and mom cleans (well I help, but hey awesomeness!!)

day off from training and such...

2010-08-12T22:57:00.001-04:00

so i took a total day off today, no walking, no running, just errands around town and oil change.

it is a good thing as it was raining on and off all day and the left knee is still letting me know it is there when i bend it 90 degrees or about that (stairs, in and out of car)

i will start phase three tomorrow and then drive to vermont. i will not slack off on the trip as i love it up there, so being out more in nature is exactly what will spur me on! where i will be training is where my father ran for many years daily, so i look forward to following in his footsteps for once!

ok, i am going to pack and finish up everything for the trip tomorrow. i hope i will be able to get some decent access to blog a bit and track my runs where i will be...at least to upload!

finished phase 2 day 3 and such...

2010-08-11T14:58:00.001-04:00

so i did part 3 of phase 2 which is warm up (i do between 8-9 mins brisk walk warm up) then 90 sec jogging/2mins walking

well the knee is still letting me know it is there and it was rather hot and bit humid, so i jogged a little slower, but i def feel an improvement in my overall endurance

i took some nice stretching time and once i started jogging and paying attention to how i land my feet the knee didn't feel bad at all...once i stopped and rested a bit then moved, the pain, or actually twinge when i move it came back....

i wanted to go out today, i really wanted to, and finishing i felt heavy, my legs felt heavy, but that is fine with me...i am going to take tomorrow off to rest then move on to phase 3 on friday!

friday afternoon i head to vermont for a week or more, but i will be sure to continue on my progress up there.

i know i said i wasn't going to be obsessive about weighing in, but since this is my first time with this program and being a female, i decided to see what changes happen as i go along and such...i gained another freaking pound!
so this means since starting this program i have gained three pounds....astonishing to me since i have not increased anything i have eaten, in fact, cut down a bit and making healthier choices!

oh well...after this weekend i will worry about those pounds since again it is that time for me and it began today, so that stupid bloating i go through every month is just on a much more observed scale than i have ever cared about before!

sorry if any guys are reading or have bothered to read, but hey, it happens, i am a woman and these are things i have no one else to discuss with, plus i want to be sure to document all that i go through during this couch to 5k program

tomorrow, for my day of rest, i am debating actual resting or maybe a nice walk on level ground....maybe a mile or two, just to keep the motivation going, or stay off the feet and knees and give them an elevated on the couch watching ab fab season 2 while working from home?

not sure what is better, total rest, or just a calm walking? any opinions?

my knees have always been bad (as my mom pointed out again this morning on the phone when asking about my progress), so not sure if total rest or continue with at least a walk to work toward strengthening the knees and losing weight

still inspired, just feeling all of my overweight 36 years at the moment....stiff and sore, but that is ok, just means i am working!
i do a nice stretching combo for about 10-20 mins before each session now, a combo of yoga poses aimed at lower body and legs and back...feels great and limbering up before the warm up walks!

phase 2, day 2 and such...

2010-08-10T12:20:00.003-04:00

it was so humid out!!!

it was 81 degrees and 61% humidity!

yesterday it was about 90, but not nearly as humid

my left knee is feeling a bit wonky today. i know it is because i am not paying attention to how my foot is landing when i jog or walk, so i must pay more attention to that. knee problems are not new to me, that was what ruined my Olympic aspirations many years ago and have had to deal with it since.

i feel like if i get a better insole for my left foot, slightly raising it up, it would realign that side as when the hip feels off the knee is right behind it.

and if i pay attention to it and do not allow my foot to roll inward upon landing, i am fine.

i know once the strength builds back up, it will be much better, as i am so terribly out of shape now, but i am going to look into that insole very soon

i also shot an email off to RexFoundation.org letting them know my intentions for matching at least what i have already raised for them this year with my 5k.

there, see, now i cannot take it back! not that i would, just nice knowing the wheels are now in motion.

next week i will contact my cousins and brother and let them know my intentions as well and see if they want to help out too!

i want to get a few weeks in on this training to show them i am not kidding around or will give up, this is serious and it is for my health and to help others, so double whammy of good karma!!

my warm up walk was a little slower today then recently clocked, but that is fine, as i said today was very humid and even though the weather.com folks say it is 61%, it had rained within an hour and i could feel the humidity coming off the pavement...made for lots of huffing and puffing!

i tried not eating before training again today, and i have to say i rather enjoy that!

i drink tons of water, all day long, in fact the only time i don't is when i treat myself to a glass of santa cruz organic lemonade and i cut it with half water because it is so sweet and tart

i just worry about losing something valuable to my body (always hear people touting electrolytes on tv) and not replacing it with enough veggies or fruits or what have you and i am not a fan of gatorade at all, so is it wise for me to buy a bottle or two of smart water? or how about coconut water?

a glass of that a day?

i have cut out almost all dairy (i have to occasionally yogurt or string cheese snack, but milk products really gross me out for the most part), all high fructose corn syrup products, rarely if ever have coffee (mainly because i have it with dairy and sugary stuff, so why bother)

i weighed myself this morning before going out training, having had nothing in my stomach and same clothes as last weigh in last week and gained two pounds!

i have no idea what that is about, but then again it is getting close to that time and i do gain a few in water weight, then a few days after go back to normal, so shall be very interesting to see what next weeks weigh in will hold.

i am not really looking to weigh in obsessively, why bother...i am fat...not obese, but way over weight and in dire need to be a good looking mom once again!!! people say how much my daughter and i look alike and i think, poor kid, i hope she doesn't end up like me, then i realize if she does it is my fault! look at what a horrible example i set for her...

NO MORE!

the example i am setting now is healthy eating (she has always eaten healthier than me, I cannot stomach certain veggies she loves and fruits, i am a very smell and texture person, but forcing myself over that to get healthy) and lots of exercise....

how can i make her play soccer or tennis and go to sport camps when i do nothing but yoga....see i have lit that fire that has not burned in me for a long time and now that it is going again i feel so good!

today's workout inspired me...my knee hurts a little sure, but i won't give up. i have been through this, i know what that means, i know how to care for it, i know it does not mean quit and get lazy and use it as my excuse anymore...i had to use crutches for it once, i won't let it be my crutch anymore!

missing jerry, phase 2 of 5k training and such...

2010-08-09T12:34:00.003-04:00

i really miss jerry....i cannot believe it was 15 years ago today he left us....i will never forget where i was or how i heard, it was horrible and all alone, no one understood....i was laughed at, people thought i was some sort of cult member...

it still hurts as much today as it did 15 years ago

i spent late last night updating the dead www.PhantasyTour.com summer tour list and thought of jerry almost my whole running/walking training today.

i make sure to document what music i listen to during my workouts and today i listened to closing of the winterland disc 2....the only thing that kept me from crying was the distraction that moving to the 90 sec jog/2min run in 90+ degree weather is hard for my fat ass...i keep thinking i am doing this first for me and second for the www.RexFoundation.org....i haven't told my family or asked if they will help yet, i think if i do it a few more weeks, to show my commitment, they will be there to sponsor my run and support me...

below is my training blog

i took yesterday off...felt good to rest...i didn't even go for a long walk, just relaxed...

today i went out and upp to phase 2 of the couch to 5k.
this meant my usual warm up walk which was 8.21, then 90 sec jogging/2min walking which i did for just over 21 mins for a total of 1.3 miles!

then i had a nice cool down walk for .6 miles at just over 13 mins...i tried to walk around in the shade because i did not realize going out there that it was about 90 degrees!

humidity not too bad, but wow, upping that program just 30 secs per jog and that heat, i had sweat coming from the creases of my elbows! never in my life have i ever had that happen!

i also pulled out an older sports bra i forgot i had and used that for my run and it really made a difference.
i have never had big girls when working out before, so this is new to me...i was practicing yoga 3 times a week, but it is easy to work around them there...they are not ginormous, but 36-38DD and can get in the way when jogging, so ii have been trying dif bras i have here and a few of my older ones from when i was smaller are working out great...the more recent ones, not so much because i have been losing weight, so while they work for day to day stuff, this jogging, well, not so much!
never thought i would post a blog about that!

as for this blog...i don't know if anyone reads it and that is fine with me either way, this is for me and my records of what i am doing...though a little support is nice too!!!

i am just trying to say that all i put here is to keep track of what i am doing for my sake so maybe if i need to change it, or see a change in my attitude about it, it will all be there, no denying it! i will have to own up to my results! which is fabulous in my opinion

also, i am truly liking the hand writing out my daily results into that $2 desk calendar i bought at barnes & noble last week! i have already seen an improvement in my distance and there is just something about putting it down on paper that is so very satisfying as well as logging them here!

oh well, i think i have finally stopped sweating and cooled down completely now, so off for the shower!

oh one questions (if anyone has actually read this far, if at all!!) is it better to eat before or after exercising? if so how long before or after?
or if eating before is there a certain type of food that is best? or after?

I don't drink gatorade or any of those artifically filled items, so if there is a natural alternative i would love to know....
is smart water a better alternative?

thanks if anyone has any answers for me!

first week completed and such...

2010-08-07T23:24:00.002-04:00

i went out tonight and did a nice warm up walk for about 9 mins, 60 sec jog/90 sec walk in just over 21 mins, then cool down walk of 8 mins for a half mile, so cleared 2 miles easily in about 40 mins!

i was going to take today off, but i was really feeling good today and that inspiration is really carrying me...

tomorrow i may take the day off and just walk a few miles, but who knows...as good as i am feeling now, not perfect, just pushing it enough, but not too much to hurt myself....i can maintain reality and not get ahead of myself!

i said that of today, that i would just take a long walk, but when i walked outside at 9pm, i knew i was not going to just walk!

so, by doing this, i technically have completed week one of the training from couch to 5k!

i spent the first part of the week easing into the idea of this program, a long walk on the 2nd (monday), then a .4 mile brisk walk and 1/10 mile jog 3x on tuesday, then a day off and thursday, i kicked in the program

this is good since it will allow me to begin pacing the couch to 5k nicely for the next 6 weeks and not try to force it or overdue it just to make the goal on the date!

i have to say that last 1/2 of that last jog, i was tired, legs felt heavy, but much better than tuesday, or even yesterday!

i am going to compose an email to my family about what i am doing and one to rex foundation as well...they have been very sweet since i have raised/donated $161 to them so far this year and would love to let them know i am going to work to get them more while getting myself healthy!

off to shower and eat some locally grown cantaloupe!!!

week one, almost done and such...

2010-08-07T17:09:00.001-04:00

i went to breakfast with dad and juju and came across another local 5k sign up sheet for october 3rd, the skylander!

this is great because my goal is to do the sept 18th one, but this will give me a chance to see how i can improve for the second one just a hair over two weeks later...

i am very excited by this!

i went to barnes and noble today to buy juju a few books for reading while we are in vt and came across a lovely mthly desk calendar for $2 and bought it to keep handwritten notes on exercise and to have my days counted out for each 5k from first day of training.

now being able to have that tangible book in front of me and not a computer that is shut off will help to keep me going!

my couch to 5k will be 7 weeks total and i cannot wait

i am considering getting some of my family to get behind me and maybe see if they would be willing to donate a small sum to a charity i love (rex foundation) to keep me going!

maybe if they gave a few dollars if i complete I will be that much more inspired, but my drive to get healthy and in shape is really fueling my fire!

yesterday i almost wanted to keep going, but i know i need to be careful and not over do it and run the risk of hurting too much then giving myself an excuse....

no excuses, sept 18th and i have a date and my slightly smaller behind will cross that finish line with the intent of jogging the entire way!!

going to try and run a 5k and get healthy and such...

2010-08-06T20:36:00.001-04:00

so i am fat and way out of shape, but recently saw someone on twitter say how they ran a 5k....

my daughter has been going a camp where they have a huge sign saying a 5k is coming sept 18th

i googled around a bit and found a training program to get my lazy and fat behind to do a 5k in 9 weeks...only the 5k is seven

i can do this

instead of doing the 3 times a week for nine weeks, i am going to step it up and only give myself a day off between each part of the program

i started monday, i walked about a mile
tuesday i walked 1/3 mile and jogged 1/10 mile
took wed off
thursday i began the program, i did 9 min brisk walk warmup, then 22 mins at 60 secs jogging/90 secs walking
today (friday) i felt a bit sore, but totally inspired (I was once an actual athlete, i rode horses and skied both at very high levels with olympic aspirations, but due to inujries, had to give both up and became very depressed) so i repeated yesterdays work out

i spent many years hiking and still being healthy (i am 36 now and injuries took me out of the running at 17) i skied, biked, snowboarded and so on...

just over ten years ago i became pregnant and had my daughter, but my body went through the insane change and i actually felt lazy, like working out or whatever exhausted me so fast and even though i ate pretty healthy, once i stopped breast feeding, i could eat a grape ad gain weight

i am putting a stop to it now
i lost about 25 pounds over the past year from eating healthier, but slowly they have been creeping back on, so now I am determined to get healthy...

i quit smoking about 5 months back, stopped drinking alocohol (ok i had two at the pool the other day, but that is two drinks in the past 2 months) and just making healthier choices and portion control

i don't deny myself anything at this point, just am very careful when i do indulge to keep it small and WORTH it (a small piece of a good chocolate does so much more for me than a hershey bar ever could!)

so either tomorrow or sunday i will complete the 3rd part of this weeks workout and then it is on to next weeks (but as i said I am going to accelerate it a bit, not a ton but enough to help me get through it safe and on time for the sept 18th 5k)

phase 2 will be 90 secs jogging/120 secs walking x3

i am actually enjoying this so far and look forward to it and this logyourrun program on my iphone is so much better than the one i used to start this with...it is helping to inspire me too because it is much more accurate which made me realize what i did today is much better than the exact same workout yesterday on a much more sloppy and less accurate app!!!

so i know...

2010-02-18T14:11:00.002-05:00

i know, i know...so much time has passed and so much has gone on....

i am seeing an old boyfriend from dead tour many years ago, 16 to be exact.

we are happy except that he lives in detroit area and i nw nj area. we see each other often and whatever, but not often enough...

i managed to se 13 dead shows last year and 4 of the 5 furthur east coast run.

i work for a horrific man and just "celebrated" my 1 yr annv here...he still has not given me the dollar an hour raise after i am trained AND a few weeks ago called me a sissy bitch and to get a spine...awesome, i know...

nothing has progressed on the pigpen book, i have just not had time, what with my crap job for crap pay and nothing else going on in this economy....i am barely making over unemployment at this point....

but not to let me suffer and be all totally sad, pappy (the bf from 16 years ago, i will refer to him by one of his numerous tour nicknames), is taking me to a show at the taj the night before my birthday...at least i have that and him for a few days around it...

saw a handful of phish shows the summer adn fall tours...that was nice...forgot how much fun they are live and glad i missed all the crap since i got out in 2000...would have hated to see them self destruct haivng a history with them going back to 87 when i was 13...yeah so headdy i know...

anyway, i have to go, i am at said crappy job and sadly neglected my duties as a handmade crafter and feel like i am losing my soul to everything i am not lately, so i will try to post more and also try to make time for things i love, and a little blogging too

forward for the pigpen book and such...

2009-02-15T15:20:00.000-05:00

As long as I can remember, my father had our garage filled with posters from all over the world, record of his travels and adventures all over the globe. There was one poster that always seemed to capture my attention.

It was brightly colored with neons and a large, gruff figure in the middle wearing a San Francisco Fire Department hat. I knew this man was no firefighter what with his large toothed necklace, long hair and big mustache. Something about him always appealed to me and I could never figure out just what it was.

Years later I would listen to the radio with my mom in the car and sing along, the Beatles, Momma’s and the Poppa’s, Bob Dylan, and the Grateful Dead. I would sift through my mother’s albums, especially loving the Beatles Yellow Submarine and Sgt. Pepper’s fold out covers with their bright images and colorful characters.

When I was about 11 years old “Santa” gave me a gift in my Christmas stocking that stuck with me for the rest of my life, a handful of cassettes to go with my new boombox he had also given me. The Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill, Bob Marley Legend, the Beatles Abbey Road, and the Grateful Dead American Beauty. It was love at first listen. My own little library of influential music, and boy did it influence me.

I loved that music and still do to this day, but there was just something about the Grateful Dead that stuck to my soul. I loved the Grateful Dead music so much so that I hopped on tour for 5 years.

During that time, I was not close with my parents and it was not until years later when I was home one day talking with my father about how I got into the Dead that I explained to him the story behind that poster he had. How I had found out that it was Pigpen from the Grateful Dead and how he always had this mysterious aura to me. He has no idea how he even had gotten the poster anymore. The poster was a silk-screened one, made in San Francisco in 1967. it had a typo that was silk-screened over and declared Pigpen to be the “Psychedelic Child”.

My father was never a fan of the Dead. He was a Jefferson Airplane and Doors kind of guy (no need to try and explain the Jerry/Surrealistic Pillow, I know, and he could not care less, it was the music of the Dead he did not get) who refused to go to Woodstock because Jim Morrison was banned from it.

I tried to explain to my dad how Pigpen was not a “druggie” as he assumed. I had to explain how the poster was so ironic because Pigpen really did not care of LSD or mushrooms, or really many drugs, but liked his in a bottle, Southern Comfort and the like was much more his style. For Pigpen do be the “Psychedelic Child” was like saying his beloved Jim Morrison was the poster boy for celibacy and sobriety!

It was during this interesting discussion years ago that I realized as much as I love to read about the things I love, music, nature, historical figures, so much has been written about Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead before and after his passing, that Pigpen really has no historical record amongst those volumes of books.

Sure, he is covered in the early goings on, I mean he is Pigpen after all, but nothing was for Pigpen, who in his short life of 27 years, contributed so much to the Dead. His contributions still influence their music to this day as they prepare for their 2009 Spring Tour as The Dead.

This book is to bring him back to life, if only for a little while, to see who he was, what brought about his and Jerry Garcia’s meeting and give Pigpen more then just a few chapters and archival music. This is for Pigpen…..

PIGPEN WAS
AND IS NOW FOREVER
ONE OF THE
GRATEFUL DEAD

sugar detox and such...

2009-02-14T14:37:00.000-05:00

i am participating in a sugar detox....it is for 7 days and today is mid way through day 6!
tomorrow is the last full day...thought i am going ot keep going, just not as hard!

the group i am doing it with is controlled some what....we have a conference call before during and the monday after. we also have an online forum for us to chat, share recipes and what else has been going on with us!

i just wanted to share what has been going on with me so far.

i really was nervous and scared as to what to expect out of this little project.

i bought a bunch of food and almost got overwhelmed trying to prepare items i never had, long grain brown rice form scratch, quinoa, and much more....

i cooked the rice and quinoa and made big batches so i could simply reheat them this week.
everyday i prepare a breakfast, lunch (leftovers fromt he dinner) and dinner every night.

they are not huge fancy meals and i am terribly picky.
i went and purchased frozen organic veggies and a bag of stirfry veggies with nothing added.
we have had stir fry twice, once with lean pork loin and the second with chicken (the prepared stirfry veggies have the tiny corn, edamame beans, snow peas, carrots, broccolli, water chestnuts and mushrooms. i add extra water chestnuts and bamboo shoots)

i have one to two smoothies a day, though not huge ones...

also i nibble on grapes at work and after dinner grapes and almonds...

today i bought cashews and more almonds and more grapes.

i like the finger foods, i like being able to nibble...that is my one habit i love and having shredded coconut, nuts and seeds and grapes, makes my life easy

i am totally surprised by what i have been eating for breakfast, usually a half smoothy and an italian sausage patty on two slices of ezekial bread, though it is a bit much, so i eat half one day, half the other...

the other morning i was really hungry so i had an egg scrambled with a bit of seasoning and nothing else in it, hash browns which are just shredded potato cooked with a little butter till browned in a pan and a smoothie and WOW was it great and filling!

tonight i am making the slow cooker sweet potato and black bean soup/stew, i will make some brown rice to go along with it and my daughter thinks it smells yummy too! I added some sliced organic carrots, and since i had no cumin some other spices!

i find i shop more for fresh ingredients and what i need. i don't buy and keep stuff in the house like i used to, which is great..there is tons of junk here, but i don't touch it!
i really have no desire to!!!

today, my daughter had a ham and cheese with lettuce on potato bread (she loves that and brings it to school everyday and i had a slice of ezekial bread with garlic organic hummus on one side and lemon hummus on the other cut in half with organic romain in the middle! some cashews and a cocoa banana smoothy (unsweetened COCOA almond milk, half nana, shredded coconut, ice and coconut milk! so yummy)

i drink water, but today i found a bottle of unsweetened tea i will try with dinner

i honestly thought i was going to cheat. the worse thing i have done so far is tuesday and wed after breakfast i had a piece of sugarfree (but still had the fake stuff) gum.
i started a new job (9-2 m-f) on tuesday, so since i was going to be so close to folks learning their system in the office, i justified the two pieces of gum!

at work after lunch i nibble on some grapes or almonds

i have not had time to work out, but the eating healthy has given me so much energy....
this week i plan on adding some wii fit into my life that i can do with my daughter after her homework is done

i am totally surprised at how much i am enjoying this. my first day at work was hard because they bought pizza and i wanted a piece so badly, but i was good and ate my left over shepards pie sans potato (seasoned ground beef, carrots and corn served over brown rice)

i do have to say monday and tuesday really and truly felt like a detox day...i had a really bad headache, i was in so much pain, i felt awful...

since then i have felt great, i wake up refreshed, i am actually going to sleep at a decent time (between 10:30-12) when i used to have awful insomnia and go to sleep between 1-3am.

i have to get up with my daughter at 7am and before it was so hard....now i wake up refreshed!

i really do feel so much better.

i read labels now...and boy do i read them close! there is so much cane sugar, fructose and so on in everything!

i have not tried to eliminate sugar from my daughters diet, but i have reduced it.

i am sorry, this is huge and rambeling but i am just so happy to have made these changes in my life....

i don't really miss the chocolate or candy, but i do really want a glass or two of wine from time to time!

i really want to try and keep this going for a while..i plan on trying to keep up with it as much as i can for as long as i can...maybe allow myself some treats, but honestly, i really like how i feel and making myself stick to it...

there were so many times i almost broke down and had a glass of juice or something with sugar, or even junk food like potato chips, but i did not.

i feel for the folks who have "given" in, and it is nothing to feel bad about because this is just for us, to try it...
i figured i would simply cheat at some point and then maybe not totally break my sugar habit, but break it down so i don't eat as much when the week is over.

i cannot tell you how awful i felt tuesday night, it was so bad...but i was able to make i through, but i can see why some folks don't and that is cool too!

this is not life or death, like the first day, i thought of it like a sentence rather than a chance to try new stuff...

anyway, if you managed to read this far, thanks for letting me spew forth my view of this week so far! and my next week to come!

President Obama's Speech and such...

2009-01-20T12:08:00.002-05:00

"speech time....my fellow citizens...i stand here today humbled by the task before us, mindful of the sacrifices born by our ancestors, i thanks pres bush for his service..."

"our nation is at war....our economy is badly weakened"

"nagging fear that americas decline is enevitable....today i say to you the challenges we face a re real.....BUT know tis america, they will be met"

"on this day we gather because we have chosen hope over fear"

"we remain a young nation...'the time has come to set aside childish things'...all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their true happiness"

"greatness is never a given, it must be earned"

"men and women obsucre in their labor....for us they...traveled across oceans....they fought and died...time and again these men and women struggled and sacrified...they saw a nation..."

"starting today we must pick ourselves us dust our selves off and begin the remaking of america"

"we will harness the sun and the winds and the soil"

"they have forgotten what this country has already done....what the cynics fail to understand is the ground has shifted beneath them"

"we are ready to lead once more"

"our power alone does not protect us"

"we will defeat you"

"our patchwork heritage is our strength, not weakness"

"God Bless America"

thanksgiving, christmas and such

2008-12-26T13:00:00.002-05:00

i have been sick so many times since thanksgiving, it is really sad.

strep a few times, sinus infections, you name it, and today and going back to the doctor for a possible strep. there has just been too much going on for me to truly get better, so while the medications make me feel better, they are not able to truly work properly.

juju has been amazing! santa treated her so well due to her being so nice and donating instead of getting presents for her birthday!

she got a blue electra bike, the impossible to find mia american girl doll, and many MANY more things she wanted.

i am ready for my parents to go back to florida. in one day my mother fell and smacked her eye so badly she should have gotten stitches, but before that could be dealt with, my father announced he thought he was having a stroke.

a ride to the ER and tests later, he had a TIA, or a mini stroke, not really a stroke, but no damage done. just way to much stress for me to handle anymore.

i need a break from them, really.

much more to fill in, but i am going to relax and read and catch up a bit on the real world...

birthday's, donation's and such

2008-11-20T10:11:00.003-05:00

whew...it has been a busy few weeks!

juju had her joint birthday party with maria. they raised a lot of pet and people food for donation. it was so touching. honestly, i think that lil 8 year old gal managed to get about 300 dollars worth of pet items donated, including a 10 dollar check, a 20 dollar gift card to shop rite, and another to target for a surprise amount!

and i think 300 is the low side. there were so many bags of food, huge 10 lb boxes of dog bones, shampoos, cases of wet cat and dog food, toys beds and so much more AND we got more yesterday after school!

we dropped the food off the other day and i have to say i was a bit bummed at their lack of wow from the shelter folks of this 7 year old who got them all this stuff. i even called earlier int he day to let them know she was coming and thought maybe they would be nice and make her a thank you card or a birthday card, even a paper computer generated one, but nothing...they claimed they are naming a kitty after her (we saw no no-named kitty anywhere as we walked around on our own), and i think she was kind of bummed. there was a HUGE pile of goods there and they were like, oh that was so sweet, thanks, do you want to go look at the dogs and kitties? and then we walked in by ourselves...

really, it was such a non event to them, and i can tell she was a bit bummed they were not even enthusiastic at all...rather, blah about it really....i mean a 7 year old gave up getting prezzies for this shelter and they were so blah about it.

if she decides to do it next yeat, we will go to another shelter to donate....

yesterday was the lil girls real birthday. she was allowed to wear her regular clothes to school, and was that fun picking out! she also had munchkins for the birthday snack for everyone.

dinner was at the club with my parents and she wanted a hot dog! and then proceeded to eat my dad's caesar salad and my sweet potato fries!

it was a great night and when she opened my gifts of the mini horse barn and horses and my mom's gift of the wii, she preferred to play with my gifts and put off us hooking up the wii til this weekend! how awesome is that, really?

oh, a little aside not...got to meet mike gordon the other day outside the phil show. he was freezing, had to wait a while for his pass, AND when he and i were talking about old shows and all good where he almost ran me over with the golf cart (not only did he remember it, apparently there is video), some guy with a finger in the air looking for that phil ticket, asked," what band are you in?", mike sheepishly looked at him and said, "i am in a band called phish"...very odd moment for me since i have been going to phish shows since 1987...my friends older sister was friends with trey and jon, i raged with them at amy's farm (though we were all drinking the big igloo kool aid that weekend!!! in 1991)...seeing him feezing outside waiting for his lammie and folks asking who he is was so strange!

and watch, that kid will be at the show in march trying to get in there to and if mike ran him over with a golf cart he would have no idea who he was, he only asked because he was listening to us talk hoping to get in or a ticket!

ah well, tour kids, what are you gonna do with them?

live to tour, no matter who or what it is, no longer really about any band, just being on tour is all they seem to care about anymore...

winning stuff , giving away stuff and such

2008-11-05T10:47:00.004-05:00

just wanted to make note of this and a few other things i missed when ranting earlier....

juju and i attended a halloween party at her gymnastics gym on sunday and they gave every family that attended a ticket for a raffle of full tuition.
my lil girlfriend put our last name on it and stuck it in the bowl...well she won!
it is a full semester tuition which we were going to pay next week to get the discount rate of $390!

yay for saving money and being lucky...well my lil girl is pretty lucky in that respect as this fall she attended a car show in town with my dad and myself. there you entered a form to vote on what car you want to win and from those, they draw raffle winners. well she won a $50 gift certificate to a hair salon! she has yet to use it as she is currently growing out her hair to donate to locks of love, but she also wants to grow out enough so when she does donate it, she still has longish hair (past shoulders), so currently her hair is almost to her bum!
when she does go to donate it, it does not cost anything to get it cut! so that gift certificate will have to wait!

my lil girlie is such a sweet kid, aside from the locks of love thing, her birthday party is coming up in two weeks. she is having a joint birthday party with a good friend from school, maria. they are having a skating party and juju had decided that instead of getting gifts from her friends at school, she wanted them to bring food to be donated to the local animal shelter.

maria thought that was so cool, she is asking for food to be donated to the food pantry!

yay for 7 year olds being socially responsible!

i also sent a request to senator lautenberg from nj requesting two tickets to the inauguration. i highly doubt we will get them, but hey, it is worth a try no? i think juju would enjoy a trip to dc and see history before her eyes. she was so excited to go vote with me yesterday.

obama, race and such

2008-11-05T09:10:00.003-05:00

it has been less then 12 hours since they declared obama our president elect obama, and already something about this is really pissing me off....

not him getting elected, please, if that is where you think this is going, close your ignorant eyes and move away from my blog...i don't handle stupid or ignorant well at all...

what is really bugging me so soon is the sheer ignorance of the media and all of these so called supporters promoting the shit out of the "First African American President".

what are you doing? why must you label him in such a way...what about first hawaiian president? what about just calling him president? why must we make him a novelty ack, like william hung?

can we as a people move past the fact he is HALF black?

how about we call him what he really is African/European American?

what about me? i never ever feel the urge to call myself eurpoean american....do you know why?

because i am an american!

A.M.E.R.I.C.A.N.

and so is barak, president elect obama...

i have been tossing around a little thing where i paraphrased a famous recent quote from president elect obama and it goes a little something like this...

we are not african americans or eurpoean americans, we are just americans!!!!!

cereal, voting and such....

2008-11-04T10:05:00.008-05:00

today is E day!!!! i don't care who you vote for, heck write in your dog! just go vote, it is your right and yes, it is your right not to, but why?

why allow people to make decisions for you? when you were a kid and could not wait to turn 18 so no one could tell you what to do anymore, that is when you are legal to vote, you can tell others what to do, so do it!

i will be heading to the polls after i pick up my lil girlfriend, juju bean. she and i are opposite in our decision, but since she is 7, well let's just say mama's vote will count and hers will not. we have agreed she is to keep my vote secret, as it is not open to any discussion to anyone other then myself. after majoring in poly sci and being a part of a very political family, i prefer to keep my political leanings to myself and that way when i do discuss politics (which i love to do) people will not assume to know what party i stand for or who i vote for and base their debate/argument aound that, giving me their true beliefes and allowing me to have true and pure political discussions....

gosh i really am a dork!

on a really cool making own decision/election day have my voice heard....

i created and ordered my own personal custom healthy cereal!
yuppers, my own personal choices.....it was pricey, but i am so excited! i should have it in hand this weekend, maybe monday, but how cool!

www.meandgoji.com/ go and take a peek at it and see...they have premade ones and prices vary based on your choices of ingredients. I love cereal and nutty cereal is my favorite.

MY CEREAL

artisanal cereal	coconut	papaya	macadamia	cashew
pumpkin	pine	amaranth

i named it muffin's NUTTY! thinking back now, i should have created some sort of clever election day title for it....

i also purchased the one dollar green tag, offsetting my carbon footprint for this order AND 5% of profits for the company go to charity!

ah well!

hindsight and all.....

Nov 1st Day of the Dead in NYC with Phil Lesh and Friends!!!

2008-11-03T12:49:00.003-05:00

wow and such

2008-11-02T13:21:00.003-05:00

today has been a beautiful day! as was yesterday and the days before.....

today i got a 20 dollar bill with red ink all over asking me to register it at where's george. since i am a part time user, i of course dutifully went and registered it and read up on the person who released it initially with all this writing all over it.

mine was the first hit since she initially registered it over two years ago...

then i read this, "Sharon's desire for a cure for cancer wasn't just an idle wish -- she succumbed to the disease on January 13, 2007. Her many friends here were deeply grieved by her passing, and it's not quite the same around here without her compassionate heart and wry humor. We miss you, Sharon!"

she never got to see this bill get a hit...so sad....so now I am not sure what to do with this bill...
i hate thinking of it just randomly going back out into the world, then again, she liked that..

i think maybe this should go on to a more noble life, but how?

I was able to head to NYC last night for a phil lesh & phriends show. it was insane, to say the least...my friend was there friday on halloween and he was sending me the set list while i was a my friend niki & george's bar for their annual halloween bash.

just a lil side note, i was bristol palin! i had a big ole rpeggers belly, a baby on my arm (my "brother", trig), black dress and a wig done just like hers at the convention where she "came out" in a bun in the oven kind of way....many laughs were had and sadly, many folks who had no idea who bristol palin was (even with full expenation), or who SARAH palin was when explaning it, AND folks asking if I am really preggers and when I said, "yes, and THIS is a real baby (*doll in hand*) ", and they were stupid enough to look shocked and say, "really???" all horrified. i walked away....

so, back to phil.....and jackie, and john, and larry, and barry, and tracy......oh what a show...
phil was late, he even apologized at one point, but the show was sick...

terrapin was not just off the hook, it was almost disco/rock. i have to find a copy of that show.
opened with here comes sunshine, shortened set break and played over the midnight cut off, which sucked because felt like they were planning on playing longer!!!

sad, maybe a tad pessamistic and such

2008-10-28T01:17:00.003-04:00

after posting on twitter that i am finally seeing I Am Sam, a movie that has been recommended to me many times over not only for its sound track, but for the touching story, i get a response back from someone that kind of took me back a bit...

"I saw it. I found it cute, though as far as movies go, uneccessary."

wow...it just, wow...what a thing to say.....

today has been one of those days....i have had to deal with people being mean and just not paying attention...

i had to purchase tickets for friends to see phil and asked the tickets be shipped to them directly.
i emailed the guy i was buying the from and asked they be shipped there...for 190 bucks i would expect they ship them anywhere i want.

so i get a notice from fed ex saying the are coming here...i email the guy a few more times hoping he did not mail them off in a rush and not pay any attention to where they are supposed to be mailed.

he has the BALLS to email me back and say i am the type who is gives a bad vibe.
i replied thanking him for changing the address, but as for the "bad vibes" my reply was nice and sweet and to the FUCK YOU point...

you don't understand... the tickets could not come here as they would never
get to him in philly without an additional few hours added to his
drive to NYC for a night...

as for vibe killler, I tried emailing you numerous times which is why
i was freaking out as you got the paypal message and got to shipping
without checking the emails i was sending via ebay and yahoo.

when i get fed ex info about shipping i get really worried you dropped
it off on your way home in the fed ex box....

if they had come here, well it would have sucked for you and i as they
would never hvae been returned in time and i would have had to get a
refund and that really would have sucked as you would have been out an
already profitable deal for yourself as I know these were well above
face (talk about a vibe killer)

so please be sure they go to the correct address tomorrow and all will be good!

thanks

i think my point made it across, normally i am really not this bitchy and such, but after having been holed up in the house sick as all get out, i really had no patience for this type of shenanigan today at all!

ok, back to watching I Am Sam, up way too late and finally feeling some waht normal again!!!

just posting this here as proof as I sent it to starbucks and if they use it I want my credit dammit!!!

2008-10-22T18:17:00.002-04:00

Reusable Java Jackets

my idea is to reduce the amount of java jackets that are thrown away...while it is nice to think of reusing them (the cardboard ones), people get weirded out...

and while not everyone carry's reusable cups because they are messy and have to be cleaned and so on, there is an AWESOME and very happy medium starbucks can use!

sell reusable java jackets!!!

they can me made of fabric, be washable, made with organic and sustainable fabrics (hemp, bamboo, cotton, you get the idea), and sold int he shops, maybe fair trade, or made in the USA (we forget about this lil ole country of ours).

this way, people can carry a smell thing that lets them at least help the environment a little bit more then just using the paper ones, while also making life a little easier by not having to carry a bulky cup all day as you run around (wish I could, but frankly sometimes it is just not possible).

This can be easily stored in a pocket and used when needed!

muffin

sick and icky and such...

2008-10-22T15:45:00.002-04:00

i have been trying to keep this nasty cold/throat/crappy thing away from me. it has been hovering around my head for a few days and yesterday, it felt it staking out its turf.

today, it appears to have framed out the house and started on the drywall...but i am working hard to get rid of it....

i have been keeping myself busy on twitter to quell the urge to bake. when i don't feel well i love to bake, but i rarely ever eat what i bake (it is weird, i know, but i give it away, i just truly enjoy baking it).

so if i was to bake, i could not give it away as i am sick and especially no one in the house can eat it because it has only been three weeks yesterday since my dad had his heart ouside his body being worked on! sorry, i am saying that because it is just so freaking mind blowing it was three weeks ago and that is how they do it....just a shut the fuck up moment from me about the progress modern medicine has made!!!

on top of all that, it is a certain time for me, so being sick and crampy makes for a really unhappy, uncomfortable muffin right now....

see, sick and icky are the words of the day....

cranky, ice, and such

2008-10-20T10:38:00.003-04:00

woke up to a very cold, frosty morning here in beautiful nw nj! awesome!!!

it was so cold last night the birdbath outside my window is frozen over and the poor little critters who make my back yard their home are not getting why their water is hard!
they touch it and bend over and are simply puzzled by the entire situation. adorable!!!

i have been feeling a bit ranty lately. what with the election coming up and how i refuse to declare a party based on the fact that when one does in nj, they are bombarded by their party waste of trees flyers, and the opposing parties dirty tactics to make you convert, waste of valuable resources in paper and trees!
it really comes across as an invasion of privacy. and don't try to convince me that you need me to be declared to vote in a primary. honestly, i believe that since it is my right to vote for any candidate i want in the big elecetions, why can i not do the same in the primary?
i can go much deeper here and truly expose my poly sci background (wait, if you do, i need to get my goggles and lab coat first), but when it comes down to it we sould be allowed to vote for anyone, primary or the big show.

my father is doing very well. he is heading back for a follow up with his GP today, so we will see what he thinks of his progress.
my father turns 72 on oct. 25th, so as a gift, i called and spoke to the people at www.stonebarnclassiccars.com . i will bring the damaged hubcap over today and see if they can fix it for me. dad is happy, as he was going to have it fixed and i am always trying to find him unique gfts or things i know mean something mroe then just a present that nothing ever happens with. i will swing in there later this afternoon, and i am looking forward to it as they are taking cars to a car show, and they don't just have classic cars, if you know anything about vintage cars, the big guys from the 20's and such, go check out their website...my jaw dropped...and it is a few miles from me, so when i drive by, i always try to sneak a look in the garage when they are open in the summer, but today i get to go inside! and they have a few cars heading to a car show, which means their top of the line stuff is going to be out! yay!!!

i have been entertaining myself with flickr. i have had a pro account for years, but never utilized the edit features, until yesterday. i heard they had a zombify feature, and well, i found the new halloween "card" to be emailed for halloween!

i find this feature to be so much fun! they have all kinds of masks and such you can play with.
i might just have to upgrade in picnik to use some of the other features as there are some amazing effects!

i have oodles of things to do today (i just really wanted to say oodles)....stitch markers to make, and other random things to get done just in case i do get accepted to the craftacular!

gots to go.......

the dead...penn state and egypt in one week!

2008-10-17T09:05:00.003-04:00

the penn state show was beyond amazing. honestly, the one thing that could have made it truly great was if jerry were still alive.....then again they probably would not have played an obama benefit. see, folks get all uppity when you discuss how the dead were not a political group. they always come back at you with counter culture and how that was a political statement, BUT they never came out and openly endorsed anyone because they knew they had big influence over people and wanted to make sure people decided for themselves, as that is truly at the heart of what the dead stood for....being your own person. that was their political statement, not who you should vote for, or who they back..... so, i digress, as usual, back to the show...... the set, one huge set, was amazing.... the almans were good, smokin even, then a long break with some obama rally up, then he had a prerecorded message where he introduced the boys...

they came out and each one came out and cheers erupted...it was amazing!

billy and phil hugged

they tuned

then it began....

truckin
us blues
help
slip
frank
playin
dark star
st stephen
unbroken chain
other one
throwin
playin reprise

encore-
touch of grey (and billy kept playing with micky, when they sang the verse he would rub the sides of his grey hair! and as a reference to the "joke" obama made before the show about how the campaign has given him a touch of grey, or something along those lines)
not fade away

we checked into our hotel room in the afternoon and spent the day on the lot, seeing old friends, celebrating birthdays and other such wonderful things! we got back about 3am, and went to sleep.

the next moring we went to penn state book store to pick up a few things for my mom and juju bean, hit up a farmers market around the corner for some amazingly tastey cave aged cheddar from 20 mins from penn state, got some organic yum green beans and a jar of organic salsa for dad (the cheese was for him too, and they polished that off shortly after I handed it over!)

we ate at baby's and I had hush puppys with fried shrimp, not as good as down south, but still good!

yesterday, i purchased tickets for NYE with Boyy & Phil. I have to wait til next week to get the Dec 30th show, but that is fine, as long as I know I have NYE, I don't care....now to arrange the flights, hotle and everything else!

oh yeah, and yesterday was bobby's birthday!

happy birthday bobby!

scones and such

2008-10-11T12:45:00.002-04:00

a lovely scone is just a great way to make people smile.

my father had his surgery and has not really been eating like before, with good reason, as his chest was opened, heart removed and so on....

so today while juju was dancing, i ran up to the most wonderful breakfast/lunch place in town, stella g's.
now most places would kill to have a shop like this, but they moved here to retire and be close to their grandkids, and lucky us, she is a renowned pastry chef and he has i forget how many stars, chef. they decided to open a little breakfast place to take up time, and well, it is divine!

last trip there about 4 weeks ago, i had the special sour cream waffle with blueberry's and turkey sausage. simply heavenly....my other had eggs benedict, lee had the other special, breakfast burrito, and dad had a simple egg brekkie with hash and such. everything was beyond good.

i stopped in and purchased three freshly made from scratch scones, lemon cream, bluberry with orange glaze and nutmeg current. they wrapped it in a lovely pastry box with a big ribbon! it looked so fancy. my mom and dad were so happy when we returned, their little ballerina bouncing into the house in her leotard, sweater and skirt in pink, carrying the lovely pink ribbon box filled with crumbly delights!

so, i guess the moral of the story is, when in hackettstown, home of the m&m, go to stell g's and eat, but be sure to grab some scones for later!

i shall be released

2008-10-10T08:47:00.002-04:00

finally blogger saw fit to release me from my spam hold....
took about a week, but i was able to post and save to my blog, which was nice.

i hope to get my new patterns in today so i can get those listed, but you know what? i am going to go relax and check back on the 'puter later today...

grateful dead converse!!!

2008-10-09T15:25:00.000-04:00

i was flipping through this awesome magazine i am subscribed to called missbehave, when low and behold in their cool sneaker section were grateful dead sneakers!
i did a little web searching and poof, today my new skull and roses high top chucks arrived!!!

they are so nice, even the insides are nice and the patch is sewn on, not that weird rubbery thing they normally have.
my next pair will be the ice cream and possibly either a stealie in black, or an owsley bear in low top black...the decisions are tough!

monday is a holiday and juju is off from school, but i will be away at the rock for change show in penn state!!!!

i am not sure yet who i want to vote for, honestly, but hey, if barak can get the boys back together after the "blow up" in 2004, i am all for it!

wow, i am very excited today!!!!

business and such

2008-10-06T21:36:00.000-04:00

i went ahead and ordered a bunch of new patterns from sublime and suprise!!! she had released 4 new ones....

i am really excited about this as i always love new stuff!

juju has been having a good time with my brother since he came in for the operation on my father. my father, however, has made a miraculous recovery and had a pacemaker put in on friday and was relased (GASP) saturday afternoon!
we had no idea he would be released so early, in fact i stayed home waiting to hear if i could see him as i had the sniffles (and still do), when my mother called and said to bring clothes, he was getting sprung at 4 pm....good thing i got there early, because they literally sprung him at 4! usually hospitals are awful at getting folks discharged, but not there!

so dad has been here...he was walking saturday and sat at the table and at with us...since then he has been moving mroe and feeling better, though he is sleeping in the living room on the chair, which is understandable.

i cannot get over how fast he is recouping or how little he looked cut up. apparently his doctor was THE guy for nano surgery and makes minimal cuts. in fact, have you heard of the new gall bladder surgery where they go through the stomach down the throat via the mouth? yeah, the big time experimental one? he is that guy...that is what he does, he specializes in it...just amazing!

back to the juju bean...she is going to stay home from school tomorrow. she was not feeling well tonight when lee took her apple picking and she was a bit sick, so since they have not had that much time together and he leaves wednesday, i figure rather then have her come home from school tomorrow and have a ton of shool work , making their time together very little, she can stay home and hang out with uncle lee and get her tummy feeling better!

one last little thingy...

blogger has marked me as spam...i have no idea why, i am not a spammer, i really do not want to go through this as i just wanted to post today and not worry about things like this, but come on blogger/google monsters...make your software work more better for us interweberz please?

crafting is my middle name

2008-10-03T11:09:00.000-04:00

i love to craft....craft anything

i am no expert, rather i am a beginner who loves to make all different things, but nothing is complicated.

i knit, but only the basic stitches, i bead, but simple stuff, and so on and so forth

i would love to learn more complicated things, but have no one to teach me and written directions are so impossible for me to follow. i don't know if it is the dyslexia that makes it so, but unless i can watch someone do it or have them explain it to me as i do it, then i cannot learn it no matter how hard i try.

i am currently working on an apron i am embroidering for a friend. i am using some of the patterns from sublime stitching (which i sell at my etsy/website http://www.creativemuffin.com) on a basic black three pocket apron. Niki from Bar 46 (http://www.bar46nj.com) asked me to make her one for the days she wants to wear dresses or skirts and still have her bottle opener on her.

i have roller skates and a unicorn, i will be free handing a rainbow above the unicorn and metallic stars around the roller skates. the middle pocket will have the bar 46 logo on it and i just hope she likes it.

so while i am not the most experienced crafter, or skilled, i do make all different things and sell them on my site. i love making the mr. t chocolcate lollipops and stitch markers are fun!

ok, so as a crafter whore, i love going to the bust craftacular every year...the most amazing items and dj's and open bar and....well just too much to try and list, you just have to go and experience it (http://www.bust.com/Craftacular/BUST-Holiday-Craftacular-2008.html)
so, anyway, i decided to try and apply for it. i paid my ten dollars and if, huge IF, i make it in, it is 240 additional for a 8' x 30" table and two chairs to vend...

i do not expect to get in at all, but still it is a nice idea and if i did, i would probably pass out. i submitted stitch markers and mr t chocolate lollies as samples of only some of the stuff i sell, so we shall see....

on to other things now........

today is my mother's birthday. she is currently at the hospital as my father needs a pacemaker and a defribulator and my dad was refusing it earlier (he has been exhasuted from not sleeping and half out of his mind because he slips in and out all day long, about 1 min awake, 1 min sleeping). she and my brother will be there today, everyone else will stay away in an effort to let him get as much rest as possible. the procude he is in now is about 2 hours and i am just about at my wits frayed ends....

i am trying to keep very busyto keep my mind off of it, but it is hard, so i am going to go and rescrub the sink or something....

update for dad and stuff

2008-10-02T21:32:00.000-04:00

the surgery went well...they ended up having to do a double bypass and replace the two valves.
they have him on a temp pacemaker, but when they try to take him off of it, his heart rate drops to 30-36 bpm

it was a little scary, but he was actually standing and marching in place the day after the surgery. he had some bleeding, they ended up giving him 2 transfusions. initially during the procedure, he did not need any and that really pleased the doctor, but then he kept leaking, so they had to give him two, kept him in icu for two days, now he is in cardiac care unit.

he goes in tomorrow for the icd and pacemaker...it is a very routine procedure, but with everything going on, i am really still on edge.

i am going to kept this short and not go into the debate that is on and all that hoopla, i will let this evening go for now and watch silly movies....

stress and stress and stress and friends

2008-09-29T18:33:00.000-04:00

my father is having heart surgery tomorrow...

this is his third one, so he knows what it is like and all of that. the thing is he is super stressed about this one. he has convinced himself that he is high risk even though the doctor who is performing the operation has said he is not.

he and my mom have been married for over 49 years ( sept 12 was their anniversary) and they are very close. met in college, married after they graduated, wrote love letters when they went to two different colleges their junior and senior year, and so on.....

they have been not really speaking because of how bad the stress is on my dad. i have been that one between them for weeks now, and it has really been wearing on me.

last night, while waiting to leave for the movies (which was not the best choice by the way...good movie, but with my dad going in for surgery tomorrow, seeing ghost town last night not, such a good way to fuel my already overly emotionally state) i sat at the upstairs computer and was going to play a little text twist. when the screen came back from screen saver, there in front of me was my dad's obituary.

that was one of the most awful feelings i have ever had. i have only lost one close family member, my grandmother, and that was 8 years ago.

i have lost friends, very close ones, but it cannot come close to the awful feeling i had when i saw my dad's obit....gut wrenching does not even begin to come close.

but, i have these amazing people in my life who have been there for me so unconditionally, i cannot begin to express my gratitude to them for their friendship that asks nothing but gives me such support at this time...

there is so much more i wanted to add to this, but i have had it opened and pecked at it all throughout the day, that i need not only to put this to bed, but myself (and i started this about 1pm today and it is now 2 am)

goodnight...

bakey bakey fall sessions!!!

2008-09-27T14:40:00.000-04:00

so i love to bake...like love love.....

part of how i got the nickname muffin is because of my baking skillz, and yes it is spelled with a z because they are that amazing, or so i am told..normally i am not a big ego person, but when it comes to certain foods, yeah i know i got talent, yo...just representing for myself 'cause if i don't then who will? don't hate the playa, hate the baked goods the playa produces...

ok, so enough of that.....yesterday i had to bake a little something for my juju's bake sale at school, so i decided on my favorite banana bread.
unfortunately for me, i had no ripe bananas on hand, so bought four of them and when i got home, i went to town....and i am going to share this recipe with anyone who is willing to read my drivel

mind you, i try to make everything using all organic ingredients, so i won't bother saying organic in every piece, just know it is organic

four really ripe bananas, the blacker the bedder (teehee) MASHED, sometimes it is nice to have them clumpy, other times I use a ricer to get them like baby food for a nice smooth bread

1 egg

1/4 cup melted butter

a generous splash of apple juice (about a 1/4 cup to half, but only use 1/4 in the wet, and use more later if too sticky)

1 1/2 cup flour

1 cup sugar (sometimes i use half sugar half honey or something along those lines, also if you love apple, you can use some apple sauce in place of the sugar...)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

cinnamon to personal taste (depending on time of year I love more in fall and winter and just a little in summer)

If you like, you can use nuts or dried fruit as well, but again depending on time of year I either add tons or nothing!

mix the wet together, being careful the butter is not hot as it can cook the egg if added when it is too hot or too fast...drizzle it in slowly to warm the wet...

sift together the flours, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. add slowly to the wet, mixing well and not adding too much to create the flour crop dusting of me and my counter!

heat the oven to 350 degrees F...

grease a bread pan (I use the 9x5 usually, or I think that is the size) with your choice, I use butter, but pam or what have you will work well

once the mix is well incoperated and smooth, if you notice it seems a bit sticky, or really think, add spalsh of apple juice to thin it a bit...now careful, you don't want it runny, but a nice smooth thick is fine

Now if when you would add any dried fruits or nuts.....sometimes I sprinkle the top with brown sugar or a granola mix

bake for 65 mins....once you take it out check it with a tooth pick in the middle...if it comes out clean, it is done...if not put it in another 5 mins and recheck

sometimes it is fun to eperiment with things in these breads, like using coconut flour in place of a bit of the flour, using whole wheat, using apple cider instead of juice...whatever...this is your bread to have fun with!

I love baking them and giving them to friends randomly just to see their face light up when they know what they are getting, one of muffin's surprise filled 'nana breads!!!!

sometimes it's hard to focus...

2008-09-26T13:43:00.000-04:00

it has been a while for me and blogging...i used to blog a lot, you know LJ for many years, then a bit on blogger here, then vox...

i realized i was living so much of my life on blog that i was living to blog....

i had some major life changes and decided to go out and live and not feel the need to make everything about posting, or remember to post, or what have you.

lately i have felt the urge to go back into my blog and thought that maybe making a new one to signify the fresh start may be a good thing. it is a pretty crazy train of thought rationalizing about whether to blog or not to blog.

my father is getting ready for heart surgery come tuesday and it has been really hard on us, my mom and myself. they are not really speaking or if they are, it is curt and short.

mind you, they love each other, they have been married for 49 years this past september and it is not that. it is the sheer amount of stress my dad is having with the surgery (his third open heart) and he convinced himself he is high risk, when his doctor's (some of the best heart guys on the east coast) tell him he is not.

my lil business on the web is rolling along fine. i would love to be able to stock more in it, but i am getting there slowly.

i applied to the bust craftacular in december, and while I would not sell the sublime patterns since jenny has a booth there every year, I would love a chance to get my stitch markers and onesies and Mr T chocolate lollipops out there to a main stream market.

well, who knows...i am not counting on getting in as i go to the craftacular and i don't think i am nearly as cool or funky as those vendors i buy from, but a girl can dream big!