leather distressing and such

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...

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

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.....

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...

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...

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...

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!