Happy birthday Allison and Micah!

for my nephew..

The request was for a Micah bag - so he could carry toys....

I had been saving an old pair of corderoys for this very thing....

4 pockets in front - 2 made from the old pants pockets, and 2 velcro pockets.  Yes, I still own those Cheerios pencils from elementary school. 

Inside fabric....yay for Cars coming back into style so I could use the rest of my fabric.  :)

for my sister...

Yes.  Another purse.  BUT....its made from a placemat!!! 

I just realized i forgot to put in a pocket on the inside.  Sorry, Allison. 

One of the best part about nieces and nephews....

Happy birthday Allison and Micah!!!

The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age. ~ Lucille Ball

Whaling days

Today I caught some local culture at Whaling Days...

Part of the Silverdale waterfront

Another part of the waterfront.  I've gotten used to living by the water.  Its nice.

Ahhhh...people and booths.  Nothing interesting to buy though.

Fair food!!!! 

Grace and her mound of curly fries

The rides were old and fairly creepy.  We took guesses when they were made...

I did get on one of these though....

And one of these.  I got a neck cramp trying to keep my head from being whipped off around the curves. 

Nothing beats local fun days!

Happy weekend to me!!!

Life is the game that must be played.  ~ Edwin Arlington Robinson

The first rule

The first rule in blogging should be along the lines of "will not blog when angry/upset/frustrated/other intense ugly emotion."  Mine would read "will not blog when I'm fresh off work or having a bad day."  I'm going to break that rule now, but I'm going to try to be good about it. 

All I'm going to say about work is that I actually sat there and felt my stress level rise via my blood pressure.  Luckily I have low blood pressure so it can rise for a long time before it reaches dangerous levels.  Also, I could not leave the room to get a cup of coffee, so I am currently caffeine deficient.  Normally I have between 2-3 large or extra large cups of coffee in the 2-4 hours before i go home.  My doctor says I should stop doing that.  Meh. 

Got home, and saw that my poor dog had thrown up on the living room carpet and had done a much worse biological function on my kitchen floor.  At least he had the sense to go in the kitchen. 

Walked him, cleaned and scrubbed and bleached, and am now having some quiet time with my computer and a glass of wine.  Although I think the wine is overkill.  Without coffee I'm pretty close to falling asleep while sitting up.

Somewhere in between the cleaning and bleaching I realized that I had forgotten to do laundry last night, so I can't go to the gym today if I don't get the laundry done.  So, the washer is my background white noise, if you will. 

I'm also wondering what made Atticus so sick...the only change in diet recently is I made him some treats.  The same treats I've made several times before, but this time I used organic turkey baby food.  I'm wondering if thats the problem.  He'll be very sad if he doesn't get the rest of his treats but I don't want to come home tomorrow to any more carpet scrubbing. 

*sigh*   What a life. 

Atticus, during a happier, sunnier time....

The worst-tempered people I've ever met were people who knew they were wrong.
~ Wilson Mizner

So far today...

So far today....

...I was woken up 3 hours after I had gotten to sleep by a whining Atticus.  Turns out he didn't feel well, so I took him outside for some serious bathroom issues.

...Ended up walking face first into a spider-web.  Luckily my eyes were still half closed (perhaps the reason for the first sentence), so I just stood there and flailed for a bit and have no idea if anyone saw me at all....bed head, ratty robe, flapping my hands at invisibleness in front of my face.

...Had to PULL Atticus back inside because he wanted to lay in the sun after he was finished.  I wanted to lay in the sun too, but I wanted to sleep a lot more. 

...Went back to bed where I was woken up 3 hours later...this time by my own biological need and the 4 cups of coffee I had this morning at work.

...Gave up on trying to sleep. 

...Attempted to make smart use of my time and clean up some dishes while toasting a breakfast bagel and ended up knocking over a wine glass onto my counter where it broke into 3 main pieces and dozens of tiny shards.  I'm more upset over the wine glass than the cleanup.  After all, I only have (had) 2 wine glasses, and they actually matched.  Granted, I got them at goodwill for like 99 cents over a year ago, but still.  They MATCHED.

...I didn't even mention yet the required emergency training I tried to do this morning at work that was literally so BORING I was unable to read it.  My eyes glazed over every time I started to read a sentence.  I ended up staring at the same words for 5 minutes, shake my head, and try again.  I did that for 2 hours before I finally gave up.  I can't even begin to describe how biologically impossible it was for me to read the training - it was like my brain and eyes were in cahoots and refused to cooperate. 

...Nor did I mention the 2 hours after the above incident in which I mentally bashed my head against my keyboard because I found that common sense has been lost.  "Alicia, I can't get my password to work."  "Your sign-in name is case-sensitive, did you check that?".  "Yes...*whine*....can you come over here and help me???"  I walked over, looked at the computer screen where the sign in name was entered as joe smith (not the real name) and repeated "Your sign-in name is case sensitive."  "Oh....my sign in name is case sensitive???"  This happened to 2 people!!!!  Then I heard one of the people help the third person in the room and repeat the SAME FREAKING THING I JUST MENTIONED 4 TIMES, NOT TO MENTION THE 12 TIMES I'VE HARPED ON IT BEFORE. 

*Deep breath*

I feel better now.

In other news, I had my first several hours with my trainee last night.  I think they went well.  Mentally exhausting, but I'm excited about the possibilities. 

I bought an iPod shuffle recently, which has been a good motivator to get to the gym when I'm not feeling like it.  Kinda like now. 

My goal today is 500 calories.

Beware the fury of a patient man. 
~ John Dryden

You know its a good weekend when...

...you forget all about work...

...and instead have lunch with a friend, buy $40 worth of fruit at Costco (I make an awesome fruit salad - mangoes, peaches, blueberries, grapes, and cherries!), chill at the dog park...

...read a new book, snuggle with a dog watching my latest obsession on hulu (The Dead Zone), sleep in, celebrate a friend's new life at a BBQ...

30% chance of rain, my butt...

...and end it tonight with step class, and hopefully some more dog snuggling. 

Pretty much perfect.

Now, if I could somehow talk myself out of wanting to do Hell Run, I might be doing better.  (I found someone who wants to walk it with me!)

The years teach much which the days never knew. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Genius?

Its finally sunny here again!!!!  We had beautiful weather for most of June, but then July it turned overcast and 50-60 degrees every day.  For almost a month.  Just when I had given up hope that summer was ever coming back, it came back today!!! 

I have a busy couple of days planned...errands and fun things etc.  Then this week at work I start with my new trainee. 

Either I'm a dork or a genius....   I wrapped a fellow sewer's birthday present with a fat quarter and some baking twine.  Oh, and a homemade tag.  Yes...she has dogs too. 

Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best. ~ Henry van Dyke

Alicia and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad....

I had a crappy night.  5 minutes into my shift I put a caller on hold who wanted to tell me a 15 minute story involving a complaint about something extremely ridiculous, which spiraled into him hanging up and calling back wanting to complain about me.  ME.  Argh.  I think I pacified him, but there's no telling.  So I had a pit in my stomach most of the night about how I should have dealt with the caller better etc.  Then, when on the internet, I went to type in an intranet site but accidentally put ".com" at the end - which took me to an internet site, which sent up an internal flag that went to my company's computer geeks.  After realizing my mistake I quickly X'd out of the site and went to the right one, but I got a call 3 hours later saying my computer was flagged and did I go to so and so site, because it accessed a European website, and they just wanted to figure out if it was me or a bug....

Just stupid stuff, but it had me in a tither.  This was while I was trying to set up an interesting agenda for a leadership meeting that I'm running (!!), and my creativity was zapped.  The agenda was due this morning.  I got it done, but I'm still questioning myself. 

I did fess up to my supervisor this morning all the stupid stuff I did last night and his reaction was that it wasn't a big deal but I did right by telling him.  So I do feel a little better.

So, I came home...chilled with Atticus for a little, now I'm drinking some breakfast wine (raspberry...its okay) and blogging before I fall asleep. 

I got my proofs back for the Warrior Dash - they're not as bad as I thought.  (A company takes photos of everyone and then sells them for overly inflated prices).  I might order one overly pricey picture of me jumping over fire or slogging through mud.  We'll see. 

I'll leave you with another couple of pictures that make me smile...my Christmas present from my dad.  (Thanks, Dad!!!!)

Part 1

Part 2

Are you really sure that a floor can't also be a ceiling? ~ M.C. Escher

Recovery

Yesterday I spent recovering from the Warrior Dash.  I'm pretty sure every muscle in my arms ached.  My knees ached.  I whimpered when I had to sit down or stand up out of my comfy chair. 

Despite that, I got a lot done.  I only have about 2 minutes to write, so just take my word for it:  I did things!

Including;  finishing my nephews and my sisters extremely belated birthday presents.  Only a month late.  I'm about on track.  I even shipped them out today (sorry if that ruins the surprise, Allison). 

I'll leave you with a picture of Atticus.  That always makes me feel happy. 

My trophy hat

Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making ships. 
~ Charles Simic

The warrior dash and philosophical musings

Yesterday I competed in the warrior dash.  Not something I would normally do, but it sounded fun, and I've been trying to leave my comfort zone more and more.  There really was no reason NOT to do it.  Plus, 5 other friends signed up to do it as well, so I'd have my own built in cheer squad. 

I have never been an athletic person.  Junior high volleyball doesn't count.  I'm not coordinated, I'm short, and have never had the great desire to work out, or participate in group activities.  For the most part I've kept my figure with good genes, luck, and random bad choices.  That changed in the past several years, mostly because of good choices (life sucks), and the fact that I'm getting older.  While 31 (almost 32) isn't the end of the world, age wise, I've realized I need to work harder to stay looking the same. 

I started doing Zumba earlier this year, and about 2 months ago joined the YMCA and started going regularly (3-5 times a week).  While I haven't noticed any changes, I'm pretty sure I'm doing the right thing. 

Anyways, all this is a culmination to say I still was not prepared for the Warrior Dash.  I don't run, even if chased, and I especially don't run in farm fields (with the uneven ground), or in 6 inches of mucky mud.  Not only do I not want to run, I haven't figured out how to run and breathe normally at the same time.  So, about 1/4 mile into the 3.5 mile race, I started to walk.  And honestly, I was okay with that.  It gave me more time to focus on my other aches and pains. 

There were several obstacles (I think it was 10).  I was unable to do 2 - one because I couldn't get my muddy shoes to grip the 1 inch ledge to push myself up a wall, and the second I didn't do because I was actually afraid of breaking my leg.  Muddy shoes and tired leg muscles don't inspire confidence in my abilities to walk a 4 inch wide plank 5 feet above the ground.  But I was okay with that. Being 31 does have its advantages. 

But I did do every other obstacle:  Climbing over ledges and under barbed wire, crawling through mud under a dark tunnel, spider crawling across rope ladders, up ladders and down a plywood slide, climbing over old cars minus all their glass (and I didn't fall in the sunroof!), running through swinging tires, jumping over fire, and the worst one of all - crawling on my hands and knees through mucky mud that came up to my neck, trying to avoid the barbed wire above my head and the rocks that lined the bottom.  I think at the very end, after standing up through the mud, trying to walk in a foot of mud towards the finish line was the worst.  I was tired, my legs kept threatening to give out on me, and the ground was extremely uneven - I kept finding the holes.  I was, however, extremely glad i wore shorts with a drawstring (although with all the mud I'm not sure anyone would have noticed if I had lost my shorts). 

There were very few people who walked the race.  At first it kind of bothered me that I was unable to run or scale a 20 foot wall.  But actually, I've decided I'm not bothered at all.  Because I finished the race.  Me, who doesn't "do" athletic things, who last year at this time couldn't even do one girly pushup and didn't even own a pair of athletic sneakers (I'm up to 10 at a time and 2 pairs!), finished the hardest athletic challenge I've ever tried.  So suck it!, doubting voice in the back of my mind.  I finished that freaking race, and I'm actually pretty proud of myself. 

Our original team of 6 dwindled down to 2, for various reasons.  My friend Michelle stuck with me through the race, walking even though I knew she'd rather run, and being my personal cheerleader.  She also struck up conversations with people we met along the way, keeping me amused with her banter. 

Michelle and I....finished!  This is after we were hosed off by a firehose (they didn't provide showers.)  I had trouble breathing with all the cold water, so I basically just made sure my hands were clean. 

"Can I take a picture with you so I can send it to my mother?"  Haha...  that was my excuse to get my picture taken with a guy wearing fur underwear and a leather vest. 

My celebratory turkey leg!

See that white disk on my right shoe?  That was my race tracker, which I was supposed to turn in for a free beer.  After my hands were clean I didn't care about the beer enough to muddy them up again.  I still haven't decided if I'm going to try to save these shoes or just buy new ones.  Probably buy new ones.  I deserve it.

The celebratory crowd on the way back to the parking lot....wearing their viking hats.  My viking hat is still in plastic - I think I might showcase it via Atticus one day...

The mud dried on my skin and I actually had problems washing it off when I got home.  Ewww. 

I want you to feel bad for me and my poor cut up knees.  I haven't had a skinned knee since probably elementary school.

I believe that the Good Lord gave us a finite number of heartbeats and I'm damned if I'm going to use up mine running up and down a street.  ~ Neil Armstrong

Lucky you

I came home this morning ready to type a long tirade about work, but I was so exhausted I just went to bed instead. 

When I woke up this afternoon I was still slightly annoyed and was going to type a shorter tirade, but after a slight change in plans etc, I ended up taking Atticus to the dog park instead, and then visiting the gym. 

Now that the endorphins are flowing, or whatever the good stuff is that comes with exercising, I'm not in a mood to type my tirade any more. 

Lucky you. 

My new dryer sheet system.  Check out pepperjackhome.com if you want your own.  I currently have no opinions on it yet - apparently there's a learning curve to getting the "dryer sheet" damp without getting the liquid all over everywhere.  Haven't mastered that yet.  But otherwise no complaints.  I actually haven't noticed a difference in my laundry. 

I dip my pen in the blackest ink, because I'm not afraid of falling into my inkpot. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Giving away the goods

"You Look Like I Need A Drink"
~ Against Me!

Happy Birthday Shaylah!

For my sister in law's birthday...a creation ENTIRELY (!!!) my own!

(Althought I do have to say I was highly inspired by this purse...including the red gingham). 

Yes...another purse

The front

The inside.  I wanted bright fun colors. 



The handle is strung through rivets in each side.



My brother said Shaylah was into Justin Bieber.....  Its a little hard to see but the heart is sketched with red tinsel thread (think Christmas tree tinsel - it looks like that), and "BIEBER FEVER" is sketched with glow in the dark thread.  Don't know if it actually glows though...  Oh, and its removable, in case she wants to put another heart throb in its place.

Yes, its late, but happy birthday Shaylah!

Put a grain of boldness into everything you do. ~ Baltasar Gracian

What I can do in 28 hours, AKA why I don't always find time to blog, sew, or sleep

Friday

5pm-6pm:  Wake up.  Drink Coffee.  Take Atticus for a long walk.  Drink more coffee.

6pm-8pm:  Get dressed.  Driving to Gym.  Gym.  Coming home from the gym. 

8pm-10pm:  Shower.  Get ready for work.  Drive to work. 

10pm-8am (Saturday):  Work.  Work.  Work.  Lesson of the day:  Don't drive too fast when you're a truck driver carrying a load of fish.  You might accidentally tip over and spill.

Saturday

8am-9am:  Drive home.  Walk Atticus.  Drive back to work.  Meet up with a friend named Katie.

9am-11:30am:  Ferry to Seattle.  Drive in horrendous Saturday traffic. 

View from the ferry approaching Seattle (not the skyline...obviously).

11:30am-12:30pm:  urban craft uprising!

I bought all natural shampoo and conditioner.  And a reusable dryer sheet thing (its a small towel and then liquid dryer sheet stuff that you can obviously keep reusing.  I'm pretty excited to start using it.  I'll take a picture another day). 

12:30-1:00pm:  Walked around the Seattle Center looking for food.  Happened upon a Bastille Day Celebration.  Ate the most disgusting "all natural" hot dog ever. 

Endorsing the Eiffel Tower.  Not the hot dog.

1pm-3:30pm:  Ferry back to my side of the water.  Drive home.  Walk Atticus. 

3:30pm-5:45pm.  Nap

5:45pm-8:00pm:  Walk Atticus.  Go to a jewelry party at a martini bar.  Buy myself a belated Christmas present (thanks Dad!!!!)  Eat super salty appetizers and drink Pepsi in lieu of alcohol. 

8:00-8:15pm:  Drive home

8:15-8:20:  Give Atticus a belly rub

8:20-now:  Climb into bed.  Fire up the computer and blog a little.  Start to regret eating all that salt earlier today.  Anticipate crashing and sleeping for about 12 hours. 

Anticipated rest of the weekend:  overtime tomorrow.  I'm pretty sure I made plans for Monday but off hand I can't remember what they are.  Plan to go to the dog park as much as possible. 

Warrior Dash next weekend!!!

A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down. ~ Arnold Glasow

I'll think of one later

I actually had a holiday weekend off.  It was weird.  I almost wished I was working because holidays are when the fun calls come in. 

I did work 4 hours of overtime on Sunday, but that didn't count.  I was so busy I left almost as soon as I came in.

Anyways....here's some pictures from this weekend!

Atticus knew we were going to the park.  He's smart like that.  And the park makes him happy. 

At the park....his friend Kimber's butt is in the background. 

I'm thinking of starting my own page "peopleofthedogpark.com".  I'm mean...I know.

Yummy dessert from the BBQ I attended: oreo ice cream + chocolate ice cream + cool whip, on a bed of crushed oreos, then covered with oreos and sour gummy worms.  It sounds kind of disgusting (especially the worms), but I could have eaten about half of this if I could.  Even the worms in the ice cream were good. 

Back to work tomorrow....2 weeks before my new trainee starts!!  (3 weeks before I start with her though - she has a week with other people as orientation).  I'm nervous and excited and I think I might be gaining an ulcer from having too much to do. 

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.
~ Michelangelo