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| The inside: recognize anyone? heehee |
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| The top: made from embossed aluminum foil colored with alcohol inks |
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Made: part 2
I also finished this project recently. It was started well over a year ago (yes, a year!). It's foam core cut into pieces, covered with unprinted newsprint paper (so the paint will have something to stick to), glued together, painted, and decorated. In all fairness I did make one for Mom & Dad last year for Christmas and I did finish that one in a month!
Monday, November 15, 2010
A Tale of Two Kitties
get it? A Tale of Two Cities Kitties : )
So this little kitty when to the vet for a checkup that I've been putting off since February. I'm not sure if you've noticed but she's a little let's just say, temperamental. Her chart at the vet is flagged because she's (and I'm quoting the vet from the last time we were there), "one of the worst he's ever seen." Awesome. Well she started losing weight so I figured it was time to do something. They sedated her and I told them to do whatever they wanted while she was out--change the oil, rotate the tires, the whole enchilada! Turns out she has hyperthyroidism. So the treatments are a transdermal gel applied twice a day to her ear, surgery, or some kind of radioactive chemotherapy that means we'd have to separate her from us, the other animals, and especially Katherine for 2 weeks. Awesome. We've decided to try the gel although it does require blood work routinely. Not sure how that's going to go...
So this little kitty when to the vet for a checkup that I've been putting off since February. I'm not sure if you've noticed but she's a little let's just say, temperamental. Her chart at the vet is flagged because she's (and I'm quoting the vet from the last time we were there), "one of the worst he's ever seen." Awesome. Well she started losing weight so I figured it was time to do something. They sedated her and I told them to do whatever they wanted while she was out--change the oil, rotate the tires, the whole enchilada! Turns out she has hyperthyroidism. So the treatments are a transdermal gel applied twice a day to her ear, surgery, or some kind of radioactive chemotherapy that means we'd have to separate her from us, the other animals, and especially Katherine for 2 weeks. Awesome. We've decided to try the gel although it does require blood work routinely. Not sure how that's going to go...
$362 on Monday at the vet for Kitty...
This little kitty went to the vet because she has oily fur and issues with excessive licking. She was an angel at the vet no matter what they did to her. ( And apparently vets don't have patient/doctor confidentiality because we saw the other vet with Pixie and he said while he examining her, "she's great, you should have seen the cat we had in here Monday." And I said, "I have, trust me. It was mine too.") Turns out she was negative for all normal causes of oily skin and grooming so we did blood work to rule out metabolic causes--also negative. So now we're trying a diet change to rule out a food allergy. The vet's suggestion: venison and green pea (or rabbit and green pea, we went with venison--yumm!). They should call it kitty gold at $32 for a six pound bag. If this doesn't work, he wants us to go see a dermatologist--awesome!
$282 on Wednesday at the vet for Pixie plus the $32 food plus $30 for Kitty's medication; and Robin and Charlie went wah, wah, wah all the way to the bank!
(don't you just the love the combo of some classic Dickens with a children's tale)
Monday, November 8, 2010
Made
So while the marathon training did pretty much suck all motivation out of me to do anything else during the last few weeks before I tapered, I did manage to create a few things I haven't shared here.
(Some of the best and funnest projects are ones using things you already have. I'm sure my credit card and Charlie would agree!)
And some new layouts from the past couple of months:
Right Now
Fourth of July (don't yell at me Susie--it's a cute picture!)
So Proud of You
Just Like Daddy
Photo Reality
9 Months
The Days are Long but the Years are Short
12 Months (I felt like playing with some mists and inks and stamps on this one)
Autumn Bliss (those leaves on the 2nd page are embroidered, this one won me a $35 Pottery Barn gift card from the Crate Paper blog!)
Custom
Up next...a tale of two kitties...and their vet bill...bet you can't wait!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Chuck Norris Never Ran a Marathon
...and other fun signs I saw along the way: "Your feet hurt because you're kicking so much ass!" "26.2 miles, because 26.3 would just be crazy!" "Waking up early to make this sign was hard work!" "I may be old and slow, but I'm still ahead of you." (As seen on the back of Marine, Staff Sergeant Nuniz's shirt. I was with him for the first 5 miles and it made me smile every time I glanced at it--so thank you wherever you are!)
The marathon was awesome--the crowds, the enthusiasm, the Marines--everyone was so supportive and for the most part cheered regardless of who you were. And with that many people running, there was always someone running past them, so they cheered constantly. A few places stood out to me as having really great crowds and energy: the start and first 2 miles through Rosslyn, Georgetown was great, the second half of the Mall by the old Smithsonian, Crystal City, and of course the finish. Having a Marine put a medal around your neck was an inspiring experience.
To be honest I'm a little disappointed in my time. I went into this saying I wanted to run one marathon and just finish (no time goal). Everyone says, how can you be disappointed, you just finished a marathon? I think after training for 6 months you build up in your mind what finishing will feel like which after 6 months of building up and building up, the reality may have a hard time living up. I posted my thoughts on the Run Like a Mother facebook page which is a book written by 2 women runners and mothers. One of the authors commented that she was only really happy after one of her 7 marathons. A bunch of other women were having the same feelings as me. Another posted this: "Congrats on finishing! I wasn't even across the finish line this past October when I was sure I wasn't happy with my time and was going to do another. I think it fits with the personality type of some of us..." which made me laugh because I'm pretty sure she's onto something. A few days out now, I'm feeling better about it. But during the last few weeks of training I was looking forward to doing something else exercise wise. Now, I really just want to go for a run. Hello Runner's Anonymous....?
Somewhere during all this, something changed for me and it became enjoyable and something I wanted to do it longer. Sure there were really really bad runs, but there were really good runs too. Another marathon isn't completely out of the question for me somewhere down the line. Will it be soon? NO! Probably not next year either but maybe the following (depending on life and other things going on). I'd like to get faster at shorter distances. Run a 5K in less than 30 minutes and a 10K in less than 60 minutes (this one will be more challenging for me). I like having goals or something to accomplish. I'd like to do a 1/2 marathon or 2 or 3 and then see what happens.
I'm still trying to decide if I want to buy a fancy schmancy GPS running watch the tells you your speed and distance constantly with my birthday money--last month I would have said "I don't need that!"
Also got access to the official marathon photos and trying to decide if I want to spend $15 per 5x7 or pay $90 for access to digitally download all of them. I mean I don't want all of them but seriously, $15 for a 5x7? And it goes up from there in cost.
My soreness is gone (and it wasn't as bad as people said it would be) so tomorrow I'm going to the gym for a quick run and some weight training. We'll see where this takes me...
The marathon was awesome--the crowds, the enthusiasm, the Marines--everyone was so supportive and for the most part cheered regardless of who you were. And with that many people running, there was always someone running past them, so they cheered constantly. A few places stood out to me as having really great crowds and energy: the start and first 2 miles through Rosslyn, Georgetown was great, the second half of the Mall by the old Smithsonian, Crystal City, and of course the finish. Having a Marine put a medal around your neck was an inspiring experience.
To be honest I'm a little disappointed in my time. I went into this saying I wanted to run one marathon and just finish (no time goal). Everyone says, how can you be disappointed, you just finished a marathon? I think after training for 6 months you build up in your mind what finishing will feel like which after 6 months of building up and building up, the reality may have a hard time living up. I posted my thoughts on the Run Like a Mother facebook page which is a book written by 2 women runners and mothers. One of the authors commented that she was only really happy after one of her 7 marathons. A bunch of other women were having the same feelings as me. Another posted this: "Congrats on finishing! I wasn't even across the finish line this past October when I was sure I wasn't happy with my time and was going to do another. I think it fits with the personality type of some of us..." which made me laugh because I'm pretty sure she's onto something. A few days out now, I'm feeling better about it. But during the last few weeks of training I was looking forward to doing something else exercise wise. Now, I really just want to go for a run. Hello Runner's Anonymous....?
Somewhere during all this, something changed for me and it became enjoyable and something I wanted to do it longer. Sure there were really really bad runs, but there were really good runs too. Another marathon isn't completely out of the question for me somewhere down the line. Will it be soon? NO! Probably not next year either but maybe the following (depending on life and other things going on). I'd like to get faster at shorter distances. Run a 5K in less than 30 minutes and a 10K in less than 60 minutes (this one will be more challenging for me). I like having goals or something to accomplish. I'd like to do a 1/2 marathon or 2 or 3 and then see what happens.
Also got access to the official marathon photos and trying to decide if I want to spend $15 per 5x7 or pay $90 for access to digitally download all of them. I mean I don't want all of them but seriously, $15 for a 5x7? And it goes up from there in cost.
My soreness is gone (and it wasn't as bad as people said it would be) so tomorrow I'm going to the gym for a quick run and some weight training. We'll see where this takes me...
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