felt tip pens

whoa! Posts 3 days in a row...something must be wrong. Maybe I am getting back to normal?

Just wanted to profess my love to all the world for Paper Mate Flair felt-tip pens. Man, I love me a good felt-tipper. I usually use a black or bright green at work, but they come in all of these delicious flavors: pink, black, blue, red, green, purple, magenta (or as my HS physics teacher used to call it: mag-neta. Every time I see the word magenta, I think of Mr. E.), plum, lime, marigold, navy, yellow, olive, tangerine, lilac and sky blue.

That's all!

on exercise and dreams

dreamy clouds?

Last night I rode my bike for 80 minutes (and damn if my vagina bone* doesn't hurt today). You see, I am an evening exerciser. I believe it all started when I started running, and my plantar fasciitis was really bothering me. It was so bad that I couldn't even think about exercising until my feet had been sufficiently "warmed up"...like walked upon all day. This plus the fact that I had 2 children under the age of 3 at home to get ready in the mornings kind of took all the desire for getting up early away.

Anyhoo...I still like to do my exercise in the evening. I love the cold and cover of the night. I like to feel all alone. It soothes my body and my brain. However, I have come up with something lately that has just revealed itself: the connection between hard exercise and vivid dreams.

After last night's ride, I had the most vivid dreams. Like being scratched by baby raccoons and having to get rabies shots. Like forgetting the combination to my swimming pool locker EVERY time I was at swim practice. Like dreams of past friends/boyfriends where I remember every word they said. Like Carrie and Kerry thinking that taking in baby raccoons was a good idea.

See? Really vivid dreams, and ones that I remember too. Strange dreams that HAVE to have something to do with the exercise. I am going to go today and get a little notebook to start recording these dreams, and to track them to see if they are related to my exercise. Thoughts anyone?

*many thanks to Zak of Shindig for introducing me to the phrase vagina bone. But damn if I can find that post...

you capture-food

Oh! Hello there! I'm still here, but have been MIA for a while! There's nothing like a You Capture and a new camera to get me back into the swing of things. Work has been a killer lately, and school has started (see, I even didn't get to post pics of the first day of school, things were so crazy) but things appear to be loosening up, so I might be back to normal soon (whatever that means).

So, without further ado: food.

We are big canners in our family (and by we, I mean my father-in-law and I). Here you will see some of the beautiful salsa we canned this year, and grape jelly from last year...our last jar (the horrors of store-bought jelly!) You can also see the pretty pickled beets peeking thru on the right. We can and we freeze. We freeze and we can. Pictures of frozen things aren't nearly as pretty. Green beans, salsa, spaghetti sauce, and applesauce in glass jars are much prettier.

Please join us!

today

today I am a bitch

today I would have been 'snarky' had I chosen to talk to anyone

I kind of feel like this:

...fuzzy...wonky...blurry, a little out-of-sorts

...i don't want to stay but I don't know where to go

...i am simultaneously overjoyed and annoyed by my family

...i'm not happy but i'm not really sad

...i don't want to work, but i don't want to be at home either

...i have to travel tomorrow but don't feel like it

...i'm irritated and elated at the same time

and worst of all:...nothing sounds good to eat.

I have had one good hard run this today, and am heading back out for another now.

Some times this does it for me.

Here's hoping I wake up tomorrow refreshed and a little closer to my other self.

it's been busy around here

It seems like lately I have just been rattling on in my head only. It's been busy around here...

We had a MAJOR storm on Monday. I spent all afternoon cleaning up downed limbs at my house, my parent's house and various neighbor's houses. School started on Wednesday. My kids were ready, and so was I. We have finally finished painting and laying new bamboo floors in both the kids rooms. They also swapped rooms, and got a whole new redecorate in the process. This has occupied a lot of my brain space. My company bought a new business last week. I have been traveling, orienting new employees, setting up new computers and the like. Next week I go out of town to Georgia. Soccer practice has started for both kids, and football will be here before we know it. I am looking forward to fall. I miss wine Wednesdays with my bestest friends. I haven't been exercising like I should be for the triathlon in 4 weeks. Molly got the teacher she wanted for 2nd grade. Me too, as she is a dear, dear friend of mine. Where does the time go these days? I got to have beers with one of my old work buddies this week. I don't go out like that enough any more. I have been spending a lot of time in my car lately...sometimes in silence, other times with the music blaring. Most times with s book-on-tape filling the time. Tonight we go to our friend's house for fresh crab from the Virginia coast. A 'last hurrah' to summer. I can't wait. Fall is on it's way. Will there be a little peace as well? Only time will tell!

you capture-motion

This week's theme for You Capture was motion. As usual, I had high hopes of learning a few things about the shutter speed of my camera, but as usual, that didn't happen. However, I was caught in a major Kansas summer thunder storm and managed to get a few cool motion shots while driving.

Out the front windshield...

Out the driver's side window. Doesn't this look a little like a watercolor painting?

I really love this one!

Join us!

have you ever considered...

• picking up and moving to Europe?


• changing jobs?


• uprooting your family in favor of a simpler life?

Just a few things we have been pondering this weekend without children at home...

man I miss them.

you capture-you (me)

This is me

in all

my glory...

this was painful

I really wanted to work on using my camera's timer, but didn't get that done this week...

join us:

lack of teeth and laughter

I simply love these photos of Molly laughing. Such spunk and spirit, and so few teeth at the moment!

staycation

My children leave on Thursday for summer vacation with my parents. I am taking Friday and Monday off for a little staycation of my own. Things I have planned:

sleep (late), eat, drink (wine with friends), garden, travel (hopefully to KC to pick up some cool lockers my designer, Jamie found for me...more on that later),read (at LEAST 2 books), run, build (a platform bed for Carson's room), bike, swim (in a lake!), walk the dog (she's 20# over weight!), read more (all my magazines piling up), transfer (photos from work laptop to external hard-drive), paint (Molly's room), shop, drive(to McDonald's and back for Diet Cokes), and finally, finish laying bamboo flooring in Molly's room.

Phew...hope I make it to the other side alive!

ps, these and other caterpillar photos are over at my flickr photostream!