OMGIS...and Corn Chowdah

OMGIS!

Okay, let me explain that.

My roommate from college, another Sarah, and I used to have a special language of our own. Abbreviations and inside jokes abounded! "Outsiders" would often listen with confused looks on their faces as we would start in on a rant that was gibberish to anyone but ourselves.

OMGIS is a phrase from those old university days. OH MY GOD I'M SWEATING!

It's freaking hot here people! I'm trying desperately to be productive, and I have not succeeded in finishing my party preparations, HMPF. I'm having a procrastination/blogging/sipping on Sea Dog Blueberry Ale (which I had to drive to no less than FIVE STORES to find)/cool down session.

So tomorrow I'm having my birthday partay - and this year's theme is a local food potluck. A celebration of all that is tasty in New Hampshire. For a main course I whipped up a batch of corn chowder. Corn is plentiful this time of year in New England, and I hybridized two recipes to make my own version of this classic "chowdah."

Sarah's Corn Chowdah aka Corn Chowdah Made With What Was In My Fridge:

You need:


Two strips of bacon
Two large onions
Four tablespoons of butter
Four sprigs of thyme
Six ears of corn
Three potatoes
Six cups of milk
A couple of cups of chicken stock (eyeball it, I think I add two or three)
Two tablespoons of corn starch mixed with two tablespoons of water


Take a big pot. Chop up the bacon and cook it over low heat until it's tasty lookin'.

Chop up onions. Cry. A lot. Pretend you're Tita crying over Pedro from Like Water for Chocolate. Wipe your eyes and move on.

Add onions and butter to the bacony goodness.

Go pick thyme from the porch. Swear a little when you can't break the sprigs with your fingers.

Shuck corn and cut all of it off of the cob. Try not to spray your laptop with corn juice like I did.

Chop potatoes. This is more fun if you sing the "Potato Song" .

Add the potatoes and the corn to the pot, raise heat to medium.

Add milk.

Realize that the only stock that you have is frozen in a tupperware. Try to defrost it.

3 min 45 sec...

Still frozen.

7 min 30 sec...

Still frickin' frozen!

Put frozen glop of stock into pot. Raise heat to high and mash at it with a wooden spoon until it breaks up and melts.

Bring chowdah to a boil.

Cover and simmer for ten minutes.

If you like, you can blend some of the solids in a blender to thicken up your chowdah at this time.

Stir in cornstarch mixture. Let sit for a bit.

Serve or refrigerate. If you're not eating it right away, reheat on the stove over low heat. Don't boil!

Enjoy!

Eco-Friendly Things That Are Rockin' My Universe!

These random thingies are rockin' my world as of late, so I thought that I would share...

Every once in awhile I re-evaluate our little household's sustainable, green practices and I try to tweak things, and make things run a little better. My latest tweak has been trying to cut down the amount of paper and plastic disposable products we use in the house.

My latest target has been paper towels. People lived for centuries without paper towels. And what did they use? Rags. Cloths. Highly absorbent. Highly re-usable. Another target has been sponges...I've not used "natural" sponges to wash my dishes in the past, instead I've used the freaky yellow plastic kind which eventually get thrown "away," wherever that is...



In an attempt to fight the good fight I made my first ever dish cloth! Oh boy, this works like a dream. I used a free pattern for a bobble stitch wash cloth that I found on Ravelry. I used fingering weight cotton, instead of worsted, because it's what I had handy, and it made a lacier cloth, but it gets the job done. Those bobbles are awesome for scrubby action, and I'm already working on a second one!

Next topic, off to the laundry room! My French friend, Stephanie, was asking my mum and I if we knew where to get "laundry nuts" in the United States. We had never heard of such a thing. A few weeks later, I was browsing Flickr user Graygoosie's photos when low and behold: laundry nuts, and a source to buy them online!

Also from the pages of graygoosie's photos, GMO FREE cooking oils in bulk. Want to cook with oils pressed from vegetables that haven't been genetically modified and sprayed with pesticides? Then give a big ole' middle finger to Monsanto and check out the info in graygoosie's photo!

Lately I've become obsessed with the notion of building our own green home like hardworkinghippy via Flickr. Thanks to links from These Days in French Life I now know that that dream home would be insulated with sheep's wool. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking...and no, this isn't some sicko knitter fantasy I dreamt up, you can actually insulate your house with wool. The website I linked to has some very interested facts. For instance, did you know that sheep's wool has a very high burning point? It will singe away from fire and extinguish itself. So cool!

Lastly a little local excitement. My beloved Beach Pea Bakery has released a cook book! To quickly recap the article that I linked to - Beach Pea is a fantastic bakery in Kittery, Maine that uses organic ingredients in their baking and is a champion of sustainable business practices. Now you can bake their treats no matter what part of the country you are in. The cook book is available from Blue Tree publishing company.

Well, that's a lot of things to explore so I'll leave you all to it. Hope you enjoy!

Today I am grateful for a yummy local dinner: burgers in buns that were baked in my bakery and corn. I'm grateful for beautiful movies like Persepolis. What are you grateful for today?

Happy Birthday to Me

Hello all!

Well, I had planned on a more interesting post today, but in light of yesterday's epic post and today's long *LONG* day at work (I had to stay an hour and twenty minutes late, on my freakin' birthday!) I am off to enjoy dinner that I don't have to cook. And a rental movie. And a serious calf massage.

Today I'm grateful for a sweet husband that doesn't mind rubbing my stinky feet. I'm grateful for challah, because I think it's my new favorite bread ever. And even though it stinks that I had to stay extra at work today, I am grateful for that extra hour and twenty minutes that will make my much needed first pay check just a little bit bigger. I'm also grateful for the many kind comments left on yesterday's post - old and new friends! Sending hugs! What are you grateful for today?

I *AM* Worthy

:: WARNING THIS POST IS EPIC::

This is going to be a *LONG* post (but there's video entertainment!) so you might want to settle in with a good cup of tea or coffee, and maybe get your tissues out. I'm about to get a wee bit philosophical in a way that is a little different than my usual crafty, knitting, recipe sharing blog posts, so bear with me people!

Firstly, as a birthday present to myself, I bought two tickets to go see Trey McIntyre Project, a dance company. The performance marked the group's premiere as a full time, year round touring dance company, and it took place at Jacob's Pillow. Now, for the non-dancer folk reading out there, let me enlighten you about something. Jacob's Pillow is like MECCA for dance. If there was a heaven on earth, for me, it would be Jacob's Pillow. Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival is the oldest continually running summer dance festival in America. The property itself is situated on an old farmstead in the middle of the stunningly beautiful Berkshires in western Massachusetts. There are two indoor theatres, one outdoor stage, a summer dance institute, library, free performances, etc, etc. Thousands of people flock there every year to see and experience high quality dance.

Here is an excerpt of one of pieces that I saw "The Reassuring Effects of Form and Poetry", Choreography by Trey McIntyre:



This was the last piece in the show and that short clip does not even begin to do it justice. Trey McIntyre is a genius in my eyes. He is using classical ballet technique, something that can be misunderstood as antiquated and stodgy, in a way that that is current and accessible. He moves dancers about the stage like a great artist moves his brush across the canvas.

I felt so blessed to be at that show, to have the opportunity to see great dance. For the first time in a long time, I cried during the end of the performance. I was so moved by what I saw on stage that I just lost it. When I was younger, this used to happen to me every time that I went to go see a professional dance performance. I was so excited and flabbergasted by great dancers' technique and control, I'd just sob my little heart out with joy. Now that I'm older, and I've seen so much wonderful dance and world class dancers, that it takes more than just stellar technique to bowl me over. This bowled me over.

Trey stepped onstage to take a bow with his dancers when the show was through, and I cried tears of joy for him. I felt so proud for what he had accomplished, and I also felt jealous.

What he is doing is exactly what I've always wanted to do with my life.

I get e-mails from Janice Taylor, who wrote Our Lady of Weight Loss, and the latest one contained an interview with someone that had survived through Hurricane Katrina. Like many of the survivors, this woman had turned to eating out and junk food as a coping mechanism, and subsequently had gained quite a few pounds post-Katrina. One of the quotes that really resonated with me was this:

"I am a musician, so you can well understand that music is very important to me; part of my every day life. I didn't think of myself as depressed, yet for an entire year I had no desire to sing or play my instruments. I was too tired to even listen to music. And I wasn't taking good care of myself. The feeling was 'what's the use?"

This is how I've felt about dancing for the past few years. In November it will be three years since Matt and I lost our baby boy, Liam. We both certainly had some dark times, as anybody would after such a tragedy, but I don't think that I would ever refer to what I've gone through as depression. I'm a generally happy, positive person, and life had to go on and did go on. But my life is very different now than it was before. I spend more time wishing that I was dancing and choreographing, and not actually dancing and choreographing.

Why?

Shame. I have felt ashamed of my physical appearance. Most of my best friends are dancers and have abs that you could bounce quarters off of. I accepted that pregnancy would change my body and I have abs that look like cottage cheese! I gained sixty pounds, I have lost only ten. I have no child to show for it, and a ruined instrument as far as dance is concerned. I've felt ashamed, because I've failed big time. I don't blame myself for what happened, I'm way beyond that stage of things, but I do blame myself for not doing anything about it.

However, like the musician, I don't think I've been able to do anything about it. I really don't. It is not a matter of diet, because I eat very healthfully, but it's a matter of exercise and mental determination. Moving the extra weight around has made it physically challenging and even painful for me to dance, or do much of anything for that matter. The weight has aggravated old dance injuries and created new ones. I'm so sick of it! I've used those things as excuses for far too long. Pain certainly never deterred me back in the day when I was training. I remember that my mum came to visit me at dance camp, one summer, and my toes were so blistered, my muscles so fatigued, that I had to hold on to the wall or a railing every where that we went. And what did I do? I got up the next day and danced for eight hours. And the next day and the next. Because I loved it!

Self Acceptance, originally uploaded by kittykill.

The embroidery above was featured on Feeling Stitchy and I thought that it was very appropriate for how I'm feeling. I've had a personal epiphany. I shouldn't give a damn about what I look like. My husband doesn't. My family doesn't. My friends certainly don't. The only person that's kept me from doing what I want to do in this life is ME. I'm tired of getting in my own damn way.

One of the things that precipitated this post/epiphany was the following video from Suzi Blu over at YouTube. She's a mixed media artist, but her inspirational videos carry a message for every one. You don't have to be an artist to appreciate the things that she says.

Watch this:



So what if I wear sweatpants. XL at that, *GASP*! I live in suburbia. I'm a dancer, I'm an artist, I'm NOT a sham anymore and I'm freaking worthy!!!

Now...I know these things. Let's see if I can apply it.

My goodness, that was even longer than I expected. If you read all of this, you're a trooper, and if we knew each other in the real world, I would hug you!

Today I'm grateful for taking small steps, towards big dreams. I am grateful for Suzi Blu, for inspiring me over and over and over again.

Sock Silliness

I finished up these socks in lieu of my Juliet because I cannot figuring out the f@#$%ing lace rows. I needed to finish something and feel like I'm a semi-competent knitter before I pick the cardigan up again.



The pattern is Candide "Ragg" Boot Socks, which is the same pattern that my mom has been using to make wool socks for ages. She photocopied it for me, and this is the first such pair that I've made. It feels nice to inherit things like that. The wool is locally produced from Riverslea Farm, one of my favorite places to support. The yarn is a beautiful blue/brown twist, and I have another colorway to knit up as well (pink/brown).



I had to share this picture of Cassie. She was watching me from the safety of her little curtain tent with this look of curiousity that seemed to say: "What the hell are you doing rolling all over the bed with your feet in the air taking pictures?"

Ah, the craziness that ensues with blogging...

P.S. My birthday is on Thursday. How am I possibly going to be 26???

P.P.S. Off to do more baking today, and then Stitch n' Bitch. Cardigan?...Hmm...I think I'll start a dishcloth instead!

Today I am grateful for a full night's sleep, after a full day of work yesterday. I'm also grateful for major kitty cuddles from Cass. I'm grateful for happy plans to Stitch n' Bitch tonight - it's one of my favorite nights of the week! What are you grateful for today?

SO much to say :: First up ROCKY!

Wow, I effectively go away for a few days and suddenly I'm bubbling over with blog topics. Speaking of things that are bubbling over, I'll begin today talking about my boobs. Not just my boobs, but my boobs and the rest of me in my Rocky Horror Show costume.

Now I'm not usually one to get my tatas all out on the ole' bloggy blog, so prude-ish readers avert thine eyes!



I have been a Rocky Horror fan since college. I. love. Rocky Horror. I want to BE in the live stage show. And when my stomach is flat and I feel cool enough to prance around half naked I will...but until then I satisfy myself with being an audience member. Friday night marked the first time that I went in three years - and I was pretty stoked with my spur of the moment costume.



You can't quite tell in the picture, but I put red lip-liner on as eye-liner on my lower lashes and it looked sweet! I was told by numerous cast members that my outfit was "perfect." Yay me!

This was one of the best productions that I had ever seen. The costume scheme was a sort of dirty underground circus theme, very Carnivale. It completely worked. The narrator was a talking puppet built to look like the fortune teller in Big. Completely awesome. My good friend Joe did the choreography, to great effect, and I had numerous friends dancing/acting in the show. It was too cool for school.

I do not know what it is about Rocky that draws me in year after year. Maybe it's the audience participation that makes every show so wildly different. The crass humor. The bump and grind. I just love it! If anyone out there is a REAL Rocky nerd, like I am, there is an excellent book on the topic called Rocky Horror: From Concept to Cult.

:::

In other news, I started my new job today. I'm a baker! And so far so good, I freakin' love it!!! I'm hurting all over, but I love it. It's definitely hard work, but I get to handle dough all day. I find it very relaxing, minus the achy feet part. Today I made scones, jolly ollies (flattened cinnamon roll disks with fruit and streusel on them), gooey buns (cinnamon buns with granola on top), cinnamon rolls, cookies upon tray of cookies and granola. I think I prepped more cookies today than I've collectively baked in my lifetime. Hundreds. Hurray for being employed.

:::

Lastly, I was reading an interesting article in Body and Soul the other day about thankfulness. It was saying that scientific study has shown that thankful people are happier, healthier and more likely to help and be kind to others. One of the things that they suggest doing is to think of things that you are thankful for before falling asleep at night. I've done this for years. I kind of consider it my version of praying.

So I'm going to try something new here on the blog today and in the future. I'm going to end with something that I'm grateful for.

Today I am thankful for having a new job that is fun. I am thankful for being able to bring home free loaves of bread and cookies that will feed my little household. What are you thankful for today?

this is my favorite children's book

Secret Garden, originally uploaded by Atomic Citrocity.

To say I was an avid reader when I was little is almost an understatement. I was crazy for reading! I loved getting lost in the world of a book for hours upon end, (I still do)! When I was little, I had a Disney alarm clock, with a glow in the dark star for a snooze button on it. I would hang my upper body off the side of the bed, hanging upside down, reading by that meager little light until all hours of the night.

There are so many books that were favorites of mine, but the first that popped into my mind today was the Secret Garden. I owned two copies when I was small. First a paperback, that was read so many times that it practically disintegrated in my hands, and then a hard cover copy which I still have, though it is worn and much loved.

Thanks to Handmaiden for this week's This Is topic!

Garden Update

Finally after weeks and weeks and weeks of checking out my clusters of green tomatoes - success! My first ripe tomato from my very own garden. It's a Texas Yellow, and that seems to be the variety that's done the best on my little porch. I'm so pleased with myself I don't know if I can bring myself to eat it yet. I just might take to walking it around the apartment, stroking it and calling it "Precious."

In other plant updates, the Black Prince tomato plant is no longer with us. It shriveled into oblivion a few weeks ago despite my many attempts to save it. The Striped Germans are just beginning to put little green tomatoes forth, and the Brandywine has had one huge green fruit hanging on for weeks.

I cut back the lemon balm hard a few weeks ago, and I think I went too nuts because the remaining leaves went brown and stringy and it's been water logged ever since. It's a perennial, so I'm hoping that it will come back regardless. The lemon basil and spicy globe basil are doing well - I really need to harvest it and make pesto! The thyme, oregano and rosemary are doing quite respectably, but nothing matches my mammoth orange mint.

I have enough mint to make mojitos for the entire free word. It's spilled over its container and fashioned itself into a hanging plant over the porch banister. Who knew? Does anyone out there have recipes that call for mass quantities of mint? I'm open to recommendations!

All the small things

A few little things are making me happy these days. Buttons=Crafter's Crown Jewels!
This handful of vintage buttons was picked up at an antique store in Lee. They make me so happy, they might as well be rubies!



How cute is this little hankie? She's begging to be appliqued on something. Purse? Apron? Who knows! I love those little buttoned shoes!

More on the nerd-tacular organizing front, I just about flipped out when I saw this fabric folding tutorial via The Happy Zombie. I folded all of my fabric and organized it by color.



Then I took it a step further, following the path of many other bloggers, and organized my bookcase by color:



I had a job interview today - I'll find out by Thursday or Friday. Cross your fingers and your toes peeps!

this is how i like to spend my weekend

Eating tasty local food (this cuke sandwich is my non-entered our local summer week #11 meal- how many weeks have flown by since I've done this??? i'm a bad blogger!)



Taking care of business, i.e. cleaning, crafting, cooking, etc. On the agenda this week was giving myself a little hair cut.



Other activities that I like to partake in, and had the fun of partaking in this weekend, are thrift shopping and eating copious amounts of baked goods with my mum, hanging out with my hubby, watching my hubby's band play, discovering new things, like up and coming bands like Hayley Jane and the Primates, seeing old friends, eating indian food, fresh local peaches and enjoying life, every moment.

Happy Day - It's a Boy!

My brother Thom and his girlfriend Michelle gave birth to a beautiful baby boy yesterday at 8:13PM. His name is Aaron Thomas Wickwire Duclos. He weighs 6lbs and is 19 inches long. And he's too cute for school!







I completely love that he looks like a little matryoshka doll bundled up in that last photo! I can't wait to meet this little guy :)

Complete Dork Alert

I seem to have be stricken with a nasty summer cold thingy-ma-bob. I was just moaning over the phone, (to my mum), saying that at least when you're sick in the winter, you can hunker down under a thousand blankets and get the sensory pleasure of full body hibernation. It's just downright out of place to be sick in the summer!

Before I took up residence on the couch to blow my nose every half second, I managed to do something so nerdily awesome. It was a very Rob from High Fidelity re-organizing his LPs kinda moment. I re-organized a vital part of my magazine collection.



Anyone who knows me well knows that despite my penchant for sporting Bjork-like hair-do's and hanging around punk-rockers that I love Martha Stewart Living with an undying affection. I'm a walking lifestyle contradiction. What you see above, on the right, is my MS Living back issues re-organized by month instead of by issue. So all of the January, February, March etc. issues are together. That way, say if I need a great September-ish recipe, I can pull out all of the Septembers and flip through them. Right now they are stacked from August onwards, so that theoretically I can put the August stack at the bottom of the pile, when the month is over.

True to my contradictory nature the stack on the left facing the camera is my collection of Bust magazines re-organized in a similar way.

I am so excited about this!

I can almost hear the thunderous noise of cricket chirping as whoever is reading this flees from the computer at the sight of the mundane dullness of this post, hahaha! I don't care! I AM SO HAPPY WITH MYSELF!!!

Miette Benefit Sale - at The Black Apple

Hello all! For today only one of my favorite bloggers, Emily Martin, of the Black Apple will be having a benefit sale for her adorable little kitty, Miette. Miette was sick recently and had to have some emergency surgery, and I'm sure any one of us out there with pets knows how outrageously expensive vet services can be!

If you click on the banner above it will direct you to Emily's wonderful Etsy shop. Help a fellow blogger out!

More later today, Cheers, S

Silver Bay :: Sailing/Memories

The last bit of vacation photos that I have from Silver Bay are from a sail that Matt, my father-in-law and I took out to Diver's Rock. The large picture, on the right hand side, is Slim Point, from a distance, which is where Matt and I were married.

Preparation for the infamous 25 foot dive off of Diver's Rock. I love the look of sheer terror on my face!



This is what a chest flop looks like. My sternum was sensitive to the touch for days. Needless to say, my subsequent jumps were all feet first!



Matt jumped off of "Suicide" which is something like 45 feet above the water. There are no pictures, because he made me watch from the water. I didn't go up to see where he jumped, but apparently from where you have to take off, you see nothing but trees sticking out of the rock below you. When you jump, you (hopefully) clear said trees and plunge 45 feet to the water. Watching my hubby do this was like watching an action hero diving out of an exploding building in a movie. I say, no thank you!




That was the end of our sail, but in addition to the leap that I took above there was another first on this vacation. I went to my first drive-in movie EVER! Double feature, Batman and Hancock. Batman was the better of the two, and I loved it! Heath Ledger is simultaneously terrifying and darkly funny as the Joker. It is such a shame that such a talented guy died so young! On a lighter note, or maybe heavier in caloric terms, I also had my first funnel cake at the drive in. It was seriously the size of a birthday cake, it filled an entire paper plate. I must say, my taste buds approved!

That's all I've got for Silver Bay 2008. Now hopefully New England can buck up and give me a couple more sunny summer days to blog about! It's been rain central here ever since I returned! I've got some fun thrifty finds to blog about soon.

Until then, cheers, S

Silver Bay :: The Kiddos Depart/Dinner at the Golf Course

It seemed too soon that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law had to pack up all of their respective kiddos and hit the road. Scott's family drove back to Baltimore and Catherine's family headed back to Colorado.

Before everyone left, we managed to squeeze in some quality hang out time. A major bubble blowing session ensued on the porch of Cherry Cottage!



We had to teach Thi how to blow bubbles, let's just say it was too cute for school!



This picture, though not the greatest, has a funny story behind it. That afternoon, we walked down to the ice cream store with Scott's family to get some pizza. While we were eating, Thi, who is two and a half, figured out how to work the water cooler. One at a time he'd walk all the way across the store, reach for a cup, fill it up and carefully walk it back to each of his family members. I don't think he'll have any problems getting a job if he decides that he wants to be a waiter someday. Such a funny little guy!

Before everyone left we crammed onto the porch of Cherry and took a Cost Family photo:



After that we all said our goodbyes, and the cottage was decidedly less full, with only my in-laws, Matt and I remaining.

Later that night we went out to dinner with friends at a local golf course. I wish that I had snapped some pictures of the course itself, because it's really lovely. The mountains create this rolling landscape that could be straight out of the Lord of the Rings movies. It's just lovely.

The funny thing about this evening is that for the first time ever, (in front of me at least), my husband, who has been straight edge in all of our time together, ordered a DRINK! And not just any drink, oh no, his new favorite is WHISKEY ON THE ROCKS?!?!



So what caused this monumental change in lifestyle? Well, a few weeks prior, Matt's band was playing at a wedding, and the slightly tipsy, very appreciative father of the bride brought out a bottle of seventeen year old - oak aged whiskey. They are an Irish band, so gifts of whiskey are quite the normal occurrence at their shows. Matt didn't feel like explaining the whole "I don't drink spiel", and didn't want to be rude to the man's generosity. So he just felt it would be easier to accept the gift, gulp a shot down and be done with it. Well to his surprise, he loved it! Now my hubby, who wouldn't so much as sip a wine cooler for all of his 29 years orders a whiskey on the rocks (*bleck*) every time we're out and about. Too funny.

P.S. I have non-Silver Bay related news. I was excused from jury duty yesterday!!! Tremendously happy!

Silver Bay :: Day Two

Day two was a rainy one, at the Bay, but that didn't deter us from having fun!



Summer rain lends itself to quieter activities, like rocking the minutes away on the porch, a knitting project in hand, breathing in the misty air. Indoors we amused ourselves with tickle wars and snuggles, my niece Maggie being the primary target! My mother in law cooked up a nice meal that we ate out on the porch, in spite of the rain. Most evenings at Silver Bay finish out with a trip to the ice cream store, where we met up with old friends of my husband's. Laughter abounded until it was time to go to bed...I love that last photo of Thi passed out on the porch. Our little cottage was filled to the brim with 13 people at one point, so the kids slept on cots in the screened in half of the porch. I was a little jealous actually...it looked like the place to be!

Silver Bay :: Day One

Day one of vacation was all about the beach, absorbing the natural majesty of Lake George, swimming until I could barely stand. Many times on this trip I felt as if I were five years old instead of twenty-five. I wanted to spend as much time in the water as I could. Pruned fingers be damned!

Day one was also about catching up with relatives that are usually far away, like my irresistibly chubby baby nephew. He celebrated his first birthday as any one-year old baby should; doing some serious beach excavation and getting crazy messy!



The lake is also the perfect place for me to hone my choreographic skills. Serious business, as you can see.



This is my nephew, Thi, my sister-in-law Hoa, and my niece Maggie. My husband's family is spread out across the country, so It pretty amazing to see every one at once, even if it was only for a few brief days!



My mother-in-law, Ellen, enjoying the beach.



Such a beautiful mother and daughter pair! Niece, Maggie and my sister-in-law, Catherine.

Saying Hello :: Taking Leaps :: Brick Walls

Hello dear people! First off, I'd like to send a big warm hug and a thank you to every one that posted a comment on my last negative nellie post. Thank you all so much for your support, I'm feeling much loved.

Vacation was amazing. I got back on Saturday last week, but it was so amazing, and there are so many things to say that I've been twiddling my thumbs to blog about it. Perhaps I'll post in little increments over the next few days...that seems like a good plan of action.

The following is possibly my favorite picture from all of my trip photos. This is me jumping off of Diver's Rock, akin to Phoebe Buffet running in Central Park, limbs a flapping as I did the most colossal, chest, not belly flop from twenty five feet above the water. I'll tell the whole story, with preparation, running, jumping and recovery pictures soon.



Oh this picture could be a metaphor for so many things in my life right now! It's all good though. Life is just throwing up some brick walls at the moment.

I read today that Randy Pausch passed away on July 25th. This saddened me greatly, but as I watched some online tributes to him via ABC news, I was reminded of something from his now famous Last Lecture. Brick walls only exist to make people who don't really want to achieve their dreams give up. Those that give up because of brick walls don't want to achieve their dreams badly enough. If you haven't watched Randy's lecture, do it. It's an hour and forty-four minutes long, so give yourself some time, but trust me, this is time well spent. He also wrote a book, aptly called the Last Lecture, that expands upon the video. I haven't read it yet, but I'm sure I will soon.

Here's to blind faith, taking leaps and dancing around brick walls!