knitigator

On Letters

I am a letter writer. 

I have a stack of letters from my teenage years that are filled with the excitement, angst, and general craziness that marks those years.

I have a pile of letters from my Junior Spring in London written by my family.  I found them a few years ago and especially loved reading the letters from my grandparents, who have been gone for over a decade.

I have a box of letters from my husband.  For much of the first six years of our relationship, we either did not live in the same place or if we did, he was deployed on a Navy ship.  This was the time before Skype and email and when he was deployed, we communicated by the occasional call (for which I had to literally sit by the phone as I didn't have a cell phone -- no one did) or by letters.  Letters that he wrote late at night in his bunk.  Letters that I wrote in my apartment in Florida telling my new husband how much I missed him.

And for the past five summers, I have written to and received letters from my kids at camp.  The first year, the letters of my homesick daughter were hard to read, so much so that my husband intercepted the mail one day and hid a letter (which I found months later).  The letters now tell of fun and friendship and of adventures had away from us, but reported to us with excitement.  In return, every day, EVERY DAY, I write a letter to each of my kids.  A handwritten letter.  Sometimes long, often short.  Both of my kids have told me that they do not like letters written on a computer.  And they do not like the one-way emails that I can send them.  What they like -- and maybe I'm projecting here -- what I hope brings them comfort when they are away is my handwriting on the page.

So, when I saw the  challenge to write a month of letters, I was in!  Unlike other challenges (NaBloPoMo and Flickr Project 365 - I'm talking to you), I've done this before!  In July, I wrote in exess of 50 letters.  Or notes.  Whatever you call them, the correspondence was written by hand and went into an envelope with a stamp.

I love letters.  I love getting them.  I love books that are in the form of letters.  And although email is in the main way that I communicate, even the most heartfelt email would be even better if it was handwritten and on pretty paper.

My first letter is done and gone and I'm looking forward to the rest of this month!!

4 Miles!

First, if you are totally sick of my waxing poetic on running, come back another day and there will be knitting content.  And don't feel bad, I'd likely be sick by all this running talk.  As I've told people who have voiced annoyance at my Facebook postings about running (which were mostly over the summer when I was working through the Couch-to-5K), if you aren't interested, click off (or "see less" of me on Facebook). 

Anywho, back to the subject at hand.  I RAN FOUR MILES THIS MORNING!!!!  (In full disclosure, I took 2 quick water breaks during the run).  During and after the run, I had some lucid thoughts about running and I figured it would be smart to get them down before I forget them.

1.    Hills.  In life and in running.  When you are going up one and it's hard, you just have to tell yourself that, at some point, you'll reach the top and it will be all downhill.  When I'm running uphill, I look up to the top and know that if I just keep chugging along, I'll get there and it will be easier.  And it is.

2.    Friendship.  Since October, I've had a weekly running buddy.  We were friends before we started running together, but this shared experience and committment has really cemented our friendship.  We are accountable to each other, keep each other motivated, and are working together to improve our endurance and health. 

3.    Being Present.  For whatever reason, I have always found activities that focus on mindfulness to be hard.  When my body is sitting still, my mind races.  For me, yoga equals time to make mental thing-to-do lists.  I really have a hard time dialing it down in a quiet environment.  But, with running, even though I make look ahead on the road, it's literally one step at a time.  And I don't think "I have to run four miles" when I start or as I'm going -- at most, I look toward my next water break. 

4.    Fun.  When I was young and foolish, I loved dance clubs and loud music.  Running gives me the chance to put on the iPod and crank Brittney, Christina, Rhinna, and Gaga.  Up-tempo music and running are a great combination.

Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

Ten on Tuesday - 2012 edition

Needham New Year's Day 5K - January 1, 2012

Carole came up with a great topic this week -- 10 things you want to do in 2012.  I like this topic so much better than resolutions.  It seems more concrete, more do-able.

Here's my list:

1.    Run 5 road races, one of which is longer than 5K.  I'm on my way with this one -- above is me and my husband (who already finished, but came back to run the last part with me)  heading toward the finish line on New Year's Day.  I ran my best time ever and broke into the "30"s.

2.    Take a picture a day.  I want to improve my photography skills and the only way is practice.

3.    Finish sweater that's on the needles and knit another for me.

4.    Knit a pair of socks.  With my daughter playing hockey, I need them!

5.    Post to the blog once a week.

6.    Make vanilla.  I was inspired by the holiday gifts!

7.    Read one classic -- this has been on my list for a while and I just need to do it!  I still haven't read To Kill A Mockingbird or Little Women.  (Shhhh!)

8.    Spin.  Even though I love spinning when I actually doing it, I don't make time for it and my wheels stay dormant for months.  And I need to make a dent in my fiber stash! 

9.    Drink an occasional cup of green tea.  My husband swears by it.  And also, drink an occasional girlie drink -- a cosmopolitan or appletini - moderation, right.

10.    And most of all, HAVE FUN!

On Cooking and Points

This week, I have made a concerted effort to count my points (or PointsPlus!).  The combination of my birthday (and the extra frozen cake), the surplus Halloween candy and honestly some stress eating has resulted in some unwanted weight gain.  The benefit of watching points is that I plan meals better and cook more.  We've had some good meals this week - chicken soup, spicy chicken tacos and curried butternut squash soup.  

My daughter recently had a couple of games in Arlington and I found myself with a few extra minutes and right around the corner from Penzeys.  I had never been there before -- whoa!  What a great place!  Getting some new spices has definitely got my culinary juices going.  If you've gone there before, what is your favorite thing? 

I picked up some whole wheat pizza crust at Trader Joe's last week.  Tonight, I wanted a simple pizza, so I rolled out the crust and topped it with a sliced (uncooked) potato, some dried herbs de Provence, a bit of olive oil and a cup of mozzarella.  10 minutes in a hot oven.

Now, to be truthful, it was not a big hit with the kids.  I think my pizza making is still a work in progress.  And my kids still prefer white pizza dough to whole wheat.  Next time, I might make it into calzones, so the cheese is more melty.  That said, it was 7 points for 2 pieces and as I was craving carbs, it hit the spot!

Couch-to-5K

Well, now I really am in NaBloPoMo jail! While I may not have posted every day in November, let's focus on the positive -- I've posted more in the last week than I have for months. Today, I want to talk about something that's become important to me in the last six months. Running. Yes, that's right, R-U-N-N-I-N-G! In the last six month, I have literally gone from Couch to 5K. And you can too!

But first, a little story. Do you remember the Presidential Fitness tests of the 1970s? Well, I do. I was one of the slowest ones in the 50-yard dash, couldn't do a pull up and, in general, was neither strong nor fast. I wasn't heavy -- in fact, I was small and slight and just not that active in the gym-class kind of way. I loved riding my bike and hiking around the hill by my house, but running, well, no thank you. I still remember Mr. Pru, the dreaded gym teacher, yelling at me and making me feel even smaller and weaker.

As an adult, being active has always been a struggle for me and I'm started and stopped different plans more times than I can remember. I joined a gym a few years ago and went ONE time during the whole year. ONE. In fact, prior to this year, I started and stopped the Couch-to-5K about 10 times. And then came Facebook and Carli. Carli Fierce is a St. Louis woman who has had her own struggles with weight and exercise. She has created a Podcast to go with the C25K -- each week, you download the podcast for that week on your iWhatever and follow it three times. The next week, you download week two and do the same. In nine weeks, you'll go from running in 1-minute increments to running for 30 minutes without stopping.

Facebook helped with keep me on track. Encouraged by friends, and particularly by Cate and Claudia, I posted my workouts each week. The love and "keep going girl" from friends really did push me along. At one point, I missed over a week of workouts and mused on Facebook that I was going to go back. Claudia's advise was to move forward with the next week instead of going back -- I think that was key in my forward momentum.

So, the goal of this plan is a 5K. Want to see?

July 4, 2011

My goal was to finish in under one hour and not be the last runner. My time was 47:27 and I finished 388/392! I've run two races since then and improved my time with each race. My next race is on Thanksgiving morning. I still don't *love* running, even when I'm in the middle of doing it. But, I do love how I feel after I'm done and I do love meeting a hard-to-accomplish goal.

As Carli says in her podcast, if I can do it, so can you!

Eye Candy Friday

The best eye candy is friends!

Things-I-Love Thursday

A few things that are floating my boat this Thursday:

• Public libraries.  Today, while my son was at soccer practice, I hit two awesome Massachusetts libraries in Wellesley and Needham.  Gorgeous places, helpful staff and they are free.  Even though I get a lot of information on-line, I will always love paper books and libraries.
• Target.  What a great store!  Where else can you buy running gear, milk, and snow pants?  Well, Wal-Mart, but I'm a Target girl.
• Teachers.  We had a conference today and I again am so impressed by the passion, energy and quality of teachers.  They work incredibly hard and I appreciate their dedication.
• Finally, my pal Claudia.  She was one of the original knit bloggers and her knitting, wit, and most of all, wisdom, have inspired so many of us.  Thank you for such a fantastic run!

NaBloPoMo -- Redux

So, it's November 2nd and I just realized that it's National Blog Posting Month!  I'm jumping in, even though it's Day 2.  Hopefully, the NaBloPoMo police will not come in and haul me off to NaBloPoMo jail. 

It's been about six months since I last posted!  Whoa!  This month will give me an opportunity to catch up with what's been going on.  Most recently, Monday was my birthday!  And while I do think Halloween has gotten crazy in recent year (some have called it the new Christmas), it's always been a really fun birthday.  And it's a good birthday for a cute cake!

Question -- do you write down goals on your birthday?  Things to accomplish over the next year? 

Ten on Tuesday

 

Before we get to today's topic, today is my 6th blogiversary!  Woo and Hoo!  It's been such a fantastic ride and I'm looking forward to whatever the next period of time brings.

Just over a week ago, our family celebrated my daughter becoming a Bat Mitzvah.  In addition to the preparation for the service (the important part), it also involved planning an adult lunch and a kids party.  Which led me to suggest today's theme to Carole- Ten Tips for Throwing a Big Party.

1.    Budget.  Before you do anything, figure out what you want to spend and make a rough budget.  That way, you will know where you have room to splurge and places to cut back.  I used Excel to do this part.

2.    Prioritize.  Once you have your budget, decide what's important.  We wanted an intimate place and good food for the adults and an energetic decor and dj for the kids.  We saved by feeding the kids pizza and salad at the kids party.

3.    Pick a theme or colors.  My daughter didn't have a theme, but she picked hot pink and green as her colors.  Everything - kippot, centerpieces, invitations, ceremony booklet were done in those colors.

4.    Delegate.  If people ask if they can help, take them up on it and let go.  My sister volunteered to do the bathroom baskets and guest towels.  Great!  One less thing on my list!  

5.    Organize in a way that works for you.  Some people have lists on their iPhone, while others have notebooks.  I had a spiral notebook and a manila folder and everything was in those two places.  It worked for me.  I also had several Excel spreadsheets for budget, guest lists and gift list (after the parties).  

6.    Ask.  If you have question, rather than obsessing about the answer or creating different responses and spending a lot of time thinking about various scenarios, ask. 

7.    Hire great people.  And then trust them.  If you are working with different people (balloon designers, bakery, restaurant), you've probably met with them, seen their work and obtained recommendations.  Share your vision and then trust them (put more directly, work collaboratively, but don't micromanage professionals). 

8.    Don't procrastinate.  Give yourself enough time to get things done so that you are not running around the day before the big event. 

9.    Don't over-think every single decision.  This will cut down on the procrastination.  Whether to get popcorn and chips or popcorn and pretzels for the kids party is not worth losing sleep.  Decide and move on. 

10.   When the day comes, ENJOY.  Something unanticipated usually happens (in our case, the cupcake cart lost a wheel as it was being wheeled off the dance floor after the candle lighting ).  Hug your family and friends, count your blessings and soak up the event.    

Ostrom

Since this is, allegedly, a knitting blog, I thought I'd show you a new on-the-needles knit.

 

 
 

It's Ostrom designed by Norah Gaughan.  I have added stitches - I cast on 218 - so that it's an infinity scarf that can also be doubled.  I'm knitting it in Ultra Alpaca Tonal in the Fumar colorway.  The contrast between the dark and light is more subdued in person and I think it will go well with all of my winter clothes.

And no, it's not a cowl!