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New Blog!

Knitigator will stay, but I've added another!  Check it out!

The Pioneer Woman

I have long loved The Pioneer Woman's blog and more recently her show on the Food Network.  My son and I always watch her show.  Earlier this month, she came to town as part of her tour for her second cookbook and I knew that we had to go see her.  Such fun!  She gave a charming presentation at the Coolidge Corner Theatre (popcorn!  beer!) and then went across the street to the Brookline Booksmith to sign books.  Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of books.  And there were hundreds and hundreds of people in line in front of us.  Good for the independent bookstore, but hours of waiting in line.  In fact, I joked with the people in line that our neighbors, who attended the White House Hanukkah Party, waited a shorter amount of time to have their pictures taken with the Obamas.  Was it worth it?  You bet!

 

She's a pro, that Pioneer Woman.  Still smiling and chatting with us after a long evening.  Worth the wait! 

Hell Has Frozen Over

Gooseberry Hat, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Forest.  Baby gift for teacher's new baby boy.  

Popping in on Saturday.  So, this hell-has-frozen-over business.  I had a work-related event out in Western Massachusetts on Thursday and stopped into the Mother Ship.  And left totally empty handed.  Not. One. Thing.  I KNOW!  Crazy!

I am still recovering this morning from the plague that was visited upon me on Thursday night.  I have not been so knocked out in a really long time.  Did not move from the couch all day yesterday.  Good side-effect, a jump start on my weight loss.  Bad side-effect, too wiped out to do much of anything.

However, I'm sure I'll be back to business by Thursday, when The Pioneer Woman comes to town.  I can't wait!

Ten on Tuesday

This week's subject is 1o Things in Your Purse.  Nora Ephron wrote a piece called "I Hate My Purse" and it's so spot-on for my purse.  A mess.  Crazy.  Disorganized.  And, when I can't take it anymore, meticulous organized. 

My purse recently traveled to California.  However, unlike the other luggage, it has not been cleaned out upon return.  And I have many, many more things than 10.  But, in the interest of time (and because if I think about this too much, I will need to clean my purse), here are 10.

1.    A book - Big Stone Gap.  Unopened.  Unread. Unloved. 

2.    A nutritional facts pamphlet from In-N-Out Burger.  Yeah, I know, why?  If you're eating there, enjoy it and don't look up the true facts.

3.    Notions bags.  Splityarn and Lexie Barnes.

4.    Lots of pens.  Staples Sonic click pens (my favorite for work, now sadly discontinued or just not available for my office) and Le Pen, my favorite slim markers, in a variety of colors.

5.    Phone and phone charger.

6.    Gum and mints.

7.    Advil and Aleve. 

8.    Miscellanous receipts, coupons, and change.  C'mon, you know you have them too.

9.    Lip gloss.  Laura Mercier Stickgloss.  Love.  

10.    Wallet and checkbook.

Time to switch bags -- this one is too darn messy!!

Checking In!

Back in January, I posted 10 things that I wanted to do in 2012. Not resolutions per se, but rather action items. Tactical. So, as two months have elapsed, I thought I'd see how I'm doing, assess if any of my items need to be deleted, substituted or otherwise changed. Usually, I'd wait until January 2013 to review, but by checking in now, I have time in 2012 to make any adjustments.

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. I'm doing great with #1. I've run 3 races so far, two 5Ks and one 10K. So, I've already met my goal of one race longer than a 5K. I'm also running another 10K at the end of April with several other crazy knitters!

2. Take a picture a day. I want to improve my photography skills and the only way is practice. Did not happen. I took a picture-a-day for several weeks and it wasn't working for me. New goal: make a picture book for my kids of our recent vacation to California.

3. Finish sweater that's on the needles and knit another for me. Not done yet, but still on the list!

4. Knit a pair of socks. With my daughter playing hockey, I need them! Not done yet, but still on the list!

5. Post to the blog once a week. Hasn't happened, but I still think it's a reasonable goal. Will keep it at least until my next check in.

6. Make vanilla. I was inspired by the holiday gifts! Not done yet, but still on the list!

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!) Not done yet, but still on the list!

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! I've spun a bit and will keep at it.

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. Yes! I've had some green tea. And I've also had a few drinks too! My husband and I were out one night with friends and I kiddingly told them that my New Year's resolution was to drink more!

10. And most of all, HAVE FUN! See #9. Having fun!

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!