photo project

I've been away for a few days, so hopefully the cuteness of this image makes up for it. It's been really busy the last few days!

Day 15

Halfway through our project! Erich has declared it to be the age of muffins. We have made about 3 dozen muffins this week and are making our way through them steadily.

Day 14

Today's photos brought to you by the letter P! When looking at them on an iphone, they looked so similar in quality that I wondered if I posted them, if people could tell which was a real image and which was a painting. Looking at them now on the computer it seems pretty obvious (thanks a lot digital clarity) but I'll still post them both.



Cheers everyone.

Day 13

christmas tree time

Day 12 - Snow Day!

Too bad its on a sunday and I missed yoga instead of work. But hey, its a day for snuggling in and being cozy. It just seems like a standard snowstorm to me, but it is really really windy out, which is I think what tips this over the edge. Also Oscar refuses to go outside. He won't even go within 5 feet of the door.



This is what happens when you miss one of the storm windows:


Definitely a day for slippers.

Day 11

This is an older picture, but I figured since I'm doing two posts today I'd pull on out from the summer. These from my pasta making experiment last summer. I tried it in the past with a hand-roller, and it worked pretty well, everyone liked it, froze up nicely, but in this new house I wasn't quite sure where I would roll it out or hang it to dry. So I thought I'd try different noodles than spaghetti. Also, I had a lot of time on my hands that day for some reason, I don't remember why.



This took two or three hours. It would be nearly impossible to get fat on pasta if you always made it this way. (nhj <--- oscar's contribution to this post. He just stepped on the keyboard and I am literally typing this with one hand and holding him off with the other.



In the end I had more fun making it than eating it. I think I just plugged away at it while I watched a movie. The whole grain flour I used, and how thick I rolled the pasta, it took forever to cook and was tough and grainy. Next time it will be white flour or a more finely ground whole grain of something other than wheat (perhaps). I don't remember what recipe I used, but I found it online, and it was just a simple one.

Day 10

I'm a little late. Sorry folks, I was so busy yesterday! Full day at work and then we had an open house at the yoga studio - they had special classes instead of the regular yoga class, so a zumba class (my first one, which was really fun. I just danced a little funk when I didn't know what to do. ha!) and Journey dance (which is soft, introspective, interpretive and very much your own). Linz and Kari, its like DDPP except there is a leader who guides you with prompts, and there is a lot of mental/physical movement connection. Some of the music is slow, some fast, and it can be really cathartic once you get past the unusual feeling of dancing however you feel like dancing.

Os is very happy Erich is finally home. So happy he woke me up like 6 times last night pestering us to play with him. /grump


On that note...guess what this is! (Hint: its someone's nose)

Oh.my.wow.

Seriously? When I heard that hula hoops were cool again I rolled my eyes and didn't give it a second thought. But this? THIS.IS.AWESOME. Check it out. Really.

I so need to try this!

Day 9

Some relief for Lindsay. I don't mean to torture you with constant doggy love. Here's a picture you might recognize. (Although I have a video for you...I just am having trouble getting it loaded to the site yet.)

So I was irritated with Erich last night, while we were talking on the phone. And then my phone hung up on him for me. I mean yes, you could say it just a dropped cal, but I prefer the think that just maybe the electronics are becoming intelligent...(dun dun! aiee)

I'm really liking this photo project thing so far...I'm sure you can tell I'm a novice from my pictures, but I'd like to a) learn how to better manipulate images with my camera and light b) eventually get a better camera and c)become more proficient at using my computer/blogger. Maybe switch to a different host at some point. Some of the pictures I've seen on other blogs are just gorgeous, and some just really interesting because they are totally different images of the holiday season than I'm used to seeing. There's a little voice that thinks my quiet little life here is really dull, and I'd be a lot more interesting if I were traveling or something...but I want a family more than those other things. So we stay, I go to my doctor's appointments, we heal, and daydream about when we will have 4 in this house (or maybe more!) instead of 3.

Day 8

I'd like to say these are awesome paintbrushes but they're actually makeup brushes. I never thought I'd own any, actually, but in a fit of self-something (love? indulgence? encouragement?) I went out and got all new makeup. I even let the girl at the counter make me over, although she was extremely cooperative when I said "simple". So cooperative, in fact, that most people can't tell that I'm wearing anything...which could mean it was a very good choice, or a total waste, I'm not sure yet. But anyway, buying some actual high-quality eyeliner was definitely a good choice, since it doesn't run down under my eyes like the cheap stuff always did.

So that's my girly stuff for today...on a semi-related note, hop over to DPR and check out reality-tv's latest abomination. And yes, I am attaching this to a post about makeup.

My thoughts tend to vary between 'makeup is simply a part of our culture, and at a certain age women are expected to wear at least a minimal amount to look put together, especially professionally' and 'its all another bullshit form of control and way to get us to spend money on crap that's probably made out of bat feces anyway'. I say why not both? Although the bat feces can probably be avoided if you make an effort. :-) So although my immediate reaction to DPR's post on "Bridalplasty" was to condemn the show and pity the participants...where do you draw the line between that and any of the things we do to change our appearances? Who's to say that putting 3 coats of powder (yep, 3. They have cutesy little names too. Usually I skip the one called "heat"), eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara (even if its clear), and lip balm/lipstick on each morning isn't a little ridiculous? And that is considered "light"! (I also skip the mysterious "skin rev-er up-er" lotion because no one can actually tell me what it is for...)

What about elective-surgery? The amount of time you spend in the bath each morning? The amount of poo on your face? Maybe the number of places you've had a disease intentionally injected into your face for the sole purpose of removing your ability to wrinkle/show emotion/sweat(I'm looking at you, botox).

Maybe the amount of time you spend pondering it when you should really be getting dressed for work...:-) My coffee is cold, which usually means it is time to get moving.


*By the way...yesterday my counselor told me that I can really talk in circles. In fact he likened me, affectionately, to the little bugs that zip around erratically on the surface of ponds. Heh. Sigh.

nuts anyone? - Day 7

Nuts for the nut. Now if only I had a nutcracker...

its cold out

I don't like it. My pinky toes start to go numb halfway through our twice-daily walks unless I wear two pairs of thick socks and particularly warm shoes. I should invest in some proper boots. I used to bundle up like this in college to walk everywhere or take the bus...I've gotten soft! Except not literally, thank to the yoga...actually the other day my chiropractor told me I'm not as "floppy" as I used to be. Ha! I'll take that as a complement.

So now it isn't even below zero, and I faithfully don my long underwear, extra socks, extra hooded sweatshirt over my hat, giant scarf (thank you grandma b!) and two pairs of gloves at least once a day, if not twice, to make sure Os can relief himself and get some exercise.



I don't even try to look cute anymore, I just want to be warm. I remember this sentiment last year around this time. I went to GoodWill and bought a bunch of boots, hats, gloves/mittens, and a couple little kid jackets and donated them to one of the shelters in town. I should do that again...

Anyway, I no longer have long hair to make me look remotely feminine under all the fabric. I should try and embrace all the warm snuggly fabrics I see all the crafty blogs I like to read. Recognize that coat, Kari? I take the lining out and wear it at work, because fleece jackets are somehow acceptable in the dress code, but sweatshirts are not. Once I put the lining and top jacket together (like in the picture) but one time at work I forgot to fasten the connecting straps and as I swung the coat over my shoulder (a la Martin Sheen on the WestWing) the top jacket slid right off and across the room! It exciting stuff. :-P People were almost as amused as when I sneeze my superloud sneezes.

That's it for now. I'm going to try and get a video to post of Oscar's post-walk victory dance tomorrow for your viewing pleasure. I tried today only to realize that video recorder was in the wrong mode and didn't record anything.

Day 6

They say that dogs take on the personalities of their owners. In this case, I think he is saying "I don't want to get up yet!" Usually if it is quiet in the morning and I can't find Oscar, it means he has snuck off to our bedroom. He's very discreet. Sometimes we let him stay in our room at night, but usually he sleeps in his little bed in the living room, so I think the big bed (that probably smells more like us than any other part of the house) is like his secret getaway.



He emerges to see Erich off to work. And then back again for the rest of his morning snooze.

Day 5

Okay, so I didn't take this picture today, but I thought it'd be fitting, since I am (almost) officially done with my training. We had our practicum today - 4 hours! I just have to finish my take-home test and then we are done! I can't wait to get back to my personal practice, and use all the knowledge I've gained. I still enjoy teaching my tuesday morning classes, but unfortunately I just don't think I can do any more than that right now. Maybe someday down the road I could transition to more, but right now I need to keep my full-time job at the pharmacy.

Right now its relaxation time and laundry. We are watching an anime that Erich likes about some girl who charms animals in a post-apocolyptic world. Or something. Interestingly when I typed "anime" blogger suggested I change it to "anise" or "amine". Really? You have "amine" but not "anime"? I only know amine from chemistry class back in college. Does it have another meaning I don't know about?

Anyways, looking forward to starting the Christmas season...I have an idea for gifts this year but I still have to see if it'll work. Also looking forward to putting up the tree. I still enjoy this stuff, probably because I usually don't get around to it until a few weeks before Christmas, so its not dragging out for me like it does for some people. I hope I never start to view Christmas as some inconvenient chore! Whether you celebrate religiously or culturally, it is a time for family and renewal. If it's not fun, then why do it?

Winter Solstice is Dec 21 this year, I believe. Thinking about doing something small for that this year. There is an evening practice at the yoga studio, for one thing. But I'd like to start building our own family traditions. I think this will probably take more shape once we have children to involve in these things. But maybe for now it will just be as simple as an evergreen arrangement or a wreath or something. We'll see.

December Photo Project - Day 4

Today was a day of rest. For these two, at least. Erich has a nasty chest cold and spent most of the day sleeping - 18 hours nearly straight from last night until 3pm this afternoon. I took care of soup, toast, and cold medicine. Oscar took care of snuggle duty. He's exceptionally good at it.

Then I took Os to petsmart where he picked out his christmas stocking. Actually, he picked out two. I'll let you guess how. Oops!(At least they weren't anything more expensive. :-D ) I bought them and attempted to clean them off...the jury is still out on whether they'll be usable.

Tomorrow is my teacher training practicum (for yoga). I'm so looking forward to being done so I can put more of my energy into my practice again. I really need it! Wish me luck!

Love to everyone. Have a good night!

December Photo Project - Day 3

Flowers! Even in the winter. I keep them in Annika's vase. It was a year ago that we lost her in October, and I got yellow daisies and roses for her. I tied a little necklace that my mom made (for her) around the vase, so now I think of her everytime I look at them. I think I'd like to keep flowers around all year long. Not that's we'll ever forget...but it's nice to have something for her. They seem to last a really long time in this vase, too.

December Photo Project - Day 2

I found this picture at hobby lobby a while back. I cut it out of the cardboard frame it came in and my mom framed it for me in the black frame you see above. There's no matting, just clear glass. She says I looked like the little girl in the picture when I was that age, pixie cut and all. She's wearing big-person boxing gloves if you can't tell from the picture. It's inspiring when I feel discouraged.

December Photo Project - Day 1

My tiny little pine tree was dying in a back room (the infamous orange room, for those who know my house). We trimmed him up and set him in the kitchen under a window to see if he'll make it through the winter. I think he'll be okay. Yes, my tree is a male. No, he does not have a name. Sorry, mom. :-)