Sewing galore!

Well, I've been at it again! I think I've done more sewing in the past week than I have in the past 10 years.....

Mom got out her flannel scraps that she's been wanting to do something with and we decided I should make a bed for Zoje. She's never really been a kitty-bed kind of gal, but I thought maybe if I made it just right then she'd use it. Turns out I was correct! After putting it in her various favorite places around the house, she finally decided to lay on it and I don't think she climbed off for several hours. Success!

And it was super easy. I'm hoping this will motivate me to use the sewing machine more often.... I have not been good about that and there are so many things I could make on my own and avoid having to buy. All part of that more eco-friendly thing I'm trying to do, too.

Now, what should I make next??

Training

I spent the morning in a canoe on Lake Springfield today!

Borrowed from jeanne.lopez on flickr

Mike and I rented a boat from the Marina and paddled our way around a small portion of the lake for a few miles. I wanted to practice a little before I participate in the Glacier Challenge in Whitefish -- the weekend that I get into town. I'm doing the 8-mile canoe leg with another person. Luckily for me, the team I'll be on (made up of coworkers from the SPORT Center) is not out to win the whole thing, but more to have a good time. I'm not really into the whole competition thing most of the time, so I'm glad there's no pressure on me. But I'm really looking forward to it! I don't know the last time I was in a race... I've organized them, but haven't really been a contestant. And I believe the last time I paddled a canoe was about 5 or 6 years ago on a float trip, so there wasn't much paddling involved -- more like just letting the water take us wherever it wanted while we sunbathed and had a beer. So I definitely need to get my arms, back, and abs into gear. Hopefully I won't be too sore over the next couple of days, and I'm sure we'll be back for more practice - maybe with Mom this time. I don't want my first public appearance as a Whitefish resident to be a flop!

Arts and crafts

Living in Litchfield can get kind of boring sometimes (sorry, it's true...). So one of the things that my mom and I decided to try to pass a bit of time was batiking. Batik is where you paint or drip wax onto fabric, then dye the fabric and remove the wax so that the original color shows where the wax was. Mom had done some batik years ago and still had the tools, so we gave it a shot.

We had eaten brunch at my favorite breakfast spot in St. Louis, Café Osage, and came across some batik cloth napkins in their garden shop. This got my mom thinking about getting out her stuff and making some of our own, for a lot less $$ than these expensive sets. So we set off to work some magic with fabric, and 2 grueling days later had some pretty great products. Turns out painting the wax on is a heck of a lot more fun and easy than getting a bunch of wax out of the fabric.... but we're both pretty proud of our results.

Zoje, as always, was a great help...

My finished product:

Mom's handiwork:

Last day of work, and more days of lake

On Saturday I personal-trained my very last client at 20 Minutes to Fitness... Bittersweet. I had so many clients that I saw almost every single Saturday and who I've become pretty close to, and saying goodbye to them was kind of sad. On the other hand, I no longer have to wake up early on a Saturday to go in for a full day of work! That's quite a relief! My boss just kept saying how much they are going to miss me and how proud of me she is, and I know she was sincere about that. I'll miss all the girls, but I tell you what, I won't miss the drama that surrounds that place sometimes... I'm just glad I wasn't there all the time so that I could just brush it off and not get too involved. I think it's pretty crazy that I've worked there for over 2 years. I couldn't have asked for a better part time job -- working one day a week and still making enough to pay my rent was just awesome. But it sure did dampen my social life on Friday nights knowing I had to go in at 8 the next morning. I'm going to try to keep in touch with some of my coworkers and clients because they want to know what life is like up in Big Sky Country :)

We spent another good portion of the week in the Ozarks again. This time we tried out some water skiing -- something I hadn't done in about 12 years or so (and that was probably only one or two times ever). The first day I had some trouble getting up and staying up, but the second day I popped right up the first time and really didn't have any trouble. The hard part was just holding on for that long; my muscles could only work for so long and then they started screaming at me to let go. I sure felt sore the next morning, and am still recuperating, actually. We decided that if we did that every day we would all be in fantastic shape.

Here's a video of the second time I was up -- a little less awkward than the first!

Peaceful mornings

I got up early this morning (5:30 AM!) to go on a bike ride with my dad. It was cool, calm, and so quiet. I think we passed maybe 4 or 5 cars the entire time that we were on the country roads. I can't believe it is so light out so early. I'm not sure why I forgot that, but it amazes me that it's almost bright out when it's only 5 AM. (I know this because I haven't had any shades on my windows since I've been home until just 2 days ago, which did not bode well for sleeping in.)

We rode about 10 miles at a decent pace, about 14-15 mph average. It was a perfect get-me-up to set the day off right. It's amazing what you can accomplish before noon if you get up early enough. Now I have the rest of the day to do whatever I want. Well, sort of. Mom and I are headed back to the Ozarks this afternoon until Friday. So I'll have to pack up again and get all ready for that.

But I think I'm going to try to make it a habit to get up early and go for a ride. Good father/daughter bonding moments, and it's just feels good to start the day like that.

(Ask me that in a week and I may tell you a different story, but we'll stick with it for now!)

So much to say!

So many things have gone on in the past week that I don't even know where to start....and that's just the beginning of it.

The weekend started off with officially moving out of the apartment. Then it was off to the Lake of the Ozarks to stay with James and some of his family at their new house that they are working on fixing up. The weather was perfect for being on the water. I drove a sea-doo for the first time (the last time I was on one I got thrown off in the first 30 seconds, and hadn't been on one since), spent some quality tanning (aka burning) time, and bounced behind the boat on a tube a couple of times. I was so sore yesterday from holding onto that thing so tightly, but today I was able to get out of bed without groaning. I'm looking forward to going back another time before I leave. But I'm happy about having some color now on this pale body of mine.

Then, on the way back into St. Louis, I stopped by the car dealer that I had been shopping at last week and purchased my first very own car! It's a red '02 Subaru Outback and I'm very excited about it! Of course, it was absolutely nerve-racking signing all that paperwork that locked me into 5 more years (or less, hopefully!) of debt... but in the end I came away with a great car. Very happy!

And finally, I had the scare of my life for the past 2 days -- let me just say, it pays to invest in a portable hard drive!!