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!!

Back to the Litchpatch

I'm almost officially moved into my mom's house... geez how bad does that sound... but my lease is up at the end of the month in my apartment in STL and instead of paying for one month's rent I just moved back home. The good thing is that it will give me plenty of time to study for the boards. The bad thing is that it will give me plenty of time to study for the boards... At least I don't have to cook every meal myself? Nah, it will be a good time to spend with family before I leave them all for the mountains.

I'm already homesick for the city though. I never thought I would be a city girl, and I even took a job in a small town (granted, a lot different than Litchfield, but a small town all the same). And now I'm starting to think that the city is where I want to be. I'm still very excited about moving to Whitefish, and I know it's going to be a fantastic adventure for myself and I'm going to learn a lot and do a lot, but I think my future involves moving again, maybe to Seattle, Portland, or Denver. We'll just have to see where life takes me.

Still looking for a place to live in Whitefish. And still looking for a car. I just need to DO IT, not toil over it every day. But decisions are not my strong suit... I think I decided though that I'm going to get something pretty cheap that is decent and that I can pay off in a year or less and then work toward getting a nice, newer car to last me for a long time. We shall see.

Lots more changes to come! Just trying to take it one day at a time....

I'm Gradumacated!

7 years in the making.... well, 21 if you count all of 'em. And now I'm finally done! Done with school for the rest of my life! At least, I'll go ahead and think that for now. It's pretty inescapable. Continuing education is in my future, but we'll just put that aside for the time being. Let me bask in the glory of being done with PT school.

You can now call me Dr. Smith. Well, not really. Only in some states.

Gee, it's sounding less and less exciting the more I write about it! But regardless, I've been officially hooded!
Pretty sweet outfit, ey? Not hot and uncomfortable at all! Polyester at it's finest! The whole fam came down for the ceremony, including Nana and Grandpa Hap and Uncle Kevin.

It was a really nice event and I managed to tear up only twice. Okay, I bawled as soon as I got out the door and hugged my family. What can I say, it was an emotional day!

The rest of the weekend was filled with more graduation festivities, including Mike's graduation from high school and his party where he played with his band, Wojtek's graduation from UMSL and entertaining his friends who came down from Champaign, and some all around wholesome family time. We even hosted Wojtek's mom and brother from Poland, which was an adventure in and of itself. Very busy weekend!

And now it's just a waiting game before I move back to Litchfield on Sunday. I won't be leaving for Montana until July, so I'll have time to study for the board exam and save up some $$ for when I get there. I helped Wojtek get all packed up on Monday and he took off that afternoon for Denver. It was pretty sad saying goodbye, but there's always cell phones and ichat to keep in touch. I'm sure he's going to fit right in and feel at home there, and I'm happy for him!

I have to say, though, that I'm really going to miss the city. I've really grown to love parts of it in the past year. Wojtek and I had been venturing out to new places and really had gotten to know a lot of good things about St. Louis. For a while I couldn't wait to get out of the miserable weather and horrific drivers, but after finding my niche and my favorite spots, I'm finding it hard to leave. The good thing is that I know I'll be able to make the most of anyplace I go. I just never thought I'd be wanting to stay longer in this city!

But enough ramblings. I'm starting to get quite uncomfortable sitting on the only peice of furniture I have left in the apartment -- my air mattress on the floor. Okay, so it won't be that hard to leave.... ;-)

If only my knees could talk...

...oh the stories they would tell.

Or maybe they would just moan in agony.

Finally got some photos from mountain biking! Wojtek and I went to Castlewood State Park and hit the Chubb trail - 1st time for me. It was really easy for the first half. Mostly gently rolling next to the river and then through fields.

Then -- oh then -- we get to the actual technical part. Which was basically nothing but climbing up the rest of the way. With lots of rocks and roots. Definitely got my heart pumping! The part that is the most difficult is when I hit a big rock and it basically stops me, and then I can't get going again because it's so steep and I can't get both feet back on the pedals.

But after a short stop off at the top to rehydrate and rest the ol' legs, the fun part was coming back down! Probably for the first time, I was able to just let go and let the bike do it's thing, whipping around corners and jumping off the rocks. I actually had a smile on my face instead of a full-on grimace. Of course, the way back down took maybe 1/10th the time it took to get up, but it was fun!

I managed to only fall twice, which is great because it was pretty muddy and I'm known to slide around when it's been wet. I slid twice on the same section - once going out and once coming back. It was a little stream but one side of it was super steep and pure mud. You would think I learned my lesson going down but noooo, I thought I'd try going back up... That's how I got the lovely bruises on my knees this time around. So I decided that I probably shouldn't go mountain biking between now and graduation so that I can wear a dress and not have people stare at my black and blue legs!