HOAs are EVIL!!!

Do any of you live in an area where there's and HOA? I pray that you don't. They can be evil, horrible things. Ours is absolutely tyrannical! Just today, I got a notice in the mail from our HOA regarding a violation. It was because I dared to leave some trash bags up on our deck and other people could see them. They said that it hurt the "beauty" of our complex. That is such a laugh! Our streets are cracked and have potholes which they haven't bothered to have repaired since winter. Our "curbs" are a mess of cracking and crumbling concrete that the neighborhood kids will meander off with periodically. They even "fixed" a gap in one of the curbs with one of those movable curbs that they then put rebar through to hold in place. My guess it was because the kids liked to ride their bikes through that gap onto the grass. So let me tell you how lovely THAT looks. Sheesh!

I'm thinking back to the date that they cited that our trash was spotted on our deck. I remember now why I had the trash bags out there. We don't have a garbage disposer anymore. Our old one broke and it would cost us a small fortune to have our home brought up to code to put a new one in. So all of our food just goes into the trash. I obviously can't leave that in the house and I change out the trash every day. We have dumpsters across the street we put our trash into. However, we only have 2 small dumpsters over there that serve about 30 or so units. Our trash is taken twice a week. I remember that I couldn't put my trash in the dumpsters because they were overflowing. We get yelled at if we put it next to the dumpsters, but now I'm getting hollered at because I held on to it until they were dumped. Where else was I supposed to put my trash?

ARGH!! I'm just frustrated. Don't mind me too much. I'm going to call them on Monday and speak to them about this lame violation. Next time, I'll just put my trash next to the overflowing dumpsters and make them pay extra. Serve them right. At least then I'll know where some of our exorbitant HOA fees are going. Sput on them!

Exercising

Well, I'm still not quilting, but life does go on. I'm not knitting right now either. I'm pretty much doing nothing. However, I did decide to exercise!

Okay, remember my post about being athletic and being blown away by that thought? Well, I came up with my very own exercise program, compliments of FlyLady. If you read that post, you'll see what I mean. To make it easier though, I'll just plug it in here again. I went out and bought the Dance Dance Revolution Supernova 2 system for our PS2. It's great! Today, I set it back on the beginner stage, but jumped it up to "basic" to make it more difficult. Oh, my gosh! I did about 2 or 3 "contests" and cleared 3 stages in each of them. When you're doing more steps with really high tempo songs, you can really get moving! I was almost sweating. You might find that amusing, but it's true. I'm one of those who doesn't sweat, I perspire. Doesn't that sound cheesy? *grin* It's true though. I can feel it, but it doesn't drip. I'm okay with that. LOL

Yesterday, I also bought a new pair of tennis shoes (they're actually running shoes), a jump rope, and this interesting dance tone video. It's 5 lessons with each lesson only being 10 minutes long. Each lesson focuses on a different part of the body to tone. Last night, I did both the upper body and the lower body exercises. Mainly because it didn't require me to do much dancing since my kids were in bed. It was a lot of fun. I've also been keeping up with my 6-Minute core strengthening program.

I can't even begin to tell you how much better I feel now. It's only been about a week since I started doing all of this and I can tell a difference already. Keep in mind that I didn't have to lose any weight first. My goal is to just tone up what I already have and then get a move on towards running, playing tennis, more swimming, etc. I just want to get into shape. To begin with, I'm eating 3 meals a day with sometimes a snack in there as well. Sometimes more than one snack. This is amazing for me because I've been eating only 1 meal a day for years! The next interesting thing is that I don't like junk food anymore. I know, really weird, huh? I was the junk food queen for ages. However, the other night, I just made frozen pizza for dinner. Really healthy, right? hahaha Anyway, after I got done eating it, I thought to myself, "Oh, why did I just eat all that grease?" It didn't taste as good and I hated putting that in my body. Even tonight, when I went looking for something to snack on, I passed up everything else and grabbed my dried cherries. Those are really yummy. *smile* I'm also drinking a lot more water. That's another amazing thing as I'll do almost anything to avoid drinking water. Now, I really like it.

Another big thing happened earlier today. We went to join our friends at the park and I put my 2 youngest sons' bikes into the car to take with us. Normally, I always think that those bikes are pretty heavy for their size. Today, I was very happy to notice that I didn't think they were heavy at all and I could lift them without any problems. Only 1 week in, but I already notice a difference. I'm so happy about that. I like seeing progress so quickly. *smile*

One minor problem this evening though... I've pushed myself a wee bit far the past 2 days and I'm really starting to feel it in my thighs. I don't know if I should just ignore it and work through it or give my legs a night off. I did do a lot of cardio with that dancing earlier. I could hold off and do my core muscle work tomorrow and start alternating them. That might be the best idea. *smile*

Well, I'm off to go and be lazy. *smile* I hope everyone has a marvelous evening.

FlyLady Rambling

Okay, most of us have heard of FlyLady over the years. I've tried her program many times and have usually dropped it by the end of the first month. Beats me why. I'm silly like that. I did drop my routines yesterday, but I had a very good reason to. My darling husband was put back on an airplane and sent back to his base for another 2.5 months. I figured that gave me perfect reason to just sit and be sad yesterday and ignore everything. I have discovered over time that if I can just let the sadness of him leaving wash over me for as long as it needs to, then it's actually less painful. This is the 4th time I've had to say "good bye" to him for long periods of time. I'm slowly learning what makes it easier for me.

Now, I got up this morning, still not quite on track, but more than willing to get back into my routines and get a move on. I'll get started in a few minutes. *smile*

May, for FlyLady, is about exercise and just how to get up and get moving. You know, something we definitely don't do while sitting in front of the computer. *smile* Rules: There really aren't any. Just set a timer for 15 minutes and MOVE! Oh, there is one small rule... Do what you enjoy. What did you used to do as a kid? Personally? I used to swim any chance I got or I'd go on hikes. I have 3 children now and only 1 knows how to swim. Okay, swimming is out until I have backup. *smile* Hiking? Well, we live a long ways away from the mountains now. When I was a kid, our home was backed up to BLM land in Grand Junction. I'd just slip through the storm culvert and go hiking. As I got older, what did I prefer doing? DANCING!! I still love to dance. So, there was a light bulb moment in one of the FlyLady emails. One lady had splurged and bought the new WiiFit. Right then. One problem for us, we don't like those game systems and definitely won't buy the new Wii just for one game. I won't go into my issues with them. However, awhile back, a neighbor had given us his old PS2 for free when he bought himself a new XBox. Okay, that's cool. Until now, it's been in my closet because all the kids would do was fight over it and ignore their chores. Remember what I said about dancing? *grin* I went and bought the Dance Dance Revolution Supernova 2. It is so much fun!! I actually have to limit my time on it so I don't get hurt. LOL They even have a workout mode so you can time how long you dance, approx. how many calories you've burned, and how far you've "danced." So far, I've danced 1.1 miles. LOL Guess how I'll go get my exercise in again today?

Oddly enough, that game has been a lifesaver the past 2 days. Not only am I really starting to get into shape, but it rained here the past 2 days. I just let the kids play with it, responsibly, for awhile and let them dance their energy out. Not only that, but it's great for teaching coordination and balance. Best of all worlds. I'm wondering how long it will be when I walk out from this room before they're begging me to bring it back out. I wonder how long I'll resist them when I want to play it too... LOL

Athletic. Who? Me?!

Okay, once again this has nothing to do with quilting. However, I just feel like talking so I will. It's my blog, right? *smile*

Yesterday, while watching my 3-year old zoom up and down the sidewalks on a regular scooter, I turned and asked my husband, "Where did the boys get all of this athletic ability?" Keep in mind that my husband is the one that played sports all through school. He wrestled for 17 years and coached it for awhile. He looked at me and said, "Honey. I hate to say it, but they got it from you." What? Huh?! ME?! The same girl who avoided sports in school like the plague and refuses to exercise. I'm the one with the athletic ability?!

I've always joked that I had an athletic build. I'm tall and slender and don't have any trouble with weight. (Okay, don't hurt me please.) However, I never put any stock into my body shape. I just figured this was the way God made me and that it was a big joke. Then, I started thinking about my past.

I adore swimming. I didn't learn to swim until I was 8, but I loved it. I was on a swim team by the time I was 10. However, I left the moment the coach said, "She has great potential, but she needs some weight training." The words 'weight training' scared me away.

My step-father used to be a tennis coach. One summer, he spent time with me teaching me how to play tennis. Looking back on it now, I remember that I enjoyed it. I don't remember why he quit coaching me. Maybe it was those 'evil' words again. You know the ones, "weight training." My arm muscles just weren't strong enough. Again, the potential was there and I wouldn't do anything about it.

I've always run well, but I wouldn't develop that 'skill' either. I played with the idea of doing track in high school one year. But I didn't want to take the time to get into shape for it.

Take yesterday as the final example. Two of our boys are in baseball. With DH home, for once I wasn't the one pitching to them so they could practice hitting. After everyone had a turn or two, I stepped in and said, "I want to try hitting the ball." Keep in mind I've never really hit a ball before. I'd never played baseball, though I could catch and throw well (compliments of my brothers teaching me), and only played girls softball for a little while. Though I did have that previous tennis training back when I was about 11 or so. I hit almost every single ball my husband threw at me. It was a lot of fun. My husband was really surprised, actually. I didn't think anything of it. I've always had pretty good hand and eye coordination.

In thinking back on it, especially after DH said the athletic talent comes from me, I have decided that it's finally time to do something about it. God gave me this body and my talent for some reason. I'm severely out of shape and couldn't do anything that I want to right now anyway. As the kids get older, it will be even easier for Mom to take part in some sport or another. I've picked out my 2 favorite sports from when I was young to get in shape for. Tennis and swimming. Swimming is easy to do without knowing anyone. You just need a nice pool. Tennis will be a little more difficult. However, with DH in the Army, we'll eventually get to join him near a base and I'll be able to use their facilities. That will make it a lot easier.

Today, my dog and I decided it was time to start getting into shape. Thanks to my lazy lifestyle, my dog is lazy and overweight too. So I clipped on her leash and we set out for a walk. I know not to overdo it or I'll be in a lot of pain. We didn't go all that far, but I was literally dragging my poor dog for a good chunk of it. She did not appreciate the quick pace I set (it wasn't all that fast, I wasn't even jogging). Poor little thing. She's a Sheltie, or Shetland Sheepdog. She's supposed to be this sleek, fast moving dog. Not my dog! Oh, well. We'll get her back into shape while I'm getting into shape. My husband can run 4 miles in about 30 minutes. I wonder if I'll ever be able to run with him? I think that will be my first goal. *smile*

The Siren Call

Recently, I decided that my children needed a "life skills" class. Since I homeschool, I get full control over what they learn. So, with that, I brought in an e-book on how to teach boys sewing. That's very important as projects that would keep a boy's attention are completely different from a girl's. With that, we started working on it. My oldest is the one I started on first, of course. He's 9 and I consider him responsible enough to handle a 'dangerous' machine and an iron. How lucky for me that I have 3 sewing machines. *grin* I pulled out one I bought ages ago (okay, about 2 or 3) and had never really used, for the boys. It is currently sitting on the kitchen table looking cute and blue. LOL

My son started out learning how to really control the machine. Learning smooth starts and stops and how to sew at the right speed. We then threaded it and he practiced sewing straight lines that were printed on a piece of paper. His first project is to be a pillowcase. However, he's just not interested enough to go to Joann's for the fabric. *sigh* Figures. So who knows when he'll actually get it done. If he ever does, I'll post a picture.

Now, my two younger boys are interested in the machine. I walked my youngest (he's 3) through how to use the pedal. We kept his hands clear of the moving parts and I let him push the pedal and watch what the machine does. I then put him in my lap while I controlled the pedal so he could see how the machine responds to different pressure on the pedal. By the time we called it quits, he was getting the machine to go at a good pace for a child to sew with. I know it's a speed I'd be comfortable working with. I was proud of him. *smile* In a few days, I'll let the two younger boys work on making straight lines with the machine threaded. I might draw the lines on fabric for them though. This should be interesting to see what happens. My middle son was fascinated because he put a napkin in the machine (it was new) and got to see how it fed things across the feed dogs. He was so excited to show me that the machine would move something without his hands on it. Again, we'll continue the lessons in a few days.

Okay, you may be asking, "Why in a few days? There's an entire weekend ahead of you." Well, it's because Daddy is coming home tomorrow. *happy dance* While Daddy is here, there won't be much interest in sewing, I'm sure.

However, there's now this cute little blue sewing machine perched on the kitchen table. I used it before the boys started to make sure the needle was okay and everything was working right. To do that, I grabbed two strips and a foundation square and started a string block. I now have my drawer of strings sitting out with that started block in it. It's calling to me... It's saying, "There's that little machine there that works great. It wouldn't take much to set up the little ironing board and get out an iron. Why don't you go sew?" Mean little thing. LOL I just want to sit and relax this evening. I wonder how long I can resist that call. So far, I've managed to avoid it for 2 days. I don't know why I'm fighting it so much. I mean, I'm a quilter by golly! I haven't quilted or sewn anything "for real" on a machine in some time now. I guess I don't want to get "trapped" right before my husband comes home. When I hit a full blown quilting stride, I don't want anything to get in the way. My husband will be #1 this entire weekend so I think I'll avoid the call of the sewing machine. I think tonight is the night to be lazy and just read. *smile*

With that, I think it's time to minimize the call of the machine. I'm going to go put my string block drawer back where it belongs. The cover is already on the machine. I think I'll have to store it somewhere while DH is home anyway. We're going to need the entire table for a few days. That's a novel idea. LOL We've only needed 4 seats for months now. It will be lovely having everyone home for awhile though.

I hope and pray that everyone has a terrific Memorial Day weekend. Ours is looking to be pretty terrific. *smile*

Still Knitting

Well, I'm still happily knitting away. Awhile back, I mentioned that I don't mind knitting for money and that I was working on dish cloth and dish towel sets for a craft fair later this year. I finally settled on a vertical garter stitch for my dish towels. Unfortunately, the yarn I'm using for the dish towels doesn't make a long enough dish towel, IMO. The balls just aren't large enough. So after finishing my first one, it started bothering me how short it was. It measures about 9-10" before the decreases for the towel top. (The towels are meant to loop around something and are to button closed.) Anyway, I finished up another dish cloth and then went on a hunt for a simple lace border. Just something I could knit up in a coordinating yarn, to add to the bottom of the dish towel. I found the perfect little pattern. For some reason, just adding a little bit of lace that's only about an 1" or so wide is all it took to add the finishing touch. It's not what I'd consider 'true' lace as I'm knitting it with the same type of yarn and the same sized needles as I did the dish towel. I think of it more as a primitive or country lace. I just wanted it to look right on the dish towel. Now, when I have that lace knitted, I hope I can figure out how to put it on to the towel. *grin*

Well, I guess I'll meander off now. When I finally get it all finished, I'll take a picture to share. Right now, I'm getting worn out and we haven't even had our busy day this week yet. Saturday is going to be hard. I'll make it though! I know I will. *grin*

Learning Spanish

Well, when I say I like to 'ramble', I mean it! I have a hard time staying focused on any one thing for very long. This time, I'm starting to focus on learning Spanish. I'm having a humdinger of a time with it! To begin with, the program I really want to use is also really out of my price range. It's Rosetta Stone. I've had the fortune (or is that misfortune?) of playing with it a little bit and I loved it. I loved the intuitive way it taught and how easy it was to remember what I was taught. Now, I'm off to the "old school" way of trying to learn Spanish. Out of books and listening to tapes and trying to figure out what in the universe is going on. At least in using books and tapes to learn a language, you can usually just get that free from the library and find tons of stuff online, also for free.

I think my main problem right now is that I won't just settle down on any one method. If I could just focus and dive in, I think I'd probably learn a lot more. I have fallen into a "trap" of constantly researching without using a single thing I've picked up. Okay, I know... That's stupid. However, sometimes I just have to sit and write about it, like I'm doing right now, before I realize how silly I'm being.

Fine! Be that way! LOL Make me figure out what I'm doing that's so wrong. I will now go and settle down with the main program that I picked up from the library recently and really work through it. I mean, it has 40 lessons in it, but I haven't even made it through 1 of them. Duh. I even went and bought myself a tape player at a thrift store (stores don't actually sell them new anymore) to listen to the tapes. The library also had a CD version, but that one was checked out and had a long waiting list on it. How nice for me that I'm willing to go backwards in technology. *grin*

Okay. I will make a goal for myself. Today is what? Tuesday? My goal is to go through at least a lesson a day. That means, that by the end of this week, I will have at least done 4 lessons. That will be further than I am now. That is my goal. I'd like to do the whole thing and see what it gets me... But I will start out reasonable. Goodness knows my attention span isn't very long. *sigh*

1001 Books you should read before you die

I am an avid reader. If I'm not quilting or knitting, I'm usually reading a book. It usually depends on if I feel like watching TV or not in the evenings. Anyway, I came across this list of books that are basically recommended reading. As I look over this list, I'm slowly becoming annoyed with it. For some authors, almost every book they ever wrote is on the list. Then there are great authors that are not represented or only have 1 book listed. Some authors that are on there many, many times are Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, J.M. Coetzee, and others. You see, it's disguised how many times a specific author is mentioned. At least it was in the list I read. It would appear that the books were placed in the list by publication date. I started to redo the list so I could have the authors in alphabetical order. Then it became really obvious how many times each author appeared. At least that could save me valuable reading time if I don't like a specific author's writing style. *smile*

However, thanks to this list, I have read 2 new authors that have written classics that I've never read before. One is Ernest Hemingway (he's depressing to read) and Edith Wharton. I need to check out more of her books. I adored "The Age of Innocence."

In grabbing a few books from the newer end of the list (it was divided by centuries), I've decided that I'd rather read the older books. I just attempted to read "The Robber Bride" by Margaret Atwood. It was starting to bother me to no end. I didn't make it past chapter 6 before I put it down. For some reason, one of her characters liked to reverse words. I mean, actually put the whole word backwards. i.e. sdrawkcab. It was driving me nuts! As that was the main character who she focused on, I couldn't go on any further. I also checked out "The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood. I'll attempt to read it as well. If that one also flops in my opinion, then I'll just strike her from the list and call it quits. There are at least 300 other authors there to try.

It's just interesting to see that most of the books they say you should read mainly come from the 1900s. A lot of them from the late 1900s. So many great books were written before then that it's sad how many didn't make it on the list. That and a lot of great children's books never made it either. I personally think everyone should read the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. They're incredible. I also love "Anne of Green Gables", "The Secret Garden", and the Little House on the Prairie series. Also, who could ever forget "A Wrinkle in Time"? All are considered children's books and none of those are on the list. I've seen maybe 4 books on the list that are children's books. Well, maybe a few more. Jules Verne ended up on the list a few times. It's just a personal pet peeve of mine, don't mind me too much. I just adore children's books. I actually own "The Secret Garden" in hardback because I was reading my paperback to pieces. I need to replace my copy of "A Wrinkle in Time" also. It needs to be updated to a hardback edition too. *grin*

Well, like I said. I'm a bibliophile. I absolutely adore books. I actually don't really like audiobooks. I much prefer to hold real books in my hands. I also can't read them very well on the computer screen. My eyes won't stay focused on the words that long. I just love the feel of paper and turning of the pages. It's such a wonderful feeling. *smile*

All of that being said, you should check this out if you're a fellow bibliophile:


(psst... if you use this link, please state me as the referrer... sldrsprincess at gmail dot com. Thanks!)

That right there is a link to the greatest thing ever! For every paperback (or hardback) book you send out to another member, you get a credit for a free book. Each person sending out the book pays shipping. However, when you order a book, you don't have to pay. Isn't that great! It's a terrific way to clear off your bookshelves of books you don't want anymore and bring in other books you want to read. I actually managed to get my hands on out of print Paula Volsky books that way. I now have an entire set of her works. I'm absolutely thrilled as she's one of my all-time favorite authors.

With that... it's late and I should be heading on out. Have a great evening and don't forget to read! It helps to keep your mind alive and active.

Knitting and Irritation

Okay, all. I know this is a quilting blog, but I do knit sometimes. In the summer, I knit. When it's cold, I quilt. It's just how it's turned out over the years. Besides, I don't care too much if my yarn gets dirty, but I pitch a fit if my fabric does before I can wash it again. *grin* That makes my knitting projects much easier to drag outside or to baseball as the case may be.

Now, off to my irritation. Every year, my mom joins a craft fair and will lovingly take some of my crafty stuff in to sell alongside hers. She does stained glass so it's not a conflict of crafts here. This year, I'm leaning towards knitted stuff instead of quilted. I find that I don't mind knitting for money, but detest quilting or sewing for money. I'm odd like that. This year, I thought gifts with a good use for them would be a good thing. I discovered that these "old" dish cloths are incredible! I made several for myself and I love them a lot more than my store bought ones. So, I decided to start making a few to sell. I currently have 2 ready to sell and 1 ready to go into my own drawer. The one that's for me is a "scrap" cloth. I made it out of left over yarn. I don't care, I just like how they work. *smile* THEN, I got this marvelous idea to make 2 dish cloths using this pattern with a coordinated dish towel. Great idea, right? Well, I'm finding out that it was a lot easier to find a pattern for dish cloths than it is for dish towels. I found one that was pretty, but then discovered that the pattern that was stated did NOT work for the pictured dish towel. I'm not an advanced enough knitter to figure it out for myself. If it was a quilt pattern, I could probably figure it out. Oh, well! I finally just pulled out my knit stitches book (hubby bought it for me for a buck at Barnes and Noble awhile back) and started flipping. My main problem now is that it can't be too fancy as that takes too long, not to mention the fact that my yarn is variegated. I'm finding out that you can't do anything too fancy because it just gets "eaten" by the color changes in the yarn. Great.

I started to do my dish towels with a simple weave pattern. Nope. With the yarn I'm using (the colors are fairly bright) the pattern looked horrible! So I pulled out all 13 rows I'd done and started looking again. There is a pattern in my book called "flame" that might work. Again, it will probably get "swallowed up" by the color changes, but the idea of a 'flame' would work a lot better with these colors than the weave did. Hopefully I'll get a chance to find out soon.

Well, it's late and I think it's time to call it quits. Maybe I'll get this whole dish towel thing worked out. If not? Well, that cotton yarn makes great dish cloths. LOL