The reason why I have not blogged, knit, quilted or done anything useful in the last month:

 

Off the wagon? Back on the wagon?

I guess it depends how you look at it, but I cracked open the Zoloft today. I had gotten down to mere crumbs and then had been off it entirely for about a week and thought I was home free (no more withdrawal symptoms, zaps, etc). However, due to a new little development, we decided that the best thing at this time would be for me to go back on it, so this morning I got out my pill cutter (my knife) and started splintering pills again, lol.

Hope

From Jacob's Journey blog:

Hope is not the anticipation that all will go according to my plan; hope is the confidence that whatever comes tomorrow, the presence of God is stepping with me through each moment.

Running roundup

So on Monday, Columbus Day, I went for my long run -- 8 miles. It was actually much better than the short runs I had during the week. Crazy. I ran out the Sylvan gate, down to the harbor and along the running trail all the way to the Cannery Row Starbucks and back. Running time was an hour and 30 minutes. I stopped running at the bottom of Sylvan and walked 10 more minutes as a cool-down the rest of the way home.

This week I've only gotten one short run in. I need to do another one today and then my long run on Sunday. The run I did yesterday was 5 minute walk, 35 minute run, 5 minute walk. I took the boys with me (on bikes and rollerblades) and it wasn't too bad. Except for the part where I got irritated because their friends tagged along for the second 1/2 and after that they weren't paying attention to me and riding way ahead. So I told them that now I was picking the direction we were going so they had to wait for me at each corner. I haven't figured out if I'm going to take them with me today (I should) or wait until Josh gets home and run during Carter's soccer practice (I won't feel like going by then).

ETA: I went and did 5/35/5 with 5 boys on bikes. I decided to wear my ipod and listen to music and it made me much less tense about boys riding inappropriately in the street, getting too far ahead of me, etc. It was a warm and sunny day, which helped a lot.

Tree quilt layout

 

This is the layout of all the quilt block centers -- the months of the year surround the central tree which will have leaves/flowers from 3 of the 4 seasons (cause I don't want a 1/2 dead looking tree, even if it does represent winter).

Quilt center

 

A close up of the center medallion. It's pretty just like that, isn't it? I'll probably end up making it look ugly once I start sticking leaves and flowers on it.

December block

 

The spruce tree with the crazy quilted corners. My raccoon isn't too bad. Woo hoo!

November block

 

I've stitched the crazy quilt pieces down, but haven't added embroidery or beads yet. I also have to add leaves to the center tree. They will be a blend of pale yellow, purple and redish brown: the last leaves left on the tree as winter arrives.

October block

 

This is one of my favorite squares, but it doesn't photograph well. I guess I should say, "I, standing on one foot balanced over the bed with my camera stretched way out trying to get it all in the frame" don't take very good pictures. I still have orange and yellow leaves to add to the center tree. (It looks better if you click on it to view it close up.)

September block

 

I haven't constructed the crazy quilt corners for Sept yet. There's also a moose that I haven't had the guts to add to the tree scene yet either. He's cute, but I'm afraid he's going to end up looking goofy like my horse.
**see May block for proof of goofy horse

August block

 

This tree square is supposed to be a weird teal/peach color scheme that I didn't like at all so I changed it to blue/orange and tried to get away from the New Mexico feel of the original. I don't know how it's going to look once I put the leaves on. I have several different shades of green ribbon and the leaves are going to be long and flowy since it's a Weeping Willow tree.

July block

 

I'm annoyed because one of my corners is missing. It used to exist and now I can't find it. I'm going to have to dig through my linen closet to find it. That makes it sound all organized doesn't it? It really means I'm going to have to pull down all the sheets and towels and blankets that I have stuffed in there and hope it's wrapped up in a stray blanket or something.

But for now I'm just irritated because I like that square with the bears and I don't want to have to do a new corner for it.

June block

 

This tree is supposed to have some leaves and flowers embroidered over the top. I'm putting it off because I don't want to do it wrong and have it look stupid. Right now it looks good, just boring. I bet there's an animal that I'm supposed to add too . . .

May block

 

Exhibit A: goofy horse. Yes, it's a horse. Yes, I know it looks weird. No, I'm not going to go back and re-do it. Haven't you heard about the Amish? They put mistakes in their quilts on purpose because no one is perfect except for God. It's actually more Godly to have an ugly horse in my quilt.

April block

 

I love this one. Little fox came out perfectly (since we already sacrificed the horse to the Amish quilt gods). I have to do the corners still, but I don't have any pink fabrics so I have to wait until I can go through my mom's stash. The colonial knots in the silk ribbon for the cherry blossoms were so fun to do. It looks even better in person.

March block

My first attempt at an animal. At least it looks like a cat, even though trying to outline it in satin stitch using my machine was a *pain.*

 

 

I love the view of the leaves up close. I haven't decided if I'm going to add more or not. The original is *full* of leaves on top of leaves, but I might be satisfied with it the way it is.

February block

 

This one is going to take me FOREVER -- each little tiny needle has to be stitched by hand. I'm putting this off for a while. Especially since I have to stitch the branches first. I'm thinking these trees aren't going to have very many branches, lol. I'm tempted to cut away the stuff I've already stitched (the branches and needles) and figure out a better way to do it.
The animal is a wolf. It looks kind of like a lumpy dog with a weird face.

January block

 

My first completed square -- it's better looking from far away. I'm a fan of my little snowman and my snowflake (in the corners) though. And yes, the little tree next to the house is crooked. It must be from all the high winds they get there.

The place where I will put photos of my quilt

I spent the day working on the Tree Quilt with my mom. We've been working on it since January (each on our own quilt) and I realized I should have taken pictures before now as it was in progress, but better late than never.

The quilt has a block for each month -- each a different tree at different points through the seasons. The middle is an even bigger jacked-up tree that can't make up its mind what season it is. It's supposed to represent winter, spring, summer and fall, but I refuse to put winter on my big tree cause I think it makes it look 1/2 dead.

Here's a photo of one of the blocks: October (not mine)

[Deleted google image]

The corners are pieced crazy quilt triangles and the center is applique. Essentially I'm doing the entire thing by hand, except some of the applique is fused and then I stitched it down with my machine. Most of it I'm embroidering by hand though.
(and the crazy quilting is all by hand!)

Since I'm too tired from all the quilting I did today, photos will have to wait until tomorrow, or perhaps the next day, since tomorrow my sister is coming over to visit. At least if I post this with the promise of pictures to come, they will one day appear.
Once again, not mine:

[Deleted google image]

You would think

that since I just ran 7 miles on Sunday, that the idea of going for a quick 30 minute run today would be easy, wouldn't you? So why do I feel like staying home, taking a bath and eating chocolate instead? (that would be eating *more* chocolate, since I've already had 3 pieces today. Mmm, See's dark chocolate almond brittle. How I love thee.)

I already have the clothes on. I just have to get moving. I hate the first 10 minutes. Ugh. It's horrible. And it's cold outside. Waah, waah.


ETA: I know I'm supposed to come back raving about how glad I am that I went out and ran and how it felt good once I got started, but it didn't and I'm not. It felt like my first time out -- my legs weren't sore at all, the just felt heavy and sluggish. Well, at least that's over. I'm off to bake molasses cookies now!

Two little acorns, sitting on the grass . . .

 

My most recent knitting project -- a warm-up for fall. I had a request for a fruit hat and while I was waiting for the yarn to come in I found some scraps and invented this adorable acorn cap using KnitPicks Swish superwash wool.

 

CO 64 (72 for the larger cap) stitches. Join and knit in the round for 4-5 inches. Switch to contrasting color, and knit one round. Purl one round.
Texture stitch for acorn top:
Row 1: *K into the front, back, front of 1 stitch (inc of 3), K3tog through the back loop (stitch number stays constant at 64). Continue to end of round.
Row 2: Purl all stitches
Row 3: *K 3tog through the back loop, K into front, back and front of one stitch. Continue to the end of the round.
Row 4: Purl all stitches
Row 5: same as row 1

begin decreases for crown of cap:
Row 6: Purl 6, purl 2tog. Continue to the end of the round.
Row 7: same as row 3
Row 8: purl 4, purl 2tog to the end of the round
Row 9 and following: alternate texture pattern with purl rows, each time decreasing on the purl rows, p2, p2tog, then p2tog for the entire round.

drop texture stitch and stitch the remaining rounds in purl stitch only. Decrease until you have approx 6 stitches. Continue to purl until acorn stem is desired length. Draw yarn through remaining stitches and finish.

We finally got one

A kid with natural athletic ability and a killer instinct.

At the pediatrician's office this morning the 2 older boys had their hight/weight measurements taken and put on their growth charts. Calvin is 50th% in both height and weight (and has been that way since birth practically) and Carter is 75% for height and 25% for weight. lol My tall, skinny Ethiopian boy with chicken legs. Josh and I both noticed that he had gotten really tall, but I didn't realize he was taller than average. He's always been such a lightweight that I always thought of him as "small." He still only weighs 49 lbs.

I would love to see where Bob falls out -- they took the measurements last month, but didn't show me on the chart. I think he's tall for his age and probably average for weight. IIRC, Bob's height was 46 inches (because it was right after we went to the county fair and there were a few rides he cried about not being able to go on because he was just under the 48 inch height requirement. That would put him above average for height and average for weight (I think he's about 40 lbs).

ETA: Checked it out on a growth chart calculator and Bob would be at 90% for height.

Back in training

After running 6.5 miles for my long run last Sunday (not the one 2 days ago), I hadn't run in over a week. It's been cold or foggy and Josh and I haven't found a time when he's been home that I could go. . .

Anyway, I almost bailed again today because it's blowing like crazy outside, but Josh gave me the boot and once I got past the first 10 minutes I didn't feel like death anymore. 5 min walk warmup, 30 minute run, then 5 minute walk at the end. I'm certainly in better shape then when I started in the late Spring/early Summer, but I don't know that I'm nearly in good enough shape to run the 1/2 in less than 2 months!

I might be having trouble keeping my house clean

because my kids don't know the meaning of the word! I sent Carter and Bob upstairs to clean their bathroom while I cleaned up downstairs and Calvin vacuumed. After 20 minutes they came downstairs declaring, "All clean!" I said, "Are you sure? I'm going to go check . . ." They were positive they had done a complete job.

So I go upstairs, and find this:




and this:


and this:


Since when did junk all over the counter, flossers on the floor and towels piled up in the corner = clean? At least when they talk about my housekeeping skills to others, they must think our house is more sterile than a hospital room!

Horrible Histories

Now this is the way to learn history! I was watching some of these Horrible History clips and after one viewing I know what happened to Henry the VIII's 6 wives -- divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived . . . a totally catchy song that was running around in my head this morning after watching it the night before. This one is about the Tudors -- another family group I knew nothing about (and I took a History of England course in college. I wasn't very studious that semester.)

I'm making a list. . .

of how many loads of laundry I do in a week. I feel like I need to catch up before I start my tally, but I'm never actually caught up. Hmm. . . I guess I have to start somewhere.

So here's the start of the count (Josh folded 4 baskets last night -- not counting those). I washed one last night, another is washing right now and I have 2 more waiting to go in. I'm going to get logjammed though, because I'm almost out of laundry detergent. I have to remember to go buy some tomorrow on the way home from soccer. I can visualize at least 2 more loads upstairs in the boys rooms (between the clothes actually in the dirty clothes bin and strewn around on the floor) and I probably have at least one load of towels. I don't wash sheets nearly as often as I should, but that would be another load. The washing isn't bad. It's the folding and putting away that I hate. Especially the putting away part.

Take the above paragraph and lather, rinse and repeat. That would be my week.

The more I read about famous people . . .

the more I'm glad I'm not one of them! I just finished Laura Ingalls' oops, I mean Melissa Gilbert's autobiography Prairie Tale, and wouldn't trade places with her for a million dollars. She was adopted at birth and never got past that feeling of being unwanted. Poor girl. Her adoptive father (who she has a sneaking suspicion was her birth father and her adoption was to cover up an affair -- she can't get a straight story from her mom) died when she was 10, soon after starting on Little House on the Prairie. So she saw Pa as her surrogate dad, but he abandoned her when he cheated on his wife and took a new wife. Because her family was friends with his wife and kids, when he left them, he left her.

Her teenage years were filled with her feeling uncomfortable in her own skin. She was terrified of having to play the Laura who fell in love with Almanzo because she was 15 and he was a MAN and he totally freaked her out. She saw him as Chester the Molester and every time there was a kissing scene in the script she begged them to change it to just a hug. Puts a whole new spin on the Almanzo and Laura romance, doesn't it? BTW, Mary was cold and unfriendly and Nellie was awesome. Oh, and Willie was Laura's adopted brother in real life -- who knew?

Since her mom was REALLY overprotective she grew up slowly, but when she broke free she went from relationship to relationship and was attracted to guys who cheated on her and then kept going back to them. She thinks that because Michael Landon drank and chain smoked all day the smell of booze and cigarettes imprinted on her psyche and she was attracted to "daddy figures" who smelled like him.

I was surprised to read how she continued to work after Little House. I knew she was in a few TV movies, but I didn't realize how many. And like many other child stars, she headed down the road of drug experimentation and alcoholism. She quit the drugs after a short while, but the alcohol had a hold on her for a long time. She has currently been sober about 4 years (she's 44 now) and is mom to 4 boys -- 2 by birth and 2 stepsons.

I'm glad I'm me, not her.

Tales from the clothes closet . . .

Every Tuesday the boys and I volunteer at the church's clothes closet -- really a trailer that is packed floor to ceiling with clothes. We've been doing it for about 2 months now and it's fun to see how the boys have different gifts as we serve together. For example, Carter loves to help people find clothes; he gets right in there and pulls things off the shelves that he thinks they will like. Calvin likes to run "big kid" errands like fetching keys and delivering the men's clothes to a different area of the church. He also wanted to run the labeler (to label the different shelves of clothes), but I figured out his spelling needs more work after he printed off this label:
boyz sox. Last week when she was visiting, Caleb told Auntie Ginger what his job is: "I just play." That's about right.

So today we were working and a mom and young son came in who spoke no English. I thought I might be able to draw on my Spanish skills from 3 years of High School Spanish, but not so much. I was trying to ask the little boy how old he was and I got as far as "Cuanto . . . cuesta?" Which I immediately remembered meant "How much does it cost?" And I couldn't remember that what I really wanted to say was "Cuanto anos tiene?" until after I was on my way home. Pretty swift recall, huh? Unfortunately, that's about how fast I am with my Arabic too. If I could have a 15 minute time-out in between sentences, I could communicate pretty well.

After that fail I was afraid to attempt any further Spanish speaking so I just started holding up clothes and asking "yes?" That seemed to work for both of us.

Our anniversary celebration

Last month, on the 23rd of August, Josh and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. We decided to go for a picnic on the beach with wine, cheese . . . and the kids.


We toasted

found dead crabs


and drank a lot.

Fantastic fast lunch

I had some leftover sourdough bread, lots of tomatoes that needed to be eaten, but weren't good enough for a salad (texture wise) and a huge bunch of basil came in our organic veggie box last night. I didn't want to do pasta since we ate pasta with sauce last night . . .

I took a serano chile and chopped it up and added it to a hot pan with a little grapeseed oil (I like using grapeseed for cooking because it has a higher smoking point than olive oil). Then I chopped up about 15 roma tomatoes and added them to the hot pan. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Let them cook down for a few minutes, stirring as needed. Whip out my hand blender and give it a few pulses. It breaks down some of the tomato skins while still leaving a chunky sauce. Chop 2 fistfulls of basil and toss in pan.

Meanwhile prep sourdough by rubbing with garlic (slice clove in 1/2, rub cut side across the bread). After all the bread is coated, toss that garlic in the sauce.
Pop bread in the oven at 350 for a few minutes to toast (you could use a toaster, we don't own one). When the bread is crisp, spoon the thickened sauce onto the bread, top with sliced mozzarella and put back in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

ETA: So with the making the sauce from scratch, it's not that fast, but it's something I had to do anyway and then I turned the results into lunch.

Pizza bread!

I'm going to walk like an Egyptian . . .

Yeah, everyone who goes to Egypt makes the same joke, but I had to do it anyway. The news is in: Cairo, Egypt -- Thanksgiving 2010.

Farm City

I read Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter yesterday. When I started it, I wasn't sure if I would finish it or not because it started out talking more about Oakland and how she happened to move there than the actual Farming part. But as soon as she started talking about how she got into beekeeping, I was hooked.

Part of the magic of the novel is I actual grew up there, in Oakland. So when she hopes that her missing turkey flew off to Lake Merritt and didn't end up as roadkill on the 880, I can picture it. And when she talks about biking down Durant Ave in Berkeley or visiting the Oakland Public Library . . . been there, done that. And then to picture her backyard farm in the middle of that? Wow. Crazy.

The only thing I wish the book had was a section with actual pictures. It makes me suspicious that there weren't any. Was her ghetto garden not really as ghetto as she described? Or maybe she didn't own a camera. It seems like someone would have taken pictures at some point though . . .

Anyway, this book is not for the faint of heart as she not only talks about her adventures in gardening, but also her experiences raising animals for meat. So there is quite a bit of bloodshed -- a pit bull attacks and kills her turkey who flew over the fence into the neighbor's yard; the other turkey she offs with a hatchet to the neck for thanksgiving. Some ducks and geese are killed by a pack of wild dogs, another goose she kills with pruners in her bathtub (so the other animals don't see it and get upset). Bunnies are killed by breaking necks, then slitting their throats and pulling off their skin. The 3rd section of the book where she talks about raising pigs is the most fascinating part. Yes, she raises 2 pigs in the ghetto and feeds them exclusively from nightly dumpster diving excursions. Not only does her dumpster diving become more desperate (the pigs need protein so she has to resort to foraging for fish guts behind the fish markets), but as the pigs become bigger and more ravenous, she has to figure out what she's going to do when it comes time to kill Big Boy and Little Girl. She meets an Italian chef (because he has the best dumpster in Berkeley, filled with whole chickens and baguettes) who is an expert in the art of preserving pork and turning pig into salami, prosciutto, and other dried Italian meats. She begs him to let her become his apprentice and over the next several months as her pigs are porking out, he teaches her all of his secrets. When the time comes to off the pigs she she turns Big Boy into all sorts of different deli meats and Little Girl fills her freezer with racks of ribs, tenderloins, hams, etc.

Crazy book. Great read. It made me realize how much work goes into a single chicken breast or a steak. It's a little scary to think how cheap food is when you take into account what it *should* cost when animals are fed good food, cared for properly and killed humanely.

Lunch on the fly . . .

I wasn't sure what to make for lunch so I started rummaging around in the fridge, freezer and pantry. This is what I came up with:

roasted turkey breast, cubed
2 cans of black beans, rinsed
bag of frozen corn
juice of 2 limes, plus zest of one lime
red pepper diced
kosher salt and pepper to taste
a swirl of olive oil
diced avocado

mix together, serve with tortilla chips on the side

I'm still defrosting the turkey breast. After I add it I will decide whether to add parsley, basil and diced tomatoes from the garden (any or all of them depending on how it tastes). I've made something similar before without the turkey, but with cilantro. Since there isn't any cilantro in the garden at the moment (more of a winter herb) I might try the basil/tomato/italian flavor path instead.

My favorite thing

at the moment is this new top that I got at the REI super clearance sale last week.

If I could, I would get one in every color because it is the most comfortable shirt I have ever worn. Built in bra, high cut armholes, cute vent in back. It makes me wish I were living in 29 Palms again. I can't find an image of the back because they have completely sold out on REI's website. I'm hoping they bring it back next season. I won't wait until it goes on clearance next time!

ETA: Woo hoo! 3 more successes from my online Amazon orders! I found some awesome PrAna pants at REI, but they didn't have my size. I found out that Amazon carries PrAna brand clothes and I ordered 3 pairs of capris (2 yoga style, one normal) and they all fit fabulously.
An added bonus, besides the comfort factor is that they were all ridiculously clearanced. These capris sell for $75, I got them for $17, including free 2-day shipping. (the other 2 pairs were only $14 each) Win, win, win!