Sewing Lesson

A couple weeks ago I went home for the weekend to get my first sewing lesson. I thought pillows would make for a good first project. I met my mom at Hancock in Davenport and picked out some fabric - a floral pattern, and then green and brown to accent the floral. Saturday morning we got to work - measuring and cutting out the pieces and after a quick lesson on how to run the machine, I got to work. I finished 7 pillows in less than 2 days! I'm really happy with how they turned out. 

 

Not only was this a fun project that I really enjoyed working on, but we were resourceful as well. I reused some old pillows that I found upstairs at the house, saving us about $30, and the green and brown fabric were off of the remnants table at a discounted price.

I've already decided on my next project - a t-shirt quilt. I have a lot of old high school t-shirts that I just can't bring myself to get rid of because of the sentimental value they hold so I thought a t-shirt quilt would be a great way to preserve the memories, but still be able to clear some space in my closet. Stay tuned.

The Other Pitt

Brad Pitt's brother, Doug, recently starred in an ad for Virgin Mobile Australia and it's pretty hilarious. Check it out.

4 Day Weekend

Yay for 4 day weekends!!!!!!! ....except for when you spend it sick as a dog, like in my case. Without divulging too many details, the last 4 days I've divided my time between the couch and my bed. I made several tearful calls home (a ritual of mine when I'm feeling miserable like this) to get any and all sympathy my family offers, slept as much as I could, and watched a lot of movies and SATC episodes.

I could continue to complain about how I hadn't felt that awful in a very long time, how I missed my cousin's bridal shower, my grandma's birthday celebration, and my family reunion....but who wants to hear me whine?

There is a note of positivity to the weekend from hell - my friends. I don't like asking for help. My independence and stubbornness assures me I can take care of things myself most of the time, so you know I'm really having a hard time when I actually ask for help and don't put up much of a fight when offered help.

...not that I ever really stood a chance with Les. She pretty much refused to take "no" for an answer, like a good friend would. And thanks to her rescuing me, here is what my diet has consisted of the past few days:

But she really did knock it out of the park, friend-wise. She got me everything on my list plus a magazine Friday, brought me lunch Saturday, and stopped by Sunday. Each time she offered to help me out with things around the house...I told her no...She asked if I would be mad if she at least cleaned my kitchen...I said yes...She said she didn't care and got to work :)

S&J were out of town but it was no surprise when I got a text Sunday afternoon from Stacy asking me if there was anything they could get me on their way back into town. Earlier that day I thought I was on the mend, but after trying to be self-sufficient by running an errand, my body said "not so fast" and started feeling miserable again. Weakness won over stubbornness and I told her of a couple things I needed. I should've known I would be getting more than what was on the list :)

The Dr this morning said it was viral and just has to run it's course and advised a mild "BRAT" diet for the next couple of days. Don't be jealous:

The other positive (which I'm sure you can tell from the fact that I'm posting this), is that I'm starting to feel better. And thank goodness for that. At the risk of sounding dramatic, I wouldn't wish these past few days on my worst enemy. It was awful.

Random Thoughts After the Move

After what seems like a long, drawn-out process, the big move is finally complete. I appreciate the change in scenery, and although a little bittersweet, I'm excited to be living on my own again. It was hard to say goodbye to Westown - it was a pretty stellar place, but there are a lot of great things about the new place too...location, pool, and being on the top floor makes for a nice view from my balcony.

I decided to give the no cable thing a try, and so far, I'm happy with that decision. Thanks to Greg's antenna, the basic channels come in crystal clear and that's really all I need. And after 5 solid days of no internet, I was relieved when Thursday came and was able to sit on my couch and laptop, versus trying to get things done while at work or freeloading in the Starbucks parking lot, which I did twice. What? Don't judge - it was for a total of 5 minutes so my dad could check his status for work.

I am so grateful for my family and friends who helped me with the move and all those who offered to help. I still have some boxes to unpack, but am slowly getting settled and making it my own.

Proud Big Sister

'Lil and I went out to eat tonight to celebrate her 16th birthday. She chose one of her favorite restaurants, Granite City, so I picked her up and off we went. On the way there, she told me she made the cheer squad for wrestling and football for next year, she improved her grade in English, AND she got the job she interviewed for last week! So we had a lot of great reasons to celebrate. And you better believe there was chocolate cake involved :)

Stair Climber

Over the past 2 weeks at work, I've been making a conscious effort to take the stairs up to my training room on the 6th floor as much as possible. That equates to 104 stairs each trip, if I'm counting/remembering correctly. (This doesn't include the stairs up to the 6th floor of the parking ramp) Now, I'm not trying to make it seem as though I'm in amazing shape, but you'd think by running anywhere from 5-9 miles about 3 times a week would help make the climb a little easier but you'd be wrong! For me, at least, I am still out of breath and my legs still burn by the time I hit that 104th step.

Now I'm sure if I climbed stairs for longer than the 2 minutes it probably takes me to climb each time or more often than the 2-3 times per day that I do climb, I'd benefit more from an endurance/health standpoint, but hey, I figure it's better than just letting the elevator do the work every time!

Ocupado

First post in about 2 weeks! Why? My attempt at a few excuses below:

1. New job - I am in the 3rd week of my new job. So far it's going really well. I am learning so much and it's fun to connect the dots between what I knew from my old job to what I need to learn for this one.

2. Moving - I've been busy thinking/looking about where to take up residence next, which has taken some time but I finally found one and am excited to move into my new home.

3. School - Well, okay so this really has nothing to do with me not posting in the past 2 weeks, but I see I never posted about completing my first class. 4 more classes to go but in the mean time, I'm looking forward to spending my summer evenings outdoors, instead of in a classroom.

4. Training - Prepping for Dam to Dam by taking our mileage up a few notches each week. We've got 9 under our belt (well I guess I have 9, Jake has 11 - with an impressive time at that) Although 9 is more than I ran last year prior to the race, I'd like to get in a 10 or 11 miler in before race day.

5. Yoga - Les and I have been enjoying going to Iowa Powered Yoga the past few weeks. Ryan, the instructor, takes a much more relaxed, non-judgmental, and fun approach to Yoga than I've been used to. Attempting "Crow", doing part of the "I'm a Little Teapot" dance, and kicking your legs up so high when, going into a hand stand position, that you feel like you will topple over are just some of the things I've experienced in his classes thus far.

Here's to hoping for a more active blog for the rest of May!