I will be updating my "Shared" items on the left side bar even as I am not blogging. :-)
Today felt quite different and productive. I think this will be a good thing. See ya!
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Virtual vacation
...or rather, a vacation from the virtual.
In order to focus some much needed attention to some things in my physical world, I am taking a break from the blog and Facebook for a few weeks. I'll be checking e-mail once a day.
My three goals for the next few weeks, above and beyond my somewhat regular routine of cooking, cleaning and spending time with family and friends:
• improve my sleep
• catch up on the accounting from the last few months and get back on track
• make a serious dent in decluttering and getting the stuff out of the apartment and donated
My online time is such a source of comfort, fun and support, but because I spend so much time at home, it is all too easy to hop on and then end up sitting in front of the computer for an hour. I am feeling the approach of September, a time of renewal and "clean slate" for me. I was a kid who always looked forward to starting the school year with a new box of crayons and fresh, unmarked notebooks.
There's some stuff I need to get done here in order for me to have my fresh start come September-ish.
Hugs to you, I'll miss being here. See you in September. (If my resolve holds out...)
In order to focus some much needed attention to some things in my physical world, I am taking a break from the blog and Facebook for a few weeks. I'll be checking e-mail once a day.
My three goals for the next few weeks, above and beyond my somewhat regular routine of cooking, cleaning and spending time with family and friends:
• improve my sleep
• catch up on the accounting from the last few months and get back on track
• make a serious dent in decluttering and getting the stuff out of the apartment and donated
My online time is such a source of comfort, fun and support, but because I spend so much time at home, it is all too easy to hop on and then end up sitting in front of the computer for an hour. I am feeling the approach of September, a time of renewal and "clean slate" for me. I was a kid who always looked forward to starting the school year with a new box of crayons and fresh, unmarked notebooks.
There's some stuff I need to get done here in order for me to have my fresh start come September-ish.
Hugs to you, I'll miss being here. See you in September. (If my resolve holds out...)
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Monday, August 03, 2009
Auntie Makiko and Uncle Takio
My aunt and uncle are in NYC for vacay and time with their daughter, Momoko. They had not seen each other in 2 1/2 years. Momoko has been in the States for over five years now. She followed her dream of pursuing design studies in NYC and arrived as an 18 year old.
She is now 23 and through really hard work and significant raw talent, is a student of Interior Design at FIT, has a great internship working for an artist downtown, and earns extra cash waitressing at a Japanese restaurant. She has really grown up and it has been special having a cousin living close by.
We had a blast yesterday at my brother and Lisa's. My mom and Lisa made appies (a cheese plate, guac and chips and prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe), my mom made a pot roast, Sandy made poached salmon, and we brought veggies and pie. Everything was delicious and homey.
There was a lot of catching up and playing and simply relaxing and hanging out. Being family. How lucky are we.
P.S. I think Auntie Makiko really liked her scarf. :-)
She is now 23 and through really hard work and significant raw talent, is a student of Interior Design at FIT, has a great internship working for an artist downtown, and earns extra cash waitressing at a Japanese restaurant. She has really grown up and it has been special having a cousin living close by.
We had a blast yesterday at my brother and Lisa's. My mom and Lisa made appies (a cheese plate, guac and chips and prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe), my mom made a pot roast, Sandy made poached salmon, and we brought veggies and pie. Everything was delicious and homey.
There was a lot of catching up and playing and simply relaxing and hanging out. Being family. How lucky are we.
P.S. I think Auntie Makiko really liked her scarf. :-)
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Woodland Scarf...whoa
Knitting is so cool. Apologies for the all or nothing lighting. The color of the scarf is truer in the darker photos, but I wanted to show off the stitch definition in the lit pics. I love this pattern and the way the yarn worked with it, and cannot wait to give the scarf to my aunt tomorrow!
Convergence
Things came together today.
Kelly and her girls were over yesterday. At one point, Kelly and I were talking about qi gong and she mentioned that she has been doing her qi gong while watching her mindless hour of tv at the end of her night. I had just mentioned to her the vicious cycle I was stuck in: too tired both in the morning and at night to do the activity which would give me more energy.
So, last night, as Cap and I watched Real Time, I remembered and did some qi gong. Today, I have had an unexpectedly productive day and have found reserves of energy I didn't know I had. Coincidence? I think not.
I bought ant traps and band-aids. (Is it wrong that I just noticed a small swarm of ants around one of the traps and felt some glee imagining the poison being brought back and fed to the Queen?)
I went to the library twice because as it turns out, they don't open till 1pm on Saturdays in the summer. (Picked up Coraline...very excited!)
I checked out Modern Yarn's new store. It is a great space. Bigger and with more natural light. I found this skein for 50% off. I'm going to use it to make myself a Woodland Scarf/Shawlette.
I went to the Farmer's Market and picked up cukes, garlic and sweet onions for more icebox pickling, red cabbage and sweet onion for tomorrow's family dinner, a big bag of haricot verts string beans for tomorrow's dinner (the batch I steamed for us this week was amazing), more Mutsu apples, a pint of blueberries, and fava beans and a tomato to make more Foul Mudammes (Egyptian fava bean dip). It's always nice to see Farmer John. I have great admiration for the work he does.
I also went to the non-organic stand I like and bought a few pounds of Jersey peaches for pie for tomorrow night and Jersey corn for dinner tonight.
Every stop I made, not only did I find free street parking, but twice, I was forced to park masterfully...and I did!
The humidity broke overnight and though it was sunny and hot out, it was dry. It felt very good to be out and about.
I came home and spent the afternoon in the kitchen. Made the dip, steamed the beans, cooked up the cabbage, and made the icebox pickles. We have decided to make the pie tomorrow morning.
Cap surprised me with these gorgeous flowers. We had Gerbera daisies in small pots on the picnic tables we set out for the party portion of our commitment ceremony (we had irises for the ceremony portion :-). Seems like a long time ago, but the memories remain strong. We were lucky to have had the day we wanted, made possible with the incredible support of our family and friends.
Kelly and her girls were over yesterday. At one point, Kelly and I were talking about qi gong and she mentioned that she has been doing her qi gong while watching her mindless hour of tv at the end of her night. I had just mentioned to her the vicious cycle I was stuck in: too tired both in the morning and at night to do the activity which would give me more energy.
So, last night, as Cap and I watched Real Time, I remembered and did some qi gong. Today, I have had an unexpectedly productive day and have found reserves of energy I didn't know I had. Coincidence? I think not.
I bought ant traps and band-aids. (Is it wrong that I just noticed a small swarm of ants around one of the traps and felt some glee imagining the poison being brought back and fed to the Queen?)
I went to the library twice because as it turns out, they don't open till 1pm on Saturdays in the summer. (Picked up Coraline...very excited!)
I checked out Modern Yarn's new store. It is a great space. Bigger and with more natural light. I found this skein for 50% off. I'm going to use it to make myself a Woodland Scarf/Shawlette.
I went to the Farmer's Market and picked up cukes, garlic and sweet onions for more icebox pickling, red cabbage and sweet onion for tomorrow's family dinner, a big bag of haricot verts string beans for tomorrow's dinner (the batch I steamed for us this week was amazing), more Mutsu apples, a pint of blueberries, and fava beans and a tomato to make more Foul Mudammes (Egyptian fava bean dip). It's always nice to see Farmer John. I have great admiration for the work he does.I also went to the non-organic stand I like and bought a few pounds of Jersey peaches for pie for tomorrow night and Jersey corn for dinner tonight.
Every stop I made, not only did I find free street parking, but twice, I was forced to park masterfully...and I did!
The humidity broke overnight and though it was sunny and hot out, it was dry. It felt very good to be out and about.
I came home and spent the afternoon in the kitchen. Made the dip, steamed the beans, cooked up the cabbage, and made the icebox pickles. We have decided to make the pie tomorrow morning.
Cap surprised me with these gorgeous flowers. We had Gerbera daisies in small pots on the picnic tables we set out for the party portion of our commitment ceremony (we had irises for the ceremony portion :-). Seems like a long time ago, but the memories remain strong. We were lucky to have had the day we wanted, made possible with the incredible support of our family and friends.
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