Adventures in Living!

FINALLY!!

Ok, so I didn't get to sew (yet!), but I did give myself an hour to work on the glass torch.  Woohoo for some quiet creative time! Here's a quick and dirty picture of the beads I made this morning:
Sorry for the slightly fuzzy image. I wanted to get this up before the kids get up from nap.

It's been a really long time since I have made anything at the torch. For a long time it was WAY too cold (and hot glass does not like the cold!). I work with the windows to my utility room open so I couldn't do anything until it stayed above 30 degrees.

This batch is destined for a few things....the orange/green/blue ones are going to become the top of a tassel....the black crosses are for a friend of mine, and the flowers are just because spring is coming. They will probably get turned into a necklace or something. All of them are soaking in water right now so I can get them off the rods, and then I will kiln-fire them on Thursday.

I have a plan to write a tutorial for making decorative tassels out of lampwork beads and cones and perle cotton. Coming soon....

In other news, I just finished a blog post for a collaborative blog I write for, called Watch Me Create. It's a neat site where a bunch of different artists talk about their creative process and what inspires them. I'll let you know when my post is up.

In other, other news, I got back to yoga last night.  I wonder sometimes why I let myself get away from it because it feels so darn good. Planning on getting on the mat again tonight, at least for twenty minutes or so.

Okay....I've got things to make, and work to photograph. More later.

just stuff

We are having a number of very large trees removed from our yard, and it has been an impressive show of skill from the tree guys. Some of the pines are well over 60 feet tall, and those guys were dropping them into clear spaces in the yard with almost surgical precision. Travis posted a video on YouTube that we took from a second story window of a huge pine top coming down and landing within a few feet of our deck. Here is a 'before' picture of the backyard, with all the trees intact:
Here is basically the same view of the yard, minus the trees (and the fence) that came down today:

Kind of a major difference, no? The fenceline will get replaced with the three-board fence that is around the rest of the yard, and the big area of leaves will hopefully grow some grass this year and next. I'm planning a flower bed, vegetable bed, and herb bed in the general area, too. I want a massive hedge of basil! It will be nice to have a lawn in the backyard instead of a mudpit or a dustbowl. 

The guys will be back tomorrow to tackle the front yard. Those should be interesting because the three scheduled for removal are about five feet from the house.

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I'll write some about the inauguration later....the weekend was busy, as were the past three days, and I have a lot to  think about. And a lot to say, at least in my mind.

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Yoga practice with Kira tonight. I think I am coming down with Noah's cold, and I really wanted to skip yoga again tonight, but I didn't.

Discipline is freedom.

I didn't do too badly, and the shadows I cast on the wall reminded me of dancing in front of the studio mirrors, so there was that.

More later.

just....exhausted....

The second night in a row with less than five hours of sleep. I love my son, but I really, really, really need to get some sleep. He woke up at midnight, which was about 30 minutes after I went to slep, and then proceeded to scream for nearly two hours. The only time he wasn't screaming was when I was holding him. No, I take that back. He cried even when I was holding him. I tried putting him down to let him deal with it and cry himself to sleep (a sad, sad way to go to sleep, in my opinion), but no dice. Finally, at around 2am, having been in and out of his room every 20 minutes or so, rocking him, holding him, et cetera, I gave up and took him downstairs. In desperation, I administered a dose of Motrin,  a double handful of cheerios on his highchair tray, and two sippy cup refills.

He scarfed up the cereal, drained his cup twice, yawned and rubbed his eyes. When we went back upstairs around 3am, he allowed me to actually put him down in bed, and there he remained, quietly sleeping, until 7:30.

Sigh. Today he is a bit fussy, but refuses to nap. An ear infection? Teeth? Just plain Mommy-loving neediness? A growth spurt? Who knows!? Such is the joy of parenting, sometimes.

"Here, take this stress-inducing situation --a screaming baby-- in the middle of the night, and try, in the dark and cold, to figure out what combination of factors will relieve the problem and allow us all to resume sleeping peacefully. Oh, and know that no matter how many kids you have had before, this one will not be like the others and will require a totally different combination of methods."

Parenting is so not for the faint of heart. Or the can't-operate-on-no-sleep. And no, I'm not looking at you, Balynar. :)

Okay, I think I will try to make banana bread. Otherwise, I might fall asleep.

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Yoga practice last night was all about balancing poses. I sucked at them, which annoyed me, but
I am letting it go. Tonight will be better. Every day is a new opportunity.

Yow, it's cold!

It's positively frigid outside! I like it, but I'd enjoy it more if it came with some snow.

So, there's been good progress on the yoga practice front. I have managed to practice daily for at least 20 minutes in 12 out of the last 14 days. Really, I think it's all because of the mp3 player and the downloaded classes. I've noticed that I am definitely not shoveling food in my mouth all day long, I feel less 'locked up' in my body, and woo! I can actually get to and hold on to chaturanga dandasana for more than a microsecond! It looks easy, but trust me, it ain't. (The image is from Yoga Journal, btw)

I've been working on that pose, along with a bunch of other fun things, like arm balances and balances on a single leg that used to be cake for me when I was, oh, about 20 years younger, but for some reason now that I am approaching forty, I can't do them as well as I used to! Who'd a thunk it? Anyway, I wholeheartedly endorse a daily yoga practice. I've lost two pounds so far (yay!), but more than that, I feel a whole lot better. And my shoulder isn't hurting anymore!

Once the weather warms up some more, and it's lighter longer into the evening, I will probably add some walking into my program, but for now, yoga is enough. I tried a 60 minute class yesterday, and was dripping on my mat and breathing hard 20 minutes into it. A vinyasa class will kick your butt.

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Noah is at preschool today. He's going three days in a row, same schedule as Wren, and I am enjoying the time away from the kids to work a little and get some household stuff done. It breaks my heart to leave him there, though, because he wails so pitifully when I go. I know he'll stop, and his teacher says he is getting better about it, but still. He's my little guy, and I miss him. I'll be picking them up shortly, and then begins the Nap Battle with Wren.

"I not tired! I not!"

"Wren, you need to lay down and rest, or at least play quietly in your room for a while."

"GRRRRR! *sigh* Okay."

Then she proceeds to throw a birthday party (loudly) for her Cinderella doll and My Little Ponies, or throw all the books off the shelves in her room, or dismantle her bed tent, or worse, lie on the floor and kick the door repeatedly. Sometimes she sleeps. Rarely. She sure is an obstinate little one.

Almost time to pick up the kidlets. Better finish my lunch and get a move on.