Squares

I just found 6 mystery squares in my apartment! I think they came via my roommate who still works at my old job and I have a coworker there whipping them up like crazy! She's donated 14 crocheted squares!

My current count is:
Crocheted: 28
Knitted: 30

I can probably make one twin sized afghan if I combined them. Otherwise I'm about halfway on both. Admittedly, I've been slacking on making them too. I need to pick up my hook and needles!

want vs. need

We live in such a disposable society that we often forget what's really important for our survival: food, water, shelter and clean air. So we eat Twinkies, drink bottled water, build McMansions and drive cars that pollute our air.

I really want an Ipod Shuffle. I know I don't need one, but hot damn they're cute and I get so bored running! I also don't have the 70 some dollars to spend on one. So give me the strength to resist...or wait until someone gets me one for Christmas.

dammit, and now I want a Twinkie.

harder better faster stronger

So I went to Greenlake this afternoon after much procrastination. I clocked with my car the extra .2 miles I would need to make the tour de Greenlake 3 full miles. I did 3 miles in 31 minutes including my stop for a drink of water and perpendicular walk to let the water settle.

But then you know what happened? I kept running. I did 4.2 miles and RAN 4 of those miles! RAN! That doesn't include warm up and cool down either! HOLY CRAP! All in all 4.6 miles in about 50 minutes.

I almost cried when I crossed the 3 mile mark and again when I hit the four mile mark. In fact, when I hit the four mile marker (GL has quarter mile markers I just noticed today) I jumped on it, startling the woman behind me. HAHA!

That's right Jenny, I'm coming for you! ; )

time for a new plan

I started a new weight plan today and decided to up my cardio too. I know when I run I have a hard time surpassing my goals so today I decided to go past the usual 30-some minutes to make sure I got 3 miles in plus some cool down. Yes, today I went 45 minutes and over 4 miles. I'm hoping this will help me actually run the three miles without always having to walk. I'm pretty sure it's all in my head and that I CAN run 3 miles but I just get so bored....

Anyway, I'm lying on my floor exhausted and I don't know if between the extended run and the new weights if I"m going to be able to do my Sat. run but I"ll try.

I'm not sure how it got there...and it's doing better than the sprout I planted in a pot. It even has flowers. If only I had as much persistence as this plant does.....

I did it!

I just ran around Greenlake! I stopped once to talk to some friends for literally a minute and then got to the other side of the lake and got a drink of water and walked the opposite way for like two minutes so I didn't jiggle and slosh around.

They say Greenlake is 2.9 miles and I did my best to run in the middle of the path because I'm not sure where they take that measurement. I also ran past my starting point and then back to my car so I could feel good about saying that I ran 3 miles. OUTSIDE even! With hills and weather (was that sun blinding today or what?!) 3 miles and 35 minutes not including warm up and cool down. And I think I could've gone longer! I'm good at achieving my goals, but not at surpassing them.

I'm so excited!

*edit* It's 2.8 miles around Greenlake. I also thought that when they said the outer path was 3.2 miles that they meant the outside of the regular path but I just did the math to figure out that no, the 13.5' path is not wide enough to make that much of a difference. That's right, I sat here and literally did the math, I can even show my work! Still, since I ran past my starting point and then back to my car I think I was pretty close to that 3 mile mark and next time I'll go even farther.

Get a grip!

Another awesome friend came with me to buy tires today! He walked in, spouted off some numbers and now I have shiny new tires that smell like grape. I got 80,000 miles off my factory tires and hopefully I'll get that much off of these new tires especially since now I know how often to rotate them! (far more often than once in 5.5 years!)

Enviro conscious professors

Two of my professors have declared they'd much rather do things online than collect hard copies because they'd rather not waste paper. It was difficult not to shout out for joy!

Good Friends or How to Meet Boys

On my way to class today I noticed that my car tire was ripping apart. Yeah, I drove on it anyway. I was supposed to go dancing tonight after class but I figured maybe I shouldn't drive on it anymore than I had to so I called my friend to cancel. What'd he do? Turned around and came to campus and changed my tire for me. Then followed me to the gas station to make sure I had air in all my tires, followed me to my house to drop off my car and drove me to the show. I couldn't be any more thankful!!

While I was waiting for him to arrive I dug out my spare and jack and hung out in the parking lot. Several cute boys stopped to make sure I was ok and ask if I needed help!! I had no idea that was all I needed to do to meet boys!

Also, the show was one of the most fun nights I've had in a while. Really good friends, laughing, chatting...way fun. : )

one question

who is teaching these kids to behave? A visitor to a classroom should NOT have to work this hard nor should they have to be criticized for not getting all the information in when they were spending all their time managing someone else's class.

My future classroom will be in so much trouble if they ever behave the way these kids behaved today.

seriously.

running outdoors

Good idea: going for a jog on a nice autumn evening. Bad idea: going for a run on a nice autumn evening directly after eating three pilsbury cinamon rolls and drinking a pepsi.

20 minutes got me 1.91 miles which unfortunately included two walked blocks and my block and a half cool down. At the gym, on the treadmill, 30 minutes including my walk breaks gets me about 3 miles. So funny that it can make such a difference...

Next time I'll rethink the order of my treats and exercise.

Ballard looks so flat in a car....

wooo hoooo!

Feeling better, I went to the gym today. Today was my Friday run and I was able to run for twenty minutes straight! Then I walked for three and ran for four more minutes! That means I'm running about 2.5 miles. That's so close to 5k! But it's on a treadmill...so soon I'll have to try my hand at Greenlake where there are weather and hills.

Also, I rode my bike to the gym even though I'm done tallying for the season. I dread having to drive and park in the rain. I may have to determine if it's worth it to buy rain gear to wear for five minutes, change out of, get sweaty at the gym and then put back on to wear home. That just doesn't sound worth it to me. Then it's going to be cold and dark and unsafe. sigh.

Sept. Tally/ Six Months

Well, the rain has set in. When I started this I didn't even realize that there would be exactly six months of bike riding weather. Seattle's great like that.

Here are my results

Sept.
Lbs. CO2 Saved: 21.2
Miles Biked: 12.8

Six months
Lbs. CO2 Saved: 128.7
Miles Biked: 79.1

My goal shifted to try and save my weight in CO2. I won't say if I made that goal or not, but I think that should be a challenge for next year. If we each did even that much, that adds up!

Nights 2 and 3: Rockabilly Ball 2007

I have to say, I'm rather disappointed. The line up this year just wasn't very good. I really feel the whole thing has gone downhill. Yeah, I danced but I wasn't inspired to. There just wasn't anything else to do. I want to see bands like Cari Lee and the Saddle-ites, Marti Brom, Carlos and the Bandidos....real rockabilly...not this stuff people are calling psychobilly (which isn't even that, it's just bad punk with an upright bass).

I did make a new dress on Friday. I LOVE how it turned out. I used stash fabric and a pattern I already had so I only bought a zipper and hook & eyes. I didn't get any compliments on it though. Seriously, none. I don't know what that was about. I did not wear the tan dress pictured below but instead the turquoise early 60's one. It was a matter of placement of the darts and how they appeared under my sweater. mmhmm.

Hopefully I will get pictures from friends soon.

Night 1: Rockabilly Ball 2007

High on coffee and cold medicine I made it to the very end of last night's show. And I danced danced danced! A friend of mine is home from Australia on holiday and I couldn't be more excited! Unfortunately, he brought a girl with him so I couldn't fawn over him as much as I wanted.

"But what did she wear?!" you ask. I don't have any pictures, but others do so I may post one later. I pulled a dress out of my closet I have never worn but made out of a vintage pattern and fabric that was donated to me. I think I made this dress five years ago. It's navy blue with white flowers and white rick rack outlining the neckline, sleeves and gores. I got many compliments on it and some thought it was real vintage.

I might make another dress today and tomorrow for tomorrow night. We'll see.

Enviro Crazy

Today I met a 7th grade girl who told me that she doesn't waste a lot of water washing dishes because she mainly uses paper plates. I was stunned to silence. We were talking about water conservation and I wasn't in a good place to take that teachable moment.

The worse part...I wasn't surprised. It fit the stereotype that I had put on her. To me she looked like the type of kid who was popular, maybe didn't do well in school even though she had potential and whose parents weren't all that involved. Those are the parents who would rather buy paper plates so they don't need to do more work.

I had my first class tonight. 3.5 hours in the same classroom. Do you know how long it was 7:30? AGES! Plus I'm fighting a cold so all I wanted to do was sleep. We are able to eat in class and I had brought an orange...after I finished I put my peal in my paper bag to take home to my worms. I almost called out to a girl looking for a trash can for her apple core but I didn't know her name. Then there was the woman with a paper plate, a paper towel and something else compostable. I might start bringing a bag for people to leave their compostables in. Only problem is my household is running seriously low on paper bags and I can't afford Biobags right now.

I'll have to figure something out.

Halleluja!

After three bowls of broccoli cheddar soup with bread and all the other crap I've been eating this week I've decided my body must be trying to put on some insulation with the cold weather setting in. I've also been pretty adamant that going to the gym doesn't do anything for my physique. I'm there for my cholesterol anyway. (I like cheese, and sour cream, and butter and..)

Well tonight I decided to look at what dresses I have available to wear to the Rockabilly Ball. Since my heart seems to finally be free for the taking I'd like to look hot and do some flirting. Tonight, I decided to try on this really hot 1960's vintage number I got last Fall. The Great Depression occurred last Spring and Summer so I was pretty thin when I got this dress and the last time I put it on my hips were pushing its limits.

I slipped it on anyway. My hips turned freely! In fact, the dress was a little big!! It even came off over my hips instead of over my head.

Encouraged I tried on another vintage one (late 50's?) that rarely comes out of the closet. Ziiiiip! The pleats aren't even stretched out!! Oh I know what I'm wearing..at least one of the nights!

Here's a picture of that dress from about 4.5 years ago. (yes, my part was hot pink)

CS YAY!

I got my second CSA box yesterday. I love fall if simply for the pears. We doubled our order of pears and gave up chard.

They also sent me a recipe for broccoli cheddar soup. All of the veggies I needed were in my box, I just supplied myself the bullion cubes and cheese. It turned out so good! I really want to hug them! Too bad we missed the party last weekend..I could have had the opportunity!

Square!

I went home to my parents' this weekend and was surprised by 17 knitted squares!! Keep 'em coming folks! I'm starting to worry!

Mom also knitted me a sweater she claimed was too hard for her and wouldn't be able to make! It fits perfectly and is knitted to perfection. Lime green...and I think it will look smashing with dark brown pants!

One less bell to answer

Many things changing in the bluebird household. New job, school starting soon, new boy...it's a whirlwind indeed.

My new job requires me to drive a lot, but I will be teaching about conservation.... My books have been ordered and they are mostly used.... And I refuse to cry anymore so I won't waste anymore tissues.

So there you go...and here comes Fall.

*Edit* I suppose I should have used my hankies. I also find I am saving energy by not being able to listen to music. There's always a silver lining...or something.