July

Frack, is July really here already?  It's our 3 year wedding anniversary in less than a month!  How did that happen?  Most of June was spent working A LOT, doing some custom spins and getting my ass kicked at boot camp.  Unfortunately, I seem to have reached a plateau with my boot camp workouts.  I didn't really get any results this time, which is frustrating since I have many inches to lose and muscle to gain. 

One of the problems I have with it is that the workouts are so intense that I'm either too sore or rarely have energy to do any other workouts during the week, including cardio, which is what I need.  I talked to Corinne (aka kick ass trainer) and she suggested I take some time off and try something else like training for a marathon or 1/2 marathon.  My response?  BWAHAHAHAHA!!  There is NO way I could do that.  But she said she knows that I could.  She is training for PETA Pack herself, and when I went and looked at their site, I found this handy dandy downloadable 14 week 1/2 marathon training schedule.  I printed it out and started it on Tuesday.  I missed the first couple of days, but that is okay!  The schedule is now hanging on the fridge with check marks on my completed workouts.  Anyone else want to play?  Yaz??  Corinne told me I should sign up for the Rock N Roll 1/2 marathon, but that scares me too much right now.  Maybe when I get further into the training I'll have the confidence to do it. 

What else is going on in July?  Tour de Fleece!  Spinners basically follow the Tour de France dates and spin yarn and challenge themselves all month.  So far it has been really fun.  I'm keeping track of my goals and progress here.  What makes this TdF much more fun than last year is that I received my new Hansen maple miniSpinner  right before the tour started.  That little machine is AMAZING!! 

and my first mS spun yarn:

Send some healing vibes to our little (80 lb) Daisy.  She had to have surgery yesterday to remove some fatty tumors.  She is not very happy today and quite whiny.  She is definitely working the attention angle.  :) 

the HILL

Apparently I'm only good at blogging once a month.  I'll take it!

Last Saturday morning I met one of the ladies from my boot camp class at the HILL.   The HILL is the place we've come to dread, as much as doing our taxes, getting our periods and going to the gyno.  (or maybe that's just me?)  That's why it is the HILL and not the hill... or a hill.  Our bootcamp trainer, Corinne, has been throwing it into our workouts here and there.  Once every couple of weeks, we will spend an hour there, walking, running, jacking (jumping jacks, but forward moving), lunging, sumo squatting and/or high knee-ing.  And of course, we lunge and squat with weights - all the way up the damn thing.  The road is about 1/4 mile long, but the incline is ridiculous.  Evidence:

I really don't think this photo does it justice, but it's the best I could do.  And seriously, what an awesome view to work out to, right?

I won't let the HILL beat me, I will conquer it.  I hate that I feel so weak and slow when we workout there, so I started meeting a couple of the ladies there on Saturdays.  I can finally run up it without collapsing (until I get to the top that is).  This week, my goal is to run it twice.  Tomorrow, we are bootcamping there - send me strong energy!

spring has sprung

It's been awhile hasn't it?  Life has been crazy and good.  Work is busy, Brian is busy, we are happy and busy and I'm trying to fit some spinning in since my handspun yarn shop is finally open!  I hope you check it out.  :)  I'm always happy to do custom spins, from your stash or mine, just send me an etsy convo or pm on Ravelry (limejuicy).  I'll be having a small update next Sunday. 

Today, I spent some time out in our backyard with the camera.  Everything is suddenly in full bloom and growth mode.  It's insane.  The grass grows about 5 inches in a week, and is a soft, thick carpet.  It's hard to believe that the rose bushes were just 1 foot tall bare sticks 2 months ago, and now have monstrous roses on them.  TONS of them. 





We have irises too -



But the most impressive thing?  The plum trees.  Holy hell, we are going to have a plum season like no other.  The trees are chock full of these little guys.  We have two trees and this is just a photo of a tiny portion of one of them.  These trees have given us some of the best tasting plums we've ever had. 



Apparently, I need to learn canning so I can make some kick ass jam.  (If any AVers are going to want some, let me know and I'll notify you when they are ready to be picked!)

I really want to plant some more trees that I hopefully can't kill.  I seem to kill flowers (except for the roses that were already here when we bought the house).  Maybe some avocado, grapefruit and oranges?

Spring has sprung here and life is good. 

same as (insert ASL sign here)

I used the "same as" sign so much while talking to Kippi this week.  It is made by making that good ol' hang ten sign (thumb and pinky finger sticking out, middle fingers curled into palm), and then moving your hand back and forth between whatever persons/objects you are talking about.  I am amazed at how similar we are despite being from different backgrounds and being in completely different places in our lives. 

I'm fairly sure she has no idea how much she taught me and how much I appreciated her being here.  She is an amazing person, a strong woman and incredibly selfless....and did I mention fun?  Thank you my friend.  Please come back soon.  ♥

lately

As per standard operating procedure, I've neglected my blog - as well as my exercise program, running program, knitting and spinning.  Oops.  But, really, who is actually reading my ridiculous drivel?

Work has been so busy that I've little energy to do much else.  However, I have had a mini vacation of fun this last week with Kippi and of course I had to share a couple of pictures.   

Later this week, I will get back to the "normal".  (maybe?)  Gym time, running and spinning up new pretty skeins for my etsy shop grand opening.  As for the etsy shop, it looks like I may have to change my planned opening date, but I've got my fingers crossed that I don't have to.

And just because I'm random, I thought I'd share this shot from 2006.  Get outta ma' way!!!  Why isn't there derby here??

awesomesauce

I received an email from my beloved fibery pen pal (and "twin") Kippiann the other day telling me I needed to change my blog title from "the mundane" to something more fitting.  She thinks I'm not very mundane.  Yay!  I have been meaning to change it as well and since I've been feeling so damn awesomesauce lately, I thought that would be perfect.

What is awesomesauce?  Well, according to urbandictionary.com:
awe·some·sauce
-adjective or noun
1. Sauce that is awesome.
2. Adjective for something extremely likable or undeniably awesome.  <---- me.  

Back to work! 

back to the happy

Alright, I'm back in a happier place now.  :)  

I'm really going to try to update this a bit more regularly.  I seem to be easily distracted by my spinning wheel as of late.  I love spinning so much, but when I finish a skein, I have no idea what to do with it.  My already huge yarn stash keeps growing, and my obsession with spinning fiber means I'm buying that too.   So, over the last month or so, I've been considering opening an etsy shop to sell my handspun.  I absolutely love knitting with handspun, and it seems that others do too, but don't have the patience to spin their own.

I talked to Brian about it, and he thinks it's a fun idea.  Today I spent waaaay too long trying to come up with an etsy banner for what I've been thinking is a good shop name.  But then I started having second thoughts - is this a dumb name?  Does it make sense?  Will it be memorable enough? I need help!  I'd love your opinion or suggestions.

Here were my initial ideas:

• with a twist handspun - there is a With a Twist etsy shop already, but it is not yarn/fiber related
• twist of lime handspun - again, there is Twist of Lime shop, but not yarn/fiber related.
• limejuicy - this is my etsy/ravelry/twitter name, so it would make sense to use it, but is it too boring? Or a variation of it like limejuicy handspun, LJ spun, etc.

Yup, that's all I have.  HELP.  Ha!  And no, it doesn't have to be lime related or anything, it's just an easily recognized "thing" of mine.  I just don't know where else to go for ideas. 

I also need a new camera.  Where is my tax refund??

ETA:  I'm NOT creative with words, just with yarn, so I really need help! please?  :) 
 

struggling

this is much harder than I ever thought it would be.  I am so torn up about Chopper being gone.  I just want him back.  I realize that is a completely irrational thought, but that's all I keep thinking about.   :(

saying goodbye

Chopper
Choppy
Chopstix
Bubba
Pigface
Snausage

Some of you may already know that yesterday, we had to say goodbye to Chopper, our beloved pitbull.  He was an amazing dog, and most people that met him said that he changed their minds about pitbulls.  He and I went through a lot together and had a special connection.  And when Brian and I found each other, Chopper loved him too - almost as much as me!  ;)

I won't go into the details of yesterday, but I will say that we knew it was time, and he let us know that he was ready.  We were with him through the end, and I know he is in a place without pain now.

I want to share some of the things that I will always remember about him.  

The GRIN!   Seriously, he had a smile that was a mile wide.  

He loooooved riding in the car.  

 

He got along with all of the other kids

Burrito dog!  He was always cold. 

His obsession with food ~  yep this is a 15 second clip of him!

 

sleeping - a lot!  and he loved to curl up like this, talk about flexible!

Those eyes.

Thank you for loving us Chopper, we will never forget about you.  I love you. ♥

lunch break update

Here I am on my lunch break (quite a bit late I'd say), and feeling the need to finally blog.  It has been a while, and a lot has happened.  I won't bore you with the details...at least not right now. 

The end of 2010 in a nutshell (I'm so glad 2010 is over, such a sad year):

• Christmas ~ I finished my knitted gifts and they were a hit.
• my 33rd birthday ~ ouch
• New Years ~ uh, we managed to stay awake until midnight!

2011:

• family drama
• started back at boot camp at my gym.  I absolutely love getting my butt kicked three times a week.  LOVE IT.  I'm seeing results and have signed up for another session, so I'll be continuing to go through the middle of March.
• training for a 10k ~ really, I am.  And it's all Yaz's fault.  :) Yaz(notthepill) is a friend that I met on twitter/Ravelry like....2 or 3 years ago?  We've never met in person, but we have both started running.  She is training for a 1/2 marathon later in the year, and suggested running a 10k together at the end of March.  My exercise schedule now looks like this:  MWF = boot camp, TThSat = running.  Whoa.  I'm committed!
• I'm a spinnin' fool.  After all of that Christmas knitting, I lost my knitting mojo.  Now all I want to do is spin yarn and shop for spinning fiber.  

Bad Sarah!

I have not been posting!  I have a few things to write about too - I WILL post later today.  Hopefully, someone is still reading?  :)