Wildfire

I've neglected this blog a lot, but mostly I think it's for good reason. One of the major reasons I began this blog was to start finding me again, to give me back some sorely lacking self-confidence, and to make sure I'm not barrelling towards my forties all stagnant and absent from my own life. As I've been posting less and less, I've been feeling like myself more and more. So I suppose it might be time for a blog shift again, although I don't think I'll ever be fully done with the self-portrait project.

One of my goals this summer was to do things I wanted to do, but were "too afraid" to do them. A few years ago I started hoopdancing, and was very into it for awhile. I had one friend who would come over and hoop with me, but eventually that died out. And I was unable to find anyone around here that was interested. In July, I heard of a gathering about an hour from here called Hoopla!. We went, and my love for my hoops was reborn and I guess, in a way, validated. Finally I had found a group of people who loved hooping even more than I do, and they were so good and so inspirational. I didn't want to leave that night without building some connections, so I asked one of the ladies that ran the workshops if she knew any other events like this one coming up. She said the only one she could think of was the Wildfire Retreat. When I got home, I looked it up and found out that it was basically a training camp for the fire arts. www.wildfireretreat.com There would be hooping, poi, staff, fire breathing, and so much more, and we could go! We could have a whole weekend just learning more and more stuff with other people that like the same thing! After finding out about that, I did even more research and found a local group that met by the river every Tuesday for a local spin jam. How did I miss all of this before?

So we've been going to that, and we went to Wildfire. The photo above is from this past weekend at Wildfire. I took several hoop classes along with fire fans, belly dancing, and fire breathing. It was really an amazing experience and will have a lasting impact on me. I won't say I was one of those people that go and find the family they never knew they had. I was probably too nervous for that. What I did find is a place where I feel free to learn and fail, a place where competition doesn't exist and everyone wants everyone else to experience their personal best. I was shy, as I often am, and didn't make the kind of connections with people that I hoped I would, but everyone I have met has been so open and willing to embrace me anyway, and I feel more than welcome to pursue this passion as a new path in my life

This last photo is my first attempt at fire breathing. It's arguably the most dangerous of the fire arts, but in that environment and with that group of people, I felt educated enough and safe enough to try it. It was a hell of a lot of fun!

Run

I started running again last week. I'm not officially "cleared" to run again until July, but I started anyway. Right now I'm just running a little bit on my treadmill (which makes this outside picture a bit of a fake. But hey, I did go right back inside and run!), and I'll wait until July to move outside. That's a fair compromise, right? Anyway, I like running. I'm terribly slow, and I blame a good part of that on my terribly short legs. My "running" pace is 4mph. Yep, that's a 15 minute mile! That's o.k. though, as long as I can keep going. I signed up for my very first 5K for the end of August, so hopefully I can keep up the motivation and continue to improve. I'd love to be able to run the whole thing, but as I've never been much of an outside runner, I just don't know...

At Work

It's wedding season and I've been busy! Here's just a quick shot of me at a wedding last weekend. That's one crazy cheesy smile! (and one very nice wedding aside from the unexpected pitcher of "water" that turned out to be gin. oops! (not that I didn't notice at the first taste, but I already poured a glass!))

Memorial Day Weekend

We had our first camping weekend, and for the most part, it was our best one yet. Beautiful weather (most of the time), no rain (just a few sprinkles), and incredibly relaxing. Mazzy got eaten alive by mosquitos and swelled up like crazy, so it certainly wasn't her favorite trip, but Jack had a blast and wanted to live there "plus TV". Dax didn't catch any fish, and I'd prefer a little more sunshine, but it was a good weekend and at times, blissfully perfect.

May Day

What a fabulous first day of May! We took the kids to the park; Dax worked with Jack at riding his bike. Maz biked around and lounged in the grass with me. Kenny ran around chasing sticks. Perfect.

Sun Hat

Just me, enjoying some sunshine in my new fun sun hat I bought at H&M. I've wanted a hat like this for years, but I have a big head and can never find one that fits, so I am super-excited about this and plan on wearing it a lot!

Family

I've been absent for awhile now, and it's so easy for me to get distracted and out of the habit of posting, but it's time to catch up! Here's a photo of my siblings and me at my sister's wedding on April 10th. I love having a big family and love how we all bring our own brand of crazy to the table. The bride is my sister, Gina. She's the oldest. This is her second marriage, but her first wedding. She's beautiful! The matron of honor is my sister, Pam, who is second oldest. Then there's me behind her and my sister, Cori, who is the baby of the family. My brother, Evan, is the lone boy and second youngest. There is a 17-year span between the oldest and youngest! My mom told me once that she figured out that from the time Gina started Kindergarten until Cori graduated, she'd had a child in school for 30 years straight! Ah...I love family! I wish we all lived closer to each other.

Recovery/Sunday

I'm four days post-op and was cleared to take a shower today. Joy! I've spent almost every moment since Wednesday in my recliner in the living room (gotta love chairs that prop your feet up FOR you!). I've completely caught up with all of my online TV, but still haven't managed to get much work done. I blame painkillers.

I was also able to remove the bandages today, and I have to say my knee doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. It's still really swollen and I have a terrible case of fat feet from all of the excess fluid, but I think I'm recovering at a good rate. I'm able to put more and more weight on my left leg every day, and today I was even able to get up and down the stairs by myself, not to mention, in and out of the shower. My first day home, getting up the three porch stairs to get into a house was a near impossible task.

(the part nearest the bottom of the picture is the upper part of my knee. You know, Melanie View.)

We finished our four-week food challenge yesterday too. The last few days were a bit of a struggle since I couldn't cook, but we stuck with the rules, even though variety was a thing of the past! Tonight we're going to celebrate with dinner from Subway. We leave for Missouri in two days, so the next challenge will be trying to carry a small part of what we learned with us when dining while traveling for the next week.

Playing catch-up again...

I've been really slacking with the blog, but I did take a few pictures recently. This first one is another "Melanie has a hat on while the dog is outside" pic. I have a really big head, so it's sometimes hard to find a hat that fits. When I do, I'm pretty excited! I bought this hat at Target (in the men's section) last year, and thought it would be nice to have for camping, bad hair day, etc. I didn't quite get what the picture on it was supposed to mean though. A horse shoe? Baby chicks? Maybe "Lucky Chick"? Then I had a friend point out to me what should have been obvious. That's not a horse shoe. It's a magnet. Ah yes...I am a Chick Magnet! (note the myspace pose to prove my point. Hawt.)

Sunday (a bit early), we had our annual April Fools Party. This was our fourth year. We celebrate April Fools a little different than most people. Rather than playing tricks on people, WE are the fools. We dress up foolishly and play foolish games. The kids love it, and we have some friends who really look forward to it now. We almost didn't have it this year because of my surgery, but finally decided that it was worth it to squeeze it in. Thus, we had it pretty early.

And finally, surgery was yesterday. I snapped a quick pic before heading to the hospital.

I'm home now, hoping to heal quickly. Ow.

Tired

Nine days until surgery and a ton of things to do. This is the list I just sent Dax:

3/22--One World classroom Event
3/24--Mel dr. appt
Go look at Plank Rd. House
April Fool's Party
Kenny to Groomer
Laundry
Easter shopping (Easter is the Sunday before we leave for Missouri)
Mazzy's birthday shopping
Shoe shopping for Jack and Maz for the wedding.
Cooking and freezing for when I'm laid up.
Packing for the trip
Making sure the kids are ready for school pictures (3/31)
and the science fair (3/31)

That, of course, doesn't include regular cleaning around the house or photo work that I should be spending 4+ hours/day on.

I'm sleepy though.

Spring Cleaning

I have knee surgery scheduled for March 31, and we're driving to Missouri starting on April 6, so I've been doing my best to get the house clean, laundry done, and things taken care of and ready for the trip, well before the surgery. Plus, with the food challenge and all the cooking I'm doing, I'm spending less time in front of the computer, and therefore, less time updating the blog. These pictures are from a couple of days ago (St. Patrick's Day actually, as the green shirt tells me), during a break from cleaning my room.

I've been lamenting the fact that my pictures are boring, and I have the same sort of expression in most of them, but really...what am I supposed to do? Make faces? "Catch" myself mid-cry or mid-laugh? (let the eye-rolling begin) I did take some photos of me in my new lingerie this week, but no one needs to see that. So here's another picture I took, going for a different "look". HA! I spend too much time in my own company.

Behind the Veil

or curtain, as it were.

5-Minute Artisan Bread

My family is in Week 1 of a 4-week food challenge. During this time period, we're only going to eat foods that have 10 or fewer ingredients, and we understand exactly what those ingredients are, and how they made it into our food. So far, I'm loving it! It's taken a little extra time (especially at the beginning), but we're getting into the rhythm of it all. I have to say, I have never felt more overall satisfaction with what I'm eating as I have this past week.

One of our bigger challenges was what to do about bread. I haven't found a single store-bought bread that fits the requirements. I'm sure I could find some at a bakery or farmers market. Or I could just make my own. We have a bread machine, and while I like it, the results are fairly inconsistent, and the bread doesn't make me swoon with its goodness. I had heard about this 5-Minute artisan bread, as seen here... http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/cookbook/2009/artisan-bread/boule.html ...from one of the message boards I visit. While it certainly takes more than five minutes (you do have to bake it), the prep time is about as minimal as you can get! (well, not as fast as beer bread, but that's a different kind of loaf. This is more like a sourdough). One of the things I love the most is you mix up the dough ahead of time, and then just pull some out of your fridge when you're ready to make a loaf.

Definitely worth a try! It's fabulous!

Cropped

One thing about doing so many self-portraits is not being able to control framing very well. I'm lucky if I'm in frame at all, nevermind whether it's a flattering angle or an interesting photo. I played with some cropping today though and had some fun with it. Before the crop, this one looked pretty much like 90% of my other photos on this blog. At least now it's a little more interesting.

A Day at the Farm

We spent a great (but cold!) day at our friend's farm yesterday. We got to see Emo Cows...

ride snowmobiles...(that's Mazzy and Dax). We all got a chance to ride, but I think Dax enjoyed it most of all.

I have a torn ACL so I couldn't do much other than sit and watch.

The horses watched too. They look happy about it though. :)

That is ALMOST one beautiful pie!

Well, I know there's no new picture of me, but who needs THAT when you have pie? Overall, I was sooo happy with how this turned out! (aside from the edges of the crust getting messed up by the foil....the same foil that took out one of the points on one of my stars.) We're going to a friend's farm today, and I'm bringing this pie and a dark chocolate cream pie. So that's how I spent my Friday night...in pie heaven! And I loved every minute of it. I love love love baking pies!

Happy

It's a good week. I feel good. I feel happy. I'm not getting a darn thing done, but I'm enjoying my days.

Tuesday on the way to chess club...



Wednesday, killing time before book club....

Getting out of the house really does wonders. I should do it more often.

Smoky

Dax has been wanting me to learn how to do a "smoky eye" for a long time now. I gave it my best shot tonight, and while I do not think it's a look suited to me, it did make for some fun black and whites!

Hair

Messy, ratty, curly, straight. Sometimes I want it to take over the world. :)