My friend Beth and I have decided to do a little thing called the Warrior Dash this year. The extravaganza will take place June 4th and I am praying to be alive June 5th.
The Dash is a little cult following that is coming to Ohio for the first time. It is basically a little less than a 5k with an obstacle course involved. They call it a run from Hell. It should be interesting. While I am excited about it, I am also extremely nervous. Aside from being completely out of shape, which I am hoping to correct as soon as my treadmill arrives, I am missing a key ligament in my knee, so some of the tasks are a little scary to me. However, I am reading a book called "The Art of Racing in the Rain" and there is a chapter where they talk about racing, of course, in the rain, and basically if you fear the rain you will wreck; if you think too much, you will wreck; if you live in the moment and just do, you will be fine. So that is the mind set I am trying to have. It isn't going to stop me from trying to duplicate these tasks in my backyard to practice...however, I don't think my neighbors would appreciate me putting 1000 tires in my backyard, or creating a giant rope wall. My biggest fear is actually a couple of straw bails...you know, the giant round ones that you see out in the fields? Yeah, we get to climb over 3 of those...piled on top of each other. What I don't think people realize is that straw is chaffing...I used to bail straw when I was younger. You wear long sleeves and pants and gloves...on race day I will be wearing shorts, a tutu covered in feathers, and a tank top...this will do little to protect me from the straw....which I know I will have a problem with. I'm going to be wet from an earlier event, not to mention sweaty, therefore I will be slippery. If I can make it up and over these bails, I think I will be ok. I can handle the giant mud pit no problem, I can handle pulling my butt over some walls, I can handle jumping over some fire...but those straw bails are freaking me out!
It will be interesting. This is for sure.
I want to do something out of the box. I am going to be 30 this year and want to continue to live a spontaneous and active lifestyle. I believe this event will push me beyond belief, but also be a ton of fun.
Check out the pictures on their site...great stuff...
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
It's been a while again...I apologize, but a lot of stuff went down and I didn't want to be the debbie-downer blogger. No one likes someone that is negative all the time.
But things are starting to look up, so I may be back.
Lots has been going on, mainly with family. Momo, my grandmother, had surgery on Oct 27th and hasn't been home yet. It has been an up and down game of doing well to being rushed off to Cleveland Clinic and back again. She is doing much better now and I know she is feeling more like herself because when I went to visit her yesterday, she had makeup on and was worried about how her hair looked. I'm just ready to get her home.
It is hard to believe that Christmas is Saturday. I will be doing some last minute shopping tonight. We still do a low-key Christmas, thanks to never fully recovering from the economic downturn, but things are much better and Kevin and I have found ways to save money here and there.
I decided that this Christmas I was only supporting local economy. I think it was a good choice and the proprietors of the stores seemed very appreciative of the gesture.
Kevin and I have only been shopping locally for several months now. We get almost all of our groceries at a local farm market, and in turn, have become friends with the owners. They now purchase their firewood from us, so it is coming around full circle. I love the little farm market, Hall's Garden Gate. If there is something that we need, they find a way to begin carrying it in the store. I love knowing where my beef and chicken comes from along with all the dairy and baked goods. The owners only carry items from Ohio and try to carry as many locally grown items as possible. Of course, certain items require them to go out of state...pineapples, citrus fruits, tomatoes...Ohio can't grow everything. But it feels good to help support the local economy.
We have completely boycotted such stores as walmart and Sam's club. I don't care how good of a deal I can get at one of these "super stores," I would rather go to my local, family owned store.
I challenge you to all do the same. It's a great feeling when you are greeted by the owner of the store when you come in and they are truly happy to see you and they thank you each and every time.
I promise to write again later this week...it may be crazy busy at work with year end, but I am back. For sure this time. I miss my blogging friends and family!
But things are starting to look up, so I may be back.
Lots has been going on, mainly with family. Momo, my grandmother, had surgery on Oct 27th and hasn't been home yet. It has been an up and down game of doing well to being rushed off to Cleveland Clinic and back again. She is doing much better now and I know she is feeling more like herself because when I went to visit her yesterday, she had makeup on and was worried about how her hair looked. I'm just ready to get her home.
It is hard to believe that Christmas is Saturday. I will be doing some last minute shopping tonight. We still do a low-key Christmas, thanks to never fully recovering from the economic downturn, but things are much better and Kevin and I have found ways to save money here and there.
I decided that this Christmas I was only supporting local economy. I think it was a good choice and the proprietors of the stores seemed very appreciative of the gesture.
Kevin and I have only been shopping locally for several months now. We get almost all of our groceries at a local farm market, and in turn, have become friends with the owners. They now purchase their firewood from us, so it is coming around full circle. I love the little farm market, Hall's Garden Gate. If there is something that we need, they find a way to begin carrying it in the store. I love knowing where my beef and chicken comes from along with all the dairy and baked goods. The owners only carry items from Ohio and try to carry as many locally grown items as possible. Of course, certain items require them to go out of state...pineapples, citrus fruits, tomatoes...Ohio can't grow everything. But it feels good to help support the local economy.
We have completely boycotted such stores as walmart and Sam's club. I don't care how good of a deal I can get at one of these "super stores," I would rather go to my local, family owned store.
I challenge you to all do the same. It's a great feeling when you are greeted by the owner of the store when you come in and they are truly happy to see you and they thank you each and every time.
I promise to write again later this week...it may be crazy busy at work with year end, but I am back. For sure this time. I miss my blogging friends and family!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
It's Me!
Im back!
Kindof.
I apologize for dropping off the face of the Earth for months. I have been super busy. Plus, my writing was becoming stagnant, like myself, and I needed a break.
Things have been crazy lately. Work is in shambles. Our part time girl hit the road back at the end of May which meant that I had to start my dreaded drive back and forth to Lorain everyday. Goodbye 15 min drive.
To make matters worse, by car took a dump at the same time that I got the news. It was like it knew that it would be expected to drive an hour each way every. single. day. It gave up. So, Im driving my Ranger. Which I love, but putting gas in it, not so much. 17 mile per gallon x54 miles one way = a lot of cash I don't have. I won a small battle though last Friday and will now be getting reimbursed for some of the gas that I am burning.
June was a busy month. I went to New York City, which was a lot of fun, but oh so tiring. Next time I go I will stay IN the city, not Jersey, and take a whole week to roam the city. Basically the three days that we spent there, I could have spent the whole time in the Met, so the 20 min that I was alotted did not give me enough time to even find where I wanted to go first. Disappointing. I saw no celebrities, but we had no major catastrophies either. The Bronx Zoo was pretty amazing. Hyenas are HUGE by the way. The Lion King made me have this false notion that they were the size of dogs...yeah, dogs that were mutated by a horrible nuclear accident. They scared the bejezus out of me. I almost got attacked by a condor as well, thank God for the giant fence, cause that bird wanted to eat me. I looked like a tasty drumstick to it apparently.
The zoo was a good choice for our last day, even though our feet were beyond killing us by this point.
July I got to spend a weekend with my Aunt and Uncle at their new place on Middle Bass Island in Lake Erie. It is a mere 15 min drive and hour ferry ride away, but I may as well have been transported to Bora Bora. It was the most relaxing weekend I have had since my honeymoon. Their home is beautiful. The bed was like sleeping on a cloud and I could have easily sat on their second story deck and stared at the lake for the rest of my life, or until I got hungry. We spent the weekend biking around the island, riding wave runners, laying out on the floating island, (and getting rescued from the water snakes,) riding in Uncle Don's Donzi, sipping wine, and relaxing in rocking chairs. The highlight of the trip was a cruise that we took that was a fund raiser for the island's firefighters. It took us around Middle Bass, Sugar Island, Rattlesnake Island, and Put-in-Bay during the most spectacular sunset. I loved it and fell in love with island life on Lake Erie. It is my dream to own a small shack there someday.
My husband and I are still on the hunt for new jobs. I send out resumes pretty often, but no one is hiring, so basically I am wasting expensive paper, but I am hoping that one of these times, someone will see that I am well qualified and want to hire me. Im hopeful.
Work on the house continues. Slowly but surely. We ripped some carpet out of the soon to be office over the weekend. Kevin found an I-beam at work and is going to see if we can purchase that from the company. If we can, we can get the supports rigged up in the basement and start finishing drywall and putting in flooring. We are stuck until we get that done. Hopefully it is sooner than later.
I will try to catch myself up on everyone's blogs. I hope I didn't miss anything toooo important. But Im back, and promise not to go away for that long again!
Kindof.
I apologize for dropping off the face of the Earth for months. I have been super busy. Plus, my writing was becoming stagnant, like myself, and I needed a break.
Things have been crazy lately. Work is in shambles. Our part time girl hit the road back at the end of May which meant that I had to start my dreaded drive back and forth to Lorain everyday. Goodbye 15 min drive.
To make matters worse, by car took a dump at the same time that I got the news. It was like it knew that it would be expected to drive an hour each way every. single. day. It gave up. So, Im driving my Ranger. Which I love, but putting gas in it, not so much. 17 mile per gallon x54 miles one way = a lot of cash I don't have. I won a small battle though last Friday and will now be getting reimbursed for some of the gas that I am burning.
June was a busy month. I went to New York City, which was a lot of fun, but oh so tiring. Next time I go I will stay IN the city, not Jersey, and take a whole week to roam the city. Basically the three days that we spent there, I could have spent the whole time in the Met, so the 20 min that I was alotted did not give me enough time to even find where I wanted to go first. Disappointing. I saw no celebrities, but we had no major catastrophies either. The Bronx Zoo was pretty amazing. Hyenas are HUGE by the way. The Lion King made me have this false notion that they were the size of dogs...yeah, dogs that were mutated by a horrible nuclear accident. They scared the bejezus out of me. I almost got attacked by a condor as well, thank God for the giant fence, cause that bird wanted to eat me. I looked like a tasty drumstick to it apparently.
The zoo was a good choice for our last day, even though our feet were beyond killing us by this point.
July I got to spend a weekend with my Aunt and Uncle at their new place on Middle Bass Island in Lake Erie. It is a mere 15 min drive and hour ferry ride away, but I may as well have been transported to Bora Bora. It was the most relaxing weekend I have had since my honeymoon. Their home is beautiful. The bed was like sleeping on a cloud and I could have easily sat on their second story deck and stared at the lake for the rest of my life, or until I got hungry. We spent the weekend biking around the island, riding wave runners, laying out on the floating island, (and getting rescued from the water snakes,) riding in Uncle Don's Donzi, sipping wine, and relaxing in rocking chairs. The highlight of the trip was a cruise that we took that was a fund raiser for the island's firefighters. It took us around Middle Bass, Sugar Island, Rattlesnake Island, and Put-in-Bay during the most spectacular sunset. I loved it and fell in love with island life on Lake Erie. It is my dream to own a small shack there someday.
My husband and I are still on the hunt for new jobs. I send out resumes pretty often, but no one is hiring, so basically I am wasting expensive paper, but I am hoping that one of these times, someone will see that I am well qualified and want to hire me. Im hopeful.
Work on the house continues. Slowly but surely. We ripped some carpet out of the soon to be office over the weekend. Kevin found an I-beam at work and is going to see if we can purchase that from the company. If we can, we can get the supports rigged up in the basement and start finishing drywall and putting in flooring. We are stuck until we get that done. Hopefully it is sooner than later.
I will try to catch myself up on everyone's blogs. I hope I didn't miss anything toooo important. But Im back, and promise not to go away for that long again!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Working on my Sinatra...
Im going to New York City!!!!! June 11th thru the 13th, I will be tooling around the big apple taking in all the sights with some of my girl friends. I am beyond excited.
I have always wanted to go to NYC. I have no clue what all we are going to do, and I know that 3 days is no where near enough to see everything there is to see, but it is a start.
If anyone has any suggestions on things to do, shoot them my way. And if anyone wants to meet for dinner one evening, let me know as well! We are staying in Jersey to save some cash, but plan on spending almost all of our time in the city.
I do want to get a velour sweatsuit in some God-awful color, paint myself orange, and tease my hair to the sky-but don't want to get my ass kicked when no Jersey accent comes out of my mouth and I am found to be mocking the enigma that is a Jersey girl. It would be fun though, right?
Anyways. Excited. Excited. Excited!
I have always wanted to go to NYC. I have no clue what all we are going to do, and I know that 3 days is no where near enough to see everything there is to see, but it is a start.
If anyone has any suggestions on things to do, shoot them my way. And if anyone wants to meet for dinner one evening, let me know as well! We are staying in Jersey to save some cash, but plan on spending almost all of our time in the city.
I do want to get a velour sweatsuit in some God-awful color, paint myself orange, and tease my hair to the sky-but don't want to get my ass kicked when no Jersey accent comes out of my mouth and I am found to be mocking the enigma that is a Jersey girl. It would be fun though, right?
Anyways. Excited. Excited. Excited!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Great Grandma's Treasures
Hand pieced "dresden plate" pattern
One of my favorites. Hand pieced Double wedding ring pattern. It is so bright and cheery. It is one that I hope to get when she passes, but it may already be claimed.
"Sunbonnett Sue" pattern. Of course hand pieced.
A close up of the pattern
Grandma created this beauty when my great grandpa was sick. She took two sheets she had and pinned them to her bed and free hand-stitched this shell pattern. Using no pattern to go off of. This is an incredible feet! No puckers or anything. It is amazing.
Close up of the detail in the stitching. her stitches are small and consistant.
A strip stitch quilt. This was made from scraps from a local seamstress. All the pieces are hand stitched together and go in an alternating pattern.
Another strip quilt made with scraps. This time in a block pattern.
This is the quilt that I claimed. It was made with material from a local penny store with just white and peach blocks. Grandma thought it was too plain so she hand embroidered the star pattern. It is beautiful. She wanted to know why I wanted this one, because she thinks it is plain. I told her it was because not only did it show her piecing and quiliting abilities, but it showed her embroidery abilities as well-that it wasn't plain, because when you looked up close you could see the hours of work that went into it. It is my absolute favorite!
This is a memory quilt in a block pattern made with material from pieces of clothing from her children. the green in material from an old dress of hers. She was able to tell which material went with which child.
This is an afghan that great grandma made for her mother while she was sick. Great-great grandma would use it daily and wouldn't let any one else touch it because she was afraid it would get damaged. It is bright and cheery and made with left over yarn. It was given back to great grandma after her mother passed."Alabama the Beautiful"
Alabama the beautiful.
That is where I was all last week. Visiting my great grandma and being the awesome granddaughter that I am-driving for my grandparents.
It was a nice trip. The drive down was easy. No traffic, quick drive time.
My great grandma practically ran (well, her best attempt at running) to give me a hug when we got there. It had been 5 years since the last time I had seen her and 17 years since I had been in Alabama.
It was a long week of a lot of nothing. Which was nice for a change. I spent a lot of time sitting on the back porch, then the front porch, then eating breakfast with grandma and talking. I took lots of walks and did a lot of reading.
One day I took the time to plant flowers in all of grandma's planters and into her landscaping. She was so excited. I also helped her to make homemade apple cobbler and buscuits one evening. Hoping I got the recipe right in my head. She doesn't measure anything, just knows how much to use.
We went for daily walks together. Short walks, usually no longer than 500 yards, but nice time together none-the-less.
She was so thankful to have someone to listen to her and talk to her and seem truly interested in what she had to say. I cherished every word that came across her lips. I loved spending time with her and wish I had more time with her.
The last night that I was there, grandma came into the bedroom I was staying in and asked if I wanted to see her quilts. They are amazing. I got to hear the story behind each one and got to pick the one that I will get when she passes. I took the time to shake them all out and refold them. She was so thankful for that. She doesn't have the strength anymore to lift the heavy fabrics to fold them nicely. They were all stacked cleanly and "just like she used to do them" when I was done with them.
When we left Saturday morning, I couldn't help but cry. Grandma was crying as well. She just kept saying that she wished I could stay with her. I can't help to wonder if it will be the last time I see her. I hope not.
She is an amazing woman who has lead an amazing life.
She is a fiesty 91 year old
That is where I was all last week. Visiting my great grandma and being the awesome granddaughter that I am-driving for my grandparents.
It was a nice trip. The drive down was easy. No traffic, quick drive time.
My great grandma practically ran (well, her best attempt at running) to give me a hug when we got there. It had been 5 years since the last time I had seen her and 17 years since I had been in Alabama.
It was a long week of a lot of nothing. Which was nice for a change. I spent a lot of time sitting on the back porch, then the front porch, then eating breakfast with grandma and talking. I took lots of walks and did a lot of reading.
One day I took the time to plant flowers in all of grandma's planters and into her landscaping. She was so excited. I also helped her to make homemade apple cobbler and buscuits one evening. Hoping I got the recipe right in my head. She doesn't measure anything, just knows how much to use.
We went for daily walks together. Short walks, usually no longer than 500 yards, but nice time together none-the-less.
She was so thankful to have someone to listen to her and talk to her and seem truly interested in what she had to say. I cherished every word that came across her lips. I loved spending time with her and wish I had more time with her.
The last night that I was there, grandma came into the bedroom I was staying in and asked if I wanted to see her quilts. They are amazing. I got to hear the story behind each one and got to pick the one that I will get when she passes. I took the time to shake them all out and refold them. She was so thankful for that. She doesn't have the strength anymore to lift the heavy fabrics to fold them nicely. They were all stacked cleanly and "just like she used to do them" when I was done with them.
When we left Saturday morning, I couldn't help but cry. Grandma was crying as well. She just kept saying that she wished I could stay with her. I can't help to wonder if it will be the last time I see her. I hope not.
She is an amazing woman who has lead an amazing life.
She is a fiesty 91 year old
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Grateful
Last Wednesday evening was a very sobering evening.
My husband and I went back to my alma mater, Heidelberg (college for ever in my heart) University.
A gentleman from my home town, Don Behm, was speaking along with a friend of his, Jim Lichtman.
Don was in the 11th armoured division. Jim survived 3 concentration camps. Don liberated the camp in Mathausen that Jim was in.
The Great Hall, where they were speaking, was packed full of students and community members alike. The community members understood why we were there, the students, not so much. Im sure some of them appreciated it, but most just didnt understand.
Listening to Mr. Behm as he described pushing in the gates of the camp with his tank and what he saw when they broke through was devastating to hear. The tremor in his voice, holding back tears, made me break down. He was just giving a prologe to what Mr. Lichtman would be telling us.
Mr. Lichtman watched as his mother and sister were taken away at Auschwitz. He didn't know where to, but the guard pointed to the crematorium and told him that that was where they were going. Then he watched as his beloved uncle threw himself against the electrified fence because he didn't want to go through what the rest of them would be.
He was loaded back on a train and taken to one work camp after another. Finally settling in Gusen (Mauthausen.)
Here, he would watch as his father was beat to death because not enough Jews were killed that day. It broke my heart to hear him describe this. How the guard made him watch. How his father tried to give his tiny piece of bread to his son as he was being murdered. I sobbed. I broke down. Kevin was crying too. Yet, the girl sitting next to me asked me what my problem was.
Mr. Lichtman survived 100 days in camp, while most only last 90. He was in the infirmary, a place where the sick were taken to die, not get better, when the tanks broke through. He was 18.
He returned to his home to discover his mother was still alive. He worked to pay $1000 each for passage to America with fake passports.
He moved to New Jersey and began working for an appliance company and later bought it and became very wealthy. He didn't tell his wife, children, no one about what he had been through until he was in his 4o's. Then he decided that people needed to hear his story, if only to prevent it from happening again.
He speaks in Germany each year to students and all over America.
I felt blessed just to be in these two men's great presence.
I can't thank them enough for sharing their very difficult story to tell.
I wish the student's could understand how lucky they are. How this generation is dying and we are going to lose all their knowledge with them.
That it is our duty to carry on their memory and what they went through so that we never have to.
My husband and I went back to my alma mater, Heidelberg (college for ever in my heart) University.
A gentleman from my home town, Don Behm, was speaking along with a friend of his, Jim Lichtman.
Don was in the 11th armoured division. Jim survived 3 concentration camps. Don liberated the camp in Mathausen that Jim was in.
The Great Hall, where they were speaking, was packed full of students and community members alike. The community members understood why we were there, the students, not so much. Im sure some of them appreciated it, but most just didnt understand.
Listening to Mr. Behm as he described pushing in the gates of the camp with his tank and what he saw when they broke through was devastating to hear. The tremor in his voice, holding back tears, made me break down. He was just giving a prologe to what Mr. Lichtman would be telling us.
Mr. Lichtman watched as his mother and sister were taken away at Auschwitz. He didn't know where to, but the guard pointed to the crematorium and told him that that was where they were going. Then he watched as his beloved uncle threw himself against the electrified fence because he didn't want to go through what the rest of them would be.
He was loaded back on a train and taken to one work camp after another. Finally settling in Gusen (Mauthausen.)
Here, he would watch as his father was beat to death because not enough Jews were killed that day. It broke my heart to hear him describe this. How the guard made him watch. How his father tried to give his tiny piece of bread to his son as he was being murdered. I sobbed. I broke down. Kevin was crying too. Yet, the girl sitting next to me asked me what my problem was.
Mr. Lichtman survived 100 days in camp, while most only last 90. He was in the infirmary, a place where the sick were taken to die, not get better, when the tanks broke through. He was 18.
He returned to his home to discover his mother was still alive. He worked to pay $1000 each for passage to America with fake passports.
He moved to New Jersey and began working for an appliance company and later bought it and became very wealthy. He didn't tell his wife, children, no one about what he had been through until he was in his 4o's. Then he decided that people needed to hear his story, if only to prevent it from happening again.
He speaks in Germany each year to students and all over America.
I felt blessed just to be in these two men's great presence.
I can't thank them enough for sharing their very difficult story to tell.
I wish the student's could understand how lucky they are. How this generation is dying and we are going to lose all their knowledge with them.
That it is our duty to carry on their memory and what they went through so that we never have to.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)