Adventures of a silly, silly girl

Accountability, I needz it

2011-08-01T06:28:00.003-05:00

Hey y'all,
So it's been a bit since my last post. The quick and dirrrty since I last blogged:

Practice closure is going well. Very bittersweet in that I've heard it said, "it takes two years to say hello and a lifetime to say goodbye".
Because I was on the road more than I was home last month, this month I am focusing on accountability with my food plan. I won't turn into a food nazi but I am tracking my meals to help me stay focused.
I've realized that the idea of nailing a fitness regimen in the midst of starting a new job, and shutting down a practice is an extreme challenge. Now I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do about it.

That's all on this end. Knitting some socks for certain peoples as Xmas gifts. I'll get pics up when they are done. Have a good one!

changes

2011-07-07T19:56:00.004-05:00

So it's been some time since my last update.

here's a pic of me before I ran the 5k on May 7th:
I ran the 1st mile, easy. 2nd and 3rd were hardest things I've ever done and my bladder wasn't having it so I walked and ran but I did it. And I'll run another one later this year when it gets cooler.

Here's a pic of me at my new gig:
No, I didn't join the army. But I am working with service members. As a result, I'm closing my psychotherapy practice as of 10.1.11. I can't get into the details of what I'm doing specifically but contact me if you want to know more..I'll just say that it feels really good to be a part of something way bigger than myself right now.

I'm still knitting and crocheting but much slower. Life still hurts, grief still hurts but in between, I get little reminders that my Dad is still very much here with me.

i run

2011-04-18T08:57:00.003-05:00

Here is the supergirl yarn that I bought when I travelled to the Loopy Ewe while at CampKIP. Technically, it's madelinetosh sock in vintage apron but I like Supergirl better so that's what I'm calling it. The picture and the idea for the color way were given to me by the fabulous Erin of the Anatomy of Knitting Podcast. I love her.

I'm on about the 4th stripe of my Daybreak shawl. It's my first ever shawl. I like it and have made some mistakes already but they are mild. The yarn on the left is the awesome CampKIP color way from Turtlegirl and the yarn on the right is Dream in Color Smooshy gifted to me by Erin.

Yesterday marked a month since my Dad died of a massive heart attack. Wish I could say that life is easier or that it sucks but it's not as easy as too extremes. There are things to be joyful about: my niece, Applejax, getting ready to crawl, my accomplishment of running for 25 minutes straight as I prepare for my first 5k run on 5/7. There are things that rip my heart out: the community concert band program w/ the trombone section on the back where it's the only picture I have of my Dad and I playing trombone together EVER.

I keep to myself most of the time these days because it's just easier. I don't tweet a whole bunch and I could care less about facebook. Life is supposed to go on..and that part breaks my heart. Life goes on, and my Dad's voice becomes faint, and more distant. And I don't like it.

good point

2011-04-05T04:50:00.002-05:00

For those of you who don't know, Harold Kushner is one of my favorite authors and wrote one of my talisman books, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People."

I found this on the beyondblue and thought it had some great points. For the most part, people have been great but there have been a few asshats here and there. The article is below:

Harold Kushner explains what NOT to say to a grieving family in his classic “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” using as an illustration the story of Job (the faithful, righteous, and pious man who loses his livestock, house, servants, and children, and is afflicted with boils all over his body). Having lost his own son, the rabbi knows all too well what helps and what hurts when trying to comfort a friend or relative.

The three friends who came to console Job got terrible scores, and here’s why, according to Kushner:

Because the friends had never been in Job’s position, they could not realize how unhelpful, how offensive it was for them to be judging Job, to be telling him he should not cry and complain so much. Even if they themselves had experienced similar losses, they would still have no right to sit in judgment of Job’s grief. It is hard to know what to say to a person who has been struck by tragedy, but it is easier to know what not to say.

Anything critical of the mourner (‘don’t take it so hard,’ ‘try to hold back your tears, you’re upsetting people’) is wrong. Anything which tries to minimize the mourner’s pain (‘it’s probably for the best,’ ‘it could be a lot worse,’ ‘she’s better off now’) is likely to be misguided and unappreciated. Anything which asks the mourner to disguise or reject his feelings (‘we have no right to question God’ ‘God must love you to have selected you for this burden’) is wrong as well.

Under the impact of his multiple tragedies, Job was trying desperately to hold on to his self-respect, his sense of himself as a good person. The last thing in the world he needed was to be told that what he was doing was wrong. Whether the criticisms were about the way he was grieving or about what he had done to deserve such a fate, their effect was that of rubbing salt into an open wound.

Job needed sympathy more than he needed advice, even good and correct advice. There would be a time and place for that later. He needed compassion, the sense that others felt this pain with him, more than he needed learned theological explanations about God’s ways. He needed psychical comforting, people sharing their strength with him, holding him rather than scolding him.

He needed friends who would permit him to be angry, to cry and to scream, much more than he needed friends who would urge him to be an example of patience and piety to others. He needed people to say, ‘Yes, what happened to you is terrible and makes no sense,’ not people who would say, ‘Cheer up, Job, it’s not all that bad.’ And that was where he friends let him down.

The phrase ‘Job’s comforters’ has come into the language to describe people who mean to help, but who are more concerned with their own needs or feelings than they are with those of the other person, and so end up only making things worse.

* Click here to subscribe to Beyond Blue and click here to follow Therese on Twitter and click here to join Group Beyond Blue, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.

Live well for him

2011-03-22T06:57:00.002-05:00

He had a great life.
He left a wonderful legacy.
Live well for him.

Rest in peace, Dad. I love you.

the one where I crochet myself a top!

2011-03-17T07:02:00.003-05:00

Alright not the most flattering shots w/ the iPhone BUT i've already redone the straps to cross them in the back b/c I didn't like the way the top fit.

And look at my ass...that's what happens when you run, y'all...it get smaller!

March!

2011-03-08T19:05:00.003-05:00

Happy March!! Here's what I've been knitting/crotchetting!!!

The hubby surprised me by getting me an iPhone and since the case I wanted for it is back ordered, I took the left over rainbow sock yarn and made a temporary case for it by treble crocheting both strands together.

Did you know that yesterday I ran for 5 minutes straight? I dedicated yesterday's run to my late Pap Pap but here's another thing: your ears get cold when you run! So I took some yarn that was dyed just for me by ilovesockmonkeys on ravelry and wiped out a really quick granny square-inspired headband and ear warmer thingy. I could have added a flower to it..but I'm not girly when I run..I'm FIERCE!!

And here they are!! My double-rainbow socks are done!!! By far, my favorite sock yarn to work with because seriously, how can you be pissy when you're holding rainbows in your hands? I'm just sayin'....

decision time. gulp!

2011-02-28T08:01:00.006-05:00

More things I love about me and my life:

23. I love that I taught myself how to crochet & I enjoy it immensely.
24. I love that I have a spot in Brad Gansberg's Run in 100 days
25. I love that I have finally found a book that explains my intuition.
26. I love that I now eat veggies every day at breakfast.
27. I love that I found seeds to grow veggies at The Dollar Tree.
28. I love that I am embracing my inner geek and love stuff like Battlestar Galactica, WoW and that I understand the stuff they talk about on Big Bang Theory.

Whew! Oh and here's the stuff I've made this month:

Queen Anne's Lace crocheted scarf

Crocheted fingerless gloves to give as a gift (modeled by the hubs, isn't he a cutie?)Weebebeh hat for my friend L's new bebehgirl!I finished my Nutkin not so much socks! They are meh!

Other things perkin' about:

The Tax gods smiled on us and we broke even.
Negotiations continue on a new Fru-mobile
I made the tough decision to stop doing Jazzercise to focus on other training stuff. You can read more about that here
I made another tough decision to NOT go to Atlanta for a quarterly supervision group. It's about paying off debts, y'all.

Holy crap, I need to update!

2011-02-23T09:46:00.002-05:00

Alright Sunshines, more February love about me:

8. I love the decision I make to not take myself too seriously.
9. I love very much that I like to learn new things.
10. I love the fact that I try to find cheapy cheap books.
11. I love my practice office space:
12. I love the fact that my parents paid for braces for me when I was little to give me a killer smile.
13. I love that I married my best friend and I think it was the smartest decision I could have ever made.
14. i love that I'm not afraid to kamakaze my body in my gym. I used to be skerrid.
15. I love my family.
16. I love that I have two amazing kitty divas that love me unconditionally.
17. I love that my husband supports me and helped me make my dream of working for myself come true.
18. I love that I finally learned how to knit so that Gram and I can sit and knit at least once a week.
19. I love Ravelry and all the awesome people that I have met online.
20. I love to dance.
21. I love that I can run a bit now.
22. I love that it's Wednesday, I'm uploading my podcast and bloggin' instead of being at work just yet.

more february love

2011-02-07T10:32:00.002-05:00

Okay, happy Monday! I'm back with a few more things I love about myself:

4) I love that I can do my own french manicure w/out having to pay someone
5) I love that I've said aloud that I'm running a 5k this year
6) I love that I can crochet and knit with ease
7) I love that I come from a family of trombone players & get to jam w/ my Dad and nerfew every once in a blue moon

Love Love Love

2011-02-03T08:47:00.002-05:00

Happy February Bebehs!

In honor of February being the month of love, I figured I'd write here one thing I love about myself daily.

1) I love how easily I can pick up moves in Jazzercise.
2) I love that my collarbones show up when I'm working out & breathing in through my nose.
3) I love my nose. It really is perfect!

The 2nd month of classes have been posted for HPKCHC and I've got big plans, my friends!

Also, you may have noticed that it's been a bit quiet around here of late. Here's why:

I've started a fitness blog It may have more than you ever really wanted to know about me and my battles against fluffyness. For my friends and family members, it's my candid discussion of excess weight that has plagued me for most of my life. Consider yourself forewarned.
I've been knitting and crocheting a lot. And I like it that way. I like it better than blogging about it.
Money is tight, my caseload is low, and this has never happened before...EVER. I'm quietly freaking out.

Okay, that's all for now. Happy Thursday, y'all!
xo, fru

redirection

2011-01-31T21:00:00.003-05:00

Howdee y'all, and happy last day of the month!

I'm happy to report that I managed to crank out at least 8 projects for the Harry Potter Knitting/Crochet House Cup and am super excited about the awesome things that I managed to start and finish this month!

New classes go up tomorrow and I'm grateful for a later start so I can make notes on the projects that I want to get done.

The month has flown by and I am ready for warmer weather. Here's a pic of the latest things I've made:
And lastly, a quick and heart felt thank you to those of you who have been kind enough to donate to my upcoming misadventures to CampKIP!

Y'all rock and I am ever so grateful!

For JanaBananaPunkinPants

2011-01-25T08:10:00.002-05:00

1.	What color are your socks right now?	Pank
2.	What are you listening to right now?	the hubs cooing at JiJi kitteh
3.	What was the last thing you ate?	a navel orange & some semi sweet chocolataye chips
4.	Can you drive a stick shift?	nope
5.	last person you spoke to on phone?	le hupbs
6.	Do you like the person who sent this to you?	Jana rocks my socks!
7.	How old are you today?	34
8.	What is your favorite sport to watch on TV	football
9.	What is your favorite drink?	Coke Zero for the win!
10.	Have you ever dyed your hair?	Yep
11.	Favorite food?	Fried skrimp
12.	What is the last movie you watched?	The Other Guys..eh..not so good!
13.	Favorite day of the year?	Thanksgiving
14.	How do you vent?	I knit
15.	What was your favorite toy as a child?	Spiderman
16.	What is your favorite season?	Fall
17.	Cherries or Blueberries?	Cherries
18.	Do you want your friends to e-mail you back?	meh!
19.	Who is the most likely to respond?	don't matter, it's on le blog
20.	Who is least likely to respond?	see above
21.	Living situation?	cozy castle that I adore
22.	When was the last time you cried?	yesterday in session
23.	What is on the floor of your closet right now?	shoes
24.	Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to?	i'm not
25.	What did you do last night?	knitted some mittens and watched TV
26.	What are you most afraid of?	good question..must ponder more..I'd like to say, "I'm fearless, bitches" but we all know that's not true
27.	Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?	pimento cheese burger, please!
28.	Favorite dog breed?	all of em
29.	Favorite day of the week?	Thursday
30.	How many states have you lived in?	6
31.	Diamonds or pearls?	I'm more of a Diamonique kinda girl?
32.	What is your favorite flower?	Carnations

Why I want YOUR moneh!

2011-01-23T11:19:00.003-05:00

I've done a lot of thinking lately and came to some tough decisions regarding my future as a podcaster.

Just like it takes a village to raise lil' ones, it kinda needs to take a cyber-village to keep this lil' podcaster around. On my last episode in late December, I shared about my main resource: energy. And since I'm a therapeutic ninja, that requires most of my energy. I fully understand that this is my choice and I take responsibility for that. However, with many things in life, how I chose to spend my energy isn't as simple as an "either/or" set up..it's really more of an "and" set up, if you catch my drift.

For example, I refuse to put myself into a position of "Either I spend my energy podcasting or I spend my energy being a therapeutic ninja". One of the greatest things about being an adult is the flexibility I try to afford myself to do as much as I can with the little resources...er..limits possible. Hence, "I'd like to spend my energy podcasting AND I'd like to continue to be a therapeutic ninja".

Thus, the difficult decision was made on my part to put my sparkly-bedazzled-pank-cyber hat out and ask anyone who would like to contribute to the ongoing misadventures of sillyfru and Sassypants Knitter Podcast. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I don't ask for help readily, but the reality is that it does cost money to run a podcast. I've been very happy with podbean, my hosting site, but I do have to pay $$ to maintain it. The other non-quantifiable cost is time..and it does take time..and lots of it. Any monies donated will go towards the cost of paying for gas to get me up to Charlotte, and long term parking for a few days.

Okay, I think I've blogged enough about this. Oh, and before I forget:

I'm launching a new blog that is going to be soley focused on my health..you can find it at:

Head over there if you want to help me remain accountable to myself and the universe as I maintain my 50 lbs loss and hopefully lose a bit more.

That's all I got for now, Fru-out!

birfday prezzies!

2011-01-21T09:10:00.002-05:00

Okay, not part of the birfday goodies but I had to post this pic of JiJi pouncing on an afghan I just finished for a baby shower. Her expression kills me!

Birfday yarn from le hubs. From To-ply fiber Arts on Etsy. her site is here

awesome wollemeise yarn birfday goodness from Erin!

tiny buttercreme birfday cake from Publix!

my 34th year

2011-01-19T08:05:00.003-05:00

34 years ago, I showed up and it's been an amazing journey ever sense. I was a month early...Here I am at 3 months old I think..with my Pap Pap.

Okay, have a great day!

2nd week of january = snow, ice, knittin goodness

2011-01-11T13:49:00.002-05:00

Happy Tuesday from BayBay kitteh who loves her Daddy and uses him as a leg rest whenever she gets the chance.

I completed this Tawashi for my Potions class. It's for an upcoming bebeh shower!

I crotcheted this hat yesterday but it's a bit too bit so I may felt it a bit to shrink it a bit.

SuperC and I out in the snow/ice.

Alright, stay warm and dry and don't drive unless you have to....fru, out!

It's the first week of January!

2011-01-07T08:10:00.002-05:00

Howdee bebehs!

Okay so it's the first week of January and I've already finished 2 projects that have lingered in my queue forEVER. Here they are:
This is my crocheted tiara, submitted for the Harry Potter House Cup. Made with left over sock yarn that I love.

My first ever color work! This is my "Home is where the Hearthstone is" hat. The symbol is the hearthstone in World of Warcraft and you hit it when you need to get back home.

that's all that's excited me this week! Have a great weekend, loveys!

the year in pictures

2010-12-31T11:07:00.004-05:00

Highlights of my year..in no particular order...thank you, Tasha for the idea!

Held my beautiful niece, Applejax Hotpants, just days after her birth!

Knit my first ever sweater

Mastered sock knitting mojo..finally

Completed my first session w/ a personal trainer and puked my guts out.

I lost 50 lbs & had a photo shoot!

I really did rescue some kittens.
I went back to Hilton Head Beach & Tennis, my sanctuary as a kid.

Joe, Robin & I braved Grandfather Mountain.

I dyed my hair pank! I shall do it again!

I danced comfortably in a sassy lil dress @ Summer Workshop!

Prezzies for a certain someone...

2010-12-28T14:37:00.001-05:00

this is what i got for SuperC!! Okay, really I got it for the both of us....

It's a light saber room light that is remote controlled! I think it's pretty awesome!!

Prolonged Holiday Goodness

2010-12-27T08:26:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday! Here are some pics I snapped as we got SNOW yesterday..the day after xmas!!

First, here is what SuperC got me for xmas!! How I adore him!!!JiJi & BayBay supervising le snow

View from front window
Backyard

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-24T21:10:00.002-05:00

May your days be merry & bright!

Happy Holidays, y'all!

overdone

2010-12-19T12:05:00.003-05:00

Happy Holidays! Just a note from me to say that I am very busy and my blogging of late has been and may continue to be sparse.

To say I'm overwhelmed is a good fit but I'm working on curbing things out so that I can focus on things that really nourish me in the new year. This blog is definitely one of those things but I need to hibernate a bit so I can't guarantee that there will be tons o' bloggy goodness coming from me in the next few weeks, mkay?

good, I'm glad you agree.

Happy Holidays to you and yours,
Love, wendyfru

Bzzzzzz!

2010-12-13T20:07:00.003-05:00

Been busy of late..reading, editing the newsletter, getting the web version of ready to go, seeing ppl, surviving my first week of level 2 training group, and knitting a little bit.

Here's two things I've finished:

this is my first attempt at crocheting a headband. I love it! I used left over sock yarn from NHKnittingMama and from my Candyland Anty socks.You can't really tell from this picture but there are hearts in there..these are my I (heart) AAP socks. The cuff is prolly the longest ones that I've done and they are nice and thick and I like wearing these socks a lot. I goofed up the bind off but I managed to go back and fix it.

Okay, I have every intent on getting the next episode of SPK up by the end of the week. Hope y'all stay warm!

"it was hard & I cried"

2010-12-07T07:07:00.002-05:00

So yesterday, my stomach was on fire b/c I was trying out level 2 training grp for the first time. The above quotation is what I told SuperC about my experiences.

In level 1, which I began in mid June, we did 12 exercises spread out through the hour with plenty of breaks in between. Level 2, not so much. It is high intensity interval training with me going through 12 sets of exercises a minimum of 2x, ideally 3.

It was hard. I cried. My body didn't do what I wanted it to do. I thought I was stronger than I was. I thought I was fitter than I was. I wasn't and I am not. Luckily, the trainer only had me and this svelte wonderwoman to worry about so it was a mini personal training session that included:

reverse hand push ups (think push ups w/ ur hands torked out, wrists rotated up..this is where my knitting and crocheting helped me b/c my wrists are fairly strong)
Romanian split dips
Jumping chin ups
suspended one arm rows
frog jumps..ie..jumping, clicking ur heels together in the air
20 lb hammer curls (holy shit my arms hurt today)
frog jumps on the floor..ask a toddler, they'll show you

That's what I remember...and I'm glad to be humbled. My body had adapted and I cry from time to time when I work out..it's normal..it's just energy release and cleansing.

Life is busy otherwise. I've managed to edit the Newsletter for AAP and work on other things needing my attention. I casted on a pair of mittens w/ some NHKM left over yarn from my Candyland Anty's. I hope to get them before the spring.

that's all I've got, fru-out!

Makin' merry

2010-12-01T19:46:00.004-05:00

We snapped this pic of Ji before heading to be earlier this week. We have been watching the last season of Battlestar Galatica & when we went to turn the lights off over the fireplace, there she was!This is the holiday throw that comes out once a year and in a rare moment of tolerating each other, I was able to snap a picture of both of them, snuggling.

I'm on fiiirre!

2010-11-29T10:52:00.004-05:00

Happy Monday! I hope everyone is doing well! The weekend was great and I am thinking that I got enough rest because I'm not dreading going into work and had an awesome workout at jazzercise. Here is our tree that we put up! It's pank!! I love it!
And here is the precious BayBay kitty, sitting in my gaming chair, keeping her Daddy company while he scrutinized his fantasy football picks. She rarely poses for pictures so she wants me to tell you that this shot is a gift and I prolly won't get another opportunity to shoot her Highness again.

That's all I've got for a Monday, Fru-out!

Thankful

2010-11-27T07:59:00.005-05:00

Hey Bebes!

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and as usual, it all goes by so fast!

I was able to get some knitting done on these:here is the Yarn Ninja, endorsing my "um, Nutkin..not so much", done in Cherry Tree Hill's first sock club shipment of their Fingerpaints Sock Club. It's called Java Jive and I started the reverse nutkin pattern. However, after looking at it, and loving on this yarn, I'm switching to vanilla sock goodness. Did I mention that I love this yarn? It's thick, stretchy and freakin' flies on my nickel plated knitpick's circular needle.

I've been reading a good bit lately and may talk about my books on le podcast but here are the two I've been reading lately:Okay, here's the deal with this book. Ed's wife, Brooke, is a therapeutic ninja and one of my favorite dance partners whenever we go to AAP events. Either way, this book is awesome!

And this book reminds me of required reading for Grad school but it's pretty good so far. The author interviewed tons of women in the UK and complied their answers about their choices to remain without child. Since I continue to do a lot of work in therapy on my decision to not bear little ones, I have decided to review the literature to see why I feel so much like a martian for feeling this way. Lots of validation in this book.

Okay, gotta go splash off the stuffing!

A message from the 'yarn ninja'

2010-11-22T07:45:00.003-05:00

Hello Blog Readers,

This is JiJi kitteh. Mommy says I can update while she gets ready for Jazzercise.

She wants me to tell y'all that she had some kind of a bug this weekend and is better now.

She has started calling me her "Yarn Ninja" and I have to admit, I like the sound of it. Here are the latest socks she finished:
She's calling them "Monkehs" which confuses me b/c that's what she calls my demon-spawn sister, BayBay. She said something about getting them done in time to possibly win some "Woolmize". I don't know what that is but it it's anything like the other stuff that she uses to make socks..I'm sure it will be delicious.

She is now telling me that I simply MUST share the picture she snapped of me this morning. I woke her up early because my stomach wasn't feeling well and I puked. She got up and then said, ..her words, ..not mine, mind you, "Oh shit, I thot it was 6:40..it's 5:40, JiJikitty!!". As if I know how to tell time. Any way, I was feeling puny so she let me sleep on her Monkehs and that made me feel better. Then she decided to start another sock and here I am, giving her my seal of approval b/c, you know, that's how I roll:Okay, now I need to run because the woman is saying something about Jazzercise and where is my leotard..she KNOWS I don't do spandex.

Happy Monday, JiJikitteh, OUT!

MIA

2010-11-20T07:45:00.003-05:00

I liked this pic from shirt.woot.com

I've been reading a lot in lieu of knitting. This happens to me after I come back from conferences. I don't like to kick out big monies to buy the books so I write them down and high tail it to the library with my list and then read like mad when I get home. Hence, that's what I've been doing.

Still working on le monkeh socks, ribbing on my AAP socks, reading, and making myself a hat.

Happy Saturday!

Busted!

2010-11-13T08:13:00.003-05:00

I'm working on my monkehs so I can submit them in the Anatomy of Knitting Podcast's Contest to get some wollmeise yarn when Erin goes to Germany. Apparently, JiJi wants to help. I caught her red handed, mocking le monkehs.

Evidence Pic 1: Notice the paw position, and the little tongue, licking her lips

Evidence Shot 2: le Paw of destruction
Evidence Shot 3: After realizing that she's busted, JiJikitty "I do wat I want" Graham, says "the hell with it", and makes quick work of mocking le monkehs until they are rescued by her Mommy.

Happy Saturday!

PS: No socks or princess kitties where harmed during the shoot of this transgression.

Wat I've learned

2010-11-11T08:50:00.002-05:00

At the conference, there was a plenary on "40 years of being a psychotherapist: wat have I learned & wat am I still doing here?". I got so much good stuff out of that.

In the space of yesterday, I had a moment to jot down what I've learned from being a psychotherapist in full time private practice in the last 5 years. I'll share the good ones here and my hope is to re-visit this every few years.

I've never had a better job. This work rips my guts out, thrills me, terrifies me, feeds me, angers me, and blesses me.
If you just show up and pay attention, people think you're a good therapist.
I have never worked harder or risked so much than in this work.
The laughter of my clients is the balm that heals me.
Clients don't like talking to answering machines or secretaries.
When you make a mistake, own it.
Many insurance companies do not support preventative mental health maintenance.
Sometimes, accepting credit cards to guarantee payment is better than no payment.
When you have a strong reaction, own it.
As the Buddha says, "Be kind to every one you meet for we are all fighting big battles."
I am not a fan of insurance paperwork or diagnostic labels.
Sometimes we outgrow our therapists, mentors, and supervision groups.
Where I used to fear no-shows, now I see them as blessings.
When I am tired, I focus more on content with clients rather than feelings.
I can sit in silence a great deal longer now and prefer to be by myself most of the time.
In the words of Shelly Kopp, "If you miss something the first time around, don't worry: it comes back. It comes back again and again until the work is done.
Clients die.
When I am tired or stressed, I goof up my schedule.
Clients that are charming or overly complementary make me nervous.
Words will always fail me when I sit with someone who has lost a child, a spouse, a loved one unexpectedly.
My clients are my greatest teachers.
It's okay to cry in session.
Sometimes the risk of change is too costly.
I have worked for free and paid it forward much more than I'd care to admit.
The only life I can save is my own.
Losing fifty pounds has changed the way I work as a psychotherapist.

And I'm back

2010-11-08T08:22:00.003-05:00

Being away from home for 11 days has definitely been an adventure! Overwhelming, exciting, and at times, a tad homesick, it was a most wonderful experience.

Here are some snapshots of my favorite times on my adventure:
Addie and the lil hat I made her

Auntie Fru & her BellaBoo!Finished Candyland Anastacia's
Auntie Fru & Addie
BabyBro & his little one!

Fredrock

2010-10-30T12:02:00.002-05:00

The trip has been amassing so far!

The biggest drama was snapping the zipper on my suitcase before I left and having to rush like mad to wallyworld to get a replacement.

The day or so I spent with babybro and his family was just awesome. My nieces are amazing!

I'm chilling in fredrock today, enjoying the co,pany of my GrammaBelle and aunts and uncles.

I have finished my candy land anastacias socks but goofed up the bind off.

Go cocks!

T minus 2 days!!

2010-10-26T06:02:00.004-05:00

Happy Tuesday!!

Okay my head is full up this AM of various stuffs I could blog about so here it is, quick and dirty:

Happy Birthday to my father in law, whom I call "Papa". I love you!
JiJi kitty is currently beating the snot out of the air filter box and is soo proud of herself and is making sure I share this domination with you, dear bloggers.2nd shipment of Cherry Tree Sock of the Month club arrived yesterday. November's colorway: Secret Garden. Fru's opinion: I looooove it!!!

I leave in two days for my whirlwind adventure and all would be well but I have a to-do list as long as my hair (it's pretty long these days) and between working out and therapeutic ninja duties, I am a busy girl.

I have every intention of podcasting a bitty bit before I hit the road but lemme go ahead and share my trip schedule w/ y'all:

Thursday-Saturday: Fly from Charlotte, drive to Ft. Belvior, coo over Baby Addie, stay out of the way, and get my knit on, coo over le Bebeh some more and try to help AwesomeTash anyway I can
Saturday-Sunday: Rocket up to Frederick Maryland where my cousin, Poppers, and I will be getting out toes did on Sunday and her awesome butt is driving me into Baltimore on Monday so I don't spent a fortune on the rental car.
Monday-Sunday: Baltimore Inner Harbor Marriott where I will be enhancing my therapeutic ninja skills, knitting, resting, working out, working some more on myself and enjoying the company of some people soo very dear to me.

Okay, that's all I gots for now. Love y'all!
fru

My heart belongs to Applejax Hotpants

2010-10-21T21:12:00.002-05:00

Bebehgirl's rockin' the cuppycake couture already!

my two precious nieces!

Catching my bref!

2010-10-20T07:44:00.003-05:00

So here is my favorite pic of the Jazzercise adventure on Saturday night. It's me and Glenda, the other jazzercise instructor, doing our imitation of Molly Shannon's Superstar pose. SuperC says I look possessed here but I don't care..it makes me laugh every time I see it.

With the birth of Addison Hanley and a full up practice, I'm enjoying some very small down time this AM. JiJi is on the mend, and is in her race car, cleaning as I blog this. I'm very busy seeing clients this week but have an adventure to the fair on Friday afternoon planned. I'm so going to try Fried Cookie Dough..I ain't skeerid!!

So I gotta move it..but hope y'all have an awesome hump day!

she looks just like bebehbro here, I think!

2010-10-19T18:36:00.002-05:00

More pics of Addison Hanley King

2010-10-19T11:57:00.001-05:00

She's here!!!

2010-10-19T05:30:00.001-05:00

Dear Addison Hanley King,

I love you.

Always, Auntie Fru

An epic performance

2010-10-18T06:48:00.003-05:00

Here are my jazzy friends before our performance on Saturday night! These are the amazing women who have supported me, loved me, and cheered me through a 50 lb weight loss.

Our performance was awesome!!! I had a complete blast. I hope to have video of it to share very soon but we did so well that we will prolly be invited back to perform at a Carolina Basketball game.

The awesome part is that my Mom and Dad were there along with SuperC and our friends, Dushawn and Anama. And my Dad said that he didn't know that I had other talents that included Jazzercise. That just made my day!!! To have those people there to see me perform meant the world to me!!

Okay so now I'm off to go work out w/ my Jazzercise gals and then head into the practice for a long but rewarding day!

Hugs, snaps, love and sass!! Fru-out!

rest

2010-10-15T14:21:00.001-05:00

so glad it's Friday.

I'm home and resting w/ my knitting.

JiJi kitty is back to her presh self, watching me from her K-cup box mobile as I blog this.

Hope y'all have an awesome weekend!

My favorite t shirt

2010-10-14T06:48:00.003-05:00

If you're not familiar w/ woot.com, check it out. They now have shirt.woot.com and that is where I landed this awesome tshirt that arrived yesterday and I will be wearing proudly at training group this morning.

Yesterday was very stressful b/c SuperC and I had to take wonderJi to the vet. She was acting puny on Tuesday evening, very weak and vomiting so we stayed home with her yesterday and took her to see the vet. The diagnosis: she had a bug that just knocked the snot out of her. She got shots of antibiotics and has been on the mend since.

I know there was a question as to whether y'all could see my jazzercise half time performance and I'm fairly certain that it will be video taped so as soon as it goes up, I'll make sure I link it here. I'm very excited but my schedule is a bit wonky since I took yesterday off.

I did get a lot of knitting done yesterday on my cherry blossom monkehs and I"m not sure if I'ma keep em or frog em..I'm not sure if it's the pattern that I'm not liking or wat but we'll see.

Oh and look at this sock pron I found yesterday:

For some reason, whenever I look at this I think of the CareBears but seriously, the dyer hand paints the sock to look this way and then you knit it up. The dyer is Abigail Grasso and her etsy shop is here. I'm seriously thinking of splurging and buying these to help snap me out of my winter funk!!

Blanket done, just add bebeh!

2010-10-12T06:33:00.004-05:00

Dear Sweet Applejax Hotpants King,

I have finished your blanket.
I hope you get here soon because I can't wait to see you!

I will always be here for you and to buy you yarn and cuppycakes.

Since I know you're going to be the most precious bebeh ever born, I made you a hat.

This hat is from left over sock yarn and matches the color of your pad..ie your nursery.

See you soon, beautiful angel!

I love you,

Auntie Fru

JiJi presh! & perspective!

2010-10-11T06:18:00.004-05:00

Happy Monday!!

First I have to share some JiJi Presh (aka Precious!!!) Moments!!

Every AM, she sits right beneath me as I putter around on my computer and stalk ppl on fb and ravelry. here's a pic:
And every morning I can hear her purring until the cows come home and mind melding with me so I tried an experiment.
I went and got her "race car"..ie the Keurig Paul Newman Coffee cup box b/c who needs $$ of cat toys when she can just play w/ a box and tried to kick the box's ass every morning?, ya know? She hopped in the race car and settled down. She was mind melding that we were having an adventure.

Then I set the box in front of my monitor on my desk so I could love on her and she could supervise my farming in Farmville.

She approves!

Not to be outdone, here is a shot of her sister, that I snapped yesterday:
That's BayBay kitty, sprawled out on her back, in the hall way. I wanted to get closer but then she'd run away!!

And now a bit of perspective!

This Saturday, I'm making my dancing debut w/ my Jazzercise group as we perform at the half time of the Exhibition Game for the Charlotte Bobcats vs. the Detroit Pistons. Lemme tell you why this is a big deal:

I love to dance and I now LOVE fitness.
As a child, I double fractured my left leg while playing softball. I broke it at the growth plate and the femur. So by about 3rd grade, my athletic career was over.
This time last year, there is NO WAY you'd catch me dancing at half time. I think something like, "I'll be the fattest girl out there".
This year, I may still be the biggest girl out there but I'm very excited.
Since my athletic career was cut short, I spent much of my time in the marching band. No time for dance classes, watnot. I do remember a brief baton twirling class that I adored and a gymnastics debacle when I was in kindergarten.
So this Saturday, I get to honor the dancing athlete that I've become. I hope y'all will join me in that celebration!

Now I gotta go rehearse and put Vaseline on my teef so they sparkle!!

Smack some 'Bama Ass!

2010-10-09T07:17:00.003-05:00

Today the Gamecocks take on Alabama! Go Cocks!!!

Oh and how cool is this and why didn't they have it when I could fit into it?A TaunTaun sleeping bag? Remember, from Star Wars?!! I love it!!!

Today, I have a hot date w/ AHK's bebeh blanket and I will finish it this weekend! In fact, I'm not letting myself touch my cherry blossom monkeys or my candyland iris' until it's done.

Hope y'all have a great Saturday!!

Wednesday's Random Dozen

2010-10-06T06:55:00.003-05:00

1. If you had a theme song that played whenever you walked into a room full of people, what would it be?

easy: "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen

2. Which of your shoes are your absolute favorite, and which are of the object of your most painful shoe-buyer's remorse?

my speedo flip flops. I don't have any shoes that are buyer's remorse b/c I don't buy anything that feels like crap on my feet.

3. Tell about your favorite birthday celebration that you've personally experienced.

I threw myself a 30th birfday party and invited all the women that had inspired or supported me. It was amazing and one of my favorites.

4. If you were a flavor of ice cream, which would you be?

well I used to tell people that my blood type was Rocky Road so I am thinking my flavor of ice cream would be chocolate chip sparklie cookie dough

5. Have you ever had a crush on a movie star? Who was it, and are you still crushing?

Yes, Angelina Jolie and I still have a big crush on her.

6. Glasses or braces--if you had to wear one, which would it be?

Well, I wear glasses when I play trombone and when I'm too lazy to put in my contacts. I rocked some braces back in the day.

7. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

easy: Ashevegas

8. If money were no obstacle, what would be the perfect birthday gift to receive?

a year of trips to all the fiber festivals or to Sock Summit!

9. What is your favorite birthday meal?

easy: anything made by my Dad

10. Do you still send hand-written thank you notes?

yep

11. What is something you've done that you never thought you'd do?

knit a sweater

12. Mount Rushmore honors four US Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. If you could add any person to Mount Rushmore, who would you add and why?

Miss Piggy

Random Dozen here

Socktoberfest!!!!!

2010-10-01T07:04:00.003-05:00

Welcome to one of my truly favorite months of the year!! My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving but I love October too!!

So lot's of awesome stuff is happening this month!!

SAFF is happening up in Ashevegas this month. Sadly, I won't be there this year due to a concert band concert but I just know the girls that head up there are gonna have an amazing time!
Baby Applejax Hotpants should be finally gracing us with her presence later this month! I cannot CANNOT wait to meet this precious little angel. She has a "King" nose..see my nose up in the banner pic...see how presh it is? Yes, she's got a nose just like the rest of us Kings!
Socktober Fest starts this month which is a month of nothing but sockmaking goodness. And lemme just say, ever since I tackled my first sweater, I'm much more confident in my knitting. Which means that I've gotta frog some socks that just won't make the cut..ie my rainbow waves, and continue to knock out the two at a time sock goodness that I am now hooked on.
I'm also working on some more bebeh stuffs but I'm not ready to post them here yet..some are for BebehApplejax, some are for other wonderbebehs.
Finally, the big event this month that connects w/ BebehApplejax's birth is my trip up to see her and see my family up in Maryland. I fly out of Charlotte on 10/28, rent a car, tool over to Ft. Belvior, VA to meet my angel of a niece, truck up to Frederick, MD for a day or two to hang w/ GrammyBelle, and then rock on down to Baltimore on 11/1 for my therapeutic ninja conference w/ AAP. It's gonna be epic and the last big trip I take this year! I cannot wait!!

Okay, that's all i got, sorry for the quietness but SuperC had a big ole rootcanal on Tuesday and I was very concerned w/ him. In order to be there for him, I had to move clients and that meant long days in my practice when I was working, and then tending to poofymouthed C when I was home. He's doing better now and thank you bunches for the love and light!

wat's in a name?

2010-09-28T06:27:00.003-05:00

But wat's in a name really? I'll tell you about my name:

I was going to be named either "Jessica" or "Wendy". Luckily, my parents chose "Wendy", not after Peter Pan or the Association Song, "Windy" but from "Wendy" which is a Beach Boys song on their Endless Summer album. I've liked it ever since I've had it..wouldn't change it for the world.

My given birth middle name is "Francis". If you look at my facebook posts, you'll see that some people refer to me as "Francis" and that is what I was sorta know as during my first half of my freshman year in undergrad on the Marching Band field. It has to do with my full name, "WENDY FRANCIS KING" being listed in the student directory when one of my fellow trombone mates was trying to call me. She started calling me "Francis" and it has still stuck. I was actually given my middle name after my late maternal grandfather, Gerald Francis. Since I never met him, I often think that I was given the middle name "Francis" after Francis of Assisi, which my Mom, being a good Catholic, absolutely loves the song "Prayer of St. Francis" that is heard from time to time in mass.

And I pray it every day on my way to work...here it is if you don't know it:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon:

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope

where there is darkness, light

where there is sadness, joy

O divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

2010-09-25T19:25:00.000-05:00

Quote Of The Day

‎"Let's make a law that gay people can have birthdays, but straight people get more cake…you know, to send the right message to kids."

- Bill Maher, on discrimination towards gays

watch me get my PN on

2010-09-23T10:44:00.002-05:00

Okay so I've been quiet here b/c I've been busy, and have started a new fitness/nutrition program called Precision Nutrition.

and it's been a good bit overwhelming, requiring a lot of practice, preparation, and planning, and that has been a challenge.

I'm toying with starting a blog that has nothing but meal logs but I may not..I'm still starting out and very much feel like a fish out of water but all is well otherwise.

my java preciousssss

2010-09-17T21:49:00.003-05:00

Bebehgurl has joined her first ever sock club, y'all! It's being done by DBNY.com and I'm not sure it's open to the public yet but I hopefully made the cut and will be getting this lovely sock goodness sent my way next month!

Other good stuffs:

I got pumpkin spice, autumn harvest, iced nantucket blend, and mocha k-cups from Green Mountain Coffee and they are the shiz-nit.
I've not gotten much knitting done this week but did get a bit more done on some socks.
I remain forever grateful for the great friendship of some amazing women who continue to love me and cheer me on even when I'm down in the dumps

That's all I got for now..oooh..and the leaves are starting to turn here..well..sorta..I saw one tree that has leaves that are turning brown! I (love) autumn!

Hump Day Dozen!

2010-09-15T08:07:00.002-05:00

Link here

1. Do you do garage sales? If so, tell me about one great find. If not, tell me why not.

not really..I just have never thought about doing them.

2. Name the last thing you fixed.

my purse..the seaming was coming undone so I whip stitched it!

3. Name your A) Favorite item of makeup OR B) Favorite tool

Chapstick, for the win!

4. Which room in your home needs organizing more than any other?

the "fru" room..it's the catch all for yarn, books, gaming equipment

5. Which room could use re-decorating?

Master bathroom

6. Share something unique about your town.

I think Sherman burned it during the Civil War?

7. If you could send a one-sentence message to your great-grandchild, what would it be?

I don't have grands but to my nieces and nephews, I'd tell them, "pay attention, you only go around on the big ball once and Auntie Fru loves you very much"

8. Do you Facebook?

9. Describe your favorite shoes.

Speedo Flip Flops..two pair: one in brown/ one in black

10. Do you listen to more talk radio or more music radio? What kind of station is it?

I listen to the Public Radio here b/c I like the classical music they play

11. How far would you travel for a really good (favorite) meal?

hmm, good question..I dunno..

12. If you were totally honest with yourself (and us) what should you probably be doing right now instead of blogging?

packing my lunch for the day

Set that SHIT up!

2010-09-10T19:10:00.002-05:00

It's Friday and I'm sleuthing about..the week's highlights:

band practice was pretty good last night. I like the music and my chops aren't as weak as I thot they would be..and I get to play music w/ my Dad also being in the trombone section..how freakin' badazz is that?
I survived my return to training group..ie..boot camp..or what the owner is calling Frontier Movement..anyhoo..I worked out like a maniac..
However, attempting to curl 20 lb dumbbells after being away for 2.5 weeks was not a good idea..and it was not MY idea...

And hello..to get ready for Season 2 of Eastbound and Down, SuperC and I have been watching Season 1..and it's freakin' hillarious:

And hells yes, Dexter's coming back and I can't wait!

Random Dozen & yarn pron!

2010-09-08T07:33:00.003-05:00

To celebrate my 3 yr knittervarsary, I took advantage of DBNY's Labor Day Sale. this is Sockittome Select CherryTree Hill in Cherry Blossom. 80% Merino/20% Nylon. I've been admiring it from afar for a while.
Here's the free yarn pron I got in the form of a goodie bag from DBNY for being one of their first 200 customers for the sale.

Random Dozen, Labor Day Style

Link up here.

1. Describe the best sandwich in the world, according to you.

mm..I don't eat a bunch of sandwiches but veggies, grilled chicken and melted cheese!

2. Which inspires you more: a good conversation, a song, a book or movie?

a song or a book.

3. What is your favorite board game?

Scrabble

4. As you grow older, are you more or less patient with small children?

More patient with wee ones.

5. Name one item you never let yourself run out of.

K-cup coffee.

6. Do you agree with Tennyson's assertion, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?"

Yes, I'll never apologize for having taken every chance to fall in love..even if it was more of a misadventure than adventure.

7. Name one national treasure or monument that you have visited.

My favorite: Lincoln Memorial in Dc.

8. Which is more painful, to be disappointed in someone else or to be disappointed in yourself?

easily, myself.

9. What makes your kitchen uniquely yours?

hmm..I get to putter and create in it?

10. Are you a crafty person?
yep.

11. What is your favorite traditional picnic or bbq (cookout) food?
anything cooked on the grill by my Dad..he's freakin' awesome!

12. Name one leisurely activity you enjoyed over Labor Day Weekend.

I watched a movie w/ superC and got my knit on.

That's all I got for hump day, make it a great one, bebehs!

Holy shit, I knit a sweater!

2010-09-06T11:41:00.003-05:00

best shot I could get of the front

shot taken w/ the help of SuperC!!

so I've done it..I've knit my first EVER sweater! Am I happy with it? Yes..overjoyed? Not entirely..and I will definitely be making this one again with some more mods to it..also, being a fairly new knitter, I didn't have any idea wat the acrylic yarn would do..It's uber stretchy..but I think that's alright for now.

Now i'm off to finish NanaKate's bebeh blanket!

Happy Knittervarsary to me!

2010-09-03T18:26:00.002-05:00

Three years ago, I sat with a knitting book a friend had lent me, some size 10 aluminum needles and scrap yarn and taught myself to knit. The next day, I got on youtube and looked up videos and the rest, as they say, is history.

So in the last three years, I've become part of a wonderful sisterhood of amazing knitters, spinners, crotcheters. I am beyond thankful that a highschool friend on FB told me to go find Ravelry and I was able to become part of an amazing fiber community.

So this makes me so very happy!! And I never thought I'd ever be brave enough to tackle a sweater but I have..and am about 3/4 done. I will finish by this weekend.

Have a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend, y'all!

Energy shift

2010-09-01T11:37:00.002-05:00

Recovering from an epic burn out, I decided last Thursday to move my office around. The feedback I've gotten so far has been that it's more cozy the new way. here are some pics of my special place, my consulting room, my sanctuary:

This is what you see when you walk into my office now.

This is where I sit, most of the time. The shawl on the back was made for me from the amazingly awesome, Ilovesockmonkeys

This is my collection of angels, stained glass stuff I made and other things I love.

silly sweater goodness!

2010-08-31T06:42:00.002-05:00

This, my dears, is wat happens when I become obsessed with doing something. I knit like mad and obsess about my knit..in fact, it's never happened to me before..but this Shalom goodness has changed things for me! And oh snap, did you see I sorta haz collarbones? I haven't seen those in years and they typically only come out when I'm working out?!

Other cool news:

My Pop Pop (Dad) is on facebook!!!!!

My Father in law is back from the Mayo Clinic and the jury's still out on his prognosis so prayers and love and light that are continually sent will be absolutely appreciated!

Holy shit, it's a sweater!

2010-08-30T08:36:00.004-05:00

go back in time to last Wednesday:

I was on hiatus (still am) from exercising, listening to Gnat's latest podcast & chatting with her on fb. It was delightful and I complimented her on her redone Shalom and asked if it was a good pattern for a first sweater. She said yes and helped me find one to fit size 38 bust and I was off to the races.

so I'm thrilled and terrified because 1) this is an easy knit after you figure out how to purl through the back loop. I hit a snag, looked it up on youtube and then frogged it back to begin purling through the back loop again. 2) I love the yarn and I know some of y'all will shit bricks when I tell you it's acrylic but here's the deal: I have a bunch of acrylic yarn that was gifted to me and I picked this stuff up with a sweater in mind from AC Moore. It's mill ends that are super soft and it has a sheen to it that makes it look nicer than acrylic. Also, I'm not a yarn snob..not yet anyway..mainly because I can't afford to be. And even when I get out of debt, I'm not sure I will EVER be. 3) I adore this pattern..really..I LOVE it. And I think I'm all about to become obsessed with top down cardigan sweaters and if you check my queue on rav, you'll see that I queued a bunch o' sweater goodness whilst gaming in WoW on Friday. Yay for sweaters, y'all!!

And Wa-POW!! I finished my watermelon seagrass socks on Saturday! I rocked the sewn cast off by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I then decided to weigh out on my food scale my cake of KPStroll sock yarn in Tea Party and casted on for duckies. I also frogged the lovely charades in NH Knitting Mama's beautiful yarn, Candyland, and weighed and split the ball by hand. I'm not sure if I want to do plain jane's w/ the Candyland. I may wait also for the pattern that Roue from Knitcents and Erin from The Anatomy of Knitting podcasts are going to put out with their toe-up, heel flap pattern they created.

Okay, I'm off to knit. Enjoy your monday, Fru-out!

SewingMcSewyPants!

2010-08-28T06:45:00.004-05:00

Happy Saturday, bebehs! I have much to blog abt this morning!

Thank y'all so much for the love and light sent to my Papa. He's on his way back from Jacksonville today but has to go back again in two weeks for more tests.

Yesterday and this past week have been great. I've done NO working out! NONE. Here's the deal about that: I've been running non-stop since the first weekend of August when my cousin got married. In the midst of coming back, working for a day, and then getting to the beach, I returned to Columbia tired and frazzled. The beach was wonderful but nearly long enough. I came back to face one of the most hellish weeks in my practice of the year. So I was DONE...tired, ready to run away and join the circus. Add to that, my dear friend Lex flying in to help me learn how to do the Newsletter for AAP & it being a HUGE ass edition..it was bad, folks.

So I decided to take care of myself and get back some me time and that's what I did this past week. I rested, knit, rested some more and tackled my new obsession..and it's a knit..and I'm so excited about it but I'm not ready to share it yet b/c I want to do a podcast episode about it.
BUT..the highlight of my week occurred yesterday when Grammy taught me how to sew! Y'all meet Frances, my sewing machine:
Isn't she beautiful? She's a 1972 Sears Kenmore Sewing Machine. She has a bunch of cams, and the instruction book and I am amazed, honestly, that I can sew! Of course, I'm still timid but I follow so much better than when I attempted to learn a few years ago. Grammy helped me make my first EVER project:

A knitting project bag:

How awesome is this?! Grammy did most of the work but I was able to do some seaming and it went great!

remnants & gauge, oh my!

2010-08-25T11:10:00.003-05:00

So yesterday, I went to JoAnns to comb through their remnant bin and I pulled some things for me to play with when I have my first sewing lesson w/ Grammy on Friday. See that orange fabric that JiJ is laying on?! That's what I'm using for my fantasy football team circes..and remember, my team is named Badazz Cheezit!! Anyhoo..as you can tell, Ji approved of all my picks and blessed them by parking her furry azz on top of them.

Whilst talking to Gnat on fb, I decided, "you know..I'ma do that Shalom as my first knit sweater and rock it at SAFF". So y'all would be so proud of me b/c I did a SWATCH to make sure I got gauge, Gnat helped me find a pattern for bust size 38 and I'm off to the races. This is a big deal.

But the biggest deal of all is that today, my Father-in-law, henceforth known here as "Papa" is headed to Jacksonville today to go to the Mayo Clinic tomorrow. Please send love, light, energy, and prayers to him because we are hopeful that this visit will shed light on some of the issues he's been having with his heart.

Okay, happy Hump Day, bebehs! Fru-out!

Happy Birfday, Mimi!

2010-08-24T07:05:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to my Mom, Mimi! I love her very much!

beans & polenta!

2010-08-23T10:31:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday!

I've enjoyed a much needed quiet morning and am now having an early lunch before I head out the door to begin my work.

I'm having left over bean soup made in the crockpot w/ a handful of green beans thrown in and grilled polenta that my Dad gave me. It's very good!

I've been quiet on le blog lately because I've been editing and creating the newsletter for the one professional organization that I'm really the most passionate about: The American Academy of Psychotherapists. As of January 1, I will be the new Newsletter Editor, beginning a 3 year term of service. My very precious and dear friend Lex flew into town to help me as the current editor. We worked pretty nonstop all day Saturday and I worked on it pretty much all day yesterday. So I've not been able to get much knitting or crotcheting done but I will resume today.

I'm also very excited about another adventure that you may have heard me blather about on le podcast: Grammy is teaching me how to sew. Many moons ago, she and my late Pap Pap found a 1972 Sears Kenmore Sewing Machine w/ Cabinet for sale at the Bargain Box on Hilton Head. They got it for me and at the time, I did not have the patience or the zest to attempt to do anything with it. Well, Gram and I set it up on Friday and I've learned how to:

thread a bobbin
thread my needle
oil the heck out of an old sewing machine

I got right up to where I would start to make practice stitches and we couldn't get the machine to work so we gave up and thought that the machine had just been in hibernation too long. We were wrong! My Grammy figured it out and on Friday, I begin more of my sewing lessons..and boy, oh boy, do I have plans. I won't share those yet but let's just say they will be pretty fantastic, mmkay?

enjoy your Monday! Fru-out!

Yay for Wooliegirl!

2010-08-20T08:21:00.002-05:00

look at these awesome goodies I got from Wooliegirl! I won the stitch markers and the pin was just an extra circe she included!

an afternoon haiku

2010-08-18T14:40:00.002-05:00

an unscheduled break
sweet couch, how I gently catch
my breath to shine on.

Anotha dozen!

2010-08-17T05:58:00.002-05:00

A day early b/c y'all know I don't follow rules very well!

1. What is your favorite fair/carnival food?
funnel cake w/ powdered sugar & butter...pure goodness!

2. Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?
yep & I'm okay with that

3. What is your favorite gift to receive?
yarn pron, duh!

4. When was the last time you tried something new?
yesterday whilst working on my mystery KAL shawl

5. What is your favorite and least favorite book genre?
vampire lit, for the win

6.Silver or Gold?
silver

7. What makes you sigh?
the California Supreme Court

8. If you didn't know how old you are, how old would you claim you are?
12

9. Would you break a law to save a loved one? To protect a loved one?
hells yes, hands down

10. If you had to teach something, what would it be?
Highschool English

11. You're having lunch with 3 people whom you respect and admire. They begin to criticize a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. What do you do?
wonder what it is about them that makes them so snarky about my friend and then share it aloud

12. Which of the 5 Love Languages is your prominent means of experiencing love?
I'm an Acts of Service girl, myself

Monday's Random Dozen

2010-08-16T06:42:00.004-05:00

Yes it's late but here it is:
Here are the questions everyone has answered:

1. When was the last time you laughed until you cried?
Two weekends ago, when I was sitting with family, recalling the misadventures of my brothers and I when Dad would take us to Riches to do xmas shopping for my Mom.
2. If you found $10 today, what would you do with it?
I'd take myself to Rita's Italian Ice & get a frozen custard.
3. Do you volunteer anywhere?
Nope, no time.
4. What is your favorite summertime veggie or fruit, and how do you eat it?
watermelon, ice cold chunks right outta the fridge
5. Is your social sphere (circle of friends) small, medium or large?
small
6. When was the last time you attended a family or school reunion? How did that go?
We don't do reunions in my house.
7. When you're feeling blue, what is the best way someone can cheer you up?
Show me funny videos on youTube
8. Have you taken a vacation this summer?
Yes, a few but they've been smattered about & not a full week: West Virginia in June, Banner Elk & Hilton Head in August
9. What is the most unnecessary item you carry with you all the time?
A photo book gifted to me from the JD Tractor ladies that has pics of family and friends in it
10. What is the best summer flick you have seen so far?
Iron Man 2
11. Describe a perfect summer day. 12. Please a share a favorite photo from the summer so far!
I put these together b/c it made the most sense: Last week, I had the best day: hung on the beach and then moseyed around the outlets

i am back & not happy abt it one bit

2010-08-13T20:38:00.002-05:00

Dear Fru 2011,

If your parents invite you to the beach for FREE for a week, please take advantage of ALL of it..the whole week, the time w/ your parents, the sun, the sand, the quiet time away from Colatown.

Remind yourself that phone calls from clients can wait. Emails from frazzled parents of clients can wait. Insurance billing can wait.

Nothing is as precious as time with your parents at one of the places that was so special to you as a child. Nothing is as dear as being able to visit your Pap Pap at the Beaufort National Cemetery.

Sunburns, salt marsh, stories and laughter.

Yours,
Fru 2010

Get me the eff outta here

2010-08-09T11:05:00.003-05:00

Alright, I am back from the misadventures at my cousin's wedding in Banner Elk, NC. here is a picture of me on the swinging bridge on Grandfather Mountain.

You'll have to listen to the podcast to hear more about my misadventures but needless to say, I am thrilled to be home. Even if it's just for a day. And since I've been surrounded by people 24/7 since oh..Friday, I am resting at home today and enjoying the quiet and the kitty bebehs.

And in the process of moving clients around and trying to get things done, I believe now more than ever that there is never enough time or yarn.

I'm headed to Hilton Head tomorrow for a much needed break.

About to hit the road!

2010-08-06T06:59:00.003-05:00

But as promised, here are the ami's that I cranked out for the cousins:

A must-have for any girl headed off to college, it's a ninja! This ninja is special b/c it protects girl's from doucheworthy professors, roommates, and boys that jerkfaces!

My cousin is marrying someone w/ the last name of 'Byrd'. So y'all know I had to crank out some 'Love Byrds'...teeheheeheh..I am SOOOO clever!kisses and hugs, that's all for now! Fru-la-la OUT!

Random Ten on Thursday

2010-08-05T05:58:00.005-05:00

Y'all know I can't follow directions so here are my random 10:

Happy Birfday, Grammy Belle. I love you!
Pictures of amigurumi made for le cousins will go up tomorrow!
I've never been to Boone, NC but I'm going there tomorrow & can't wait!
Am still mulling over fitness options b/c adaptation is a bitch & my weight loss is stalled b/c I'm in such great shape..yes, I'm serious.
I hope my new shoes get here STAT b/c my feet are not happy when they work out.
This time next week, I'll be at the beach on Hilton Head Island.
The biggest bummer about having a best friend on the West Coast is the time difference.
I cannot wait for pre-season football to start this Sunday!
I don't think I ordered enough yarn for my watermelon seagrass socks. As if I need a reason to stalk KnitPicks site....:)
My attempts to stalk a yarn ball winder on eBay were thwarted. Frak it, I'ma order one..prolly from knitpicks :).

That's all for now, Fru-random-out!

off the grid, needles in hand...

2010-08-03T05:48:00.002-05:00

Howdee, bebehs!

I've been knitting like a mofo lately and not spending tooo much time in front of le pc. I had one of the nicest weekends in a while where I got to lay around after teaching h20 aerobix and knit and rest and repeat.

As usual, I've waited until the last minute to crank out gifts for my cousins. Normally this would be no big deal but I'm seeing them this weekend so I've been trying to crotchet like mad.

Wish there was more for me to share but there isn't. I'm knitting, crotcheting, trying to stay cool, and happy.

10 things...

2010-07-30T20:02:00.003-05:00

Can I just say that I am beyond floored by all the blog love that I've gotten from the pics of the photo shoot that my dear friend Lindsay did for me?!

Thanks bunches for all the love and encouragement, y'all!
Here's another pic:Grammy looked at it and said, "that's the one where you're trying to look sexy and stuff"

I got a bit embarrassed!

Okay 10 things to do instead of watching the idiot box:

write a letter, not an email, to a friend
knit
podcast
clean out your cupboard to donate to a food shelter
read a book
love your animals
clean out your wardrobe
call a family member to chat
crochet
count our blessings (I do this a lot whenever I'm petting BayBay or JiJi)

Enjoy ur weekend, fru-out!

A girl & her journey

2010-07-29T06:02:00.003-05:00

Then, July 2009

Now, July 2010

Don't mess w/ a girl & her gazpacho!

2010-07-28T18:06:00.003-05:00

Look, Pop Pop & Grammy! I made Gazpacho!

Here's a little story about how I discovered Gazpacho:

Many moons ago, I was a brownie scout and my troop had an International Fair. It was in a big multi-purpose room w/ other troops. And this girl with poofy hair and braces handed me a little dixie cup of what looked like spaghetti sauce & said, "Here, try this! It's cold soup. They call it Gracho or something...". Thus, began my love affair with Gazpacho!

So here's how I made this:

I took:

4 tomatoes
1/2 cucumber
2 green bell peppers
2 stalks of celery
1 vidalia onion
parsley, oregano, rosemary
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
1 tbsp of flaxseed
1 tbsp of splenda
1/4 c of olive oil
garlic salt

Threw 'em in a blender, blended the shit out of all that good stuff, and got me some gazpacho. Seasoned it with some Tabasco, and it was like summer time in my mouth! One of my favs, fo' sho'!

Little gifts

2010-07-27T05:59:00.003-05:00

This was the best part of my day yesterday! It occurred at 8:30 in the morning! I decided to take the morning off from Jazzercise. So here I am, knitting on my rainbow knitpicks felici socks, with JiJi kitty & BayBay kitty on their respective scratchies.

Yesterday turned out to be a most uncomfortable day otherwise. I arrived at my office to learn that the A/C was out. Normally no big deal but its a big sweaty deal if the temps have been in the 100's and they had been. So I was able to use an office upstairs b/c there are 2 A/C units in the building. It worked but I had to move 2 clients b/c they couldn't climb stairs. Then the sky opened up during my last session and it was a bit difficult to concentrate when I could hear hail pinging the window and so much thunder that I paused an awful lot to be able to talk.

Either way, I hope today is better! I hope everyone's Tuesday is a great one!

Fru's Ghetto French Toast Bake

2010-07-25T13:55:00.004-05:00

Look Pop Pop!! Another one for the bebeh book!!

Fru's Ghetto French Toast Bake:

Preheat oven to 350

1/2 loaf of french bread (I used italian bd from Aldi's)
4 eggs
1 1/2 c of milk (I used skim)
4 teaspoons of sugar (I used Ghetto sugar from wallyworld..ie splenda)
1/4 t of salt
1/2 t of vanilla
2 t of melted butter
cinnamon sugar

Cube the bread, I didn't b/c I'm lazy. I thawed it in the micro and sliced it. Sprayed a glass dish w/ Pam and then laid out the slices.

Beat eggs, milk, sugar, salt & vanilla and pour over bread.

Bake uncovered @ 350 for 45 minutes.

Remove and baste top w/ butter (I took the stick o' butter and just rubbed it sparingly on top)
Sprinkle generously w/ cinnamon sugar.

Put back in le oven for 5 minutes, remove & get ur eat on'!

** I call this Ghetto french toast b/c I used as many cheap ingredients that I could get my hands on. the recipe actually came from e-mealz in the meal planner for Aldi's. I think I crunched the number for this and this pan made 8 servings at about 210 cals a serving(crunched for the recipes that I used). Not friendly for those trying to follow a low glycemic index diet but an easy peasy bake that I'll definitely keep in mind for cooler weather. I'm thinking that a serving paired w/ plain yogurt would be a nice change to get enough protein in but this is a treat you'd want to indulge in every now and then**

Fru-french-toast-freak, OUT!

Friday!

2010-07-23T07:12:00.003-05:00

Happy Friday! This was the scene in the kitchen a few moments ago & I managed to capture it and share! Yup, we don't need no toys in this house...we just need boxes!!

It's been a very busy week. I wrecked my jaywalker socks and it truly bummed me out! I will share more about those misadventures via podcast.

Other stuffs is going on but I am pressed for time and need to move my can, so Happy Friday, y'all!

"t" is for tired

2010-07-20T18:26:00.002-05:00

I'm tired but the real news of the day is this:My knitting guru is 28 today! Isn't she just the hottest Grammy you've ever seen?!!

I love you, Gram!

2010-07-19T11:29:00.003-05:00

Happy Monday from JiJi Crocodile Kitty. We easily have hundreds of dollars of toys around the house for both of the girls. But the best toys that they adore the most are things like Styrofoam drink holders, boxes, and filter covers. In the picture above, this is JiJi kitty chilling in the bottom of a Styrofoam cooler that came home with me last night from Mimi and Pop Pop's house.
And this is JiJi's expression after I've kissied her face off and she's done tolerating me.

Fru-out!

books & yarn, yes please

2010-07-17T15:05:00.002-05:00

all the yarn I got gifted this AM after h20 aerobix by an amazing woman who is solely doing stained glass now!
another WIP that I was gifted!
an afghan that is just about done that was gifted to me!

books I got at the library book sale!

"I'll stick ya"

2010-07-16T20:11:00.003-05:00

4 times a year, I go w/ my awesome friend and we go to the public library sale. Because we are Friends of the Library, we get to go to the book sale early. It's typically a very good time.

However, today I arrived to find my dear friend kaykay in the midst of being yelled at by some jackass. Here's the thing about the library sale that drives me nuts. Independent book sellers show up with their ISBN scanners, big ass rubbermaid containers and go in and just take a shit ton of books to resale. I know it's a free country...but that's not the purpose of the libary sale in my opinion. The purpose is for members of the community to show up and buy books that the library no longer needs..so I tend to see lots of mom's that home school and college kids and professional types there.

I used the book sale to stock my professional library and grab more copies of my talismans to lend to my clients as needed. I use the book sale to also restock the lending library in my building.

So I showed up to see this asshat saying something and I was talking to KayKay and he said something like, "And she's just ignoring me now, standing there fanning herself.." and I just looked at him and said, "Dude, wat's ur deal?" And he said, "You both made me very angry". And I said, teehehehe..because I'm a therapist..."No ONE can MAKE you angry. Own it." Or I think I may have even said, "then own it." So he said, "I AM angry." And then KayKay and I went back to ignoring him.

So the book sale begins and there is a book seller who's bogarting the knitting section..well..the section where all the knitting books are..and I gave her about 10 seconds before I just reached in front of her and started pulling all the knitting books off the shelf that I could get my hands on. I grabbed these:

Knitting Rules! by yarn Harlot Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
the little box of knits for Baby by Sandy Scoville (brand new, still in wrapping)
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts off
Folk Socks by Nancy Bush
Jean Greenhowe's Little Gift Dolls
One skein: 30 quick projects to knit & crochet by leigh Radford
the knitting experience by Sally Melville

Total of above books: $13.50

"Borrowed from Coggie"

2010-07-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

I helped myself to this from Coggie I think it's pretty cool.

It's Friday. I'm taking the week off from Jazzercise b/c I am just into puttering around in the mornings on my own. I was all set to go pick some blueberry goodness this AM but that will prolly happen tomorrow due to the hours of picking.

Today we picked George Steinbrenner (who passed away Tuesday morning at age 80).
Here's Wednesday Wickedness!

1. "But why shouldn't I speak out? Don't you speak out in this country?" Do you speak out as often as you should?

Much of my work involves bearing witness to people and their stories, so yes, I speak out a lot.

2. "I am tough. Sometimes I'm unreasonable. I have to catch myself every once in a while." Are you ever tough and unreasonable?

Hells yes, I am unreasonable when it comes to um..Michael Vick's sorry ass, and anyone else to could ever justify harming an animal. Unreasonable, in some areas, yes.

3. "I haven't always done a good job, and I haven't always been successful - but I know that I have tried." Do you believe that sometimes you learn more from a failure than a success?

Yup, wat's the point if I got it right every time?

4. "Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next." Do you feel that you always have to win?

Hell no, see my answer's from above. The best lessons, in my opinion, show up after the job is done...or attempted and failed.

5. "It is unbelievable to me that the highest-paid team in baseball would start the season in such a deep funk.” Do you think money always buys greatness?

No, money is not emotional or moral. It's a means, a resource. You can be a loaded asshole, like..um..Mel Gibson.

6. "I take my last phone call at home at about 11pm." What time is too late to call you?

My family will tell you that I don't answer the phone after 7 pm. It's one of the downsides of listening to people talk for a living.

7. "Don't talk to me about aesthetics or tradition. Talk to me about what sells and what's good right now." Do you think tradition matters?

Yes, I do think tradition matters in most places. However, I'm more fond of family rituals that get handed down and are explained.

8. "And what the American people like is to think the underdog still has a chance." Do you tend to root for the underdog?

Sure thing. When I started my fitness adventure almost a year ago, I was an underdog who didn't expect to lose more than 10 lbs. Now, when I go to my training group, I am the youngest and most inexperienced. And it makes me work harder.

9. "I don't think I ever could exceed my father's successes. He was a completely satisfied man, he knew what he wanted to accomplish and he accomplished it. I did do a lot, though, to try to please him." Do you ever feel that you want to exceed your parents successes?

No, I used to but not anymore because as time goes on, one thing that is so clear to me is that my successes differ from my parents and theirs differ from mine.

10. "I'm really 95 percent Mr. Rogers, and only 5 percent Oscar the Grouch." In terms of cartoon characters, who are you like?

I think I'm sassy like Miss Piggy, aware like Kermit, aloof like Winnie the Pooh.

Dive Bombers & Hindus for the win!

2010-07-15T19:29:00.002-05:00

Hey y'all,

Okay, here are two clips of the two awesome ass exercises I did in training group this week:

And here are the Hindu Push Ups:

So it's Thursday and I'm feeling like a superhero from doing these awesome exercises.

Knit wise, I frogged the CandyLands yet again. And have met my goal as a hand cycler for Tour de Fleece by knitting 20 minutes a day.

that's all i got for now..fru, out!

let's play a game...

2010-07-14T08:41:00.001-05:00

random word association about my adventures...you get to put them together and surmise what I've been up to, mkay?

Ready, set, go:

blueberry crunchy smoothie, iPad goodness, Words with friends, work, glycemic index, frogged patterns, muscle fatigue, dragonbutt, thunderbumper, gratitude.

in le kitchen

2010-07-11T08:46:00.003-05:00

Happy Sunday, bebehs!

I'm puttering around in the kitchen this AM b/c I'm attempting to make sure that my meals for the week are semi-ret' to go so I don't have the temptation to eat crap.

Lookatwatifound!!!!!

This amazing blog w/ a boat load of crockpot recipe goodness!! I'm going to do the dried bean tutorial right now, y'all!!

Alright, that's all I got for a Sunday!

Fru-out!

pank hair, part deux

2010-07-09T15:29:00.003-05:00

yup, I redid my hair and here's how it turned out! I have it pulled up so u can see the pank b/c if I put it down, u can't see it too well. SuperC is either gonna be amused or pissed but I don' care.
And here's a fabulous pic of BayBay kitty yesterday:She was getting ready to beat a string's ass...hence the fuzziness of the picture.

comings & goings

2010-07-08T06:10:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday, I launched the last of 4 amazing young women. One went here, one went there..and while I never intend to have children, I imagine the feelings I experienced may be what parents feel when they launch their little ones onto the bus, down the aisle, onto a plane. Therapeutic partings are bittersweet for me, even when they are done the "right way"..as in both client and therapist have discussed that it's time for the client to move on, find someone new to work with, have a new adventure. Saying things like, "You're an amazing person" and "It's been a gift to sit with you" don't seem to do the feelings justice so that is a bit frustrating for me.
I've been tired this week. I think it has to do with the training schedule, my diet changing and the heat. It's been hella hot here in south cackalacky. In training group on Tuesday, I got down on all fours (wrists & feet) and crawled backwards in something called a Backwards Alien. It kicked my arse. Then I did this:
Hello, suspended row & holy hell, it kicked my ass.

Enjoy your Thursday, Fru-out!

Tuesday!

2010-07-06T05:49:00.003-05:00

I hope y'all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend.

I managed to snag some much needed time at the pool yesterday over at my inlaws and it was just awesome! And yes, I wore sunscreen!

I even managed to crank out a podcast and do the show notes.
I'm ready to train my arse off in my training group!

That's all I gotz for Tuesday!

ooooh, and here's the latest knitting project I finished: It's on my Rav page but I will also share it here. It's NanaKate's Monstah!!

extraordinary kindness

2010-07-05T09:09:00.007-05:00

On Saturday, I had a bit of a rough morning so I came home to find this in the mail from the amazingly awesome Ilovesockmonkeys ya'll, she made this for me and it's reversible!!!
It's such a hit, that JiJi kitty thinks it's her new neepy pad:

Happy birfday to US

2010-07-04T07:31:00.002-05:00

No better way to celebrate our independence than to look at how we, a hodgepodge of misfits from all over, came together and told the King of Great Britain to kiss our asses, in my opinion. Happy 4th, bebehs!

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

adaptation is such a bitch

2010-07-02T14:42:00.002-05:00

So in the midst of getting a heart rate monitor and listening to all the stuff that the awesome guy who runs my training group says, I realized something pretty big today earlier at jazzercise.

so here's how I understand this stuff and I could be wrong so if I am, please leave a comment to correct me. But essentially, our bodies adapt to the level that we work out. Which is why if you've done Curves, you hit a plateau and then either add more weight or do a different exercise.

well, it's happened to me in jazzercise. I wore my heart rate monitor this AM to just see b/c I noticed after I trained w/a trainer that the top part of the curve..ie the hardest part of the workout set, I'd be winded but okay. Well sure enough, I looked down at my heart rate monitor this AM and I was holding at a steady 160 bpm, which according to this means that I'm working out too hard, and am in "hardcore training mode" whilst I'm shaking it. So if I'm understanding this right, I'm way past the wt loss zone and am training where I should be working out less hard?! that don't make no sense. Correction to above: my avg heart rate this AM whilst working out at jazzercise was 148.

this stuff confuzles meh big time.

2010-07-01T05:48:00.001-05:00

bebeh girl FINALLY got herself some pank hair!!

it's there, just subtle, which I don't prefer...but I had to start small so that SuperC wouldn't disown me.

holy hell, i'm beat

2010-06-30T07:59:00.003-05:00

Happy Hump Day!

so the above picture occurred yesterday evening. This is what happens in the house when we have normal thunder bumpers. BayBay kitty does NOT like thunder bumpers at ALL. So this is what occurred yesterday during a storm. JiJi kitty goes near BayBay and stays near her to let her know that it's okay. And it's sooo sweet!!And happiness is also this tshirt that I found on threadless.com after someone told me about it at my summer workshop. Do you know who it is? Do you get it? It's Princess Leia and she gave Chewbacca a new hair style! buwahahaha...I think Chewy looks like JiJi kitty so i had to get the shirt.And if I ever wanted to know why i never get any knitting done..it's for reasons pictured above..wonder kitteh JiJi loves my project bags and hams around them and I can't disrupt such cuteness.

On other notes, I'm very tired. I'm blogging during the time I'd normally be at jazzercise but my body said, "please fru, give us a break". I went to my 2nd training session yesterday and did more awesome stuff that we did in PE class. I crab walked backwards, and did an inverted hand stand with my legs up on the wall. Thank goodness for my heart monitor. I worked my ass off and my inner athlete was so like, "hells yeah..wat else we gonna do?!". I am tired this am and instead of going to jazzercise, I'm resting b/c I will not over do it and injure myself. I'd rather take a day off until I get stronger than injure myself and not be able to do anything.

Okay, that's all I gotz for now.
fru-la-la, OUT!

Look who came back for a visit....

2010-06-29T06:48:00.003-05:00

So Friday morning, I saw something on the back porch and caught the goings-on of a kitty jamboree. HussyKitty decided, I think, to bring the two babies that we didn't rescue back to see where they were born? Anyhoo...that's Hussy pictured above.
That's one of le bebehs.That's the other bebeh.
And here is the paused action shot before they started KittehSmackdown Part Deux.

I called two cat rescues and they aren't taking any more kittehs. Hussy has moved on so we've not seen them since Friday but we think it's pretty funny that she brought them back for a visit.

That's all for now,
Fru out!

And le bucket list o' knitting goodness

2010-06-25T18:10:00.002-05:00

Taken shamelessly from my friend, yarnsalad! she's a spitfire gal, so go check out her blog!

Okay so things I've done are in bold, things I'm working on are italicized

* Afghan
* I-cord
* Garter stitch
* Knitting with metal wire
* Shawl
* Stockinette stitch
* Socks: top-down
* Socks: toe-up
* Knitting with camel yarn
* Mittens: Cuff-up
* Mittens: Tip-down
* Hat
* Knitting with silk
* Moebius band knitting
* Participating in a KAL
* Sweater
* Drop stitch patterns
* Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
* Slip stitch patterns
* Knitting with banana fiber yarn
* Domino knitting (modular knitting)
* Twisted stitch patterns
* Knitting with bamboo yarn
* Two end knitting – I’m not sure what this means. <-that makes the two of us!
* Charity knitting
* Knitting with soy yarn
* Cardigan
* Toy/doll clothing
* Knitting with circular needles
* Baby items
* Knitting with your own handspun yarn
* Slippers
* Graffiti knitting: knitting items on, or to be left on the street <- why the hell would I yarn bomb something? there's no time for me to do stuff I want to do, let alone leave it in the street
* Continental knitting
* Designing knitted garments
* Cable stitch patterns
* Lace patterns
* Publishing a knitting book
* Scarf
* Teaching a child to knit - I shall teach NanaKateKing & Annabelle Hart King soon enough
* Knitting to make money
* Button holes
* Knitting with alpaca
* Fair Isle knitting
* Norwegian knitting –
* Household items:
* knitting socks-
* Dyeing with plant colours
* Knitting items for a wedding
* Olympic knitting: medal x3 in this year's Ravelympics
* Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
* Knitting with dpns <-not a fan of, btw
* Holiday related knitting
* Teaching a male how to knit
* Bobbles
* Knitting for a living
* Knitting with cotton
* Knitting smocking - ?
* Dyeing yarn - one day, I hope
* Steeks <- scare the shit out of me
* Knitting art
* Fulling/felting
* Knitting with wool
* Textured knitting
* Kitchener BO
* Purses/bags
* Knitting with beads
* Swatching <--wat's that?! buwahahaha
* Long Tail CO
* Entrelac
* Knitting and purling backwards
* Machine knitting
* Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegated yarn
* Stuffed toys
* Knitting with cashmere
* Darning
* Jewelry
* Knitting with synthetic yarn <- no yarn snob here
* Writing a pattern
* Gloves
* Intarsia
* Knitting with linen
* Knitting for preemies
* Tubular CO: looks like a procedure to have one's tube's tied
* Free-form knitting
* Short rows
* Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm-warmers
* Pillows
* Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
* Rug
* Knitting on a loom
* Thrummed knitting
* Knitting a gift
* Knitting for pets
* Shrug/bolero/poncho
* Knitting with dog/cat hair: as in JiJi & BayBay's fur gets in just about every yarn I use
* Hair accessories
* Knitting in public

Tagged goodness

2010-06-25T17:45:00.003-05:00

Tagged from Knittinwolf, here are my answers:

Here are my answers...

1- What’s your staple meal (ie. what meal do you cook most often when you can’t be bothered to be adventurous) ? Anything with chicken that can be dumped in a crockpot and left alone

2- What do you want to be when you grow up? an astronaut

3- What book are you reading at the moment (if any)....Currently listening to The Colour of Magic, The First Discworld book by Terry Pratchett & In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

4- How do you relax? I knit, I blog, I crotchet, I sleep

5- What color are the interior walls of your home? Off white, we never bothered to paint

6- What is your guiltiest pleasure? a cuppycake from here or yarn from here

7- What time is bedtime and getting up time? Bedtime is typically 11 pm and up between 6-7 am most mornings

8- How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)? prolly 1/2hour in the AM too

I back in the saddle again.....I'm back!

2010-06-24T05:59:00.002-05:00

I managed to crank out a podcast yesterday! You can find the latest edition of my misadventures of podcasting goodness in the box to the right of le blog.

Survived training yesterday and was told again by a completely different person that:

Are you sure you weren't an athlete in school?
You did a lot better than I expected.
You're a lot stronger than I expected.

So I shall commence to move my schedule around so I can train w/ this group twice a week. We do mainly exercises that we did when we were in PE in elementary school. Remember hanging from the monkey bars?! did it. Remember jumping jacks and travelling forward? Did it! Remember frog jumping forward?! Did it!

I realize that means that I shall be working out M-Saturday and I say fuckin' bring it on..I'll be the hottest gym rat I know!

that's it for now, fru out!

the mythical 12

2010-06-23T09:16:00.003-05:00

Happy Hump Day, bebehs!All is well here.
This is my fitbit! I haven't named her yet but you can find out more about fitbit here I found out about it from a HungryGirl email and ordered one back in April. As y'all might remember, it arrived when I was headed up to West Virginia for my workshop. So the flower icon that you see above shows your activity level in the last 3 hours. You want as tall a flower as you can get. I managed to rock out an 11 petal flower this am after Jazzercise and am on the trail of the "mythical 12 petal flower". I will get there and when I do, I will be sure I snap pics of it.

I might get it today....

I'm trying a new trainer. My other trainer was kind and funny but he's uber busy and hard to get in touch with because he does landscaping in addition to training. Also, working out in a place w/ No A/C is a no no right now and I had to do that TWICE and that was 2 times tooo many for me. So I'm checking out a place today that works out ppl in groups and is a bit cheaper. It will either be great or not so great! We shall see!