Date with Creativity

My personal theme for 2011 is Foundations, creating a life defined by me. Part of this is being more than someone who goes to work, comes home, puts dinner on the table and then collapses in front of crazy throw-back sci-fi shows from the early 90s, as enjoyable as that is. To accomplish this, it's important to ensure that when I do have time, I use it to do something I think is fun.

And so, Sunday, I worked on a little wreath project. I have a newly developed affection for wreaths. Drama girl made me a great fall/Thanksgiving wreath. For Christmas the year before last, I made a plaid holiday wreath.

What I was missing was a winter wreath.

I believe in having a wreath for all seasons. It's a new thing.

Yesterday, I dropped Turbo off at his birthday party, and hung out at Michael's.

The ingredients to my wreath.

I wanted it to reflect that beautiful cold, glittery winter, but also capture the hint of spring that we all look for sometimes on a really cold day.

I used a moist paper towel dipped in snow tac to make the wreath all snowed-on looking.

Then, I placed all the pieces on the wreath haphazardly, in a way I thought I might like.

It looks awful tacky. But it's a good start.

Less gaudy, still too much of everything. Nothing has been glued on or weaved into the wreath yet, so I can make lots of adjustments.

By the way, nothing beats a clearance sale at a craft store.

Nothing.

This is the outcome. I only used a 14"wreath because I knew I wanted to use a lot of sparkles, blues and silvers. It sits on my door very nicely. I love the red cardinals and butterflies.

It is a bit blingy, but in the cold days of winter, bling is good.

Coffee Table chat

Literally, a chat about coffee tables.

In a large living room, they are the centerpiece. The furniture your guests can put drinks on. The place to put pretty art books and cute candles. For those with children, the place children color (preferably coloring books and not the table), climb all over and generally help create the aged, distressed look so popular nowadays.

We had one of those. We still do, hiding out in the basement until we get have a living room large enough to contain it or children old enough to not destroy it. Coffee tables. Currently, we don't have one. We use an ottoman. This way, we don't have to get angry when the children sit on it.

This is our current coffee table.

(I'm not taking a picture of YOU honey, I'm taking a picture of the ottoman.)

Mother never lies.

But for real, are those not some of the scrawniest gangliest legs ever? I think that's all he is now, scrawny chicken leg boy. There really isn't much else to him. Just bones and knees and elbows.

Anyhow. It's not just an ottoman. It's an ottoman with Purpose.

We're big Mario fans in this household. Except Super Mario Galaxy. We find that one mostly frustrating. By We I mean my Turbo Boy. Not me. I have gotten to be quite an expert at catching the bunnies and star pieces...

Anyhoo. The point is, this is our coffee table/ottoman/storage because it's the only thing that works for us.

One day I like to imagine the children will be beyond distressing our furniture.

One day we'll be able to lug the ole distressed coffee table out.

One day, I will have a blog filled with pictures of lovely living room covered in white upholstery and decorated with delicate candles and art books.

Until then, I'll have to accept that most of my household decor is faux-everything from Target, our candles are big lugs of wax that mostly no one gets hurt by and our upholstery is a washable twill that is not white.

This way, we don't have to be angry when the children distress it.

Heart of Winter

I always view January as the Heart of Winter.
It is often (where I live) the coldest month.
I always find January to be extraordinarily long.

But it's not just that it's the midst of winter, or the longest month.
It's also a time I view as sacred to the growth and energy spring brings.

It's a time to go back to the ground, back to earth. A time to stay quiet, reflect on the past seasons and prepare for the rebirth that spring brings every year. January is the time to reflect, plan, and store energy.

Soon, sooner than we think, the snows melt. The days lengthen. The winds change. Green sprouts through muddy ground. Birds sing through sunrises. Children run wild with the first scent in the air.

Now is the time to withdraw just a little within, to slow down and savor the time of solitude, using it for yourself, for your spring.

We're in the heart of winter.

Embrace it!

2011 - Building a Foundation

One of my fave friend bloggers came up with a word to define this new year, 2011.
She, the newly-stay-at-home-mother of just-turned -1-year old twins chose the word Nurture.

I loved this idea, and had to come up with one of my own. I love other people's ideas!
The past year I would best describe as react. I simply seemed to do things based on things that had happened. Nothing was really chosen by me, but by the things I needed to deal with.

This year, I'm choosing the word, the vision and the path:
My word for 2011 is Foundations.

Foundation.

This year I will set the foundation for the next 20 years, probably more, but Ilike the number 20. It took me 20 years to get where I am now, and so i'd like to focus on the next 20.

This year will be dedicated to setting up the basis for me to achieve and live the life I want to live, a life dedicated to meaningful work I choose and a life filled with time for
family, friends, husband, prosperity, happiness and the things that come when you choose your life.

So this year I work toward those goals. Of course every vision must have defined specific tasks to help reach that goal of creating a year of foundations. I have the standard life-long goals: taking care of myself healthwise, the constant battle to get in optimum shape and stay fit, to lose the eternally present 15 pounds, but for my vision, my word, Foundations, I have three major areas to work on throughout the year that will build my future, each with tangible goals I'm in the process of writing out now:

Financial improvement (notice I didn't say freedom, I don't see that happening in one year ;)

Adding creativiy daily - a focus on not only writing my novels, but incorporating the creative process of into my life every day not just writing, which is now a part of my daily existence, but taking a picture from a different angle, making a wreath. Doing something small every day that is crafty, creative, unique, and requires a sense of play.

Choosing my work -- I never wish to be marked by life's circumstances, unless those circumstances happen to be the ones I am hoping for. Sometimes, life does mark us, does create circumstances we aren't prepared for, and we have to face it and revise and adapt. But there
is much about our life we can choose and make our own, and work is often one of those. My work
will be an extension of me, a part of me. So the work I choose to do, that will pay the bills while still helping me achieve the life I want, doing the work I want, will be work that I choose.

Foundation.

I will build the rest of my life on the foundation
of the choices I make this year!

Anyone else have a word for 2011?

Bored Children Requires Project

Answer: Caterpillars and Ladybugs.

Question: What to do with two bored kids, a cold winter day and an egg carton?

2011, the year before 2012

...and the year after 2010.

I think most of us have some very strong opinions about 2010.

It wasn't exactly our best year yet.

Certainly not my best, but it wasn't the worst, and here's to hoping that 2011 is a step in the OTHER direction.

To be quite frank, to be one-hundred percent honest, the entire decade was a bit shaky for me.

So I look to 2011 as a chance to move toward a better year, a better future, a better life.

I wrote something similar on my other blog, so no need to go into details here, but I expect that 2011 is going to be a busy year for me, because I'm making it about me.

Yes.

Me.

2011 is all mine baby.

Yeah yeah the kids, I know, I'll take care of them.

There's the job, yeah, I'll show up there.

Husband, yup, I'll take care of him.

But... but there's more... there's... ME!

And 2011 is going to be all about me being me. It will make me a better worker, a better mom and a better, yes me.

I have no hard and fast goals for 2011. It's not like by 2012 I expect something concrete. No.

What I expect, is that by 2012, I'll be living a life defined by me, for me, that benefits my entire family.

Wish me luck!

....

p.s. okay I lied... I'm also going to try to blog regularly again...

Dastardly Dentistry

I, like many people, am not a fan of the dentist.

Or the orthodontics.

Or hospitals.

I still have my wisdom teeth. (Yes! For real!)

I visited the dentist today for a general exam.

Many people like to combine an exam and cleaning into one.

I'm not one of them.

I discovered the joyful news that most, as in all but two, of my fillings will need to be redone.

Also, before I continue on my orthodontric path to braces and jaw surgery, I'll need three wisdom teeth pulled.

There's a chance I'll get to keep one, and I hope I do.

Just because, how many people have a wisdom tooth actually come in?

If I get to the point of orthodontics and so forth, I'll be sure to post about it. With pictures.

If there's one thing I learned from the leek juice in the eyeball incident, it's that I should have taken pictures.

Washing without shampoo

I've been reading a lot of articles lately about how we shouldn't wash our hair with the modern-day chemical concoctions we call shampoo. I can get behind that. Chemicals are drying and icky and tend to give you scalp issues if you have a sensitive scalp.

Millions of Americans use shampoo every day and don't have hair or

scalp issues, but that's beside the point. Lets just agree that chemicals are icky.

And lets just say that, yes, shampoos are chemical concoctions.

There are alternatives! We don't need to be held slaves to sodium laurel sulfate.

1. Wash with water and a boar and bristle brush.

Welcome to pre-Cleopatra. Welcome to pre-civilization. Welcome to England, in th

e dark ages.

You get the point. However, if you have a boar bristle brush, and you do a good vigorous brushing after washing your hair in water, you should be set to go. The brushing is essential to get particles, dust and you know, dirt, off of your scalp, and to distribute the natural oils evenly. You'll have a point where your hair goes through a de-tox stage and becomes a source of fuel with the amount of grease and oil it produces. But after that, and with 100 brushes a night, it'll look fab.

2. Wash with water, baking soda paste. Rinse with vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is acceptable, too, I believe.

This also creates a greasy, oily hair phase, but not as intense as straight not washing, from what I understand. This one is to me seems acceptable. After all, baking soda is used in toothpaste, so it's not a far stretch to use it in place of shampoo, right? And who doesn't love the smell of vinegar? The key is to make a paste out of a small amount of the baking soda, no more than a teaspoon (claims the all-knowing internet). Then rub it into the crown of your hair, and rub rub rub. Then wash it out with water. Then, do a vinegar rinse. Your hair will.... feel a sight more clean than if you only washed with water and a bristle brush. Speaking of boar bristle brushes, you'll still need one for this option.

3. Wash less, with a natural shampoo.

This one sounds the mainstream compromise. You avoid chemically concoctions, but still don't feel as if you're hair, while smooth and shiny, may not be fully clean, in the American definition. It also lets you off the hook for washing your hair every time you shower, and lets you claim that you only use natural products in your hair. No sodium laurel sulfate for you. I believe for this option, a boar bristle brush is not required, but is recommended, as brushing your hair with a boar bristle brush is good in any option.

I tried the first option. For about three days. Half-heartedly. Besides, it was the weekend. But I have no tolerance for oily hair, and with fine hair, it was oily on day two and a half.

Option two sounds appealing only if you're out camping and run out of normal shampoo. "No, no suave, honey, looks like you forgot it, but hey, we've got some baking soda and vinegar...."

Option 3 seems to hold the most promise. Pay a lot of money for natural shampoo or make your own, and wash less. Maybe two to three times a week.

I have to admit, I'm curious to find out for real, what will happen if you choose option two. Option one is not really a good one for people with fine hair, but baking soda, vinegar? That could work. Unfortunately, I don't have the gumption to try it. I admit it. I would choose option 3, and toss in a boar bristle brush for good measure. I say would, because natural shampoos are pricey. Sodium laurel sulfate is inexpensive, lathers well, and makes me feel all American clean and squeaky shiny.

The Prissiest Prince

A bit of a writing blurb:

"And to what," said I, "do I owe this? You had a fit and pranced about, you prittled and prattled and flapped all about. You twirled and you stomped and you glared and you almost, almost shouted. You pouted and sulked and for what, do you even remember?"

"Yes mommy queen," said the prince. "I did. And I don't remember why. But just let me give you a gentle lovely kiss."

"What would you do with this kiss, you know my answer and though I love nothing more than for my prince to kiss my cheek, I don’t for a second believe your dance is over."

"Just one kiss mommy queen, just one. Take three steps forward, three steps sideways and one little hop. Just one kiss I want to give."

I took three steps forward, three steps to the side, one little hop and a kiss I did receive.

And that is how the prissiest prince who ever pranced had a mother who was a frog.

Leek Juice Attack

I have somehow managed to get leek juice in my eye, causing an allergic reaction, causing my eyeball to swell up.

Awesomeness.

Now my eyeball is sore.

I have eyedrops.

I have a patch and look like a pirate.

Arrrgh.

Rosemary forests forever

The one thing that threw me off is getting adjusted to working and finding a schedule that lets me do the things I love more than anything: writing, gardening and messing around with pics on the camera.

Today's pic is Rosemary, brought to you by my love of fresh rosemary, usually mixed with lemon and crushed garlic smothered over lamb chops. I've got a bunch growing on my back patio and my front porch.

Yes, that is weak, sad basil growing out of one of the pockets. It'll bounce back. It's basil!

Now, I also love the way Rosemary looks.

Earthy green and strong. I've got a bunch growing on my back patio and my front porch. But the photos alone didn't capture that deep, earthy feeling that Rosemary gives to me. So I changed it a bit.

See the strong branches that the rosemary leaves use for support? The color?

If only there were forests of Rosemary.

I'd walk through them every day.

The best dinners are someone else's

Since I'm working now, but still determined to not suffer the 'i work, therefore the family eats fast food death' conundrum, I've re-discovered those quaint little places where you go and prepare like, a month's worth of food, and then stock your freezer.

Defrost it the night before, and the only thing you do to cook after the third 'one of those days' you've had this week week, is come home, toss some veggies in the microwave and some rice in the rice cooker and whatever is already pre-pared in the oven. No prep time. No cutting. No dicing. No slicing. No dinner-preparation clean-up. It's all done.

This is brilliant. I even found a place that puts it together for you, so all I have to do is GO PICK IT UP! For reals! Seriously. All I do is glance at a website, think, hmm, ginger and lemon pork tendorloin, yes, mushroom gouda burgers, yes, avocado fish tacos, no, and so forth.

Sometimes, sometimes... I even order the side dishes...

Something happened though, in the second month, after the 12th pre-prepared meal was cooked and served...

"Mom, this brown sugar meatloaf is yummy." Umm er yes.

"Can we ALWAYS have this dinner?" Err err they may not offer it next month.

"Mom, this garlic bread is the best ever!" Hmm.

"Mom, this chicken is my FAVORITE." ahh. yes.

See? Suddenly, all the food on the table that they eat is... delicious. But. Not. Mine.

I'm torn. I mean, I do still cook. Occasionally.... but those comments on those nights seem lacking.

On the other hand.

12 out of 30 nights a month, food is ready for the oven!

Lets talk REVISIONS!

I was told to just send out what I'd written (ACK).

I was advised (by smart, writery people, mind you, not just random people) to just suck it up and push it out the door.

But.

I. Must. Revise.

I'm doing my best to revise, not rewrite, but just.... revise.

I need to stick to the things I know I need to look out for:

• consistent age of character (yes, I changed her age four times, what of it?)
• consistent story line (as in, does it make sense?)
• reads correct for targeted age group (re: I changed her age four times...)
• is actually decent

I started the revisions and to my not so much joy, I discovered something.

It is very hard to revise one story and write another when you have a day job.

Help.

ggooglelot

It seems no matter how hard I try, I end up writing back here. It's like my safe spot. My 'no one knows about this place' spot, it's my 'unfocused, unfettered writing' spot.

Wherein I detail all the sordid details of staying at home and now, working and not staying home.

I'll tell you what, now I understand why there are more stay at home mom bloggers than working mom bloggers!

Who has time? Who ISN'T TIred?

How many nights up til midnight can I handle?

And, more importantly, how can I be entertaining when I can barely stay awake?

hmmm

By Golly I think I've Got it

A balance I mean.

Check out my website: http://www.digifuss.com/ I changed it around (again) and am fiddling with what I want it to do.

It's where I will slowly (VERY SLOWLY) be transferring all my blog posts.

It seems that after a year and a half of working, I may actually have found a sort of balance.
Mind you, with my life, this will disappear quite quickly.

Anyhow, check it out. There's a lot of fine-tuning I'm trying to work out. Mainly, how to be less dry lol and what topics to focus on. I'll probably add a gardening blurb on their too, since gardening in Colorado has become somewhat of an obsession for me!

The Pondering Week

It's 5 a.m.

This is the time I wish I got up every morning. I'd like to be up, an early riser, at 5 a.m. every morning. Sadly, I only wake up this early when I've got that special allergy medicine head that makes it hard to sleep, or when a child wakes me (despite them all being school-age now!) or you know, I just can't sleep, or I have a bizarre dream, or I have one of those panicky check on the kids moments because I heard one coughing or crying.

And all I can think about is, all the things I'm not doing that I want to do, and how I can fit time into my day to do the things I really enjoy, like, oh writing, spending time with the mutt, and actually taking pictures again.

This is going to be my 'pondering' week. Because at the end of the day, I'm sure I CAN find time to fit these things in. It's, I'm sure, a mindset change. The same mindset change that lets me get up and jog three times a week and do a bit of a workout twice a week.

Maybe, just maybe, I can get up at 5 a.m. to write. Or maybe, maybe I just have to face that I must write at night (I'm by nature a morning writer, all my great thoughts are in the morning. My brain is fried at night). Maybe, just maybe, it's time to win the lottery, so I can stay home again and write more.

This week though, by the end of this week, I will have a solution.

Otherwise, why am I up at 5 a.m.?

Martinis and writing

After one of 'those' days at work, I went home to recreate my favorite, but not-oft indulged, treat: a dirty martini. I like two martinis. I like dry martinis and I like dirty martinis. A dry, dirty martini is a glass of awesomeness.

While making this concoction of Gin and Vermouth, I thought of many of our great writers, and their little problem with alcohol. And how alcohol fueled their creative processes. Well, so I imagine, else why would so many writers be alcoholics?

So I decided to see if a martini, a blissful alcoholic beverage, would help my creative process. I took my 3/1 gin/vermouth ratio (turns out I like 4/1 but hey, I wasn't going to waste the drink) to the writing table. Okay, the couch. And wrote.

We can all breathe easier, knowing that the only thing enhanced by this martini was my opinion of what I had previously written and the word-count, by about two paragraphs.

From this one attempt, I can honestly say that alcohol should not be involved in my writing process, however, since I think myself so much more clever after a martini, it SHOULD be involved in the submission process.

Pleasant Surprise at Tax Time and Running Shoes

How literal my title is!

But we did get a pleasant surprise at tax time. Turns out education credits this year ROXXOR the HOUXXOR. Hmm. Houxxor doesn't work for house, but you know what I mean.

However, one thing work has, yet again, done to me.

The Epic Work Weight Gain.

Yes, it has struck.

So now I must diet, as in, not eat... no just kidding, but seriously, now I am back to the stringent eating plan and working out plan that I did when I first moved here and ended up looking amazing.

Lesson?
Do NOT ever stop moving, working out or eating right. And do not eat food provided at work.

Trust me!!!!

Now, if only I can find a way to fit three pages a day back into my life for writing!


aaaarghhh

Happy Spring!

Health care reform, a brief thought

I am a big proponent of health care needing to change. I've had enough personal experience to have a deep-seated loathing for the insurance companies and their vested interest in doing as much as possible to deny coverage. I'm still fighting my previous insurance company because of one day my son spent in the hospital. They disagree with the doctor and the hospital who kept him in. Because, they would know.

So Health Care Reform? I'm sorry, but yes. Absolutely.

Here's where it gets tricky though. I believe this debate is less about health care and more the Republican's Great Stand in a power-play with a Democratic Washington. Because, when you look at the bill provisions, both parties aren't that far apart. Republicans and Democrats absolutely could have worked on this together, but instead, Republicans chose this issue to stand over, and lost.

I think the consequences to the Republican party are irreparable, because now that the day is won by the Democrats, the news focus will change from news of the battle to news of the victor. And, when the provisions start taking effect, and more Americans actually have insurance coverage, more individual plans will be made available, and the down-and-dirty process of enacting health care reform starts, people will pipe down. They might not want to give up their new health care policy. The fight was charged, and bitter, but in the end, as always, it was Politics, and the true effects of this decision won't be felt for years.

I will say, whichever side you are on, the one thing that absolutely needed to happen was a reform of the health care system in America.

I will also say, whichever side you are on, this fight was more politics than policy.

Will Healthcare Reform cure all? No, but it's a step in the direction everyone wants: better healthcare coverage, more healthcare coverage for poorer Americans, and better choices.

Hate it, love it, it matters not. Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, whoever, at the end of the day, prior to today, health care policy in Washington was written by the insurance companies. You may not agree with how health care is being reformed, but you have to agree it needed to be reformed, and America, IMO, couldn't afford to not do something. It's just a shame this had to be the battle ground. It's a shame we can't have a united government working in the interests of America. It's a shame Democrats and Republicans are so caught up in party politics they forget that the majority of Americans suffer for it.

And, at the end of the day, I believe most Americans were in the middle on this particular battle. The majority wanted a reform, but between the bullets flying from the Right and the Evilization of Health Care Reform, and all the noise, the majority, like me, stayed quiet, watching, wondering, hoping that at the end, what we end up with is not what we already have, a ridiculously broken system based on profit margins for insurers.

Spring sunshine and... snow?

So today was in the 60s, sunshine and happinesss....

Tonight and tomorrow: snow. Piles of it.

I personally don't believe it. I'm a big spring fan, and like to think that winter is done when it's done. But this is Colorado, and blizzards in spring are not unheard of.

Still.

I'm hoping for rain!