Monday Meanderings

I didn't take near as many animal photos this weekend as I did during our last trip to the zoo- already having quite the collection of excellent animal pics - but this handsome gent was just begging to be noticed. His friend? Not so much.

• I am finishing up the seams on my secret project this morning so that I can mail it off in a couple of hours. Once again, I'll be photographing it for my own records, but won't be able to show it to you until the designer has published it.
• The good news is that I can now return to regular crafting.
• The bad news is that it could be a long while before it's published and can be shared. The piece I did for her last summer is just now going to a photo shoot for the book.
• I had a bad moment at about 6:15 AM where I thought I had F'd up the sleeve shaping in a very bad way...losing a good 24 hours of work and possibly forcing me to miss my deadline.
• Turns out I was just fine, thank goodness. Apparently I'm a bit punchy from lack of sleep.
• More exciting news - I did give myself enough of a break on Friday to finish up the little vest that will now belong to the Princess. I'll show it off tomorrow.
• FO's are ALWAYS good!
• Knitting language is ALWAYS funny.

Later...

• I just got home from my appointment with my trainer. I'm quite happy to report that I actually ran today! It was only for a few minutes - and it was very slow - but it felt good.
• We upped the intensity of my workout again, and as a result today is the first time I felt like I actually had to work for it. That felt really good, too.
• My goal is for 5 days of exercise this week. I got 4 in last week (including all of the walking at the zoo...it counts!) and so I know this is definitely doable.
• And don't worry....my trainer is being very cautious because she doesn't want me to have a set-back. So far, so good!
• Who would have thought....my girly surgery has cured my tummy troubles. Remember I was thinking about going in to see either an allergist or a gastroenterologist? Well, I haven't had any tummy troubles at all since the surgery. (Ok, I had a few french fries at the zoo, which caused a bit of an urpy tummy for about an hour...but that's understandable as I don't ever eat fried.)
• Proof? Pre-surgery I belched my way through each and every workout, with a healthy (ha ha) dose of queasiness threatening to derail each and every exercise. It was especially bad in the month or so leading up to the surgery. Last week and today...only one or two slight burps as my body got moving. It's been an amazing transformation!
• More proof : with the exception of the aforementioned fries, nothing that I've eaten in the last month has made me sick.
• My guess...my walnut was pushing on things.
• Moving on...my trainer and I are going to run a race together after her baby is born! She's chomping at the bit as much as I am. I'm really excited that she wants to do this with me.
• I'm super-glad we went to pick up our race packets and shirts on Saturday, even though it made me a bit angry and sad.

Done!

• The sweater is in the mail!
• Why yes, I was taking mini blogging breaks this morning.....I still finished on time....
• Freed now from all deadlines, I find myself wondering what I should do next. I have several options.
• Actually, that was a lie. I do have that baby project...but the baby's not due until mid-June, so I'm not worried about it.
• Options include: learning/practicing embroidery, learning/practicing crochet, lots more spinning (a given), back to work on other knits (a given), the long-waiting quilt, wool felt (which I don't have, but like), beading, a reading binge, some light gardening.....
• I have an idea, but I don't know how I want to execute it. It bears some more thought. The Green Woman is happy because it will involve a Green Woman Mask.
• The Green Woman is also happy because I'm considering taking some sort of art classes. I think it would be really good for me to try something completely different.
• The Green Woman is ecstatic that I've decided to do something which is for me terrifying....I'm looking into getting a bike.
• Good News - with the warmer weather my cravings for sweet coffee drinks from a certain well-known national chain are dropping like a stone.
• More Good News - the warmer weather means it's now kombucha weather! Since I don't drink soda, lemonade or iced tea, it's my summer 'treat' drink of choice. Even better, one bottle usually lasts through three servings.
• Bad News - the Pixie is definitely hitting her terrible twos.
• More Bad News - the Princess's room needs to be cleaned again.
• Friday night I went to said national chain so that I could work on the secret project, having discovered that I was too distracted at home to get anything done. I ended up having a three-hour conversation with another woman who was also there to work. (Laughed out loud when I got to the car and realized what time it was!) Sometimes it's true - even though you don't always get what you want, sometimes you get what you need. It's been a very long while since I had an opportunity to share so much with someone else - especially with someone who has a very different type of life than I do. That conversation, which was truly wonderful, has given me a lot to think about.
• I'm happy today...really and truly happy.

And on that note,

Have a great week everyone!