2 Much 2 Love

Happy Fat Tuesday!

2010-02-16T13:40:00.005-06:00

Crazy weather here in Dallas with snow right before Valentine's Day! Here's a vid of our snow bunnies. Yes, I know it starts sideways--I filmed it on my point and shoot camera and sometimes I forget that video on shoots landscape. :)

Free Shipping on Sassy Hoops

2009-12-03T09:44:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays! Spread the hoop love to others by taking advantage of our free shipping any where in the continental US promotion Dec. 3 - Dec. 18th at both sassyhoops.com and the Sassy Hoops Etsy shop.

Tracy Porter Radio

2009-11-11T14:59:00.004-06:00

Tracy Porter is my new favorite designer and she's got a live radio show on the web every Weds. from 2-3 pm CT. Very cool!

Gypsy

2009-09-10T13:39:00.002-05:00

Tuesday our sweet little GypGyp, Gypsy Dawg was put down. She was 17 in people years (that's 119 in dog years) and lived a full and privileged life. She is missed. I'm tearing up as I type this, so I'm making it short.

Jog Journal: 2

2009-07-24T06:38:00.000-05:00

ohmygod. Ow. Seriously, I'm sore in muscles I didn't know I had. But I got up and jogged anyway. Walking, this morning, not too bad. The hardest part was setting my mind to jog when my legs were yelling "are you crazy woman?!?"

I didn't fudge the hill--I jogged it knowing once I got to the other side things would be easier. I went further than last time, jogging in longer sprints. I know I'll never be a runner. Being short, my stride is pretty small. I'm happy with the jog and the sites along the way.

I'm becoming aware of how much I miss always being in a car, moving at high speeds. This is a good mental exercise for me as well as physical. I saw a little bunny this morning, so that makes me feel like I'm on the right path.

It was a total retro jog on the MP3:

B-52s: 53 West of Venus
Jane's Addiction: Classic Girl
The Cure: Just Like Heaven

Right now the house is silent and I'm sitting in the kitchen watching the morning sky. This is so worth it.

Jog Journal: 1

2009-07-22T06:31:00.001-05:00

I started jogging this morning. Correction--I actually started yesterday morning, got dressed, eager up, the whole nine yards. I walked out the front door and it immediately started raining.

This morning, after a little coaxing from Heath, I did it. Not far, not long, with walking stretches in between, but the point is: I did it. One down, enumerable more to go. YEA! A little victory for me.

Truth be told other than hooping I haven't exercised mush since the girls were born. And to me it shows. Before twins, I was a gym rat, going 5 days a week and working it on out. I miss the endorphins. The sense of peace, the ability to be exhausted for bed. And my white jeans. Yes, in truth it comes down to the white jeans.

I also want to have more energy for the girls as they are getting to be handfuls. I find myself sitting rather than chasing---and that's not the mom I want to be.

So now that the ball is rolling, Heath is uber-supportive, I've got a commitment to myself. Most days. Mornings. Just me and the pavement.

craft room heaven

2009-07-15T13:43:00.005-05:00

Okay, I own entirely too much craft stuff. Seriously. For a year my craft room has looked like a Michaels tornado. I would shuttle all my stuff into the living room or kitchen to craft and Heath would have a fit because it would migrate through out the house.

I've worked hard on getting it all together and here is the nearly finished product. I now have space to make a real window covering for the window--first project on the to do list. And Heath has promised to help me hang up a light in the corner.

My inspiration for getting this done was a Craigslist sewing desk score for $40. Let me tell you, when I got that thing in my car, I thought the seller got the better end of the deal. Their many cats were living with it in their garage for several years. It stank of cat urine and cats in general. I'm not a cat hater, just allergic! Needless to say I drove with the windows down and wiped it with vinegar several times.

After a week of sanding, priming, painting, and drilling I got it looking pretty cute. I decided to redo my craft room in black, white, with a dash of hot pink thrown in there for spice. My goal was to use what I had, and keep my budget under $100, which included the paint, knobs, etc. for the desk plus a few more containers.

As the desk is pretty much open all the time, I had to brace one side. I swiped a filing cabinet drawer from my hubby's office. It's that particle slick wood covering on the drawers, so I covered the drawer fronts with Cricut Vinyl to match the room. I didn't think it would work to prime and paint them. I stacked some heavy Gnome and Fairy books on top of the filing cabinet as a brace, and wah-lah, no more tilted work surface.

The hard part about this room is there's a huge attic access in the corner, so I can't have any shelves of depth on that wall. I put my Wall 'O' Containers under the attic door which all can be moved easily or rolled out of the way.

Here are before and after pictures of the sewing desk and lots of pics of the finished craft room!

is it bad...

2009-07-10T10:50:00.002-05:00

that I'd like to go back to bed now please and it's only 11 a.m.? It must be the heat. I feel like it's too hot to move. The dog agrees. She thinks we should all lay down on the cool tile and snooze.

Today's agenda includes cleaning bathrooms, laundry, and dishes. Housework: the gift that keeps on giving!

future occupations...

2009-07-06T09:14:00.002-05:00

do not include furniture restorer. I got this really cool vintage sewing desk on Craiglist last week and I've been working hard to give it a great makeover. I love the shape of the desk, that the top folds out for more work space, and the angled draw fronts. That being said, once I got it in my car and drove away, I realized it must have been sitting in the people's garage for a year or two with their many cats. (I'm allergic). So I've sanded it down, primed it and super fine sanded it again. Now it just smells like primer rather than pee (thank goodness).

This week it's painting the base white and the top black, drilling holes for knobs and sealing it. I can't wait to put it in my craft room.

This turned out to be a much bigger project than I anticipated. I also have a giant secretary in the garage also awaiting a makeover. My goal this summer is to get it finished too. Luckily I'm just painting small sections rather than the entire thing.

I swear I'll never make fun of Norm the Yankee again. Whew!

A & Z turn 2!

2009-04-28T12:26:00.002-05:00

Oh my goodness, what big girlies we have now. Very opinionated on what color they want to wear, climbing into chairs, jumping on the couch and beds, and saying words like elephant, castle, and towel (the last two just appeared in today's vocabulary, and I didn't teach them).

We had a big family party on Sunday and got to play with the cousins. Too much fun!

T-shirts and robots

2009-04-22T13:04:00.002-05:00

Today we learned that although washable crayons are fabulous, if you eat them they melt in your mouth, in your hands and all over your cute pants. Thanks A for testing that one out!

A & Z are currently obsessed with robots. Which is great because they are normally freaked out by the vacuum cleaner until today when I told them it was mommy's cleaning robot. Now they stay in the playroom while I vacuum, but at least no one's having a meltdown about it.

If I survive the next two weeks, I'll be thrilled. I've got swimming lessons, b-day parties, hoop classes and fitness shows galore. In fact I've got to go make hoops for tonight right now.

I designed a few hula hooper t-shirts and have them available at CafePress. Happy Earth Day!

uh-oh TWOS!

2009-03-27T13:39:00.003-05:00

The dreaded "twos" are upon us in full force even though A & Z aren't officially 2 until the end of next month.

It's been a week of time outs and a bit o brawlin' and bawlin' over here. I went to hear a speaker yesterday on the topic of practical preschool discipline, and man, I'm so glad I did! I used some of the Dr. techniques today and felt better for doing it. I know I have to stay strong, be consistent and act swiftly as we're entering the age of boundary testing. I love them so much. Even with the impish grins.

blah day

2009-02-17T19:30:00.002-06:00

I'm having a downer moment. I'm not sure if it's the weather or the too many visits from the poo fairy that's got me down. I've got time right now to hoo and I just don't have the energy. I like to hoop away my blues when I can.

Poor Heath came home from a hard day to a frowny wife. I'm just feeling a bit lost I guess. February in general is a crappy month for me. It seems like all my hard times happen in February so it stirs up a lot of emotions. I've been eating too much chocolate. Damn you Skinny Cow sugar cones! You are my weakness.

Okay. Packing it in to go hoop.

Gmynastics!

2009-01-18T11:25:00.006-06:00

We've been going to a local toddler gymnastics class for the past two weeks and oh, it is so much fun. A & Z love the trampoline, and climbing up all the mats. A can walk the balance beam pretty well with spotting and likes to climb up the mini slide by herself. Z is my bouncy girl and can somersault like a pro.

Here are a few picks of the girls in their leotards. Z has a valentine one and A has an 80's pink and black one.

I got to go to a Cricut cutting class on Friday at my local scrapbook store. I learned some great tips I didn't know and made a little page in class. I got the courage to cut the vinyl I'd purchased and make a kickin' wall art collage on our GIANT blank wall. I love it! It was so easy using the machine, and it went up fast. I did several configurations on the wall with blue painters tape on the back of the vinyl, before I committed to the final piece. So much fun! Heath has no idea, but I've got plans for our bedroom, the bathroom, the girl's room and the hallway to the garage. Love my Cricut!!!

real men eat quiche

2009-01-10T16:37:00.002-06:00

I'm a bargain shopper and easy baker kind of girl. You probably wouldn't guess it, but I'm a coupon clipper. Actually, I'm a Grocery Gamer and have been using the Grocery Game for 1 year now and I've saved over $2500 in those twelve months. (So if you decide to use the grocery game, please list me as a referral with this email address: trafficjulia@yahoo.com and I'll be forever grateful, in fact, I may make you a quiche).

So what does all this have to do with real men and quiche? Right now I'm making a righteous quiche with things I bought on super-sale: eggs, 18 ct, buy 1 get one free, pilsbury ready bake pie crusts, save $1, and bacon! Oh yes, it's all better with bacon, especially REAL bacon, not turkey bacon which is what we usually eat.

So since I'm making this yummy quiche that Heath will eat and ask for seconds, I thought I'd share the recipe:

1 ready made pie crust
5 eggs
1 cup of half and half
1/2 cup real mayo (seriously, this is the secret ingredient)
1/2 tsp. salt

Now add what you'd like, for mine:
3 dashes of paprika
1 dash season salt
8 strips of crispy bacon crumbled
2 small handfuls of shredded cheddar
1 small handful of shredded parmasean cheese

Whip eggs, mayo, half and half, salt and spices. Ready pie crust in pan and sprinkle cooked, cooled and crumbled bacon over it. Add cheeses, pour egg mix on top. Bake in 350 degree oven, between 45 and 1 hour, check often without opening oven door. Ovens vary and I use a convect option so my oven takes a bit shorter time.

It's done when there's no wiggle in the middle. Let cool and enjoy!

happy new year!

2009-01-06T16:02:00.006-06:00

Wow! I can't believe it's 2009 already. It seems '08 went by in a big blur. I hope everyone had a great holiday. A & Z had an amazing Christmas stretched over 2 days of present overload. We had a great time entertaining Heath's side of the family on Christmas Eve. Heath made a huge batch of yummy red beans and rice--his specialty. We had a cookie exchange and all voted on the cookie that reigned supreme. It was Michael's chocolate chip snowballs. I got the recipe though!

Right now I'm up to my eyeballs in craft and home decor projects. It only took me 6 months, but we've finally taken down almost all of the paper blinds on the windows. Thanks to a generous gift card and some thrifty shopping and sewing work, I have new curtains in three rooms. I have two more windows yet to do. I did make my own curtains out of two fancy shower curtains to match our bedroom. They cover up the patio doors in our room. I also got a kickin' scrapbook cutting machine for Christmas and I am scrapbooking my fingers to the bone. So much fun. I have big vinyl plans for our giant wall in the great room.

We had an awesome visit with Gran-Lo, Heath's mom. She left yesterday and we are so sad to not have her here. She is so much fun and ever the rock for me.

19 Month old Silliness

2008-12-13T12:04:00.000-06:00

Here's a little giggle time for you!

Zoey's and Alexa's TAGs

2008-11-20T22:32:00.002-06:00

See explanation in the post below about all the rules and good stuff. This wouldn't be the McPherson Twins blog without a list of seven from each girl.

ZOEY's List

1. I can cram myself into amazingly small places, like my magnetic school house box. You name it, I'm in it.

2. I LOVE VEGGIES! (Mom jumps for joy!)

3. I love to climb. But don't make me get in that swing, 'cause I don't like it ONE BIT.

4. Cookies? Yes? Cookies? COOKIES!

5. YES! I want to slide again, and say WHEEEEE all the way down into Daddy's arms.

6. I won't talk to you on the phone if you hold it to my ear. I much prefer the speaker method, thank you. Look people, I have a lot to do with my hands so I can't be holding the phone!

7. I know how to melt my parents heart with just one look.

ALEXA's List

1. If you're eating it, I want it.

2. Unless it's veggies then I'm feeding it to the dog.

3. I like The Backyardigans so much I say BYE when they wave good bye to me.

4. I'm a singer and an excellent bongo player. I practice everyday on mom's big bowls.

5. Sometimes I have handy pants.

6. I'm all about the swing so push me higher!

7. I love my Daddy more than he knows! O yeah, mom's pretty okay too.

I'm IT!

2008-11-20T21:56:00.002-06:00

My awesome friend Heather of To the 9s has tagged me. It's 10 p.m. , I should be in bed or at the very least working on my website, but instead I'm playing along.

Here are the rules:
-You have to link to the person who tagged you
-You have to write 7 things about yourself (both weird and normal stuff)
-You have to tag 7 people and link to them in the end of the post and you have to leave a comment on their blog.

Here's the skinny:

1. I am deeply in love with my twin toddler monsters and thank the higher-ups-that-be every day for their presence in my life. Although usually not during diaper changes.

2. After 11 years of marriage and 7 years of dating, my hubby Heath is still the BIG LOVE of my life.

3. I recently made a crochet craft that went horribly wrong. It's one of those amigurumi teddy bears, only mine looks, um, well not cute. I cannot show you even a picture of it, because of the ruckus it may cause. Of course, the girls LOVE it and will not let me reconstruct it into a cuter, not so politically incorrect bear.

4. I have been know to be the creator of other crafts gone wrong, most notably, the candle that could kill you as wedding shower favors. People--don't drink and craft.

5. I can shake my money maker.

6. I've been known to eat peanut butter chocolate sandwiches.

7. It took me 30 years to find the OFF switch for the audio loop tape of negativity in my head. Thank God I snapped that sucker off so hard it broke. I'm a MUCH happier person now.

I'm tagging Debbie, Dawn, Tanya, Susan, and Heath. Heather tagged me first, so I guess she's safe. Honestly, I don't have any other blogger friends that I know of!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-03T11:19:00.005-06:00

Alexa above, Zoey below.

Zoey with a KitKat in hand! It's hard work trick or treating!

There be garden gnomes afoot! As you can see, Alexa & Zoey LOVED Halloween. It took them 2 houses to get the hang of trick or treating. They would not let go of their fistfuls of candy until they went to the next house, then they would drop it on the ground and grab more fistfuls out of the neighbor's bowl. Too funny. We had a great time dressing them up and taking them around Mimi's and Papa's neighborhood. I can't wait until next year!

hoopy news

2008-10-23T12:32:00.003-05:00

Be sure to check out the Dallas Morning News Fitness section on Tuesday, Oct. 28th. I was just interviewed about hooping! There will also be video on their website.

Alexa and Zoey both have colds now. Runny noses, coughs, and crankiness. Not to mention more teeth coming in. Things have been uh, challenging this week. I'm trying to let them get as much rest as possible so they are right as rain for Halloween. I'm working on their costumes this weekend and I'll post some pics as soon as they are finished!

vocabulary count

2008-10-10T13:56:00.002-05:00

I've been reading "Your One Year Old: The Fun-Loving, Fussy 12 to 24 Month Old" and I got curious about how many words Alexa and Zoey are saying on a regular basis. I just wrote down a list and counted it. Can you believe 45 words? They won't be 18-months old until Oct. 27th. That's amazing to me. Of course, some are animal sounds to indicate the actual animal. Here's the list:

Mama
Dada and Daddy
Go Go
Shoes
Door
Hi
Hey
Boppa
Mimi
Bye
No
Dog
Duck
Car
Beep Beep
Baby
Star
Kitty
Up
Down
Turtle
Oh or O for the letter or for Cheerios
Ball
Bird
Wa-wa for Water
Ice
Cookie
Milk
More
"Uh-oh"
Eye
Nose
Mouth
Head
Toes
Yea!
Plane
Choo-choo for train
Whoo-whoo for owl
Oink (snort) for pig
Moo
Cow
Gobble (wiggle tongues back and forth) for turkey
One
Two

They both still sign, although Alexa does more than Zoey. She made up her own sign for cracker, and both girls know the signs for bird, plane, more, milk, and please. They constantly amaze me!

Holy Hooping Batman!

2008-10-02T15:06:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I was the entertainment at L-3 Communications annual health fair, hoop dancing and giving demonstrations to brave souls. I had a great time, but I'm a little sore today. I'm not up to speed on 3 hours of continual hooping. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time. I'm just a little wiped out today. Thank you to my folks who had a grandparent day with the girls so I could drive to Greenville for the health fair. I hope I got a few people hooked on it!

Wynford Castle

2008-09-26T10:24:00.007-05:00

It's here! It's built! Thanks to Daddy Heath our playground is finished. Whew! It only took a week working in the evenings, with only minor threats of divorce. Just kidding! The girls love it! Thanks Nonna & Poppa D!

SOLD IT!

2008-09-20T20:11:00.002-05:00

Yea! O happy day, we sold our Rowlett house on Friday! That is a huge burden lifted. For those who know me you won't be surprised by this little bit of info. When we hit the 90 day mark of having the house on the market without any offers or much traffic, I implemented the Secret. Which is just an Oprah-culture acceptable way for 40ish housewives to use magic, which I think is hilarious, but that's another blog post entirely.

So I printed off our house listing from the Internet. I wrote "SOLD" in big huge letters across it, taped an old key and a quarter to it. I also put the date 9/15/08 underneath "sold" so I could get a fast result, an aggressive move as it was only 2 weeks away. I put the collage in a silver frame, and continually lit candles in front of it. We got our negotiated offer on 9/14/08. It works. You have to believe that the universe will move mountains for you if your put visualization in action.

Chickin' Lickin' Pork Chops

2008-09-17T15:28:00.002-05:00

So I'm a crockpot maven. With two little squirmy worms I have come to worship el crock poto. Here's Heath's current favorite, which I am making right now as a matter of fact. I love the breading and I bet it would be good as a chicken fry steak breading.

Chickin' Lickin' Pork Chops

4-6 boneless pork chops ( I like pork loin chops personally)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 c. flour
2 tbs. veg or canola oil
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 can of chicken & rice soup, undiluted (10 1/2 oz.)

Dredge pork chops in mixture of flour, salt, garlic powder, and mustard. Heat oil in a pan, brown pork chops on both sides. Put pork in crock pot, add soup and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3 1/2 hours.

two cuties

2008-09-17T11:09:00.002-05:00

Zoey & Alexa with Gran-Lo

I'm constantly amazed at how fast Zoey and Alexa are becoming independent little people. They are now exploring play together, laughing and exploring, and of course, testing boundaries. I forget sometimes that every little thing is brand new to them.

They are both eagerly repeating words like "pasta" and daddy's favorite "IOWA". I think they will relate to Heath as the Dad in the yellow shirt (Hawkeye t-shirt) just as Curious George calls his owner "The man in the Yellow Hat".

Rough one

2008-09-15T23:34:00.002-05:00

Today was a rough day. The past week the girls have had a bit of a cold and I think they are both getting molars in. Zoey threw a 2 hour temper tantrum while we were out. I took the girls to the park by myself, thinking that I could handle two willful toddlers. Wrong-o. When it came time to go all holy heck broke loose. You'd think I'd run over their cherished stuffed kitties and made them watch they way they were wailing.

Alexa finally calmed down but Zoey worked herself into a hissy fit. I don't know how I'm supposed to survive the next 3 years without medication. Seriously, at 16 months my little angels are possesed by foul spirits. Isn't it the terrible two's?!? It makes me want to fling myself to the floor, bang my head and cry at the top of my lungs.

*Sigh* hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Go-Go Shoes

2008-09-12T10:16:00.002-05:00

We had a great turn out for our open house on Sunday, with lots of family, friends and neighbors stopping by. I'm the type of person that likes to do things en masse, so of course I undertook a garage sale the day before our party. It went fairly well. We ended up selling our fridge on Craig's List (love you Craig) for a decent price.

We had a great visit with Heath's mom, Gran-Lo to our girls. She's awesome. Yesterday we went shopping for tennies for Heath's birthday from the girls. Gran-Lo bought the girls new shoes too. She went back home to Florida today and I'm sorely missing her. Zoey keeps picking up her shoes and bringing them to me and saying"Go-go?"

whole foods

2008-08-31T10:42:00.002-05:00

Ah! I just learned in my Fairview town newsletter that Whole Foods will be coming to our town in 2010. Awesome. I love WF, even though I can't really afford to shop there. I'm a big bulk wall junkie.

We took the girls to Ikea yesterday, looking for some place to go that would be cool and indoors. What a mad house! I can only imagine what it was like from their perspective. Of course there was a little girl SCREAMING at the top of her lungs as if someone was cutting off her fingers. I thought it was a baby, it was so blood curdling, imagine my surprise when it was a 4 year old girl. Ah things to look forward to, I suppose. A & Z were really good through out the maze of Swedish delights.

We did score some cheap kitchen shears, 2 pillow covers that look great in our living room, and a french press coffee pot. I have an espresso pot, which is perfect for one person, but if anyone else wants coffee it's a big to-do. Now I don't have to worry!

New hair

2008-08-30T11:21:00.002-05:00

I got new hair last weekend. Yea! I've been pulling it back into a ponytail everyday so it would be out of my way (and away from little pulling hands), so I decided to chop it off.

It's much easier to take care of which is nice. I can take super short showers! On the crafty note, I made my niece a record bowl purse. Well, actually it turned out to be a duffle bag, which is what happens when I get excited to use my new craft room and don't measure anything. I'm proud that I figured out how to do a lining without a pattern. I had one of those I don't think I'm pinning this right moments, and I'm glad I did. I almost sewed the wrong sides together. In the hustle and bustle of having family over, I forgot to take a picture. I'll try to get one when I see her on Monday.

6 years and still...

2008-08-22T11:49:00.003-05:00

Blogging! Wow, I can't believe I've been blogging for 6 years. That's crazy. Of course my blog has gone through many transformation, almost as many as I have. First it was part of my bodypoet website, then it was part of my poetry site on juliamcpherson dot net, now it's my twin life site.

What comes around, goes around--just like the hula hoop!

ant wars

2008-08-20T08:47:00.002-05:00

Heath has been waging war on fire ants in our backyard. It seems like everytime he kills mound, two more pop up somewhere else.

Monday night, the ants struck back. We have patio doors in our bedroom that lead out to a mini-deck. I walked into our bedroom and saw an entire colony swarming on my pajama pants. Ants in my pants! Thank goodness for the vaccuum. Needless to say, no more pj pants.

Yesterday I took the girls to music class. They both loved it. Zoey got a little fussy at the end, but that was more because they were missing their usual nap time. Both girls wanted to be in the middle of the circle and in the thick of things. They are both sweet and sticky handfuls.

New house life

2008-08-15T13:07:00.002-05:00

I adore the new place. My favorite thing is our giant picture windows looking into our backyard. We see bunnies, squirrels, robins, cardinals, and lots of mocking birds daily. Not to mention the dragonflies. Ooo! I could sit and watch dragonflies all day. The window ledges are low and deep--perfect for little girlies to sit on and peer out (or BANG on the glass as loudly as possible)!

My next photo assignment for myself is to take some pics of Alexa & Zoey on the window ledge. Not to self!

So after our pink laundry fiasco, I rescued Heath's pink gym socks and we made: SOCK PUPPETS! Okay, I really shouldn't be quite so excited about making sock puppets, but I had a great time and the girls love them. So much so, they like to rub their little faces all over the puppets. This is the first spontaneous craft I've done that's for the kiddos since I made everyone's elf stockings.

On other notes, the lovely Debbie, her sweet twin babies Ella & Beck and her adorable 9 year old daughter Hannah came by to play yesterday. Hannah had arts and crafts time with my construction paper and a ton of stamps and markers. And we hula hooped in the backyard--Alexa and Zoey got their first taste of our backyard, running free. We had a great time, her twins took a little nap. I was so happy to talk to another mom for a bit. I love knowing I'm not totally crazy. Sometimes I feel like I don't have a clue of what I'm doing.

Lastly, we got a new computer (yea!) that has Vista as its OS (BOO!). I hate you Vista. You make me want to pour battery acid on the keyboard. I would like to smack the crap out of you because none of my software is compatible with you, you rat bastard. Evil f-ing microsoft. Okay, that's my rant for today.

Move craziness

2008-08-05T10:59:00.002-05:00

Gah! I love and hate moving. Seriously--I love having a new adventure, discovering new restaurants, and having a great new house. I hate all the work that comes with it. I don't konw what I'd do without the help of my parents. They've watched the kids for us, cleaned our house in Rowlett, and came over Sunday and hung all our art. They rock.

The girls are adjusting to their new home nicely. We haven't had too many accidents/OMG moments, knock on wood! Alexa's still not sure about the whole walking phase, but Zoey's practically running. We're not in a rush, so Lex will pick it up when she feels like it. She climbs like a monkey though!

Zoey's new word is "cookie". She runs to her high chair when it's time for cookie break. Both girls can say dog, duck, ball, and bye pretty well. Zoey also says "Uh-oh" a lot. Usually after she hurls something across the room.

I'm tired and it's only 11 a.m. Time for coffee!

old dreams die hard

2008-07-18T11:49:00.003-05:00

I'm packing diligently for our upcoming move. Today I threw out a box of cassette tapes from 1995. They weren't just any tapes--they were my radio aircheck demos that I enthusiastically sent out to radio stations all over Texas when I graduated college. These babies only held 5 minutes worth of tape. I found one for Sunny 95 and another labeled KVIL. The rest were blank, waiting for my radio brilliance (cough, cough).

Yep, I'm fully aware it's 2008. I guess I held onto all those blank aircheck tapes in the hopes of someday returning to the airwaves. Old dreams die hard. Heath asks me sometimes if I miss radio. I do and I don't. I miss the spontaneous jokes, screwups and laughs with the people I worked with. I don't miss the pathetic pay, crappy hours, or poor office management. Radio's one of those gigs where the dinosaurs just don't die, they syndicate. Only the ad sales team and fat cats get paid well. I had a lot of fun, don't get me wrong. It was like being in high school all over again, except with clear skin.

I guess today I grew up a little and learned to let go.

movin' on up to the east side

2008-07-15T21:39:00.003-05:00

Well, northeast side to be exact. Last week we closed on a house in Fairview, TX. It's on an acre lot, plenty of room for growing girls and a wee little dog to roam. Not to mention Heath has his own "man room" that's seperate from the house. I'm so ready for the move to be over and we can relax.

My hope is that this is the place we'll be for a long time. I want to give the girls something I haven't had until the last couple of years--roots. I think the house will last us into their teen years, if not college. Man, that's scary to think about. My one year olds in college. I don't even want to think about how old I'll be when that happens.

Zoey's freewill walkin' and Alexa's close behind. It's Monkey See/Monkey Do at our house. And I've got two active monkeys.

I've been slacking off in the mom department apparently. TV has creeped in too much into our lives, so in agreement, Heath and I are turning on music instead of the kid programming. Today we listened to Reggae--it makes both babies rock back and forth to the beat. Too cute. They tuned out the jazz though. I guess it's an acquired taste.

This new strategy also means no second hand t.v., so it changes my daily habits too. Which is good. I fully admit I'm an HGTV/DIY addict. Seriously. I'm a total house makeover voyeur.

I'm trying not to think about the piling packing problem. I'm trying to do several boxes a day so the task doesn't seem so daunting. It's old hat for me though. What is this? Move number 29?

We're Off!

2008-06-30T14:00:00.002-05:00

Our first trip on an airplane with twins. Wish us luck! We're headed to NC for the fourth of July to check out my folk's new cabin. Lots of trees, a killer gym and nature, nature, nature!

I think Zoey and Alexa are going to have a ball. Zoey's walking on her own, not far but she's tenacious. Alexa's spontaneously standing and starting to think about the whole steping thing. They are enthralled with the Backyardigans these days. That and helping me fold laundry, put away dishes, and hiding in cabinets. Oh yeah, and they love it when Daddy plays the guitar for them!

roller derby love

2008-06-20T10:46:00.002-05:00

We're going to the roller derby tomorrow night! My awesome friend Heather, a.k.a. Rumble Kitty, is skating in her first bout. I'm so excited for her. We've got grandparents coming over to watch the girls while we boogie over to the rink. Too much fun. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures.

girls go swimming

2008-06-10T13:23:00.002-05:00

Alexa & Zoey spent the night at their Mimi & Papa's house this past weekend. They got to take a dip in their neighborhood pool! Here's a page I just made. I'm going to try to work on a page a day if it's possible, going backwards to catch up. My goal is to have their first year scrapped by Christmas. We'll see if that works out!

Father's Day digital countdown

2008-06-05T16:21:00.002-05:00

Lisa Vollrath always has some great goodies on her digital art site. Get some vintage images on her father's day countdown.

Happy daddy's day!

scrappy happy

2008-06-04T16:36:00.002-05:00

I worked on another digital scrapbook page today. Too much fun!

Zoe-Zoe walkies

2008-06-04T11:58:00.002-05:00

Oh yeah, probably the most significant event last week is Zoey taking her first two unassisted steps toward Heath. She is still actively practicing and likes to stand up for about 35 seconds, hands and arms spread out in Spiderman-esque poses to keep her balance.

Alexa's also standing briefly unassisted, though she likes for you to be close by to catch her. It won't be long.

Today, both girls discovered one of the cabinets doesn't have a tot-lock on it.

crockpot obsession

2008-06-04T11:52:00.003-05:00

I'm a little goofy. I've gone all crockpotty in the kitchen. Seriously though, it's an easy way to get a healthy dinner on the table without a whole lot of work.

Our latest trial was this recipe for Tamale Pie.

1 lb. lean ground beef, browned
¾ c. yellow corn meal
1½ c. milk
1 egg, beaten
1 pkg. chili seasoning mix
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 lb. can tomatoes, cut up
1 lb. whole kernel corn, drained
2¼ oz. sliced ripe olives, drained
1 c. Cheddar cheese, grated

Stir together cornmeal, milk and egg. Add rest of ingredients, except cheese. Pour into crock pot, cover, cook on low for 4-5 hours. Sprinkle cheese over top, cover and cook another 5 minutes.

It turned out delicious. Of course I made it with bison rather than beef. I also added a chopped up chipotle pepper, no seeds and I cut off some extra corn that Heath's dad had grilled for us and added it to the pot.

I just got a referral to another blog that has a year of crockpot recipes. I'm going to try a few of hers too.

items for sale

2008-05-15T13:21:00.001-05:00

I'm selling my carseats and gorgeous moses baskets in preparation for our move.

moving to the country....

2008-05-10T18:37:00.001-05:00

...and I'm gonna eat a lot of peaches! Well, our house is almost officially on the market. It should be on Tuesday. I'm excited to move into a new place and set ups some serious roots.

We're considering Allen, Lucas, Wylie, Parker and St. Paul for areas to move to. We've almost got it narrowed down. Heath wants some space, so it's bye-bye zero lot line. Hello riding mower!

All of those areas are very pretty, lots of trees and wildflowers. Oh yeah, and horses and long horns everywhere. I'm hoping this is our final house until we're empty nesters. I want the girls to have what I never did--roots!

OMG...digital scrapbooking

2008-05-03T23:27:00.003-05:00

How did I not know this existed? Digital scrapbooking is the BOMB. I'm so stoked, I just finished my first page. I've got tons of digital photos of the girls. In fact, I find it a pain to get my photos printed. And I've been using Photoshop for 6 years now--mostly through trial and error I've fudged my way through. Now I've found a way to learn more tricks in Photoshop and Craft at the same time! Holy crappers that's cool. Here's a tiny picture of my first page. YIPPEE!

Changed blog address

2008-04-25T16:17:00.001-05:00

Hey there friends. Since chunzilla was too hard for folks to remember, I've changed this blog to www.mcphersontwins.blogspot.com.

Thanks!

Fist Full of Weenies

2008-04-21T11:58:00.003-05:00

Birthday Big Girls

Alexa and Zoey are so into finger food. We've got weenies out the wazoo. Great for them, not so fun for me. I hate peeling off the weenie casings. YUCKO!

This weekend we all took a bath in our giant jacuzzi tub. No jets, but lots of splish splash fun. We're totally into blanket choo-choo rides and hammock swinging. They are such cute little monkeys.

Next Sunday will be their 1st birthday! We're keeping it low-key family style this time around. We're doing a jungle animal theme (using what we've already got) and I'll be making a light lunch and banana cupcakes for dessert.

I had my first booth show out at the Oak Cliff Earth Day this weekend and I sold a ton of hula hoops! Yea! I love that they were a big hit! I had a bunch of demo hoops and I got a lot of kids and adults to try. The funniest was a group of women Police officers! They were a riot!

Jamaica love

2008-03-20T13:40:00.004-05:00

Heath and I just got back from a great vacation in Jamaica. I love the laidback easiness of Jamaica--people just do their own thing. Yeah, the locals try to sell you stuff, but they don't make a big deal about it if you politely say "no thank you."

I had lots of hula hoop time on the beach, which of course gathered a lot of comments from the other resorters. Being the crazy hoop lady, I'd offer to share the hoop and let them try. A few brave souls did and found it quite amusing.

The best part of the trip was reconnecting with Heath. It seems we'd lost ourselves in the parental role this past year. I love just being silly with him, sleeping in his arms, and giggling to private jokes while falling out of hammocks.

It was terribly hard to leave the babies for a week. Around day three I got all teary-eyed when I talked about them or looked at their pictures. We all survived though. Of course when we got back, there were ear infections and stuffy noses to deal with, but that's just mommyhood for you!

We're getting back into a routine and discovering new things about the girls. At 10 1/2 months they are now obsessed with feeding themselves and both turn up their noses at the mere wiff of baby food. I've now entered into a whole new realm of what to feed those little buggers.

All in all it's good to be home!

On another note--I've added a new hooping blog to Sassy Hoops.

sickos

2008-02-10T14:30:00.000-06:00

Yep, we've all got the nasty crud. Zoey's turned into an ear infection, Alexa's doing a little better but we're all zombies in this house. My head feels like it's full of Velveeta cheese.

Thank goodness Heath's only got a mild case. He took the girls for a walk today so I could nap--love that man 'o mine.

I'm so glad I bout the NoseFrida for the girls. It's a nose vacuum cleaner, so much better than the bulb, of course they hate it and will be permenantly scarred by my nose vacuum. *Sigh*. I'm ready for another nap!

Christmas Crafty

2007-12-03T10:06:00.000-06:00

Yea! I love Christmas! Especially now that we have little girlies to share it with. Heath and I got a REAL Christmas tree this year--my first! Yesterday we spent all day shopping with the girls, making stockings and decorating the tree. Our tree is a candy Christmas vision. I also made a wreath for our front door to match.

I'm not sure how it happened--maybe the suburbian air--but Heath's turned into a light obsessed maniac. This year we invested in energy efficient LED lights (they are supposed to last 20 years). Every time I look outside there are MORE lights. It does look nice though! We're going for a gingerbread house look.

This morning I finally finished everyone's stockings and they look pretty cute if I do say so myself. Next to work on are our Christmas cards. Alexa and Zoey got pictures made last week so they should be ready soon.

SassyHoops.com

2007-11-12T22:36:00.001-06:00

So it's official, I've started my own hula hoop business at SassyHoops.com. I've basically focused my love of crafting,hula hoops and dancing into one happy passion. I'm teaching a Hoop Dancing class my local Community Centre in January, complete with complimentary hoop.

I love it when the stars align. I'll be demoing my skills at the MUSE Celebration of Creativity on Sat. at MoveStudio. I'm the intermission entertainment. I'm excited to get out there and dance though! Now what to wear, what to wear...

anniversary weekend freedom

2007-10-25T06:57:00.000-05:00

The twins are spending time at their grandparents house this weekend in honor of Heath and I celebrating our 10th anniversary (Oct. 12th). I've been mopey this week and I guess that's why. I'm feeling like it's going to be any other night free from kids and I don't want to feel that way. I always thought we'd be spending our 10 year in Bora Bora, but I'm happy things have worked out with the amazing surprise of twins. I guess I'm just feeling the repetiveness of my everyday life a little too much right now.

We can't seem to agree on what to do, therefore it seems like no plans have been made. Here's my point of view--it's the weekend before Halloween, there are going to be tons of bands and parties all over the city. It would be nice to drop by one. Lee Harvey's is hosting Shanghi 5, one of my fave bands on Sat. I might even be able to squeeze some hooping in there with my new glo-hoop.

It would be nice to sit down to a meal where the chef prides himself on the food. It doesn't have to be an expensive meal--heck even eating at the hole in the wall Mexi place or going to the beer garten would be a blast in my opinion. It would also be nice to visit a gallery exhibit or hear some good jazz. I'm a 2 or 3 drink date these days, so I'm pretty cheap to take out.

I'd really like a bubble bath for two with a nice bottle of wine and some Air or Toadies or the new Radiohead album playing in the background. Or a fire. Or some adult cocoa. Or a drive to the country just to see the stars. Just a little romance to reconnect. Just a little fun. Something we don't normally do. Our last date was with friends and the one before that we drank beer, played trivia and watched a UFC fight. I'm hoping for a tiny spark of romance--nothing fancy, just some neck kisses and a glass of merlot this time.

blue's clues and other mom stuff

2007-10-16T13:29:00.000-05:00

Yes, I admit it. I like to watch Blue's Clues. It's sad but true. I like all the songs, and Joe the new guy uses sign language, which I think is awesome. (And it doesn't hurt that he's a cutie).

Today my dad watched the girls while I cleaned the house. I feel so much better. I rediscovered the greatness of baking soda rather by accident. I spilled some on our white counter and it took out a random coffee stain. Love it!

Another favorite optional use item of mine is sugar. It makes the perfect face scrub if you mix it with your favorite cleanser. Cheap and easy!

I've become obsessed with coffee lately. I do believe the perfect cup is an artform. We were given an Italian Esspresso stove top brewer with some delicious Lavazza espresso from Italy. I'm using that thing every morning. I even bought an electric mini whisk so I can foam up milk for cappacinos. My latest baking craze are my own biscotti. Yes, I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to obsessions. I go all in. My house is a lot cleaner though!

The twins are doing great. I can't believe they are almost 6 months old!

I have quite a few friends who are pregnant. Here are some things I couldn't live without:

Wubbanub pacifiers
A wipe warmer
Babylegs (although I make my own now)
A papsan swing
Papasan chairs
A rice steamer (we use it for bottles)
2 measuring cups (1 cup and 2 cups respectively for formula measurements)
Fisher-Price jumper
A fish tank - endless amusement for the twins
The Snap 'n' Go double stroller

shopping at home

2007-09-14T12:43:00.000-05:00

I shopped my own closet today. I just gave away most of my maternity clothes to a friend who is pregnant with twins as well, so my closet's been looking bare this week. I pulled down my packed away clothes and reorganized.

I had forgotten what clothes I actually have since it's been a year since I saw them. I think some of it's a little juve for me now. For some strange reason I didn't throw out my bigger bras, so that was a total score! My maternity bras are sad and raggedy at this stage.

Ha! I pulled out my old jeans and attempted to stick a leg in. Not much squeezed in besides my foot. That's okay, it just serves as a reminder of how far I came before babies and will be an inspiration to get back there.

As Alexa sits on my lap helping me type and Zoey coos in her swing, I know every pound was worth it!

busy busy

2007-09-13T11:50:00.000-05:00

It's been busy here at the McPherson household--obviously not much time for blogging. This week was Heath's birthday--yea! The girls gave him a remote controled mini helicopter that he loves and he got a new Iowa Hawkeye t-shirt and hat from me. Yesterday Alexa and Zoey went with me to Target to pickup chocolate chips and we made Heath some after birthday cookies. Since he was born on 9/11, he's not very fond of celebrating on that day since 2001. So we party a few days before and a few days after. His mom gave him an awesome gift certificate for a rocket which he's already ordered. It will be over 7 feet tall!

I finally got my craft butt in gear and made a TON of baby leggings for the girls. I'm pretty much a pro now. :) I've also been frantically making hula hoops and hooping when I can. I placed a big order for specialty tape that arrived yesterday and as soon as I get some dollars, I'm buying heavier hooping material for more hoops. Heath says I'm on prototype 3 of my hooping endevours. (europe spelling). I'm hoping to sell the next round of hoops to fund my passion.

It sounds like Alexa's waking up from her nap so I must run! Here's Alexa modeling her disco roller rainbow striped baby leggings, both girls in their punk skull leggings, and Zoey with her pink and black hearts.

mommy meetup

2007-07-25T07:26:00.000-05:00

I packed up the girls and met up with my friend Heather and her one-year-old V for a progressive parents playdate/luncheon. This was my first mommy meetup and I didn't quite know what to expect.

The night before I spent 4 hours making two different types of meat pockets--both with bison meat, one flavored with a nice hosin Chinese brown sauce of my own making and the other an Italian version with pesto and cheese. Heath looked after the babies AND acted as sous chef for me. Cooking is like a little sanctuary. It gives me peace and stresses me out at the same time (obsessive complusive to finish what I'm making). I did put a lot of effort into the dish, hoping that I could use it as a convo starter. Okay, so being a progressive group the majority are vegetarians. C'est La Vie.

I should have expected to see 15 or so kids under the age of 3 when I walked in the door. It's just that I've been sheltered from the Chuckie Cheesiness of the world for most of my adult life. It was a little overwhelming to say the least. I haven't learned to expect a certain noise level of rambunctious happiness or crying as the case may be. At what point in my mommyhood do I get the invisible earplugs all the other moms seem to have?

I'm a little socially awkward these days since I spend most of my time at home baby-talking. The moms (and a few dads including the host) were extremely friendly and made me feel at home. I met another woman who's baby girl was 2 days younger than the girls, so it was nice to have someone to talk to is going through the same things I am when it comes to babies.

The girls were very quite and seem to be taking in the whole scene through their saucer-wide eyes. Of course every toddler wanted to come up and "explore" them. I never pegged myself as a germ-a-phobe, but apparently you get that irky feeling sometime in pregnancy. I tried not to freak out when the little ones touched the babies' pacifiers, calmly replacing them with new ones. I'm certain this mad desire to clorox everything the twins come in contact with is normal and will go away with more interaction with other children. Or at least will fade with sheer exhaustion.

I kept the girls in their carseats, which I'm sure was a little odd, but they are such a pain to get in and out of, and I can only hold one at a time and I feel like I'm neglecting the other twin. They are easy to rock in their seats and keep them happy.

I enjoyed talking to other adults and a change of scenery/pace for my day. I think that I'll wait a few months until the girls are a little older for the next play group. I'm thinking that I could handle stroller skating though, so I may try that with the group. I'm not very graceful anymore on skates even though I used to live with them on my feet growing up. Someone's chirping, so must cheerio.

close to 3 months old...

2007-07-17T14:12:00.001-05:00

Whew...in some respects it seems like the time with the girls has flown by and in others it's painstakingly slow. Kind of like pregnancy I suppose.

We managed our first solo trip to the grocery store this morning. I was quickly running out of formula so off we went. Not so bad really. I managed to not make eye contact with others so we only had one major stop by the deli lady. She was sweet though.

Zoey's been fussy today. She doesn't like it when the car stops at things like red lights or turns. She's my Ricky Bobby baby *according to Auntie Maya.*

Alexa has discovered she can have all sorts of fun with her tongue. It's her new favorite trick and she will have you making a complete idiot of yourself in about 10 seconds flat.

I'm hanging in there on a few more hours sleep nowadays which is nice. They are sleeping a ton this week so I'm expecting a big growth spurt soon. I'm working on a children's story, processing it through my mind. I think I'll go try to lay a few paragraphs down now while all is quiet.

cribless

2007-07-02T00:53:00.000-05:00

I have babies who don't want to sleep in their cribs. Or rather babies who no matter how zonked out wake up instantly as soon as they are lowered into their cribs. I even do the trick by keeping my hands in place under their heads, but nope. They prefer to be held by a human, anyone who's willing to have their arm fall asleep in the process will do.

Just now I foolishly unstrapped a sleeping Alexa from her papasan chair on the kitchen table and tried to put her to bed. Now she's on my left shoulder as I type with one hand. I had to bribe Zoey with promises of my rapid return as I took her from her cozy resting place in my arms and set her adrift in the swing. I think she's on to me though.

I feel like a monster letting my babies sleep in these artificial contraptions every night. I do eventually turn the swing off, but I will leave a sleeping baby in it so I can get in a nap. I'm sleeping on borrowed time, in tiny bursts like the babies.

Heath and I think they are identical. With each passing day they look more and more alike (we're at 9 weeks now). Alexa is now 10 pounds, 22 inches and Zoey is 9 pounds, 21.25 inches. As Zoey closes the gap they are looking very similar. Zoey looks like Alexa 2 weeks ago. There are still some subtle differences--brow shape, ear shape, but not many.

They look like little angels when they are sleeping. So sweet and innocent. Here are some happy baby pictures. Alexa has on purple leg warmers and Zoey has on the pink stripes.

Midnight at Club WAHH

2007-06-10T23:29:00.000-05:00

It's my sixth week here hostessing at Club W.A.H.H. (Wet and
Hungry/Hyper). Since Tuesday it's been pretty much a solo gig each night entertaining the VIBs (Very Important Babies); although sometimes they are VGBs (Very Gassy Babies) which keeps me hopping. Sometimes it's just one baby girl, which is easy to handle; however by the time I get that one fed, changed and asleep, the other one is ready to get up so that leaves little time for mom to nap. On hot, happenin' nights it's both girls fussing at the same time and that's when the party really happens.

At 6:30 a.m. this morning I was entertaining them both in their moses baskets. Twice while I was leaning over Alexa I fell face first into the side of the basket asleep. That's when I woke up Heath to take over.

Heath's been great this weekend, spending lots of time with the girls and letting me get a some much coveted rest. He puts them on the floor and tires them out, zerberts them or dances around the kitchen singing them silly songs. I love him so much for that.

At the moment I've got Zoey on my shoulder and I'm typing one-handed. I tired to put her to bed without success a moment ago.

Tonight I've given myself caffiene boost with an iced coffee. I'm pretty much a straight tea drinker, but those stupid iced Starbucks coffee commercials got me thinking that's just what I need at night. Can you believe they are $8 bucks for 4 drinks at the store? I don't think so. A can of Nestle's instant and some sweetened condensed milk and I'm in business. Of course i just breastfed Zoey to get her to sleep and now I think she's a bit wired too.

I've made the decision to pump breast milk and mix it with formula for they girls. It was too hard breastfeeding and then giving them a follow-up bottle. This way ANYONE can feed them and my breasts get a rest. I was feeling like Elsie for a while. I did manage to serve them both at the same time--which I think is a major accomplishment.

It's funny, I thought my all-nighters were long gone. Now, it's the dead man's shift without the techno and Gay Denny's feast. I get that sweet smile though and it's all worth it. Every poopy second of it!

Day 13

2007-05-10T17:27:00.000-05:00

Whew - I've almost made it to our twin girl's two week mark. Alexa and Zoey are doing great and growing fast. We had a bit of a scare with Zoey and had to take her back to the hospital last Thursday for a breathing issue. Luckily all her tests came back normal and she hasn't had another episode since last week in the peditrician's office. What a scare though! She was only home for a day and a half.

Today we took pictures with the girls on the floor. I've started co-bedding them in Zoey's crib and they are so cute together. Zoey looks tiny compared to her sister, but I know she'll be catching up in no time.

Here's what I've learned about parenthood so far:

1) Expect the unexpected - like Zoey having to go to the emergency room and being hospitalized for 5 more days. I didn't know we'd be tested so quick! Talk about trial by fire. Heath really came through, spending almost every night with her and taking care of her by himself.

2) Just when you think you've fed and burped and changed everyone, it starts all over again.

3) If I can get a continual 4 hours of sleep in one lump, I'm golden for the next 24 hours.

4) I actually have a THIRD baby - it's yellow and doesn't cry. (Breast pump).

5) Leaks happen. Shout's my new best friend.

6) The wipe warmer is a godsend.

7) Best use of non-baby gadget: my rice steamer as a sterilizer! Thanks hubby Heath!

9 Days and counting down

2007-04-18T15:38:00.000-05:00

It's getting so close to the girls being born. I've got an odd sense of calm that's come over me this week. I should be freaking out, but really I'm confident and relaxed. I've been having trouble sleeping at night--I tend to fidget and can't get really comfortable. Although I have no problem sleeping through the morning. Very weird.

Today I cleaned out the bathroom cabinets, throwing a ton of makeup, lotion and general junk away. I cleaned all my makeup brushes. I guess it's the nesting instinct kicking in. The babies' room is all done, so I've got nothing to "nest" in there.

Heath's been proactively Tot-Locking our cabinets. He's turned into quite the handy guy. In fact he's been a HUGE help these last few months. I know I wouldn't be doing nearly as well as I am if I weren't married to this kind, sweet and generous man.

I've been working on getting all of our CDs onto the computer so we can load up the MP3 player with songs and make some cool custom CDs as well. Right now I'm working on a new workout playlist for Heath with lots of hard-driving music. I'm trying to put some surprises on there for him. It's kind of sad that the majority of things we like are from '89 - '02. I guess we just haven't purchased any CDs in a LONG time. There's no reason to really anymore.

I'm frustrated at Rhapsody, our online music service. Or should I say formally online service. We purchased several songs off of Rhapsody; however, we didn't get the "rights" to the songs. Now that we've cancelled the service, we just wasted all that money on songs we didn't get to keep. WTH is up with that?

Well, needless to say, I'm keeping myself busy during the day. I'm so burnt out on daytime t.v. I'd rather listen to music anyway.

I've also cancelled my web hosting service and I'm letting my domain lapse. I just don't have the time or energy (or the money) to keep up with it. And I still can't get my FTP software to connect to the hosting service. C'est La Vie. I have a feeling we'll need the money for diapers anyway!

Easter countdown

2007-04-04T14:14:00.000-05:00

Lisa Vollrath is an amazing collage artist. She's doing a free printable Easter image countdown if you post her link on your blog.

http://www.tentwostudios.com/countdown/

Check it out for cool imagery!

blue moon babies

2007-04-02T13:13:00.001-05:00

Maya - being the supreme mother being she is, had to call me last night to tell me that this April is a blue moon month! There will be two full moons this month, one right now and another one around April 29th.

Each twin gets her own moon.

The girls are expected to arrive around April 27th - 29th. They are both in breech position right now, so I may end up having a C-section. They are each around 5 lbs. and everything looks good.

My only complaint is my feet. I have to be off of them most of the time, so that means little time for doing fun things like going to lunch with friends, grocery store shopping (yeah, that's really been my highlight of the week for the past 2 months), etc.

I can stick it out for 3 more weeks. Funny thing is my Dr. is expecting right around the time of my original 40-week due date of May 13th. Good thing twins come early!

big & lumpy crafty mama

2007-03-21T15:09:00.000-05:00

Well, the girls are both a little over 4 lbs. each now. I'm in the middle of 32 weeks and still everything's going well. I attribute my success to drinking insane amounts of water, getting lots of rest and maintaining a low stress attitude.

I also get to take a nice long morning nap, so if you're going to call me during the week, please do so after 10:45 or 11 a.m.

Last night the three of us could not agree on a sleeping situation. I eventually ended up sleeping on my right side and when I awoke this morning, baby b (who's on my right) had shifted to the middle of my stomach, forcing baby a to protrude rudely out my left side. I was one lop-sided mama!

One nice thing that has been pleasant is I'm crafting like a fiend. I made some artist trading cards (ATCs) loosely based on the Tarot major arcana (main 22 cards), but with my own positive spin on them. It took forever, but I've finished the cards and made a little holder for them. Now I need to get motivated to make a booklet of the meanings here pretty soon.

Yesterday I made 3 necklaces, one using silk chord and my cool thread knotting tool and two with flex wire. I'm rather pleased with the results. I've been hording my "good" (meaning gemstone) beads for some time and hadn't had the chance to sit down and craft some patterns.

I'm also in the midst of making a cool rainbow ribbon scarf. I'm hoping to have a nice lot of gifts stored up for birthdays/christmas, etc.

Ooo! I ordered Diamond Glaze off the internet so I can make some kick booty bottle cap jewelry after the babies get here and I have an off hour to play. I also got a pad of blank postcards, so that will be my next papercraft obsession I'm sure.

This Sunday I'm hoping to drag out my sewing machine and make some aprons as well as some cool stuff from all the scraps I've got for little gifties.

Maybe I'll get ambitious and open up an Etsy store one of these days after the kids get a little older.

Shh...secret

2007-02-10T20:34:00.001-06:00

Okay--I'm not a huge Oprah fan, well really I am but I have a love/hate relationship with her. I think she does amazing things for the world and helps a lot of people. I actually had a youthful brush with Oprah back in high school--our choir sang for her before she gave a great, motivating speech here in Dallas. So I don't really have anything against the woman--I just have issues that she's become an idolized goddess to middle class housewives everywhere.

That being said, I do flip over to see if she has an interesting topic or person on when I have the opportunity. This week, she had the creators of The Secret on. I'd actually heard about The Secret from a hooping newsletter I get, some months ago. It looked interesting, but I didn't bite right away--I thought it might be more of a life coachy/Tony Robbins approach to your life. I was pleasently surprised to see it on Oprah the other day.

Well, yesterday I forked over the 5 bucks to watch it online. Let's just say I was so impressed that I bought the DVD to share it with my family and friends. It was pretty cool, since a lot of the secret I already live my life by--at least for the past 2 years when Heath and I made huge changes in our lifestyle and adopted the "conscious living" philosphy. Though the secret takes it a few steps further. I'm curious to test the idea and see how it manifests in my life. In general though, I'm very happy with my life. I try to live authentically and that's a realitively new concept in my world. Now I've got some big dreams to dream!

I would like to share it with a few people in my life who are in constant states of misery, though I'm scared they'd either get mad at me for implying there's something wrong with them or just think I'm damned loopy. I may make the attempt though.

Happiness isn't that hard when you realize it can only come from within. Why is that concept so hard for us to swallow? Are we afraid that if we don't have our misery and baggage--we'll be forced to reidentify ourselves? I say reinvent yourself EVERY DAY! There is no better time than to do it RIGHT NOW. Why hold back, when you're only holding back yourself from the beauty of the world?

Innerverse

2007-01-12T15:14:00.000-06:00

Inside, two cosmonauts float
anchored by life chords
seperate, yet joined.

I, merely a vessel
set forth on terra fima,
filled with the darkest of all space--

Containing a tiny model
of the universe--an innerverse
constantly expanding.

I am as old as time began
the seed of creation inside
a dark mystery shared only by two,

Basking in stars,
they explore their sphere
orbiting deep knowlege of when dawn shall break.

Full

2006-12-22T14:03:00.000-06:00

That's me. I'm full.
Ready to pop,
though the indicator says
to bake for 4 more months.
Not so good at bending,
shaving legs out of mere determination.
My belly comes first and always first
I merely follow.
In January, my sanctuary will
become my solitary confinement.
A womb in a womb.
I'm already stir-crazy, a bystander to metamorphisis.
My nightlife is filled with vivid memories,
acting out my youth, though even there
I'm a mammoth mommy incubator.
In my dream this morning I sighed and told
my cousin--"I need a drink."
I'm in constant flux of who I was
and the conflict of who I will be.
It's feeding time again--my only
dark pleasure these days.
I cacoon myself in pillow blankets and comfort food.
And still, I'm full.

chrysalis

2006-11-29T12:42:00.000-06:00

I have three people in my life (not including me) who are going through major life changes. I see them like beautiful butterflies, struggling to break free from all that they know and move forward, fly into the great unknown.

I want to tell them that they can soar. That their wings won't always be sticky--that it gets better. Sometimes you have to examine your entire life under a microscope, every choice you've made, the patterns you've established with people and your everyday life--all just so you can claw your way out of the deep whole inside. It sucks. It's the hardest work you'll ever do, especially if you're battling patterns of addiction. I've been there. I know exactly what it feels like to have no hope, to sink into your own head and say f-off to everyone else around you. You get stuck in a loop you can't escape--a locked pattern that gives you no hope for growth or change.

If you start though--that microscope perspective of your life, you let yourself feel those feelings (all of them, even the crappy ones), you begin to move forward, to understand who you really are, to gain steady ground through acceptance. Acceptance of the past, all the wrongs that were done to you--all the wrongs you've done to others. And soon you realize it's all choice. That's all we really have--choices. You can choose to stay stuck in the deadend crap until it kills your soul, or you can choose change--no matter how hard it is.

It does get better. Acceptance and finding your core being helps you to release all that pain that's been built up inside. It also helps you grow as a person and fill the emptiness many of us feel. It's all a matter of perspective, I think. Taking both the microscope view, but with a ominiscient, third party perspective.

Growth is never easy. It's when the crap hits the fan that you test what kind of person you really are. Choosing to move forward, push through the hardships is a choice for change and growth. It's the only choice that isn't fear-based. It overcomes the fear--failure, what others think, looking foolish, no matter that fear inside is.

I'd like to tell those who are going through this period of extreme life-shattering change, that you can do it. Make those first steps, and soon you'll be flying away off that branch and leaving the pit of despair behind.

Cynicism and negative are just armor we wrap ourselves because of fear. Let it go and take flight.

mini-monsters inside

2006-11-27T08:33:00.000-06:00

mini-monsters inside

My body has been invaded, taken over by squirmy little mini noshing monsters. Not the bad kind of monsters, more like the Wild things kind. Or Mercer Mayer books.

They've started wiggling and giggling in my tummy this week. Especially when I laugh. My whole belly shakes like Santa Claus's jelly belly. I think they will be happy little monsters since I laugh A LOT.

Maybe I'll do a Mercer Mayer monster themed baby room. That may warp them way early though. Yes, I write this as I'm listening to Rob Zombie's Living Dead Girl at 8 a.m.. I don't think there's much hope for them beeing non-warped. I will say this, these little ones will know their music history, by Goddess. Where the sounds of today came from, and the greatest musicians of all time. That will be gauranteed.

I think the one on the left's going to be a drummer. Not that I'm not rhythmically inclined, but lately I've been known to beat on things and slap out complementary beats. Leftie's the jumpy one. It cracks me up, 'cause the kid across the street is practicing on his drum kit at night, and I can hear it through the neighborhood. Oh yes, I'd better get used to that sound.

Hopefully, they will have some sort of musical talent, since Heath and I are both musically inclined. Maybe that's just wishful parental thinking.

Ugh. Parental. I never thought I'd be using that word to describe me. It kinda makes me want to dye my hair pink and put on my Velvet Underground bondage shirt. No more naked dresses for me. *Sigh.*

Maybe I'll go put on the bondage shirt just for old time's sake. Severin, Severin, speak so softly...I can still be the whiplash girlchild in the dark.

craft-a-holic

2006-11-17T09:20:00.000-06:00

craft-a-holic

Hello, my name is Julia, and I am a craft-a-holic. Yesterday I was flipping through a catalog and saw some earrings I liked for $25 (not including S&H). HA! I had all the supplies to make those earrings in my craft room. So last night, I drug out the necssary beads and made 6 pairs. And a matching necklace for one pair for mom for Chirstmas. I had a grand idea at the last holiday gathering that I would sew vintage aprons for all the ladies in our family for Christmas. Yeah, well I made two for friends over the summer. It's a lot harder than it looks.

Right now I have two record purses ready to be sewn together that have been sitting on my kitchen table now for several weeks (with the sewing machine). I actually completed a purse last night to send off as a belated birthday gift. See--I eventually get things accomplished.

On my coffee table I have one white baby hat that I knitted up on circular needles, not really reading ahead to where I require 5 double pointed needles (which I don't have and have never used) to complete the top of the hat. I think I'm going to break pattern, bind off and crochet the top of the hat, since I know how to crochet. Also blue yarn to make another set of baby booties (my green ones are almost done, just have to trim and glue the strap ends). Looks like I'll have yarn left over form the booty project so I'll probably crochet some little hats to match.

In my craft room I've got a half completed Intarsia Monkey face for a back pack that I started last spring. Of course there are 6 yarn skiens attached to that monstrosity that I need to finish so I can knit the rest. Oh yeah, and three cool scrap fabric bracelets that just need snaps and glued in rhinestones.

I also have plans to knit a couple of dolls for friends for the holidays. I haven't even started to think about those projects.

I am trying my best to start using up what craft supplies I already have. My problem is I get an idea in my head, and it always requires some extra purchase.

Going to the doctor's today, so if I don't get any work from work this afternoon, I may declare this "FINISH PROJECT DAY!"

Booty, Booty, Booty!

2006-11-14T12:50:00.000-06:00

Booty, Booty, Booty!

I'm knitting my fingers to the bone. We've reactivated Purlie Girls, and had a great meetup last Saturday.

I got the latest Stitch n' Bitch Nation book from Debbie Stroller, and I'm loving it. I'm making the tinesty, cutest pairs of baby booties in generically gender friendly colors (frog green and turquoise blue). I'll post some pics when they are up. If you're my friend and wondering why I'm knitting Pairs of Baby booties--you should email me and I'll tell you why. (Although, I think you're smart enough to figure that one out on your own.)

Also on the craft front, I'm making some totally cool record purses and sewing up groovy fabric bracelets for holiday gifts this year. Plus some other cool goodies. I love giving gifts I make myself, eventhough I'm sure some of my recipiants wish I'd just give them a damn gift certificate. I'm stubborn and staying true to my hobbies.

I cheated this year and bought my holiday cards online from Kodak, uploading a picture of Heath and me in North Carolina. They came in record fast so now I just have to address all those envelopes and write out our holiday letter.

All is well this week. I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving. This year has FLOWN by too fast. Didn't we just celebrate new years?!?

Bought a new hooping DVD today. I can't wait to start hooping it up again!

A Spell to Commit Pronoia

2006-11-01T14:06:00.000-06:00

A Spell to Commit Pronoia, by psychotherapist Jennifer Welwood:

Willing to experience aloneness,
I discover connection everywhere;
Turning to face my fear,
I meet the warrior who lives within;

Opening to my loss,
I am given unimaginable gifts;
Surrendering into emptiness,
I find fullness without end.

Each condition I flee from pursues me.
Each condition I welcome transforms me
And becomes itself transformed
Into its radiant jewel-like essence.

I bow to the one who has made it so,
Who has crafted this Master Game;
To play it is pure delight,
To honor it is true devotion.

Check out Rob Brezsny's book on Pronoia

new site, new group

2006-07-24T16:29:00.000-05:00

Site make over & new hoop group

I'm pleased that after much tech support, I've finally gotten mu new layout up and running. I'm pleased with it, although I still have some work to do in the pict-a-poems section. And I've got to add on a hooping page.

I've started a Dallas Hoopers group for local hula hooper enthusiasts. So far, it's just me, my cute friend Christina and a lady who lives in Oklahoma. I'm hoping to have a meetup this Sunday, July 30th. If you're interested in joining, here are a few places on the web I'll be posting to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dallas_hoopers/

http://tribes.tribe.net/dallashoopers

And I've got a myspace page group that I'll have to upload here.

HTML class

2006-07-11T14:58:00.000-05:00

html II class

I'm finishing up my HTML classes tonight. I've redesigned my website, and I was hoping to show it during class, but I'm having ftp/hosting server issues.

Stupid technology. It never works the way you want it to.

waiting...

2006-06-22T14:35:00.000-05:00

waiting...

I feel like I'm always waiting for something to happen. You know, the "next" thing on that monstrous list of life things that have to get done, before...Before what exactly? Before I find happiness, inner peace, or complete fulfillment?

These things give me tired head. The "next, after this, once I get there" mentality. It's here where I remind myself that life is about the journey. That I define my own reality. Restructuring one's reality is not an easy task, but it is rewarding when you can look back and see a major shift in your behavior or change in your path.

We're all just becoming, really. Trying desperately to reach that state we call human.

Conscious living.

boot camp, day 1

2006-03-20T08:10:00.000-06:00

boot camp, day 1
I started boot camp training today. The flooding yesterday forced us to start in the gym rather than one of the parks. I did the wall squat test at 1 min, 17 secs. In the pushup challenge I did 9 regular pushups, 10 knee pushups and 22 tricep dips as my starting fitness point. I was proud to be able to run during the sprints we did outside. My walking lunges are terrible and so are my supersets of pushups/crunches. I guess that just leaves room to grow! I'm tired but I feel pretty good. I'm just having my protien shake to recover.

I thought getting up at 5:30 would be tough, but it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. I wasn't the last person there, so that's good news. If you're late your punishment is extra jumping jacks. We did so many squats my butt hurts already. That's good though. Pay for torture!

The other ladies in my class seem nice. We have a wide variety of fitness levels and ages. Two of the toughest competitors have taken the boot camp two or three times before and it shows. They said that I'll be amazed at my transformation at the end of 3 weeks. I'm going to try to be good, keep up my food diary and do my required cardio on the days off.

Looks like it's going to be cold on Wednesday morning so we'll probably be at the gym again. I can't wait to get outdoors and have a little fun. Maybe on Friday it will be nice.

boot camp

2006-03-14T12:51:00.000-06:00

boot camp

I must need my head examined, because I just signed up for a fitness boot camp, 3 weeks long 3x a week starting on Monday. Yep, 6 a.m. MWF.

I must admit though, I'm pretty excited about it. I've hit another plateau in my weightloss so I'm hoping that this will provide me the kick in the pants I need to lose those last 20 lbs. Mr. Hubby Heath's been doing great--he's basically met his goal and is now onto perfecting his physique. I'm still over here huffing and puffing just trying to get the scale to move down a few lbs.

Shh...I have a secret goal. After watching the winter Olympics, I want to learn how to snowboard next winter. I know, me, the girl afraid of heights wants to conquer a mountain. I figured it's got everything I fear wrapped up into one tidy package...ski lifts, going down hill uncontrolably with only my legs to guide me, and falling down in public. What more could a girl want?

balance in all things

2006-03-08T15:52:00.000-06:00

balance in all things...

I know it's been a long time sweet blog. So I joined the Writer's Garret CAMP program and decided to do work study exchange for classes. I'm not sure that was the most austute choice on my part. I was given a "project" to get their literary magazine called TEX! laid out and ready to print. Of course, there's something unique in this project, a special promotional section for the Writes of Spring literary festival at the end of March.

I had more than my share of late nights and my poor layout artist worked his ace off to get it to the publishers on time. Here's what I learned from the experience:

- As a writer be prepared for what ever an editor requests. For example, even if you haven't published jack, you should still have a well written 50-100 word bio that you can send off at a moment's notice. Also, as any kind of artist, you should have a nice 300 dpi high resolution head shot photo of your smiling face available in multiple electronic formats (TIFF for print GIF for web). I was shocked at how many published and professional writers did not have these items handy!

- Expect the unexpected. We had the computer crash on our layout twice. That was 6.5 hours worth of work gone in an instant. *sigh*

- Stay focused and organized. It's difficult to work on a complicated project with many, many elements when all those participating are not the most organized individuals. I certainly am not the orderly one in this household. This was a huge challenge on my part to keep things orderly and remember what I'd sent and what I didn't send to the layout artist.

- Friendship and business don't mix well, generally. Because my layout artist was a friend, and I walked into this project blind, I had no idea what a nightmare of a task it was going to be. Never again will I bring a project to the table that doesn't have a project plan!

- I don't need anyone's permission to write. Perhaps this is the most valuable lesson of all. After seeing the chaos of publishing from a different perspective, I know that I can and will be published in my own right. Why do I know this will happen? Simply because I'm easy to work with, I am responsive, responsible, and I respect other people's deadlines. Now I just have to write something that I feel is worthy to put out in the world.

- Perhaps the greatest thing I learned from this endeavor is how to set boundaries. In my personal life, my professional life and my writing life I've been known to take on too much and try to save the day haphazardly. No more. From this moment on I'm dedicated to balance in my life. There's a time to work and a time to play. Period.

So I don't think I'll have a budding magazine editor career in the forseeable future, but I do thank the universe for the experience. It has been enlightening and painful, as all good lessons seem to be. I'm a stronger person for it and I'm glad I stuck with it. Now...just waiting to hold that puppy in my hot little hands!

truth in dreams

2005-11-22T14:56:00.000-06:00

I'm reading the Telivisionary Oracle at the moment, a most interesting cosmolicious eye-candy of a novel. My kind of read. Perhaps inspired by this very book, last night I told my subconscious that I needed some guidance about what I should do with my writing career. Either give me the big plot outline or something to go on.

This morning I awoke with the dream still fresh in my head. I'm in an old beat up car with my high school English teacher, Mr. Davidson. We're driving around picking up students from an empty, dusty tennis court. I asked him if he needed a teacher's aid--that I'd work for free, in trade for the experience and his mentorship. He nods and winks at me. Now, recalling this I realize that there might be some sexual overtones to this scenario--some sort of Sting fantasy that's buried deep in my psyche, but trust me, in the dream I was of pure heart. No thirst, but for knowledge.

This morning I scanned Moonlady News and came across this little item:

For serious writers only...Community And Mentorship Program (CAMP)

And so I submitted an application and got in! Whee! I can't wait to meet other writers!

bad blogger, bad bad bad

2005-10-21T13:42:00.000-05:00

bad blogger, bad bad bad

I know, it's been ages since I've posted. We just got back from a fabulous Jamaican vacation and I was very sad to go. The friends we met last year overlapped our vacation, so we had a great time. Best part: catamaran booze cruise. If you buy me a beer, maybe I'll tell you all about it. For now, it's all future book fodder.

I'm looking forward to the NaNoWriMo challenge again this year. I'm attempting to get my thoughts in order since this is the book I've been attempting to write all year. So many false starts. I think my biggest challenge is distance from my characters. For the past 33 years it's been all about me, so to speak. Poetry, stories, all little pieces of me. This book--I want it to ring true, to speak to others, to provoke pain and hurt and joy. It's the one I'm trading in my pound of flesh for--the one that matters.

I've been frustrated with so many false starts, writing that reads like an angry brat wrote it, plots that don't hold form. It's funny though, I picked up an "erotic" novel...The Price of Pleasure. It was so poorly written I didn't get past page 30 and left it in Jamaica for the maid. From now one I'll skim before I buy. Nothing's worse than having your inner editor join you on your relaxing vacation. No mind though, I had good company on the plane!

Mad Swirl open mic

2005-08-04T08:06:00.000-05:00

Mad Swirl open mic

Last night I had a great time at open mic night at Absinthe Lounge. So many new poets, huddled together. We carved ourselves a little space last night. A piece of the midnight to carry in our pockets.

This morning I'm worn thin with too little sleep and too much elation. Bass thoughts linger in my memory--the band, as usual, was tight. I shouldn't be so surprised that Dallas has so many talented people. Sometimes Dallas seems so big-hair and shiny plastic that I forget what a great community we have. Lovers and poets and dreamers--everyone.

bad habits

2005-06-22T11:50:00.000-05:00

bad habits

For the past three weeks or so the universe has been telling me to overcome my bad habits--you know, all those little things we use as distractions. I have a few. It happens slowly, creeping in as something new and exciting...but pretty soon it's something you think about. Dream about. Crave.

I've been trying for sometime now to rid myself of unhealthy habits and live according to the middle way. It has occured to me that perhaps I've only replaced them with other distractions.

Today, I'm listening Universe so you can stop beating me over the head now. I got it. New rules, new structure and I'm ready to begin again. Life in moderation, not excess. I am strong.

On other news, a saw a good friend yesterday. I forget how easy it is to be around old friends. I could have talked and laughed for hours...and we did.

I realized I'm sheltering so I can think on this latest book project, but perhaps I'm also shutting myself in, closing off from the outside. Change is hard. Extremely hard. It's not that I don't want to be around people. In fact, just the opposite. It's that I'm afraid I'll be tempted to stray from my path. Drink and eat and spend money until I can't breath...which previously has been my natural tendencies. That's no longer my freedom. Sadly, these are the "socially acceptable" behaviors that most of our current friendships are based around. Old habits die hard.

The good thing though is friendships do too. Most of the people who love us forgive us for our shortcomings. Thank goddess, because I have no shortage of those!

new car

2005-05-27T13:57:00.000-05:00

Whoo-hoo! New car!

Heath bought me a new car yesterday--a Mazda 3 SP Special Edition and it's the bomb. I love it! It's a 5-speed manual transmission so it actually feels like I'm driving. Nicely equiped with an awesome security and safety package, it drives like a dream.

I'm in love. With my car. It's the perfect marriage of what I loved about my Geo Storm and what I love about the Lexus RX300. And it's HOT!

Breaking Boundaries

2005-05-18T13:19:00.000-05:00

I write a bi-monthly column for Spark! women's group. I've decided to repost some of my articles here for your reading pleasure.

Breaking Boundaries

It's crazy how many boundaries we live with on a daily basis. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually--we all have boundaries in place to "protect" us. We get irritated if someone stands too close in line, disregarding our invisible boundary for personal space. We react to other people's thoughts and ideas based on our personal core childhood beliefs and experiences. Each experience may be different on the surface, yet our reactions are predictable.

What does it all boil down to? Boundaries are neither bad nor good. They exist in our minds because that's what we know and what we're accustomed to. It's safe and familiar territory. We've eliminated the fear factor. Everything on the other side of our boundaries is foreign to us--a strange and scary place where we may feel lost if we break through. But what do we really have to lose? Fear. Once you've taken that first step to living the life that you want to live, the fear is still there, but it shrinks down to a manageable size.

You know in your heart what you are destined to do. Today I challenge you to recognize your current boundaries and make a breakthrough. Experience something new, something different.

Be brave, and you will be rewarded.

by Julia McPherson

poem that won

2005-04-19T09:52:00.000-05:00

Poetry Contest Poem
Here's my poem that won in the 2005 local writing contest. Tonight I get an award from the mayor. Good grief, I'm nervous!

Field Spider

You've traced you webs
along my cool, green blades
Perfect geometrical squares
like two picnic napkins
left behind.

You lie in wait
dead-center,
a furry brown beasty--
frightful to nieghbor children,
but a fascination to me.

Does your world revolve
around upir eoght spindly legs?
Are your boxed boundaries
a teseract to you,
viewed through your tiny eyes?

I wonder at your arithmetic
plucked out on
sticky strands--
your own secret abacus
to the universe.

Poetry Contest!

2005-04-17T14:13:00.000-05:00

Yea! I got a phone call on Friday from the local Arts & Humanities Council. I entered a contest about a month ago - the 2005 Essay & Poetry Competion. I won in the adult poetry category. I'm still in shock! But very happy. Apparently the Mayor's giving me an award on Tuesday during the City Council meeting. Whoo-hoo! And I won some prizemoney.

I'm pretty dang happy!

friends, friends and more friends

2005-04-14T22:15:00.000-05:00

friends, friends and more friends
You can never have enough of them in my opinion. I've had an interesting two weeks. I've been shut in due to an illness - nothing too serious, just a bad, itchy rash. I t did motivate me to pull all my crap out of my craft closet and start organizing. Oh yeah, the 400 pictures I categorized and filed away are now going in albums. I love seeing all the different people who've touched my life in a meaningful way. I'm very lucky to have known these brave souls.

Okay, here's where crazy kicks in. (And if you know me, you knew it was coming). At different points in my life, I've seen a huge light around certain people. A little that was not part of artificial light or sunlight. Every time I see this I know I have to get to know this person. That they will impact my life in some significant way. I know, I'm delusional, but it's true. It's like these people are catlysts for change. I remember vividly getting on the school bus in California and sitting near the back was a girl who had this white light enimating from her. I knew I had to be her friend. Unfortunately, that friendship became the catalyst for my hitting rock bottom at the tender age of 16. Which, I suppose, is good in a way as I know I can survive and it will never, ever be that bad again. Ever.

This happened again a year ago with my second oldest friend, Tracey. A series of unfortunate events (on my part) led to my marriage being in jeparody. I drove 2000 miles by myself with oddly packed clothes, my hula hoop and my camera on a random Tuesday at 11 a.m. I felt compelled to see the ocean. It was either Charleston, SC or CA. I chose Charleston and I'm glad I did. I got up enough courage to call Tracey. We ended up on the beach next day and she was glowing. Not from the sun--it was somewhat sunny and somewhat windy. When I asked her about how she lives her life, she radiated clear as day. Tracey, besides doing what any good friend would do, listening, inspired me to wake up and look at my life. Really look. A lot of people say they want to do this or do that--Tracey's done that and more. She travels all over the world with her friends and family, sets her own schedule (pretty much) and doesn't own much. She lives for the experience, not for material things.

She caused a huge shift in my thinking. This was what it's about. Who knew I'd find God in my best friend? I feel blessed having taken that journey alone. I am thankful that it set me on a path that I am proud to be on, that feels right for me, that has allowed me to inspire those closest to me. If you know me, you also know that I don't speak of religion or religious beliefs often. For me, God (Goddess, universal spirit, Buddha, Jesus, Alah, Yahweh, divinity--whatever label you choose) is in all of us. Collectively, we are each an essential part of the equation. When I see this light, it's God in you--I honor and acknowledge the God in you.

book-si-daisy

2005-03-07T19:39:00.000-06:00

book-si-daisy
So things are progressing bookwise. I'm deep into the editing phase of one and I'm sketching out another one. I'm really liking attempting to write in other genres. It's very freeing. I feel like the choice is not what to write...but what not to. The horizon is huge out here in the southwest, but today I could almost feel the strains of its borders.

I'm finding my tempo down this path and I'm rather enjoying myself. Work life and writing life have begun to feel comfortable, so I guess there is balance in all things.

write, grasshopper write!

writer's group and other adventures

2005-02-02T12:16:00.000-06:00

So last night, I gathered up my courage, tucked it under my arm and drove over to the local library for a writers group workshop. Although we didn't actually write during the meeting, I did enjoy myself. There was practical advise and lots of handouts. It was cool, non-intimidating and I'll most likely go back. My assignment...bring something to read next time and include handouts.

This past weekend I also met with a friend of mine who is also a writer. We had a good honest talk, of course I'm pretty much an emotional person so I got all teary about my work, my life, and what's hard to deal with. I swear she needs to think seriously about being a therapist. Ususally I'm the one people tell all their secret feelings to. She just brings it out of me. This week I'm feeling relieved and revitalized. I'm branching off in a new direction...uncharted territory for me and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Heath and I were blessed to have a great meal with some friends we hadn't seen in a while. It's funny, I feel like I've known them for a really long time. They are new parents and I enjoyed hearing their trials and joys they are experiencing. It was refreshing to reacquiant ourselves with these friends. I hope they stay close to us.

It's odd...Heath has a tendency to surround himself with people that have more common characteristics with me than himself. Their female partners though have a tendency to have more in common with him. I suppose it's a good mix since we know of at least 3 other couples who have these traits. Opposites attract and thank goodness! I don't know where I'd be without Heath in my life.

shocking chicago

2005-01-05T14:35:00.000-06:00

shocking chicago

So...my incredibly supportive friends found a poetry reading in good o' Chi town while we were there over new years. It was supposedly one of the longest running poetry readings in Chicago in the Rodger's park area at a hippie place called the Heartland Cafe.

The food was good even if my husband kept ordering me the wrong drinks. Being a newbie, I signed up to read 3rd, get it over with quickly. Which is good, because one of our dear friends apparently has narcolepsy when it comes to poetry and he was literally snoring during the first reading.

The first poet was a sweet 78 year old woman who read a kind of red-hat-society poem. Next up was an old codger that had talked to us in the bar. He was a photographer and showed us his book to see if my friend would be "interested" in playing with him. Creepy-creepy as the majority of his pictures were of very pretty young girls. My female companion is 5'10" and gorgeous. I noticed he wasn't asking me for my picture, but that's okay. I'm usually the wierdo wall flower anyway.

I digress. Old codger gets up and reads a long beat-esk poem about the glory days and politically oppressed. Lots of whoo-hoos when talked about getting high. That should have been my first tip off.

So, the blurb says you have 5 minutes up on stage. I get up there, introduce myself, tell them I'm a little blue, so I hope they can handle it. I read 2 poems, as mine are short and sweet. Halfway through my second one, I'm panicking beacuse it's so silent. I pause, breath and finish and quickly get off the stage. I got the sympathy clap from those fading hippies. We beat tail out of there before the stoned guy could come around and collect the $2 cover. I suppose it was in bad poetic taste, but hey...you get what you give. I, haha, did not give my last name.

Things I learned:
Don't sign up early for a crowd you don't know about.

If Texas is the bible belt, then Chicago's gotta be the chastity belt. I didn't even say the "c" word or anything. I threw out my best erotica, and got open mouths and blank stares. That's okay though. I just thought hippies were more hip.

happy holidays

2004-12-21T11:03:00.000-06:00

happy holidays!

It's been a hectic couple of days. The good news, I sold a couple of things on eBay. YEA! I'm no longer a virgin seller, which is awesome. My whole dining room is filled with things that need to be put up for auction. I'm sure it's driving my neat-nick husband insane. But isn't that what the holidays are about? Insanity? I help out when I can.

I saw an amazing story on Dateline the other night about a doctor who helped a young poet from Mexico by giving him a spinal operation. The young man is an AMAZING poet. His name is Ekiwah Adler Belendez.

Fascinating story and an extremely talented individual. I wish him the best of luck.

We're traveling this week and I'll be out of touch pretty much until the new year. I'm still editing, although I'm thinking about taking this new approach for the next revision. Pretty much this time through I'm correcting gramatical errors and minor things. Holly's ideas will help me dig deeper and make the story publisher-friendly.

I wish you twinkly stars and happy things on these last days of the year. Blessings!

ebay

2004-12-16T14:32:00.000-06:00

eBay-tastic

Whoo-hoo! It's Ebay mania at the McPherson household! I've been organizing and decided it's high time to start selling!

If you're looking for a great gift for a lovely lady in your life, check out my auctions. My username is bellabellabag.

We're getting ready for the trip to NC. I'm taking my book with me to finish editing, and of course some yarn for knitting. I need to knit a hat tout suite! My friend Kim made me an amazingly long purple chenille scarf that I get compliments on everytime I wear it. I got some yarn to match to make a hat. It's really true, heat does escape from the top of your head!

Happy Holidays!

tuesday blues day

2004-12-08T09:28:00.000-06:00

tuesday - blues day

I'm feeling a little bluesy today. I think it's the weather. I'm still editing like a fiend and I'm on Chapter 6, which is good. Looking back at what I wrote, I'm pleasantly surprised. Of course, I'm sure my feelings will change once I hand it to an editor. I didn't realize how protective of my work I am until I got some feedback on Saturday over a poem I submitted. It was constructive feedback, but man did I feel my defenses flare up! Rereading what the editor suggested, I recognize that he's right. It did take me two days to digest that fact. I guess I hold poetry close to my heart and it hurts pretty bad when some one comments on it. Revision, revision, revision is my new mantra. I have to learn to become less sensitive about the work and know that editors are just trying to make it perfection!

finished up and feelin' fine

2004-12-03T23:54:00.000-06:00

finished up and feelin' fine

I got in under the wire for NanoWriMo, but I finished. 50,139 to be exact. I start editing tomorrow. I've given myself a deadline of 2 weeks to edit. That way I can do the final edit on our vacation.

I'm worried about boarding our dog. I took her to the vet today to get her yearly shots and she hasn't been doing well today. She's still kind of doped up and freaked out. Hopefully tomorrow she'll be better.

Lots to do! I've got to finish holiday cards tomorrow, start work on a custom purse, and possible decorate a little.

Oh, and here's the coolest restaurant concept ever.

tuesday

2004-11-23T23:31:00.000-06:00

the things that you own end up owning you

Fight Club philosophy 101--pure and simple. I'm trying so hard to live out loud. Give up old habits and embrace new ideas. New life. Who knew living your dream would be so hard? I wonder sometime if I'm making it harder on myself. I feel stagnant most of the time. Like masterbation. It's pretty much the same thing every time. Since 8 until now, with the exception of the occasional toy. But even that is predictable.

We're just all living in this endless loop. I want out. I want off and I want out. I know I can do better. I know I can make bigger sacrifices. I have that capability inside. This is all just pre-enlightenment.

I promise to find my voice in all of this. This is what it takes. Self-absorbtion.

go here

2004-11-22T14:16:00.000-06:00

experimental weirdness

I love it when creativity and technology merge. Go here and do this.

open letter

2004-11-19T12:13:00.000-06:00

open letter to Charles de Lint

Tell me that it gets easier, Charles. I read your stories and I'm awed. The subtle textures, the myths that ring true somewhere deep within me. I am stilted, a broken poet, my voice--my true voice choking at my wrists--refusing to flow through my fingers. I feel like nothing I write could ever measure up. That the things I say are just shadows of what I really want to say. I'm a faker and a fraud. More talk than words. More hope than actual evidence of story.

Poetry--poetry is easy. A few quick glimpses of the muse and it's done, finished, just needing polishing to shine bright. Story, novels, so many complexities are almost painful to me. This must be like giving birth. I shall never really know. Me, 32 and acting 23.

I feel like I'm between worlds--living in my head and observing the world, completely unconnected. And yet today, just now, I walked through my neighborhood meeting so many strangers. Walking, gardening, ambling. Just a friendly hello and a smile. "Oh, what a beautiful day," the thin black man said smiling to me as he walked down the hill to the lake. And it was, it is, from just his saying so.

The birds are flying twirling in slow tumbling circles. Their wing spans enormous. Eight of them, all together. Two, apart from the rest, winging side by side. The sight of them comforted me and made me think of you.

Tell me you struggled. Tell me that you tried on many skins before finding the right fit. I am lost, half way into the story and I feel no passion for it anymore. No pull. Perhaps I'm not meant to write long tales. Perhaps I'm just too stubborn to learn. My bridges are burnt, I can't go back, only forward. I'll push through this, I have to. However, just knowing that you're out there comforts me. Knowing that great stories are in this world helps. I'm struggling, perhaps because I know I'm not writing the story of my heart. I'm writing what's expected. That's why I'm losing interest.

I do want to prove to myself that I can do this 50,000 word challenge. If I succeed at that, the next story may be truer. May pluck that harp string deep within me to resonate within all of us-- our humaness. I feel though my magic's all used up, I've none left. Just the cursor blinking on that empty screen.

Thank you, Charles, for giving me hope. You inspire me to do better, to weave the threads, to create my own magic. Don't ever stop the song of your heart. Keep playing, only because I am listening intently.

3 am

2004-11-18T11:12:00.000-06:00

3 a.m.

I got up at 3 a.m. on the dot this morning, quietly dressed so as not to disturb the rest of the tribe and wrote until 4:45. For some reason, I was wide awake and couldn't relax, even though I was tired. I think it was guilt for not getting to my word count goal last night. I made it this morning though and I'm feeling pretty good.

Things I've learned while writing:
1) It really is necessary to write everyday. And showing up even when your stuck on a scene is like climb Mount Everest.

2) Diagraming and drawing is also very helpful. I never realized that I have such a hard time with setting. Describing a room with words is painstaking and painful. My props to the masters, who do this effortlessly.

3) Keeping track of what goes where. I'm talking about whose hand's on whose thigh, who is sitting next to who and if what I'm describing is even humanly possible,etc. Not to mention the muliple miscellaneous objects that can't appear out of thin air. The good thing is that back tracking and adding in is adding nicely to my word count. Padding, so they say.

4) Write through the scene even if your stuck and want to go off and stick your head in the oven. (Which doesn't make a hill of beans worth of sense when you have an electric range). This is the point when housework becomes suspiciously appealing. Go with the flow.