Lost in the Woods

I lost my fitbit. 

I thought it was gone forever and I gave up on ever winning a prize.

But then it came back today and I was happy.

The end.

Today’s Exploit:

I went for a run the other day. And H. decided to be nice and go with me. 

He is a little faster than I am, so I said he could go ahead if he wanted.

Then he said that he would run with me.

And he did for a little.

But then he decided to go on ahead, and didn’t tell me that he decided to do this.

I came to an intersection after he’d left me in the dust. I picked a way and trudged on, yelling for him every few minutes, with no response. And grumbling and worrying that I took the wrong path.

So I went back, and went down the other path for a ways, before deciding that we had missed each other when going back and looking, so I went home to see if he was there.  

Turns out he wasn’t, so I went back to the trails and did another loop and went miles and miles up the original trail I chose. I stopped to ask everyone I met if they’d seen him, but no one had.

Finally I gave up and went back down the trail to get some more water. I got back, after about a 9.9889 mile run to find him walking back from the house to find me. 

He’d gone all the way to the top of the trail, 9.5 miles round trip, and back. He must have come down while I was doing the other loop. And he waited and waited and waited for me to come back, because he didn’t have a key to go home. 

In the future, if he runs with me, I will make sure to specify that going ahead is fine just as long as you make triply sure that I know you are going ahead. 

It’s Mine, All Mine!

This week’s recommended reading: 

Today’s Exploit:

I get my house! They said yes!

I am so excited I can’t even put it into words. 

I have so many plans.

First I’ll take out the carpet and some tile.

Then we’ll work on the master bathroom, while I decide what in the world to do with the weirdo downstairs bathroom and laundry area.

Then I’ll deal with the extra tall counter/sink in the kitchen and get a beautiful gas cooktop, and take out the cabinets to put shelves on the wall. 

All the little cubbies need cleaned out and re-finished. As does the mini cellar-thing.

And I get to bring my piano down without forcing myself out of the house to provide space!

At some point we’ll deal with the not so fun tasks, like getting the bee nest out of a wall, and making sure the house is level and not rotting away. And waterproof in the rain. 

I can’t wait to finish the paperwork stuff so the fun part can start!

Happy Clouds

A Quilt

“Most witches don’t believe in gods. They know that the gods exist, of course. They even deal with them occasionally. But they don’t believe in them. They know them too well. It would be like believing in the postman.” 

― Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad

Today’s Exploit:

I made a quilt once. Or, rather, I finished a quilt once.

It was called a kaleidoscope quilt. And the pattern goes something like this, except mine has a dot in the center of each piece (and my quilting job leaves much to be desired): 

This one I found here

When I inherited it almost all the pieces were put together and all I had to do was sew them all together and quilt them.

It turned out to be a huge quilt and just right for summertime. It just might have a prominent place in a guest room if I get my house.

About 14.2 years later I inherited another quilt to finish.  

This one has more finishing to do, and will go in fits and starts just like the last one. But the current progress is nonexistent and I am working on motivating myself. I want to find a framed piece of a quilt made of silk neckties that hung in my room in Saratoga for inspiration. It has pretty stitches that I might be able to copy. 

These are some of the girls I have done so far. They each have very unique personalities. Some are divas, some are malleable, some are stubborn and some require great patience.

The green one furthest to the right is one a girl that seems unassuming
but will wreak havoc on your nerves.

Talking to Walter

This week’s reading recommendation: 

I love ALL of her books

Today’s Exploit:

Yesterday Walter, the other MWD, told me that his mom was almost 60 and getting to the age where she was starting to be crazy.  

And I laughed and laughed.

Mom and Dad, I thought you’d appreciate that.

Then we talked about parents and grandparents and siblings.

He has two crazy sisters and therefore thinks all women are scary.

I have one crazy sister and love hanging out with her because she makes me look meek and mild no matter how silly I am.

We have been sharing lots of stories and laughing a lot, and he ate 3 Lemon Brownies, so we are friends.

He likes checklists, so I drew this:

Little Flower

Going Running, Again

Oni Devil, the cat that won’t cuddle Cupcake, cuddling me when I’m trying to sleep:

She is 2.1 inches from my face, sitting on my chest.

Today’s Exploit:

I am going to run another half marathon. This is my first race since the full one, except that color one with Cupcake. But this is the first long one. I’m excited, and nervous because last time I got cramps and had to hop across the finish. 

I have been following my marathon training plan, and am at the 6-8 mile stage. Last week I had the worst run in the history of ever, so I am nervous for this week. Although the previous week I had a super duper run and could have kept going. 

I am excited to see Eli and Cavan, because they are awesome kids and I have missed them so much. Also, they are going to be giants, and probably taller than me. 

This is what they looked like last time I saw them. That was 2 years ago.

Aren’t they adorable? I probably can’t call them adorable any more. They’ll have to be “handsome”.

Five Year Birthday

This week’s recommended reading:

Found the image Here

Today’s Exploit:

I finally reached my five year birthday. 

It was a big celebration on Sunday. I went to town, I didn’t run and I made Lemon Brownies.

Sadly, town was dull and rainy, but I did find a game with jumpy frogs and give a hamburger to a man who seemed down on his luck. 

The Lemon Brownies I did not find at all impressive (not tart enough and tasted like egg), although everyone else seemed to like them and they were gone by the time I went to bed. They did keep calling them lemon bars and I had to use all my self control to refrain from correcting them. 

I also got a congratulatory letter from “the company” and Dane told me I would have to go to a banquet and give a speech in order to receive my five-year pin.

I said no thanks and skipped to the box. 

Pegahorns Exist

I want this

Giant Strawberry Jam

I have been taking advantage of a huge gift of ebooks and my Kindle lately.

I read 3 books last night.

I’m running out of authors that I know and will be starting on new ones soon.

Today’s Exploit:

I got some strawberries so that I can try another round of jam. 

Since they are from local farms they are picked the day, or the day before, they are displayed in the back of someone’s truck on the side of the road.

We stopped for a flat of the largest strawberries I have ever seen. Many of them were as big as my fist.

And since they were so ripe they had started molding by the following afternoon when I had a chance to start slicing. I got about half done that night and stuck them in the fridge with some lemon juice. 

The next morning I got a call from work, so I dumped the sliced strawberries in a freezer bag, hurried and sliced the rest, added some lemon and stuck them in another freezer bag. 

Now they are frozen, just waiting for a couple days off work to turn them into a kitchen experiment. 

If I’m lucky, maybe I can get home before strawberry season ends to get another flat.

I’M BUYING A HOUSE!

Have you ever had chocolate cherry frozen greek yogurt?  

It is amazing. I have been slightly obsessed lately.

Today’s Exploit:

I am buying a house.

Finally.

I have been looking for one for 8.4 months now. It took so long partly because I am NEVER home, even less at the same time as H. And I am slightly picky. I want space, and a KITCHEN and nice rooms and WINDOWS and all the things. 

I have looked at a gazillion houses online and about 50.2 houses around San Marcos and New Braunfels. But nothing was right, or if it was right it was sold by the time I got a chance to ask about it. 

After a slightly disappointing bout of home viewings with one feasible option I decided I wanted to build a house so it had what I want and H wen t back to searching the internet. 

And he found it.

The one.

The coolest house in the history of our house searching.

It is a monstrous Victorian with a HUGE kitchen, a bazillion windows and a very large yard.

I WANT IT SO MUCH!

So we put in an offer and started a contract and loan proceedings. And now we wait. 

Please cross your fingers that they accept the offer and things go smoothly. Because I think I might have to fall apart if they say no. 

It will require a lot of work to fix it up, but it will be the most perfect house ever when it is done. And I think part of the appeal is that I don’t have to live with the “new granite countertops and tile floors”. It will be the way I want and I won’t have to feel bad about ditching something that has just been modified.

This will be my new kitchen. 

12' ceilings. I didn't even dare to dream that it could be possible.

That window? It is so deep I need a step stool to reach the back.
Perfect for an herb garden.

It is so big, and bright. And it has 12’ ceilings. I jumped up and down like an excited 2 year old when I walked into that room. It is incredibly dated, and might need leveled, needs new countertops and requires some tile removal, but it is the right size and shape and has so many counters. Oh the excitement!

I’m hoping I’ll be home in time for the inspection so that I can take more pictures. 

I have so many plans and hopes and SO MUCH EXCITEMENT!

Wish me luck.

Some News, Because It’s Been Forever

Hi.  It’s been a while.

Today’s Exploit:

I have been working and working, and working and working.

I learned a new tool, and a new computer system. I had never worked with Linux before, and found it quite similar to MS DOS.  Which is ancient.

I am beating my sister in daily steps. She blames it on work, but I think I’m really just better than her at taking steps.

I am buying a house. I think.

I got another flat of Poteet strawberries.  They are sliced and sitting in the freezer, just waiting to be turned into jam.

It is already the middle of summer here and I’m dying.

That about does it for news, but I’ll write again soon, I promise.