loveaphid

Shoot Me: 5 of 52

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Andy Warhol paid me a visit today. Don't you just love his use of color?

Get into the picture with Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans. She hosts the Shoot Me meme, that asks you to post a picture of yourself every week. Check out what others are doing over there.

Goodbye - my final post. (for now)

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:26:00 +0000

After much deliberation and many angst ridden moments, I have decided to take an indefinite hiatus from blogging. The reality is, I'm completely bored with it and I simply have no desire to do it. I do enjoy the old photos, and I will be creating a flickr or photobucket account in order to share more of the pictures with those who might be interested. The blog itself is just not something that I feel compelled to keep up with, so I've decided to stop. Who knows maybe the bug will hit again, but for now, I just do not feel it. I am not making this a definitive I'm never going to do this statement. Things change, but for the foreseeable future, I will not be posting.

So to all my friends out there ...

See you around.

Friday Photos - The Archive Project

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:14:00 +0000

THis is my Aunt Dusty in a super cool car. I'm guessing circa 1942. I believe she was attending college in Miami around that time. Again my information is limited to family lore and what I can remember from things I was told through the years. I could be mistaken.

Shoot Me: 4 of 52

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:02:00 +0000

I have agreed to post a picture of myself every Thursday for this entire year. You all have my sister, Erin and Carin from Forever in Blue Jeans to thank for this. I hope these photos cause no permanent psychological damage either to you or to myself. For much more beautiful and fun photos, check out Carin's Meme. These folks have some really great shots of themselves.

As I stated my sister Erin asked me to join this meme, and I suspect that part of her impetus to do so was to get me to really look at my self at least once a week. I think she is hoping that this will remind me of who I am, and how I can take better care of myself. I spend a large amount of time alone during the week. I am not complaining , I rather like it this way, but I do tend to isolate myself and as such don't spend a lot of time thinking about how I look. Please understand my sister is not vain, so improving my appearance would not be her goal. Her goal would be to have me realize that she worries that I neglect my self, and my appearance is an indicator of that. This is also all supposition as she has never ever stated this is why she wanted me to join. So frankly I really had a conversation in my head using my sister's voice as devil's advocate. Thanks Erin for being so open and honest with me. OK have I mentioned I spend A LOT of time alone? By the way she/I, is/am not wrong. In just these four weeks I have realized that I really put very little effort into my daily appearance, and really only notice it when Thursday comes along and I am like D'oh I can't take a picture of me looking like this.

The other issue I noticed was that since I am alone so much there are only so many types of self portraits I can take. Boring much? So, today I am using a more liberal definition of the self portrait, and hope that next week I am more prepared and have taken a snap of me somewhere else, with someone else in the shot. We'll see. Any way for now .... here's the cheat.

So here is today's picture of me doing my absolute favorite morning activity...

Oh and yeah, I know its Friday... but hey, better late than never.

Soemthing you've gotta see

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:21:00 +0000

My friend N just forwarded this to me and it blew my mind. Absolutely beautiful, heart wrenching, extraordinary and powerful. This is what performance art ought to be. Enjoy!

Friday Photos - The Archive Project

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:33:00 +0000

This is a picture of either my maternal grandmother (Constance) or her younger sister (Lena). I never knew my grandfather nor my great uncle so I just do not know about the gentleman. The sad truth is I am not certain that it is any of them. I do know purely from the face that the bride is from the Mastoris side of the family. It is sad that I have no means of finding out. At least the image will always survive, such that it is. It has certainly seen better days, water damage, wrinkling and fading have all taken their tolls.

A Granny A Day - The Beginning.

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:06:00 +0000

I just stumbled upon this crochet-a-long meme/flickr group sponsored by Pip from Meet me at Mike's and thought I would join in. It will give me a reason to take a moment everyday to make something. I love Granny Squares, and they are the perfect practice for improving my crochet. Since I just came upon this challenge, I have not actually made a granny square today, but I plan to tonight and will post it tomorrow. The picture below is a slowly growing granny square that will eventually be a throw. Well this looks like fun, I'm giving it a whirl. I hope that I can learn a thing or two as well.

Here goes nothing...

Shoot Me: 3 of 52

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:14:00 +0000

Happy Birthday to My Baby Brother

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:39:00 +0000

I can't believe he has a child of his own now. I remember when he was the one wrapped in swaddling!
Love you Bro. Happy Birthday.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Haiti and World Poverty

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:14:00 +0000

I feel compelled to write on the subject of Haiti. The suffering and the horror that I have been watching and hearing about on various news sources is heart wrenching at the very least. Please forgive my preachy tone, but I know no other way to express my deep belief that we are responsible to help where we can.

The crafting community, has bonded together to raise money for relief. Crafthope.com a non-profit website that provides handmade crafts to people in need, has set up an Etsy shop to raise money for the efforts in Haiti, by supporting Doctors Without Borders. ALL procedes from the sales go to Doctors Without Borders. The site is filled with handmade crafts at all price points donated by the crafting community to support these relief efforts. Please check out the site and purchase something or donaate some of your own crafty goodness to support the cause. This is only one of many ways that you can help to relieve some of the suffering caused by this disaster. I just purchased this super sweet hand stitched heart. It is lovely and will serve as a reminder to me that there is always a need to help. Somewhere, someone is suffering, and if you can, you should help.

I must admit though, that I feel a bit hypocritical that it requires a major destructive force to compell me to action of any sort. Organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, The American Red Cross , Unicef and OxFam (to name only a few) are always working to improve the conditions of poverty stricken areas throughout the world. It is not just in times of disaster that they need our support, but always. I believe that earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires and the like, serve as nature's wake-up call to the suffering in the world. We must open our eyes, attention needs to be paid. This being said, since an alarm has been sounded in Haiti, please find a way to show that you are paying attention and to give what you can.

Please remember though, that although our focus is on Haiti at this time, there are always people in need, living in poverty, famine, drought and wars. Perhaps we can as a community remind ourselves during uneventful and comfortable times that there are those who have never known either. I for one, am going to find a way to give of myself this year, to help where I can to do my part to battle poverty and its symptoms.

OK I am done now (for the moment). Please check out the Etsy shop.

Friday Photos - The Archive Project

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Hey there, welcome back to Friday Photos - The Archive Project. Please bear in mind that my information on all of these archived photos is anecdotal at best and limited at that. Anything I write is based on my understanding of things and as such, well, could be wrong. If you know better than I do (Dad - I'm talking to you here.) Let me know, OK?

Vernon Taylor Sanders - November 16, 1960

This is a picture of my paternal grandfather. I never had the opportunity to meet him as he succumbed to Parkinson's Disease before I was born. He was an English teacher at Bronxville High School in Westchester County, New York for decades. I know that my Dad thought he was the greatest teacher ever and as a result he became a teacher as well (Math for 50 years). Perhaps that explains why I married a teacher as well. Educators go WAY back in our family tree.

Shoot Me: 2 of 52

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:51:00 +0000

Last week I joined a meme called "Shoot Me" hosted by Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans . The challenge is to post a picture of yourself once a week on Thursday for a year. This is week 2 and I am still with out a camera. My Dad has lent me his, but I need to get batteries for it and get it set up, so I will have to post another older shot of me. I believe I have posted this one before, but I like it, and I like remembering the day it was taken. This was this past summer (July 2009) while Fig and I were out whale watching for my birthday. I look forward to go on a whale watch every summer and last years was a particularly good day. I think you can tell from this photo that I just love being out on the water. Fig and I agree we need to be with in a reasonable driving distance of the ocean. Currently we are about 30 - 45 minutes from the Atlantic, and that is the outer limit of our tolerance for distance from the ocean. So here it is...

A Good Cuppa, A Brittish Rock Song, A Quote and an American History Lesson

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:10:00 +0000

The tea I drink nearly daily during the winter, Good Earth's Decaf Vanilla Chai, has quotes attached to the tea bags. Today's tea bag quote:

Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile, I caught hell for.

-Earl Warren (1891-1974)

Now I will admit ignorance here... I had no idea who Earl Warren was, so I looked him up. Upon reading about Brown vs The BOE and The Warren Commission, I thought well duh Kate, you knew that! Isn't it weird how you can rack your brain for something, not be able to pull up a single piece of information on the subject but as soon as you are reminded you realize that you knew it. Very strange.

FYI: He was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during most of the Civil Rights Era (1953 - 1969). He was a major champion for equality and after he retired from the Supreme Court he served on a special committee to investigate the assassination of JFK. Not to shabby a career, huh? Also makes his quote even more poignant when you know what he has done.

So I learned all of this today,while sipping my tea surfing the internet. I make my tea in a very fussy way, but it is still in a tea bag so true tea aficionados would not approve. Its OK with me either way, as long as I can have my tea. How I make tea:

1) Boil water then remove from heat for 5 minutes to bring the temperature down. You do not want to pour boiling water over tea because then you are cooking the tea, not steeping it.

2) Put two tea bags (Good Earth's Decaf Vanilla Chai) into a 20 oz tea pot (Thanks Louise). Pour water just off the boil over the tea bags and let steep for 6 minutes. I know this is too long for some but this is how I like it... very strong, this tea doesn't get bitter in that amount of time either.

3) While tea is steeping take out my favorite mug (pictured above) and put honey about a tablespoon again I know its alot... still don't care, I like it this way, and milk in the bottom, using a small whisk I whisk the honey and milk together until fully combined and frothy.

4) As soon as the 6 minutes are up, I pour the tea over the honey and milk, the froth comes to the top and I have a yummy vanilla chai tea.

A perfect way to take the chill off and relax.

Which brings me to ...

The Kinks

Have a good night everyone. Ahhh, Connections. I just love it.

Still messing around

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:49:00 +0000

Ok so after playing around with the code for the previous template, to the point of oblivion, I have put up this temporary generic template for the moment, and taken my editing and playing off line. Hopefully I'll have something soon. I will still post as normal (not saying much I know) and eventually it will all look different.

Hooray.

This isn't the final one

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 07:37:00 +0000

I've just created this background and post combination. It is 2:37 AM and I am just too tired to continue messing with this. So I'm leaving it for now. But it definitely needs some work. Tomorrow is another day. Toodles until then.

Things I've learned

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0000

I wrote this post on December 2 and for some reason never published it. Thought I would now because, why not? Right?

So a while ago I challenged myself to learn or do something new everyday. I think mostly I just want to be really aware of the opportunities I have to grow even in small ways everyday because I have a huge tendency to think this is it and wallow in it. Learning something new and cool really helps to remind you that you have not even begun to see the tip of the iceberg of the experiences that life has to offer you. So here are some of the new things that I have done over the past couple of weeks. I can't remember everyday stuff, but I know that I am learning because I spend a lot of time just looking up random tidbits.

#1 needle felting. I am loving this craft and I find it very satisfying as I can complete a project in a matter of a few hours. Perhaps as I get better at it the projects will become more detailed but in the mean time I'm still having fun. Here is a picture of a completed project.

you may have seen this over at 365 but hey it bears repeating.

#2 Magnetism... I had a big long conversation with Fig yesterday about the nuances of Magnetism. He was explaining to me that although the North Pole (where Santa lives) is not exactly the same as the Magnetic North Pole, but it is very close, so we are lucky to be able to navigate by it. It is not the same on other planets, which I thought was just fine because I have no need to navigate on Mars. THen he was telling me about electromagnets and attraction and repulsion. Some of it I knew but some of it was really just cool.

#3 I made bread from scratch, twice. I used this recipe from Erin which she got from La Fuji Mama . It turned out so well I might never buy bread again. Next time though I will cut the white flour with whole wheat.

#4 OK so this one is not new, but it has been a while so it was like new again. I saw the Leonid Asteroid shower. (not a great show this year only a few shooting stars for me) Looked at the Moon, Saturn and Andromeda. Back yard astronomy is fun, but it does get very, very, cold.

#5 I made Mincemeat pie from scratch adapting a recipe from Nigella's Christmas to Fig's tastes. I am told it was very good. I'll have to take his word on it, because even after making it, knowing exactly what was in it (No Suet, because eeeew! rendered beef fat has no place in a dessert)I just could not bring myself to try it. Fig liked it and asked that I put it on the pie rotation for holidays and such.

#6 Fig shattered my illusion of Abby from NCIS as über science geek, when he explained that lemons would not create a significant enough charge to power a radio under any circumstances because of the internal resistance with in the lemon its self. You will get a charge, just not a big enough and consistent enough one. *sigh* I learned something new AND had another TV moment ruined for me. To this day I can not watch people out run fire or explosions with out hearing " YOU CAN NOT OUT RUN AN EXPLOSION... DUDE YOU ARE SO DEAD!!!" in my head and sometimes right next to me. Fig does enjoy a good spoil.

So there you have it 6 things I learned in December. Fun times for all.

Friday Photos - The Archive Project.

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:56:00 +0000

Once again Erin has got me inspired me. Originally I was going to join a meme entitled "Friday Photo Flashback" hosted by Alicia at More Than Words, but I think this project might have a life of its own, so linking back to a meme is too much. So instead this will be an ongoing project with promised updates on Fridays and hopefully more in between. One of my main projects for 2010 is to scan the old family photos into digital format and archive them. There are many photos, many of which are of people I have no idea of their identities, but still they were here, they are family and I will save their images for posterity's sake. When and where possible I will put names to the faces, but there are many I simply will never know. Plus really old photos are super cool. People go to antique shows and flea markets just to find pictures of complete strangers. At least for me, mine will actually be related to me some how. So here we go. The first photo for :

Friday Photo - The Archive Project

Pledge Formal - Lambda Chi Alpha - Dec. 11, 1954

I believe this is Cornell University.
My Dad is the really tall gentleman third from the left in the very back row. That is one big smile he has on his face. Don't they all look so fancy and maybe just a little bit tipsy? Sometimes we forget that our parents were young once too.

Shoot Me: 1 of 52

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:11:00 +0000

My beloved sister has strongly suggested that I join a meme called "Shoot Me" hosted by Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans . The challenge is to post a picture of yourself once a week on Thursday for a year. True to form, I start on a Friday. Also, for the time being I will either need to use photos that I already have or to shoot them with Photobooth on my Mac. I am still in search of my camera. Sad for me.

OK so here I am in all my cat fur covered glory. This was taken as I was messing around with the timer on my camera a few months ago. Save for some longer hair, I think I look about the same. I don't wear makeup too often, although more so than I used too, and this fleece is my favorite go to, bumming around, cleaning the house, warmer. Not the greatest picture, but it is me. Maybe I'll find my camera soon (or procure another one somehow) and be able to take a better picture. This will get me started for now.

p.s.

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:42:00 +0000

I'm working on the format and background here. New year, new design... so please bear with me as I noodle around with different designs.

Thanks all.

On this blog

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:23:00 +0000

I had strongly been considering giving up this blog. I was just too inconsistent and unfocused and I really wasn't giving it any attention. My sister Erin, said "No" well not quite like that, more like I said I really needed to continue with the blog because it keeps me aware of the outside world, but that I was just bleh about it, so she suggested that I use my New Year's Resolutions posts to give me a daily starting point, and that I join the "Shoot Me" challenge that she had just joined. This would automatically give me 5 posts a week. I thought... "Hmmmm, Why is my sister so dang smart?" I also rather like another meme that she has been participating in for quite a while "Friday Photo Flashback". The challenge here is to find old photos from the pre-digital age, scan them in and share the memories. Since I have all of the old family photos in my possession, and have been meaning to scan them all in to archive and save them digitally, this seems like a good way to start that project. So that is 6 posts a week. All served up just waiting for me to lob them back. Of course if I get up a head of steam you might see multiple posts, but this will at least provide me with the frame upon which to build.

I continue to craft as well so it is likely you will see WIP's and such. I need to be able to rant a bit, so likely there will be some of that ... and of course there is always food. A good recipe is always worth sharing.

So there you have it, a bit of what 2010 will look like here at loveaphid. I hope you enjoy (at least the old photos because how much fun is that?

I look forward to rejoining the bloggy world. See you soon.

New Year's Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:34:00 +0000

Well you may have noticed that I have been absent from this blog for the past month. The reason is simple and mundane, I got caught up in the holidays, preparations and all other things, AND I really did not have a lot to say. I return to you with a post about my New Year's resolutions.

1) I failed the 30 day shred challenge miserably. I think I managed a total of 11 days. *sigh*. Well as they say, "if at first you don't succeed..." . I turn 40 in July and to be honest I am not all the freaked out about it. I am however using it as a milestone to act as a time frame goal. By the time I turn 40 I would like to have an exercise routine in place that has become habit. Hopefully well on my way to slimming down and counteracting some of the fatique and lethargy that I live with all of the time.

2) Be a better housekeeper. I know boring, but for me it is a challenge. It is also an important challenge as it means so much to the mental well being of everyone who lives and visits this home. Each year I get a little better, but I am still not where I would like to be. Ultimately what it comes down to is, I must create a routine and stick with it. Not a strong point with me, but that really needs to change.

3) Manage money better. I plan on spending 2010 on a budget. Really paying close attention to how and where I spend our money. This includes planning out meals, saving for big events, and laying off the magazine habit. Fig ad I have started to divide responsibilities in the home, and I have become responsible for our care, the pet's care and the care of the inside of our home. This means this all needs to be maintained with in a budget. I have talked about it before, but the reality is that I have never really lived it. I am going to try and spend 2010, more aware of our finances.

4) I am going to finish what I start. I have a ton of projects half completed, just waiting for attention. For each project, I am going to decide that I am not going to complete it, and get rid of it, OR I am going to finish it. I also do not intend to start a new project until at least one of my pending projects is complete.

So there are my 4 main resolutions. Honestly though, these are the same things I have been working on for the majority of my adult life. So nothing new really. Its just that this year I am thinking of it more in terms of creating routines and habits more than forcing myself to do things, going strong for a week or so then giving up. Hopefully my ease into it approach will work better for long term maintenance. We'll see.

S0 there you have it, My New Year's Resolutions, and I am back. I will take some time soon to fill in some things from December, but not too much, and I am looking forward these days not back.

Happy New Year everybody. Here's to 2010 being the best year ever!

30 Day Shred ... Days 11 and 12.

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:47:00 +0000

I am writing this on my laptop which does not have access to my file with my 30 Day shred countdown images. So as soon as I get to my other computer I will add the image.

OK so I have moved on to Level 2 Ummm, hmmm, how do I put this nicely? Well... IT SUCKS!!!!
I hate it. With the exceptions of certain moves, the Skater, the Twist and some of the strength moves, I find this particular circuit really unpleasant. The moves are clunky and you spend a lot of time in the "plank position" which is great for my shoulders and abs, but just a little be boring over all. When I finished doing level one, I felt like I wanted to move more. I wanted to get going. After 2 days of level 2 I feel like I never ever want to see another hand weight, yoga mat or Jillian's face again. The best I can say is that I feel it working already, and that I only have 8 more days left. At the very least I'm back at it and that is a plus.

So there you have days 11 and 12 put to bed.

30 Day Dread... Day 10 Finally! A Slacker No More

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:29:00 +0000

After much harassment from my nephew Valiant, I have been shamed back into the challenge. I must admit I let too much time lapse and so Day 10 felt like Day 3. Ugh, when will I ever learn? Well I have promised Valiant that I would have my 30 Days completed before I went off to Albuquerque for Christmas. There is really no way I can do this kind of exercise in my Mother - in - laws apartment. However since Albuquerque is in the South West the weather will be nice so I anticipate some great walks while I'm out there. Any way we leave on Christmas Eve so that means I have to have put this video to bed by the 23rd. So I have 20 days left to do 20 days. Man I worked myself into a corner with this one.

So today I finished level 1. Tomorrow is Day 1 of level 2. I'm told that it is easier in some ways. The moves work you just as hard, but the flow or something is better. OK I'll believe it when I see it. Right now my abs are yelling WHAT THE HECK WOMAN!? I actually really like the way my abs are feeling in the sense that I can feel them pulling my posture straighter, and my paints fit better in the waist. I wish I could say this exercise thing is bogus, but sadly it really works. Slowly but surely I will make exercise a habit not a chore. I hope, I'm working on it. I expect many relapses to come, I just have to remind myself that a relapse is temporary. As soon as you choose to start again, you are back on the "Exercise Wagon". It might hurt all over again, and you might not be closer to the goals you have set, but you are back on the Wagon and moving forward. Really the only way to truly fail at this is to never ever exercise again. And that is just not an option.

30 Day Dread ... Day 9

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:13:00 +0000

OK, so I'm sort of back on track. I did not get the second work out in yesterday, but I did work out today. So I still need to find an additional 20 minutes somewhere. I think what I might do is start with the 20 minutes Windsor Palates work out tomorrow and then move right into Jillian Michaels' work out. This way I won't get too bored with it. Why not tonight? you ask... well to be honest I just don't have it in me. I did my 20 minutes. That's all I have right now. So there we are... Day 9 completed. And I'm glad to see the back of it.

30 Day Dread ... Days 6 and 7

noreply@blogger.com (loveaphid) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:24:00 +0000

So I forgot to post about day 6 and 7 (Saturday and Sunday). I must admit I find this much harder to do on the weekends when my husband is around. Something about just knowing he is here gets in the way of my peaceful exercise. I think it is because I am not 100% able to go into my own world as I move through the routine. I am always aware of him even if he is off in another room. On Saturday (day 6) he was working outside so I did my work out during a time I knew he would not be in the house. Day 6 was a success. I felt great doing the work out and the video is getting much easier.

I can not say the same about Day 7. I managed my time poorly on Sunday. I slept too late, left too many chores to be done, which I needed to do for this morning, and had a (very fun) engagement outside of the house, that left me no time to work out. I feel a little bit guilty, but I have made up for it. I exercised this morning (Day 8 - Monday) and am planning to do it again this evening. Fig is at parent/teacher conferences and will not be home until around 10:00PM. This has given me the freedom to move at my own pace and not worry about getting it done before he gets home. Hopefully if all goes according to my cunning plan, I will be posting about this evenings workout later. We will see. Wish me will power. (I'm tired and it is beyond grey and yucky here, not very motivating at all.)