20

Life, real life, a full life is crazy.  It changes all the time.  These last two years have been the bearer of many big life events; selling a house, Aislin hospitalized, moving, going back to school, applying and getting into graduate school, my sister having a sudden brain aneurysm, the death of a different sister and then this past May, suffering a herniated disc.  Lots of things out of my control.  As imagined I put on some fat. I intentionally did not use the word "weight". That accompanied the fat gain but I was still very strong and competing in Olympic lifting.  At the end of August I decided I had some time I could dedicate to myself.   After losing 20lbs, I participated in a Body composition class at Windy City Crossfit. 1 hour 2 x a week. That's it.  The results are posted below.  I am in my undies people, but honestly does it look that much different than a bikini?  I don't think so.  I post these not to taut any kind of superiority but rather to show strength and to mark the new beginning.  The fat accumulated with all the stress from the past two years is pretty much gone.  I've learned to deal with stress better and to appreciate the journey I'm on and the goals that seem just a hairs breadth out of reach.   I am strong and can string together about 3 chin ups.  My body fat is around 14.5% which I'm told is pretty good. Cellulite, stretch marks and stretched out skin from having babies remains.

I continue to work out, started to train Parkour and will be getting back into Olympic lifting as soon as I think the ol' back is ready.  I'm feeling good and deal with back discomfort nearly every day.  I get Active Release Therapy via my chiropractor which has been immensely helpful (and expensive, sigh).   It's the muscles attached near my spine and hips that are too tight and cause problems.  I am disciplined to never play the pain med game for this old back. But that was the domain in which I was headed. I took hold of the wheel, turned hard and decided to steer where I wanted to go, not where circumstance has led me.

In January I begin Graduate Nursing School at DePaul.  Instead of being worried, I am so excited to learn and am ready to grab it by the horns and enjoy the journey.

In Strength and Intention,

Shout out to Roxanne Engstrom for taking the "hot" photos.  She rocks and can take some hot photos of you too!

End of Aug 2012

After losing 18 lbs - about 16.5% body fat

20 lbs down after body comp class.  No dietary restrictions.

Holiday Decorations

My sister, Sally, asked me to post pictures of my holiday decorations.  Instead I'm including a small picture essay of things we've done this holiday season.  I have not been the best photo taker but hope to improve this in the new year.  Me and the girls have had some really fun times.

Merry Christmas!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bar cookies.  Our fav!  We use mini candy bars b/c they pack better than Hershey's kisses.  Yes and I said "pack" but truly, they don't last long enough to pack.

After sectioning off part of the front window, I had the girls paint winter scenes in acrylic paint.  I peeled the tape away for an easy, festive decorative touch. The girls loved it too.  They felt a bit rebellious for painting on the glass window.   Why not?!

I love poinsettias.  Every year on Black Friday, Lowe's sells them for $1/each.  I bought 15, gave away some as gifts and used about 10 to decorate the house, including each of our bedrooms.  Yikes, I think both photos are of Indigo as a baby.  Poor Ais.  Gotta swap that out pronto.

I love the Christmas Village. I also have a wooden Nativity set complete with animal figurines, a manger and hay.  My children love it and I think it's a very practical way to make the Christmas story real.  As a kid I loved setting up our Nativity set.  It was that odd paper mache stuff from the 60s with glitter.  It lasted, somehow.  I recently inherited a ceramic lighted Christmas village set from someone who was throwing it all out in it's protective original packaging!  Thanks Chris.  It's given us some charming holiday light.

Merry Christmas.

Baking Design

I'm slowly immersing myself into blogging again.  Right now, I'm focused on getting my Christmas activities done.  I'm a good baker.  This year, my 8 yo daughter, and I will be making a cream puff topiary.  Our plan this Christmas Day is to have a "silly/fancy supper" complete with fancy dresses, pretend wine, fancy desserts, etc.  My kids don't eat any real food, so I decided to make "Chinese turkey" for myself and some fancy form of chicken nuggets and french fries for them.  It's all in the arrangement. I'm thinking of of how I'll arrange it now.  Perhaps in a crown format.  It's all in the presentation.  And  have a story to prove it.

This summer I was in charge of a cupcake decorating station.  Rather than spend too much money on supplies and allow everyone to go nuts, I created three designs and a "freestyle" category.  I posted photos of examples that I have created earlier in the day.  It was a huge hit.  I received compliments from Moms too. The kids liked being shown how to create interesting cupcakes. I listed instructions too. Parents got a chance to interact with their kids helping them make fancy cupcakes, without having to go through the hassle if thinking about all it.  Personally, I thought all this baking design stuff was passe given all the TV shows dedicated to it.

A confession:  I ordered cupcakes from our grocery store, Jewel, and asked them to decorate with plain chocolate and white butter cream.   After doing the math, ordering from Jewel was about $5 more than had I baked and iced them myself.  Well worth it to me as I used 48 cupcakes.  I initially bought all the ingredients at Aldi and was surprised by the price.  So I returned all that stuff and ordered from Jewel.  Smartest thing I've done in awhile (remember I was in school this summer).

Panda bear. Crushed oreos coat the outside of the icing.  Mini oreos for ears, whit choc chips or M&Ms for eyes and nose.

Circus Cupcake.  Not a great photo, I know, but you get the idea.  It looks too simple, but the kids loved this one.  Non pareils on white icing remind of the circus so I took that inspiration and added animal crackers. 

The last one not shown was "worms in dirt".  A good ol' standby.  The cupcake icing was rolled in crushed Oreos (generic work great) which I stored in square tupperware and it was perfect.  One package makes a LOT of crumbs.  Use half.   Gummi worms are added as the worms.  Cut them in half with clean sharp scissors - they will be too long otherwise.  Kids kept swiping the gummi worms and eating them outright. So have extra on hand.

Summer Snatching

I participated in a Summer Olympic Weightlifting Meet at my gym, Windy City Crossfit.  I did ok. Geez, looking at these photos, I need to work on form.  

Although in defense of imperfect form, I was in front of a big crown all by myself on that platform.  All eyes on me and one shot to get the work done.  It's a little nerve racking.  One attempt.  

Snatching is a very technical lift where if you screw up at the beginning of the lift it affects the success of other parts of the lift.  So many steps.  I really love Olympic lifting and that one has to be continuously conscious of form.  Sure any knuckledragger can come in and rip the bar off the floor.  But to do it with grace and correct form is a different story. When done correctly the Snatch, specifically, is a very graceful movement.  

Moving onward and upward.  I hope to post photos of my failed attempts to clean and jerks my body weight (stuck in the hole at the bottom of the catch).  I tried to bounce out of it but couldn't. Just too heavy.   Sad thing is that I know if I would have gotten out of the hole, I know I can jerk it.  My problem is opposite for most chicks.   I've got a long femur; my hip flexors are muscular from trying to move that long bone.  But my quads need some help.

I'm going to work heavy front squats for the next six weeks to see how my strength improves.   I started the day after the meet.  It even felt heavy.

My goal for this year is to snatch and clean and jerk my bodyweight (about 125lbs).  I'm closing in on that with the Clean and Jerk and think I can get the Snatch there before year-end.    My next goal is to have a qualifying total for National competition.  That could be another year away. 

Here are some snatch photos taken by my friend Cheston Bogue. He had a fancy camera.    

Group Art Installation

I have had the good fortune to be invited to participate in a Group Art Team. We are a group of artists that attend First EV Free Church in Chicago. We have various backgrounds (painting, graphic design, photography, acting, lit). This is the cool part: our goal is to create art installations that are a visual representation of the sermons series' during Sunday service. We understand that not everyone who attends our Sunday services are 1) Christians 2) nor is everyone great at sitting and listening. I can certainly relate to that. I do like to sit and listen, but to have a relevant art installation on stage is a fab idea.

I have helped brainstorm about installation ideas. I'm a do-er and goal oriented and really appreciate the group of great artists collected for this year. We unveil our first installation in next week. It's big and interesting. It's abstract (which I love) and I hope all of you get a chance to check it out. It will change from week to week but continue the same theme - at least until Easter.

First Evangelical Free Church on Ashland and Berwyn

Busy October

The Facebook project to scare away all of it's users is working. I haven't been able to get into my FB account all weekend. Now I have to blog the old fashioned way... make a real post. What's next? Actually talking to a human face to face?

It's been a busy month folks. The weather has been very cold and wet in Chicago. An abysmal combination. What nice is that autumn is now upon us. The streets are lined with trees whose leaves glisten gold and brilliant. Halloween is next week and we sure have been busy around here wearing costumes, attending bday parties and enjoying our dear friends and family.

The girls and I took a road trip to see my sister in Baraboo, WI. It was a fun time in the car. The girls think they have cart blanche to eat at fast food places. This trip was only 3 hours each way, so there were only pit stops. The weather in Baraboo was frigid. We did not bring enough warm clothes to enjoy the brisk 25 degrees. My 17 year old niece loaned the girls her mittens and scarves. Between that and running around on the inflatables at the Baraboo Fair in the Square, the girls kept warm. We abruptly departed Baraboo when my niece was smoking pot wit her friends in her room. Not a safe place for little kids.

We were treated last weekend when my dear friends The Engstroms (my sista Roxanne) returned home to Chicago after living in Zanzibar, Africa for the last year and a half. Roxanne is my sister from another mutha. She is a great woman and friend. She is 8 months pregnant and has had quite a rough time with this second child incubation. She has been vomiting non stop. She has returned to the States to have this little one and plans to return to Z-bar 6 weeks after birth. She has had a rough go of it and deserves recognition as Trooper of the Century!

A few thoughts on pregnancy. Pregnancy, especially early pregnancy, appears to be a seemingly passive process. I assure you all it is not. There may be a few woman who don't get morning sickness or gain very little weight and are able to lose it quickly after birth. But for the majority of the women I know, pregnancy is a long hard road with no relief other than birth. The nausea, bloating, vomiting and other personal maladies are silent but so dreadful. If you see a preggo woman, hold the door for her, don't allow her to bend over for anything. Especially if she has another kid. Help her with her groceries, and smile wide and genuinely. You will make her day.

We hit a few bday parties. I helped Emily finish off Mile's Halloween Costume as Super Why. She made the entire costume. I made the chest logo. I love stuff like that and kids love the real deal. They are special and if we can help them feel that way too... bring it on! Aislin dressed as a "muscle man". A costume from Gymboree's line. She rocked it!

We visited Roxanne in lake Geneva, Wi yesterday. A quick road trip. The girls played with Anni and Rox caught me up on her work in Z-bar and life there. I know I couldn't do it. So snaps to her and Jason and Anni for all their work and building the computer lab and tech school. More work is to be done. I have to say that I have missed Roxanne immensely. She is genuine, honest, vulnerable, and plain ol fun to be around. She is an original. And she's gorgeous.

Last night I had so much fun hanging out with The Cha's. Bogie and Beth and their kids were at Village Creek Bible Camp with the girls and I this summer. Bogie is Korea and took a gaggle of us out to show us how to do Korean BBQ. It was a smokey affair but delicious! Afterwards we had dessert in Korea Town (Bryn Mawr and Kedzie). The group split up but Beth and night burned the wee hours of the night and went to the Michael Heaton concert! She is a hoot and a holla! I love Michael Heaton's music. He does great covers too. But his original stuff is sheer joy to absorb and enjoy. Mike is a great performer and is good at remembering people's names. Especially mine. He says hello to me from the stage. I feel a little awkward, but hey, what girl doesn't like to stand out in a crowd? I take it where I can get it. Check out his music. You won't be disappointed.

Now, Beth... she is a true sista. We were at Fado's Irish bar. No cover, which was the impetus for us actually schlepping to Clark and Grand (downtown) to see my fav Mike Heaton. We got ROCKSTAR parking for free on the street, just steps from the venue. I had a small flask of Maker's Mark bourbon whiskey in my coat pocket (it was sealed and intended for something else). After buying the first round of drinks for Beth and I (mere wine and a whiskey) I was out $20. But I had that bottle in my pocket! I found us seats in the very front of the house at a huge table. My drink was out and I was hesitant to crack open that Maker's Mark. It was a seriously Irish bar. Those bouncers would catch me and happily punch me in the face. Beth asked what I was fumbling with and I told her my sitch. She laughed and said "i'll help you". She held the glass, I poured. Viola. Free hooch compliments of my pocket an the steady hand of a friend, under the table to catch it. LOL. We sound like badasses, don't we? I'll let you decide.

In the meantime, don't underestimate the coolness of two hot blonde-mammas on a night out. Or Michael Heaton's awesome song writing. Cheers all!

New Doings

I have become a complete blog slacker. I'm to the point where Facebook is my new blog. Although I appreciate the personal camaraderie of having a blog and hearing comments here. So I'm making an effort. I'm averaging one post per month; it could be worse. I also feel I need to post pics every time to entertain those you who, are like me, and appreciate visuals.

It's been a crazy month. My kids have started school, I started a new babysitting job, joined CrossFit, have an upcoming painting show and have been working toward getting myself financially independent. A tall order in this economy. Shamelessly, if any of you know of any open positions for someone with a degree in Marketing and experience in IT management and Construction. I'm also a plein air painter. But I already know how that pays (when it does).

Being a scrapper, I took on a job minding two little kids on MWF. Ella 4.5 months and Erik, her brother who is 2. It has been a lot of hard work but also a blessing. I cherish the moments I have with my own kids (Indi, 6 and Aislin 3). We are riding our bikes to school and locking up there. We walk, Indi rides the scooter, etc. It's true bliss for the kids. Erik and Ella arrive early enough that we all walk in the stroller to school and back We do this- three times a day. It's really a neat thing. When Ais is not in school, having Erik around makes her much more compliant to do some fun things: color, read books together, chalk, cook, etc. She loves TV and gets to watch it but it's a battle when I say no to TV. Ah, such fine parenting.

Erik LOVES Aislin and LOVES the preschool room. I have to nearly drag him out of there every time. The mother's heart in me wishes he could stay and learn too! But not until next year. And that's up to his parents. It reinforces to me what a gem Pilgrim Lutheran is to our community and to my life specifically. Thank you Lord for provision! It's not without it's kinks tho. I have to pay to send the kids there and with both there now it's quite pricey. I've taken on a cleaning job in addition to babysitting to meet his financial goal each month. OH and to help pay for CrossFit.

Windy City Crossfit (that's not me in the photo, but it could be)

Crossfit is quick, intense exercises. Olympic lifts and kick-your-butt hard work. It's not misery tho. It's challenging and fun. I've had personal training and frankly, the workouts were challenging but boring as all get out. Sheer drudgery. At Crossfit you do these crazy lifts I've never heard of: power hang cleans, push jerks, sumo deadlift high pulls. All brutal. You use every muscle to get that weight lifted. They are power moves. There is NO way you are going to move the weight unless you put some umff into it. After 20 box jumps, the last thing you want to do is lift something heavy. But this makes one stronger. A LOT stronger. I am stronger already after 2 weeks. Crossfit is also a coaching environment. There are coaches who lead the classes and help correct your form. They also encourage you to get that weight up and finish!

For those of you who remember Hank Magieria. I think these are some exercises he taught my old friends: Tony K, Rich Schiller, Bill G, and Doug - to name a few. I always remember those guys hanging out in Hank's basement. Hank is a former Olympic lifter. Now I get it. Wish I had paid more attention. It was a lot cheaper back then! They showed me pull ups and bench press when I was a young teen. I've never forgotten. Thanks for not being stuck up guys!

Back to Crossfit. Yesterday's workout was called "Nasty" and it is aptly named. It was 3 ROUNDS for time of 50 squats, 21 ring dips (yes, on rings), 21 kipping pull ups and 10 hang power cleans (weighted). Phew. It took 15 minutes but oh boy what an intense 15. And 3 rounds is just enough where you push it on the last round. If you puke it's ok. You're heart is pounding and you can take breaks but you want to push. You get to grunt out loud and grimace. You get to throw the heavy weighted bar down. No graceful let down. Get off me you heavy bar, you suck! You want to be stronger. I love it so far. I've been sore in places I've never been sore (traps, lats). There is every walk of life there. It's a garage gym. It's expensive but worth every penny so far. A great next step for my fitness-oriented goals. I am a crossfit evangelist. I think every Crossfitter is. Now I know why. You can get a free training session by contacting them. They are happy to show you around. And it turns out the owner of Windy City Crossfit is Justin Marcis, my new neighbor. A really sweet man. The kids wave and say hello. He reciprocates. Hey anyone who does that is good by me. I've got great neighbors. They are all like that.

Edgewater Historical Society (horray my painting is on the postcard! Squint)

Every year, in conjunction with the Andersonville Arts Weekend, my posse, The Plein Air Painters of Chicago show painted plein air (completed outside on easels) works at the Edgewater Historical Society. I have one painting in the show and hope to finish up one more. I love this show. Andersonville Arts Weekend is awesome! The local businesses display works of art for sale (including my church, First EV Free). We plein air painters will be spotted all around the neighborhood painting at our easels on Sat. Oct. 3 from 8-Noon. Look for us. Talk to us. Feel free to marvel. But painting does take concentration so we will only briefly speak to you. We need to get back to work problem solving! Oh, and of course, be kind. Painting requires huge concentration and thought, believe it or not. Well, good painting anyway.

Everyone is cordially invited to a reception with the artists on Friday, Oct. 2, 2009 at the Edgewater Historical Society. Gratis wine and appetizers will be served, of course! Look for me. I'd love to see you! It's a neat way to "see" the Edgewater neighborhood. Bring a date and troll around, talk, breath in the autum air. Experience Andersonville thru original paintings and then take a walking tour. Slip some wine in your thermos or empty gatorade bottle. Bliss. And all for free! So now that I got you a second date; spend that saved money on a painting! LOL.

More adventure-telling forthcoming. Adventurously yours.

Bowling and Bon Jovi

For you rock band buffs, and kids of the 80s, you'll appreciate this
duet.

Recorded using my iPhone. My favorite part is hearing the bowling
pins clatter and fall in the background. Wait for it... So sweet and
simple.

Shout out to Nicole Foster for being my partner in crime on this one.
She's dangerous on the dancefloor too!

Junkies and Songs and Lessons in Perspective

Living in the city has it's benefits and drawbacks. A benefit and drawback all in one is the close proximity of, well, everything. Sunday was a warm day -I woke up hot and stifled from blazing humidity.

It was a nice day but too hot to be in a church sanctuary. I dropped the kids off at Sunday School and headed across the street for a pick-me-up at Starbucks: my double skim latte. Sweet wakefulness in a paper cup!

Walking back toward church I noticed that Starbuck's outdoor patio was pretty empty as was the one of the restaurant next to it. One thing that is awesome about our church NOT having an air conditioned sanctuary is that they have all the windows open. This means that the community song of the worship service floats and wanders all over the streets of Chicago. I love this effect. I encourage you all to take a break from the sanctuary during worship and have a seat at Starbuck's outdoor cafe. And Listen. Smell the air, view the sites, drink a fav beverage.

While sitting with my cup-of-ambition, I pulled out my sketch pad (which I carry with me everywhere). I drew the parking meter right in front of me, a portion of the patio umbrella. Boring! But good exercise. Then I started working on perspective practice and sketched out the street scene.

While sketching out the street scene I noticed a man coming out of the alley and around to the side of an adjacent apartment building. The man was rail thin, wore a scarf around his head, Lynard-Skynard style, and had tiny red dots all over his arms. This was all from a small distance so the detail wasn't crystal clear. Having been outdoors painting the entire weekend, I thought they could be mosquito bites. I'm such an optimist. Then the city chick in me kicked in and I realized, they had to be track marks. In a rather lovely, but not obnoxious sing-songy voice he was calling up to someone's apartment window. Kind of waking them up (this was about 10:30am - time for the morning hit). He wasn't scarey or loud. He was rather pleasant. Hey, manipulation 101 (or marketing 101, you choose, hehe)

Literally on one side of the street there is a church service in progress. People praising Jesus, quite beautifully, in song. Across the street, is another song being sung.; a junkie waking up a drug dealer. Interesting cosmic perspective to think that maybe (not all people) are singing for the same reasons. To connect with something that makes them feel good. I , personally, think worship songs are praise to God. But I KNOW that people take refuge in singing them. A comfort for weary hearts. It's the intent that matters, right?

Across the alley, on the junkie's side, is a woman, skipping church, drawing and sipping coffee. On the junkie's side of the road. Where was my song? Regardless, I like to think that the church music influenced the "wake up style" of the skinny man. We'll never know. Or perhaps we will... maybe he'll walk into church for Coffee Connection and I'll show him my sketch.

BTW - I'm not very good at drawing people, but I want to be. It's been said, "if you can draw a person, you can draw anything". So I'm working it. Need to get to classes too. I'll get there someday.

Busy, dreary week in Chicago

It's been quite an eventful week for the Anstee girls. Being the last week of school for Indigo, there have been many year-end festivities and outings. Saturday, during our neighborhood garage sale, Indi and Ais were invited to a classmate's bday party. There was a trampoline, real pony rides, and even beer for the adults. What a blast. Indigo thoroughly enjoyed the pony rides and was enamored with the ponies and their cute little names (Cinnamon, Snowball...)

Indigo's Kindergarten class continued their annual trip to Foster Beach. It was cold and rainy. It was a misty day at the beach. The only thing missing was the brine. Our hair still got tangled in knots.


There was a break in the misty, rainy weather when the sun came out momentarily. Indi made the most of it by filling in the outline I made of her on the sidewalk. No crime scene here. Notice how she colored in exactly what she was wearing at the time! Great job Inda!

Let there be cow.... costumes!

Reach for the sky! I'm not holding you up Gunsmoke style. Now that I have your attention!

My life, lately, has been just a crazy, dense mass of new things and projects with deadlines. Too busy. A friend Facebooked me a one sentence qauestion. I gave him a 4 paragraph reply. Ugh, am I due for a blog post! I do like to remain busy and love new experiences, even if they often scare the tar outta me. You never really find the courage, you just go for it and gain confidence. But initially it's all guts. I digress (again).

I realized I was waaay too busy when I started feeling anxious because life would happen and I couldn't follow my plan scheduled. So I'm cutting back. The kids will soon be out of school and my personal time will be even less. One fun thing I had the opportunity to do was make 13 cow costumes! I dug back into my pattern making arsenal and created a great pattern for said costume. I shopped the fabric, made the pattern, trued the pattern, cut fabric, stitched the costumes together, hot glued on a zillion sparkly cow spots and pink bellies - and sewed the perimeter of each hem with a little tutu. Only after making 8 of them did I realize that the base garment can be made from an over sized tee shirt with the sleeves cut off. Whole lot cheaper too! To my credit, I didn't buy more base fabric I merely ordered tees and followed my revised plan. I had to aggressively starch the tees so they firmed up a bit. I felt like June Cleaver and was thankful for the slave-wage technology that brings non-iron button down shirts. What a Killer App!

Indigo's play is this Thursday and all the costume bits and pieces are in. They are cute, they are comfortable. Most importantly, they are done! Next! More exciting adventures and new experiences to tell ya about. So stay tuned. There's a big philosophical one coming to start chilling your beers.

P.S. The "Wackadoo Zoo" Primary grades Operetta was a sell out, smashing success. They received a standing ovation. I must say I was impressed with the vocal projection! Way to sing it loud and proud kids! I,especially, grew quite fond of a little calf in the side front, small than the others, who so convincingly acted kitty-like (that was their shtick). A kitty-calf! Indigo is a shining gem in my crown of life. I love her so much and am so proud!

I Want to Be Exceptional

I want to be exceptional. Don't we all? Well there is a journey that needs to occur in order to get there. Otherwise we haven't paid our dues and don't deserve to be there. And can we actually claim that we get "it" unless we've had to jump some hurdles along the way or flubbed an opportunity? It's the big picture that counts. It's how we handle our losses that differentiate exceptional from ordinary.

One of my short term goals is to become a group fitness instructor. I really like exercise, working hard is my personal gift. I also like exercising with other people and encouraging them. Getting an extra squat jump out of someone ready to give up. Getting unfit people to move and enjoy their movements! From an employment perspective, the job doesn't pay much. However, there is a lot of job satisfaction. We can philosophize about the ratio of job unhappiness with compensation later. For now, it's about me. Because it's my blog.

I had my very first group fitness audition ever. I practiced and practiced. I showed up on time., made special shorts with a star on my booty so I'm easy to see. I showed up for the audition waaaaaaay more nervous than any time in my life. I have other stressors going on in my life and I thought that if I bombed that everything else would fall apart. It still might. I haven't ruled that out. But I digress (as usual). How did I do? I was asked to "practice and come back next week". Chris Silva, Women's Workout World Area Fitness Director was a class act. She, convincingly, told me what they were looking for and that I had great potential. So I didn't completely flop. I just need to clarify to her that I can indeed lead my own class. That's a huge responsibility and in my opinion a GREAT opportunity. If I nail this I can build the credibility I need to reach out to woman and men about fitness and self esteem in general. It's a natural fit for me. It's a journey.

The photos were taken right after my audition (I was sweaty) but it's real. That's a real smile on my face - and although I don't have the characteristic "gym body" I am strong and have great endurance.

I want to be exceptional. If I fail, I'll keep going. That's what real leaders do (even if I bitch about it). I know I can do it. So watch out for me. - perpetually the underdog. All 5'2 of me.

Growing isn't easy but it's definitely interesting and will have you on the edge of your seat. After all that positive talk, feel free to give me a hug when you see me. We all need bolstering. :-)

Snow Painting

This past weekend there was an awesome blizzard! It just snowed and snowed all day Friday and Saturday. I went plein air painting Sat AM and realized two things: 1) I had a hard time walking thru Humbolt Park because the snow was so deep and 2) It was snowing hard and the wind pretty much froze your face and anything else in in it's path. As a watercolor painter I made small talk with the only other painter out that AM (Go for it Frank DePalma!) and then headed back home.

It was gorgeous in Humbolt Park. The boat house veiled in the falling snow. Ducks made their way across the frozen pond afoot. And die hard dog walkers allowed their dogs to make their way thru the deep snow. I'm glad I know how to dress for this weather.

Free Clothes!

I workout at Women's Workout World. One day, a very casual and brief, announcement was made stating that they were going to film a commercial for the club. They asked if anyone was interested in being in it. One of the group fitness instructors encouraged me to sign up. So I did.

Realizing that marketing is expensive and my time is valuable, I thought it would be fun to try to get a clothing donation for the commercial shoot. I only had 3 days to get the clothing! Yikes. I called all the big names (Nike, Puma, Adidas, Oprah) explaining that I'm going to be in a commercial to be distributed throughout the Midwest and would they consider sending over a couple outfits: one for me and another for friend, to wear during the shoot. I figured their logos were so commonplace I wouldn't be asked to change clothing.

Let me remind you that my main job is that of Mom for two young kids - kids who don't allow me to talk on the phone! At least not without a whiny, screaming or sobbing interruption. Or my favorite "Mom! Wipe me!".

Getting this donation is a huge stroke of luck for me. And a rare occurrence, indeed. I've learned that my only gift in life is courage (I can also burp the alphabet after a swig of Dr. Pepper). I'm not talented, lucky (like Rob and Roxanne, or Rob's Grandpa Ryan). I'm not gorgeous, naturally thin or charming. I'm not a guy magnet or impressive at parties. But I've got guts. Can't buy that. So I'm learning to use my 'gift'. Trust me I wish there were days when I had a better gift; like being able to draw, speak another language, play an instrument, smoking legs, no cellulite, etc... but I digress. This is a positive post!

There is some sad disappointment in this story which I will spare you - but really just huge doses of humility from celebrity-hungry athletic apparel companies (Puma LA - you are snobby!).

The little guy always gets ignored -- but I'm used to this as a middle child - and a twin to boot.

The happy ending is that our friends over at Turbokick (for which I am a certified instructor) sent over two outfits immediately! They rock! Their workout shorts and capris are really good. Very comfortable, lasting and funky looking. Although not cheap. The tops were kinda tight but nice and lightweight. They feel like they will move with you and not against you. Very important. Oh, and they look good. I'm so proud of Turbowear for stepping up.

I didn't doll up for this photo, nor did I put on my shoes (which will NOT be Puma - uppity west-coasters). The shoot date got rescheduled at the last minute to January. I'll give you a full report after the shoot date (hopefully I'll be able to make it after all this hustling). Next time I'm planning the photo better (spray tan, put on make-up, do hair, do push ups right before the photo and will suck it in! - I'm sucking it in the entire time during the commercial - I've decided right now!).

So what do you all think of the socks? Do they take 10 years off of me - just out of sheer daring?

Viva la Ice Painting!

I love snow! I think if it's going to be cold outside there had better be snow. Otherwise, what's the point? Fortunately for me, we've been getting hit with crazy snow here in Chicago! It's been wonderful. Peace, fresh air, drivers slowing down. Ah.

I like it when my watercolor paintings turn icy. But I like a little more play with the paint itself. Not instant freeze. I especially love painting in snowy weather. Today I had the chance to paint at Gomper's Park in Chicago. Not only is Gomps the park I went to as a kid, it is a lovely wetlands preserve. Everything was blanketed in white.

It was quite cold out there this AM. My watercolor paints froze almost immediately. I did my best to layer paint onto 300 lb paper very quickly to no avail. Here is what I ended up with. Last time I had my paints freeze they did at a slower rate (probably because it was sunny outside). Today there was no sun and I was out of luck. I figured I could put a couple of the hand warmer packets under my palette to keep it from freezing.

Palette of Slush - almost instantaneously.

View I was trying to paint:

Actual painting. After it 'defrosted' it faded even more. I like the granulation effect but the painting looks more like an extremely foggy lake scene. M aybe it's modern art - plein air style. I think I'll keep this one just for fun. Frame it, put it up on my wall and let it be a conversation piece. It's for sale in case anyone wants a painting made from ice and pigment.

After it defrosted :-(

At the top is a quick painting I did with darker values hoping they wouldn't fade after the defrost. See the frost/ice crystal formations in the paints. I painted it in about 30 seconds - really fast. Otherwise I was moving slush around.