This is my current crochet project. I just finished making a really cute bag and have to line that, but first I have to get to the store to get some good, thick fabric. I'm thinking a canvas lining. Maybe I'll spray it with ScotchGuard so it's water resistant. Or maybe I can find some sailcloth. Hmmmm....

But in the meantime, here's what I'm working on. I have 3 done so far. If you're on my Christmas list, watch out- you'll most likely get one (or more) of these with your present this year.

In case you can crochet- or want to learn- here's where you get the pattern:

http://6ichthusfish.typepad.com/6ichthusfish/2009/11/free-crochet-pattern-for-christmas-tree-baubles.html

There's are great pictures and step by step instructions.

I just finished reading The Help. I saw it in the bookstore and it sounded interesting, then my neighbor loaned her copy to me. I feel like I'm jumping on the bandwagon because after I started reading it I found out that it's going to be a movie. The same with The Hunger Games. A friend recommended it, I finished it, then found out the movie comes out this fall. Although I'm not sure how they will make that one into a movie. Oh well- the book is always better.

So I finished this book, and all I can think is, "what would I have done?" It's set in the 60s, during the Civil Rights Movement, and I can't help but wonder if I would have been brave enough to stand up and say that it doesn't matter what color someone is, they should be treated equal. My mom was in college at this time and she said she went to protests and rallies in support of equal rights. Although she did go to college around Chicago, so it was more acceptable to do so than in the book, which was set in Mississippi. But what about living in the south at the time? Would you have gone against the flow or just accepted that that was the way things were?

I am a freak of nature. It's true. Everyone has weird little quirks, and in some ways I seem to go against what is normal. For example- when I was in college and then my early 20s, my resting pulse was over 100, despite being in really good shape. To make a long story short, I ended up at a cardiologist and after many tests he determine that I actually have 2 heartbeats. Strange, I know. You'd think it would make me awesome (which I am, but for different reasons).

Now, most poeple who are freaks of nature by definition are your professional athletes because their bodies just don't work the way "normal" people's should Anyone ever see that show Superhumans? It was only on for a year (I think) on the Discovery channel or TLC or something like that, and the host went around the world interviewing and testing people who weren't normal. The guy with the extra-thick skull, the ultramarathoner whose body just doesn't produce lactic acid in his musles so he can run forever, and others like that. I loved that show. Unfortunately, my wackiness doesn't make me a super athlete. Rats. Anyone else out there a freak?

One of the blogs I follow (http://www.shutupandrun.net/ Check is out- it's awesome!) challenged everyone to do a post about all those little things you do all day. So here is my day for yesterday, July 14th- our 11th Anniversary. Keep that in mind as you peruse.

5:10-Stumble out of bed. Put on running clothes. Run. One of the things I love about running is that I can do it from my house. Just walk about the door and start.

7:30- Eat breakfast. Cheerios. Yummy. Not really- I don't like them, but I eat them because they are good for me.
8:00- Make dinner. Yep- I'm proactive like that. Nothing fancy, just beef stew in the crock pot so it's ready when we are tonight.

8:30- Get kids ready for swim lessons. It's the last one of the session. Yea! Not that I don't like sitting around watching them try not to drown...

9:30- Head to the school to pick up some stuff for tonight's meeting, then off to the library to drop off books and pick up the ones I had on hold, finally it's off to the bike shop to pick up my new bike helmet! I waited until I felt ready to bike again before getting a new helmet (smacked my head when I crashed and broke my arm) and since I have a tiny head, they had to special order one and now it's in. Isn't it beautiful?

11:00- Lunch with friends. Unfortunately, our 7 combined kids (ages 3 to 16) love McDonalds, and it's about the only place they can all agree on, so guess where we ended up? That's right- the land of processed food. But we did get to see THE Ronald McDonald. The kids (all of them!) were thrilled. And that place does have its benefits- the kids can entertain each other and we can catch up because I haven't seen her for a couple months.


1:00- Home and time for a Mommy-required nap/rest time. Really- go in your rooms and I don't want to hear you until at least 3. Ahhhhh.......silence.....during which I'll organize (ok, purge) all my stuff to turn over tomorrow to the person who is taking over my job. When did I accumulate so much crap?!

4:45- A snack on the way out the door to the School Board meeting (I'm on the board) because I won't get dinner until around 8 tonight, whereas my family can eat at 6. Hence the crock pot.

5:00- School Board Meeting. Just like every other school board meeting across the country- not enough money, angry people, everyone else can do a better job... all around good time.

8:00- Dinner. And champagne. Necessary after that meeting. It would be wine, but it's our anniversary.

Every see a picture of yourself or catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and think "Woah. That's what I look like?" No? Just me? You get this idea in your head about how you look, eventhough you (I) look in the mirror every day to make sure my clothes are on right and look somewhat decent together. But somehow you still don't see yourself clearly.

2 examples. 1) I was watching What Not To Wear a few years ago and there was woman on it who had lost something like 50 pounds and couldn't figure out what size to try on. Stacy and Clinton had this giant piece of paper and made her draw an outline of herself. When she was done they stepped back and she's added about 6 inches to her width. 2) I had a good friend in college with a serious eating disorder. So serious she got kicked out of school and forced into rehab because she was, literally, killing herself. At the time she left she had 3% body fat (women shouldn't have below 12%). Her bones stuck out- you could see every rib, every vertabrae, you could even see the outline of her pelvis. And yet she still thought she was fat and needed to lose more weight. Studies routinely show that people with eating disorders look in the mirror and see someone bigger than they really are, which feeds into the needing to loose weight thoughts, which spurs on the eating disorders.

Without going on, I think that shows we don't really see ourselves the way we really are and that we are harder on ourselves than need be. But why is that? Can't we all just be happy with the body that we have? Thankful that it (usually) gets us where we are going and lets us (usually) do what we want/need to do? Why, as women, can't we stop striving for the impossible and unattainable and be satisfied with how we are? Think of all the money we'd save on gyms, clothes, diet food, etc. That alone might get us out of the recession.

I recently took the kids and flew cross country to visit the grandparents. Yep- both sets live in the same town. Convenient, isn't it? Anyhow, my hubby flew out and joined us for the last couple days. I think I've mentioned before, but my parents have lived in this town my entire life- they've even still live in the same house I grew up in. My in-laws moved there around 1989 and still live there, in the same house. The town is small- about 60,000- and growing up there, I got to know a large chunk of the population.

Going back there is... intesting. Many of hte people I grew up with went to college (or not), got married, and moved back there. This seems foreign to me, because I was pretty happy to leave and have no desire to live there. I ran into an old friend of mine while I was there, and it's wierd having a conversation as an adult with someone who has known me since I was born. Anyone else every feel that way when they return to their hometown? There's a great song that sums it up. It's by Cross Canadian Ragweed and it's called "17."

Check them out:

www.myspace.com/crosscanadianragweed

Here's a few snippets of the lyrics:

"You're always 17 in your hometown."
"Running from your folks, running from the law. Running from a love, running for your fears, running from it all."
"I bet she doesn't even remember my name. Just like she didn't back then."

Happy 4th of July!

-George