The World Surrounding Me

Providing I do 25 minutes of workout today and stretch 3 times today & tomorrow, I will complete my February workout plan! This will mean two months in a row where I reached my fitness goals! I spent some time looking at sites like Stumptuous (especially their “Dork to Diva” workout form tips, and “No [...]

I was looking for an old photo today and ran into this one along the way. I thought it was just way too cute not to bring to your attention! From Old Photos Here is me, my dad, and my brother, at Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, SD, probably around 1985. I was very proud [...]

Leftover charm squares + a scrap of yellow fabric (about 12″ wide) and a 1/2 yard of floral fabric = a really quick gift! Ideally, I’d add one more border, but I’m out of matching fabric, so I’ll call this done! It is about 3 feet X 3 feet more or less (and that’s a [...]

It’s good I took the picture (below/previous post) when I did! The snow has already melted off the trees, though there are still traces of it on the garage roof, and flakes are falling again.

A picture off our upstairs porch, looking out to our driveway. I don’t know what the rule is on snow accumulation – if it “sticks” to leaves but not the driveway, does that count? I don’t think this is measurable snow, but it is pretty. (Yes, I can assure you that what’s in this photo [...]

From Thursday to Saturday, I visited 5 quilt shops. I picked out fabric for a new project or two at 4 of them (the other, alas, I just bought something for my stash). Here’s a preview of what’s to come: Flannel baby quilt out of Anna Maria Horner’s Folksy Flannels set. This isn’t yet earmarked [...]

I’m not sure why, but the last few days, I’ve been a big bundle of stress. I could just feel my shoulders creeping up to my ears. My body was screaming at me to rest. Thankfully, today was my monthly “solitude day” at work — a day intended to get away from the office, recharge [...]

In addition to changing the style and format of this blog (including choosing the new title The World Surrounding Me), I moved my other blog, Etcetera. Whatever. to a new home. I’ve been working on Etcetera. Whatever since last fall. It started as a project at work. That’s where I blog about big ideas, spiritual [...]

We are now mid-way through our February fitness goals! This means we’ve been working out consistently for 6 weeks. Last week, I added something new to my routine: weight-lifting. I’m following a simple weight routine: dumbell bench press, shoulder press, arm curls, lat pull down, row, and leg extensions (I’d do leg press, but my [...]

So, I live in Austin. We don’t exactly get a whole lot of “winter.” Up until a few days ago (and maybe now, I didn’t check), there were still a few vaguely green plants growing in my flower beds. I think I caught a handful of sleet one night this week. Other than that, I [...]