Madison Monday

For those of you who were regular readers, I was absent for quite a while towards the end of 2010.  LOTS of things happened and I will go into those at some point when I feel like the time is right, but one of the biggest additions to my life was my niece, Madison!  I know there are TONS of Mommy bloggers out there, but I'm not sure how many Auntie Bloggers there are.  I think it's time for me to become one of the first.  I plan to do this in a little segment I call Madison Mondays!!

I don't live in the same city as the squirt, but because of modern technology I am usually graced with pictures of her via text message several times a week.  Yay!

So, if you don't wanna see all her baby goodness, check back here on Tuesday every week.  In the meantime, here's an array of photos of Miss Sweetness herself from birth to 4 months.

 



The formula for a new year

It's a New Year!  It's as close to a fresh start as the perfectionist in me feels like I can get!  There something very exciting about a new calendar blank and fresh with possibilities!

I'm not a huge fan of New Year's Resolutions really.  I feel like they are just a way to set myself up for failure.  The perfectionist in me often uses any slip up when it comes to resolutions as a way of giving up.  In some ways, it's an easy out.  But this year, maybe I'll make an exception.  After all, I can't really become a new me without doing some things differently, can I?

I've been giving this some thought for a little while and I've come up with a few things to start the launch of Heather 2.0.  I'm sure these things will be tweaked throughout the year, but this is what I have to start:

*  I will remember that I am not responsible for the happiness or unhappiness of others.  It is not my intention to bring sadness or pain to other people, but when their need for me to say "Yes" conflicts with my need to say "No", one of us has to be disappointed and for too long, it has been me.  That sounds horrible, but it's actually a way of being kinder.

*  Every day I will do things that show and reinforce that I love myself.  These things includes, but are not limited to:
     *  Getting enough sleep.
     *  Getting enough exercise.
     *  Eating the things that will keep me healthy and energized.
     *  Taking my medication(s) daily as prescribed.
     *  Saying "No" when "Yes" would detrimental to my well-being.
     *  Forgiving myself when I inevitably fail to do any of these things.

It probably doesn't seem like very many resolutions right now, but they, as I am also, are a work in progress.  Besides it doesn't do any good to give away all my secrets right away, does it?

Ever have one of those days?

I know I can't be the only one.  I know we all have THOSE days.  Here is a brief look into my day:

*)  I take a look at my checking account online and there's a lot less money in there than I remember having.
*)  I remember that it's the time of year when I get my annual review, so there is a glimmer of hope.
*)  I remember that last year I didn't get a raise because "times were tough", so another beam of light shines hopeful for me.
*)  The boss calls me in for the review and explains that, once again, I won't be getting a raise because I didn't have enough billable hours to warrent one.
*)  I explain to him that throughout last year I continually went to him during my down time to explain that I didn't have a lot to do.  After all, he's responsible for bringing in business.  I'm simply responsible for getting the work done.
*)  He says, "Yeah.  Still can't do anything for you."

Let me just interject here.  I am SOOO thankful to have a job at a time when so many do not.  I am just miffed that the actuary profession as a whole is not very good at keeping equality of the sexes in mind when paying their employees.  I also don't have all of the letters behind my name that I want.  As a result, I am seriously underpaid.

*)  Luckily for me, there are people out there who are willing to help me out during these time.  (Thanks Mom and Dad!)
*)  The old me would have stewed about this for a couple of days.  The new me is starting to study and spending every possible moment doing billable work.

Now if only I can avoid feeling like a loser because I had to ask my parents to help me financially.

On the bright side, this is a new year and there's always tomorrow.

....Now back to that billable time!

Polar Bear Ride 2011

So many things have changed in my life since last year (more on that later, I swear!).  For 2011, I want to shake off the old and create a whole new.  New what?  Me?  Life?  Outlook?  YES!  I want to redefine who I am, what I want from life and how I can make the places I inhabit better every day.  It's a tall order, I know, but I think I'm up to the challenge!

So, how do I kick off the new year if I want a new me?  I step out of my comfort zone!  In this case, I stepped WAAY out of my comfort zone!  And I have to say, I was richly rewarded by the experience!

When I started riding my motorcycle 6 years ago, I participated in a "Hangover Rally" with Troy on January 1st, 2005.  It was my first rally ever and quite an experience.  It was a balmy 50 degrees that year (balmy for January in Indiana, anyway!) and the group of riders that were on the poker run and at the rally were definitely not the type of riders I hang with now, but it was a great time anyway.

This year, I decided to up the ante.  A local group of riders that I've sort of been stalking on Meetup.com was planning a Polar Bear ride starting at Monument Circle in downtown Indy.  This sounded like an interesting event and although I'd never met any of the group and didn't have anyone who was going to ride with me, I decided to give it a go!  All week long before the January 1st ride, the weathermen kept calling for great weather (in the 50s) on Saturday, January 1st.  The more they forecasted, the more excited I got about the possibility of an off-season ride!  So, after a gorgeous day near 60 on Friday, December 31st, I prepped my bike for the ride the next afternoon.

Cut to Saturday, January 1st.  Ahem....the 50 degree temps?  No sign of them!  At about 10:30 on Saturday morning I checked the forecast and it was a bit bleak to say the least.  The high for the day was going to be about 39 and it would be dropping to near freezing around 5 PM.  My first instinct was to scrap the whole thing.  After all, it would be a much nicer day all warm and cozy in my house, right?

But wait!  No!  2011 is about a new me and trying new things!  How could I start that off right if I just stayed home?  After all the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result, right?  I may be crazy, but I'm not insane YET!  So I threw caution to the wind and piled on another layer of clothing as I set out on my motorcycle headed for downtown Indy.

Now, I only live about 6 miles from the circle, but I have to say it's a LONG 6 miles when the temps are low enough to see your breath.

Upon my arrival, I spotted my riding partners and they were a motley looking crew!  I was younger than them by a good 20 years and, oh yeah, I was a girl!

After a few moments of some awkward glances (you'd think these middle aged men clad in black leather had never seen a girl dressed in pink ride a motorcycle!), I introduced myself to the group and was instantly accepted as one of their own.

The goal for the day was to ride 1 mile for each degree of temperature.  It was assumed that each rider traveled about 10 miles to get there and 10 miles to get home (lucked out on that one!), so we rode a little less than 10 miles to a small pub near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where we ate, drank loads of hot coffee to warm ourselves up and enjoyed some great conversation getting to know one another.  After a few hours, we departed company and headed home.

The riders I spent the afternoon with were not people I would have necessarily been inclined to talk to, but that made the day all the better.  I had a wonderful time getting to know them and I was proud of myself that I stepped out of my comfort zone and hopefully made steps toward a new me in 2011.

A Happy New Year!

Despite my apparent (2 1/2 month) absence (eek!), I'm not really gone. My house has been a crazy place and I've been feeling beyond overwhelmed, so I checked out for a bit.

But now I'm back and energized to start fresh. After all, if 1/1/11 isn't a great day to begin anew, I don't know when is. So stay tuned in the next couple of days for my plans to tackle the new year as a new woman with a new outlook!

I promise there will be excitement, intrigue, colossal screw-ups and maybe even some web-camming (if I can get that silly thing figured out!).

For those of you who have stuck with me, thanks so much!

We interrupt our regular broadcasting schedule

I'm doing something a little different today.  I know this blog is about oh so many things, but, generally speaking, I don't really show much of the creative things that I do.  Even though I scrapbook, crochet, knit, sew, etc etc etc, I guess I feel like there are so many great crafty blogs out there that I don't really share much of that side of me.

But...I'm making an exception today.  Tam over at Sew Dang Cute (such a cute blog name and an incredible blog as well!) is having a contest for crafters in the blog world!  It just so happened that I was halfway through creating my project when I found out about the contest, so it was perfect!




This summer I got a new sewing machine.  My old one was a gift from my mom 20 years ago for my 16th birthday (yikes!) and had been well-loved and well-used.  But, alas, it went to sewing machine heaven.  I replaced it with a new machine made by Pfaff and I LOVE it.  I love it so much that I am just making up things just so that I can sew.  I don't have any children of my own, but this summer I made a ton of baby blankets for my new niece and a friend's nephew.

This fall, the sewing inspiration hit and I decided to make a halloween costume for my friend's 1-year-old.  After having two boys, she is loving have a little girl and she absolutely dotes on her little "love bug."  Since that's what she calls her, we decided to go with the idea of a love bug for the costume.

I don't have a tutorial because I just sort of made it up as I went along, but I'll do my best to describe what I did.  The only part of the costume that I had a pattern for was the onesie.  I made it out of a really soft brown knit and I was thrilled with the way that it turned out because I've never sewn with a knit.  I'd also never used the sort of snaps that go on the crotch portion of a onesie, so it was amazing that it turned out so well (even if I do say so myself!)

For the skirt, I wanted to use a pink fabric with brown polka dots, but since I couldn't find the right fabric, I decided to applique the polka dots onto the skirt.  This was the first time I've appliqued as well and I was so pleased with the dots.  They certainly aren't going to come off of the skirt!  As far as the shape of the skirt, I knew the baby's waist size and just sort of did a rough sketch and it poofs out at the right angle just perfectly!  I then used some of the brown fabric to make a waistband and my bias tape maker for the edging on the bottom of the skirt.  I think it gives it a really finished look.

For the tutu portion of the costume, I simply cut strips of tulle and tied them around a piece of elastic.  It was easy peasy and sooo cute!

I TRIED to make the wings myself, but after several failed attempts at bending the wire perfectly, I opted for a pair of dollar store butterfly wings.  I think they work just perfectly and were a very economical choice.

Finally, the headband that she's wearing will have two little ears attached to them.  I would have attached them for the pictures, but my model had skipped her nap and had an ear infection, so I was working on borrowed time to get her into the outfit and snap a few pictures.  (Hence, the death grip on the bottle!)

On Halloween night, her outfit will be completed with some brown tights and shoes.  I can hardly wait to share those photos.  She is such a cutie patootie, don'tcha think?

So, if you get a chance, drop on over to Sew Dang Cute and check out the rest of the contest entries. While you're there, let'em know how much you adore the little love bug!

Thanks!!

Things that are worse than unmet expectations - lowered expectations

So, having not committed suicide, I decided to instead commit to making a real effort in my dating life upon returning home after my brother's wedding.

I decided to really buckle down and give this thing a go!  I swear I tried everything and looked everywhere for Mr. Right.  I hunted down hotties at the grocery.  I gave God's house a go.  Much of the time I came up heart-wrenchingly empty-handed.  Whatever it was that I needed (skill, swagger) to "turn some heads",  I was clearly not equipped with.  The only numbers I was giving out at the grocery store were the ones stamped on my debit card.

Not getting the results that I desired through conventional means, I ventured out into cyberspace.  Back in those days online-dating was in its infancy and for the most part, it was still populated by those who were less than successful in meeting people in "real life".  Most of the time, if a couple met via the internet back then, they had to get their "how we met" story straight.  After all, no self-respecting person would admit to finding "real" love via virtual means.

So I joined Match.com and chatted with more than enough guys online to be able to fairly quickly sort the testosterone-filled wheat from the chaff.  It's also where I developed some very basic tests for determining if I would even respond to an email from a would-be beau.  For instance, if he didn't know when to appropriately use "there and their" or "your and you're", he was clearly not going to make the grade.  It may seem a bit picky, but there had to be SOME sort of process for culling the herd!

After all, in cyberspace I was a regular hottie.  I was witty and charming.  I could talk on a wide range of subjects and I laughed at all of their (sometimes horrible) jokes.  (What I lacked in self-respect I more than made up for in self-loathing.  {sigh})

This is the way things generally went in my online-dating life:  1)  Guy would find my profile online and send me an email.  2)  I would respond to his email and wait with baited breath for his response.  3)  We would converse like this for a week or more before he would suggest we could talk by phone.  4)  Phone conversations back and forth would proceed for another week or so before he would eventually ask me out on a "real life" date.  5)  We would go on said date and then, inevitably, 6) all communication would end.  Rinse.  Wash.  Repeat.....

Even after the 10th or so time of this happening, it was simply emotionally devastating for me.  The worst part was always the deafening silence of the phone in the weeks following those dates.  The only thing worse than NOT receiving a phone call when he said "I'll call you," were some of the other responses I received:

*  "I had a rough break-up and I don't think I'm really ready to date yet." - Apparently he recovered quickly because he was messaging other women just days after telling me this.
*  "I think I'm going to try to get back with my ex-girlfriend." - Apparently she didn't take him back because, once again, he was online chatting with other women just days later.
*  "Well, I called you ANYWAY." - said to me after a brief lunch date with a man that I wouldn't have dated if you had paid me.  He was telling me this because, in his opinion, I was below HIS standards!

I can MAYBE understand this sort of out and out rejection if I had, in any way, lied or misled them about who I was or how I looked.  But I hadn't.  I always posted an accurate, up-to-date photo of myself (more than I could say for many of them).  I was always up front about what I looked like.  I was always honest about who I was.  Besides, I may have never deluded myself into thinking that I was beautiful, but I don't think the self-loathing brought on by their behaviour was warranted either.

Stay tuned for the misery that is speed-dating and turning over a new leaf.