Scheduling

I read or heard somewhere that you should schedule everything in your life and you will be less stressed. I have thought about this a lot and couldn't decide if it was true or not but the more I thought about it the more it seemed like it might be. Think about it. Right now I have a HUGE to do list and and even HUGER (it is a word, I promise) project list. They both seem neverending and when I have free time I am not sure where to start so I end up doing nothing. If I scheduled them then I would know exactly what to work on and I might actually do it. The example that I heard about had the guy literally scheduling everything that took longer than 5 mins. I would never do this in my personal life but I could almost see this being helpful at work. Call so and at x time, respond to all emails at x time, etc. As for the personal life, I think that if I narrowed it down to one project per weekend of me not traveling then I could get my projects completed a lot faster. I have so many things that I want to work on that I ened up doing a little here and a little there but nothing is completed. Last weekend I decided that I was going to work on my Ohio website and I did and now it is almost done. I kind of want to continue the trend. So, as I sit on the plane I am going to work out what I want to do which weekend.

Also, do boys ever seem to have projects? I feel like I am constantly needing to do this or that but Craig doesn't really seem to have the same to do list. He is working on my bike so I guess that counts as a project and he is working on editing his pictures from our trip (which he will get done way before me, I am sure) but other than that he doesn't seem to really have any projects. Do I have more because of my business or do guys just operate differently and just work on things as they come up until they are done and then move on? I am curious.

I am typing on the plane in airplane mode, though I still think that people around me think I might crash the plane with my phone. Amatuers!

Having slight withdrawal this morning from the tour. Hoping I can make it to work in time to stream the end of it. It is not supposed to be an exciting day cause it is flat but I still want to watch. I am seriously comtemplating calling my hotel for next week to make sure they have the channel it is on. I guess not much I can do if they don't other than find a bar to watch it in but next week is supposed to be the best week. It is the mtns where the field separates and it is the 3rd week so people are tired and start to slack! I want to see what Lance will do!!

Bike Pic

Here is the picture that was on Craigslist where I bought it so it will have to serve as the before picture even though you can't see all the rust. Craig is going to lay out the pieces so I can take another picture of it all. Seems like you guys like pink better than sky blue...light pink or dark pink..I feel like the light pink might be too drab....what do you think?

Vintage

So, remember how I talked about my vintage bike that I got? Well, on Sunday Craig completely disassembled it. I was sort of sad because I wanted to be able to show you guys a before picture of it so you could tell a difference in the before and after, but he got excited about it and did it while I was running errands. I think that it is cute when he takes on projects like this because I feel like it is his little way of showing me that he wants to do things for me and take care of me. I know it sounds silly but I think that he feels a real sense of accomplishment when he completes a task that I am impressed with (such as disassembling a bike, restoring it and putting it back together). The bike had seen better days but was in good shape considering that it is from the 70s. It needs new wheels because they are a little bent and rusted, a new paint job, also a bit rusted in some areas, a new seats and could use some new grippers on the handlebars. Not too much really in the grand scheme of things, still cheaper than buying a new bike and a lot more personality in this one anyway. When I went over there last night he has spent almost two hours sanding the old paint off (candy apple red) and a lot of the frame was down to bare metal! I go back and forth as to what color I want to paint it but right now I am thinking a really pretty color of sky blue.

In other news, I took another sewing class last night and this time I learned how to make quilt blocks with circles. I will try to take pictures of it tonight if I have time...if not then I will do it tomorrow when I am in Atlanta. I think that I might be ready to try a real quilt, and not one that is a kit. Anyone need a small lap quilt that I could practice on? If so, what colors?

My mom just emailed me and said I should be glad I didn't go to Atlanta last night because the flight from Dayton to Atlanta had to make an emergency landing in Chattanooga and bus people to Atlanta. That definitely sounds like something that would happen to me! Luckily for some of my upcoming trips I am leaving in the afternoons and getting home in the afternoons and the prices were decent in Cincy so I can fly from there, which means no connections!! YAY! I feel that connections are where it all seems to go wrong for me (not that I didn't have my share of drama before). One more flight to book and then I will hopefully be done for a while...all except that I now have to actually make the trips....

Looking forward to seeing a lot of you on my visit this week!

Work, work, work.....

I was really good yesterday and worked on the pictures that I am going to use for my new Ohio photography site while watching the tour. I feel like I have improved a bit since my old website and I definitely have more pictures to pull from, even if they aren't improved. I am not sure if I am going to still try to wait until January or if I am going to try to get in a few natural light sessions this fall. Most of my clients are graduating from my program and from here on out I only have 1-2 clients per month. I am sort of happy about it only because that means I won't have to stay on the weekends anymore. I love visiting but when I stay the weekend I miss out on everything here, and it never seems to fail that I will be gone when something is going on but here when there is nothing....so is life.

Anyway, I would love some opinions on the photos I chose for the albums. I am going to do a it a little differently for my new website. Instead of having: Pregnancies, Babies, Kids, Individuals, Couples, Nature and Misc, I am going to have a couple of different ways but mainly: New arrivals (newborns), Sitting pretty (babies old enough to sit), Movers and Shakers (9-18 months), and then older kids (forgot the name for that). In addition to that, on my first year program page I am going to have an album for pregnancy, newborn, 3, 6, 9, and 1 year with pictures in there (probably the same ones) just because I constantly get asked what I do for each age group and it will just be easier if they can get ideas from the site. I am also trying to show more of the style I like so I won't be asked to do as much cheesy stuff that I don't like. So, if you already know my website then here are the codes, you can send me an email or just leave a comment on the actual photo. If you click on the photo then you can leave a comment underneath it and none of my clients have these codes so you can say whatever you want. If you don't know my website (please don't post it here, I don't want my personal life to come up with my business name), then leave a comment here or email me and I will send it to you. I look forward to the feedback!

codes:
newborn
3to6months
6to9months
1year

A biking weekend....

I am watching the tour while Craig still sleeps. I have no idea how he can sleep so late on the weekends. It baffles me! Yesterday I went and got new road tires (not the super, super thin ones, but some tires that are a lot thinner than what I currently had) for my mountain bike. I think that we are going to go and ride a pretty long ride on the bike trails today. This should help me to be a little faster with not as much work...at least that is the idea!

I also think that I forgot to mention it but a while back I bought a vintage huffy cruiser off of craigslist. The idea was that we would fix it up, repaint it and I would have a cute little cruiser that was like new :-). Yesterday while I ran errands Craig took apart the entire bike. When I came back it was just a frame on the garage floor with all the pieces around it. It looked sort of sad but I am excited to start getting it fixed up. I am hoping that with my crazy travel schedule coming up he will work on it a bit while I am gone.

For the Lance watch 2009, he is 8 seconds from the rider in the yellow jersey. His teammate Contador is 6 seconds behind. So, Lance is in 3rd. He would be in first except that Contador attacked on a climb two days ago and since they are on the same team, Lance didn't chase. The attack was stupid and Contador basically attacked his own team...a VERY big no-no in cycling and I think that it pissed Lance off. He refused to really comment on it (which is rare for him) but Levi (another American and teammate) said that Contador did if on his own without the team. That is not good for Contador. In case you aren't familiar with cycling, here is the one paragraph version of how it works.

Each team has 9 riders at the start of the race. Most teams have a leader and who you would consider the General Classification guy (meaning he is good enough to win it all). Then the other 8 guys or so are either good sprinters, good climbers, or pretty good all around but not necessarily fast enough to win. On the tour there are some stages that are flat and you want your sprinters to win, some are mountains and you want you climbers to win, and then some are just same old same old stages and a random guy will win the stage but then will suck all the other stages. So, all the team members work to get their guy at the front (sprinters to the front on flat stages, climbers and GC on mountains, etc). The good teams will ride at the front and keep the pace of the race going. If they want people to drop off they will go faster than they know the other teams can go, if they just want to rest a little they will set the pace lower. The team with the yellow jersey is supposed to set the pace by riding at the front but that doesn't happen as much in the first couple stages because teams will have good sprinters that they want to win the stage but who can't have the yellow overall so they want to be at the front. They will block everyone out at the end and then split so their sprinter can get through and win. ANYWAY, in Astana's case (Lance's team) they really have about 4 guys who are good enough to be GC guys and if they were on different teams they would be the lead of their respective teams, but because they are all on the same team, there is no really clear leader. They put Contador in the lead number (21) but it was still sort of on the table as to who it would be. Then, Lance got in a breakaway that Contador didn't and was 19 seconds up on him....looking like Lance would take over the leadership. Contador didn't like it so he attacked his team the other day and Lance didn't chase. The reason that is not cool is because the other 7 guys carried Contador all day (and Lance). By riding right behind someone you save 30% of your energy, so they do the work, you ride on their wheel. Most of those 7 guys can only lead for a stage or two and then they rest and someone else steps up. Or they will take turns during the stage in the head position but the lead guy rests a lot and rarely takes a turn at the front (though Lance likes to) so he can be at the front through all stages by saving his energy. When Contador just attacked on his own, it was like giving a big finger to the guys that are going to have to carry him in future stages if he wants to win. Since most of the guys really wanted Lance to win anyway (a lot of them have ridden with him before and were on US Postal with him) it didn't really get Contador and team points. Plus, there was no point in him doing that....he wasn't going to get yellow so all he accomplished was getting 2 second above Lance and pissing his team off.

Ok, geekiness over...really the tour will not be decided until the last week which is still two weeks away so we will have to see. Lance looks great on all the rides and doesn't seem to be hurting. I wish Contador was on a different team so I could have seen how Lance would have done on a counterattack on that mountain but I guess I will have to wait until they get into the Alps.

The Tour and Travel....

I am obsessed with the Tour...it is a sickness really. I streamed it at work yesterday and nearly jumped out of my desk chair when Lance was within tenths of a second of getting the yellow jersey (what the winner for the race at the time wears). I know strategically it would have been bad for him to get it...it is easier for them to make up time later and when you have the yellow jersey your team has to work more because they pull the group (has to do with windstreams and geekiness) but I was so excited because it was the first day that I felt like he was BACK. I mean really back, not just washed up and riding for fun. In interviews this time around he jokes more and just doesn't seem as serious...until yesterday :-) Now that he is basically tied for yellow he is getting a taste of the old Lance and I am pumped!

Another tidbit....Ben Stiller actually gave out the yellow jersey yesterday. He was at Wimbledon and then made his was to the Tour and has been joking around with Lance the last few days. Here is a funny video....after this Lance's bike was actually a little messed up and they had to replace the chain. What is up with Stiller's hair?

I am about to start a marathon travel schedule again. It is funny because when I was in Atlanta I wanted to travel all the time but now that I am here I want to be home all the time (though that hasn't worked out for me). Here is a peak at my schedule over the next month:
July 15th-19th- Atlanta (girls day, yay!!)
July 20th-24th - Darlington
July 24th-29th- Vacation but no flying required since I will already be in MB
July 30th-31st - Darlington
August 5th-7th- Providence
August 10th-11th (or 12th)- Philly
August 16th (or 17th)- 20th - Atlanta

Holy cow!! That is a lot of skymiles! Speaking of skymiles, Delta randomly gave me 5K toward Medallion status yesterday. That is pretty sweet and might actually help me to get back to gold. I swear, they are like the boyfriend who pisses you off but then brings you flowers. For now I will stay in the relationship. The funny thing is that as much as I get pissed at them, I find myself defending them to people who tell me to switch airlines :-) Hopefully the travel will slow down a bit after this run. I sort of miss being here with Craig :-( We went out with his friends the other night and the guy asked me if I was ever going to be around because I was always gone :-(

Nothing else too exciting going on here. The Beach Boys are playing at the venue across the street from my apartment tonight so I think that we might go and see them. Craig stayed home sick today though so hopefully he will feel better!

Homemade Pizza-YUM!

In my quest to eat more natural foods, I decided to make pizza. Originally the plan was to use the breadmaker that Craig's mom gave him to make the dough and then I would just have to put it in the oven but when I left my apartment I forgot one of the parts so I had to do it by hand. I was a little nervous because you have to use yeast and let it rise and stuff but it turned out really good.

Here is the recipe in case anyone wants it (Carrie, if you want to make a recipe card :-), but I think that it might be too long) It sounds a little intense but it wasn't that bad and you could take more short cuts if you wanted. I put them in parenthesis when I could think of them.

Dough: This is enough to make 2-12 inch thin crusts or one thick crust.
1 Cup of warm water (80ºF)
2 TBL Oil (can be any kind of oil. I used olive oil).
1 TBL Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour (you can get this at Kroger, King Arthur is the brand I used and seems to be one of the most pure).
1.5 cups Bread Flour (also got this at Kroger and it was King Arthur)
1 tsp Active Dry Yeast (also from Kroger in the baking aisle. I bought a jar cause it is used for all bread but you can get little packets too).

Sauce:
6 oz can of tomato paste
Italian seasoning
6oz water
(or you can just buy the cans of spaghetti sauce).


Toppings:
Mozarella cheese ( I shredded a block because there are preservatives in the pre-shredded but here is another place you can quicken it up)
whatever else you want. We had turkey pepperoni, some ground beef, and Craig had mushrooms.

Prep:
Take the cup of warm water and dissolve the yeast in the water. Take a bowl and pour a little oil in it and spread it all around. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl (including water and yeast) with your hands, knead it until it forms a good dough. You should be able to pick up the whole ball of dough and walk around without it sticking to your hands or dripping at all. (I walked down the hall and into the computer room to show Craig and nothing happened). Knead it for a few minutes and then put it in the bowl with the oil spread around, turn the dough over so the other side also gets some on it. Cover with a towel and wait at least 30 mins. (The recipe says it should double, but I am not sure mine did. You can wait longer than 30 mins and I probably did closer to 40. Also, it didn't seem like it was rising and I didn't know what to expect so I turned the oven on to warm and stuck it in there for a few minutes to heat it up because a little heat will help the dough rise faster). Once your dough has double or gotten close, spread it into your pizza pan(s). I made two thin crusts so I had to divide the dough in half. You have to spread it pretty thin and it is a little elastic so it can be tough. I would hold it up and let the weight of the dough droop it a little but I imagine this is why people at the pizza shop spin it. I tried that but it didn't go too well. Once you get them spread on the pan(s), stick it in the oven while you mix the sauce (or about 5 mins if you are cheating on the sauce).

Mix the sauce ingredients (italian seasoning is just a pinch here and dash there but if I had to estimate I would say 2 tbl). Take the crusts out of the oven and spoon the sauce on and spread it, then add the ingredients. I did cheese first, then toppings and then more cheese. Stick it back in the oven for about 15 mins (check it and the crust will be getting crispy and the cheese will be bubbling).

Enjoy! If you want one with just bread flour, let me know and I can tell you the one from the same place I got this one, but I haven't tried it, so no gurantees.

I have to admit that I really liked making this recipe and the result was yummy. It was a lot less salty than normal pizza but it still tasted good. It did take a while to do it but I sort of enjoyed that part of it too. I realize that it might be a little harder with kiddos running around. Let me know if any of you try it cause I would love to know how they turn out!

I will let you know if I find any other good recipes that are from natural ingredients.