Spin Class

I found a gym...or should I say I just didn't feel like dealing with it so I joined the one I visited yesterday. It is pretty good though..there is a location one exit toward home from me on 75 and there is one that is exactly halfway between Craig and I in Dayton and I can go to either one. They also have classes every week night and a spin class at 9am on Friday and it is all less than $30 a month so I joined.

Today I went to my first spin class and I am not sure what to think. It wasn't that it was horrible...I burned 360 calories in 45 mins but it just wasn't exactly what I was looking for. They only have the fans pointing in certain areas (I think cause the regulars turn them toward them, which I think is selfish but whatever) and I had a hot area. I also had a hard time hearing what she was saying and I guess part of it was just getting down her lingo (they all use different words for things). I guess on a scale of 1-10 I would say it was about a 7, where my old class was a 10. I think that I could get it to a 9 though by pushing myself. I was a little nervous because the class was supposed to be 60 mins and my one at home is only 40 with abs at the end so I paced myself through the routine but then come to find out that we started the "cool down" at 6:45 and I was in my car and at the first stop light by 7 (when I thought the class ended). I also thought I heard her say she was a sub...hmmm. I am going to try as many classes as I can at the timeslots I want and then I will make a decision as to which ones to stick with.

For an update on Ms. DG....she emailed me back a couple Sundays ago and said to let her know when I was back in town, so I did and then this Sunday she emailed again to set something up. She said she had had a busy weekend with some friends in town (some DGs) and recruited another DG in the area to come with her so now there will be three of us. That will probably be better because hopefully it will mean no awkward silences. Since she is a school counselor and is dealing with end of the school year stuff right now, we decided to do dinner next Thursday. I will let you all know how it goes.

And for my sewing...no pictures yet but I made a couple little burp cloths (like from scratch, not decorating already made ones, though I want to do that too) and I made Ariyana a little dress tonight. I love it. I can't wait to learn more and to make more stuff!!

That is pretty much it for me...having a hard time staying motivated at work because I am working on that same project that I dread every quarter and it has been so nice outside some days here...plus I want to play with my crafts..only two days to go.

Great leg workout...

That would be planting a garden by squatting down for 3 hours one day. My legs are sadly a bit sore. I didn't really think about it when I was doing it but I don't have one of those nice little cushions to sit on (though I might get one) and so I was just squatting down and now I am sore. Last night I went to Craig's and got the rest of the garden planted so now we will see how the seeds do in the garden. When I got home yesterday I got a call from Craig and he sounded like a little kid telling a story. Turns out that a lot of the plants sprouted new leaves overnight. It was really strange. I guess they liked being outside and in the actual sun as opposed to being in my makeshift dining room. We will see what they look like after two full days!

We did have one casualty yesterday. Craig told me that I should plant some sunflowers, so I did. Since he told me this after I had already decided where everything in the garden was going to go and since we ended up buying a fence that was a little smaller than our original garden size (it cut it by about 3ft on each side but it wasn't worth spending another $50 for more fence), I planted them outside the fence. Someone decided that they would be a tasty treat and dug up one of the few that was actually doing decently. I had planted it in its peat pot and whoever it was dug up the entire thing! Plant, pot, and all :-( Oh well, at least the veggies are still in tact right now. We will see how long they last.

Tonight I am breaking out the sewing machine to try my hand at sewing (or retry I guess I should say, since I did know some stuff at one time). We will see how it goes. I also am going by the gym to "activate" my free 3 week membership. I hope there are no funny or stupid stories from that experience but somehow I don't feel like I will be that lucky!

Farmer I am not....

It was a long couple days after my last post. I had a horrible cold and then had to fly with it...that is painful in case you have never done it. By the time I got home on Friday night I was wiped out. Craig called when I was on the way home from the airport (after my 40 min delay from Atlanta) and said he would meet me at my place. How sweet. I get there, get a hug and get my stuff to take it upstairs and literally the next thing that he says to me is "if you want to get that fence for your garden tonight then we need to go soon". Seriously? I just spent 8 hours traveling while sick. Can I have a minute?? I was kind of annoyed cause I just wanted sympathy but he was right...we needed to get it. So, after a brief rest we packed me some clothes for Saturday and went to Home Depot, which didn't have what I needed so then we had to go to Lowe's. By the time we got that all done I was REALLY exhausted! Once we got to Craig's though he went into his taking care of me mode and it was really nice.

Saturday I woke up feeling better but not 100% I was sort of annoyed that I even got sick in the first place. I have started taking Vitamin C and I take it every day and haven't been sick in the 6 months since I started. This was the day that I had to go to the Ohio DMV to get my new license so I could register my car in Ohio (and only pay $35 as opposed to $300). I get to the place (in the ghetto) and there are two different offices. There is the title office and the driver's license/tag/license plate office. So, I go into the driver's license one and they say I have to take a written test....what? I mean I know street signs and stuff but I don't know specific Ohio laws. Luckily you only have to get a 75% and I was able to do that. Sweet, now to the driver's license line.....get my picture done, blah, blah, blah (my picture it HORRIBLE cause they use the crappiest camera EVER). Then I have to go and tell the old lady that I need my car inspected (which is $3.50 for them to walk out to your car and look at your VIN and mileage). Then I have to go to the title line to get my title changed over to Ohio and then I have to go back to the first office to get my tag and license. UGH. It took a little over an hour, which isn't bad for a Saturday and considering I had to literally get in all 4 lines they had available but still, it sucked. After that I was going to get some things done around my place but Craig called and said he needed help with the fence (and some lunch) so I headed over there. Turns out that he had half the fence done by the time I got there...grrr, wasted trip, so we ate and then I went to the craft store until it was time to leave for the soccer game.

Yesterday we got a late start but I needed the sleep and then after another trip to Home Depot we took all my plants over to Craig's so I could plant them in the ground. It took my FOREVER (3.5 hours) to get it all planted. I am not too confident in the plants surviving because while I was gone they got a little dried out and some of them were fragile :-( I am not sure how it works if the stems break a little...I know some plants you prune so it would be ok but then others I think would die. We will see. This afternoon I am going to go and plant some seeds in the space that is still available and we will see how they do.

Other than that, nothing super exciting but the weekend sure did go by fast!!

Atlanta visit and sniffles....

I am a little sad today because I am so ready to go home! I don't feel well today at all. My nose has been running all day and if snot had calories then I would definitely be at my max for the week. I thought that I had maybe forgotten to take my Claritin this morning and my allergies were just really acting up but then I came home and took it a couple hours ago and nothing seems to be improving so far. UGH. I really hope that I am not sick. I hate being sick and it is supposed to be 80 and sunny all weekend in Ohio and Craig and I have lots of plans including a garden and a soccer game. I hope that I am not worn out and tired and that is why I am not feeling well, I don't know. I am going to order some butt chinese, as Drena calls it (or maybe Adam) and eat that and just relax tonight and get my editing from last weekend done.

My visit to Atlanta was good because I got to see some of my friends and I got to celebrate my birthday with my family but I have to be honest and say that it wasn't what I thought it would be. I thought that I would be all excited to be back in Atlanta and to see everyone (and I WAS excited to see everyone) but I ended up feeling pretty lonely and it sort of felt like I was in a hotel but not one that I had to pay for. I think that I was lonely because I was used to being in Ohio with Craig and the kitties and when I was in Atlanta I was alone for most of the week nights. I just missed them. I am definitely going to have to learn to drive a stick so I can take Drena up on her offer to let me borrow her car. Craig has a stick and said he would teach me...then he sent me an article that explains how it all works mechanically so I can understand better...what a boy :-)

I had 5 sessions last weekend and they all went pretty well except the one lady who was 30 mins late. I don't really understand her. I emailed her and even politely let her know that I had another session after her and it was really important that she be on time for us to get the whole session in. She said she would be 30 mins early to be safe...yeah, she was 30 mins late. Then her daughter took another 20 mins to warm up and not just stare at me. That is why I schedule an hour...you usually only get 20 good mins out of kids...either the beginning or the end. Oh well, we got a few and I am editing them all this week. I feel like my sales are down a little bit since I moved...not sure why. It isn't like I really saw my clients all the time when I was in Atlanta but I have only had one order from the 9 sessions that I did the weekend before I moved. That is odd when it is a month later :-( At least the one order was a good one.

In other news, I think that my mom, sister and I are going to be in a craft fair in May in the town my sister lives in :-) It is super laid back but hopefully they will like some of our crafts.

I am famous...

Ok, maybe not famous but click here read down to this part -
"An assortment of signs from Atlanta, including a memorable one reading “Size Does Matter: Give Me Smaller Government.” (At least I assume that last word is “government”; it’s sort of hard to read.)" The "assortment of signs from Atlanta" is mine :-)! I made it to someone else's blog...how fun!

By the way, that is what the sign said and I kept trying to get it without that girl's head in the way but I couldn't and I was getting cold.

Just thought I would share....I got curious as to why my photo had over 2500 hits and now I know why.

I want to quit the gym....

remember that episode of Friends when Chandler wanted to quit the gym? I felt that same frustration today except I was trying to join the gym. My original plan when I moved was to join the gym that Craig has at work and just go with him but I have been there three weeks and he hasn't gone to the gym yet. Hmmm. So, then I started being real with myself and although I have a gym in my complex and sidewalks to run on, the thing that gives me the most pleasure is going to aerobics classes. I like having them be 'on my schedule'. It is more fun for me because I am there for an hour without feeling like time is standing still. There are always people to inwardly laugh at or I am the person who is being laughed at as I concentrate to do the right move. I also think that it will be a good way to meet people if I start to notice regulars. I just like it better than trusting myself to go on my own. I know myself and I know I will make a million excuses (none of which will actually be good, and really they will all just mean I am being lazy). So, since all the classes at Craig's gym are either at 6am, 12pm or 5pm, I am not going to make any of them...plus they seem stupid. So, I set out to find a new gym that I could go to. I found one called Fitworks and then they have LA Fitness there. Both of them have locations a couple miles from work and in Beavercreek between Craig and I (which I drive both of those routes practically daily). Perfect. So, let's see what the classes look like. They both have spin (my fav) and they have other good classes and at lots of times...include 5:30, 6:30 and even 7:30 which is perfect for me. Score. Now, let's call them and see what the rates are so I can make an informed decision.

First I go to the Fitworks website to get the phone number and then have a special running. It is $1 to enroll and $19 a month...that is only $5 more than Craig's gym, but surely there is a catch, right? So I call. yep, catch. It is $1 to enroll but then a $39 processing fee and you can only go to the gym 3 days a week....Wed, Fri, and Sun. Probably the days I would go least. BUT, the go any day you want package is only $27. Still not bad. (This was all done on Wednesday before I thought of the fact that it would be cool to have a gym I could go to near work and near home so today I called back).

So, LA Fitness. I call them because I used to be a member a while back before I had a gym at work and I liked the classes so why not try again. When I get this chick on the phone it goes something like this:
me: Hi, I wanted to find out about your membership options. I am specifically looking to find out about a membership where I can go to any club.
her: We aren't allowed to give prices out over the phone but if you want to come in...
me (cutting her off): Are you serious? You can't give prices over the phone? Don't you think that is a little sketchy (yes, I used that word). I mean I just want to find out how much it will cost and you are the only gym that won't tell me over the phone (true, most have it on their website or you can call).
her: would you like to pay an enrollment fee?
me: no, and how come you can't give me prices but you will ask what I want to pay? That seems a little backwards to me, do you think?
her: We can give you a range but we can't tell you the amount.
me: ok, what is the range?
her: $24.99-$39.99 a month
me: ok and what are the differences between the $25 and the $40?
her: You get different benefits
(Yeah, no shit...)
She invites me in again and I finally get out of her that the enrollment fee STARTS at $149. I know this is not really true because I remember the first time I joined and all the "I don't think this is for me" stuff I had to go through before finally they somehow could waive the fee. I ended up telling her that it was weird that she couldn't give me prices and although it wasn't her fault, I was probably going to go with a gym that could.

This time I called the Fitworks near work to ask questions. I asked about the mulit-gym package and he kept saying he "didn't want to confuse me". Seriously? I have two degrees and am an accountant, yet different packages at the gym will confuse me? Yeah, not likely. I tell him the prices that I got the other day from the Fitworks in Beavercreek and he tells me that his club is the "mothership" club. He said it was executive or something like that and was an extra $3 a month...whatever. I finally got out of him that in addition to my $1 enrollment and my $39 processing, there was another $39 one time multi gym fee. Ok, sure. But when I started asking what the difference between the $22 a month and $39 a month package was, he really wouldn't answer...just kept telling me he didn't want to confuse me and I should come in for the 3 week trial. Yep, gonna do that when I get back in town...just TELL ME HOW MUCH IT COSTS!!! The stupid thing is that I could tell him exactly what I wanted in a gym. I want to go 4-5 times a week (probably mostly during the week but the occasional weekend) and I want classes...other than that I could care less. I can run outside and that is about the only other thing I do at the gym (the classes include weights).

After this I called the Beavercreek one back from Wednesday and asked them the prices since the dude at the one near work said they were a mothership club and it cost more I wanted to see how much it would cost to do the Beavercreek one and the work one. He told me $68 (at least he didn't pretend with the whole $1 enrollment) and that covered all the fees. It left me wondering if he accidentaly added $39 +$39 and got $68. Now who is confused?

UGH...such a pain. I don't understand why joining a gym has to be like visiting a used car lot. Seriously, just tell me the price and then let me decide. I don't need a huge sales pitch or a tour. just let me come in one day...see that people are on the equipment (so it obviously works) and let me see that the changing room is clean. That is all I want.

Anyway, I think that I am going to do the 3 week trial membership that Fitworks has when I get back in town and then go from there. I just think that it is stupid that I have to negotiate with the meathead at the gym....

Atlanta Tea Party

I didn't know about the Atlanta Tea Party until I saw a friend on FB post something and then I checked it out. While leaving work I noticed a ton of people getting on MARTA with signs and wearing red so I thought that this would be a good time to go and try some photojournalism. I sort of regret not taking pictures of the gas lines when we had those in GA so I didn't want to miss this too. I debated...I forgot my jeans in OH and I didn't want to wear work shoes cause they hurt my feet but finally I just put on some pants, a jacket and my running shoes and headed on my way. MARTA was PACKED!!! I was sort of afraid that people would be mean or that they would know that I voted for Obama or something...obviously that was so silly, but it was going through my head. When I got there I found that people were pretty nice. I heard a lot that I didn't necessarily agree with but they were at least nice in talking about it and they were all happy to let me take their picture with their signs :-) I saw a lot of other amatur photographers like me there so I guess no one minded. For anyone who has no idea what I am talking about. Here is the website.

Here is my first attempt at photo journalism. I made it into a collage and then featured a couple at the bottom. If you click on the picture you can see it a lot bigger and read all of the signs. I didn't get a few of them...like the "vets are not terrorists". I had no idea that anyone thought that any vets were terrorists. Some of the others were funny...mainly cause they were straight off of the above website which means that the people had no creativity and some were funny because they were creative. Even though I don't agree with some of what was said (and honestly didn't listen to it because I was trying to get pictures of as many signs as I could before I froze), I do think that it is great to be in a country where people are allowed to express their opinions!
I thought that these guys should win for best costume...it kind of made me wonder if they just had these laying around or if they got them especially for the occassion.

This guy was a close second though.....I saw him as I was leaving and asked if I could take his picture and he paused for me...except that I was typing an email on my bb when I saw him and I had to switch it all in my hand and turn on my camera and it took me a second.....I think that he regretted saying I could take his picture :-)I did also see a guy with tea bags hanging from his hat and it made me wonder if he knew the slang meaning of tea bags (yes, I am a 12 year old boy...blame Family Guy and Craig's obsession with it).

This delayed my Ohio trip pictures cause it took me a while to make the collage so hopefully I will have those tomorrow!

Oops

Hmmm, things I didn't think of....no pillows, oh yeah, and I cancelled my internet here in Atlanta so no internet either :-( At least I have my bb. More tomorrow when I have a computer with internet! Actually, I just found some wireless from someone who didn't put a password on it...I know it is not right but they should put a password on it...right? :-)

Updates...

I haven't posted in a few days, which for me is unusual, but I was trying to wait until I had pictures. Since I might not have them for a few more days I figured I would post.

Birthday was good. I got cards at my new address, which is always fun. The only thing I got before this was bills so that made me smile. Craig and I played it pretty low key. We went to Best Buy to get me a new phone cause my old one sucked, went and had Mexican, and then he went to walk his friend's dog. Please don't be jealous :-) It was a good birthday, just sort of anti-climatic for me...you guys know I like to have a party and since I don't know anyone there, that wasn't happening. Oh well...it was a nasty rainy day anyway, plus, I have many more birthdays to come.

Craig got me a sewing machine for my birthday. I had been researching them and really wanted to get one. I know how to sew a bit. I borrowed Drena's a few years back to make my sorority t-shirt quilt and I made a dress using my mom's when I was younger. Of course it was when I was like 13 so it was in the nice 80s fashion and I ended up picking fabric that I thought was pretty without really paying attention to the fact that it was see through, so I never got to wear it. I never really properly learned and most of my stitches were sort of crooked. I sort of like that fact with my t-shirt quilt because it definitely looks handmade, but I am ready to move on! So, on Saturday before our little adventure, I drug poor Craig to Joann's and signed up for 3 classes. I signed up for sewing 101 where I hope they will teach me the right way to do all the basics. I want to learn all those things that moms and grandmas just know how to do...my mom can sew anything and I want to learn too. I know I won't learn all that in the first class, but I should get started. The second class, appropriately named sewing 102 is where I will be making an apron...ooooohhhhh, aaaahhhh :-) The third class is the most challenging and will be the baby quilt...so maybe whoever pops a kid out next will get the lovely fruit of my labors in this class :-) Last week Joann's had some patterns on sale for $.99 that are normally in the $12-14 range so I picked up a couple. I have decided that I can't wait until May 11th (the fact that I got it at 10pm on Friday and it is still in its box is killing me as it is), my first attempt will be a burp cloth. I have cut out the fabric in the pattern shape and next comes the terry cloth and then I sew it together. Sounds simple, huh? We will see. Unfortunately, I don't get into Ohio until 8pm on Sunday and then I have to leave again 7am on Monday so it will have to wait until the following weekend. I promise to post pictures.

My garden is nuts. It has taken over my apartment!! I took some pictures on Saturday and will post those soon too. I meant to take some yesterday but with work, taking Chloe in for her last shot, and Craig's birthday, I didn't have time. They are huge now and they also have to wait until the next weekend before they get attention.

I contacted my DG person here in the alumnae group to see what was up. She is sort of slow on email sometimes but they are basically having their last meeting next week until the fall, so I will have to wait until then. She did give me the email of a girl that she said "was more my age and was active" so I emailed her to see if she wanted to get some coffee sometime. I feel like I am setting myself up on a blind date....so weird, but we will see.

Finally, the photo trip. It was fun and we had a good time. Saturday wasn't my favorite, we got a late start and then Craig sort of had these grand ideas that it would only take us an hour to get here or there and it always took longer. We also didn't see that many sites so we were just in the car a lot and I think that I only took about 5 pictures :-( Sunday was really fun though, we visited an area called Hocking Hills and we hiked around a bit and saw caves and waterfalls and such. I liked that day much better because I got out and took pictures and we were moving and stuff. I will post those pictures later. After that we finished up with a visit to my aunt's house for Easter. Yesterday was Craig's birthday and now I am back in Atlanta (after getting up at 4:30am) and looking forward to dinner with Erin and Drena tonight :-)

Goodbye 20s, Hello 30s

Instead of being sad that I am no longer in my 20s, I have decided to embrace my thirties. Almost everyone that I talk to says that their 30s were there best years so I definitely should have something to look forward too, right? My 20s were good so if 30s is better....I am pretty excited!

Here are some of the things that I did/accomplished in my 20s.

--became legally allowed to drink alcohol
--Graduated from undergrad
--Got a master's degree
--passed the CPA exam
--bought a car brand new on my own (and still have it, what can I say, it is a Honda)
--doubled my salary (I read somewhere when I was still in college that if you graduated when you were 22ish then you should move around in jobs until you had doubled your salary by the time you were 30, not sure why it stuck with me.)
--purchased 4 real estate properties (and still have 3 of them)
--completed 3 marathons
--completed about 5 half marathons
--left the country 5 times (and visited 11 countries)
--started a successful business on my own and actually made a profit the second year in business.
--started a new department at a large company that gets exposure all the way to the top finance guy in the company.
--became an aunt
--moved to a new state (I know this one was close but it was 3 weeks before my birthday).
--attended both of my sister's weddings
--was in 5 weddings of dear friends and got to share their special day with them
--have had 8 friends who became moms (though it seems like more sometimes)
--completed 8 Peachtree Road Races (sad to miss it this year)

I am pretty happy with all of that :-) I am going to fill in more as I think of it. Bring on the 30s!!

Easter Treats

Here are some little treats that I made for Craig to take to work tomorrow...Ha, get it..they are nests with birdie eggs.

A lot of people have asked what I am doing for the big 3-0 so I thought I would just post it. No real big plans for the night of my birthday. I told Craig that I wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant to get some cheese dip :-) and then we will probably just chill and watch a movie or something. But, today I got an email from Craig with an idea of taking a little 24 hour photo trip around southern Ohio. So, I think that on Saturday we are going to run to Joann's so I can sign up for my class at 50% off and then we are going to go down to Cincinnati and work our way over to Athens, OH. I am not really sure what is along the way, but it seemed like a fun little adventure. When I was looking at the Dayton photography club website last night they were having a scavenger hunt coming up. It sounded like fun so I might do it. You meet in the morning with your team or you can just show up and join a team and then they have all these categories and you get points. I think that most of the members are older but that will be good for me to learn from. Anyway, I think that Craig got the idea from that. Then on Sunday we are going to be aunt and uncle's house for Easter dinner :-) That will probably be a little nuts but maybe I will take the camera with me :-)

Another thing that Craig said last night really got me to thinking. He asked me to bring him a coke or two from my place (I buy them for him) and then said that he was out because he hasn't adjusted yet. I asked him what he meant by that and he said that he hasn't really readjusted his patterns and routines since I moved. I thought about that a little bit and realized that he is right. It has been a little bit of an adjustment. Not at all in a bad way, just different. I started thinking about it and I realized that I haven't been keeping up with my to do list. I lived by that at home and now I have barely opened my calendar since I have been here. Today I decided to start that again and already I feel like I have more control over what I need to do. It just helps me to feel a little more organized. I do have to admit though that it made me smile today when Craig sent me the email about this weekend and his idea and it said "what are we doing this weekend" Ah, a "we", how nice after 3 years!!

Off to replant my green beans...they have grown about 2 inches since I took those pictures last night! It is dark here but I will take some more pictures tomorrow in the light :-)

Zane, if you are reading...I really am trying to get to the photos every day...I know they don't follow the themes though and I will post some soon on flickr.

A child's prized possession...

If you remember in my post back in January, Ariyana is really attached to a stuff bunny that my sister and Zach bought when they found out my sister was preggo. The bunny was attacked and then fixed but there was some concern on whether the bunny would make it for the long haul and my sister was kicking herself for not getting more (like the replacement lovies that you got). Here is the email I got from my sister this morning:

So we have been looking for another bun bun since they put the Easter stuff out in the stores and have not had any luck. I got online and looked at the company’s website to see if I could order one and had no luck and searched the whole internet for a bun bun. Well zach being the good daddy that he is, sent an email to the company about Ariyana’s attachment to him and how we didn’t think he would make it for all the years to come. The company responded and said that they only have them in the stores for 2 years so he was “retired”. The lady did however, have one there that she said she would send us. She sent us a regular bun bun and a bigger bun bun so now we have 2 new ones. Rabbits really do multiply J I just thought you guys would like to know that. It was so nice of the company to send us a new one, it was the last one they had.

Good to know that some companies still care :-)

My latest Projects

I have talked about my gardening..don't know if I have skills yet but I have grow some mean starter plants :-) Here is a little picture illustration of what I have been up to lately.
Here is my garden outside at Craig's house. It might not look like much but look at the ground around it. That is what it looked like and I had to get all the weeds out and then turn up the dirt...it measures about 15'x17' :-)



Here is my basil that is from a herb growing kit my mom gave me for Christmas. It said to pour the whole packet of seeds and I only poured on half and it still looks like too much!


My favorite little green bean plant....he just looks like he has a good attitude doesn't he?


This is one of two trays that I have of plants growing. They come with little tops (which you can see in the next photo to create a greenhouse effect. Unfortunately the green beans were getting to tall for the lid so they moved to a new home tonight.

Another green bean plant...they are the fastest to grow. You can see the little stringy things in the foreground...those are salad greens :-)



On to crafts, here are two that I have completed lately:This is a horrible picture of it but I just didn't have time to get a better one but here is a tutu I made. I thought it would be cute for a little UGA girl to play in :-) I have a couple of other colors that I am working on and some with elastic so that you don't have to have the bow.

This is a reusable grocery bag that I crocheted. I put some groceries in it because it looks better that way than it does flat. For some reason I always feel weird taking a Publix bag to Target or Kroger and vice versa. This way I can take it anywhere :-)

The plan is to add these to my Melissa's Knits etsy site and also to a blog with the same name in hopes that people will find them and be interested in buying them :-)

That is my last week in picture form :-)

Honeymoon is over....

I knew the first week or two when everyone was asking how it was here and I replied "good" that it would end. Truthfully when I moved here it was hard to find anything wrong with it here. I fell right into a routine and I travel so much for work that I am used to being in new and different places. It is just what I do. Things with Craig have been good, great, actually. I feel like we can finally have a normal relationship...BUT....I miss my girlfriends. I knew that this would be the hardest part of moving here. I know I will meet people here but how do you replace friends that you have had for 10 plus years? I know I can't replace them at all, but how do I even find subs? I feel like I am going to have to go through all that awkward first date stuff with girls...you know, all the silly small talk that I hate. Trying to figure out who I can trust and how do you even begin to learn what people are like when you meet them as adults and haven't been with them through all their "growing"? I guess I have very few friends that aren't from school and aren't people that I have been through at least something with.....

This was all brought on by the fact that KNOTB is going on tour again and they are coming here but no one to go with (not that I really need to go again but I at least would have normally emailed Morgan and Dudley). I have a couple of things planned like signing up for a sewing class, looking for places to volunteer, looked online at meetup.com to see if there was anything interesting, and thinking about joining the photography club. That is probably all old people though. I know I should probably find the DG chapter here but part of me just dreads it all because I know I can't replace the friends that I have, I know it will be awkward and I just want a girl to watch a chick flick with and to hang out with. My cousin's wife is sweet but she has two boys (10 year old with Downs Syndrome and an 8 year old full of energy) that she wants to spend time with and she is over an hour away.

I know it will only be made worse by the fact that just as I get sick of having no girlfriends is about the time that I go back to Atlanta (Yay, 8 days)...which is good cause I get to see you guys but bad because it will not help the situation here when I am so comfortable with you guys and not with anyone here.

So, for you ladies....a few I can think of, who moved to new cities...how did you find your girlfriends?

This did cheer me up a bit though...if you guys want to see him play again, and he gets drafted here, you know where I am :-)

PS: Another reason I am feeling down today....my zipper on my jeans broke the first time I went to the bathroom this morning...came off its track so all day I have tried to cover my zipper....another point for being in a trailer by myself. And, at least that made you guys laugh after this downer post. I promise a happier one later...I have been very crafty lately :-)

Dayton History Lesson

Today Craig decided that I was going to get a history lesson on Dayton. I say he decided because he really didn't tell me what was going on but all of a sudden we were in this little park where they have a path you walk on with all of these old buildings and replicas (though some where the original and we couldn't figure out how they got them there). So, for those of you that doubt that Ohio exists, here are a couple of history facts about good ol Dayton!

--The Dayton Peace Accord was signed here at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. This was the accord that ended the war in Bosnia.

--The cash register, atm, and the self checkout stations at grocery stores were all invented by NCR located here in Dayton..you should see the early ads..they are so funny with these HUGE automatic machines..it looks like the first personal computer that would take up a whole room...not quite that big though.

--The Wright Brothers of the Kitty Hawk fame were actually from here. The developed all their stuff here but just happened to actually take flight in NC. The two states fight over who gets the credit. NC was the "first in flight" but OH is the "birth of aviation". We saw one of their first planes today. There is also a sculpture in downton Dayton that is the first flight path (very short flight :-)) There childhood home was bought by Rockefeller or someone similar and moved from Dayton but the HUGE mansion that they had after they could fly is still here. Apparently people used to just pick up houses and move them...random.

--The little pop top on soda cans was invented here...weird huh, you don't think about who invents that stuf, but I saw the physics drawing today.

--The Fridgedaire self cooling fridge was invented here. It was funny looking. The ice cube part just had these little metal trays that the ice cubes would form in....who knew that was here? Also, the ice cube tray was here, I guess that went with the fridge.


Here is a list of some more inventions..some of them are funny...the yo-yo, "tiny time pill", no idea what that even is but it sounds sketchy to me. Read the list though because there are a lot of other things on there that are cool.

Tomorrow I will tell you about the guy who founded the company I work for....we saw his grave today. I know you guys can't wait!!

Chloe

ah, my little Chloe...I haven't updated on her in a while. She is still at Craig's house. I spend the night at his house every night and then go straight to work in the morning from his place. After work I always go home for a while but then back to Craig's so Chloe would be alone a lot if she was at my place. I am sure that I will not always spend the night at Craig's but right now it is all still very new to us that we can spend time together.

The last two days have been a little tough and cute with Chloe. The tough part is that she is a kitten and with that she doesn't understand that she can bat my hands around and play without actually clawing me. She keeps her claws out all the time when we are playing. This means that I get scratched a lot. It wouldn't be such a big deal if I wasn't allergic to her....the scratches really hurt! The other tough part is that she really doesn't like it when I crochet. She is getting used to it but she always likes to play with the yarn and the crochet hook while I am trying to make stuff. I made her a little toy to play with hoping that would distract her and it works somewhat. On to the cute part...she has decided that around 7am she wants to be pet so she will come up to me and rub her face in my hand (just like when I first got her) until I pet her. This is a huge deal because she usually doesn't sit still long enough for me to pet her when I want to. It is really sweet when she wants to be pet...too bad it is at 7am. Also, it is sometimes followed by some nibbling on my hand which doesn't feel great :-)

Not much planned for the weekend (thank goodness). Tomorrow I think that we are going to be that Home Depot/BB&B people...HA. It is supposed to be nice tomorrow so I am hoping to get another run in. Sunday is supposed to be yucky so I am hoping that I can do some crafting that day. I think that next weekend I am going to sign up for a sewing class. I want a sewing machine I think, but I figured that I should take a class first. I taught myself when I was younger but it was all self teaching...I want to have someone else show me the right way to do it. Next weekend Joann's is having an open house of some sort and if you sign up for the classes then, it is half off :-) I will let you know how it goes.

Decorations

I swear that all my posts will not be about my trailer from now on...I did have an idea though. I have been trying to figure out what to do with the walls in the trailer and really, my diploma just doesn't seem to fit on the wall of a trailer office, but what would be really cute is kids pictures SO, if you have any kiddos that are old enough to draw me pictures, let me know and I will send you my new address and I can hang them up in there :-)

Also, proud of myself for running 2.6 miles today (I run 5 mins, walk 1 min). Yesterday I tried to run and after 5 mins I nearly died...seriously! I was glad to get my grove back...the only thing is that I used the same playlist for every run so far other than yesterday....now I am a little superstitious about this playlist. The worst part is that today it ran out because it was my 2 mile playlist and I went past that....hmmm. Oh well, I am hoping to work up to comfortably run 6 miles (not every day)...we will see how it goes.

Trailer pics

I took these with my point and shoot and then realized when I got home that they were dark....I will see if I can get some better ones but for now, here is what I have...
Front view of the my trailer.
View out the window to my left (these are all the salvage cars :-))
View to my right....um, electric fence to keep people from stealing items out of the car....
My flowers from Craig's friend Adrienne on my "window" sill :-)
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Natural Light...

It looks like my natural light photography is going to really get into practice soon. I did it when I first started doing photography but after a while I didn't like the unknown anymore and just wanted to know that I could control all the light. Since I do so much of that now, my natural light photography has suffered a bit. I think that my hang up is that my studio stuff always has the light right on, but then the natural light is sometimes more or less shadowy than I would like so it upsets me. Plus, there are some people out there that are really awesome at it and I think that I compare myself to them a lot. Oh well, anyway, back to my story.....I had lunch last week with the Controller here and we were talking and I told him about my photography business back home. Little did I know at the time, but he has a 2 year old and the last time they had pictures done it didn't go so well....oops. He has brought it up a couple more times so yesterday I sent him my website (which is really outdated and something I was planning on updating before doing anything in OH) and also gave him a couple album codes for natural light shoots that I have done (since the weather is so nice (or was), I have done a few lately). His wife liked what she saw and wanted to know if she could pass my name around a group that she is a member of....so we will see. I am not complaining, but I do hope I get a few more weeks of just hanging out before I start with the biz again.

Other than that, nothing new today...I planned the layout of my garden last night and then today when I got to work some of the pea seeds at come up out of their little starter pellets some so I think that I should have planted them deeper or only one to a hole or something. I also found out last night that Craig loves carrots and they don't take up much space (figuring out the spacing in a garden is surprisingly hard) so I am going to start another pellet greenhouse with carrots, zucchini, another lettuce and some sunflowers. I am going to try to take pictures periodically for posting here....ah, my exciting life!

Speaking of pictures....I took some of the trailer today and I will get them uploaded tonight.

Beautifying the Trailer

Last week Rebecca suggested that I bring a camera to take a picture of my humble abode here in my trailer and I keep forgetting my camera but I am going to try to remember it tomorrow.

Today there were two vast improvements in the trailer!
1-- Craig's friend sent some daffodils home with him yesterday from her yard. I saw a little mason jar (see I am not that far out of the south) full of flowers on his speaker in his living room and asked where he got them. He told me that they were for me from his friend because she has them in her yard. I emailed her today to thank her. They actually look really good in my "window" sill because they are a really pretty yellow and they are in full bloom and the sky is really blue today. I wish I had a camera because I am afraid they will not look as good tomorrow.
2-- My vegetable garden has begun and it is currently in my office. I went to Lowe's today and after doing some research online, I picked out my veggies. For my (new) region of the country there is still a chance of frost. It is really not cold during the day but it does get chilly at night and Monday I had a little frost on my car...it only took a couple seconds to thaw, but still not good for most plants, so they recommend you start them inside. They have these little greenhouse kits at Lowe's that have pellets in them. You add water and wala, you have a little pot of soil to plant your seeds in. Once they get bigger they will go outside but right now they are in here with me :-) I wonder if the cleaning guy will think that the Corporate lady is growing pot....hmmm, maybe I should put a sign on there. I decided to plant carrots, two kinds of lettuce, peas, snap peas, green beans, peppers, and artichokes. We will see how it goes. I just can't phathom how those little seeds will produce anything...only time will tell.....

Next up for the trailer will be the herb chia pet garden that my mom gave me for xmas...very excited about that one too. Yes, I am a dork.

I am hoping to get out of here at a decent time tonight...last night was one of those 7:15 nights but then a 40 min drive home...yuck!!