What a week!

This has been a total catch up week for me. My triathlon is on Sunday, so it's a light training week, I swam about a mile, after tomorrow I'll have run about 6, and I rode 17.

Monday I went for a bike ride on my lunch break because I was afraid it was going to storm before I got home. Of course it didn't, and I ended up getting back just a few minutes before I was supposed to lead a meeting. As I was changing out of my bike clothes I realized that I had a bunch of dead bugs on my face. I was a human windshield! I got all cleaned up and the meeting went well though. When I got home I played outside with the kids and picked some vegetables out of my garden. Monday night Chris and I painted, and he did my favorite painting yet. The theme was "Cup of Coffee" so he painted the Starbucks Strawberries and Cream he gets whenever we go there in the morning.

Tuesday my promotion at work was finally announced, and so my work day is now officially all about meetings. After work I finished the first pass at my novel that I started last November. It's modernizing the story of Ruth from the Bible, and for now I'm going to just leave it and move on. I'm no longer passionate about it, I just needed to get it out. I may eventually pick it back up and add a parallel story line (the fact that I already have the idea makes it seem like I'm probably going to do it at some point). I also worked an extra 3 hours after the kids got to bed and finally felt caught up enough to get a good night's sleep. I did a short bike ride on Tuesday morning so that my butt would have time to rest before the ride on Sunday.

Wednesday was an early morning with a fabulous client, then after work I made dinner and we took the kids to the newly cleaned pool. A single roll of thunder sent us home, but after the kids were in bed we did another painting.

This morning I did my last swim before the race, and tonight I did my final painting to get caught up. Lily colored while I painted, and now I'm all ready for the assignment tomorrow morning. I told Lily should could paint with me tomorrow, that should be interesting (and messy!)

I hope to cross one final thing off my to-do list tonight- finish The Night Counter: A Novel. I picked this book at the library because I liked the cover, and it has been just an amazing book. I highly recommend it.

First fruits...or vegetables

My garden is bearing fruit! I mean vegetables! (Bearing vegetables just doesn't have the same ring to it.)



Besides this zucchini and squash, I also have tomatoes. I'm pretty proud of myself and my tiny little growing machine.

Catching Up

I got a bit behind in my creativity marathon training over the last few weeks. Actually, I did really good for the first two paintings, and then fell behind. But I got caught up this week. In the last 7 days, I have done four paintings:


It amazes me how little time it takes, how relaxing it is, and how fun it is. I highly recommend this exercise. I think I'm going to do it every summer.

Product Review: Ageless Pilates

As a Pilates Method Alliance Certified Pilates Instructor, I've literally spent hours learning about how amazing the Pilates system is as we grow older. I have worked with clients ranging in age from 9 to 70 and have seen improvements in bone density, injuries healed and prevented, and movement patterns corrected. Unfortunately, I've also seen what happens when Pilates is used without knowledge or care, either by someone trying to follow along a video that is too advanced for her or learn from a book that does not adequately explain the exercises.

Neither of these are concerns with Ageless Pilates. The book is structured in a serious of "lessons" and "workouts." Exercises are explained clearly and completely, with Anchor Points, Body Geometry and Comfort Options for each series. The introduction clearly and concisely covers what Pilates is, who it's good for and why, and where in the book to find information for issues such as Arthritis, Low Back Pain and Osteopenia.

The name "Ageless Pilates" immediately makes me think of the older crowd, who this book would be amazing for, but it is really good for anyone wanting to really learn the basics of Pilates, regardless of age (hence "ageless"). Personally, I will be giving a copy of this book to my mother, who so badly wants to learn Pilates but keeps injuring her back trying to keep up with videos. She lives too far away for me to teach her, I'm excited there is finally an option I feel confident in giving her.

Creatively Fit Marathon Mile 2

My bodiless head grew a body when I had left over paint. It reminds me very much of a collage I made in 10th grade with scraps of paper that we died in art class.

I'm really happy with how these are turning out so far. I've decided that I'm going to "design" each letter in my kids' names for their wall. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to paint or use my oil crayons.

One of the amazing perks my company offers is Flexible Fridays during the summer- basically, we have to check our email and voicemail twice a day, but all non-emergancies can wait until Monday. So I get to spend all day tomorrow with the kids! I'm excited, it's been a long week.

I have a brick workout in the morning, bike ride and a run. Hoping to get up and get it done before the kids are fully up and going, but I haven't been sleeping all that well, so we'll see what time I fall asleep. We get Mile 3 sometime tomorrow to paint, I got finger paints for the kids and really hoping that we can all paint together. If you know of any good edible finger paint recipes please let me know!

Product Review: DVD Read and Share Bible: Life and Miracles

2 Stars

The pro: it kept my 2 year old's attention for most of the video; nothing offensive/contentious, all denominations should be fine with it.

The cons: I was checking my watch less than 10 minutes in. It wasn't cohesive- it jumped around a lot. I get that they wanted to fit a lot of information (Jesus' entire life) into a short amount of time, but perhaps that was just too tall an order. There may be a reason why most cartoons break up His life into segments and you have to watch several to get the whole story. Probably won't be watching it again in my house.

Product Review: Jennifer Gianni's Fusion Pilates Four DVD Pregnancy Series

Check out my review of Jennifer Gianni's Pregnancy Series on my examiner site- and go pick up a copy for anyone you know who is or is thinking about getting pregnant!

Organization Day!

I had two big organization projects today:

1) I hung all of my earrings on this window screen.








2) I went to Home Depot, bought some pegboard, and got all of my necklaces hung up.









Now my hallway looks like an accessory store...which may encourage me to "shop" at home more often!








BONUS: I finally updated my iPhone and found out that even my "old" 3G will support the App Folders! I got my phone all organized too!

Art Journaling

Have you heard of "Art Journaling?" I've heard of it on and off over the years and always dismissed it as glorified collaging. But this podcast has me intrigued...and wanting to rush to the craft store and buy some pretty paper, markers, and fun scissors. The photo is from one of Hope Wallace Karney's Ringed Journals. Who doesn't want to make something that incredible?

Do you do any art journaling? What do you draw/write? What are your favorite supplies?

Creatively Fit Marathon: Mile One

Remember when I signed up for the marathon? Well, the race has begun. Mile one is under my belt. It's more Picasso than Monet, but as someone who tends to paint unintentionally dark paintings, I'm pretty happy with the Sunset in the Enchanted Forest.

Chris is doing it with me (starting out anyway). He's sleeping right now so I can't ask permission to post his painting. It was much better quality time than sitting and watching endless episodes of Arrested Development though. We each had a glass of wine and an hour later we had paintings. Tomorrow, or sometime this week, we will paint a new picture over top. I'll keep you posted.