About Me

I like Pineapple and Canadian bacon pizza. I also like Pepperoni and Black Olive. Plain Cheese is also good for me.

Purple and teal are my favorite colors.

I like daffodils, violets, hyacinth and roses most, but really all flowers are awesome.

I have loved Squirrels since I was four. I also think Hippos are amazing, love Dogs and adore Otters.

I still want a pony.

I love the rain.

I can get a sunburn in just 5 minutes of direct exposure.

I am afraid of growing old with no one to help me/take care of me when I get there.

Sometimes, I don’t think many people would notice if I were to disappear.

I abhor conflict.  I will avoid it whenever possible, often to my own detriment. I let people get away with things, because confronting them with the issue is more uncomfortable than letting it go.

I have, for as long as I can remember, wanted to be a mommy. I was excited to grow up and get to be pregnant and bring a baby home from the hospital. The only regret I have in my life is not being a mom.

I wanted to be an actress. Not necessarily famous, but a working actress. I have a degree in theatre, but I haven’t been to an audition in 10 years. I think my dream died with my dad.

My dream now? I would like to make a living writing. However, I have no illusions about quitting my day job and spending my days writing the next Great American Novel. Bills have to get paid. I am not sure if that speaks to my work ethic, or being pragmatic.

I believe in freedom of speech. For ALL people on ALL sides of every fence. I believe in the right to peaceful protest. When your protest is no longer peaceful, you forfeit that right.

I believe that if civilians would follow the instructions of the police, even if you are innocent of any wrong doing, there would be far fewer shootings involving officers. If a police officer (I don’t care if he or she is Black, White, Hispanic or Purple) tells you to drop what is in your hand and get down on the ground, just freaking do it.  If you are innocent, the logical thing that will happen next is that the officer is going to thank you for complying with their order, probably apologize for the inconvenience, and let you go on about your way.

I think that political parties could actually learn a lot from each other if they could just drop the ego and actually listen to one another.

I believe in the right to bear arms. I also believe that ammunition should not be available for purchase on the internet, and that anyone seeking to purchase a weapon should have to pass a background check, and a gun safety class before ownership.

I feel that, overall, public education is still the best place for children to learn. I think that teachers are underpaid and overworked, and that testing is NOT an adequate measure of a child’s growth, learning, or aptitude.

I think everyone deserves to make a living wage. That said, if you raise the minimum wage, then I think all other workers should get an equal raise. So, if I make $20.00 an hour now, and they raise minimum wage by $5.00, I should then be making $25.00. It’s not likely to happen, but in my perfect world, that is how it would work.

I think that every woman has the right to choose what happens to her body. That said, I think if you are coming in for your 8^th abortion in less than 2 years, you are now using it for birth control, and should really think about your choices.

I think that every family that wants a child and passes the home study and the back ground check, should be able to adopt.  I don’t think charging thousands of dollars to do exactly what social services is begging people to do should be illegal. Parents are good people? They can provide for the child? Great, give them a kid, don’t make them go bankrupt just getting through the application process.

Sleeves Please

I had the honor of creating a set of sleeves for her Majesty Ansteys to use as favors for her tournaments during her reign. She asked for simple outlines of heraldic roses, as these are both a symbol of the Ladies of the Rose and part of her personal heraldry; one to be a bit fancier that the other.  I absolutely enjoyed this project!

I started of using the Pensic Traceable Art project archive to find a decent heraldic rose (http://www.aeheralds.net/submissions/traceable_art/IndivPDFs/Rose_heraldic.pdf) and then traced it onto tissue paper for transferring onto the linen.

After pining the tissue paper to the fabric, I used a simple basting stich to trace the pattern onto the cloth with a contrasting color sewing thread. Since the fabric is dark green, I used white, other times I have used bright orange. On light fabrics I use dark blue or black as the stitched will be picked out after the embroidery is done

Next, I tore away the tissue, leaving a thread outline for me to follow with my embroidery stitches.

For this project, I used a simple chain stitch for the outlines, and French knots for the pips in the center of each rose. Outlands colors are green and gold, so I chose to use a gold thread for the large roses, with green leaves and black pips. Her Majesties personal heraldry has white Tudor roses, so for the “fancy” sleeve I added two smaller white roses above the large gold rose.

Once the embroidery was complete, I closed up the sleeves using French seams and hemmed the openings. HRM Ansteys was quite pleased with my work, and I am honored to have had the opportunity to do this project for her. 

Next up on my list, a hood for His Majesty, Leif III.

Can't Hammer

Pain is my constant companion.  Sometimes, it fades into the background and I forget it’s there. Then just when I start to enjoy life and do the things I like to do, it trips me up and reminds me that it’s still here. Lurking beneath the surface, always waiting for a chance to bite.

I love to garden. I like to put my hands in the dirt and nurture plants to fruition. I like the feeling of accomplishment I get when I step back and see a clean, tidy, space bursting with potential. The riot of greens and yellows waiting to burst forth into a riot of colors and scents to dazzle the eyes and delight the nose allow me to forget my troubles, even if just for a little while.

This past weekend, my companion and my pastime were at odds with one another. I wanted to start getting the yard cleaned up and ready for planting next weekend. Specifically, I wanted to get my poor clematis plants situated so they were better able to reach the trellis. I wasn’t sure they would come back this year, so unfortunately I didn’t clean up the area properly last fall. To my delight, one of the two plants is growing like gangbusters.

I didn’t want to disturb the delicate root system, so I decided to move the trellis closer to the plants. The trellis has to be staked into the ground to keep it from falling over. Easy peasy right? Just remove the stakes, move the trellis, and then re-stake. Two of the three parts of this task went smoothly, then it was time to put the stakes back in. I couldn’t do it. 

I couldn't get myself bent into a position that didn't cause extreme pain in my lower back, and the hammer was too heavy. I tried a different hammer and it was also too heavy. My arm and hands were crying out in pain. What the h-e-double toothpicks? This is not something that has ever happened to me before. I grew up helping my dad with his projects, I could swing a hammer before I could tie my shoes. I was a techie in the theatre.  I have my own damn PINK hammer for pity’s sake!  What is happening to me?

I was mad, bewildered, and agonized all at once. What’s next? I won’t be able to turn a screwdriver? I cried, and I threw the hammer at the ground. Eventually I had to have DH help. This is not acceptable! I cannot allow pain to take away my safe place. Gardening is my sanctuary. Last year I was in too much pain from my back to do much, and I suffered for it. I need to garden this year. I need to feed my soul in a way that no other activity can.

And here we go, again!

I'm back!  I won't bother to ask if you missed me, as I don't have any followers to care if I post or not. This is mostly okay, as the majority of my writing is more for me that anyone else, but I would like to get feedback...
At any rate, I am resolved to get back to posting to my blog.  Right now, I have a lot of projects that I am going to be working on for the SCA, so I will mostly be posting about them and my never ending weight loss journey.




I am going to be making hoods for their Royal Highnesses Leif III and Ansteys. I was just getting about to start this project, when Her Highness asked for my help with an urgent project for her Coronation Weekend, to which I of course said "Yes!". So I put the hoods on hold and started embroidering sleeves for her Highness to give as favors to the winners of her tournaments on Sunday. Once I finish with the sleeves, I will get back to work on the hoods. Then start working on projects for me.


The list is long, but I have decided that if I break it down into little bits, I will eventually get through it all. To that end, my starting list is as follows:


1. Hood for Leif III
2. Hood for Ansteys
3. Finish embroidering violets
4. Purple Dress
5. Plaid Dress
6. Coats
7. Underpinnings
8. New black tunic for Rick

Angry World

My heart is full of hurt today. The pain and suffering that humans subject one another to has become increasingly overwhelming. We, as a species, have decided that the best way to combat violence and intolerance is with more of the same. How can we ever learn to accept our differences, if we cannot see our similarities?

I am not a politically minded individual. I prefer not to discuss politics, especially with my friends, as it often leads to heated exchanges, hurt feelings and damaged relationships. I will not unfriend someone, simply because their political view differ from my own.

I am a straight, white, middle class woman, raised in the suburbs by straight, white, middle class parents. We had more than some and less than others. My honest self has felt heartbreak for those with less, and jealousy for those with more. I will not unfriend someone simply because their economic situation differs from mine.

My spiritual views are my own. I was baptized in the Lutheran Church, and raised in the Methodist Church. My family consists of members of the Catholic, Protestant, Non-Denominational Christian, LDS, Jewish, Buddhist, and Pagan faiths. I will not unfriend someone whose faith differs from my own.

I am well educated. I have a Bachelor Degree from a State College. My father had Masters Degrees, my mother had a Bachelors, as does my sister. My family is lucky in that we could afford to take out loans to pay for higher education. Some folks have less education than I do, others more. I will not unfriend someone based upon their degree of education.

I will, however, unfriend someone based upon their propagation of hatred.

No one, regardless of their skin color, sexual preference, spiritual beliefs, political leanings, or education, deserves to have their life taken from them in a violent act. Violence is cowardice and animalistic. It says that the perpetrator is too afraid of their position to open a dialogue. It says that the baser instinct of aggression has won out over the rule of logic and thought, which separates the human race from other members of the animal kingdom.

We all matter to someone.  The black men who were shot by law enforcement officers were somebody’s child. The officers that were shot by snipers were also someone’s child. They are fathers, brothers, husbands, uncles and friends to people whose lives will never be the same again. The people in the night club in Orland each mattered to someone, as did the folks who lost their lives in Bagdad, Paris, Bangladesh and Turkey.

Don’t be that person who propagates hate, and says that someone else doesn’t matter. Because that, that is something that I will unfriend you for.

Fall Down, Go Boom

Tuesday, January 12. All my grand intentions have skidded to a halt. I have spent the better part of the last 3 weeks sick. Some days, I had more energy than others but I have essentially done nothing to get any closer to my goals. I am disappointed in myself, and have only myself to blame.

I could wallow in my self pity and ineptitude, or I could pull myself up by my bootstraps and pick up the pieces of what I started and make something of the year. After all, it's only been 2016 for 12 days, there are 354 more to go. That, is plenty of time.

I've also been giving some thought to why I am writing this blog. I want people to read what I write, and maybe find a little bit of laughter, hope, encouragement and creativity along the way. I love to write, and tell stories. I want to gain followers and have people comment on what I have written. I want to help people find a way to help themselves to learn to be a better version of them. But that doesn't happen overnight.  In face, it may never happen. I can still hope. I can still share my stories and ideas. I can still leave a legacy of a life well lived, even if I don't have children.

So today I start anew. I will keep plugging away at my goals, dreaming big dreams and sharing ideas. But I am also going to write for me a little more, and an audience a little less. I have no idea if anyone will ever read my words, years from now, in the hope that they might know me better; and I am no longer sure that it matters. As long as I get to know me better, and perhaps entertain a few folks along the way, then I did my job.

There is a Internet meme going around on Facebook, it's had several incarnations, but the gist of it is this:
"It takes real skill to choke on air, fall up stairs and  trip over completely nothing. I have that skill..."
If you know me in "real life", you will know how well this applies to me. One of the nicknames my father had for me growing up was "Grace", because I had none. Unless I am performing, am about as graceful as a giraffe on roller skates. Today's story is a perfect example of this.

This morning, at about 5:45, I was coming down the hill toward my house after walking the dog. The neighbors had done a piss-poor job of shovelling after this last snow, and the mail man had driven up the gutter once again, splashing the already slick sidewalk with slush from yesterdays melt off. This combination created a 30 to 40 foot span of sidewalk that was covered in ice. Mind you, it was pitch black, I am walking downhill (okay, being pulled downhill by the dog), and it's colder than a witches' you know what...

Suddenly, I find myself flailing. I'm going down, and there is no way I can stop myself. There is a car to my right and my elbow catches on it, yanking my arm up at the shoulder as the rest of me continues my decent in what felt like slow motion. And then it was over. There I was, on the cold, hard cement, right arm trapped upwards by the car that caught my elbow, my right leg sticking straight in front of me and my left leg, bent at the knee, and twisted behind me. I had no idea my body could even bend like that.

My first thought was "OUCH!". My second thought was more like a string of explicatives, than an actual thought. I realized then, that I was on the ground, in the dark, without my phone, sprawled on the frozen ground. I was going to have to get myself unfolded, up, and back to the house alone. The dog wasn't going to be much help, she was in a hurry to get inside out of the cold; although she did turn around and look at me when she felt the tug on her leash.

Gingerly I maneuvered my left leg back to the front of my body. I pulled up my pant let to check for bleeding, and when I found none I made my first attempt at getting back up. No luck, I was on ice after all, and I had no traction to push up from a seated position. I rolled over to my hands a knees, which my knee and shoulder protested to, and used the car to pull myself up to my feet. I took a tiny step, testing the knee to be sure I could support my weight, wiped the tears that were threatening to freeze to my cheeks (I didn't even know I was crying before that point), and slowly began to make my way home.

I'm not even sure that I made it five feet. Whoop! My feet were suddenly flying out from under me, and I was making a much more rapid decent to the sidewalk - this time there was no car to slow me down. I landed hard on my tailbone, before falling back and cracking my head on the cement. I laid there a minute or two, trying to decide if I should laugh or cry. The dog even came back to me and licked my face. I think she thought I was trying to play a new game and she didn't understand the rules. She whined, I cried, and together we surely looked pitiful. I felt like the guy in the movies that keeps slipping and falling on the greasy floor, only this time it wasn't funny.

Eventually, I got myself back on my feet and hobbled home. I could walk and there was no blood, so I went to work. As the day went on, the pain started. Now, all I want is some Advil, a hot shower and bath. If there is a lesson to be learned in all of this, its either "never walk the dog without your phone" or, "even if life keeps pushing you down, keep getting back up no matter how much it hurts". Either way, tomorrow we walk in the street, and I take my phone.

Hit the Ground Running

Happy New Year!

Alright, quick overview of where I am and what this month's goals are:

1. Reading - Read a book based on a fairy tale

• I need to do a little research.  Right now I have a book, "After Alice", but I'm not sure that Alice in Wonderland counts as a fairy tale.

2. Better Me - Drink more water.

• Reminders are all set on my phone. Every time the reminder goes off, drink 8 oz.

3. "The Great Tidy Up" - Area 1 - My Desk/Office Area

• This week's Goal? - Get rid of extraneous paper I don't need.

4. 21 Day Fitness Challenge

• My 2016 Fitness Goals:
• Loose 52 lbs by 12/31/2016
• Got to the gym at least 3 days a week for 45 minutes in January
• Be able to say this honestly by 11/27/2016

 #OolaFitnessChallenge

5. 365 Project

• January Challenge

•