creative

Sew What – Project Four

Angela Pea3 Comments

Yes, project Four.  I so totally skipped project Three because a) I do not like pretty pillows, they make me crazy; b) I was up to my eyeballs in the last minute details of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers Annual Meeting and Conference that I was sort-of in charge of organizing; and c) reverse applique freaks me out.  So, I passed and went straight to Project Four.

If you’re wondering what this is all about, I’ve joined my bloggy friend Cynthia from The Sewing Dork, and her friend Michelle from Until Wednesday Calls for Sew What!, a summer sew-along.  Participants pick their fabric and tackle the challenge projects.   The fourth project is to make something to carry something else – a tote. 

I made a set of shopping bags!  Green and responsible, slapped together from stash fabric acquired from WallyWorld last summer when they closed the fabric department and put EVERYTHING on sale for FIFTY CENTS a yard.  I bought bolts of this stuff.  

Love them!  How fancy schmancy with the toile fabric, and they’re lined with a pink striped fabric.  I made a dozen  bags, enough to schlep several weeks worth of groceries from the store to home.  I was trying out my new bias foot for the sewing machine on the handle trim.  It didn’t work as amazingly as I hoped, so I need to unpick and resew the binding.  You can see where the edges are a little wonky if you zoom in.  On second thought, don’t zoom in.  Just admire my thriftiness and super stylish grocery bags.

That spiffy mesh produce bag?  Nope. Didn’t make that.  I also have a dozen of those, but they were a gift from my equally adamant-about-green-living Mom.   

Angela Pea

healthy

Learning to Run – DON'T Try to Keep Up With the Boys!

Angela Pea2 Comments

We have a personal trainer here in my office who shows up every day at lunchtime and tells us what to do in our quest for fitness and healthier lifestyles. We refer to him as Buff Chad. Because he is.

Most of the guys I work with are fitness animals. They run. They lift weights. They participate in Iron Man competitions. They ride bicycles cross country, literally – from ocean to ocean. One guy even went to New Zeland this past spring and biked around the entire island. Anyway, last Wednesday I was the only non-competetive type person who showed up for BC’s cardio class. Most of the time, I can keep up with the guys.  I can hold my own with crunches, pushups, and curls.  I can even halfway keep up when they are running, because I take it slow and steady when they sprint/walk. Wednesday, however, was a different story. BC sent us to the parking garage a few blocks over to run stairs. Eight flights, eight times. I managed to keep up with the guys for the first three cycles. On run four, I only made it to the fifth floor. On run six, to the third floor. That’s when I should have stopped. But oh no, I just HAD to be tough, to not seem wimpy in front of the gang. Run seven and eight – made up to the fourth floor. The walk back to the office was dicey. My legs were so wobbly!

Thursday evening, I was feeling just a tiny bit sore, and thought maybe a walk would help warm up those muscles and help me feel better, so I went to the Y with my daughters for another go at those fabulous treadmills.  I walked a nice, easy two miles, not fast, just a comfortable pace.  When we got home, I needed help to get out of the car.  By Friday morning I couldn’t even stand. I was in so much pain that I stopped at my Dr. on the way into work. Guess what?  I tore the tendons that hold the calf muscle to the back of the knee, and seriously strained the quadricep – in both legs – running those stairs. It is going to be several weeks before I can walk comfortably again, much less run.
So, my Learning to Run Program needs to go on hold for a few weeks while I recover. Until then, I’m consigned to pilates, arm and mat exercises. Which, if I look for the positive aspect, are all things that can be done indoors where it’s air-conditioned, instead of outdoors where the heat index (today) is 115 degrees.
Next time, I won’t even try to keep up.
skinnyap
healthy

Learning to Run – Week Seven, First Run – Doing It in the Rain!

Angela Pea1 Comment
It’s become way to hot here to run at lunch time, so I rolled my rear end out of bed at o’dark thirty this morning to hit the pavement.  My husband mumbled something about ‘rain’ and ‘be careful of lightening’ as I tiptoed out of the bedroom.
So.  I open the front door, note that the walk is dry and head out.  It’s still too dark to actually see the sky.  I get about a mile and a half from home when the light show starts, cracks of blue sizzle across the sky.  I’m not too concerned, because here on the edge of the Texas Flatlands, you can literally see lightening from storms that are miles and miles away. I turn back towards home realize that I can see the sky now, and it’s an ugly shade of green.  Perhaps that lightening isn’t actually out by Mineral Wells. 
By the time I go another quarter mile, it’s starting to sprinkle. Then rain.  Then absolutely pour. I arrived home looking like a drowned rat.
At least it wasn’t hot.

skinnyap