I feel like I can finally announce that I'll be opening my Etsy shop, Ginger Goddess Designs, this Friday, October 25th!! I'm super excited (and nervous, and anxious) to start this new chapter for my crafting. I've wanted to do an Etsy shop now for years, but never felt like what I was making was marketable enough to sell. Sure, I have friends that ask me to make and do stuff all the time, but I've not been the best about time management so it would take me forever to get anything done and I would end up disappointed in myself. No more. I've got a couple of embroidered items to sell, a screen printed shirt or two, and some items that I'm making specifically for Orlando Psycho City Derby Girls as merchandise. I'm sticking with things that I like to make and I know someone like me would be interested in (younger, female, slightly nerdy and very crafty).
The idea of having an Etsy shop has been a dream of mine and I'm looking forward to showing everyone the things I've been working on. If you have any ideas or suggestions of things that you'd like to see in my shop, feel free to contact me! I read all of my comments and emails and will consider suggestions that are within my realm of ability.
I went to my first game Sunday after going on a LOA. I wanted to say what a hard-fought game our girls had against Dub City. Im so proud of my girls and the work they've put in. It always amazes me how much they've progressed in one short season. Heres to another awesome game vs Palm Coast on Oct 6th!
Final Score:Straight Jackettes: 96 Dub City: 309 Heres a mashup of the game that I think is fantastic! Congrats to all the MVPs too!!
I went to visit my grandma yesterday after running around for most of the morning. I'd just dropped Mike off at Luna practice (hes learning to skate so he can ref for us!) and was feeling a bit down because I wasn't able to stay and skate (the original plan was that I'd run home with the kids and work on some homework. I realize on my way to drop him off that I wouldn't have time to get home and do anything worthwhile before having to go back and get him). The kids were also driving me insane and my grandma had been asking me to come by because she had something for me.
Not sure why this picture turned but I couldn't figure out how to rotate it back. Blogger fail.
What she had waiting for me was this beautiful prayer quilt that she and my mom had made for me. I'm assuming it was a belated birthday present although she didn't say it was. She's made a bunch of these quilts with the ladies from the church, but this one was just for me, made all by herself with some help from my mom.
Little knots.
The meaning behind the prayer quilt is that its made with love, and covered with a bunch of little pieces of string. Each person takes a piece of string, says a prayer for the person receiving the quilt, and ties a knot. Effectively tying their prayers to the quilt and covering the person receiving it. While I am agnostic at best, it really means a lot to me that she and my mom sat and thought good things for me as they tied the knots. They also left three strings untied, one for each of the boys and one for Mike.
Owls! and one of the knots that were left untied.
I always treasure the things that my grandma makes for me. Shes always been my crafty inspiration (and also my go-to when I'm stuck on a project!) and I know how much time and effort she put into this (the woman is 82 years old for gods sake). I also love the fact that she found really cute owl fabric (I adore little retro owls) and that its obnoxiously bright colors.
On my birthday, I found myself waking up in a lovely little condo that we rented from AirBnB (if you haven't used their service before, I highly recommend it. We got to stay in said amazing condo for less than a Days Inn) in Austin, Tx. My wonderful man had planned a trip to the San Antonio Seaworld to do a penguin experience with two of our good friends. After Seaworld we drove to River Walk and saw the Alamo. Overall a pretty amazing experience and one that I'm hoping sets the tone for the next 10 years.
Yes, I look a little scary and I'm wearing a fanny pack.
Sleep deprivation will do that to you. Also, the penguins name is Jordan.
On the hour drive to San Antonio I found myself looking back at the last 10 years of my life and honestly, I'm amazed that I made it to 30 with some semblance of sanity.
During my 20s I had two kids, got married, got divorced, moved 10 times (no joke), changed jobs 3 times, got my AA degree and started working towards my bachelors, had surgery for staph and had my gallbladder removed (within 3 months of each other), my step-dad died from cancer, reconnected with my first love and bought a house... I could keep going. To say its been an eventful 10 years would be a serious understatement.
One of my favorite pictures. Edward was 4 and I was pregnant with Zach. Circa 2008.
While I hope my 30s are a bit more calm than my 20s were, I've already started making plans to do some awesome things. I want to start my own business and be able to work from home. I want to travel as much as possible (with and without the kids). I want to become an A level skater with derby. I want to lose 30 lbs.
I know lots of people talk about goals, very few achieve them. Thankfully I have an amazing support system that I know will help me through all the rough patches and help me celebrate my achievements (just like they've always done).
So, thank you 20s, its been real, but the 30s and I are ready to party!
Roller Derby is a fast-paced sport. Being able to maintain your spot in the pack, or catch back up quickly after being hit out or knocked down is incredibly important. Its just as important to be able to dodge those blocks, turn around quickly and head back in the right direction.
I personally am not very good at turning around. This affects not only my game play (I'm less likely to go for a hit that involves me turning around and skating backwards and its more difficult for me to recover when knocked out of bounds) but it limits what I can do during training. Since I'm taking the next two months off of derby (I'm starting up with school again and I have to pass my next to classes or lose my financial aid. boo.) I've decided to take advantage of my time and work on some of the basics. This will hopefully help when I start back up in November and have to re-take my minimum skills test (a WFTDA requirement and all around good idea).
I decided to do something stupid over the weekend.
Super awesome swag
I ran a 5K! It was an event I did with some of my derby girls. I'd signed up for it months ago with the idea that I'd do the Couch to 5k training and be all kinds of in shape for it.
I was feeling rad
Needless to say, that didnt happen. I think I ran on my treadmill twice. I was really worried I was going to get out there and die.
Clean and pretty before the race
Our group consisted of me, my hunny, my derby wife Steph, her sister Jen (who is also one of my teammates), Jens husband, one of our refs and one of our new Psychos.
We're hardcore
The wifey wasnt planning on participating but a last minute dropout left a space open for her. The race was sold out.
All in all, I did better than I had expected. I ran most of the race, walked part of it and only really ran out of breath once. It was great to have my hunny right there with me cheering me on.
The best part of the race. You can see how much color was in the air (and on the people)
While Im super proud of myself for finishing, It made me realize how out of shape I really am. I have got to start working on my endurance if Im going to improve in derby.
Me and the hunny. Aint we cute?
After we crossed the finish line, there were people handing out waters, granola bars and color packets. I, of course, grabbed Sunnyland teal and Steph grabbed Arkham green.
Being tainted with each others team colors
Wifey love.
She got more color on me than the race did.
The aftermath
After a bite to eat and a good long shower, I picked the kids up from their dad and took them to a birthday party. After dropping them back off with their dad, I went home and passed out.
Im going to attempt to write at least one paragraph a day. If nothing else, it will get me back in the habit of writing and hopefully give me a creative outlet (you know,like this whole blog thing started out being). I want to throw out there that what i write may not be incredibly interesting all of the time, but bear with me and I'll improve over time. Practice makes perfect right? So, for now, Im feeling in the christmas spirit today. Im pimped out with my red sweater (even though its 70 degrees here in the FL), jingle bell necklace, reindeer broach, santa cat earrings and red and green makeup. The tree is up and decorated, but we didnt do much with the outside of the house this year. Life got in the way and we ran out of time. Im planning on wrapping all the gifts tonight and working on some really cute mittens Im making for the boys and Logan. I'll update with my progress tomorrow!
ACK AND OMG! ITS HERE ITS HERE ITS HERE I'M SO EXCITED I'M GOING TO PUKE!
OK, maybe I wont puke, but I am TOTALLY excited!
We had our photo shoot with the ab fab Phantom Photographics a few weeks ago for our "official" league head shots.
I got mine yesterday.
I almost died.
Here it is:
I kind of look like a badass
Its so amazing, I want to show everyone, even strangers on the street. I think I may make it into a shirt and wear it every day although that may look a little narcissistic.
Also, just cause I love her so very, very much, here is my wifey's head shot (shes going to kill me for putting this up)
Cant say I blame you, it is pretty sweet. (also, a BIG Thank You! to Laura from Lauras Thoughts for featuring me).
What this tells me is, you like to see me make stuff. You also like to have me show you how to make stuff too. I can do that.
Some of the things on my to-do list are to finish my update of my roll top desk (ala Centsational Girl), refinish a dragon backed chair thats been sitting in my garage, and decorate for halloween.
I have been making as much stuff lately, but you have inspired me to not only make more stuff, but to post it on here more often.
That being said, keep checking back for more "stuff" posts. (also, if you REALLY like posts about stuff, you should go check out Karen at one of my favorite blogs, "The Art of Doing Stuff").
I was sitting at work today reading/looking at the poem that Neil Gaiman had created for Burton Olivers new backpiece ("Tattoos are only for the committed..." which I find incredibly poignant) and listening to Massive Attack on my spotify, and for some reason I got the urge to paint.
I found this urge incredibly interesting because not only did I not want to paint anything in particular, but I also dont paint. At all. Except maybe a little on T-shirts (more on that later).
So in an effort to pass on my weird moment of inspiration, here is the beautiful poem and artwork done by Neil and artist David Mack...
On Saturday, April the 14th I am doing a Skate-A-Thon to get some funding for our league. Its a 10 mile skate (ack!) on the West orange trail (Heres the route we'll be taking) and we're looking for sponsors to donate per mile (like a marathon. If you're interested in donating, please comment with your name and email address and I'll send you my paypal information. Anything will help!).
Because I really dont skate outside very often and thought it might be a good idea before I try to do 10 miles, I decided to hit up a local trail this afternoon for my lunchbreak. The trail is about 1.6 miles one way, so roughly 3 miles there and back.
While doing my little skate, I came to some realizations, so I thought I'd share them :D
It is totally possible to put a car key, a drivers license, an ipod touch and a cell phone in my bra without looking like a mutant.
If you are of the pale-skinned persuasion like me, its probably a good idea to put on sunblock
People seem intimidated by a chick on skates
Skating on concrete is very, very different than skating in a rink (duh right?). There are things like small hills and wind. Fun, but exhausting.
That even though Im not in practice, I need to work on my derby stance. Standing straight=Falling over for me.
That it is really nice to skate outside like I used to do as a kid, enjoying the sunshine and my music. It was a really fun experience.
This was the beautiful view on the trail
Updates tomorrow on if I managed to make it into the league!!
You may recall my post from a few weeks ago where I mentioned starting roller derby recruitment. Well last Wednesday was my final "skills test" and today I find out if I've made it into the league!
I'm feeling pretty confident about making it in and I got a lot of encouragement and tips from the Psychos (the girls already skating on teams).
I feel very lucky to have gotten in with such an awesome group of women. There isn't really any of the petty bitchiness that tends to happen when you get a group of very outspoken girls together, and everyone is very supportive and willing to help.
Our awesome group of recruits. Im the tiny one in the middle with the purple helmet.
(Yeah I know this probably sounds like I'm pandering but I'm really not. The girls are just that awesome).
Ill leave you with a video of us doing the cupid shuffle in the middle of Ale House after wednesdays test. And this is before we started drinking.
Its official, I am now the grandma of six adorable, tiny, furry little kittens!
Too. Cute.
We took mama cat in (appropriately named "booger") about 4 weeks ago because i couldnt bear the thought of leaving her outside in the cold-ish temperatures (its florida. it doesnt get "cold" here) or leaving something to happen to her kittens when she had them.
Booger in all of her preggo glory. Note the little white mark under her nose that looks like,well, a booger.
March the 1st she decided to deliver the first of her litter at my moms feet while she (my mom, not the cat) was trying to take out the garbage. After she moved mama and kitten into the pre-prepared bathroom she called me frantic and I had to talk her through what to do. My instructions were as follows:
"leave her alone"
Right after baby #1 made its appearance
Yes, you read that right. Cats know what need to be done and typically dont need help delivering (unless they are some kind of fancy breed, it happens more often then, or so i've read). She had 3 more kittens by the time I got home an hour later.
Kitteh Snuggles!
It took another hour and a half before #5 showed up and #6 made his appearance sometime during the night. We ended up with 5 boys and 1 lovely little girl.
This is Rex
This has been a really wonderful experience for the kids, especially Edward. He is in love with those kitties (to the point that he checked out "cat fancy" magazine at the library. I am not kidding).
This one we're calling Heffer because of his cow-like spots
He is learning about how the babies were born and how they are developing as they hit their milestones (they just opened their eyes and are now starting to try and walk around more).
The aptly names "curious George"
He is also going to have to deal with the loss of (most) of the kittens when they hit 8 weeks and we have to give them away. I know we arent going to be able to handle 8 cats in the house so they are going to my best friend who works at a kennel and who has promised to find good homes for the babies.
I will be uploading lots of cute kitty pics for the next couple of weeks, so be prepared. Also, if you're in the Orlando, FL area and are interested in one of these adorable balls of fur, email me.
No, there is not need to adjust your television screen.
I've done something a bit.... daring...
I've joined the Roller Derby!!
I know you're probably all thinking that this has come out of left field and that I've totally lost it. You're probably right.
I had heard about the local team (the Orlando Psycho City Derby Girls) a little while back from a friend of mine who emceed for them. I got so excited when I found out there was a local team and I knew that I HAD to try out.
I've always loved to skate and that was my main form of transportation before I was able to drive (although I rarely used quad skates. I wore the crap out of my rollerblades though. Hey, it was the 90s).
While I cant say that this has been a life long dream, it has been a desire of mine for about a year now. When Santa granted my Christmas wish of a brand new set of skates (and pads, helmet, mouthguard, and purple nuts for my wheels called "astro-nuts") my excitement knew no bounds.
Till I put the skates on for the first time and immediately busted my butt on the sidewalk.
Me + sidewalks= bad idea.
And this was with kneepads on
A few days after Christmas, I was playing on Facebook, as i do when i don't have much else going on (which isn't often lol) and I saw a little advert saying that the Psycho City league was having open requirements on Jan 2nd. My little heart went pitter-pat and my brain came to a screeching halt (screaming "WHAT ARE YOU NUTS? YOU CANT EVEN PUT THE THINGS ON WITHOUT FALLING!").
Thankfully my wonderful honey is always the voice of reason. He did a little research (i.e. he actually read the flyer) and it stated in big bold letters "No Skating Experience Necessary". I was thrilled (and nervous, and scared, and kind of felt like I was going to puke).
So I showed up for the first informational session, got all my info together, and showed up last Monday not really knowing what to expect.
We learned how to fall (the right way, not on our butts), and how to stop (which is incredibly important and does not include running into the wall). So far everyone has been super helpful and supportive (my boss has even suggested coming to a game as a "team building event" which i think is HILARIOUS!) I've ended up with some not so pretty bruises but frankly, I've had a BLAST! I cant wait to really start getting into the knitty gritty of playing and getting to know the awesome ladies better.
Here are a couple of videos on some of the skills we've learned. I'd like to keep updating throughtout recruitment and maybe encourage some girls out there in blog-o land to try out for their local teams!
A new year and a new chance to sparkle!
I have a really good feeling about 2012 (no, I do not believe that the world is going to end. Sorry Mayan Calendar). I am looking forward to getting my AA degree (2 more classes!!) and starting my Batchlors programs, spending more time crafting, spending more time with my boys, getting more exercise and getting healthier overall and improving my financial situation.
I know, these sound like the standard run of the mill resolutions, but I dont really look at them that way. To me, they are achievable goals, not resolutions that I'll forget about by January 15th.
I took the first of January and did a total craft-area overhaul. I got rid of a bunch of stuff that I didnt need/wont use, organized my fabric and craft stuff, found some projects that I'd forgotten about and generally cleaned up a bit. It was so nice to work on my newest project with everything in its place, enough room to move without tripping on everything and a fresh, new outlook.
I've also given up regular soda. This one is rough for me. I loves me some Coke Classic in the morning for my caffine boost. So far I've switched to Coke Zero (all the caffine, none of the calories! Babysteps people.) and havent had much of an issue.
I am really looking forward to keeping everyone updated with my failures and sucesses and hearing about your progress as well! Feel free to email or facebook message me! I love hearing from people!!!
The weekend was full of all kinds of crazy things, so I thought I'd share a couple of them:
1.A trip to the library. I checked out these four beauties and Edward checked out 5 books of his own, with his own card! (Btw, he checked out "Mothman","Bigfoot","UFOs","Ghost Ships", and "Ghosts". Can you tell what he likes?)
Why yes, that is the book written by the ex-wife of Eric Clapton and George Harrison. I love a little dirt.
2.Sparkly lights hung from trees.
This was taken outside of a subdivision that I pass by every day. I just thought it was so pretty.
3. The weirdest fortune I've ever gotten. I'm still not exactly sure what it means.
Huh?
4. Munchkins eating marshmallows!
YUM!
Zach shoved all of his in his mouth
5. Decided to dye my hair. Went with a lighter color, now I feel much more like a ginger.
Got my Hur Did.
We also took a trip to seaworld, but I'll post those pics separately.
