Restful

Today, I rode a fast 14 miles in less than an hour (not bad, no speedo on the bike so I was just going however my body wanted to go.)

I relaxed on the deck with magazines, enjoying the sunshine. I played with Peanut and her super soaker toy, pushed her on the swing. It was a good day. I also accomplished a bit of sewing, and knitting too. But mainly, I can’t really account for that much doing of the day, and that, I believe, is the hallmark of this vacation.

One thing I’ve given some thoughts to over the years is what we, as a family, will be like, in five, ten, twenty years. What will this house, that we had built for us, what will this house be like?

We’ve hardly had a moment to settle in. I’ve not done yoga, or sewed or knitted in this house. I’ve felt temporary in this house. But when I get back on Tuesday, I want to make this house my forever house. I want to imagine my husband and I growing older in this house. Will this house see more children? I don’t know. I don’t have that answer, but I will try.

What I do know is that my health is primary. And I’ve been taking care of myself poorly. Allowing stress and circumstance to have it’s way with me over the years. That has to change. It’s better for all of us if I”m not stressed. It’s better for all of us if I’m a calm, centered mother, a calm, non nagging wife. I’ll be prettier. It’s time to take this very seriously and begin to say no to things that don’t directly meet my value goals.

I’m finally feeling healthy

And I actually feel on the mend. My skin is clearing up – Aloe vera gel again! My hair is shiny (though that’s probably the soft water) and the yoga has left me feeling taller.

I have been getting enough rest, and I think all of this yoga, vitamins, extra juice plus is helping. I have another week to recuperate and revitalize. It’s taken a week to feel this good. And four days of yoga. Starting today, bicycling. I brought Cytomax and recovery drink and am going to try interval training.

The year of no excuses that I started this winter still continues, though I’ve had to start and restart and restart again. But that’s OK, that’s the way it should work. That I don’t give up despite setbacks.

Sewing a houseful of window treatments

I said after the first house (11 windows and two doors) I’d not sew them myself again, but with the economy and our current state of finances (unemployed hubby, lots of new debt with new house) I’ll have to. I came up with a fantastic living room idea:

White cotton duck 12 oz. from Dharma Trading for $3.77 a yard. Grommets, Black sailing line at .13 a foot, a couple tries making a monkey-fist knot and voila great doorwall curtains. Then, for the large, tall side windows, white cotton duck roman shades edged in black bias trim (which I’ll make myself from black fabric).

Front room eludes me a bit. I need something to cover the french doors – but don’t want the standard sheers-on-a-rod look. I’d like something modern, with a bit of color (that room has some color in it). And then the shades in that room need to coordinate.

What about layered shades? Sew three colors of fabric – a darker one, a medium tone and a sheer/light tone into shades for both the window and the doors? Maybe a camel, a warm yellow and a white? I’ll have to think about this. What about dyeing some fabric in an ombre the same? Again, have to think about this.

I’m OK with the small windows – the front bathroom is getting ticking stripe sheerish shade that I’ll set up with a tension bar somewhere about halfway up the window, leaving a transom-style open window at the top. I can do the same in the laundry room and in our upstairs master bath. The front bath, I’ll probably do a roman shade out of green & white striped fabric from the former shower curtain. It will go nicely with the French provincial shower curtain (sewn from fabric bought in Provence).

I’d really like to repurpose and use fabric from my stash as much as possible in the house – not only does it make good clean-out and use what we have sense, it’s a sense of bringing what we had from our old house, to the new.

Two views of vacation

Mojitos on the beach

Yoga on the beach

I think those photos are not too much of a contradiction, do you?

I’m almost caught up on all the work – and walk – stuff. And then I can focus on sewing for the rest of the weekend.

And yoga, and bicycling (well, not for the weekend, but next week)

Check, check, check

Worked, check. cut out wide leg ITY pants, check. Cut ruffle cardi, check. Off to yoga, check. It’s been a good day! Played with Peanut at the shoreline, check. Went and got ice cream, check. Had peanut’s favorite nursie bath, check. Wore my strapless maxi sundress, on a warm summer day, check (though it may well be the last warm summer day we see!)

It’s been a perfect day! Well almost perfect. Hubby is 180 miles from me. Then it would be perfect, if he were here.

Off to yoga now. I need the relaxation, feel slightly restless. My new cycle started yesterday, surprisingly. It was a week shorter than it has been, but back to it’s old antics (24 days or therabouts). Oh well, my goal was to take as much time as I could not worrying, charting temping or otherwise fussing with my cycle, even if that means being surprised every now and again.

Today’s vacation agenda

Cut out the white ITY knit pants. Wide leg, banded waist, from Wide and Taper Leg pants from Christine Jonson (made 1.5″ wider on each sideseam at the hem.) Using the banded waist variation.
Then, some work on the Detroit Marathon Gear ecommerce store during toddler’s naptime and after bed. I may sew the pants; they go together in about a half hour.
I may also prep the Tango ruffle cardigan by drawing up the band extensions. I’m still not sure there exactly how that’s coming together or what sort of closure a ruffled cardigan should have. I keep thinking ties should be there. Maybe some wide silk ties? It’ll come to me.
It’s nice to be on vacation. Today, yoga, since it’s going to blow 15-25mph – too windy to sail and too windy to bike. But yoga on the beach should be a fine idea. I always feel decadent doing that, as if I’m on one of those workout videos where they go to some spectacular spot in Hawa’ii to shoot. And this feels almost as luxurious!

We’ve arrived…

We've arrived on vacation

This photo says it all, don’t you think? Watermelon on the deck, listening to the waves lap the shoreline. Soaking up the last two weeks of summer. Where’d the summer go? Oh yes, we built a house, watching it come together board by board, then moving into it finally. Now, the end of summer. Every year I say I’m going ot savor the moments, and every year it goes faster and faster.

I almost long for those sumemrs as a kid, where on June 15th, when school let out and summer stretched before us, seemingly endless. It was magical. And now, it goes by in a blink of an eye. My homeschooling friends are back homeschooling (and boy does it sound like fun! One was doing a spelling lesson at a cafe with her two homeschoolers!)

I just unloaded two big bags of sewing fun for the vacation. I brought all easy projects. It is, after all, still summer sewing.

packing list meets vacation goals

Yoga pants, leggings, wicking long sleeved top, sailing shorts, airy poncho, warm wrap sweater, tie wrap sweater, knit pants, nursing camis, yoga mats, iPod, charger, ballerina flats, wrap dress, sun dress, pedi set with polish, sun hats, sewing list based on my summer-to-fall capsule plus new knit top pattern in gold jaquard knit for concert. Baby training pants stuff, muslin, snaps, lycra knits, WBW folder to plan the walk. JTK CD so I can learn to create a joomla template.

Whew. No wonder I’m up after midnight after two full cups of chamomile tea. The night before my last day at work before vacation. It’s not usually this hard.

I just need to chill. I know this.

I stumbled across a catalog of swank yoga wear, thought of all my great patterns (christine jonson, Burda) of  yoga and yoga-esque wear, I realized that that’s the kind of sporty dance-inspired, yoga-inspired style that I love, too. Just looking at this type of clothing makes me just want to breathe deep and say aaahh.

What I want out of my work life is more marketing, more help, and less work. More time to focus on my business, not just in it, more time with my clients. I love my work, I really do, there’s just too much of it, and so much in need of a break. I wish I could leave my team in charge.

Oh well, let’s just see how this unfolds.

Vacation

I want to sew. bask in the sun (with spf 60 of course). paint my toenails. Paint peanut’s toenails. Go to the farmer’s market, at least twice. Eat a ripe tomato with nothing but sea salt on it. I want to reset my body, my spirit and my soul. I want to refresh my energy, my resolve, my purpose. I want to take a nap with my peanut just because I can.

Vacation, you can’t come too soon!

It’s their house now

They were so excited! L. was positively bubbly with excitement. It was a contrast to my feelings as I left. Wistful, even a bit sad. I wanted to hug the tree out front, the one we picked out (Pacific sun maple).

It’s good, this house, and that house. This change this time of shifting is good. I’m not adapting as well to it as I thought. I’m questioning everything in my life. I have a right to – hubby is still unemployed, we still don’t have a mortgage here, we’re living on borrowed time (pun intended). I’m buried under a ton of work, my desk is a disaster, I’m forgetting things that I know I need  to remember. Tonight, I think, is the night for that Lush bath bomb and a fashion magazine. Maybe some tea (though it’s warm out).

I need a reset button. My peanut did too. She was horrible tonight, screaming hysterically over every tiny thing. It was just a mess. Perhaps the 7 (SEVEN) cookies she had at day care at 4pm. I’ll have to mention that on Thursday. I nursed her to sleep. and now I think I’ll go nurse myself a bit.

The things that bother me now are big ones, and small ones. Big ones like hubby’s job. the unpacking we have yet to do. Small ones like my skin’s horrid state. Big ones like the state of our business. Small ones like my desk at work. Big ones like my projects. Small ones like my volunteer work. But big or small, they can only be dealt with one at a time. Step by step.

But tonight, time to step aside and relax.