All Night Runnin', do you care?

I had a hard run, runnin' from your window.

I was all night running, running, Lord I wonder if you care,
I had a run in, run around, and run down.
Run around the corner, corner, Lord run smack in to a tree.

Well, the holiday is over. The turkey was nibbled off the carcus, the various side dishes are now sitting in the bottom of my very full (and very thankful) belly! A happy day was had by all :) This holiday is one of my favorites, it is just a day to take a moment, give a little thanks...eat a lil' turkey, and enjoy your family! There is no commercial pressure to give gifts, to get greeting cards, give money...just be together with the ones you love. Plus Mike and I actually get a big dinner! A far cry from the veggie burgers and steamed broccoli we eat during the week. We were in HAWG heaven...

I was working in my "craft room" this weekend. I call it my craft room because it is actually a multi-purpose room in our house which serves as an office-storage facility-sewing room-metalsmithing table-jewelery studio-cat play room- and sometimes guest room. It is a room of many hats and it has many hats (and shoes, shirts, coats) but cool things are created there. Its the mind not the space, I guess. But like my mind, my space is cluttered...so I dont know if this theory works out. Man, I think I am having pumpkin pie withdrawls...not..making..sense....

Right now I am very bare bones. I work with silver wire (mostly 20, 22, and 26 gauge), copper wire of all gauges, various semi-precious stones, a butane torch (that came with a creme brulee kit..LOL to that) two pairs of pliers, two hammers, and a steel block. With that, I created this (now up in the shop-o-rino), check em' out. Oh, if you found the shop via this blog thing and make a purchase, please note that to the seller when you check out. I can give you a little sumptin' sumptin' as a thank you :)

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35393726

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=35391473

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34345649

Today is strength training, the gym was closed yesterday but not to worry...I got a GREAT run in. It was fast, it was hilly, and it was tiring. I like being worn out halfway through a training run. I also enjoyed seeing all the recreational runners out doing a pre-dinner calorie burn. Makes me smile to see people getting fit. KEEP IT UP!

Gotta run! Have a wonderful day and take care of each other out there

"Instead of thinking about what you're missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.”

                                  OK! Thursday! Yeeee-freakin-haw!

One day closer to Friday is the story of my life. I am very grateful I have a full time job, which pays the bills. Lots of people have been laid off and have not been able to find work, times are hard. A tiny yellow post-it hangs on the monitor of my computer and it reads, "BE HAPPY YOU HAVE A JOB". I constantly need reminders like this.

It's not that I dont like my job per say, I just dont think this is where my heart lives. My heart lives outside, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. My heart lives in silver and stone, my heart lives in pretty fabrics, a fresh white canvas, and clay. My heart lives in running old and rugged trails! My heart does not live as a goverment employee, stuck behind a desk, crunching numbers...OUCH.

The list of training runs for the MMT 100 was sent out yesterday! These made me happy:

MMT#1 - SAT 01/16/10 – ELIZABETH’S to ROOSEVELT – 30.5 MILES

MMT#2 - SAT 02/20/10 – CAROLINE’S to ELIZABETH’S – 32.6 MILES
MMT#3 - SAT 03/27/10 – ROOSEVELT to CAROLINE’S – 38.6 MILES
CHOCOLATE BUNNY - SAT 04/03/10 – GAP I to GAP II – 26.7 MILES

 
I need to really start ramping up my mileage! I have a 50k on 12/12, then Holiday Lake on 2/13...so I need to get in some 30+'s. It didnt help that I didnt get up to go run this morning. The bed won. No matter how fast you are, how fit you are, how awesome, how slow, how fat...its freaking hard to get up at 4:00 am. I run in the am b/c I have no time when i get home from work. Plus I love running in dark silence, it is truly wonderous and scary at times. The road by the civil war era graveyard calls me for an extra mile, but I dont listen. Its quite spooky down there.......
 
Here is a bracelet I made. Tried my hand at a cuff, trying to get the feel of it (since this is what I want to REALLY make...I love cuffs). Its in the shop, if you like it, let me know. If you hate it and think it looks like a 7th grader made it, let me know that too! I am very new to the soldering thing, I solderd the ends of 10 gague 1/2 round copper wire to make the frame then wrapped it up with some 26 gauge copper wire. First bracelet ever....interesting. I have been sketching ideas for cuffs, pendants, and belt buckles like CrAzY!!! GAH! I cannot wait to actually make these come alive some day....BAby StEps!
 
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33825083
 
 

Take care of eachother out there! XoxXoxXOXOXOX

train hard, eat light, avoid TV and people with negative attitudes.

WORK ScHmerK, office schmoffice...I would rather be running and working on my new idea for a pair of earrings. But I gots to pay the bills, so the tiny gray cubicle with the old office chair it is!

So I am feeling like myself again. A few weeks ago, I came down with the flu and 2 days later ran the Marine Corps Marathon, not thinking anything of it. Other than the fact, I felt like complete ass durning the race and even worse afterwards (this is unlike me, I usually recover pretty fast). Instead of recovering, I ended up sicker than I was before I ran the race! Low and behold...it was a case of the PIG VIRUS. SWINE FLU. Eff-you swine flu....

**DISCLAIMER ** Road races are awful and I try to avoid them at all costs, but my pops was a Marine and a Vietnam vet so this one is special. It is the only road marathon I will ever run.

The MCM was a training fun run for the Mountain Masochist Trail Run 50+ miler, which I was slated to run on 11/7. I did not run at all for the weeks leading up to the Masochist. My body was sore, my fever was high, and my energy level was low. Nothing was helping except resting my bones. I made a very hard decision on the Wed. before the race, I decided to not start. This was a very tough decision for me because I always toe the line and I always run the best I can, but I knew it was the right decision albeit a difficult-ass-kicking-hating-life-thinking-i-was-a-sissy decision...it was still the right thing to do. I feel great today.

So, I am back in training. Got a bunch of 50k's lined up and the next one is 12/12, the Gluteous Maximus 50k. It's a fat-ass style run put on by my running club, the VHTRC. Fat-ass means no entry fee, no t-shirts, no wimps, no whining. We just go out and run, your results are not posted on google, you may or may not have aid stations...just a day of fun with fellow ultrarunners.

Today: strength training (front squats, good mornings, walking lunges, and tons of core work) + 30 minutes of running. So glad to be back into it.

My new favorite earrings I have listed in the shop:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34365111



I am trying to teach myself Metalsmithing and copper is very forgiving if I make a mistake (I make alot :P) please excuse the roughness of my pieces. This was just me playing around with wire and i love how it came out!

w00t w00t

Have a great day!