After an abrupt end to Tyler's triathlon season due to injury, I was determined to create something that would get him through a winter of rehab and keep is goals in sight.

After searching "triathlon" on Etsy (I didn't really expect to find anything), I came across this great pattern.  

Pattern created by "subitofarmstore", knitting done by me.

How wonderful it felt to spend the last week blowing off the shop and knitting such a special piece.  Complete with his name on the inside. The 40+ hours I spent on this hat requires it be chained to his noggin.

A rewarding feeling to place it on his head, a relief that it FIT!

I admit that I have been using my child.  I use him as a constant excuse for not cleaning the house.  It's much easier to just assume he makes all the messes and I just can't keep up.  When people come to visit, I'm sure they agree...I'm just too busy to clean.

The dust bunnies I continually kick behind the couch sparked a childhood flashback this morning.  Most of my earliest memories of growing up, involve my mom cleaning, and how sinfully GREAT it was to play on the "dining chair bus" in the living room.  Thinking of the bus lead to thoughts of cushion forts and eventually warm laundry from the dryer.

Although Axel lacks a sibling to ride on the bus with, this morning I hoped he could find other games to play while I did some much needed house work.

True to form, Axel dug right in.  While removing the cushions and dispersing the furniture, Axel was in heaven amidst the disarray, and played an 18 month version of don't touch the floor.

Is "cleanliness next to godliness" or is it next to video games by way of child entertainment?  One complete hour of constructive play made for a great start to our Thursday.


As a side note, with back to school approaching, Nana has helped me develop a super stylish pencil pouch.  They fit iPods, digital cameras and of course #2's.

I have a tiny face.  It's true, the actual diameter of my face is about the same as Axels.  When my body is at average weight, my face looks petite...if I gain so much as a pound, my face appears miniscule.

The reason I bring this up is because it's the reason behind my mothers constant ragging on the size of my sunglasses.  She is always saying how large my glasses are...but truthfully mother; I get them from the "average - just above child sized glasses - section".  I AM AWARE of what the trendy HUGE glasses would do to my face!

Anyhow, today we, the dog, Axel and I, were strolling to the post office after nearly an entire day of zero adult conversation and lots of thoughts in my head.  At the moment we reached the summit of the large hill on our walk, my sweaty nose got me thinking; "does the combination of my sweaty nose, tiny face and large sunglasses mean I could lick my sunglasses?"  

Seriously, if you feel the need to commit me after that last sentence, be my guest.  Cooked meals and a padded room sound glorious about now.

Anyhow, one can't just think thoughts like this without acting on them, so of course I tried to lick my glasses.  I did not succeed.

My friends, I did not stop there.  I slowly inched my glasses down the slope of my nose until at last I could lick them.  I would have enjoyed a sick sense of satisfaction if it weren't for the porch full of people to my right, whom I didn't notice until after the above crime was committed.

How crazy I must have looked to them.  In the time since my walk, I have contemplated taking a picture of myself in the licking position just so you all could enjoy the scene the rest of Mankato had today, but I thought I would "google" an image instead.

Let it be known, that of the billions of images on "images.google.com", there is NOT ONE of a person licking their sunglasses.  I stand alone.

What a week.  

On Wednesday, Axel and I strolled to the Mall of America to meet Grandma for some birthday shopping.  Upon settling down to lunch, we received a call that Tyler (previously posted in a super hot photo) had been in an incident involving a dock, some water, a fall and parts of your anatomy that should never be seen outside of the skin.

What we weren't informed of at the time, was that what would follow would equal 5 hours of nerve rebuilding surgery, 2 nights in the hospital and a sleep-over for Axel and I with no clothes or gear.

Waking up on Thursday morning after surgery #1 and heading into surgery #2, I knew it would be a long day at the hospital.  I frantically dug through my moms makeup drawer for any specimen of left-over or expired makeup.  She had taken her entire stash with her and I was left with decades-old face powder, dry mascara and some lip-gloss.

Chasing a toddler in an O.R. waiting room leaves much to be desired, but the biggest battle was the ridiculous lip-gloss that I had applied in order to look presentable in 2 day old clothes and a 3 day old hairdo. Every time I bent over to save Axel from impending doom, my hair would stick to my lips.  Aahhhhhhh.  That's what I get.

Tyler is still recovering and the movement in his right hand will take months to rebuild.  Sadly, his soccer and triathlon seasons are over. Please keep Ty in your thoughts, he is a very important part of our family.

My advice for today would be this: life has too many battles already, don't apply additional ones to your face; just say NO to lip-gloss. (Unless you're bald.)

This week is for birthdays.

Tomorrow is my moms big day, but we had a cake "preview" last weekend.

Just a couple pics for Axel's fans.  He is currently taking custom orders for finger paintings.

These could probably sell in a gallery for millions, but my little man gives them away for kisses!

Stumbling around this morning without my contacts in, I saw the most beautiful humming bird on my window.  It seemed like an odd place for a humming bird to hang, but I ran for the camera with hopes of capturing its image.

I'm always trying to find reasons to like Mankato, the town where we simply sleep since our life is in the metro.  I figured this humming bird was a sign of good luck and that I should ease up about the tortures of living in a town where you don't feel at home.

I found my camera and snuck out the front door.  I didn't want to startle the bird.  Creeping through plants and wood chips, I closed in on it without it seeing me.  As I was about to raise the camera to my face, I realized that my beautiful metaphoric humming bird was indeed something nasty and from another continent I'm sure.

I took it's picture anyway and promptly went upstairs for my contacts. So starts another Monday.

Lately I've had the urge to sew beautiful collars.  Creating for mans best friend is a secret love of mine.  


There is an old man who uses the trail by my house and when I think of what it means to love I think if him with his dog.  Both man and beast are quite slow, but their steady walk everyday makes me think of all those out there with just a dog to love.


Today I captured Oscar in one of my new collars.  Luckily he is man enough to wear pink and didn't mind me snapping a few.  This pale pink print of rain is both calming and chic. 

I love how dogs thoroughly enjoy the breeze.  We could learn a lot from them on how to just close our eyes and take it in.

I occurred to me this morning as I strolled through Rasmussen woods, toting child and dog, that I spend lots of my day comparing, contrasting and competing.  As I tend to label myself as a non-competitive person, why am I always trying to measure up?

The history of keeping up with the Jones' goes back a ways I'm sure. Why is it that the Jones' always have always had the better lawn, salary, dog, car, child-rearing techniques, clothes, friends and life?  Not to mention they are more involved in the community, volunteer to help blind-deaf-wheelchair-bound people, they know everyone, have fabulous luck, go on great vacations and still hold hands in public.  The Jones' appear to have NO dirty "laundry" (literally and metaphorically).

It seems like I personally have spent my life trying to be the funny friend, the one who pays, the girl who volunteers for the dreaded "personal attendant" job in weddings, the family member who sees the sun through the clouds, the neighbor who's courteous and pleasant...it's like I'm always trying to prove something!

When in life do we get to BE the Jones'?  Is it necessary to be someone you're not to have ultimate happiness?  I'm starting to think the Jones' are full of crap and behind their closet doors, skeletons reside.

Luckily for Axel and I, we spend plenty of time in the woods and there is nothing to envy about OCD squirrels who bury and re-bury their nuts, I'm definitely not jealous of the animals hunted in the state of Minnesota.  I could find nothing worse than being a minnow in a dried up creek, or the bugs that get fogged because the are "misunderstood".  Perhaps in our own little world called Rasmussen woods, the residents idolize Axel and I?  That thought alone could inflate my ego.

Whether you live next door to the Jones', are related to them, or see them weekly in your sad sorority named "Mom's Club" I challenge you to give them something to envy for once...time with a book, walks with no time limit, wearing your pj's in public because you want to or maybe just being yourself!


Happy August.

So aside from the generalized fears of motherhood, fires, clowns and tripping down the stairs in public, I face a fear of being called a liar.

I don't think I'm alone here when I say that the weight on my license is a total dream.  I recently had to renew my license and I realized...my weight was marked at 115.  WHAT?  Did I weigh that in the 6th grade?  I didn't realize that I had such balls at previous license renewal sessions!

Did you know that it is a Class 2 Misdemeanor to falsely state ANYTHING on your drivers license?  Well, perhaps a night in the slammer wouldn't be so bad...considering I could probably sleep the whole night through without Axel.

This year however, I reluctantly added a few pounds to total 130.  I thought that was a generous addition, but still a complete LIE.

I have decided to make a honest woman out of myself and weigh what it says on my legal state identification.

My diet isn't the problem.  I have a tight grip on what goes in my mouth, and have never treated my body as a garbage can.  That just means that I need to up my mileage!  I have developed a few new workouts to help me do so.  You might find them helpful.

First, if planning on any weight loss, check out the BMI chart.  Although it isn't the "end all" for healthy weight, it is a suggestion of what range you should be in.

With a weight of 130, I would be smack dab in the "average" category instead of bordering on the "overweight" side.  Total weight loss needed is about 20 lbs.

Workout #1:

"Itsy, Bitsy Spider - run"

It is a known fact that your cardio-health will increase faster if you sing while you run.  This looks a little silly, but I assure you, it will both calm your toddler and help your lungs.  You need to SING OUT LOUD for this to work.
Although Axel spends hours in his stroller, I am always singing to him.  If I have my ipod on, I can rock to MJ, Billy Joel or Stevie...but if no music is provided, I resort to Axels short list of favs.
"Itsy, Bitsy Spider"
"Twinkle, Twinkle"
'Wheels on the Bus"
"Baby Bumble Bee"
...towards the end when I can't even remember my own name and the jogging stroller is the only thing keeping my face from the pavement, I resort to the ABC's.

Workout #2:

"Landmark running."
For the days when you just can't get off the couch.
First, trick yourself into putting on your running shoes.  Next, trick yourself into going outside to "check the mail".
...as long as you're out there, you might as well go for a "walk".

You now need to establish what counts as a "landmark".  Trail signs, intersections, benches, or be creative...dog poop, men with mustaches, moms with strollers.  Pick 2 or three landmarks that are appropriate for the route you are running.
Start out walking and as soon as you come to one of your pre-determined landmarks, start to run.  When you get to the next landmark, walk, next landmark, run...you get the idea.
It creates an interesting interval workout that is so much better than not running at all.  On the way back, reverse the order or try to skip a few walk breaks.

It's fun to be aware of your surroundings and is great for beginning runners.

I don't promise to keep you all posted on my quest for complete honesty, failure is also a fear I own.  If any of you are with me on this, let me know.  I would welcome company on the lonely road of forced exercise.

To inspire you all.  Here is a picture of my brother who has the ultimate male physique and finished another triathlon this weekend.

I don't plan to look like Tyler, just a sexier version of myself.

Congrats Ty!