Naomi's 6th grade "graduation." A term I use lightly because I think graduations before the 12th grade are ridiculous. But, it was a right of passage, nonetheless, and one that we've watched other kids go through, nearly exactly like this one, 7 other times. First, each graduate receives sculpey beads, crafted by each student and member of the staff. I got to make beads and give them away for the first time this year.



The presentation of "Oh the Places You'll Go" signed by all the teachers. A tear jerker.



Dane's reading of his own personal award for each child made up of silliness and inside jokes...a bigger tear jerker. Even stoic Dane is crying.



The presentation of their favorite piece of quality work. The fact that Naomi chose a piece of art is significant because she is a perfectionist. She hates her artwork. She still thinks this one is incredibly lacking, but was proud of it. It took a lot of courage for her to share it.



Receiving her "diploma." That's my mom handing it to her. My mom was her teacher this year, along with Dane, the tall guy in shorts and Packer's hat, his uniform.



Sophia bawled through the first half of the ceremony. Here she is being presented with her quality work portfolio. Jeannie, one of her two teachers, chose a beautiful poem to read. I should type it out later. It was really nice. This kid runs deep.



Here's Oliver in the light blue sitting with his "classmates." He started K a couple of months ago. He'll do K again next year, but he's been loving being a big kid.

Considering how busy April was, I completed (and started) a remarkable amount of knitting. I finished clogs for the kids in the colors of their choices.





I made a cute little halter top for a newborn baby friend, but forgot to take a picture. Here are the bottoms that go with it.



I am about a third of the way done with another Clapotis (from Knitty.com), this one for a friend who requested these colors. I wanted to knit her a hug because she needs one she can wrap around her any time she wants.



One of Naomi's friends stayed with us for 8 days. She left me the cutest note asking if I would make her a bag like Naomi and Sophia's. She chose the yarn from my stash. Here it is prefelting and then felted (or fulled, if one must use the proper term).





I've begun a pair of Clessidra socks from Knitty.com. I am trying to learn how to knit two socks simultaneously on two circular needles. It's really not that difficult except that the yarn is very hard to keep untangled. These are going to be gorgeous! I am a little concerned about how they will stay up, as they are knee socks and they don't seem to have any elasticity in the tops.



Goal Updates:

1. The marathon is over. Gone. Done. It went well. As well as I could hope. I didn't run for about a week and a half afterward because I'd injured my ankle. But, it's all better now and I'm trying to get back into the swing of training. I've decided to do a half-marathon in July so that I will keep running. I'm going to focus on improving my speed. My body is so used to running long and slow now, that I've lost a lot of speed. Which for me? Well, there isn't much to lose!

2. The Laramie Project is about to go into the final weekend. It has been a beautiful run. The show gets richer every night. The moderated discussion has been quite tame, but at least people are talking. The high school is talking about having us come and perform the show for them. We are discussing how we will make this work. I will post pictures from the show in another entry.

3. Reach my goal weight. Well, I'm not there yet. This one is going to be the most difficult of all of them because with it comes all kinds of issues. But, I'm working on it. Continuing with running some higher mileage days will help, I hope.

It has been a long time since a blog post! Life is crazy, as usual. I have some knitting updates and some goal updates tonight.

Knitting first. I've been enjoying making Fiber Trends' Felted Clogs. I've made a pair for myself, for Naomi, and Oliver's are in the washing machine right now. Sophia's are halfway done. I also made a little halter top for a friend's newborn baby girl. I don't have pictures of that yet. It looks a little strange. Here are photos of the clogs.

My finished clogs.



One of Naomi's clogs next to one of mine before hers were felted.



Hers were made with Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride and were so incredibly fuzzy when they came out of the washer. It must be the mohair in them.



We both love them. Mine were made with Mountain Color's Glacier Teal and are surprisingly soft. I like to wear them on my bare feet. Usually I find wool next to my skin a bit too scratchy, but these are heavenly.

Goal Updates:

Two huge things are happening in the next two weeks. I had set three goals back in November to accomplish in 2007. First, direct The Laramie Project. Second, run a marathon. Third, reach my goal weight. Well, this Sunday is my marathon. I will finish it, but I am absolutely certain that I will come in last. This doesn't bother me at all. I'm really happy with what I have accomplished. If I ever run another one, I will train somewhat differently and hopefully will have a stronger mileage base. But, before I think of the next one, I want to get through this one.

The Laramie Project has been going well. I've really enjoyed directing it. I wanted to have a workshop-like style and I am really pleased with the way that has gone. I had a lot of insecurities about this kind of leadership, but I've learned so much and am really proud of the cast and crew. It opens on April 27. So soon!!!

The third goal is really in conflict with running the marathon. I haven't gained any weight, which is a good thing. But I haven't lost any either. I'm in the best shape of my life, but still struggling with disappointment with my body. I've been learning new habits. The biggest one has been NOT cleaning my plate. I try to leave a little something at every meal. Oftentimes, I have been in the habit of eating what is in front of me, even if I don't enjoy it. Sometimes, compulsively. While running so many miles, I've been able to eat whatever I want. In having that power, I have found that I don't want everything anymore. I hope I keep my mileage up when the marathon is over so that I can continue to explore these healthier habits.

So, since the first two goals will be accomplished by the end of the month, I have been thinking of others. I need to have events on the calendar in order to keep up with my running, so I have scheduled a half-marathon for mid-July. I have also decided that I will not commit to any other leadership positions. No more fundraising committee chair for the school, no more directing, no more anything unless I can knit at the same time. I still enjoy meetings for the social aspects, but I don't need to take on any more responsibility. I haven't been able to go to a single softball practice for Sophia. I do plenty of things with my kids every day, but still, the thought of missing all of her practices just makes me ill! I really miss being there. Oh. I also took a part time job at my kids' school. I did it so that Oliver can attend and the tuition would not be an additional financial burdon on our family. He is loving it so much!!!!

A month from now, my life will be calmer and I plan to enjoy it thoroughly! Not that I regret all these other things I've been doing. I have probably grown more in the first 4 months of 2007 than in the last 4 years combined. The biggest thing I've learned is how much further I have to go and how much more I have to learn.

I tried to post this blog a few days ago, but myspace ate it. So, here we go again.

I finished the sweater I've been knitting for my friend. This is a sweater I am proud of and it replaces the sweater I knitted for him before that I am NOT proud of. I had to knit the first one a few times because it just wasn't going well. Then, after two years of that, I had no way to get more yarn to finish the last sleeve. There was no way I would take it apart again. So, I finished one sleeve in a complimentary color. That's right. ONE Sleeve. I knitted it for my friend in exchange for guitar lessons. He is a very kind man. He has worn that awful sweater all winter long! So, even though the snow is almost completely melted now, he has a new, beautiful sweater knitted from Brown Sheep's Prairie Silks in Krona Cafe. It is a silk/wool/mohair blend with a lovely sheen and flecks of undyed silk.



Here it is in pieces and then modeled by moi.







My current project is a pair of felted clogs. I'm making them from Glacier Teal by Mountain colors. This is a handpainted yarn that I had left over from when I had a yarn shop. The colors are nice, but not really me. I'm anxious to see how they turn out. My 12 year old is already asking for a pair in tourquoise. I wish she liked this colorway. I've already completed the knitting on the first clog, and started the second. In fact, I'm about this far along on the second one now.



I joined a yarn co-op this last month and ordered just a couple of colorways to see if I even like the yarn. I LOVE it! It's so amazingly soft! It would be a pity to felt it, but I haven't come up with any other ideas for small projects and I didn't order enough to make much of anything. Any ideas?





We are going out of town for a few days. While we are out, I plan to find a yarn store and hunt down the perfect yarn with which to make another Clapotis for my friend. She wants browns and blacks. I'm excited to make it.

Here is sweet dd2 singing her song.



All of these kids did such a fantastic job last night. I can't say enough good things about their school and the yearly musical. It's a fantastic experience for the smallest 3 year old all the way up to the graduating 6th graders.

On another, similar subject, we are still looking for a venue for The Laramie Project. This morning the producer and I will be marching into the City office. By 9 AM we could have a venue! This long and arduous and sleep-stealing process could be over!

Tonight was opening night for my kids' performance of Jack and the Giant. They will perform it for two nights in our town's tiny, little theatre. Then, on Saturday, they have the incredible opportunity to go to the big city to perform it in a real theatre complete with special effects, cool lighting, and 500 seat capacity. I took some video at yesterday's dress rehearsal, and proud mother that I am, I'm posting it here. Video takes an extremely long time to upload with my connection, so I'll post dd1 tonight and dd2 after it finishes uploading. It could be days considering I started this process yesterday afternoon.



It was cut short because I was actually supposed to be working the follow spot, not messing around video recording my kid.

Look for Jack and the Giant post number 2 tomorrow!

I figure that with 2 months of 2007 down, it is time for a goal update.

Goals:
1. Direct The Laramie Project
2. Run a Marathon
3. Reach Goal Weight

1. Well, we are currently in rehearsal. The royalties are paid and the acters are learning their lines. The only thing holding us back now is a performance space. We have several options, but none of them are ideal, so things are still up in the air. I hate that. I am so far out of my comfort zone that I am losing sleep. But, on the positive side, the cast and crew are a great team and we are actually going to do it! It's happening!

2. I'm in the 11th week of Hal Higdon's Novice 1 training schedule. Most of the long runs from here on out will become "the farthest I've ever run!" This Saturday I'll be running 16 miles. I never doubted that I could run a marathon until about a month ago when I had a 12 mile long run, which at the time, was my furthest distance ever. It was so painful and difficult that I started to think I'd made a mistake and would never be able to run an entire marathon. But, I kept going and the following week went 13 miles...the farthest I'd ever gone...and it was great! Not easy or without pain, but I felt empowered. 26.2 miles is a far cry from the 16 miles I'll be doing in two days, but once again I am believing that it is possible. The most complicated thing is figuring out calorie and fluid intake before, during and after each run. It's starting to come together as I get to practice on my long runs. I'm also struggling with the same old hip pain, which hasn't gotten much worse. That's incredible considering the increase in my mileage. I have a new foot pain that is pretty intense immediately after my runs. I have an appt. on Monday with a Physical Therapist to get some advice. But it can't stop me!

3. I want to just say that I'm failing at this. But, the truth is probably that this goal is in direct conflict with my second goal. At least I'm not gaining any weight. After my Marathon on April 22 I can focus more on this. I've been attending OA meetings and reading some great books, so at least I'm taking in information that will be of benefit.

So, 2007 is already shaping up into an incredible year! If I can acheive all my goals in the first 6 months, I'll have to come up with all new ones for the next 6 months! I can't complain.

Knitting projects:

1. Finished the Black Beanie for Ryan. I forgot to take pictures.
2. Finishing the last sleeve on the brown pullover for a different R. friend.
3. Waiting expectantly for some hand-dyed yarn from South America. I will decide what to do with it when it arrives and I can actually see the colors. I can't wait!

Since the recent arrest of Dotti and Roby for their non-violent protest at Focus on the Family, the following videos have come to my attention. Dotti and Roby were protesting Dr. Dobson's irresponsible use and distortion of the research of several scholars when he wrote an article that was published in Time Magazine. The following YouTube videos show how those scholars feel about this misrepresentation. Please enjoy the videos and share!!








Thank you, Lar Clausen of www.straightintogayamerica.com for posting these videos on your website.

Dotti and Roby need our help and support. They were arrested today for refusing to leave the  Focus on the Family headquarters until Dr. James Dobson made an effort to reconcile with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities by ceasing his misleading statements about research on lesbian and gay parents.



Click HERE to read the press release issued by Soulforce.

Dotti and Roby are two of the most courageous, compassionate, loving, authentic people I have ever met. You can learn more about them by visiting their webiste. Click HERE to read about their arrest.

If you want to donate money to help get Dotti and Roby out of jail let me know and I will direct you to their paypal account. These women live the way I want to live, doing "Whatever It Takes" to end the injustices suffered by the LGBT community.

The recipe for this bread can be found here. It took 30 hours just because my schedule required that I let it sit longer. Normally it only takes 18-24. But only about 10 minutes of that time is actual labor.

The batter is really wet and looks like it could never hold up as a loaf of bread. Instead of all whole wheat as I am normally inclined to make, I used 1 cup white flour and 2 cups of whole wheat flour. This was mixed around noon on Monday.



At 6 am, Tuesday morning I gave it a little stir and let it rise again until 12:30 pm. Then it was transfered to waxed paper. It has to sit in paper for its third rise and was kind of messy.



The baking pan has to be preheated with the oven, and I was at school with my kids until 3:30, so it didn't get in the oven as soon as I wanted. It only needs to sit in paper for 1-2  hours. I wanted to take a picture right before I put it in the oven but forgot. A serious amount of flour is required to keep it from sticking to the paper, but too much flour gets folded into the bread. In this picture you can kind of see how one side of the loaf is loaded with flour and the other side is bare.



When I took off the lid...



The oven is set at a minimum of 475 degrees, so trying to get the loaf off of the lid was a slight challenge. Luckily, this bread doesn't stick too badly.

Here's the finished loaf at 5:10 pm. It still had to sit for an hour before we could slice it. The floury surface adds some personality.



My formerly professional, breadbaking friend said that it had a lot of depth of character. I thought it tasted amazing. I was bugged by the ripple of flour that was found throughout the center of the loaf. I need to figure out how to keep that from happening.



There is another loaf rising in my kitchen already.

Quick knitting update...Ryan, your beanie is about half-way done!