A Fool of Myself

Dropping you all an update today to let you know that I am taking a blogging break starting tomorrow and continuing through July. I will be back around the first of August. I have a million factors that have brought me to this crossroads, and no, none of them have anything to do with other bloggers in my local congregation quitting blogging. Here’s what’s going on:

1. The 30-Day Challenge. My husband has recently become obsessed with Morgan Spurlock and his 30 Days television show, and he has been issuing himself 30-day challenges. Today he wraps up his challenge to go without soda and without biting his nails for 30 days. He’s teaching himself discipline in all areas of his life 30 days at a time. The challenge that begins tomorrow and that has also been issued to me is to spend 30 days engrossed in God’s Word with the goal of reading the Bible in its entirety in 30 days. This equates to about 40 chapters of Bible reading every day. I, too, could use some additional spiritual discipline in my life, and I am going to spend my days reading the Bible and meeting my self-assigned quota of journal pages every day. Needless to say, this challenge requires me to sacrifice much of what I enjoy doing in my free time, and writing for A Fool of Myself is a logical time-spender to sacrifice during this time.
2. The New Business. Chris and I have started freelancing again, and this time we are serious about making this venture stick for the long term. So we’re pursuing print design, web design, and blogging clients, and as money comes in, we’re legalizing the business one federal or state form at a time. Much of our evenings are spent working on our own collateral or on client projects, so blogging naturally takes a bit of a back burner. It’s simple math really: I can make money working on the business or not make money blogging.
3. The Training. I haven’t talked much about it recently, but I’ve started running again with the hope of doing a longer race in November. Training for this race starts next week. I’m hesitant to use the word marathon because I’ve said I’m training for a marathon a million times before on this blog, and I’ve not yet had the discipline to stick it out. So I’m saying that I’m running to prepare for a longer race this fall. After July is over and I’ve stuck with the training plan for a month, I’ll have a better idea of whether I want to do a full or half marathon.
4. The Miscellany. In addition to all the above activities, I am throwing a baby shower next month and helping with a wedding shower. I have at least one crochet project/gift to finish, possibly another small one. At work, I’m working to unroll an online membership database that will allow LPC’s people to login, update their information, register for events, check their giving records, etc., and all that requires a lot of thinking. And I have a family reunion. And there’s a ton of yard work we need to do that has to be done during the hottest six weeks of the year.

All this to say that I think it’s wise for me to sacrifice some television and blogging and a bit of Twitter this month to focus on a few other things that are of great importance to me and my family. I’ll still be maintaining SGFblogs.com and planning a July meetup, and I’ll still be on my Twitter account and Facebook because part of my work depends upon those social outlets, but I’ll just not be hanging out here. For that reason, comments will be closed come tomorrow, too. I’m also declaring Google Reader bankruptcy and will not be checking RSS feeds, which means no Twittering on bloggers_guide or tweeples_guide and very few comments on your all’s blogs.

Chris and I could definitely use your prayers during the next several weeks. Thanks for being faithful readers and thanks for understanding! Talk to you in August!

In May, my sister-in-law Kim gave me two huge boxes full of yarn that she’s never used. Loved this because it saved me from having to buy yarn for those miscellaneous projects that come up from time to time. But there was so much that there was no way to organize it without some help. Seriously, look at the stash in the picture below. This is all the yarn excluding the specialty yarns and the five skeins of black yarn.

I scoured the Internet looking for a solution, but I couldn’t find anything that was both attractive and utilitarian. I wanted to be able to see all of my collection in case I was looking for a particular color, but Chris wanted something that was contained, ideally behind a door or in a box somewhere. Neither of us wanted the spare bedroom to become the “craft room.”

Thankfully, my incredible, awesome husband realized that I would not rest until my yarn was organized, and he remembered that we needed a closet system for that room anyway, so he and I picked out a system at Lowe’s that would both hold all my yarn and many cables and electronics we need access to. Plus, there’s three rods to hang clothes on, so this closet has now become home to my wedding dress and Chris’s kilt. (Don’t ask.) And there’s room to spare, so when a guest comes, they’ll have a place to hang their clothes. Here’s the pic:

Drawers on bottom for cords and specialty yarns. Skeins of sport-weight yarn on top. Smaller balls of yarn hanging in a shoe bag. Don’t you just love the rainbow?

Me, too. Which is why I promptly started what Chris has christened the Fiest-Afghan. Here are the pieces laid out:

So it’s a little bright, but it used up a lot of the bits and pieces I had floating around, and once finished, it will use up an entire skein of navy blue yarn. Each of the above squares will get a navy blue round and the entire afghan will get a navy blue border. And it already has a home. My pal Lyndsey is going to get it! Yea!

I have some more projects in my queue. Two crobots. One for Sarah. One for Another Chris. Baby afghan for my upcoming niece Livie Jo. (Have I told you how excited I am about this kid?) Then we’ll see what happens. I have at least six skeins of camoflage yarn to use for something. Anyone know any hunters who need a sweater?

Most of you all know that I’m not an early bird. So when I started running with the Other Sarah last month, it was with the condition that I have coffee after those 6 AM runs.

A problem arose. Turns out, I’m too cheap and too calorie conscious to let myself grab a coffee at McDonald’s every morning, but I don’t have a coffee pot at home either. So I’ve been making due with what I do have: a counter-top espresso machine and loads of Torani syrup.

And so I thought I might share with you all my iced cappuccino recipe today.

Awesome Iced Cappuccino

Makes one 16 oz. beverage.

Ingredients

• Ice
• 2-3 oz. espresso OR 8 oz. coffee*
• 1-2 oz. Torani syrup** of your choice***
• Skim milk

Instructions

1. Measure and pour Torani syrup into a 16 oz. glass or container.
2. Fill your glass with ice. If you’re using hot espresso or coffee, fill the container to the very top. If you’re using chilled espresso or coffee, fill 3/4 with ice.
3. Measure and pour espresso or coffee into the same 16 oz. glass. If you’re using hot espresso/coffee, it’s OK if the ice melts.
4. Top off your glass with skim milk.
5. Stir and enjoy.

And that’s it! If you’ve made the espresso or coffee ahead of time, it only takes 3-4 minutes to put together, which is another reason why I like making it. A hot cappuccino on my machine would take me 15 minutes to make every morning. Plus, my recipe is made with skim milk and McDonald’s is made with cream, so I’m saving in the fat and calorie departments. Yes, Torani syrup is a bit high in calories since it’s pure cane sugar, but the company also makes sugar-free varieties if you’re into that sort of thing. And you can forgo the syrup all together if you like.

* My espresso machine makes up to four servings of espresso at a time, so I save leftover espresso for the next morning and use it chilled.

** I’m a syrup snob; therefore, I prefer Torani syrup. In my area, you can find it at Price Cutter, coffee shops, and boutique kitchen stores.

*** My favorite flavors are almond roca, hazelnut, Irish cream, and coconut. You could even get fancy and combine flavors. My favorite combos are almond roca/coconut, Irish cream/hazelnut, and vanilla/caramel.

It’s raining in the Ozarks today. Feels like spring, which I guess for the next 20 or so days, it still is. I’m usually not a fan of summer. I hate being hot. I hate being sticky (and it’s always sticky in the Ozarks). And like most women, I’m thrilled with body in a bathing suit.

But I’m trying to turn over a new leaf this summer, and I’m embracing the warmth. Here are the top ten things I love about summer:

1. Homemade ice cream
2. Independence Day
3. My birthday (August 20)
4. Flip flops
5. Tank tops
6. Driving around town with my windows down and radio up
7. How green the grass is right after it rains
8. (Slightly) slower days at work
9. Sonic slushes
10. The smell of freshly-laid asphalt

OK, back to you. What do you love about summer?