Half on the Half

Completed the Houston Aramco Half Marathon yesterday, Jan 17. That's 13.1 miles. It was fun -- before and after was fun -- as I got to spend time with MBD and her BFF, and then with all my kids and HH for lunch afterwards. Can you say SORE. Very, very sore. I didn't train like I should have; so, I am thankful to God for allowing me to complete 13.1 miles, all in one piece.

The thing I struggle with is the half empty/half full thing. I'm afraid I see the half empty part of it mostly. Like, 3:24:45, soooo slooooow. I had to walk most of it. My runner's byline is "They time me with Carbon14". But to show you what I mean:

Half empty: finished in bottom 4%

Half full: 599 finished after me

Half empty: bottom 8% of all female finishers

Half full: 465 finished after me

Half empty: Females, age 60-64, bottom 35%

Half full: 36 finished after me

Brimming: Houston has 2+million residents. I figure I'm in the top .25%, at least, figuring the other 99.75% didn't even participate.

I finished. Yaaay! And today, I can even walk without limping!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Now that Christmas gift exchange is past, I can share what I was working on so hard. It was an Apron Christmas this year. I made aprons for almost everyone in my family. I have pics of a few of them, but not all. I'm hoping they'll wear them and take pics and send to me. I was so busy making them, that I didn't take the time to take photos before wrapping. Here's MBD and MHSNL modeling their aprons. His was made from a pair of MHGS old jeans. Had to do a lot of piecing to get it big enough as MHGS' jeans were skinny, skinny, skinny. Hers shows chili peppers and free-hand machine embroidery "Chili Out". They can enjoy wearing them in their newly remodeled kitchen.

I also made bags for MBGD and my mom. I made ToteATee's for MBGD and a huge bag for my mom with expanding pockets so she can pack 8 pairs of shoes in it when she goes to visit my cousin. Here's the ToteATee's. The Texas one is a messenger bag.

Christmas Wrapping

I made some cute Christmas gift bags and wallets. Here's just a couple of them. The little wallets are made from felt. The gift bags are made from jeans. I just machine appliqued pieces from Christmas fabric onto them. My goal is to create the gift wrap as I complete each gift, so I won't be doing the last-minute, gift-wrap marathon this year.

In Between

In between the Christmas sewing, I made a mini Ploomer bag from a pair of jeans. It really turned out cute. Pockets outside, and of course inside too.

Studio Fun

As I continue the never-ending task of organizing my studio, I added something fun. Check out the framed flowers. Bright colors. Fun. Fun. Fun.

I also found a great way to organize and display my handbags. Instead of 20-someodd bags draped over Minnie Mannequin, which makes getting to the one I want a huge problem as it always seems to be the bottom one, I found these great cascades that hang atop my studio door. Easy to get to each bag, and it's quite a nice display.

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming. Can't believe it's already November 20. I have so much to do. But I'm happy to report that I got started today. Have made 2 gifts for MBG. Oh, how I wish I could show them off. They're so cool. But she might see them here. So, alas, I must wait until after gift exchange to share them with you. I'll be checking off my list, but must hide all until after Christmas. It's so hard not to share. (Pic is MHSNL Christmas Eve 2008)

I LOVE JUNKIN'

On my way to Edge, Texas, for Rompin' Stompin' Street Fest, I made a side trip. Since I was already headed that way and since I hadn't been there in several weeks, I decided to stop in at the Hope Village Thrift Store in Friendswood, Texas, to see if there were anymore fabrics on the long tubes. (Remember, last time I went, I bought 4 fabrics of varying yardage for $1 each.) So, I had to -- just had to -- check it out again. And I am sooooooo glad I did.

Yes, they had a few fabric pieces on the tube, but better than that -- sooooooo much better than that -- they had a big, huge tub filled with fabrics, valances, pillow cases and the like. No price was posted, but I figured, "Hey, if they're a buck a piece, it's a bargain," as the smallest piece of fabric that I picked out was a yard, and most were home dec fabrics. They were ......... drum roll .......... 25 cents each. Did you hear that? They were ........ drum roll ........ 25 CENTS EACH.

At hearing this, at the register, I did a little happy dance. I soooooo love bargains. Yippee! Wahoo! Jump up and down, happy happy dance. You know, I don't even care that people were staring and wonderng, "What in the world?" I am easily amused. And I revel at the small, fun, wonderful things in life, like a flower blooming on my hibiscus or the wonderful sunshine or the smile of a stranger or a friend, and yes, of a fantabulous, super-dooper buy!