The building of BranchAlina

For the second year in a row, G's company decided to sponsor/build a scarecrow for the local botanical garden.

We went with Angelina Jolie's famous leg for the 2012 Oscars!

We built her out of PVC pipe and branch/twigs/craft store pine-straw. 

Stuffing her leg!

We couldn't decide on "hair".....

We went with a wig!

I think she came out great and hope me make the it in the paper!

Happy Fall!
ELH

More mixed nuts!

Pics from my iphone!!

Gussy in the wine box.

Both kitties in boxes!

Fall mantel

Newest Halloween decoration!

Gussy watching me do sit-ups

Some more new Halloween decorations.

My "reward" for passing the PMP.  Love this Etsy shop.

Knitting my first sock!

Finished socks!

Enjoy!
ELH

Happy Birthday....

Mom!!

I love you dearly and hope you have a wonderful day!
xoxox
ELH

WWW

Not a great week.  I haven’t been feeling well, tired, and I think the emotion of G being gone and finishing up the PMP hit me.  On the plus side, the office is all painted!  I love the color!! 

I still need to deal with the bookshelf and figuring out the best furniture placement. 

Mon, Sept 17^th – walked 1.6miles in 32:06 (prepped the office – sanded and wash the walls)

Tues, Sept 18^th – 1^st coat of gray paint!

Wed, Sept 19^th – walked 1.6miles in 31:13 (sanded and washed the walls)

Thurs, Sept 20^th – 2^nd coat of gray paint!

Fri, Sept 21^st – walked 1.58miles in 33:10

Sat, Sept 22^nd – Felt awful, so I took some drugs and napped most of the afternoon

Sun, Sept 23^rd – painted the trim and touched up the ceiling edging.   I had taped it, but there was still evidence of the yellow paint, so I took a small artist brush and covered up the yellow.  That took a few hours!  I spent the rest of the day working on our scarecrow for the local Botanical Garden.  We built one last year and ended up being the first scarecrow you saw (next to the ticket booth) and he was on the cover of the living section of our local paper.  We have high expectations for this year!

BranchAlina - about 75% done.

On another note, I had my 8week follow-up with my foot Dr on Thursday.  He said the swelling indicates that I am still healing.  He said no running until I can walk with Molly without pain/discomfort.  Probably, a few more weeks of walking only.   He did say that I could start yoga, so that is the plan for October!

Fun times!
ELH

Rug update!

The rugs came! 

It took forever to get them out of the bags, since I didn't want to just cut the bags apart, just in case they were damaged or awful.  They are great!

The guestroom rug took a little while to get down.  I decided to wash the bed skirt and wash and wax the floor and then it took me ~hour to finally get the position right.  It might have helped if I had moved the bed into the hall instead of just propping it up again the wall.  Opps!

Before with a too small blue rug.

Arti in the window

Cleaning the floors!

Arti always getting in trouble!

The rug "breathing" before going in the guestroom.

After....

I like how much the blue flowers match the bedspread.

The rug in our room will have to wait until G is home.  I can't lift the bed frame alone.

On another note, I have been spending the last few months studying for the Project Management Professional exam which I took and passed this morning!
With my foot recovery and studying, the guestroom painting has been on hold.  As of Sunday, painting has commenced!!  Yay for no more yellow walls!!  

WWW

Mon, Sept 10^th – walked 1.24miles in 25:58

Tues, Sept 11^th – walked 1.42miles in 29:51

Wed, Sept 12^th – long tiring day, so no walking

Thurs, Sept 13^th – walked 1.56miles in 32:47

Fri, Sept 14^th – walked 1.49miles in 31:53

Sat, Sept 15^th – walked 1.62miles in 29:09

Sun, Sept 16^th – walked 2.37miles in 43:29

Lots of walking!  My foot is feeling much better and I am walking faster.  This Thursday is my 6week follow-up (6 weeks after getting my stitches were removed) and I am hoping to get the green light to start running!

Enjoy!

ELH

Knitting

My latest knitting was a blanket for G's cousin's 1year old son.

I love this yarn color and love how the blanket came out.

He loves it!

Enjoy!
-ELH

Summer Reading Review

I didn’t read as many books as I usually do during the summer.  I am sort of in a book lull.   Hopefully, Fall reading will be better!

Spring Fever – Mary Kay Andrews – It was an easy read, cute love story.  If you are looking for a something to read on your vacation, this is a good book.  Recommended.

Shadow of Night – Deborah Harkness – The second book in the All Souls Trilogy.  I loved the 1^st book.  Magic and history = awesome.  The 1^st book ended with a small love story and a cliff hanger.  The 2^nd book is a HUGE love story, a lot of history, and magic.  I am not really into love stories, so I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I did the 1^st.  It sort of felt like a filler book, so she could have a trilogy series.

Obviously, you can’t skip it, but just remember how great the 1^st book was and hope the 3^rd book is amazing.

A Summer Affair – Elin Hilderbrand – She writes great easy beach reads with characters that you begin to love and want to see them succeed.  Recommended.

Her Fearfully Symmetry – Audrey Niffenegger – An interesting book about the deep relationship twins have with each other.  One of the main characters is ghost and her presence has an everlasting effect on everyone she interacts with.  This was a good book and I enjoyed reading it.  Recommended!

Lone Wolf – Jodi Picoult – I just keep reading all her books, hoping that one will be as great as My Sister’s Keeper was.  I keep being disappointed.  Skip it.

The Enchantress – Michael Scott – This was the last book in the Immortal Life of Nicholas Flamel.  I felt like the author was trying to shock the audience by adding tons of twists and turns.  It was annoying.  Not the best book of the series, but if you started the series, you need to finish it!

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Rebecca Skloot – Have you heard of the immortal cells called HeLa?  They are cancer cell taken from Henrietta Lacks back in the 1950’s and have biomedical researchers study and cure diseases.  This book recounts the history of Henrietta and her family and their struggles in life.  It was a very interesting book and I would recommend reading it if you like non-fiction books that read like fiction.

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – Helen Simonson – A random book about and Englishman and his daily life in the English countryside.  His son is a pill and he has to make the best of dealing with him and cultural differences between himself and his love interest.  Just a strange book.  Skip it.

On an exciting note, I meet Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus at a local book festival!  Read this book!!

Enjoy!
-ELH
  

WWW - It's back!

This past week my foot started to feel somewhat normal so I decided it was time to start walking!

Sun, Sept 2^nd – walked 1.29miles in 29:52

Mon, Sept 3^rd – walked 1.63miles in 34:26

Tues, Sept 4^th – walked 0.68miles in 15:00

Thurs, Sept 6^th – walked 1.25miles in 33:14

Sat, Sept 8^th – walked 1.62miles in 32:29

Sun, Sept 9^th – walked 2miles in 42min

My foot does feel tired at the end of the day.  I am icing it multiple times during the day and soaking it in Epsom salts at night.  My next Drs appointment to talk about running is Sept 20th.  I am excited!!

Hope your workouts are a little more exciting than mine!

ELH

We bought a...

Well not really "a."  We bought 2 large accent rugs!  One for the master bedroom (pics here and here and here) and one for the guest bedroom.

RugsUSA was having a Labor Day sale, with rugs 75% off!

Bliss for the guestroom.

Damask for the master.

I got both rugs (6x9' and 8'3"x11') for $300!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to use my Groupon or get credit on Ebates.  Oh well!  

My dream gray rug for the office is still out of stock (I was told it would be in stock in October), so I have time to use the Groupon. 

Can't wait for the rugs to come!

Enjoy

-ELH

 

August Mileage

Not much to report.

Molly and I "officially" walked 0.25miles in 10min once!  I was hard and I was tired.

My first exposure to the craziness that is Stampede!

Cute!

At my 2 week appointment when the stitches were removed, I was told I can start walking once I can bear full weight on my foot and NO running for another 6 weeks.

Walking from my car to my office takes ~10min, so I consider that a "good" walk for the last few weeks.  And then I noticed that my ankle was swollen.  Not good.  So that delayed starting to walk another week.
My ankle is getting better and my toes are starting to feel normal.  I have walked 3 days in a row (starting last Sunday) for a total of ~3.3miles.  Great start to September!

Yearly totals - 

Running = 336.52 miles

Walking = 133.58 miles

Enjoy!

ELH

Detox - Update

Pinterest Fail!!

I might have to submit this to The Pintester.

I was very excited to try the detox bath I saw on pinterest last night to help with the swelling in my foot and in general my overall health.
I drew the bath added some bubble bath, the H2O2, and ground ginger.  I think the H2O2 prevented the bubbles from forming and the ginger turned the water yellow/brown.  Pretty ugly!
It was a nice to soak in the hot water and read magazines. 

I am going to stick with epsom salt and bubble bath in the future.
Enjoy!
ELH