Slaying Vampires in my Spare Time

I've always liked life on the rough side. A little bit of toughness, a little bit of suffering never hurt anyone if you ask me. [Emphasis on 'little'... before I start estranging my friends]

I like music from all genres but Punk, Industrial and Alternative are always among my favorites. I like all types of food. However those dishes that have a great amount of spice or some sort of 'fear factor' are those that intrest me most. And I obviously was not looking for the white picket fence and a dog named spot when I made certain life choices about where I was going to live and who I was going to live with.

Now I find this part of my personality is finally starting to creep into my craft. I was thrilled to purchase this set of knitting needles a few weeks ago:

(For those of you who have sensitve ears that might bleed a little with alternative language usage, please skip over the text that lies between the next two pictures)

Are these just not kick ass, or what?

It's so totally awesome to work with this pair of tools. It's such a wave of self confidence that surges through me when I have them in my hands. Not unlike when I drive this:

Usually with that Punk or Industrial music playing at a good volume.


But I digress.......


So it's late, late in the evening when I finally have time to sit down and work on my projects. It's the time in the evenings that the mind starts wandering, and I start to think how lucky we have it. Any gnomes with red eyes, critters from the deep underworld or monsters from mythic eras peering into our windows shudder with fright when they see me and my formidable weapons: they slide back and forth upon each other with lightening speed.


Even sparks fly into the air now and then.


My husband has a new found respect for me. That I can say in all honesty.


And to top it off, I've actually started to create some really nice finished pieces.


A lovely pink.....

And a lovely snow white......

I wonder how the bats will react when I continue my work around the campfire this summer.

A Game of Balance

It has been a long time since I have posted a blog. There has been a lot that has been going on and a lot of things that needed to be sorted out in my life. And my body and mind really needed some rest.

I left a really horrible job last August - the kind of job where the boss runs the place like it's his or her own little empire, breaking laws and threatening employees left, right and center. And to make matters worse, most of those who were hired were either young, or had no working experience (ie - new mothers who had spent many years at home), or a combination of both. I was able to find a better job and move on towards the end of the summer. But I had spent two years at this former job, and needed to both get used to a new job (with new expectations), shake off the bad experiences that I had been experiencing before, and renew my relationships with both my husband and my children, which had been strained the last year or so due to stress.

I needed to take care of my mind and body. I had decided that while I would start exercising, I wouldn't actually change my diet too much. I do eat a lot of fruits, veggies and healthy food. The problem however was that I was also greatly addicted to chocolate and coffee (and chips on occasion). However coming from a low point, I decided to continue to indulge myself in these treats on a *reasonable level* until Christmas. This I have done.

Now Christmas is over, and to be really honest, I'm really tired of the coffee and chocolate. I also am a lot stronger than I was back in September, when I started my new job. As the days go by, I am exercising more and eating less junk. I am having less desire for the things that got me through the days before. It happens that I make myself my first cup of coffee in the evening, and then throw half of it out because it just doesn't taste as good as it did a couple of months ago.

I'm exercising, usually, 3 days in a row with one day's rest. When I started exercising in September (which was only maybe twice a week), I found it incredibly hard to burn more than 150 calories in 30 minutes - and I was on the lowest level of my elipse machine. The last few weeks I've been burning 300 - 350 calories in just under 30 minutes. It's amazing. And this evening I hit a new record: after a day's rest, I have worked out for 35 minutes, and have burnt 410 calories.

It's not often I stun myself.