Monday, March 19, 2007

Renaissance Festival

Jim and I went to the Arizona Renaissance Festival on Sunday and had a great time. There were more things there than you could ever see in a day. We saw the jousting, the shops, the food, a few of the shows and games. The humor in the shows was great. We started by hearing the music of Tartanic. Bagpipes and drums done by as they said "men without pants". A great way to start the day after St. Patrick's Day. We spent time watching spinning, weaving, basketry, blacksmithing and glassblowing. I don't know how renaissance themed vanilla lattes and diet pepsi are but it was good to be able to get something to drink and the variety of food offered was impressive too. The Tortuga Twins show was sooooo funny. Be warned, if you go with kids, its a little grown up but so much fun!

We watched a glass demonstration and saw a vase done from start to finish. I don't know the vocabulary for the art so I may describe the process wrong so forgive me. The vase was hand blown. Flowers and stems were attached to the hand blown center. A base was added. The top was added to and then opened up and pulled. The piece was fumed to give it an iridescence. Anyway after seeing the piece done from start to finish and seeing the skill, art and technique that went into making it we decided to buy it. It had to go through some kind of cooling process to be ready for us so we should be able to bring it home on Tuesday. I will try to get some pictures of it in here this week.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Another Monday

I try each week to make a plan on what to do as far as home and chores and errands and crafting. Some of it gets done and some doesn't. I am terrible about procrastinating. Living a life without deadlines is not good for me. I try giving myself deadlines but I then ignore myself so that does no good at all.

I came up with a new to me phrase last week that kind of describes this. I thought it was cute and so did my daughter. My son in law wasn't amused and I didn't even say it to my husband because I knew I'd get the "that's great Kath" response. It is "distracted by my brain". What it means to me is that while I'm doing one thing I am thinking of several other things to do at the same time. Some of the ideas will get started right away so they are not forgotten which of course means that what I was doing at the time gets put on hold. Can you tell from this that I have a life full of UFOs (unfinished objects). I mean well - I really do!

As for my New Year Resolutions, I am just doing okay. The exercise is hit and miss. I have been smoke free since the 8th of January however. I wasn't sure I could do it. Each week is getting easier. I still get hit with a strong craving once or twice a day. The cravings come usually when I am feeling my energy levels start to drop. My mind tells me a cigarette and a cup of coffee would help. Much of the rest of the time I feel like a nonsmoker.

Anyway have a happy Monday and a great week with whatever you have planned.