A Cycle

When does summer really start? I can't believe an entire year has flown by and still I sit at the same desk with the same realization that I have not yet achieved my dream job. But then again, does anyone?

No longer will I spend endless days at the pool or have to throw away chlorine-stained shirts, but instead I am content on my life as a shoe-fitter. Now, this may sound as a non-appealing job...but I have found that I love it! It's not just about shoes, but its about what goes into the lifestyle of the person wearing the shoes. Not only is a ridiculous amount of product knowledge to get through a day, but that one day makes or breaks a running life. I swore I would never become a shoe nerd, but here I am "nerding" up my blog.

But back to my original question. When does summer start? I used to live my life a semester at a time, using finals and tests as my markers. Now I can't seem to find a grasp on time. I don't live by weekends, I don't have breaks and last but not least, I don't have summer. Summer was the time I never wore shoes, I stayed up late and basked in the shining sun. What is the point of a swim suit if it sits in my drawer all summer? The good news is that there isn't as much pressure for a "swim suit body" and I can pretty much let myself go...nah, who am I kidding. Must. Keep. Running! That is if my leg will heal and I can make it more than four miles without finding myself in tears of frustration.

Dear Summer,
I am sorry that I will not be able to welcome you as well as I would like. It looks like you might just have to just get on without me. I am just as sad as you are.

Rachel

Simple Satisfaction

Ready, Set, Greenlight!

Alright, alright. Ready, Set, GO!

It's how we used to trick our opponents into a false start. As they jerk forward on the wrong word, they have to turn back to the starting line. Their conscience won't let them win with a jump start. It wouldn't be fair. As they struggle how to make up their extra steps, you then spit out the word go along with that extra advantage: two steps.

My dad used to have this trick to prevent these cheating moment. To always make the race fair, we would grasp our hands and lean in opposite directions. We were not allowed to begin the race until our hands had been "cut" with a karate chop hand motion. Then we were off. Never turning back.

As we made our way in opposite directions, we sprinted around the perimeter of the large house and back to the exact place we had started. Whoever crossed that line first, won. They had the ultimate bragging rights. They were on top. They were the one to beat.

Running was simple then. It was full of grass stains, dirty feet, the hydration center was the backyard hose and the only head lamp I had were the lightning bugs dancing in the dark.

I ran barefoot through the long grass. Grass stains and dirty feet were forgotten until the end of the night. I ran across the spurt of hot asphalt, the jagged rocks from our landscaping and then down the small downhill for the advantage. The elements did not matter. There wasn't time to think about pain. It was the wind in my hair and the hot sun in my face that made it worth it. Oh, and of course the look on my brother's red face as he turned the last corner to see me standing at the finish line. Waiting.

The neighborhood kids soon caught on to what my family was doing. The stepped away from their video games and air-conditioned homes to see what all the commotion was about. They were curious about the children that bolted from the back of their house, only to return around the opposite corner. Were they being chased? Who was cheering? We became an attraction. We had the ultimate competition. Who could beat who? Reputations were made, egos were broken.

It is hard to go back to the simplicity of running. Take your shoes to that old dirt trail, to your childhood memories, to the place where there was no need for headphones. Run through those puddles, soak your socks, and don't complain. There is no pain here.

Ready, set....GREENLIGHT!

Gotcha.

Less pain, more gain. Please.

My crafts are still being crafted and my life goes on. But with a new job, the crafts are constantly put on the back burner. Paper burns pretty fast. My new routine called "life" is that of sleeping, running, constantly eating food, working and sleeping again. I think I have managed to get it down.

As I train for my first half marathon, I have realized a few things about myself: I can't handle pain as well as I thought, I underestimated how fast I can really run for long periods of time, it's all about mind games, I like to run with other people.

Some of these realizations may be very simple. For me, it's about figuring out what I like and what my potential is. I don't think I should ever run with a watch because I am too occupied with those stupid numbers scrolling by. It is like one of those sand timers. You feel like you only have so much time before you better reach the other end or you are going to feel empty and lose the game that you playing with your mind. It is a mind game. One that you have to keep playing over and over with yourself. There is no passing "GO" to win $200 to boost your spirits. Instead, you keep going to "JAIL" because your injuries are preventing you from going the distance you need.

Running and thinking do not go together. If there was a large switch I could pull and just allow my legs to run, I would pull it. Is there such a thing as sympathy pains for runners? Every time I fit someone up for new shoes, they complain about an injury that they have, that I can't fix or figure out what is causing it. The very next day, (I am not making this up) I get that exact pain. Right now, my ankle feels like there is a firework going off inside of it. Thank you customer #213. You are making my runs impossible to complete. I guess I just should deal with this until I get the next customer with a mystery pain. Brace yourself, Rachel, this could be a doozie.

Until the next run. Whenever that may occur.

Sunlight and Yarn

I am constantly on the lookout for three things: new trails, bargain deals on ANYTHING and new art mediums. Oh and good books. That seems to go over my small limit of three, but I have narrowed it down to those. Of all those things there is a plethora of each. My search never ends. My new art medium this month is yarn and the art of crochet. I picked up a few handy books at the library (totally worth it) and now I am starting on a multicolored blanket and practicing with some flower headbands. It is one of those things that is mindless yet extremely entertaining. I love it already and its only been day two. My little sister (the 10-year-old) has picked it up as well. We are learning new stitches together. On top of this I have added another interest: photography.

I always enjoy taking good pictures and I took the opportunity to practice on my brother, Joe. He is a senior in high school and we all know what that means: SENIOR PICTURES! Instead of paying the ridiculous prices for sitting fees, studio time and a photographer who is just going to crop and photoshop your face, I took out my little/awesome Kodak digital to Lumiere Park in St. Louis. For those who don't know what it is...it an awesome sculpture park in St. Louis (off highway 44). Despite living in STL for 22 years, I had never been. It was a great field trip.

We started out our adventure with a pit stop at Plato's Closet. It is a thrift store that buys gently worn brand names for teens and twenty something people. We used that time to find some sweet shirts for Joe to wear on our photo shoot. He bought a few shirts and an awesome green/purple jacket (that I am def. going to post later). I was able to find some more running gear, a Columbia jacket and another jacket that I swear I will never stop wearing. This was all for under $35.

The awesome jacket that Joe found in the Men's section. It is worth every eight dollars I spent.

Nike running shirt, coolmax style.

Columbia jacket that I found for WAY less than what it's worth. It will keep me warm for winters to come.

The park is full of random sculptures. I could try to explain this, but you will just have to see it for yourself. Here are some of the best pics that we came up with. One will ultimately be his senior picture that he can hand out to all his friends...at least end up on our mantle.

The best picture ever, but alas might only make it to Facebook.

Well we all know that no parent would chose this as a picture to frame...but its still cool!

This will be the end of my photo career until the next sibling makes their way to senior year (two more years to go). So until then, this is the extent of my abilities with a digital.

Until my next shopping spree or craft project competed...

TTTTTshirt

Oh the sweet smell of fresh fabric paint. It has been awhile since I have picked those foam brushes, but I did come across some of the famous tees from the past few years. All the designs were made from freezer paper stencils that I sketched, cut out and then painted. Thank you to all the lovely models! ;)

From old to new. One of the first t-shirts I attempted. It has become a favorite.

Guitar shirt that I am almost positive took me three hours to make. It turned out really sweet though.

"Yoshimi" by the Flaming Lips Tee

Fluer de Lei Shirt. Added some glitter in there.

"Man walking away" Tee

Nothing like some 80's flashback t-shirts to make you smile!

Christmas T-shirt for my sister.

On those cloudy days.

Baby Jordan in her "Uncle Anton" onesie.

Babies should be fashionable too?!

For the girl who loves flowers.

"KBB" shirt for one hot boyfriend. Merry Xmas!

Tis NOT the Season

Pool season is officially over and now I move on to bigger and better things, at least that is my hope. So in hopes of moving past the always dreaded pool season, constant cigarette smoke and silly children, this blog is moving on. To what, is the real question. It is going to mixin's of fashion, my creative means for the day and my slowly improving sewing skills. I am sure I will always have more funny stories to put on display for the world to see.

This week I was busy ignoring the fact that I am an adult now still living in my parents house. I ran a total of 25 miles last week and worked out my abs for 40 mins ("8 minute Ab workout" check it out on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWjTnBmCHTY.) My logic is that I shouldn't let my physic decline along with my attitude. On top of this I have done my bargain shopping of the season, spending $80 total on 10 items. Why buy things at full price? I don't believe in it. After taking one to many textile courses, you come to realize how much a shirt from Abercrombie costs to make. Not $25. That much is the truth.

My crafting is up to full force right now. Yesterday I picked up Playdo. Who would of thought this is what I was capable of creating. I give props to all those Cake decorating shows on Food Network.

It is blue, but its still pretty. I should investigate in more colors besides just the primary.

Added a yellow Playdo rose too.

Next on my list is to finally finish the quilt I have been working on all summer. Of course, with every project there have been some glitches. I have overcome them all except for the recent problem. All stores in St. Charles are sold out of white double-folded bias tape. Who knew that it was such a hot commodity!? Until then, the quilt will be missing one side. I still enjoyed a wonderful nap under it yesterday.

While working at the pool long hours, I had enough time to embroider my initials by hand.

Finished quilt!

Don't Talk to Strangers

People like to talk. Most of all they like to talk about themselves. I have always thought of myself as a fairly good listener and I enjoy my curious nature to be fulfilled when people decide to bear their souls to me. What I can’t seem to understand is how people can tell complete strangers intimate details about their lives within the first two seconds of meeting them. I can’t say that I am a super private person, but some information I don’t give quite as freely.

As I was sitting in my chair looking at cookbooks (it was the book of the day) the lawn man, who was cautiously blowing all the newly cut shards of grass back into the yard, stopped in front of me. I simply lifted my head to smile, showing that I knew he was there but it was obvious that I was not looking for any kind of conversation. While his blower is still on and at his side he looks at me and says, “Well it looks like the season is coming to an end, huh?” I said that it sure was and that I had one more week. I thought it would be the end of it, but he had more to say.

“Well yea, we will be done in about a month or so too. I don’t know what we are going to do after that. I mean, we come back here to do some snow removal and stuff but that is about it.”

I tried to pretend like I was interested in what he was saying, but actually I was more interested that this 50 year-old man wanted to talk about his business with me. I kept silent and let him talk.

“My daughter is actually in Hawaii right now and I am thinking about going over there to work. Her fiancé is in the army and is stationed over there so maybe I could go over there. My brother is in the Virgin Islands and I could probably go over there too. My daughter is actually in town right now…but really its just a matter of getting the airfare and time to go over there. You know, I have never been to either of those places.”

At this point I was in awe. Here I was, listening patiently to this man ramble. He seemed to be enjoying the one-sided conversation so I let it continue. He started talking about what he was going to do. I simply wished him good luck and he was on his way.

I thought about starting to wear a Frankenstein mask to work tomorrow. Would people still approach me?