Warning: Construction!

Just a heads up that you may see some changes on this blog...mainly with the title. I want more than just basic text, so I am having my graphics-savvy husband experiment with some ideas for an actual logo/image. Some of them may get applied to the blog as he/I/we try them out, so I apologize if it gets dizzying to see a new title logo each time you check out my blog. Hopefully we'll have something by the end of the holiday weekend. In the meantime, just bear with me. And maybe put on a hardhat. heh.

Too much stuff

I have way too much stuff.

Throughout the years, I have collected a lot of personal belongings, some useful, but some not so much. All stuff I once thought I wanted, or was given. And it's all cluttering my home. And I am tired of it. Tired of owning so much stuff. Why do I need it all? Am I really going to use some of it? Do I need all of it? Some of it I bought myself long time ago. Some of if was stuff I asked for. Some of it's stuff that was given as a well-meaning gift. And some is just stuff that somehow has gotten into the house (yeah, like it just snuck in here, right?). Why is it still here? Because I have a problem with getting rid of things. Some are things that have some sort of sentimental value (and some of those are worth keeping). Some are things that people gave me that I just can't bear to give away, because I don't want them to feel bad now that I no longer want it. Some are things I would gladly give away but can't bear to just toss in the trash because they are still useful/usable and I would rather someone got some use out of it instead of it ending up in a landfill (anyone need a VHS/DVD cabinet, or a simple desk?), but I don't know of how to find a new home for them.

Regardless, it drives me crazy that I have this much STUFF in my possession. And I realized that I don't really want any more stuff. Seriously. I don't want people to buy me more things for my birthday or the holidays. If people really want to get something, I think I would get far more use out of something that pampers me (like gift certificates for massages or spa treatments, or towards my yoga center, etc). Yummy foods that are gone once I use them. I really don't want material things anymore, adding to the clutter of my home, and my life. (okay, okay...yarn. I won't say no to yarn...GOOD yarn, though...not the cheap Red Heart stuff). I want so much to get up the willpower to just get rid of the stuff that I really don't want around my house/life anymore...but in the meantime, I guess this is sort of a message to those around me that...um...don't get me anything anymore. Really...I am saying it now, so it can sink in before the holidays...no stuff. Unless I REALLY ask for it (like yarn). And maybe you should look around YOUR home and ask yourself...do you want any of my stuff? *heh*

Summer Solstice

Today is the Summer Solstice (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). From Latin sol, meaning sun, and sistere, to stand still, it marks the instant when the Earth is at its maximum axial tilt towards the sun and the sun seems to come to a stop before reversing direction. On this day, we experience the longest period of daylight. The sun brings us warmth, light, life, so it seems like a good day to stop and stand still and enjoy the sunshine. Well, at least for a few minutes...it IS a pretty hot day.

Shuttle Launch Video

I am going to attempt to post the video I took of the shuttle launch. I appologize...it was taken with my iPhone, so it's not as close as I would like, and it's a bit shaky, especially in the beginning...but if you hang in there, you CAN see it show up more when the plume starts to become visible. Within 10-15 seconds you can see a bright dot down near the horizon, towards the middle, and then about 40 seconds in the plume will start to become really visible. Awesome. (Ignore me crying and saying stupid emotional things). (Taken on 5/14/2010).


It apparently failed to upload. I'll have to try something else at some point. Sorry.

Space Shuttle Launch

This blog wasn't around when I went to Daytona Beach, FL, in May and saw the Space Shuttle Atlantis launch, so I am posting about it now. It was an amazing experience and just wanted to share it with people.

First of all, I didn't even know there was going to be a shuttle launch at that time. I had heard that there was only going to be a few more, so what were the odds that my vacation would time itself just right. But sure enough, it did. We arrived on Wednesday the 12th, and found out on Thursday that there would be a shuttle launch on Friday, the 14th. I had never seen a shuttle launch live and had always wanted to, so I jumped at the chance to see it up close. Even though I was told I would be able to see it pretty clearly from our resort, I still wanted to try get as close as I could (without getting stuck in crazy tourist traffic), so I made up my mind to try to get to New Smyrna Beach, out by the water, and watch it from there...20 miles closer. Well, I misjudged the traffic and we almost didn't make it (we being my parents and myself...my sister Jackie stayed back at the resort hotel to watch it from there). We had about 5 minutes to spare when we started crossing the southern-most bridge into New Smyrna Beach, and I figured that it would take us too long to get over the other side, find a place to park, and then get to a good vantage point. So we did what tons of other people were doing...we pulled over on the bridge at the first available spot, and then we walked up it until we got to a clump of people would couldn't get passed, and watched it from there.

I didn't think we would see much more than a pin-prick of light with thin trail after it. So I was shocked when my mom shouted "Oh look! There it is!" and I saw this bright flame with a white dash above it, and a gorgeous plume forming behind it. It was so much bigger and closer than I thought it would be, and we were still about 40 miles north. Holy crap...I can't imagine how much more magnificent it would be to actually be in Titusville, only a few miles away...to feel the ground shaking afterwards, and hear the roar. As it was, I was so emotionally touched that I actually cried over it...seriously, you can hear me sniffing and such on the video I took. The sight lasted for a good two minutes before it disappeared into the atmosphere and there was only the plume left to mark the passing of the shuttle. Totally amazing. Totally.

I am going to attempt to include two pictures here. One is more of an accurate size of what we saw for the shuttle launch. And one is a close-up of one of the pictures, where you can actually see the external tank and the shuttle hanging upside down under it.

Baby Hats...so many baby hats

It was a little over a year ago that I got the urge to knit something for a friend who was expecting a baby. And so I knit my first baby hat...something to keep the little one warm, that they wouldn't grow out of too quickly, and that was relatively quick and easy to make (since I rarely had time to knit and a blanket would have taken me ages). The first one was quickly followed by a second one, since another friend was having a baby. Soon it became something I wanted to do for all my friends/family that was expecting a bundle of joy. Little did I know that there would be an outbreak of offspring. I love knitting, and the baby hats are enjoyable. But after knitting 14 in as many months, and expecting a few more on the horizon, I can honestly say that I hope there is a few months break in baby expectations after that. You know...so maybe I can knit something other than a baby hat. So, uh, friends and family of mine? Could you go a little easy on the lovin'? Heh. Just for a few months? *eyes all her half-started non-hat projects with longing*

Expectations and Assumptions

      I love yoga and go every week that I can. Saturdays mornings are my favorite, because those are Karin's classes. Karin is an amazing yoga instructor...she just has a way of bringing the practice alive, of capturing your attention, of encouraging you to push yourself while teaching you to be accepting of your limitations. She is fun and intriguing and someone that I feel everyone should experience. I look forward to her classes and always leave feeling refreshed, hopeful, alive...the world is full of possibilities (and a strange urge to knit lots of fun things).
      This morning I went to yoga class as usual, ready to start my morning...and Karin wasn't there. Another yoga instructor was filling in for her, one I had never met before. And I started thinking that this wasn't going to be the same, that it wasn't going to be as good a class because it wasn't Karin...and felt a little bit disappointed. And then I realized what I was thinking. Here I was, already making assumptions about this instructor, already expecting the class to not be as enriching as usual. I was comparing the instructor to Karin, before she even started the class. I had expected the class to be Karin's and was allowing myself to become let down. Why? I consider myself open-minded, yet here I am NOT being open-minded. We do this all the time...we make assumptions, we pass judgements, we let expectations get the better of us. And most of the time we don't even realize it. We need to become more aware of ourselves and our thoughts, take the time to perhaps think again, and maybe look at things from a different perspective. This class WILL be different than my usual Saturday's, but that doesn't mean it won't be as enjoyable or as enlightening. I need to readjust my thinking and not jump to conclusions. Don't we all?

Fireflies

Last night I drove by an open field...and it was covered in fireflies. Hundreds of blinking points of light. It was amazing to see. It was almost as if they were trying to mimic stars in the night sky, one that has come alive. I was half-tempted to pull over and stare at them, to get more than the quick glimpses as I drove by. It's so beautiful, what nature can do.

un-rav-el [uhn-rav-uhl]

1. to separate or disentangle the threads of a woven or knitted fabric, 2.to free from complication or difficulty; make plain or clear

I have so many thoughts bouncing around in my head, so many ideas and musings just waiting to spill out, dreams I'd like to share. I figured maybe it was time to start writing them down, to give them a voice. In other words, "to make plain or clear".
Hopefully you will join me in this new undertaking.