So What about Your Nudie Calendar?

So, a while ago I mentioned that I was going on a diet so that I would be able to show off some of my skin without feeling completely humiliated for a calendar to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Twin Cities 3-Day for the Cure. 

I haven't mentioned it much since, but since my co-workers routinely say things like "So when are you taking your clothes off?" or "Should you eat that?  Don't you have to get naked soon?" it makes me realize that while they have questions, you might too.  So, here's an update.

So when are you going to be taking your clothes off?  Soon.  I have two photo shoots in March, one to take my individual photo for inside the calendar and one with the other 11 calendar girls for the front and back covers.

How is your diet going?  With some help from a stomach virus that took off ten pounds, not all of which came back, I'm down to about 143 pounds.  Yeah, that isn't that much less than the last update I gave a long time ago.  I know.

Did you ever start working out?  Yes, yes I did.  This past Thursday.  I did the 30 Day Shred Thursday night, took Friday off because I couldn't fit it in with a night out with my husband and then Shredded again in the middle of this afternoon.  My plan is to get up tomorrow morning and Shred, thus switching my working out to the a.m. before work.

But aren't there less than 30 days between now and your photo shoot?  Technically, yes, but did you have to point that out?  I'm hoping that even 22 days of shredding can make a difference on this belly stuff that makes it evident that my womb has held almost 9 pound babies.

Aside from your, um, figure, are you set for your shoot?  No, not at all.  There is a lot I need to gather in terms of the apparel/accessories needed for the shoot.  I've got ideas and have been sending some e-mails, so hopefully I can wrap that up in the coming weeks.  There are also brows to be waxed and roots to be colored. 

Can I buy a 2011 Calendar yet?  Nope, but you could still buy a 2010 calendar and use 10 out of 12 months!  You can do so at www.posingforpink.com.

How can I help?   Besides buying a 2010 calendar now, and a 2011 calendar (Featuring me!  Oh.my.word.) when they become available in June, there are a few ways you can help.  One, if you are a blogger/social media lover and you would be willing to blog about the calendars once they are ready for sale, please let me know in the comments or e-mail me at kimdeshaw at gmail dot com.  It is a great hope of mine that we can really blow this up via the social media world and get every.single.calendar that we have printed sold.  Also, you can follow Posing for Pink on twitter here.  And, if you happen to have a kick butt 30's and 40's vintage collection, let me know, I'm looking for some stuff for my shoot. 

If I missed anything you are just dying to know about this calendar, Posing for Pink or the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, let me know in the comments.

A Thank You That Isn't Big Enough

I stumbled upon some information at the end of my work day today, information that had me fighting tears at my desk.

I logged into the 3-Day site this afternoon to change our team goal.  Now that we are a team of six I wanted our goal to reflect that we are attempting to raise over $15,000.00 this year.  While in my participant center I decided to check up on the top ten teams, as I wanted to let our group know how much we would need to raise to get back into the top ten.

I clicked on the tenth team on the list and quickly realized that I knew one of the women on the team.  She's in a small group with both my in-laws and my aunt and uncle.  I had no idea she was walking the 3-Day for the Cure.

It was when I clicked into her personal page that the tears started to burn at the back of my eyes.  There, for all of her donors to see: "I am walking in memory of Terry J, sister of a friend."

My mom.

I'm not going to lie, and I can't sugarcoat it.  Walking the 3-Day is freakin' hard.  There is nothing easy about raising at least $2,300.00 and walking 60 miles over the course of a three day weekend.  It is one of the most physically difficult things I have ever done, not to mention the emotional aspects of the experience.  

The fact that Barb is willing to make that commitment and take those steps all with my mother's name etched on her heart means more than I can possibly convey with my words.  That she is willing to endure blisters, porta-potties, pink tents and possibly pain while honoring the memory of a woman she didn't know well causes my heart to swell with gratitude.  

So Barb, thank you.  Thank you for your commitment.  Thank you for your hard work.  And thank you for remembering my mother, it means more to me than you'll ever know.   

Perfectly Pink

It has been a long time since I've blogged about a sewing project.  Probably because I haven't been sewing for pleasure in a long time.  That is all going to change.

Way back in July my sister-in-law gave me a jelly roll* of hand dyed pinks in a multitude of shades and hues.

*A jelly roll is pre-cut fabric strips, 2 and a half inches wide.

While the fabrics are beautiful, the summer season leaves little time for sewing so the jelly roll went into a drawer waiting for inspiration to hit.

And finally, that inspiration arrived a few weeks ago.

I haven't been sewing and I was itching to start a project.  I decided that jelly roll would be perfect cut into 6 inch strips and sewn into a stacked coins quilt.

 

I plan on sashing it in a natural white, not quite a bright snow white, and not quite a cream.

I even picked out a floral backing that I can't stand alone, but I think it will really work with the top.

 

Everything is cut and ready to go, now I just need to spin some bobbins and get moving!  I don't have any plans for this to be a gift, and even though I'm in a primarily male household, I think this will stay with me.  I realized one evening as I snuggled up under a quilt my great-grandmother made that I don't have any of my own.  It is time to change that.

I'm hoping to get some time with my machine this weekend, so maybe I'll have more work-in-progress photos next week.

If At First You Don't Succeed

According to the calendar my husband's birthday was a week ago.  Valentine's Day.  According to me, it is today.

You see, for the fourth year in a row, someone was sick on J's birthday.  There has been influenza, RSV and ear infections, and a particularly awful stomach virus.  This year the sick one was me and since a 2 year old and 5 year old can not shop for gifts or bake cakes on their own, J's special day wasn't special at all.

While we may have exchanged Happy Birthday and Happy Valentine's Day pleasantries, I spent the majority of the day on the couch.  While I was finally spending time outside of the bathroom, I was still quite exhausted and only starting to retain calories.  We spent some time together watching parts of Season One of Bones, and it was just another sick day.

I declared a re-do.  I took a family vote to postpone J's birthday by a week.  Little j seconded my motion and when I asked for "ayes" little e pointed to the ones on his face to join the chorus.  

The biggest part of postponing the birthday was making sure to make J a great cake.  j is old enough now to be involved in that process and he let me know exactly what he wanted his Dad's cake to look like.  

He and I went to the cake and candy supply store near our house yesterday so he could help me pick out everything we needed to make a cake to match his vision.  He wanted to make a cake shaped just like a football with a big 37 on it.  I tried to push him towards a cake that looked like a football field so that I could just frost it green, add some lines and throw some plastic players on it, but j wasn't going for that.  He was very set on his ball shaped cake, and wanted to make sure it would be brown with white laces, apparently he wanted this to be accurate.

So, I baked two cakes, carved, frosted and piped so that j's vision could be realized.

One football cake with a big 37.

 

Combine a special cake with a special dinner for a special guy and hopefully this birthday re-do made up for last week's birthday fail.

Thoughts on a Sick Day

I'm home sick today, and while I am tempted to be catching up at home, I know resting is more important.  So what could be do a load of laundry, run to the bathroom, is instead send an e-mail with the laptop on the couch, drift off for a few minutes, run to the bathroom, repeat.

I know that run to the bathroom part was probably too much information, sorry.  If I had the sniffles I'd be at work, so you pretty much have to know that a stomach virus is about the only thing worth a sick day. 

Which reminds me, anyone have any ideas about the button hitting combination I'd need to do in order to change my ear thermometer back to fahrenheit? I'm guessing one of my children knows the magical button pushing combination because when I took my temperature yesterday I took one look at it and though I was dead.  Then I figured out that 38.7 was my temperature in Celsius and I'd need good old Google to tell me what my temperature was in numbers I understood.  101.6 if you're wondering.

I've missed morning TV.  I'm out of the house by 7 on an average work day, so I'm not often home to see morning news and talk shows.  Bonnie Hunt is very funny, but it sounds like her show is ending, which is sad for her.  Not sad for me since I only see her on sick days and I hope to not have another of those anytime soon.

I'd forgotten how ridiculous the commercials for technical/trade schools are.  You should become an MA because you can wear scrubs.  Really?

Our dog is really warm and cuddly, just in case you were curious.  He also weighs 80 pounds and he is trying his hardest to push me off the couch.

OJ and toast are like filet mignon and a baked potato to me right now, just so you know.

Mmmm, toast.

Um, life insurance commercials are pretty ridiculous as well.

Okay, I'm going to sign off and drift off to dream land again.

I hope you're having a great day!

A Recurring Theme

Newborn Kim, Circa 1981:  "Wahhhh!!"

3rd Grade Kim, Circa 1989:  "Wow, this new school thing is hard.  How do I make friends here?  Why doesn't anyone like me? Who am I?"

7th Grade Kim, Circa 1993:  "I'm not the dorkiest kid around, but I'm not even close to cool.  Who am I?"

12th Grade Kim, Circa 1999:  "Wow, not even a chorus part in the show?  I don't know life outside of choir and theater.  Who am I?"

19 Year Old Kim, Circa 2000:  "Is this college/want to be a teacher when I grow up thing really for me?  Who am I?"

21 Year Old Kim, Circa 2002:  "And just like that, I'm a motherless daughter.  Where do I go from here?  Who am I?"

24 Year Old Kim, Circa 2005:  "Hmmm, my first job failure.  I really dodged a bullet by quitting before I could get fired.  Yeah, maybe that witch of a boss is right, I should never manage people again.  Who am I?"

28 Year Old Kim, Circa 2010:  "I'm a wife and a mother.  I have a job I love and a passion I'm, well, passionate about.  But really, who am I?"

So clearly, most of my life has been an identity crisis of sorts, and while it ebbs and flows, I've really been stuck in that question for the last few weeks. 

Who am I?

I've been laying awake at night asking that question, and right now, I really don't feel like I have a clear answer.

Will I write my way though some of my thoughts?  Maybe.

Does a heavy question like that explain my lack of posting?  To some degree.

And most importantly, when I figure out just who I am, am I going to love the person I find?  I sure hope so.