Tag: introspection

i like to move it move it

Apologies for the title. Last month, I set a short-term goal of exercising every day for 21 days (thinking if I could do that, it would become habit) and I’ve kept it up for over a month with relatively few complaints. My long-term goal is to get in shape, although I really hate that term–“in shape.” I am “in shape” and that shape is a rather large circle. But I digress. Let’s just say I want to feel healthier.

Exercise and I have a tenuous relationship at best. In college I started walking 20-30 minutes a day and that was my primary exercise. I’m not sure what prompted the routine, but I stuck with it for several years (somewhat begrudgingly.) I was temporarily knocked off track (pardon the pun) when I broke my foot in September 2006, and then again when I got pregnant with Ellie. After Ellie was born, I tried to get back into regular activity using the Wii Fit but that got boring pretty fast.

So this time, I’m making an attempt to do some form of physical activity–20 minutes or so–every day. No pressure. So far that involves walking home from work or aerobic stepping on the Wii, and occasionally I’ll substitute another exercise-like activity for the usual 20-minute stint. As far as I’m concerned, if I sweat, it counts. What surprises me is that I rarely find myself thinking, “I don’t want to do this!” If anything, I look forward to the little break each day. I’ve also lost about 5 lbs, which is a nice bonus.

The biggest challenge will be keeping myself interested when winter sets in and walking outside is not possible. I’m considering a new treadmill, but we’ll see how I fare with the Wii for now. I also have DDR in the event Wii Fit gets boring. Month two, here I come!

a breath of fresh air

ellie plays in the leavesI’ve come away from the long weekend feeling motivated and inspired. Maybe it’s the fall air, or maybe it’s that I finally feel rested and “caught up” for the first time in weeks. We spent a few days at my parents’, and the peace and quiet (and the extra sets of hands for Miss Crazy Toddler–thanks mom and dad) gave me some time to think. And when I think, I make lists!

My big to-do list for the month:

  1. Fix my treadmill–or, in the event it can’t be fixed, purchase a new treadmill–and make a point of walking almost every day. I miss my old routine from a few years ago and I think I’d feel better if I could jump start that habit. In the meantime, I’m going to take advantage of the nice weather and walk outside at least once a day.
  2. Figure out where to configure a small studio space in our home so I can continue to work on photography this winter. One shoot per month would be ideal, more if I have the time/inclination. Research lenses and consider a couple upgrades (a new AF prime would be practical, but a Lensbaby with a few inserts would be frivolous and fun–and who’s motivated by practicality, anyway?) Speaking of photos, I’ll be posting some new photos from a recent shoot soon!
  3. Start mapping out the next few years, to whatever extent possible. I’m starting to feel that late-20’s “itch” (Saturn return, anyone?) to figure out where I want to be and what I want to be doing with my life. Not that I’m not happy with things right now, but I want my daily life to actively contribute to more long-term goals. The problem is, I don’t really have any long-term goals–common sense dictates I should start there, no? Part of this will involve working some more on my life list, which is something I’ve been picking away at here and there but have yet to really focus on.

I also got to play in the leaves with my favorite girl this weekend, which was a joy (as you can plainly see.) It was a reminder of what is truly important… fun times, my family, good health. As a Professional Anxiety-Ridden Worrywort, I often forget how lucky we are. Sometimes it takes a simple moment to bring me back into focus.

i’m guessing it doesn’t get easier, huh?

Ellie at the beachWe’ve had some amazing fall days over the last few weeks… I’m soaking it all up as fast as I can because I know in just a few short months it will be cold and snowy again. Last weekend we took a trip to the coast to visit family and I had a photo shoot with a nice young fella, and this weekend we spent Saturday morning at the Common Ground Fair, baking in the unseasonably warm sun.

“Getting out” seems to be the theme of the last few weeks, to the point where I’m looking forward to a weekend that doesn’t involve, well, anything. No plans, no deadlines, no long car rides or coolers–don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with Tim and Ellie doing all these things. It’s especially fun to see the world through Ellie’s young eyes–simple things like apple-picking or a walk along the coast take on a whole new meaning when I see the joy reflected on her face. We’ve made some wonderful memories and I wouldn’t trade that for the world. But I’m also exhausted! I think hibernation is in order, if only for a weekend or two.

Tim, being the saint that he is, gave me a few hours’ break this weekend so I could work on my latest project, a personal web portal. Now that my personal blog is separate from my photography and illustration websites, I wanted a single place that brings everything together in an attractive way. I’m so pleased with the way the portal came out, especially where it was built in just a few hours. Beyond that, I’m finishing up the latest influx of custom orders and working on a backlog of blog posts for Calobee Doodles. It feels nice (and a little crazy-making) to be so productive.

For the record, my kid is growing up way too fast. I don’t think I expected to have a miniature human being bossing me around so soon or so eloquently. We’re living with a very short, very loud, very temperamental camp director. It’s ridiculously cute when she marches up to Tim and demands “Hugs, Daddy, hugs!” Almost makes up for the fact that she’s recently decided sleeping is for losers. Maybe it is, but I am fine with being a well-rested loser!

I feel like I’m juggling everything, but just barely. T & I have talked about another kid, but I can’t imagine how that will work, logistically. It seems like we’re struggling to fit in everything we currently want and need to do, and what kind of load will a second kid add to the mix? On the other hand, I felt much the same way before Ellie was born–hard to imagine thinking of life before Ellie as “busy,” but I distinctly remember asking myself incredulously, “How do people with kids do it?!?”

Now that I have one of my own, the answer is… I have no freaking clue. Nope. No idea how we manage to keep the house relatively clean, make sure Ellie is clothed, bathed and fed, get a full night’s sleep, work a full-time job, have a relationship with my husband, maintain friendships and spend time with my various creative endeavors. In fact, at least one of those things always gets lost in the shuffle, and it seems the key is to accept that you can’t do it all, but you shouldn’t completely neglect anything, either. Hah-hah, because that’s just as easy as it sounds, of course!

Despite the sheer amount of Crazy that seems to have infiltrated our lives, I don’t want to wait too much longer before we start thinking about future baby Moore. I’d prefer to get the baby stuff out of the way sooner rather than later, while I still (barely) have the energy for pregnancy and 3 a.m. feedings, before I’ve completely forgotten what it’s like to live on three hours of sleep at a stretch. I think (I hope) Ellie will eventually appreciate having a sibling, too. Just one more minion in the arsenal as far as she’s concerned!

adventures in weekending

lootIt was a busy weekend! We spent a good part of Sunday in Ellsworth, eating lunch at Jordan’s and stopping to browse at the Big Chicken Barn. The Barn is my absolute favorite place to look for photo props and supplies… it’s full of old stuff, odd and ends, rusted tools, gadgets, gizmos, cameras, and vintage Pyrex–oh, how I love thee, vintage Pyrex. As if that wasn’t good enough, the entire upstairs is filled with used books, so I never have a problem getting Tim to come with me.

I always leave the place feeling inspired, and I rarely go away empty handed. This time I picked up a drawer full of old glass bottles… I’m obsessed with them lately. There are so many different shapes and sizes and colors.  I have a few ideas for a photo shoot involving these things. I have a lot of ideas for photo shoots, just not many people to model for me. I really need to start a search again, but I’m feeling shy. I need to get over it so I can get to work!

snoozingOverall, we had an excellent weekend with Miss Ellie, too. I know every parent says this, but I have it on good authority that my kid is the best kid ever. She was dragging me around the store at top speed (is there any other speed for a toddler?) and cackling like a mad scientist the entire time. It’s amazing how much energy she has! It’s draining sometimes, but also incredibly fun. I honestly didn’t think having a kid would be this cool. Rewarding, yes. Fulfilling, sure. But I didn’t expect to have this much fun chasing around an 18-month-old.

It helps that I’m starting to feel more like my old self–comfortable as a mom, but also as an individual with creative goals. For a while the two seemed mutually exclusive; there was just no time in the day to do everything, and obviously Ellie takes priority, so a lot of my projects were done in short spurts or put on the back-burner. Over the last six months it’s gotten easier to juggle work, Ellie, Tim, and creative projects. Ellie still needs lots of love and attention, but she’ll also play alone for longer stretches now. Tim and I are pretty good about judging when the other needs a break; he’s especially great about taking Ellie on “daddy/daughter” grocery shopping trips so I can have an hour to myself here or there. And we’ve made a point of scheduling more date nights, to remind ourselves that we’re not just parents–we’re still a couple, too. It’s a balancing act and I won’t go so far as to say I have it down, but I’ve definitely noticed an improvement!

the bathroom, part deux

I just realized I said I’d post pictures of the new bathroom two weeks ago and then I never did. Well, here you go:

99% done

It’s so nice to have our less-often-used stuff out of the way but easily accessible should we need it. We have plenty of room to add a third shelf and maybe some smaller shelves alongside the sink. It’s a glorified closet, but it’s DONE! Now I can focus all my worry on the other 599 projects we should be working on but aren’t.

Last week was rough, which is why I’ve been so quiet… Ellie had a cold that turned her from a sweet, darling little girl into Fussy McFusserton, Queen of Whinyland, so we spent a lot of time trying to keep her from imploding in frustration. She’s pretty much over it, but now I have a pesky sore throat and the sniffles. It just goes to show that sharing is caring. Hello, Caro, and welcome to Whinyland!

I’m itching to pick up my camera and play with some new photo props I bought at the Big Chicken Barn several weeks ago, but between bathroom renovations and sickness and custom work, I haven’t been in the right frame of mind. I’m taking a few days off this week, though, so hopefully I can shake this cold quickly and get some work done.

my ego vs. mushy fruit

Etsy Front Page, 4/11/2010

It’s been a good week for business. This morning my shops were on the front page of Etsy, thanks to an excellent Maine treasury curated by atelierfrost. Prior to that, my “rescue” doodle was the Pick of the Week at Illustration Friday, one of my Firefox Personas is currently featured on the front page of the official Personas Web site, and to top it all off, I have a photo in the brand new Regretsy book.

Obviously I’m excited about the excellent press, but there’s nothing like a one-year-old to keep you grounded and living in the moment. Ellie doesn’t care about my self-perceived success, as long as I can still read “Hop on Pop” and sing “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” (both of which I’ve done, endlessly, this weekend). It’s hard to tend to an inflated ego when you’re scraping two-day-old banana off the floor, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’ve also been exhausted all week. Sometimes it seems like I can’t catch my breath with everything that needs to be done, and there’s always something new to add to the list. Thankfully, Tim and I managed to carve out a couple hours for a night out on Saturday. We decided to see Date Night with the idea we could use a few good laughs, and the movie totally delivered on that promise.  Steve Carrel and Tiny Fey have excellent on-screen chemistry.

We also hung out with Danielle, who got me off my ass when all I wanted to do was sit and stare at my computer until my brain melted and leaked out my ears.  Thanks to her, I had the excellent good fortune to try beer-battered asparagus (OMG so yummy) and lemon cake with pudding and berries. I am absolutely stuffed.

Tonight, I’m going to turn in early and try to catch up on sleep. Tomorrow starts another busy week!

a weekend in photos

We initially made plans with Danielle to hang out on Saturday and do some serious barbequeing in this lovely spring weather. That in and of itself was great, but Danielle took it a step further by surprising us with a guest. We had the pleasure of hanging out with this dude for the weekend:

the easter bunny

That’s right–Danielle drove all the way to Boston and back on Friday afternoon to pick up my brother and bring him to see us. On a whim. We hadn’t seen Julian since Christmas, so this was a huge surprise. Excuse me while I gush, but I have the best friends and family ever.

As soon as I’d finished hyperventilating, we were off to the supermarket to grab supplies for a feast of epic proportions. We planned the menu as we went: Hamburgers, hot dogs, honey chicken tenders, potato salad, garden salad, potatoes with fried onions & cheese and deviled eggs. It was basically a heart attack on a plate and it was delicious.

meat prep potato packs in progress meat pile
oh, the deliciousness ellie directs the feast preparations
beware the bunneh

After we’d stuffed ourselves silly, Tim offered to stay home with Ellie so Danielle, Julian and I could go to a movie. We decided on Hot Tub Time Machine, which turned out to be surprisingly funny. Dumb, but I laughed a lot, which is more than I can say for most of the other movies I’ve seen recently.

We didn’t have any special plans for the next day, but we did do a little Easter egg hunt for Ellie. She was a good sport about it, although she kept giving us looks as if to say, “Uhh, what’s the big deal, guys? I find stuff all over the house all the time.” It was entirely worth it to see the look on her face when she realized the eggs had chocolates in them. She doesn’t get many sweet treats, so finding 4 M&M’s in an egg probably seemed like hitting the jackpot.

egg hunt egg hunt egg hunt egg hunt

All in all, an excellent weekend with some of my favorite people. I am so blessed!

IF and when

ellie n' meI’ve been participating in Illustration Friday over at the Calobee Doodles blog, and I’m enjoying it immensely. It’s keeps me motivated to doodle at least one thing every week. Follow me there if you’re into that sort of thing!

We’re spending the weekend at my folks, but before we left, we tried to get some photos of Elspeth and I. Looking at her baby album now, you’d think she was motherless. But it was the end of a long day for all of us, Elspeth was restless and cranky and wanted nothing to do with this particular photo shoot. So here I am with my daughter, in the one picture that worked from a whole series of blurry, poorly lit and pouty (Elspeth, not me) photos. Many thanks to Tim for putting up with us!

well, at least they’re not two-headed

woodlandsI probably jinxed myself by writing my sick post so early in the season, but I spent the weekend sleeping and cuddling with my new friend, the toilet. The toilet isn’t all that cuddly, actually, but I didn’t have much choice in the matter. I think the bathtub is jealous of our new, special relationship, but I can’t say I’m all that thrilled about it. The toilet is kinda clingy and co-dependent, and I’ve seen far too much of him in the last two months.

And no, I’m not pregnant! I’m just unlucky enough to have the pleasure of two stomach viruses in two months. Yay, me. At least the toilet’s getting some action.

Before The Sick fell upon me yet again, I worked up this little woodlands doodle. I freely admit to tracing from a photograph the deer you see in the distance, because I got frustrated when my version looked like hunchback aliens with tentacles for legs. I was reminded why I don’t draw for real–like with pen and paper–because I suck at it! Yes, I’m an illustrator who’s totally dependent on Illustrator. There’s a reason I use the word “doodles” instead of “drawings” or “illustrations,” and Attack of the Killer Alien Deer from Outer Space is one of them. Frolic away, little woodsy creatures, knowing you’re safe from my poor non-existent hand-eye coordination!

i am unstoppable!

Numbers poster in neutralLast weekend was a whirlwind of creative energy. So many ideas! So many new things I want to try! I’m blaming the strangely warm weather we’ve had this February. It’s pulled me out of my winter funk and straight into spring mania (I don’t have the heart to tell my muse it’s not really spring yet).

First things first–I got new glasses on Friday, and I am in love with them. They are purple and just geeky enough to be “me.” I tried to get a self-portrait but I am so out of practice I couldn’t do their awesomeness justice, so I’ll have to wait until Tim can help me. In the meantime, these are my new frames–I think “spiffy” is the appropriate word here.

Second, I’ve been doodling like mad since last Wednesday, and I’m ordering no less than 15 test prints from my printer this week (!!!)  That’s an insane amount of new work for me. I wrote about the new “numbers” colorways (above), and I took a few minutes to put up a new banner in the Calobee Doodles shop. There are several new prints and products coming soon, too! And I’ve been chipping away at custom orders amidst everything else, so all in all, I’m kind of floored by my own productivity. Where did this crazy-high-energy person come from? Can I keep her?

Finally, on Sunday we hung out with our long-lost friend Danielle and played lots of Wii. Tim picked up Super Mario Bros., which brought me back to my childhood–I spent many hours watching my brother play Super Nintendo, all the while yelling at him to go left, right, go back and get that coin, you missed a pipe, etc. I’m not only a backseat driver–I’m a backseat gamer. I can’t boss Tim around like I used to my bro, but it’s not for lack of trying.

All this fun and I didn’t even have to leave the house! Now, I must keep up with this productive streak and get back to work.