How Many of Me

Thanks to fancythis, I now know how many of me (both old and new) exsist...

First name + Maiden name:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 266 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

First name + married name:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 13 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Santa Fe, NM

So, over President's Day weekend... we lived it up right. On a trip i just dreaded, we went to Santa Fe, NM to go snowboarding. I was terrified. Completely terrified. Yet, after three lessons... I was able to make it down "Easy Street" a few times without falling on my face. It was a great time. I can't wait to go again. I look like a pro (not really). Here are some photos. Have a good hump day, and rest of the week.

11,000 something feet...

On the ski lift... Matt takes good pictures.
I don't take as good pictures...

On the Ski Lift.

I'm totally a snowboarder now.... sort of.

I watched her drown

... as if I was watching myself...

I've felt like vomiting all day. How can so little support come from something so valued... so guaranteed? I'm unsure of its rarity, but it seems to be weaving a very ugly and fine web in my head.

Shit... shit on this day.

Thank God for its close.

every angel is terrifying

She rides the road... streamlined thought process. The mile markers pass, unnoticed. The alternating dashed and solid lines in the center blur. She thinks of unspeakables... she imagines life differently with such unspeakables.

Life with a different mate...

without a mate...

Why must she ponder such shit? Life is no where near unbearable... but restless somewhere in a cloudy tolerable. A peak of her reflection reveals a distant scar on her pupil... which is quickly ignored with a blink. Long has she pondered its approximate appearance, but never found an answer... nor a reason. She chooses to ignore her weakness...

"Fleeting moments in life just seems to show up," she says... to no one. "And disappear just as mysteriously, and expectantly." As if He, hears.

She approaches life with certain torturous expectation.

"Mine is a life of turmoil," she thinks out loud.

She hits the yellow line dividing directions of a two lane highway, and realizes... she has no memory of the last five miles.

She has no choice... it seems. She likes being certain, but Life prefers uncertainty.

Almost home. A reason to rejoice.

"Tonight"

I love this song. I'm unsure the reason, but it makes me warm. It's a beautiful song... even if you aren't a country music fan. The melancholy lyrics are of comfort... comfort in "the wrong", feeling strangely right. There's something to behold in all its fault... a human being.

"Tonight"- Sara Evans
If I had a weakness
You sure found it tonight
Some hidden desperation
You saw floatin' in my eyes
Moments just like these baby
Wrong can feel so right
And I don't wanna go home tonight
I've held it all together
As long as I can
There's pieces of me fallin'
Right into your hands
And don't the lies come easy baby
When the truth just ain't worth the fight
No I, I don't wanna go home tonight

[Chorus]
So lay me down easy
And hold on tight
And tell me I'm the only one you see tonight
Lonely woman, lonely man
There's just some things only lonely understands

I might be just a sinner
Who wants to be a saint
One justifies the reason
Oh, one understands the pain
And I don't know what's wrong baby
And I sure don't know what's right
But I don't wanna go home tonight

[Chorus]
Click here to hear the song: http://www.saraevans.com/pages/music/restless.htm

Pictures

Well... well... welll... I'm an ARtist!

Here it is! The outside is made from the back of Matt's BDU top.

Some pictures of the inside; two shirt pockets from the top of Matt's old BDUs.

The tag says, "Handmade by: ", and I'll put my name in. The lining is a very pretty yellow. It matches well.

Show and tell is over.

Sewing machine madness & Nike+iPod

About... let's say four months ago, my mother-in-law bought me a sewing machine. I wanted it... so, she bought me one. She's good like that...

Anyway, the presence of its "nobs-o-plenty", plugs, pedals, and bobbins galore had successfully intimidated me... that is, of course, until today. I bought a pattern... tons of fabric, thread, needles, and pins, and I just went at it. It took me about an hour to locate a manual online (I lost mine), and then another 30 or so minutes to thread the damn bobbin, but after I successfully stitched together the outside part of the bag... I was psyched (enough to walk across the street barefoot to show my neighbor)!

So, after a long day of bending over the machine of a million stitch designs, I have produced a messenger bag. It was quite an undertaking for a beginner such as myself. But, I must say, I've done quite a job. The best part, you ask? Well, a pretty yellow lining, and one of husband's old BDU (battle dress uniform or better known as fatigues) sets constructs the piece.

Pictures soon.

Next, as the title indicates.. Nike+iPod is a really cool (also really expensive way) to track your running/jogging workouts. What is needed: iPod Nano (any generation), Nike+ shoes, Nike+iPod transmitter/receiver kit. The kit is only about $30, but to get a decent pair of shoes you have to spend at least $ 90. Then, there's the Nano. The cheapest one bought new would be the 2GB,and I believe it runs about $150.00. Luckily, I got most of that for Christmas. :)

So, a small transmitter fits beneath the left shoe of the Nike+ shoe (already cut out holes)... and the receiver goes into the port at the bottom of the Nano. It tracks your pace, distance, and calories burned (based on weight). It doesn't do heart rate... which is probably already in the works. It has male or female voice encouragement (so they call it; all she/he really does is give you a progress update... pace, distance left, etc.). After loading your workouts up to www.nikeplus.com , it displays your whole run on a grid (sort of)... showing you where you slowed down, sped up, etc. Today, I could point out on the grid exactly where the wind started to pick up. It's pretty sweet, and makes me want to run farther each day... and, well that's because the other day when I completed my longest workout today (using the Nike+ system), Lance Armstrong congratulated me! Seriously, here I am, huffing and puffing, and in my ear I hear, "Hi, this is Lance Armstrong. Congratulations, you've just completed your longest workout yet!" It was cool. I'm waiting to see who will congratulate me next... that's a tough one to beat.

If you are interested, I'm "MrsMcGraw" on nikeplus.com. I think you can see my stats.

Idiots, please raise your hand so I can see you... clearly.

*Vanessa raises hand*

So, we just finally got into the Netflix thing... and, well, we got our first movie... watched it... then, I got all excited... ohhhhhh, let's pop it in the mail now so we can get another movie! WOO HOO!

That would be great and all... if I hadn't put the wrong damn DVD in the return envelope.

*Vanessa lowers hand in shame*