180 seconds.

From the day my Princess was born, everyone who met her and saw her little face said "she looks just like her daddy". Which is lovely and scary all at once. Lovely, because, "AWWWWW... what a sweet thing to say" and Scary because Mr. F. would not make an attractive female. Just sayin.

It is with relief I can say that she has not grown to be a hairy, large, Viking-esque young woman. *whew* (Not that I wish to insult hairy, large, Viking-esque women. Not at all. You go girl. *eeep*) What people were referring to was many of the Nordic traits she inherited from that side of the family. Broad cheeks, sloped nose, small mouth... things which look lovely and feminine on her, thankfully. **Picture removed because I was alerted that some creepy person found this post by searching "women with small mouths". Fricken creep.** Things which also make her look "not like me".



And so, I guess as she has grown -- while I've always seen her as MINE -- I rarely see parts of "me" in her. To be certain, from time to time, someone will comment that she looks like me or reminds them of me. But if I'm honest, it's not something I've ever seen for myself and I find myself saying in disbelief, "really!?".

Which is why I was surprised -- shocked, even -- a few weeks ago.

The Princess and her girlfriends will often make entertaining little video shorts. I'm sure they have dreams of youtube stardom except that some grouchy Mum won't let them post videos online. Stupid grouchy mum.

This particular video was actually pretty hilarious and starred the Princess as a stereotype. She was wearing a short wig and acting her part rather flawlessly, complete with accent -- this kid has pretty terrific comedic timing (sigh, likely something else from her father). But while my outer self was busy laughing and enjoying the show, my inner self was staring slack-jawed at the little playback screen.

It was like watching myself.

So many little mannerisms and facial expressions. Her eyes. Even her voice and speech.

Holy sh!#.

I found myself actually holding back tears while looking back and forth from this screen to her face... crazy stuff, this. I had never, ever seen this before. Had never realized how deeply this would touch me.

A very profound 3 minutes, my friends. 3 minutes that I am super thankful for.

Carpal Tunnel, much?

I just finished up two projects in the last couple days. My league is holding a contest to redesign our team and league logos. I had planned all along to slowly work on a couple entries over a week or so, but in typical Obsessive Flutterby fashion, nailed these down in one long stretch for each. Really only about 3 - 5 hours for each; but the vector rendering process is super detailed and requires huge fine-motor control. My poor mouse hand is about dead and I'm sure tomorrow will bring an awesome bout of Carpal Tunnel my way as my entire hand is numb and shaky at the moment.

But dang... I still love this kind of work. I might not be amazingly skilled at it, but I am happy with what I submitted and hope to maybe be awarded one of the logos. In a way, I'm feeling a little sentimental about it and kinda hoping that something I contributed to the league will live on after I'm not skating anymore. I played for both teams at one time or another and would be honored to have the girls skating with my CREATIVE GENIUS (*cough cough* *smirk*) on their jerseys. :) There are a ton of talented artists in the derby community and in our league, though, it's hard to say how many entries there will be and whether mine will even stand a chance. Regardless, it was nice to immerse myself in this kind of rendering work again.

This is the logo I designed for the Gravediggers, our B Level Team. I'm still not totally happy with it... might do some refining on it and change up the ring or something.


And this one is for our Sugar Skull All-Star Team.

Updated Hair Saga.

For the 1.2 people who read my blog and care about hair/growinghair/notcuttinghairoffinafitoffrustration, etc.

THIS product:


is the BOMB DOT FREAKIN COM.

No lie.

If there has been one hair product I have used in my WHOLE LIFE that I could describe as miraculous... this is it.

In pretty much one week I've gone from wanting to chop my dry, frizzy hair all off a'la Britney to frankly not being able to keep my hands from running through my locks cause they are silky soft and shiny. I'm using my straightener about only half as much as before. And I actually LIKE my hair.

Unreal.

Whoever this Coppola guy is, he's a genius. I would totally have his babies. Now, if that isn't a line for an infomercial, I just don't know what is. :)

Adore.

As of tonight, I am full-fledged card-carrying Trainer in my derby league.

OK... so there's no cards. But there should be. I would carry one.
Just sayin.

I've ran practices before as part of my apprenticeship... but nothing could prepare me for how AWESOME it would feel to actually run My Own Practice. I love teaching/coaching -- it's always been one of those things that lights me up... one of those vocation things where you kinda feel made to do something. And to be able to do that with something that I truly love doing like I love doing derby. Well... it kinda rocked my world.

I'm still smiling.

My Prrecccioussssss...

Please excuse me while I spend quality time with my cellular device.

I may call this a honeymoon. Cause I can't keep my hands off of it.

:D

Hurts So Good.

I finished my first full CrossFit workout tonight.

I knew I was in for a crazy hurt when our "warmup" was a workout. Start with 3 rounds of Cindy.

See, CrossFit names their workouts like we name hurricanes. I guess cause they hit you like a storm, or something. Cindy consists of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats. She's a mini-hurricane, but enough to get the blood flowing and wondering what the real thing will be like.

Our coach further entertained herself by making us do 2 rounds of side-side jumps and something called "quick hands" which is sorta like a pushup, but isolating the work to each side of your body at a time, so much harder and not something I would look forward to doing again. I'm sure we'll be doing it again, though.

Then... on to the real Work.

5 rounds (for time, which means you gotta find your Hustle)

20 Kettlebell Swings (25 lbs)
10 Box Jumps (24" height)
10 Push Press (45 lbs)

I loved it and I hated it.

I was the only one of our group that actually did the box jumps. Everyone else modified to step-ups on shorter boxes. And I am proud of myself for that. Not only did it make the workout hugely more difficult but it was a total Head Thing for me that I overcame. I've always felt that I was a bit "vertically challenged", so to speak. And attempting and MISSING a box jump? Is an immediate ticket to Bloodied, Messed Up Shin World. So yeah, it was a big deal for me to clear that box for all five rounds. And the Push Press is just one of those things that feels so super hardcore when you do it, so that was pretty cool, too. I mean, you have to love it when your workout makes you feel like a powerlifter. Even when you're clearly not one.

p.s. This was my 100th post on this second incarnation of my lil blog. I really couldn't come up with anything better... sad, I know.

Next Stop Derby-ville

Almost eight weeks ago I laced up my first pair of derby quad skates and boarded the derby train. They were shiny and new and I loved them.

They aren’t looking so new anymore. I’ve had to start taping my toes and cinch straps because they were getting gouged and burned by the sport court and other girls’ skates. They are lovingly scarred and a good bit worn already and I think I love them even more. I’ve logged close to 100 hours on them.

They may smell just a little bit funky. But I love my Pirate Skull hockey tape.

Last night marked the very last hour that they were ever worn by Derby Fresh Meat. Cause today I got the email I was waiting for. --my Fresh Meat days are done. On Thursday I receive my team placing and position.

WOO-FREAKING-HOO!

All of us Fresh Meat worked our butts off for this, and, whether or not everyone made the cut, I’m so proud of every one of us. We are gonna be a force to be reckoned with, given a little bit of time and seasoning. We are a hot mess of Crazy Tough and I can’t wait to see how things gel once we start practicing as a team and testing out the track in some bouts. There’s a couple travel dates on the agenda this summer and our own Derby version of the Labour Day Classic that we’ll be hosting in the fall… I can hardly believe that people will be buying tickets and coming to watch us (...Me! *ACK!*) compete. Just thinking about skating out onto the track with the girls... music pounding and the announcer shouting our derby names as we burn that first lap around the track... goosebumps.

I’ve got my derby name submitted to the international roster, and when I finally get the OK, I’ll have to give my persona an official introduction here in the blogosphere. Stay tuned!

The other day I came across this gem of a video from ESPN, a bit of a feature on derby and what it’s all about. Enjoy.

Dreamin'

I know that some think that Style is something you are born with; an inherent set of inclinations and preferences that you carry with you through life. I'm finding that style is something you grow into.

And it's frustrating the heck out of me.

Cause the old Me (OK, really, that would be the Young Me, but bear with me, here, people...) was a slave to the trend and all into being sleek and modern just for the sake of ensuring continued job security for IKEA employees of the world. It's a style I can still appreciate from an artful view, but I'm finding that I don't feel at Home in it like I used to.

Maybe it's growing older (maturer? Ha! Don't think so.) that tunes you in to your inner esthetic, but I'm often surprised to find the environments that nurture and comfort and inspire me are actually very simple and rustic. I crave small, cozy spaces filled with texture and color and the warmth of wood and stone and clay earth. I love the intimacy of handwrought features; the textured glasses and the unique reclaimed pieces. I love simplistic, straightforward design with natural materials and lots and lots of sunlight. Organic, natural and solid.

I love This. This compact little home in Dunedin, New Zealand that I found on a real estate website. 1000 sq ft and three bedrooms and surrounded by the most beautiful nature one could imagine. And, while chances are slim that New Zealand and I will ever cross paths; I'm thinking maybe I'll email the owners to purchase the blueprints. Cause maybe one day I'll get to build a little house that belongs in my dreams.