the haps round here

hi all! thought i'd drop in and clue you in on what I've been up to lately.

first, I told you I can knit, right? I can mostly knit! here's the project I've been working on...which will either one day be a scarf...or just a reminder of my remedial skills at the start =) its a nice cozy charcoal wool on size 9 needles.

also, I made a little piece of art for my office/craft/sewing room...this is one I've had on my mind for a long time.

the quote seems to have gained some popularity since I first read Slaughterhouse Five, but i've always loved it.

i bought a plain canvas and painted it all over with Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic paint in Payne's Gray. I let that dry over night, and then I did the lettering in Liquitex Parchment.

I kept things semi-straight (didn't want it to be too perfect!) with my gridded cutting board and a ruler.

I'm super happy with the final product. its a melancholy quote, but it makes me smile every time I look at the painting.

In other womanly arts, I made some amazing cookies yesterday. they are really simple:

1/2 cup butter
6 TBSPs brown sugar
1 TSP vanilla
1 cup oat floar
1 cup almond flour

That's it! Mix it up, drop those suckers on a tray (i used some parchment paper too), 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Delicious!

Finally, I started P90X2 yesterday! Yesterday was X2 Core, and today was Plyocide. I didn't go for any of the bells and whistles gear that BeachBody sells (medicine balls, foam rollers, etc), but it seems like I'll get more out of the workout if I do. I know I can pick them up cheaper at Dick's Sporting Goods, so I'll likely be making a trip there this week.

This is a very different workout than the first, with some similarities. The set up is the same, Tony and the "kids" in a similar studio. A lot of the stretches are now focused on the foam roller and stability ball, but you can revert to what you learned in P90X and get by fairly well.

Plyocide, despite its name, is actually easier to get through than P90X Plyo, in my opinion. But I feel like its a better workout, in some way I can't quite describe. We'll see how sore I am tomorrow!

This system is also different in that it is a little more self-paced. There are three stages, and you could progress through each in 3 weeks, following with 1 week of recovery, like the original. Or, you can stay on one for 6 weeks, and do 10 days of recovery if that's what you need.  It's based around building up a near mastery of each section before moving on, while maintaining the muscle confusion philosophy.

Overall it feels really great to have a whole new set of workouts to do! I'll let you know how it goes!

Well, off to enjoy the last few hours of the weekend...sad.