First, if you’ve never been here before, welcome.  This is a little place of ramblings about any and everything, not necessarily with correlation.   It’s like Seinfeld, but not nearly as funny.

Now, back to my CrossFit family and the community I’m falling in love with…

I understand why some people call it a cult (Google crossfit + cult).  I love it, I want to go every day (but my body doesn’t let me), it has me eating a completely different diet – see my beginnings here – (oh, how my 20 year-old self would be in disbelieve), and I can even speak this new jargon that, if I didn’t speak it, would want to make me roll my eyes.

This week my bruise is here:

Don't even tell me you can't see it, because it hurts!

The fact that it could be taken for a hickey is better than last weeks bruises on my wrists (from those kettlebell clean and presses) which could have been misconstrued as domestic abuse.

We’re (my CrossFit) is into the beginnings of another MVT challenge, and so I’m now off to thaw some grass-fed beef for fajitas (sans tortilla) tonight.

I realized I may need more than one pin cushion, or that having it on the machine may not always be the most handy, so I decided to make another.  Why do people pay $3+ for a pin cushion?  I was a little over-confident making this one (my 2nd project on my new sewing machine) so I wasn’t being as precise and it’s nowhere near perfect (not exactly a rectangle…), but as the thought to start over crossed my mind it was replaced with, “hey it’s a pin cushion, it’s good enough.”

I put elastic on this one too (in case you missed the first one), with the thought of it being a wrist pin cushion – just don’t push the pins in too far – ouch!

However, as I was putting it on I really liked it around my knuckles even more.

The elastic strap around the palm was quite comfy.

I decided my first project would be to make a pin cushion, just like it was the first project in 8th grade Home Economics class.  On Pinterest I had seen a link to this one that I thought was so smart, so I set out to make my own. See the tutorial here.

Here it is…

…and here it is set up on my machine

You can see I made the strap out of elastic instead of ribbon; I just felt that it would be sturdier, although perhaps not as pretty.  It’s also moveable so it can be placed in the most convenient location (or removed altogether).

Look at this awesome “box” of produce from my CSA this week.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having fresh, locally grown and DELICIOUS produce in my home.

Immediately after I repeated my mantra of “Kiya doesn’t need any more toys” at the pet store yesterday, I ran into this guy (who looks cuter in person).  Not only is he super cute, he doesn’t “squeak” but rather makes a sound…kind of like a moose.  I couldn’t resist him, and neither could Kiya the minute I unveiled him from my shopping bag at home (from another room).  He already had to have some stitches down his backside   What’s going to happen when maybe one day not all the toys coming in the house are for her.

Speaking of my canine child, don’t try to get her attention; she won’t give it to you.  There’s a couple of squirrels up that tree and she’s making sure they don’t try to take over the world.

Once upon a time.  No, sorry, this one is for real, and it starts with a girl named Kana.  (I’ve mostly kept the story the same as the original as to preserve its accuracy. Here’s the original.)

One day when Kana was in high school, she returned home to a lawn full of pink plastic flamingos.  This amount of flamboyance was way out of her mother’s decorating range, at least without having any seasonal touches such as bunny ears or Santa hats (see here…no really, click it), so WHERE THE FLOCK did these birds come from?

She found the explanatory note pinned to her front door, beginning with a statement of the obvious: “You’ve been Flamingoed!”  It was a creative fund-raiser for a local church; the note gave the number her family could call to have the flamingos removed–OR, for a donation, THEY could select the flamingos’ next port-of-call.  The flamingos magically migrated every few days to a new yard in town, providing good humor in asking people for money.  In fact, those outrageous birds created a fun sense of community, as all of those “in the know” got a giggle with each relocation. It didn’t matter to which church the flock actually belonged, as they landed in the yards of Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish families before they retired, presumably to warmer climates than her northern Idaho hometown.

This online Flamingo isn’t about money or donations, but rather about the sense of community that the blogging world creates.  Like myself, Kana started her blog expecting to have three readers: husband, Mom and Dad.  Instead, we’ve all been blessed with a new “family” online and spend WAY more time reading other people’s blogs than writing on our own.  As Kana said, “There’s a fantastic store of humor, wisdom, and insight out there, on whatever topic I’m in the mood to browse!”

So for those of you have made blogging so much more enjoyable by participating along with me and adding meaning by sharing your own thoughts on my usually trivial posts, I’d like to say YOU’VE BEEN FLAMINGOED!

• Billie Jo sharing her stories with My Life with the W-X BOY-Z
• Danielle embarking on a new type of marathon From 5K to Marathon
• Elle trying to come, see and conquer the world at Veni Vidi Vici
• everything Heather does is beautiful at Multiply Delicious
• Hilary’s day-to-day Love, Marriage & All Things Republican?
• Jeremy doing much more than running at B.D.J. Runs
• Laura inspiring me to try to be as good of a mom and crafter someday at TLEB in Texas
• Laura, even though you are no longer Oregon Bound please keep blogging
• Megan, newly planted at My Southern Garden
• Steven on his journey of Hundred Goals

Please take this Flamingo and pass it along.  Feel free to tell the story, stick this flamingo on your blog, or do something else with Flamingoey Fun to celebrate my THANKS to you for being part of my blogging community.

Just want to share the completed project photos:

and behind that trash can…

Aahhhhh, I love the feeling of simplifying and decluttering our home.

The area under the kitchen sink has long been bothering me.  See everything that was in there?

As you can imagine, it was not clean, neat nor organized under there either.  (Remember, Matt has lived in this condo for 10 years, and I’ve only joined him for the past three.)

After a little cleaning, Kiya and I took a trip to storage (She loves running around the storage warehouse almost as much as the car ride there.) and came home with just the few supplies needed to make this space bright and white.

Don’t look too closely.  First off, to get all the way to the back I had to contort my body (gonna feel that in my lower back later) and sometimes use my left hand.  Second, since this project is not worth removing plumbing, the painting is a little messy back behind that garbage disposal.  But I got the result I was looking for: clean and crisp.

As for all those items I pulled out…only those worthy enough will be put back in, such as the dish soap.  For cleaning, I’m planning on streamlining our entire system. One bottle for Wellness Mama’s All Purpose Cleaner (haven’t actually tried it yet so I’ll let you know how it fares), one for a diluted vinegar solution and one bottle for the chemical-laden Greased Lightening that Matt sometimes likes.

What about all the extra storage space toward the back?  Oh, that’s going to be the new home of the occasionally used kitchen appliances such as the crock-pot, food processor and blender.  So excited that they will finally have a designated home.  Here’s where they have been living, like vagabonds and creating an eyesore.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think the paint is about dry.

I also must admit that as I concluded my last Europe 2000 Memory post, I wasn’t sure how to address the next one.  Do I dish out all the details or do I skip the unexciting parts and go right to the good stories.  If I went with the latter, I may just skip Amsterdam altogether.  Here’s a picture to sum up our Amsterdam experience, along with Suzanne’s catch phrase.

Bum on Amsterdam

We went to the Anne Frank House, a Sex Museum, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, and spent some time drinking in the Red Light District…all while in the rain.  It was a cold, wet rain that made sightseeing miserable.

We stayed in a hostel in Amsterdam.  One of the few during our trip since we quickly learned we did not like them and it was just as affordable to stay in small private “pensions.”  The last night before we checked out I awoke to Suzanne saying “excuse me, that’s my bed.”  Apparently one of our Indian roommate’s hands had wondered onto her bed.  He proceeded to ask her if she wanted “to make friendship.”  My exact quote from my journal is “can you believe this guy?” and then he gave me his email in the morning before we left….Time to GO!

In the end, the last thing we wanted to do was a Heineken Brewery Tour but they were sold out for the day and we decided it was our cue to leave this place.  Next stop: BERLIN.

In case you’ve missed past posts in this series:

1. My New Project

2. Let’s See What’s in This Book

3. Just About Ready To Leave

4. Ready, Set, Go!