testing...

Just pondering the viability of blogging our Cycle Oregon adventure in September. Is it possible? How about ride photos? Hmmm...  So I'm at the local brew pub right now, and have successfully logged onto my blog account. It's tedious to use the tiny keyboard on my phone.

Home now, and typing with a real keyboard~
One big aspect of the ride is to get away from technology and the busy-ness of everyday life. Last time I purposely left my cell phone behind - and that was before I got my Blackberry that can do a few more tricks. It wasn't that difficult. However, a week without my computer/email was quite painful  - not only during the week of the ride, but after getting home and having to wade through so much email and catch up on digests.

As we'll be camping out for a week, I will not be dragging my laptop along. There are a few riders that blog throughout the week - I think a few are journalists. 

If I do decide to bring my phone, I'll have a way to post photos to Facebook along the ride. The number of friends that'll be joining us is growing, and it'd be a great way to communicate with them and coordinate. The Cycle Oregon folks have a cell phone charging station, which is nice.

Finished a Doll!

Today's the first "free" day I've had for awhile, so first thing this morning I made a list of things to do (believe me, it was pretty long), and have been checking them off one at a time. Right up there at the top was going through my stash and finding something suitable for Averill's hair.
I found some eyelash yarn that was particularly challenging to knit, and had to pull out my knitting reference books again to figure out how to cast on yarn (and cast off).

Tomorrow we'll be celebrating the last of our mini Christmas observances, so it's off to the store to shop for groceries. Then I need to do my exercises (yes, still keeping that New Year's Resolution), do some homework for my online "Soul Restoration" class through the Brave Girls Club - and that's it! Whew!

Cycle Oregon!

It's been 3 years since we participated in the best week-long bicycle ride in the country - Cycle Oregon, so we decided to commit to doing it again this year. The ride is in September, and the route will be announced at the Big Kick-off Party February 8, at the Nike campus in Beaverton. We're in the process of talking some our friends into doing it with us, which will it even more fun.

I participated in this ride in 1988, 1992, 2006, and 2007 - in various stages of fitness. This year will be a first - one of my boys will be doing it with us. Of course, he's more fit than I've ever been or ever will be. Achieving the goal of riding at least 1000 miles this summer before the big event will make the ride much more enjoyable. Now the question is, which bike to ride?

The Oregon landscape is absolutely gorgeous. I try to photograph as I ride (it's not a race, you know), and have set up albums on my picturetrail sites:  2006 and 2007.

Holiday Santa (my 400th doll!)

The ER Holiday Party is finally over, and it was great having so many friends and family together to celebrate. The auction was a success, with proceeds to go to some of the folk we see in the ER that have so much less than we do. I'm not sure how much money was raised last night.class.My friend and coworker Tiffani won this year's Santa. He was made using a pattern called "Santa Had A Little Lamb" by "Hand Made With Love." Not sure how old this pattern is. I had to search Google for the designer's name - Pat Baumgartner (which isn't on the pattern cover), and found quite a few of her patterns HERE.

The ER band played last night, too. We rented a UHaul to transport all the music gear to and from the venue - worth every penny. Now we've got to put the music room back together. We just finished watching the video. Don't know why I get so uncomfortable and fidgety watching myself perform.

It's never too late for Santa...

I make at least one Santa doll per year. It's become a tradition that I make a mystery (Santa) doll for our annual Emergency Department Christmas/holiday party and auction (proceeds go to needy individuals/families identified by ED staff). I think I've done this for the past 15 years or so, and many of the Santa dolls (except for the very early ones) are featured on my website in the Santa Gallery.

For the first time, our holiday party will be held during the month of January - this coming Saturday, to be exact. I got a pretty decent start on said doll yesterday. I try to use a different pattern every year, or design a new one, if time allows. This year's doll is from a pattern by "Handmade with Love" called "Santa had a Little Lamb." I'm not going to post a photo until the party and auction is over, as gifts are auctioned off sight-unseen. That just adds to the fun.

Friday is our last band rehearsal for the party's entertainment. Fingers crossed that all goes well.

Happy New Year!

It's another New Year, with another list of Resolutions. Always at the top of my list is to (1) lose weight and (2) get in shape. I want to look and feel better on my 50th birthday in February than I did on my 49th. So I decided to get a head start in December - not really abstaining from holiday goodies but being a little more aware of what I put in my mouth, and focusing more on being more active.

I took the plunge and bought the P90X 12-disk program. I've got a few friends that have been doing it and I'd while I'd heard that it was really difficult, it also yielded some pretty good results. Yesterday was the first day of my 5th week of doing the program, and I'm down 10 pounds and am a bit more toned. Many more pounds to go.

My other Resolution is to complete the 8 or so unfinished dolls that have been gathering dust in my studio. Last year that number was a bit higher, so I made some gains during 2010. It's also been quite some time since I designed a new doll and published the pattern, so that's on my list.

I think that's about it. It does me no good to make a long list of Resolution, because I'm just setting myself up for failure. I think I can do this.