Nope, I Didn’t Die

I made it through last week, and most of this week.  Although this week’s been rough.  Hopefully that won’t last any more than a few more days.

So, basically, I got everything canned last week that I wanted to can.  With the exception of some tomatoes, which we ended up freezing, because I had been trying to do too much and had had a meltdown after several mishaps (lost 2 JARS to thermal cracking.  TWO JARS!  Man, that was tough).  So, last week I canned 4 pints and 1 half-pint of salsa verde (which Dad declared good), 4 half pint and one 4 oz. jar of raspberry jelly.  And 1 pint of pickled jalapenos (lost the half pint to thermal cracking).  Plus whatever I ended up doing on Monday (see previous post).

I am tired and slightly under the weather (a blah mood), so not a long post tonight.

Over the past two days I have begun working on my piano arrangement of Owl City’s Good Time!  It’s been pretty fun so far, but all I’m currently doing is figuring out chords and melody.  Once I finish that, the real fun begins – the actual arranging.  The chords appear to be basically the same throughout the whole song, and I have the first verse and chorus melody written out.  I might post a recording of it when it’s done, if anyone’s interested.  But that won’t be for awhile.  🙂

Well, I need to get myself off to bed (too many late nights + too many early mornings + too much sugar = one emotional and unhappy girl), so enjoy the photos.

Till next time!

~Allison

Last Wednesday – What canning looks like when I have a bad day – all you need is a little Izze!  I LOVE that stuff.

The salsa verde

Saturday – the raspberry juice

Making the jam/jelly

Boiling

Finished

 

Today – arranging

Piano and Sunlight

The sun comes in oh-so-beautifully in the late afternoon, and lands right on the piano

It looks really pretty, but if you are trying to practice it hits you right in the eye

(Please excuse three pictures of the same thing.  Couldn’t narrow it down any farther.)

These Days

I made my bed this morning for the first time in 2? 3? days.  It’s just been like that lately.  I don’t get to make it in the morning, and then, when I do have time in the mid-afternoon, I just sort of look at it and think, “I’m going to be getting into it in a few hours anyway.  Is it really worth it to make it, then mess it up?”

So I’ve been leaving it.

These past few days have been filled with school, piano lessons and practice, reading, and the like.  Really, it’s been filled with life.

Something I’ve been thinking/reading quite a bit about the past few days is makeup and skin care.  Clothes and style.

I have been reading one book on beauty, and I have several more that I am looking at.  And then there was that book about color.  It just confused me.

Am I warmed-toned, or cool-toned?  Pink or peach?  What color are my eyes?  What is the color of my face when I blush?

And don’t get me started on clothes.

Mom tried to take me out clothes shopping the other day, but we couldn’t find anything.  Well, at least not what we were looking for.  We were trying to find some everyday long-sleeve shirts.  We ended up with a sweater (I have lots of sweaters) and a short-sleeved jacket and a knee-length skirt, all of which were on clearance.

(I want to be very, very clear – I am extremely happy with the things we did find.  But they don’t help incredibly when one has mostly short-sleeved shirts and sweaters, and it is 40*F out.)

And on top of it, I didn’t totally know what I was looking for.  It can be hard – I have a picture in my head, but of course we couldn’t find that, and I couldn’t describe it.  So combine frustration from looking at TONS of clothes, trying on lots, most things not working, and add the fact that I ate grain beforehand, which was altering my mood.  Basically, I was all but crying in the department store, and feeling so bad for my mom, who had taken me out shopping, and was putting up with me totally loosing it and us not finding anything, and she stayed so cheerful the whole time.  (You’re the best, Mom!)

And then I started looking at my dog and thinking how much easier it would be if we all just had fur.

(Thinking about it now, that might even be more work.  Tons of conditioner and several hair brushes.)

And hair?

We’re not even going there.

But things are starting to look a little bit brighter.

We walked into a different clothing store, and it looked like it had potential.  Not only that, but in the fifteen minutes that we were there, Mom found a cute blue jacket for me.

I think I need to go to a few more thrift stores.  Inexpensive clothes.  The best kind (if they are cute!).

And the beauty book I am reading is making a whole lot of sense, and not asking any questions about my coloring, and I am starting to feel like I could choose makeup without knowing if I am warm-toned or cool-toned.

And I am starting to look on the brighter side with doing my hair (like I am going to be trying a few things).

Soon I am hoping to start making some of my own products – lotion, cream, makeup remover, and face soap.  We’ll see where it goes from there.  I’m not sure I am ready to jump into making my own cosmetics, although that does sound fun.

And on another happy note, I started exercising again this week, after two weeks off (pre-Men’s Advance and post-Men’s Advance).  It’s been really, really great.

Well, I started this post just to post a few photos that I took today, and all that just came out.  If you’ve read this far, thanks for listening to my rambles and rants.

It’s good to get it all out there.

But, I must get to bed if I want to get up.

And I was only going to spend 5 minutes to post some pictures.

🙂

Here they are.

My new jacket.  Love it next to my purple wall.

I was prepping the beans for tomorrow’s dinner, and this one kidney bean was in the bag with the black beans.

When I went in my drawer to grab something, one of my hair bands was in the perfect shape of a treble clef.  I moved it out carefully, and took a picture, so I could show you.  🙂

 

Good night!

Trusting His Grace,
Allison

Yes, I Can

When I was 10, 11, and 12,  I used to love to crochet.  And I played piano, usually for an hour a day.  I loved crocheting and piano.  Crocheting was more of a hobby, but piano was something I did a little more seriously.  I somewhat viewed it as something that I always wanted to do (although I couldn’t have articulated it then).  I loved piano.

I loved to sit down and just play.  Songs I had learned, books of songs from musicals.  Just play for hours.

My family joked that I was glued to the piano bench.

But when I was twelve, my wrists started hurting.

I can’t exactly remember when, but one day my right (I think) wrist started hurting.  Then the left started.

This lasted for about a month.  It was December, and I didn’t get to do the present wrapping.  (I usually wrap all the presents for my parents, except my own.  I think they have Drake wrap those.)  I was pretty inactive, doing lots of reading, and not being able to do a whole lot else.

But then it went away for awhile.  I had already quit crocheting, and although I did dabble in it a few times over the next few years, I never really started crocheting again.

I was able to continue playing piano until I was 14, when my piano teacher married and moved away.  Although I took a few more lessons here and there, I wasn’t able to seriously play seriously anymore.  It aggravated my wrists.

At first this was really hard.  Mostly because my wrists hurt if I did anything.  Sometimes they hurt so bad that I couldn’t even read a book – it hurt to hold the book and turn the pages.

We tried all kinds of different things – some seemed to help, others didn’t.  My wrists seemed to get gradually better.  I was able to type again.  I was able to cook and bake.  But they always hurt if I tried to play piano or crochet.

This bugged me some times worse than others.  Sometimes I would feel as if playing piano was a season – one that was now over.  It would hurt a little, but, hey, if that’s the way it was, that’s the way it was.

At other times it was so difficult.  Listening to classical piano made me sad, because it reminded me of what I couldn’t do.  Seeing other people play also reminded me of this.  All these things just seemed to start a recording in my mind that repeated:

“You can’t.  You can’t.  You used to, but you can’t.  You can’t.  You can’t.”

And I really didn’t have anything to say in defense.

Because I felt like I couldn’t.

I was still teaching piano off and on through these years.  There were times when I would enjoy it.  But then there were times when I would think, “What good is a piano teacher who can’t even play the piano?”

A few weeks ago I decided to play the piano a little bit every day.  I was able to prove to myself that I could still read music (a skill that I thought I was losing).

And it didn’t hurt – at least not at first.

I also tried crocheting again.  I made a dishcloth, and then I started to think about what else I could make.

I decided to crochet a bagful of cupcakes to give to a little friend who loves cupcakes.  So I started.

I finished the first cupcake on Monday evening.  I set it on top of my bookcase, where I can see it.

And you know what it says to me?

“You can.  You can.  You CAN.”

Although trying to play piano and crocheting has caused my wrists to hurt some (they are hurting right now), I am hoping to be able to work through it, so I can at least play piano again.

And it’s so nice to have something to prove to myself that I can.

Thank you, Lord, for allowing me this.

The cupcake on top of my bookcase

 

All finished!