Pretty Pretty Bang Bang

After writing my last post I realized that I do have a lot to talk about regarding last weekend. We love Des Moines, not just because it’s home to the World’s Cutest Children, but because there is so much to do. Luckily, Ralph and Blair keep up with the goings on in the area and are always up for an outing.

Friday the girls were at school so Ralph and I did some retail therapy while the guys hung out together. We didn’t green up the Des Moines economy too much, but did find some cute summer pieces at Gap and J. Crew. Later, we took the girls birthday cupcake shopping while the guys installed the new needle and cartridge Blair bought for the stereo. After leaving the bakery, and the Lydia “It’s Raining Men” incident, we went downtown to try and locate a sculpture studio Steve and I planned to visit on Sunday. While turning the corner to go home we spotted a new place called Funky Finds. The entire window was full of fabulous mid-century items so we stopped to check it out. Good thing too as it was full of terrific furniture, accent pieces, clothing and what-nots from the 50s, 60s and 70s. I found a great lamp for $10 and vowed to return next time I’m in town. They had just opened and were thrilled we’d stopped by. I think they’ll do quite well. Friday night was the big Uncle Steve Birthday Celebration complete with decorations and cupcakes. The girls went to bed and the adults enjoyed the newly improved stereo along with Blair’s early birthday gift, the Devo live album we scored at Record Days in April. I have to admit even I thought it was a great LP and Steve and I both lamented we hadn’t picked up a copy for ourselves.

Saturday, we walked down to the Des Moines Art Center where I have my jewelry in the gift shop. The girls love to point it out whenever we visit and I’m impressed by the care the museum takes to display my wares. This was the first time, however, we took the time to actually go through the museum and it was impressive. The current draw is the huge Jackson Pollock piece “Mural” on loan from Iowa City. While not a huge Pollock fan, I did love it and found the accompanying video to be fascinating. Despite the messy look of his work, each piece was deliberately created. I loved watching him paint with a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Other fabulous works included several Isamu Noguchi pieces and an Andy Warhol I hadn’t seen. I was unimpressed by the current exhibition by artist Tony Feher, but I’m sure I’m just not sophisticated enough to “get” a pile of marbles and pennies on the floor. Or plastic bottles filled with colored water hanging from a rope. And don’t get me started on crumpled mylar stapled to the wall. I’m just not his audience. But it was fun and the girls loved walking around.

Later that afternoon, Ralph took the girls to opening day at the pool while Steve, Blair and I did some record shopping. I have to laugh at the differences in taste between Blair and I. He’s a sophisticated collector of 80s rock and Devo while I’m always looking for great jazz and anything that’s a little off or cheesy. My weird tastes were rewarded as I found an album to complete my collection of Halloween-related album art, two Cal Tjader LPs I didn’t have, an Esquivel in playable condition and a terrific Walt Wanderly doing Bossa Nova. I also scored my very favorite Marshall Crenshaw, “Mary Jean and 9 Others,” on vinyl. All in all, I got 17 albums for $21. A good haul. Blair ended up empty handed but we had a good time.

Saturday night, the girls stayed home with a babysitter while the adults went out on the town to celebrate Steve’s birthday. We started at one of our favorite places, The Royal Mile, for beers and appetizers. For a pub, they serve great food and have an excellent beer selection. After that, we went to Django, another favorite, for dinner. The special was lamb ravioli and Ralph and I wasted no time deciding that would be dinner. Thankfully, it was an appetizer-size portion so we didn’t have to worry about overeating. Because we were being careful with our food intake and were taking our time, we decided to indulge in dessert and coffee at Alba, an upscale place known for its great food. The kitchen was closed by the time we arrived, but we they were still serving dessert. The four of us split two desserts which was just enough to enjoy. Around 11p.m. it was time to go home and declare the evening a success.

Sunday came too soon and it was time to go home. We stopped by B Modern to see our friend, sculptor James Bearden. We oh’d and ah’d over his new work and I started mentally saving money for a new piece. After a long drive home I was happy to see my fuzzy children and sleep in my own bed. Fortunately, 3/4 of the Des Moines crew will be joining us in a few weeks so I won’t have to wait long to see their smiling faces.

I’ve been busy, but not productive over the last few weeks so I haven’t written. I’ve thought about a post or two, but haven’t taken the time or the effort to gather my thoughts and put them together. So here’s what I’ve been doing while I was gone:

Steve had a meeting in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago and I tagged along so I could spend time with my college roommate, Suzanne. Although she had to work, we still managed to spend a lot of time together. As usual, time together included a trip to Sephora where we played with all sorts of fun, colorful things and a trip to Ulta for nail polish. Suzanne is one of my only friends who agrees that a great time can be had with a bottle of nail polish and a bottle of wine. By the time I was ready to leave, my toes were a lovely shade of turquoise and her nails were a vibrant orange. Alas, three days is never enough time together but it was a great trip. I even scored a terrific orange ball lamp at a local flea market for under $20. Yay!

Last weekend was another trip as we made our annual Memorial Day drive to Des Moines to see the World’s Cutest Children aka our nieces. As always, they delighted us with their antics and enthusiasm. The weekend included an early celebration of Steve’s birthday and the girls were more than happy to decorate the back porch with an Avengers theme and indulge in birthday cupcakes. One of the highlights of the weekend was entertainment provided by Lydia. Ralph, the girls and I had gone to the bakery to get cupcakes and it had started to sprinkle while we were inside. As we were leaving, Lydia raced down the stairs into the rain and started singing, “It’s Raining Men.” I was cracking up and asked Ralph how she knew the song. Ralph had no idea but guessed it must have been on their dance video game. Too funny.

Tomorrow is Steve’s birthday and we’re celebrating by having dinner with his parents. I thought he might want dinner out, but he said smoked ribs sounded the best to him and I couldn’t argue. Pete knows how to make terrific ribs so it will be a treat for us both.

See? I told you I haven’t been doing much!

Early last week, my mother-in-law Diana called me to say she’d been working in her yard and had about 300 flower bulbs she wanted to give us. I talked to Steve and we decided the area South of our house where nothing grows, would be a perfect place for a random assortment of flowers. Trouble is, we’re not yard people. We don’t really do much in the way of landscaping and such. It’s not that we don’t want our yard to look nice, it’s just that we don’t usually have the time, tools or knowledge to make it so.  Diana said she and Pete (my father-in-law) would be happy to help plant. A very generous gesture, but I can’t imagine anyone would love to come over and plant stuff in my yard, especially when the temperature is hovering near 90 degrees.

But they arrived Sunday mid-morning with a car full of tools, buckets of bulbs and a lot of enthusiasm. Diana had a plan and we were more than willing to go a long with it. I took a good, long look at the yard and determined the lilies needed thinning so I positioned myself by the maple trees and went to work. I put the extra flowers in a wheelbarrow and hauled them over to the work area (the South plot we call “Stonehenge”). Diana asked questions on where we might like things and gave some very helpful opinions, while Pete and Steve dug up areas and planted. The whole time we laughed, chatted and enjoyed each other’s company. It was a hot, tiring, productive and fun day.

Yesterday, Diana sent me a text asking me to set out the leftover lilies for her to plant. I was home, but focused on studio work so I couldn’t help. Turns out, I don’t think she wanted my help anyway! She arrived with three lovely rose plants, a petunia and some beautiful yellow wildflowers I’d admired in her yard. She planted everything and the area is really starting to take shape. I’ll get photos up soon.

Sometimes Steve and I just need a little shove to get things started. It was so thoughtful of my in-laws to take the initiative and get us started on a beautiful yard. While I doubt ours will ever look as nice as theirs, at least it looks 100% better than it did! Thanks, Pete and Diana!

Well, obviously I haven’t taken the time to write in a while. Maybe it’s because I haven’t had much to say! Anyway, we’ve been busy here at the Kirks household so I’ll catch you up on all the exciting news.

Food – My last entry was about my new eating program and I’m still going strong. I’ve gotten tired of people asking how my diet is going and how long I plan to do it because the attitude I’m trying to adopt is one for life. Yes, not eating carbs and sugar is hard at first, but it gets so much easier and I feel so much better. I’ve lost weight and my body fat is down more than it has been since high school. While I’d love to lose about 10 more pounds, I’d be thrilled if I stayed right where I am and just gained more muscle. The funny thing about not eating sugar and carbs is that I don’t crave them any more. Yesterday, Steve was on the road for work and was stopping to get a snack before heading home. He had about a two hour drive so I told him to get some raw almonds and water. Naturally he didn’t listen to me and instead got a candy bar. Poor guy paid for that! He said he felt terrible! He had no energy when he got home and went upstairs to lay down before dinner. After dinner (salmon burgers and salad) he said he felt so much better. Lesson learned!

Studio – I’ve been slowly working on more steel pieces for my show in October. Saturday, the neighbors were having a garage sale and I found a butcher block for the studio. Butcher blocks are great because they are heavy and things can be bolted to them. Since this one wasn’t completely solid, I got a deal and my shear is now bolted to it. I did some intense cleaning and rearranging and things are so much better. My constant goal is to make the studio a welcome place for me to be creative even when I don’t feel like it. Before Steve got home last night I spent some time playing around with a new earring design. Hope to get it done this week.

Home – Steve and I have been itching to do some furniture moving. Unfortunately, our house and furniture seem to work the best where they are right now. We’d love more flexibility in the living room, but the furniture and rugs have to be strategically placed to cover the bad spots in the floor. Plus, we’re having a small problem with Littles urinating on the area rug in the bar area. We’ve treated all the spots and moved a litter box there and things seem to be working. Bottom line is that she’s getting old and we don’t think she wants to walk all the way downstairs to use the box. The goal is to get the box in the bar slowly moved over to the half bath so it won’t be in the middle of the floor.

The Bar – And speaking of the bar, it’s a dead zone. Three walls have either bookshelves or the bar itself so it’s impossible to add furniture. My first thought when we moved in was that I’d have a table and four chairs in it to create a game/social area. Nope, that seemed too crowded. It’s a small space, but the storage is so valuable that we don’t want to take out any of the shelves or drawers, but we can’t put a couch on front of them. For now it’s just floor space behind the living room.

Game Room – Steve sold his xBox. All of it, games and everything. I was shocked. He said he had come to the realization that he didn’t enjoy it anymore and wanted to do something more productive with his time. He scored a major trade deal at Game Stop and used his credit to buy an iPad. Yes, he drank the iPad Kool-Aid and loves it! Now I can use his Kindle for reading and we can both use the iPad to look up stuff while we’re downstairs. It’s a nice, handy little gadget. I think I’ll really enjoy it when we take our next trip because Steve has loaded the iPad versions of several of my magazines on it. Plus, I can watch videos on a big screen rather than my phone. How fun! Now we’re trying to figure out what to do with the Game Room. Steve wants to create an office area for himself since I’ve taken over our official office. I told him that was great by me, but neither one of us knows what to do with it. For now, we’re cleaning and rearranging everything and will figure something out soon I’m sure. I think he wants to make it an area where he can set up all his computer equipment and work on certifications. Sounds good to me as long as it doesn’t become a drop zone for excess crap.

That’s about all the news that’s fit to print. Have a great week.

About a month ago I decided to eliminate carbs, sugar and alcohol from my diet. No, I wasn’t trying to punish myself, it was at Pavel’s request. I have a lot of admiration and respect for him so I decided to comply with his request, at least for a short time. He assured me that I would lose weight, curb my sugar cravings and find it easier than I thought I would. Through a little trial and error (ok, lots of error) I found out he was right.

Giving up alcohol was the hardest. Not because I can’t, but because I enjoyed a glass of wine or two on the weekend. Steve and I would usually have a glass when he got home on Friday night to celebrate the start of the weekend. It was a habit but, as Jerry Reed sings, it’s a habit I can break. I did it, pretty easily in fact, with Steve’s support. We both did and found out that we didn’t miss it as much as we thought.

No carbs and no sugar means meat, vegetables and fruit. Yes, fruit is a carb, but I can have it except for pineapple, bananas and grapes which are all high in natural sugar. Sound hard, right? Well, think about this: I can have almost everything else including full-fat cheese, bacon (mmmm, bacon), steak, etc. No, I can’t go overboard with the full-fat stuff and this isn’t some weird Atkins thing. It’s all about eating protein and foods grown naturally. I’m to aim for 2 cups of leafy vegetables a day, 1 cup of other veggies (no potatoes), lean proteins and a maximum of 4 oz. of cheese in a day. I do miss sandwiches, though!

The results after a month are really amazing. First, I feel so much better. My sugar cravings are really low (hey, I’m only human). I have enjoyed a glass of wine, but that’s all I want. AND, I’ve lost 7 pounds. I am now smaller than I’ve been in about 8 years. It’s great to be able to put on my summer clothes with ease. Knowing me, this won’t last forever, but that’s what I’m hoping for. Pavel says that once I get the cravings under complete control then I can add in 3 cheat meals a week. That means I can have a bowl of pasta or a sandwich without compromising all I’ve worked for.

Recently I discovered a website, 1,000 Awesome Things, where the author lists an awesome thing each day as he counts down to number 1. It got me thinking about the things that I find awesome in my life. While the list is very long, I decided to list my top 10, in no particular order.

1. Family. There was a time in my life that I found my family annoying. Ok, maybe that was yesterday but as I get older I realize I have it pretty good in the family department. I didn’t choose them and they didn’t choose me, but somehow we all ended up together. Through the years I’ve learned sarcasm from my mother, music from my dad, more sarcasm from my sister, how to write thank-you notes from one grandmother and how to cuss from the other. My grandfathers have given me love and wisdom along the way. I’ve learned that a sit-down dinner is as important as a casual lunch at the kitchen counter. Most of all, I’ve learned that they love me and are proud of me despite my most glaring flaws. Awsome!

2. My sister. One of our classic family stories is about the time my sister got lost in the mall. I was 5 or 6 so she must have been 18 months-2 years old then. Old enough to walk away from us. At that time, I wasn’t a huge fan of her but I understood how serious the situation was based on how the adults were acting. At one point I cried, “I really did love her,” to my mom. She was found safely in Musicland and was returned to us. The moment, and my reaction, has never been forgotten. It wasn’t until much later that I started viewing my sister as a friend rather than a rival. I spent many so many years harboring feelings of jealousy towards her for various reasons that I failed to see she had her own feelings of jealousy towards me. Now I see her as a great friend, terrific mother and the one person who truly knows me but loves me anyway. Sure, I’m still jealous of her petite size and ability to eat almost anything without gaining weight, but I still love her. Awesome!

3. Really, really good friends. I have been fortunate to be one of those people who can easily make friends. Problem is that I attend to attract the crazy ones, so it’s really nice when the great ones come along. I have a handful of truly great friends in my life – the kind of people I could call at 3 a.m. to bail me out of jail. Now, that’s never happened, but it’s nice to know they’re out there. These true friends are the women I’ve lost touch with a time or two during our relationship, but managed to pick up right where we left off just like it never happened. Friends who truly know you and love you anyway? Awesome!

4. Listening to yourself. You know that little voice inside your head that talks to you? Ever ignore it and regret it? I did, actually still do sometimes, but at one point in my life I decided to listen. I quit listening to everyone around me and started trusting my own voice and instincts. Know what? I’m actually right more times that I’m wrong. Awesome!

5. Saying no. Let’s face it, we all want to make others happy and that sometimes means saying yes to things we’d rather say no to. At one point in my career I thought I needed to be on committees and attend meetings until I realized that I absolutely hated them. When I started designing and making jewelry I thought I needed to donate to everyone’s cause. Then I realized it was ok to say no. Nobody hated me and my life didn’t fall apart. Naturally, I do say yes when it’s important, but not to everything. Awesome!

6. Working on a project with my husband. I guess I should add the word “successfully” here, but there’s nothing more satisfying than working together for a common cause. A few weeks ago our garage door opener died. Steve thought about just fixing parts but we decided the entire thing should be replaced. Together we assembled and installed the whole thing. And we didn’t fight! After 16 years of marriage we’ve learned a thing or two about reading the other person. When he was getting frustrated, I left. When we needed to talk out the instructions, we did. Now we have a new garage door opener. Awesome!

7. Finding lost money. It’s rare that I don’t know where every last dollar is, but occasionally I find a bill tucked away that I had forgotten about. Finding money? Awesome!

8. Saturday mornings. Every week day, Steve and I get up and go, go, go so when Saturday comes around we don’t want to be disturbed. My favorite part about Saturday is sleeping in, knowing I don’t have to bound out of bed to get to the gym. I can lie in bed, look at the sky and get up when I feel like it. Once I do, I can have a nice cup of coffee while I read the paper and we discuss the day. Awesome!

9. Laughing so hard you cry. Nothing feels better. Nothing. Awesome.

10. Losing weight without trying. Ok, this is a real woman thing to love, I think, but it’s such a great feeling! At the change of every season (mainly in the spring) I hold my breath a little when I start pulling out my seasonal clothes. Will they fit? Did I enjoy the holidays too much? Why did I eat all that birthday cake? Then I go to slip on my white pants or jeans and realize they fit (or better yet, are loose). Awesome!

Like everyone, certain things freak me out. They don’t usually make sense to most people, but they affect me greatly.

I. Roaches. I grew up living in an old house in a historic neighborhood. I loved many things about the house despite the fact we had no air conditioning and only one bathroom for four people. Despite my parents’ best efforts, though, we had a roach problem. You could blame it on a house with two children who probably left trails of food crumbs wherever they went, but I can tell you my mom made us clean that house every week and it was in pretty good shape. My parents had the place exterminated twice a year, but we still had problems. Mom used to leave our folded clean clothes on the stairs leading to our bedrooms with the idea we were supposed to take them upstairs and put them away. We would pass the piles several times a day, but were too lazy to take them upstairs. Let me tell you, one instance where you put on a shirt that has a live roach in it will change that habit in a heartbeat. The things still freak me out today.

2. Raw meat. I think it’s a texture thing, but I cannot touch raw meat. It completely freaks me out. And don’t dismember a chicken in front of me because I will come unglued. Thankfully, I have Steve here to take care of my raw meat issues. I don’t mind cooking it as long as I don’t have to actually touch it. I’ve been known to pick up pieces with two forks and hold it with one fork while I cut with a knife. Then I slide it into whatever pan I’m cooking it in without actually touching it. Surprisingly enough, I eat sushi. Not the fried, cooked kind, but the actual raw stuff. What can I say, I’m weird.

3. Lingering food smells in my house. If you invite me over for dinner and your whole house smells like cooking, it doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is the lingering smells afterwards when it starts becoming stale and I’m trying to go to sleep. When Steve and I were first married we lived with another couple. Things were fine and we all got along mainly because we all worked different shifts. The only problems occurred when T wanted to make “dinner” at 3:00 a.m. I would awaken to the smell of cooking meatloaf and could never get back to sleep. To this day, if we make something that has a strong smell, I have to douse the house with air freshener before bed.

4. Vomit/vomiting. I spent two years working in an ER and few things really bothered me. Come in dripping blood? No problem. Come in retching? Then we have a problem. We always had “barf buckets” nearby for any accidents, but the sound, smell or idea of vomiting freaks me out. Last winter I battled what ended up being a 24-hour stomach flu. I managed to stave off the vomiting for about 12 hours before I had to let go. I was almost crying as I did it because it was freaking me out so badly. Luckily, I only needed one trip and that was it. No more vomiting for me. And yes, for those of you who don’t know me, I am childless, but my sister can tell you being around vomit doesn’t get any easier!

5. Excessive/weird piercings. In a time when it’s considered “normal” to have tattoos and piercings, you’d think I would be immune to them. And I am, in some ways, but sometimes they freak me out. Take, for example, the popular trend of putting plugs in pierced ear holes and gradually expanding the hole until you could put a finger or more through it. Yuck! All I can think of is that I should have gone to school to become a plastic surgeon and specialized in repairing those things. Just imagine how gross they’ll be when that person is in their 80s. Other piercings that bug me are tongues, eyebrows, cheeks, collarbones and private parts. Sorry, but I just don’t understand it.

6. Eye surgery. I’d love to have LASIK and I know several people who have successfully had their eyesight restored, but eye surgery freaks me out. At least the kind of surgery that would require me to be awake and aware. Blame it on “A Clockwork Orange” and other movies where characters have their eyes forced open for scientific/torture purposes, but it’s too weird and gross for me.

I’m sure I could keep on writing about all the things that give me the willies, but then I’d probably start to freak you out, or freak myself out further. Guess I should quit while I’m ahead!