Pretty Pretty Bang Bang

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!

Last week was a little rough at the Kirks household. Our anniversary celebration was nice, but we had a few stressors during the week. First, the garage door opener quit working, then Tidbit got sick, finally, a tornado hit Branson and affected Steve’s work. In the end, things worked out, but it was a little crazy for a while.

Living without a garage door opener is doable, but not fun. Thankfully, we didn’t have to get out of the car and open the door in the rain. Yes, I know we sound incredibly spoiled, especially when we think of all the people who lost homes in the tornados. We are thankful to have our home and health.

Steve did some research and determined the garage door had a part that was stripped (or something like that) and could be replaced for about $30, which was good since we are on a budget. He talked to a couple of guys in the office who have done that sort of repair and told him it would be easy, but we both started thinking that maybe it was time to invest in a whole new unit. Fortunately, Lowe’s had them on sale so we bit the bullet, decided not to go out of town, and spend the money on a new garage door opener. Yes, we like to live on the edge.

Ok, the unit was bought, now we had to put it together and install it. We’re not the most handy people so I admit I was a little leery of the whole thing. Steve spent an hour or so Saturday morning reading the instructions and declared it was pretty straightforward. I agreed to assist. He was right, it wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t fast either. It took us about five hours to complete the assembly and installation. Yes, we were taking things slow and double checking measurements, but it still wasn’t a quick-time job.

In the end, it came together perfectly. We feel so uptown now with our outside keypad and quiet motor. The best part is that we did it together without any major fights! Go Team Kirks!

Today Steve and I celebrate our 16th anniversary, or our 4th anniversary if you’re counting our actual wedding day which was February 29th. And yes, we planned it that way. I find it amusing when I tell people our anniversary date and they asked me if we planned it that way. Uh, yeah, we did!

Sixteen years. No, they have not been perfect years, but they have been really good ones. We both have more gray hair and a little more wisdom, but that’s about it. Truth is, we have a really good partnership and I wouldn’t trade Steve for anyone else in the world.

In the gift department, we decided to go low-key this year and concentrate on taking care of other financial goals. We were going to take a weekend trip, but decided a nice weekend at home with no obligations or plans would suit us better. I’m looking forward to it and I know Steve is too. The most important thing to us about celebrating a marriage is concentrating on what makes our union strong. I think it’s our ability to communicate and work together on our problems.

Tonight we’re planning a nice meal out (a treat for us) and we’re going to celebrate by getting dressed up and making the meal an occasion. Yes, I’m actually going to wear a dress. I’ll take photos. This morning, we exchanged gifts and I was excited to give Steve something I’d been working on for the past two weeks. Actually, it’s something for both of us since I made myself one too. I made us matching rings symbolizing our 16 years together. The ring band is steel and the lines are sterling silver and 22K gold. There are 16 lines with the 4th line being the 22K gold. The rims are sterling. I think they turned out pretty well and Steve loved his.

Happy 16th anniversary, Steve! Here’s to 16 more wonderful years together!

I had some time yesterday afternoon so I thought I’d go thrifting. Having been to my usual haunts recently (DAV, Goodwill), I thought I’d hit some of the resale shops I hadn’t visited in a while. The staff of one knows me well as I’ve sold my clothes there in the past. Plus, the older staffer knows my dad and always asks about him. When I walked through the door, they greeted me enthusiastically and said they’d been thinking of me as they’d seen my photo in a local magazine. We caught up and the older lady and I got into this conversation:

Her: You look great.

Me: Thanks, you too.

Her: You’ve really kept your weight off.

Me (what I said): Um, thanks. It’s a lot of work.  (What I thought): What the $%&#? Did ya think I was going to pork up or something?

In her defense, I really think she meant it as a compliment, however it didn’t come across as one. I guess I’m just always amazed at what comes out of people’s mouth. Oh well. She kindly asked about my dad and told me to tell him hello the next time I talked to him. Problem is, I can’t remember her name!

I admit I haven’t paid much attention to my blog, but I have an excuse because I’ve found a new love. Don’t worry, Steve is still my #1, but mild steel is coming in a close second.

My good friend Sarah mentioned that she would be assigning her class a project in steel and I was intrigued. Steel comes in many forms and has both good and bad properties. Bad: it does not hold heat well which makes soldering tricky. Bad: it rusts. Good: it’s really strong so designs can be light. Good: it’s cheap. Best of all is that it’s something new for me and I love a challenge.

I made some changes in my studio including a new batch of pickle (a mild acid solution used after soldering) for steel only and labeling old files for steel use only since I didn’t want to dull my good ones. Other than that, I was ready.

At Sarah’s recommendation, I read an article on soldering steel so I knew some of the tricks. The rest has been trial and error. Below are my first pair of earrings using steel. They have sterling silver and 22k gold accents.

Since these, I’ve made a couple more pair and am currently working on a cuff bracelet. All of my final pieces will be shown in October at Waverly House. After that show, I’ll introduce the new line. Until then, don’t count on too many more photos. You have to attend the show to see all the goodies!

Today, I wish a very happy birthday to my youngest niece, Lydia, who turns six years old. I remember the phone call I received the morning of her birth. Ralph called me on the way to the hospital in a minor panic because she just knew she was having a boy and hadn’t committed to a name. Luckily, Lydia was a girl and has been delighting us ever since.

Lydia is very different from her reserved older sister. Lydia (or Lydsters as we call her) has an opinion for just about everything and isn’t afraid to voice it. She loves clothing (much to her aunt’s delight), loves her Care Bears and is know for the funny things she says – Lydia-isms. She isn’t afraid to talk to people and enjoys being the center of attention (but not in a bratty way).

I chatted with Ralph this morning who informed me that Lydia was telling everyone, and I mean everyone, it was her birthday. Ah, the joys of youth! Later today, she is being surprised with a trip to the hair stylist for a feather extension. Then she’ll go home and get to unwrap some presents. I sure hope she likes the outfit we sent her – watermelon pink skinny jeans, a lt. blue tee and a fleece vest with the same colors to tie the whole thing together. As long as she wants clothing, you can be sure I’ll be happy to provide them to her!

Lydia, you are a delight and a beautiful little girl. Uncle Steve and I love you very much and wish you a very happy sixth birthday!

If you could go back in time and change things, would you? This is the question Steve and I have been discussing since we finished reading the latest Stephen King novel 11/22/63. Now, before you get all judge-y about our reading material, please understand this is not your typical Stephen King novel. It’s really, really good and it will make you think about whether or not changing past mistakes is such a good idea.

I’ve thought about the many stupid things I’ve done in my life and what I would do if I could change them. I’d love to go back the re-write my college history but I realize it makes me the person I am today. In many ways, the anger and immaturity I showed in my 20s made me grow up. The mistakes I made (and will continue to make) help me make better decisions in the future. Or at least that’s what I’d like to think. Sometimes I have to learn things the hard way over and over again.

So, would you change things? How do you think that would affect your future? Something to think about, that’s for sure.