I’ve got the Calculated Acts of Kindness (CAOK) gift for week #4 done and ready to share. Yet, rather than let you see all the fun details of the Brazilian Bunny Family, I’ll instead just tempt you with just one shot:
To see the rest of their great story, I hope you’ll make the jump with me to my new web site: www.africankelli.com. See you there!
~K
If today had a theme song, it would be that 1980s classic “Break My Stride” by Matthew Wilder. Oh, come on. You know the one. The hook goes like this:
“Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my stride
Nobody’s gonna slow me down, oh no
I got to keep on moving
Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my stride
I’m running and I won’t touch ground, oh no
I got to keep on moving.”
Wow. Check this out. I found a photo of Matthew Wilder.
Ain’t nothing going to break my stride today. It is raining good news:
1. Jill Carrol has been released in Iraq. I have prayed for this girl countless times and had tears come to my eyes this morning when I heard she’d been let go. Yay!
2. Backtack III is in the works. WOO HOO!
3. My brother and I made up.
4. My swim coach and I made up.
5. I came home last night to a surprise gift in the mail from my friend Mike. Love that boy. He is too thoughtful. He sent me this from Amazon:
It’s like the badge book for adults who want to do good. It couldn’t be more me. Thank you Mike!
Life is good. Sometimes you just need a little reminder.
~K
Yesterday was one of those days I should have turned off the alarm, pulled the covers higher over my head and said, “To hell with it.”
It started with swim practice, which is the normal Tuesday/Thursday routine. I’ve been swimming on this team for several years and enjoy the coaching and the company. (The company was even better when my dad was living here and we would swim together. ) I work out much harder when there are other swimmers there to push me. The pool is near my home and the fee is fair.
But the team has been changing lately. Fewer people are coming and our coach has been spending more time sitting with the lifeguard than actually coaching. I’ve been coming up with suggestions for how to get the team back to more competitive levels, yet each idea has been shot down. My frustrations came to a head yesterday when I quit. The coach wasn’t respectful of an idea I suggested and I could feel my face growing hot in anger as she spoke to me in front of the other swimmers. Slowly, I pulled myself out of the water and returned to the locker room, literally biting my tongue.
I can’t change the coach. I can’t get more people in the pool. After five years, it’s time to find a new team. I’ve found one closer to work with more workout times available and a more experienced coaching staff, but I will miss my friends in Tempe. Perhaps with time I’ll return. Tomorrow, I’m swimming with a new group.
Then, it was off to Sedona. I left the house, grabbed my iPod and Nalgene bottles full of water and ice tea and headed north 100 miles. The drive is beautiful. From the interstate, you climb 3000 feet in elevation and can watch as the desert floor slowly transforms into brush and eventually pine. The beauty of the red rocks of Sedona stun me every time.
Of course yesterday the weather matched my mood. My plans of taking a long walk with my camera before my meeting were foiled.
That’s right — yesterday was one of three days we’ve had rain in the last 5 months. Mother Nature is mocking me.
At least you can see a bit of the red in this photo. Oh, the rain.
The business meeting went well and on my way home my brother calls. He needed to do laundry. Could he come over and use my machine and soap? Grinding my teeth, I agreed to meet him at my house at 5 pm. I drove like the wind to get home in time to meet him, trying desperately not to get angry that the last time I heard from him, he needed a ride home from the airport. I was beginning to feel a bit used. The anger again exploded when he called at 6:15 to say he’d instead gone out with his friends to play pool.
Gah!
At this point, I poured myself a nice glass of white wine, turned off my cell phone, turned on the BBC and sat down at my sewing machine. Creative time really does take the edge off. Well, that and the booze.
~K
I’m off tomorrow on a road trip to lovely Sedona, but will hopefully have lots of fun new Week 4 CAOK surprise gifty photos when I return.
In the meantime, why don’t you check out Amanda’s sweet new site? http://atpanda.blogspot.com/
Five bagels a week for three years: $780
Laptop, glasses, USB Port: $1500
Two trips to Mozambique: $5000
Finishing a draft of my first novel: Priceless
That’s right. After three years of talking about this goal and grooving through writing floods and droughts, 109,180 words later, my first novel is in the editing phase. Watch out literary world, here I come!
~K
“Now Take Your Crafting Out in the World and Kick Some Ass.” That’s how the host of Craftypod signs off her podcast. (A big thanks to Kath for sharing this great creativity resource!) Oh, the joy I am having listening to these interviews with different artists. My favorite so far was with Betsy Greer of Craftivism. I didn’t know about the site before listening to the podcast, but am thoroughly amused. En sum, Betsy promotes activism through craft. She suggests finding your cause and then figuring out how your crafts can go to help it. Activism + crafts = my life. When I’m not blogging and sewing, I’m working in public health and talking about public health and begging people to pay attention to public health.
AfricanKnits was my first attempt at craftivism, which was successful. [I'll be starting up AfricanKnits2.0 later this year when I head to Nicaragua, Mozambique and Bolivia for work. If your cause is helping the health of the poor, please consider the AfricanKnits project. I'll ensure any knitted object you send me will end up in the hands of someone in the developing world who can put it to darn good use. ]
The host of Craftypod, Sister DG, mentioned during this podcast that crafting isn’t just about sitting down and trying to be artsy. It is about environmentalism and individuality. It is a way of using old things for new. It is a way of bucking the system and not going to a big box store for your every need. While I am still guilty of being thoroughly turned on by a great sale at Target, like my new friend Christine, there is a certain joy to creating something from scratch.
I had dinner with my brother yesterday. He mentioned that he’d been speaking of me with one of his friends. My brother and I have a long-standing disagreement over necessity vs. luxury. Where I would like to ride the bus to work to have more time to knit and read, he’d like to drive a Hummer. In the carpool lane. Singing Kanye West. He thinks I’m crazy because I don’t have high speed Internet or cable television at home. Much more to his horror is my lack of TiVo. I tried explaining to him that these things just haven’t been a priority in my life. Having money in savings to drop on a plane ticket, on the other hand, is. I’m not opposed to television, and would be lying if I said I didn’t watch something every single day. It just isn’t important to me to have so many options. That said, there are two shows in particular I really, really wish I could see on regular TV: Project Runway and the Sopranos.
I went to college at a liberal environmentally-friendly university. The school is tucked in the shadow of the highest peak in Arizona, surrounded by forest. I loved being in such a different environment. There were “hippies” galore. I always thought when I grew up, got a job and lead some sort of adult life, I’d be one of those cool Outback Forrester-driving, Birkenstock-wearing women I’d see in town. The ones with gorgeous natural hair, not a lick of makeup, cool, flowing skirts that very well may have been hand sewn, great skin, and a good aura. Women who name their kids Lake and Sage.
Fast forward six years.
Yeah. Not so much.
But I am working on it. I really do want to be more environmentally focused and less excited by a coupon to Banana Republic. I want to be more like Jen, who frankly, is nothing short of amazing. She and her husband recently returned from a long stay in Africa. Her photos from their adventure would make National Geographic blush.
So, crafting, I hope, helps get me back on this track of becoming an earth mama. Because deep down in my soul, past all the superficial baloney that occasionally distracts me, that is who I am. Founding president of Save Our Amazing Planet — SOAP – a club I started as a kid with the goal of saving the rainforest. A girl who wants to climb Kilimanjaro, swap homemade bread recipes on the streets of Paris, and sew and knit as many gifts as possible. Because I can.
(See! I told you. I knit one sweater and I’m already feeling like I can conquer the world! Ay!)
Kelli
Sewing: A sneak peak at week two CAOK gifts. This one was mailed off today!
Knitting: A baby bib for Carson. His baptism was Sunday.
Baking: Cornbread. Some spicy (jalapenos), some sweet (raspberry preserves).
Otherwise, I am:
Reading: The Tipping Point. This business book is dragging. I need to drop it and pick up some fluff for a while. I’ve been reading too much nonfiction and I’m losing my verve.
Watching: CBS Comedies. Like an 85-year-old. I love “Two and a Half Men,” “How I met your Mother” and now “The Old New Christine.” Did you watch that show last night? It was great! I love Elaine Benness, even if her name is now Christine.
Listening: To NPR. They are doing a feature each morning this week on Phoenix. Love it.
Dreaming: Of Spring Break. How I wish I was on the beach in Mexico sipping margaritas and applying another coat of sunblock to tanned skin. Better yet, having the sunblock applied by someone else. Named Juan. Or Diego.
Cheers,
K
What a weekend! It blurred by in a rush. With our Mardi Gras fundraiser on Saturday and errands yesterday, I woke up begging for another day off this morning. A glimpse from the event:
Aren’t my friends beautiful? These girls are so darn pretty!
And silly. So silly.
And a bit clutsy too. For the second year, this one took a tumble. It was raining and we had an open bar. I’m sure she wasn’t the only one. Thankfully a jeans fairy stepped in and loaned her a dry pair of pants to wear once they got to the event. (on a random side note, don’t you love that piece of art in the background? It was part of the silent auction. It went for $400. Love the colors!) The quote of the night goes to Min, who proudly announced, “Not only do these jeans fit, they are my favorite brand!! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check my other pants.” Oy, the giggles.
My date, who managed to stay for about an hour. Cody (my brother) didn’t believe me about the open bar until he arrived. He was in heaven.
The full gang, minus Ms. Kacey.
A good time was had by all!
~K
