Hobbyholic

Hobbyholic--a term we coined for my husband, who loves many many many different hobbies... DnD, Warhammer 40K, leather working, blacksmithing, RC cars, RC planes, painting miniatures, the list goes on! Me, on the other hand... I have trouble finding a hobby I have been able to stick with or even start. I have things I am interested in, but have never pursued. So this summer I decided I would try something new. I asked myself, "If money were not a factor, what hobby would you pursue?" Of course, my first two answers--equestrian and piano lessons--were impossible. So, third time's the charm here. If I had the money and the room I would have a kiln. Nashville has community classes year-round and I found a pottery class that actually fit into my church schedule! So Clark and I have been going to pottery class every Monday. It's been lots of fun and lots of work. I am exhausted after every class, but it's a great creative outlet. So far I've made a mug and an oak leaf bowl as well as turned out two bowls on the wheel. This picture is the stars and moon votive holder I made at last night's class. The instructor started firing our older pieces last night and said we'd be glazing next week. I am looking forward to painting the leaf bowl a bunch of autumn colors--rust, gold, yellow, red, orange--but am not sure what colors to use on my other pieces. Decisions, decisions!

So, am I going to stick with pottery? I'm not sure. It's been fun, but not something I can do on my own. I may continue to take summer classes, when the kids are gone, but during the school year I need something more portable and easy to pick up. Hopefully I will be able to find a crochet class and finally pick up my Grandma's hobby, something I've always wanted to do!


¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

P.S.-The snowman in the picture is something Clark and I goofed around with at last night's class. He worked on finishing up a piece he had started the previous week and was done working about 40 minutes before I was. During his wait, he rolled some scrap clay into a ball. When I saw it I immediately thought "SNOWMAN!!" and, without saying anything, rolled a smaller ball and attached it to the first ball. Clark laughed and immediately began rolling a ball for the bottom of our snowman while I fashioned a top hat. Then, I had to get back to my project, so Clark finished up with eyes and holes in the side for stick arms. When I was done I, of course, had to give our snowman a carrot nose and buttons for the middle section. I had fun fun fun goofing around with Clark and the clay.

Nikki's Excellent Adventure (or Analysis of a Wonderful Weekend)

I had such a great time this weekend with my hubby. For me, this was a preview of what awaits us when we are empty-nesters in just a few more years.

On Friday, we joined up with church friends at Border Cantina for margaritas and dinner. Due to the extreme heat, we decided to pass on the free tango lessons at Centennial Park and headed home where we spent a little bit of time working on the adult religious education class we're facilitating Wednesday.

Saturday morning began with a trip to Dunkin' Donuts for our daily coffee with double skim milk. Being the weekend, we also had our allotted two donuts which were free due to DD's survey promo. Then we spent the morning perusing local yard sales for books and found some other gems, like a soccer ref shirts and flags for Kyle for ONE DOLLAR! Clark also found a couple of paint ball canisters for two dollars each. Not a bad haul of books, either. At one of the last yard sales, there was a riding lawn mower available for $350, so when we got home, we started talking about what we needed to attack the jungle in the back yard and voila! There was a self-propelled lawn mower with detachable bag freshly listed on Craigslist for $125. Clark called and we headed to Madison to pick up our new mower and drove thru A&W's for lunch. After dropping off the mower, we headed towards the airport where--after getting the car washed--we picked up Clark's mom, took her home and headed back to our own house to pass the hottest part of the day in air conditioned comfort. One more trip out to the Belmont area to get yummy smoothies from Fresh Blends Juice & Smoothie Bar and a meatball sub from Subway. The rest of the evening I read Kathy Reich's Devil Bones and Clark did his leatherworking with smooth jazz on the telly.

Sunday morning started early with a Dunkin' Donuts run before hitting the early service at church followed by the strategic planning team's meeting. Then we dropped off the books (from Saturday's yard sales and our own bookshelves) at McKay's Used Books, had a yummy Mexican lunch, and back to McKays for our $50 in-store credit. We made it home just in time to watch the U.S. Men's Soccer Team play Brazil in the final of the Confederates Cup in South Africa. Great game which just whetted my appetite for next summer's World Cup, also to be held in South Africa. After a Sunday afternoon nap, Clark dropped me off at the Nashville Sounds stadium, so I could grab a window seat in the bar while he picked up his mom. For her birthday, which was April 4, we had offered to take her to dinner and a ballgame at the newly renovated Greer Stadium. I joked with Betty that last night was the first time she and the Sounds were in town at the same time! The Oklahoma City Redhawks soundly defeated the home team, but it was a fun evening and a great way to finish up a wonderful weekend!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Memories

This has been quite a week for the entertainment community. I’ve heard my friends on Twitter and Facebook say that their childhood had died or that they are feeling old as childhood icons are passing away. I have never been one immersed in pop culture, but I did feel sadness this week and very reminiscent of my own childhood.

Ed McMahon (1923-2009) – My father was a big Johnny Carson fan, always quipping from the show. I think many of the jokes Dad told during my teens year were from Johnny. Watching the clips from the show bring back my own plethora of memory clips.

Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009) – Best known for her single season on Charlie’s Angels, Farrah Fawcett also received praise for her performances off-Broadway and television movies. I will always remember Charlie’s Angels for another reason. Growing up on Kwajalein in the 70’s was very culturally isolating. This was before satellite television, cell phones, etc. Towards the end of our stay on the island, we began to have three hours of television a day, three one-hour shows that are forever imprinted on my memories… Sesame Street, Starsky & Hutch, and Charlie’s Angels.

Michael Jackson (1958-2009) – What a sensation his passing has created in the media! What I remember most about Michael Jackson is my junior year boyfriend Levi who had just transferred to Dugway High School in Utah. It had to be tough for him. Not only was it his senior year but he was a black teenager moving to 1980’s Utah from Miami, FL. But he made a splash as a talented athlete in football, basketball and track. Plus he brought pop culture to our tiny little base. Levi had a walkman, a relatively new fad in 1982, and loved music. We would walk around the base listening to Michael Jackson’s Thriller album and discuss the Jackson family. Good times!

So, Ed, Farrah and Michael, thank you for the memories! Rest in peace. ¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

My second first 5K

Woot! I did it! I completed Ellie's Run for Africa 5K on Saturday. I call this my second first 5K, because I started training for 5Ks while I was in school. What possessed me to think I could handle college full-time, being a mom/wife/church volunteer *and* get ready for a 1/2 marathon? Well, something had to give and it was my hip-bursitis in fact. I took the hint and slowed down, but not before I completed a 5K at our local zoo. It was fun and everyone in our family participated, so this spring I made a pact with my friend Stacy to do at least three 5Ks over the summer.

I confess this 5K on Saturday nearly did me in, especially during mile 2 when we hit the last big hill. Stacy (a marathoner) was great, staying by me and encouraging me along the route when I know she was dying to speed things up. This was probably her slowest 5K ever! But I am going to boast about a couple of things:

1. We were not the last participants to cross the finish line
2. I managed to squeeze out a slow sprint for the last few yards
3. We finished *before* the kids' race began (an hour after we started)
4. My time was 26 seconds faster than my time in January 2007.

Surprisingly enough, although I was completely wiped out on Saturday, I wasn't too sore on Sunday, which makes me look forward to doing repeating the madness! So now that I am motivated, I started looking at training programs. I found one that will get me from walking to jogging 2 miles in eight weeks, then another program that gets me to jogging the entire 3.1 miles in six weeks. So the goal is to be running a 5K in September!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Two months....?

Wow! It's been two months since my last post? It's been busy and I've been creating lots of blogs in my head, but never taking the time to publish them. Bad Nikki!

We've had lots of activities in our family. The biggest is that our oldest daughter graduated high school last month. My mother, the kids' father and his fiancee all flew out for the week. I can't believe I am now the mother of a young woman graduated from high school and starting college in the fall!

In other news, I haven't been completely idle. I just finished my 2nd week of working on my novel. I'm very happy with where the story is going and how things are starting to flow. This is a series I've thought about since my now 18yo was a baby and have actually written 3 complete chapters with a fourth stale one. I thought last year after I finished up college I could work on the book over the summer, but after two intense year of intellectual stuff, I needed a break. Now, however, I am excited. I know where the story is going. It's always been a trilogy, but I never liked the sequence or plots of the other books. Last week it all cleared up and I now know my three book plots with plans to write at least one other related book that is completely stand-alone, *NOT* the fourth book to the trilogy!! I hate when writers do that!

Okay, enough for now! I have a date with a two-year old and her mother. We're heading to the Farmer's Market which will be fun. Then Stacy and I have to pick up our packets for Ellie's Run for Africa 5K that we're walking tomorrow. Tonight I have a picnic in the park with free tango lessons to follow. Fun times!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N