Cricket in a Biscuit

2015 was one of those years. Nothing was going the way I'd imagined. I turned 30 with very little fanfare on a Tuesday, at home, 7 months pregnant eating cupcakes I made myself. Sophia went a full week past her due date. When she did finally come, it was the one night we didn't have anyone to watch the kids. The labor was so fast, Darren wasn't able to get there in time. After she was born, I had the usual postpartum emotional issues combined with the additional baggage of knowing she is, in all likelihood, going to be my last baby. The bright spot on the horizon, spring 2015 was to be the time we finally tied up our to-do list and started looking for our dream home. Then Darren received his lay-off notice. Fortunately he was in maintenance and continued working longer than the guys on the operation side. Eventually, though, his turn came. He applied, and was interviewed, for a job he was really excited about and was turned down. It was a pretty big blow for him, but, sh...

On the heels of my root beer adventure , there was a jar of ginger bug on my hands awaiting a purpose. It just so happened, about that time, my mom dropped off some cranberries. Straight-up cranberry pop did not seem at all appealing, so I started experimenting with ways to take things up a notch. I got lucky, and the very first batch turned out great! The only problem was, I had just winged it and didn’t remember enough of the specifics to share. This second batch, I paid closer attention to what I was doing, and here you have the recipe for what Darren has dubbed, Christmas Ale. 4 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen 1 orange, zest and squeeze 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise 2 quarts water 1 ½ cups raw cane sugar 1 cup ginger bug Learn how to make a ginger bug here . In a large pan add cranberries, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla bean. Boil gently until the cranberries are exploded and mushy. Strain the liquid into a large bowl. I use m...

June 7, 2015: the six of us after Sophia's baptism. I started the 21DFX eight days later. Six months ago, if someone told me I would be involved with in-home fitness, I’d have laughed — not a polite chortle, but a full out, catch startled looks from passers-by belly laugh. So, what changed? What was behind this sudden, radical change in direction? Getting started as an Independent Team Beachbody Coach, I was told over and over to think about, and focus on, my why. The why is the point around which you orient yourself and what keeps you motivated. This is an attempt to explain mine.  This summer started tough for me. I’ve struggled with body image issues my whole life. Four kids in five and a half years had given any remaining self-esteem quite a beating. It had taken a while, but after each child before, I had been able to lose the baby weight. This last time was different. Even though I was nursing, even though I was eating healthy food, the weight would...

The kids and I recently dove into the world of home brewing. Sometimes my Facebook feed is all recipes, recipes, more recipes… Look! More annoying recipes, recip— ooh! I should make that! Root beer was one of those stop and scroll back recipes for me. I did a brief skim of it, enough to know I needed brewer's yeast, and kept scrolling. A couple weeks later, brewer's yeast in hand, I went back to find the recipe. Couldn't find it. I was fairly sure of who posted it, so I searched their timeline. Nothing. Pinterest will have it. Everything is on Pinterest. Well, not everything apparently. I found more root beer recipes than one would ever believe existed — did you know you can carbonate with dry ice?! — but not the one I was looking for. Since I already had the yeast, I was bound and determined to make something. There were two recipes which stood out above the rest. One used yeast, a different kind, but no biggie, right? Wrong! But more on that later. The other used a...

I cut my knitting — planned and on purpose — cut my knitting. Even more horrifying? It was handspun yarn. And you know what? It really wasn't that bad! The Twist Pullover had been in my ravelry queue for the longest time. I put it on the list with every intention of making it, but then the yarn turned out a little thicker than it should have been and the yardage was a little short. There was a bigger problem, though. From the first glance I'd decided I needed to make my twist shades of blue with dark at the bottom transitioning to light at the top. I bought the pattern, spun the yarn, and then realized the instructions had the front and back knit separately and seamed together. Had I realized that before, I could have spun the yarn accordingly, one skein for the front and one for the back, each going through the color progression. As it was, I had the entire progression in one giant skein. Bummer. Fast foward to this summer. I had two spins going, each with a proje...

A highly textured yarn of over-the-top oranges and pinks can't be used for just anything. Sometimes it is worth it to wait for the right pattern to present itself. People tend to be intrigued by spinning. It's not something often seen, so it draws attention. It also draws a lot of questions. The first, "What are you doing?" I continue spinning as I explain until, eventually, the inevitable question, "But… what are you going to do with it?" The puzzled expressions deepen with my response, "I don't know. I have to finish it before I know what it wants to be." Apparently, it is not enough to simply make yarn. I must also make something with it. Immediately.  Truth is, I rarely spin with a project in mind. Although, given the length of my ravelry queue, I should, but it takes a lot more skill and deliberation to spin that way. I spin for the fun of it — for the fiber, for the sake of spinning and for something to do. Sometimes there is...