It's ALIIIIIIVVVVVEEEEE

Please update your readers and misc accounts of awesomeness.

Can't Surive on Yarn Alone has moved - http://cantsurviveonyarnalone.wordpress.com/

Old posts are remaining here (+ need to read on how to transfer but didn't want to keep waiting!)

Mini hiatus

CSYA is going on a mini hiatus.

Why you might ask?

It is getting a makeover!

Hi Bob

After the debacle in getting a deal with my kettlebell kit, I was determined to find a kettlebell DVD that first and foremost got my attention and was challenging yet able to be done with lesser reps if needed. Having just a demo of the moves and a poster of them doesn't work for me. I need to be "distracted" by someone talking and telling me what to do or even just counting. As long as the music isn't too irritating, all is well.

We were at Target today and I picked up Bob Harper Inside Out Method Cardio Kettlebell Shred DVD. The price was good so that helped since I didn't have a lot of money to spend. I've watched The Biggest Loser for years and know I can listen to him. (Since I already have Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, I have my BL section of DVDs now.)

So I have been watching the DVD for a little while and plan to finish watching it before I go to bed. Watching? Why am I not DOING the workout rather than sitting on the couch? Watching fitness DVDs work for me. I like being prepared both mentally and physically when I start something. If I've watched it first, I know the best mindset to be in when putting in the DVD to actually do it.

So far I know that I want to be awake when trying this at first (so no first thing in the morning) so that I am not in full on zombie shuffle with being a newbie. I know if I want to do all the reps I can't be too worn out/ready to fall asleep on the couch if I turn on the TV.

Am I looking forward to doing this routine, or what I've seen so far? Yes.

Will I be worrying about the dogs being in my way for awhile? Yes.

Will I post something about it when I start? Of course.

Will I post photos? Maybe. I'm still not to sure about posting anything workout wear wise just yet.


Do you watch fitness/exercise DVDs before you actually do the routine?

Take (it) Out (side)

Years ago (when I was single) I had a pretty big take out/fast food habit. It was breakfast and lunch at least twice during the work week - for each. Otherwise I did eat well but I had the finances to eat out mixed with being lazy too often. Too easy. Now we have to watch our food budget but still get things from time to time. Sometimes it is a bit too much but I would rather find a good cheat recipe and make it at home. Today was one of those days.

One thing I got often was the Asian Chicken Salad from McDonalds - either grilled or crispy depending on my mood. (That was actually how I first tried edamame. True, it wasn't as great as steaming it myself but I had NO idea how great it could be at that time.) Then they got rid of it. I swapped it out with the Southwest one but it was never the same. Eventually I just stopped getting it and brought a salad from home.

Fast forward to the end of April - they brought it back. True it is JUST a salad but it got me pretty excited. Good memories of fast food lunches... yeaaaaaahhh. So I picked up a grilled version this evening as half/early dinner portion. While successfully not dumping the entire thing on my lap or in the train (though who wouldn't love the smell of sesame ginger dressing on their ride home right?), I realized DUH I can make this at home! Years ago I never thought that. Such a simple idea but it was considered a fancy salad. Weird.

So now the plot...errrr... plan is to find a cheat recipe or a general sesame ginger recipe we both enjoy since we already have too many bottles of light dressing in the fridge/pantry already.

One of those days

Today was one of "those days" when things just seem, well, there but slightly off.

I knew this:

About 3 am when a thunk in the kitchen woke me up. SOMEONE was protesting the "inadequate" amount of food issued earlier by launching magnets off the fridge. The orange meowing suspect will remain nameless.

When I woke up from a dream where someone was telling me that the proper way for grilled cheese is to FOLD the bread over then cook, not use two pieces. Hmmmmmm... ohhhkaaaaay?

When I decided sleeping in a few minutes would be a good idea leading me to throw together a lunch of misc leftovers - brown rice, sauteed green peppers, parm/garlic instant potatoes, pineapple/coconut yogurt.

When all I wanted was a bagel yet the lines at two places were insane, one CVS did not carry bagels (another does), and I ended up at DDonuts.

When I decided McDs coffee is superior to DDonuts where I had gotten coffee with my everything bagel that surprisingly wasn't burnt - their toaster is evil

When my fav pair of mary jane style shoes decided to start making bicycle pump pfffft pffft pfffft noises due to a small crack. It also made my walk lopsided since one shoe was then technically taller than the other.

When Cosmo has horrible dog gas and I keep chasing him/telling him to go away bc he is a stinky dog. Of course he insists to sleep below my chair right now.


Safe to say waffles were a smart idea for dinner. Too much would have probably ended up being a disaster.

One thing though that was a GOOD thing = NO RAIN!

And exhale....

HLS 2011!

As I go back to happy squeaking!

Hello? Is this thing on?

I think the Internet finally fixed itself.... and then FitBlog breaks Twitter. I can't help but laugh and say that it is due to the greatness of this particular blogging community but since it is a technical thing I hope it all works out for Katy.

I was doing the "let's sit on the train and ponder but forget to actually write it down" lately. With this year's Healthy Living Summit in the AHHHH NEWS SOOOOOOOON! mode, I can't help but think of last year. I have technically been blogging for over a year now (April 2010) in this incarnation. (I had considered myself a craft blogger before and did have a blog of that kind yet still had this account since October of 2009. I guess the name was so stuck in my head that I had to hang onto it even if on hold.)

I recently met someone new via a friend of mine. She and I hit it off pretty well and spent a good part of the night chatting yet not ignoring the large group of which we were both part. It was a mix of what do you do, where are you from, pet talk (surprising right?), random misc and whatnot. This night, however, was the first night I mentioned that I was a blogger to someone. Odd right? Maybe. By "someone" I mean someone who I had no idea if she was a blogger, knew a blogger (ended up she knew a Mommy Blogger,) or even had any interest in it. Hmmm.

So it was out there and she asked that question that before made me go "Ummmmm?" for a moment - the topic of my blog. Without much of a pause the response was food, fitness, newbie running, arts and crafts and of course pets, basically life in general too. I think it was a genuine response. There are bits and pieces of everything included though I know my future plans is to get things a bit more settled with each as well as have a general misc category. (How else can I talk about the weeds trying to take over a section of a flower bed, the squirrels digging tiny little holes in our front lawn, or how annoying it is to have damp clothes on the clothesline attack me when I'm taking stuff out of the dryer?)

So a belated Happy Birthday to my darling CSYA and best wishes for many posts to come.

Sure it makes no sense

I am sitting in the living room, sneezing and sniffling my way through the evening while Hubs is watching the Hawks game in the family room. Why you might ask? It is due to the fact that I have not watched a full winning game this playoff season - either finishing something up, reading something online, or falling asleep mid game (yes I know but when I am tired it happens.) I will be joining him in a few minutes. Fingers crossed that they win (and this cold goes away!)

Or a jar of glitter works well too...

"All you need is faith and trust... and a little bit of pixie dust!" --Peter Pan

Run YARN Run

Lately I've been smacked with a cross between writer's block and writer's ih (aka when nothing you write looks good enough to post), being worn out and a general funk that needs to be shaken off. PLUS the formatting issues I have been having have really been annoying. "Have" through "annoying" should each be on their own line. If they are not, you understand. Ditto if one paragraph is all that results in this post. If so I am leaving it to prove to others I am not going crazy. All that aside, I know I just need to get out and burn off the extra whatever. We took the dogs out for a nice walk one evening and ended it w a bit of a run with them. Molly loved it. Then we get cold and rain and haven't been out since. I know others run in the rain/cold but fighting yet another headcold/allergy annoyance makes me not want to go out in it more than I need to right now. My MiL texted me this morning about doing a 5 k run/walk with her. WOOHOO! Even bigger WOOHOO is that she offered to pay my registration. I have not been able to afford any races recently as well as that feeling that right now spending $35-$50 to run with a group of people is not too responsible when there are bills and whatnot. SOOOOOO we are participating (not yet sure if it will be a walk or a run or a combo) in Running for Hope in June! It is benefiting Advocate Hope Children's Hospital and the nearby Ronald McDonald House. This will actually be the second time I'm running to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House. Last fall's 5k benefited them as well. I am thinking about setting up a fundraising page once I read up more about it. I don't want to get locked into a specific amount and then get stuck if it is not raised. HOWEVER if it is a self set goal it'd be done so at something low like $50 so that it can be beaten like crazy! Ok, question for you all: Have you set up a fundraising page before? If so, what were your experiences with it? Are pages like this esp if blogged/tweeted too pushy?

When I

• When I haven't been sneezing my brains out when I haven't been too stuffed up to do so, I've been going through things I don't need - clothes, books, misc accessories, house stuff all to be donated


• When I haven't been going through things, I'm been napping - good w dealing with the sneezing and the tiredness from going through things


• When I haven't been napping, I've been paying attention to size labels on things I have been keeping - a great jean skirt is a great jean skirt when it realistically fits or will in the near future ie keeping a sized 2 skirt from years ago will just result in being annoyed when trying it on and realizing it does not fit AT ALL since you did not look at the size


• When not reading size labels, I've been reading in general - House of Night: Awakened & 666 Park Avenue = both amazing


• When not reading, I've been working in the yard to unbury, clean out, and cut back misc trees, plants and misc whatever in the yard


• Above and beyond all, the formatting problems I've had in the site have been making me incredibly frustrated and so I have numerous drafts/handwritten drafts but not having spacing/formatting makes it look like all I can do is write smush. Fixing that all....soon.

Is THAT what I think it is??!?!?!?

The fantabulous Jess from Black Cat Kitchen and I did a "Spring Swap" recently. Not surprisingly AT ALL we both included tea in our boxes to each other. After eating a sandwich on the homeward bound train tonight, I wasn't super hungry for a more standard dinner time dinner. Rather than making something and just picking at it, I decided to have a cup of tea and then eat a bit later. This is Jello Bello tea from Fava Tea Company. It smells AMAZING. I had done no research other than read the bag - it's loose tea - and think "oh Appleton, WI - family of mine used to live there." Safe to say I hadn't planned to say this out loud.... Holy Sh*t that's a jelly bean! It's a JELLY bean! (*not swearing on the blog or at least not for now) Please note the pink blobby thing toward center right. That is a Jelly Belly jelly bean. I clearly need a teaball/steeper/that squeezy thing you put tea in so you don't have to use the mini strainer. It does fit perfectly though size wise w one of my fav mugs. I've had this since '98 and while I usually am not a hearts person (STARS all the way!) I just love this mugggguh. I just happen to loooooove this tea as well. THANKS AGAIN JESS!

What lies beneath

Earlier today....

• Scale: pssst.... Psst..PSSST! Hey you!


• Me: (looks down) Yes?


• Scale: You know you haven't pulled me out lately. It is getting pretty boring in this corner. PLUS the cat hair is making me sneeze.


• Me: The floor was washed last weekend. You had a mini-trip to the hallway. No complaining to me about cat hair if you let Frankie sit on you.


• Scale: Whatever! C'mon you know you are curious. Plus you have had a few good weeks lately (snickers softly)


• Me: Ok, fine (getting annoyed - takes scale out of corner, puts in center of bathroom, steps on)


• Scale: ERROR!


• Me: Seriously?!?!


• Scale: Sorry (calculates current weight) Ohhhhh...


• Me: Excuse me? It was less than last time so that's good.


• Scale: True but not that much. I guess I wasn't correct about the past few weeks.


• Me: (glares are scale) I have had a good few weeks. I am walking 13 miles a week. THIRTEEN miles is awesome. You don't even have real feet so you wouldn't understand. Those little metal nubs would be worn off in no time!


• Scale: Piff!


• Me: I've been eating well and keeping things balanced. Plus I was sick recently and didn't go into fast food mode as a result since things didn't taste the same. I'm back to my yogurt a day as well.


• Scale: Oh, well...


• Me: PLUS the skirt that looked a bit too inappropriately tight fits amazingly well now. So THERE!


• Scale: But but!


• Me: No buts! Quit trying to make me feel bad! If you don't watch it I'll put tuna on you and then BOTH cats will be sitting on you! (puts scale back in corner)


• Scale: (pouts)

Throwing my weight around

I decided to stop procrastinating and take out the kettlebell this week. I picked up the set/kit/box o' super heavy a ways back but for some reason was hesitant to try it. I am thinking it was a mix of sick/feeling better/semi sick/repeat plus over thinking the effort it would take to start. Silly, I know but overall not feeling well was the major reason. While I am not feeling 100%, a little extra activity will always make me sleep a bit better. I expected the DVD in the box to be a workout dvd but it ended up being a 10 minute demo. Routine fail! Clearly it was showing the proper way to hold and the specific moves but I found myself thinking that they should have at least had it as a 10 min routine - ie both sides not just one. I did learn the basics which is good but I do foresee myself looking for a full out routine based DVD eventually. I ended up doing a mix of

• marching warmup aka watch the cats freak out


• short set of squats - or at least what I was calling that since I don't know technical jargon w the 5 lb kettlebell


• short period of fast hooping


• back to the kettle bell w more squat-ish stuff - that is my technical term for now


• another period of hooping but mid tempo


• short set of curls w kettlebell


• another period of slow hooping


• slow march to mid temp walk cool down w stretching

Overall it was less than a half hour. I was worried I'd be sore but so far so good. I think it was because while I did do something I kept it simple, a small amount of time and did not overdo it. Plus I am now walking a total of approximately 13 miles a week. Walking a mile now feels like barely anything to me now which is a great feeling. I know this will eventually help when I am able to run another 5k. Right now finances is making me wait but I know there will be one that is a mix of good registration cost, great charity, and overall fun.

Is it fast enough to...

Every time I hear this song, no matter who is singing it, I am back in 6th grade roller skating at the local roller rink (That spot is now a car dealership and a Hooters.) with one of those glow stick pendants swinging dangerously around my neck though never managing to crack my teeth and getting one more lap in before getting a neon blue snowcone.

I found this girl by chance when looking up Rebecca Black spoofs. She did a cover of Friday - with actual music and singing (crazy thought right?)

Finish strong

Today was one of those finish strong moments. While it did involve putting one thing in front of another, the things weren't feet. While it did include finishing touches, it wasn't frosting on a cake. It was binding off a scarf and weaving in the edges. If you knit, these are some of the moments before you get that moment when you hold up whatever you had been making for days/weeks/months and have that dopey smile on your face. It is that happy feeling that two little movements result in two kinds of stitches that can result in something beautiful.

Like Groundhog Day but minus Bill Murray

Perhaps it is due to my being a kid in the 80s and having the cassette tape singles with the paper sleeves (still have my copy of Every Rose Has It's Thorn) but I have a tendency to play a song on repeat until I am sick of it. While I am still listening to Heavy in Your Arms, I had added Home by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.



I was singing this today. Please remember that I am the kind of person that when you hear me singing along w the radio you turn up the radio. I'm serious. This happens. Then, after awhile and/or giving up, they just bear with me... for awhile. Ok I am not that abso horrible but if I am doing karaoke, it is usually later in the evening and singing a hair metal song with a female friend. Safety in numbers + old school stuff that people will start singing along with as well is the bar equivalent to turning up the radio.

I sang.

I sorta whistled.

I did keep myself from doing the 7 Dwarfs march along though.

Thunk thunk... thunk thunk.....

My love has concrete feet

As I had mentioned before when discussing hooping, I am a Florence + the Machine fan. I pretty much have been listening to my cd via itunes or the cd itself and haven't look at her/their website in a long time. So when I found out there was a new song of course I was excited!

Heavy in Your Arms is both a great song and a great video. It has been played on repeat for quite some time.



The "New CD!?!?!?!?!" kicked in. Nope soundtrack song for the latest installment of Sparkle Sparkle Wah Wah aka The Twilight Saga. They do put good music in the movies, I'll give them that. I just didn't like the first book at all = almost threw it across the room a few times. The second was better than the first but I won't be buying it anytime soon. I know that MILLIONS of people read/watched/loved/obsessed these books. Not my cup of tea.

Now the soundtracks - those won't be thrown across the room.

Darth Leprechaun

Oh baby baby bubububaybeee

First and foremost I am not preggers. (If that word offends you, m'apologies but "eggers" sounds better than "NANT" to me.) I swear it is baby-land lately. Between real life and blogland (of the ones I follow more regularly) there are a good half dozen couples expecting!

I found out last night from a life long friend that she and her hubby are expecting. She's one of those people that I don't remember life w/o since our fams were/are close and her sister is The BFF. I am SUPER excited for them especially since this is their first baby. A new little one to spoil!!!!!!