pinning winning

I have, shall we say, a bordering-on-obsessive interest in Pinterest.  That time suck app, you know, for all of us who wish we were as crafty as we lead people to perceive we are, judging by the 500 pins on DIY home decor and holiday projects?

I'd gotten in my head that I'd wanted to make a new jewelry display...thing.  And I had no words to describe exactly what I wanted (good luck trying to explain THAT one to your boyfriend when you're trying to convince him you won't cut off your fingers with the hand saw so could he please not hide the tools from you anymore?) so I'd gone onto Pinterest to try to find something.  I didn't find exactly what was floating around in my head so I drew it up on a scrap of paper and presented it to my still-confused loved one.  Here's what I wanted- I'd find a big picture frame, paint it, put a pretty fabric in the open area and attach some way to hang earrings onto it.  I wanted a small shelf underneath with a dish on it to hold stud earrings and rings, and room to set bracelets and watches, and also hooks underneath to hang necklaces from.  Easy, right?

Spoiler Alert- it came together beautifully!  Take a look-

After wandering around Home Depot for like an hour, we located some "hobby boards," which were about 18 inch long pre-sanded pieces of wood that were exactly what I was looking for to use for the shelf.  I got some quarter-round to use as a trim design along the front and sides

 See, those aren't MY hands using the hand saw!  I actually did try it for a while but found hacking away on the quarter-round quite tedious.  

 Had to use wood glue to attach quarter-round to the hobby board.  The board was so thin and the quarter-round so awkwardly curved that even tiny finishing nails would have split it.  This sat in the clamp after being glued for about a week because I have poor time-management skills.

 I haggled this picture frame down from $10 to $5 at the second-hand shop- it's big, 16x24, but had no glass and no hanger and was pretty ugly.  But- solid wood!  I painted it with some leftover white paint I'd used to do the corner hutch.  Again, this took a few days and several coats.

 I bought a half yard of fabric from the crafter's crack dealer- AKA Hobby Lobby.  It was expensive fabric but come on, when can you not find a sale or coupon for the Lobby?  I also ended up buying some gold cord from the discount Christmas bin to stretch across a piece of white foam board I cut to fit the frame opening.  I had to cut little nicks into the sides for the cord to slip in because the whole thing was a veeeeery tight fit!  The big crafty secret there is scotch tape holding the cord in place.  Tape and fabric glue hold the fabric down to the foam board.  

 Underneath the hobby board shelf, I attached 12 Command hooks!  I'd looked into the little hooks that screwed in but again, the board wasn't thick enough.  Command hooks are pretty tough and worked out just fine.  Cheapie metal brackets with teeny tiny screws underneath attach to the board.  When Scot hung it on the wall for me he used larger, reinforced screws with that plastic sleeve that pops into the wall first.  

 I LOVE IT!!!!  The fabric has some sort of swirly French script on it that's the perfect background for dangly earrings.  Have a closer look at the shelf-

I found an empty picture frame, took the back off, and used it flat down as a holder for the stud earrings- see it on the left.  The glass sits low enough in the frame without the back that stuff won't roll out.  

I'm thrilled with the outcome and feel justified in saying that I look like one of those really creative Pinterest people.  Here's a price breakdown for my showpiece:

Hobby Lobby

Gold cord- $2 on clearance

Foam board- $1.85 on clearance

Fabric- $3.59 with coupon

Home Depot

Command hooks- $12 for 12

Hobby board- $4

Brackets- $1.76 for 2

Quarter-round- $1.50, cut by the foot

Second hand antique store

Frame- $5

Already owned- paint, clamp, brushes, screws, glue, and handy boyfriend

TOTAL- around $32!

running disney's tower of terror 10 miler 2013!

I registered for the RunDisney Tower of Terror 10 Miler on a whim last July.  I'd gone online to sign up for the Princess Half Marathon but registration wasn't open yet so I threw my name in the ring for this one.  I'd never run more than 3 miles in my life so I printed out the training schedule, followed (and tried to exceed) it the best I could.  

2 weeks before the race I came down with something that felt akin to the plague.  Couldn't breathe, couldn't talk, couldn't detach myself from the kleenex box.  This led to several panic-y episodes and nightmares and loss of sleep pretty much up until the day of the race.  Medically I was feeling pretty good by the 5th, so here's how it all went!

The Friday before the run, I had to go down to the Wide World of Sports to the RunDisney Expo to pick up my race number and packet.  That experience was an overwhelming nightmare- I arrived around noon when it first opened, stood in line in the hot sun to get in, then was swamped by crowds worse than Black Friday at Target!  I tried to wander around a little bit and look at thee vendors and booths and merchandise but it was so insane that all I really wanted to do was go hide in the bathroom.  So I left.  Maybe when I go back for the Princess Half Expo I'll be a little more prepared.  Not today though.

I had work the day of the race, so my day started at 7am.  After a day of flying, I headed down to check into the Caribbean Beach Resort at WDW around 4pm.  My parents were already there so after I took a quick catnap in my room, we met up and went to the food court for dinner.  I was starting to get really nervous so I wasn't sure what to eat.  I ended up with some chicken and mashed potatoes, which I tried eating but mostly just picked at.   I had to force myself to choke it down.  Scot showed up after getting off work early after 7, I got my Maleficent costume put together, took some pics, and was on the bus just before 8.

The bus took all us runners to the Film parking lot of Hollywood Studios.  I started talking to the lady sitting next to me- her name was Annie and she was for Montreal.  She'd run half marathons before but this was her first Disney race.  She'd been placed 2 corrals behind me, so we decided we'd hang out til line-up time.  When we arrived at the parking lot, the energy there was crazy!  There were thousands of people-many in costume, a DJ on a stage, water stations, probably 100 porta-pottys, and photo ops and laser lights.  We worked our way over to the stage where the music was playing and the DJ was teaching everyone dance moves- we decided to join in, laughing and dancing to everything from Gangnam Style to the Time Warp.  It was a great time, until we looked at each other laughing and realized we were starting to sweat and didn't want to get worn out before running 10 miles!  

It was great to have someone to hang with and talk to, since we had almost 2 hours to kill before race start.  We spent that time just sitting on the ground near the water tables and people-watching.  Around 9:00, race officials started herding us into our corrals.  Annie and I said our goodbyes and good lucks, and I went over to Corral G.  After we were all grouped up, we had to walk to the finish line about 45 min prior to race start.  The corrals were separated by officials with ribbons stretched across the fronts.  The walk was probably a good half mile, but the race officials were talking over the speakers and were entertaining us and playing music the whole time.  At 9:55, the wheelchair participants started- I heard the Twilight Zone theme music and saw a burst of fireworks over the trees.  After that, Group A went, then B a couple minutes later, and so on.  Our start time for G was 10:15.  I saw my parents and Scot on the other side of the fence as my group passed closer to the start!  Each group that started got the music and fireworks, then we'd all inch forward.  I thought I heard group F go, then it was our turn next.  I heard wrong, I guess, because as we were moving up, I crossed the start line!  Crap!  I scrambled to hit the GO button on my Map My Run app, hit PLAY on my Pandora, and started off.

Not that I was running.  The crowd was so much that it was a medium-paced walk.  Laser lights and fog machines above added to the craziness.  Music was pumping.  And we were going nowhere fast.  I wasn't worried though- there'd be plenty of running time later!  Right at the first turn, literally less than a half mile in, there was a Character Stop- the Wicked Queen from Snow White was doing photos and there were probably 100 people in the line.  Uh, sorry Queen, I've gotta run...  

It took over a mile for the crowd to thin into something I could work a run into.  There were Disney Villain characters at LEAST every mile, and water and Powerade stops every mile as well.  Even though I had my Pandora, there was music and entertainment playing all along the route.  We ran down Osceola Parkway to Animal Kingdom, made the turn after the entrance, and started back.  There were stilt walkers and characters and music and lights all themed around AK, and a inflatable giant spider hanging over the overpass with a laser light web shining on the wall.  That was by mile 3.  As I got to mile 4, more characters and a water stop-I actually saw a volunteer at the water stop that I knew!  Anita, who is in my Women in Aviation group handed me my water!  I shrieked in surprise, said a quick hi, and moved along with a bit more energy.  A little ways down further, there was a tent with people handing out goo on popsicle sticks.  I didn't know what it was- food?  Medicine?  I didn't take any of it and made a mental note to look it up later.  Mile 5 took us down a dirt service road towards the Wide World of Sports.  My phone had started giving me a low battery beep, so I was wondering how long I'd have my run tracker.  I wasn't worried about losing the music because of all the en-route entertainment.  The dirt road was darker, with fog machines, hazy lighting, more characters, and lots of trees.  It was much more crowded because it was thinner, so I stuck to the edge.  The road spat us out near some baseball fields- we wound around the race track and down the main walkway towards the baseball stadium.  All along the way, volunteers were holding support signs and clapping and cheering us on!  It was great, I don't think I stopped smiling the whole race, actually.  I turned into the baseball stadium and ran around the outside dirt area- the stands were filled with spectators and people cheering support!  The 6.2 mile (10K) marker was there, too.  I sailed out of the stadium with plenty of energy, ran through the parking lot filled with more cheering crowds, then hit the road back to the studios.  

Just after mile 7, my phone died.  I was really bummed to lose my Map My Run, because it was recording the route for me!  Also, Scot and my parents were using the live tracking feature to watch where I was.  As I approached mile 8, a HUUUUUUGE section of people who were walking were just approaching the dirt road area, which I could see across the median.  Probably 1/3 of the original crowd was just walking- I couldn't see the end of the group before I made the turn off the exit and headed through the Hollywood Studios entranceway, past more villain characters doing photos.  The lake (retention pond?) at the exit had a thing in the middle that was shooting giant hot fireballs a couple hundred feet in the air every 15 seconds or so.  And laser lights.  And music.  

Side note- I did talk to people who have done Disney races before and say there's absolutely no comparison.  Any non-Disney race you do after one of these is boring as hell.  I believe it.

As I moved into Mile 8, my legs started hurting.  My feet were already a little sore, now my legs were feeling a little crampy.  I kept going though- it hurt but was not debilitating.  Plus, I was really excited to see what was around the next corner!  More staff and volunteers cheering, more crowds, more lights, more characters, more music!  Curiosity kept me moving!  We ran past the front stage at Lights Motors Action, around and out and up the Streets of America area towards the big Mickey Hat.  After the hat, I turned a corner and saw Scot and my parents again just after mile 9!  I waved and screamed, and kept going.  The route took us back behind a parking lot area, through a tunnel filled with chasing lights and music, then one more corner (I remember Hades from the movie "Hercules") was the character there because around that corner was the FINISH!!!  Cheering crowds, photographers, a race official somewhere was announcing everyone's name as the hit the finish line- I crossed with a big grin on my face, and finally slowed to a walk.  Yep- I RAN, without stopping, the entire 10 miles.  

A lady hung a medal around my neck, a photographer took some photos, I took a chill towel and a banana and started walking through the cool-down route.  There were tables of water and Powerade, snack boxes, a bathroom (oh yes, good idea!), medical tents with the people  with the goo sticks again.  I thought to myself that I was glad I didn't take one earlier and try to eat it.  As I kept walking, there were people resting on the curbs, waiting for the rest of their parties maybe.  

There was an official photo area on the way out, but I passed it up and found myself deposited out right inside the entrance of the Studios.  It was a bit quieter and a bit surreal.  No people in costume.  No one in my immediate view with a number safety-pinned to their shirt or a medal around their neck.  It was just after midnight, and I felt like Cinderella dumped back into the real world!  I made my way to the Sorcerer Mickey hat to meet up with Scot and my parents.  It was over.  I'd made it.  

Hugs all around, we took some pics, rode some rides, I nibbled on my snack box.  Overall, I felt good.  Not too hurty, not too starving.  I did go on the Tower of Terror Ride and, because this is my life, I got conked in the head by my heavy medal around my neck when we went Zero G.  Of course.

Final stats:
My Bib #5916

1,762nd out of 9,478 total finishers (top 18%)
778th out of 6,132 women (top 12%)
Chip time- 1:47:39

Finally fell into bed a little after 5am after probably the Best. Shower. Ever.  I'm happy with everything, considering the slow-moving crowds.  I can't imagine running a race without all the entertainment and support I had on this one- I'm so spoiled.  And I think I'm addicted.  And so excited for the next one!

great, now i'm running from freaking sharks

Happy (?) Shark Week everyone!

Or rather, welcome to the most terrifying week on television.  I live within a half hour of the beach known as "The Shark Bite Capital of the World" and now I'm pretty sure I'm never going back there again.  This, people, is why I do not jump in to water that I can't see to the bottom of.  If it's not a clear Florida spring or Caribbean waters, I want no part of it. 

Up til Sunday, I'd never even HEARD of a bull shark, and now I'm pretty sure they're all lined up in a row with open mouths, waiting for my pretty polished toes to get a little too close.  These slow-motion video clips of sharks and all their teeth leaping out of the water to grab a bait off the side of a boat and these idiots, er, I mean, scientists egging them on gives me a Great-White-sized case of the heebee jeebees!  Thanks for the nightmares, Discovery Channel.  

On a better note, Scot and I have joined a running club!  There's this bar (don't judge) up in Deland that started a beer run.  (I bet you can now guess how I convinced Scot to do this with me, yes?)  Best part is...drumroll.....it's FREE!  I can do free, no problem.  We just show up at 6:30 on Monday evenings (my day off- this was fate, I tell you!) and do around a 3 mile run with a group.  Each week they feature a specialty craft beer that everyone gets a glass of afterwards.  Well, after we all drink the pitchers of water and nibble on bananas and fig newtons.  Of course, I'm not a beer drinker so if it's a tasty one, Scot gets 2.  I still beat him by a minute or 2 when we run, but he's doing holding his own, especially since he doesn't run like, at all.  Boy was even running in khaki cargo shorts and a cotton t-shirt when we started.  We finally hit up the Ross to get him some real workout clothes so I think he's improving.  It's fun to get out and do this together (and yes, he's admitted that), and of course it keeps me on track for my half-marathon training.  

Speaking of which, I have to run 8 miles this weekend.  All at once.  One after the other.  Looking at these morons on tv playing around in this shark cage and I'm half-thinking I'd rather be there than hoof it 8 miles on a Florida August afternoon.  But I must, because no one else is going to do it for me.  Unless there's any volunteers?  Hello?  No?  Dammit.

not funny, but insightful...i hope

I've been a flight instructor now for over 8 years.  I can for sure say that my teaching methods and style have changed and grown since I first started, and I've definitely become more, shall we say, professional in the way I teach thanks to the environment I've been working in for the past (almost) 3 years.  Pretty much anyone with the time, means, and commercial pilot certificate can go on to be a certified flight instructor, but it doesn't mean they necessarily should.  I'm not claiming to be the World's Finest CFI (and whoever is should just quit while they're ahead), but I tell you what, there's some people out there who should not be teaching.  

Think back about when you were in school- elementary, high school, doesn't matter.  Who was your favorite teacher?  Chances are it was not the one who yelled in class, chastised students in front of the others, or otherwise made you dread going in.  But you HAD to, because truancy is kind of against the law.  You suffer through the year and then move on.  What about the teacher who made no impact on you whatsoever?  The one who's class was one boring lecture right after another...the one you're thinking of but can't even remember their name.  The thing is, while and education is mandatory, taking flying lessons is not.  People come to us with large amounts of disposable income to spend on a mere hobby.  And yet, there are flight instructors out there (oh don't I know it) who yell, berate, and yes, even HIT their students.  There are flight instructors who are only interested in building up their own personal experiences so that they can bail out and run to an airline as soon as possible.  And people PAY these people to do exactly that!  Think about it- if you went in to a retail store and the clerk was chatting on the phone, too busy to bother with you, then hung up and yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" you'd leave, right?  Maybe after a few choice words, but you'd probably never go back.  

When a person decides to take flying lessons and chooses a CFI, they're basically entrusting their life with someone they barely know and are paying sometimes a couple hundred dollars an hour for it.  Would you want someone professional and experienced?  Or someone rude and abusive?  When most people sign up for flight training, they really have no idea what they're getting in to, and the poor souls that end up with less than savory instructors usually don't know any better.  It's not the customer's fault, just as it wouldn't be your fault with the rude clerk in the retail store.  It's our job as CFIs to guide our customers through their training in a respectful and professional manner.  After all, THEY'RE paying US.  They're like our boss- they can quit, essentially fire us- at any time.  However, so many people just wind up putting up with it, for god knows what reason, but I'm thinking that maybe it's the idea from the customer's point of view that the CFI is all-knowing (which we're supposed to be...mostly.  Or know where to look it up.) and that this (abusive, disrespectful way) is the way flight training should be.  And outsider can look at this and say "Um, no, anyone who'd stay is cray-cray" but allow me to share a recent story with you and my uncomfortable thoughts behind it...

A student-CFI relationship is just that, a relationship.  Similar to those we have with friends and loved ones.  There has to be a mutual respect and communication between the 2 parties for it to work.  Period.  I recently inherited a new student, let's call him "K."  I am K's 4th flight instructor.  K came to us after being thisclose to giving up flying altogether,  Here's some of his story he shared with me-
He began flight training out of a small airport northwest of town with a CFI I actually used to work with.  All the flying he did with this instructor was spent flying to other airports and getting breakfast or lunch.  Maybe some basic maneuver work every now and then, but other than that, he was not learning anything.  In fact, he never even learned to land the airplane from this man.  This particular CFI happens to think he is God's gift to flying (like I said, I know him and wouldn't trust him as far as I can throw him but of course I'd never tell my new customer this.  He doesn't need that) and essentially milked money out of K while making zero progress.  K caught on after an airline pal pointed it out, and switched to a new CFI at the airport I currently work at.  This new CFI is (again, I know him, and pardon my French) an old crotchety son-of-a-bitch who probably hasn't adjusted his instructing style since his military work back in the 70s.  This man yells and verbally abuses his customers and K told me of several occasions of this man cursing him out, calling him names and refusing to take the time to teach him anything constructive as far as procedures and ground work goes.  K eventually had enough when this man started yelling at him before they even took off of the runway, and he told me he unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, got out, and said "never again am I flying with you" and he walked back across the airport, got in his car, and left.  I can't say I blamed him.  K then found another instructor, a younger guy who was splitting his time between 2 airports and was constantly on his phone talking, texting, or emailing.  Let me ask- what would you do if you went to see the doctor and he only half-listened to you try to explain your illness because he was too busy doing other things?  Would you feel jipped?  Like you're wasting your time and money?  Well, this new instructor did eventually get K to a point where he could operate the aircraft on a solo flight, but he also charged him for every.  single.  second. that they were together.  He also made (MADE!) K purchase an iPad and expensive headset, telling him they were required items.  He told K that the FAA is phasing out the use of paper navigation charts (couldn't be farther from the truth) and that's why he needed these things.  My boss had to tell K after he came to us that if he showed up to an FAA flight test with no paper charts, he'd fail.  Which is true.  This instructor would also take K up in cloudy, nasty weather without briefing him on what to do or expect, just to build his own flight time up.  Admittedly, conditions like that could have been educational, if only K had been properly prepped for them.  K basically has close to 60 hours of flight time and nothing to show for it.  To put that in perspective, our average customers have between 60-70 hours by the time they're ready for their FAA flight tests.    

I feel bad for K, and I'm taking a lot of extra time and devoting a lot of extra attention to him, especially since he's had no organization or proper ground school instruction.  Coming out of those horrible CFI relationships is not at all unlike getting out of an abusive relationship.  I know, I've been there.  It was several years ago, but it still affects me.  When I finally had had enough (after 10 months) and called the police on my ex, it was a very scary, yet freeing world I came back in to.  Little things would make me noticeably happy, like getting to choose the radio station that I alone wanted to listen to, instead of being told my taste in music sucks.  Forgetting to run an errand I'd planned on, or not having time to complete a chore around the house and NOT having it turn in to a messy fight with me on the defensive.  Things were okay.  People were nice.  I could talk to whoever I wanted to, I could go over to a friend's house if I wanted to without fear of punishment.  

K is the same way after breaking up with his last CFI...he's told me he's nervous a bit about the flying because he doesn't want to upset me if he doesn't do well.  He's afraid that I'm going to tell him that he's not good enough and that he should quit.  I've been doing this long enough to know that not everyone learns the same way and that some people may require a more delicate approach, especially ones who have been damaged in past relationships.  I take my time with K, we plan out the lesson together, we go over procedures for maneuvers in the classroom beforehand (which he'd never done before), and we carefully follow the airplane checklist (also something he'd never used before) so there are no surprises and he knows exactly what I expect from the lesson for that day.  Today he was visibly relaxed and actually told me that he really had a fun time on the flight, that I am an excellent instructor, and that he wishes he'd known to start at our school from the beginning.  My heart just about melted!  I love hearing such positive things from customers, and it feels good knowing that I'm doing a good job.  K is going to take some work, but he is eager to learn.  It's like he's stepping out of a dark basement of a world into the light.  A little skittish to start, but I think he'll eventually do very well.  It just takes proper guidance from someone who (again, pardon my French and pardon for not ending on an eloquent note) actually gives a shit.                   

summer sweatin' (and a cake recipe)

I went outside this morning with the full intention of going for a run, and then I almost drowned.  Not because I fell in the pool (puh-leeze!) but because the humidity was about 1,000% and the air was so hot it felt like someone opened the door to the steam room and threw me in.  So.  Gross.  Soooo yeah I didn't go running.  HowEVER I did convince Scot to run the Firecracker 5K with me last Thursday (happy birthday, 'murica!) down in Sanford at the community college.  He decided to get a 3.5 mile warm-up run in the day before (which I found out the reason it ended up being a 3.5 mile run is because he missed his turn on the route) because he hadn't run AT ALL since Thanksgiving, when we did our last 5K together.  You can imagine how this turned out.  My warm-up run the day before was 5 miles and I felt great, actually ran the Firecracker twice around, for a total of 6.2 miles that day.  He finished his 3.1 about 5 minutes after me and was completely incapacitated the rest of the day.  HAHA.  But he's in Phoenix now  for a week to work on some stuff with the Airbus or whatever so I'm actually kind of sad.  And his legs are still sore.  But that makes me laugh.

We trekked over to Dallas for my family's annual reunion last weekend, too.  My great-grandparents had 3 kids, and now we have 66 family members, all from them ("Ya'll are just a real fertile bunch" Scot has said to me on more than one occasion).  58 of us were there- this was the 33rd year we've done the reunion and believe it or not, we all look forward to it!  Everyone gets along, no one's in jail, there's no drama, everyone has some class....it's quite a nice time!  I snapped a pic of my grandparents in the hotel lobby- they have 2 kids, 5 grandkids, and 3 great-grandchildren and they're the best ever!

Scot and I wandered around the town of Grapevine, TX where we were all staying and stopped at this wine bar for a late lunch- it was called Into The Glass and it was fantastic!  I had sea scallops on a bed of farmer's market vegetables and an amazing wine that I've posted a picture of.  I can't find it anywhere so if you see it (probably in Texas) mail me a bottle or 3!  Part of the vegetable on my plate was called "fiddle ferns" which are actually just...ferns.  Baby ferns.  Like, before they uncurl and look all fern-like.  I was hesitant to try it, but I actually discovered that I really like ferns!  I don't think my WalMart carries them, though...

 Buy me this.  Seriously.

Look at the widdy biddy ferns!  

This year the 4th of July was of course on a Thursday, which is a work day for me so that was super-lame.  It was hot and windy and disgusting so I was glad to get home and enjoy some of this cake I made.  I've posted the recipe below- you can probably change the jell-o colors to work with any holiday- strawberry and lime for Christmas or something like that.  Easter colors.  Whatev.  But it was delicious!  I had my former co-worker Doug along with my boss and his family up for fried chicken and watermelon with this cake, before we walked down to the park for fireworks.  It was nice.  Hot, but nice.  On the other hand, we did book our cruise for September.  60 days to go.  I hate the fact that we have to get through August.  It's all fun and games til my shoes melt to the blacktop out on the aircraft ramp.  

Try This Cake

Cake ingredients

1 pkg white cake mix plus required ingredients (use egg whites)

2 3-oz pkgs of Jell-o (I used strawberry and berry blue)

Whip cream topping (because using Cool Whip is pathetic)

1 pint heavy whippin' cream

2 capfuls of vanilla extract 

2 TBSP sugar

Bake the cake in 2 9-inch rounds as directed on the box.  Let it cool in the pans for about 20 minutes then poke holes all up in it with a fork or a skewer or whatever.

Mix the jellos separately with 1 cup boiling water each, stir to dissolve, add 1/2 cup cold water each, then pour the hot liquid over the cake so it gets all in the holes and runs over the side.  The cake will absorb it all up so don't worry if it's runny.  

Put the pans in the fridge overnight to let them...uh, marinate.

Next day, make the whip cream

Beat the crap out of the pint of heavy whippin' cream, the vanilla, and the sugar with an electric stand mixer.  It'll get all thick and fluffy.  Taste with with your finger when it's done.  Uh huh.

Assemble and frost the cake, store it in the fridge.  Top with fruit and stuff.  It's just the treat for a hot afternoon!  Enjoy!

cinderella needs new running shoes

So, today was The Day.  I actually pulled out the ol' Visa and registered for the Walt Disney World Princess Half Marathon!  I did that AND one further- as a spur-of-the-moment decision, I registered for what's called the Glass Slipper Challenge.  The Challenge is the half-marathon of course, but it also includes a 10K race the day before as well.  Because apparently I'm sick in the head.  The whole event isn't until February so I've got plenty of training time, as long as I take advantage of it!  I've got the Tower Of Terror 10 Miler in 4 months, so it certainly seems do-able.  Here's the thing, though- I haven't run in almost a week.  

We've had this little "rain event" hanging out over the state this week and they're calling it Tropical Storm Andrea.  I haven't heard from the news exactly how many inches of rain we've gotten, but any memory of the dry season this winter and spring is long gone!  I went outside tonight to clip some parsley from my herb garden (Tangent: Scot wanted me to make some alfredo pasta with "the fancy cheese" -aka parm reggiano grated into curls- for dinner so I decided to grab some garnishes as well.  Tangent over.) and the pool is almost overflowing!  The water is level with the top of the coping!  All day it poured rain and we had some pretty gusty winds, too.  The eye of the storm passed north of us so we didn't get the really strong winds, maybe 40-45 mph at the worst, but lord have mercy did we get some rain!  This storm sucked so much moisture up from the Gulf and dumped it on us that we've had some local flooding and the past 2 days have been consumed with tornado watches and warnings.  I was all prepared to hide under the front desk as work today if I had to.  Yeah, I was still at work.  Bonus points for you if you can guess how much I actually got to get paid.  (If you said "zilch" for flying and a couple piddly hours of ground school, you'd be right.  God bless Netflix on my Kindle!)  Hence why I haven't been running.  We are officially into the rainy season so I'm going to have to figure out how to get some runs in if the weather looks bad.  I'm too much of a princess to run in the rain!

I've found a new running path in the fancy-pants neighborhood of Baldwin Park in Orlando.  It's literally like a mile from work so all week I've been super prepared with my bag and clothes and shoes and stuff, Clif bar and energy water included, with plans to run after work.  It happened once.  Then the rains came.  Anyhoo, the path goes 2.5 miles around a lake with plenty to look at and lots of people, so I feel quite safe.  I can do 2 laps so far, with the jog from and back to my car, for a total of just under 6 miles.  The thing now is that while I have the breath to run more, my legs are just too tired after that distance.  I totally had plans to go ride my bike on Monday to work on my leg strength, but since I'm pretty good at falling off of it in good weather, it was probably a good decision to keep it in the garage and out of the rainy weather!  Fingers crossed this stuff blows out of here tomorrow.

cruzan towards the weekend...

Um, when did May get here?  I'm still back in March somewhere.  Before St. Patrick's day.  Lord help me I think I must be getting old!  We've been on the crazy spin cycle since spring started, and here it is, Memorial Day weekend, and I can't keep up.

Scot and I escaped for a few days down to St. Croix (which I had to look up to find out where it was after I bought the tickets) to get some quality beach time away from Florida.  Living in a tourist-destination state does mean we have our own little piece of paradise, sure, but being here and working all day every day really makes you wanna leave the mainland for a bit sometimes.  This trip kinda-sorta coincided with his 32nd birthday and also our 'round-about 3 year anniversary so there were plenty of excuses to skip town.

St. Croix is US territory, but is the least touristy of all the Virgin Islands.  No WalMart, no chain resort hotels, no big highways even.  It was great!  Except the fact that those crazies drive on the left side of the road.  I'm glad we didn't rent a car, we wouldn't have made it out of the parking lot before running into someone.  We stayed at a little beach resort, did a few tours, got some good sun, met another couple from Minnesota there and made some new friends.  The only thing we didn't get to do was sleep in because the sun comes up at 5:30!!!   

Some of my favorite things we did: 
Jumped off the empty cruise ship pier- a 15 foot drop into crystal clear waters you could see the bottom of, probably 30-40 feet deep, or however deep a ship needs.  It was absolutely amazing!
Fed the beer-drinking pigs at the Domino Club bar up the the rainforest.  The pigs have been switched to non-alcoholic beer these days because a 950lb shit-faced pig is a bit difficult to deal with.
Catamaran tour out to the beach and snorkel and Buck Island.  Buck Island is a national landmark that is 95% underwater with the reefs and all.  Again, the water was so clear and the beach part we went to was so clean on the bottom it was like standing in the swimming pool.
Tour of the Cruzan Rum Distillery.  $5 for the tour AND 2 drinks at the end?  Yes, please!

Some things I'd wish we'd skipped:
The sunburn.  No matter how many coats of sunscreen I put on, I turned into a lobster and shed my skin like a snake.  It was gross.
The mosquitoes.  Holy sheet, ya'll my legs are still covered in bites!  And because there's no WalMart on this island, I had to drop $9 on a tube of hydrocortozone.  
My kayaking adventure.  We borrowed some from the resort and went out on the waves.  It was all good and well until I decided I wanted to see if I could surf a kayak.  Spoiler alert:  I can't.  I drank a gallon of seawater and lost my towel and my paddle.  I totally think it could have worked if my center of gravity hadn't been so far forward.  Maybe next time.

Enjoy some pictures!

 Our beach!

 Taking the plunge, so to speak

 And of course, Scot doing something insane

 Walking on air!

 I tried to upload a video of the beer-drinking pig but it wouldn't work.  I have it on my Facebook page if you're so inclined.  I think it's hilarious.  Until it spit beer all over me.  Asshole pig.

 Buck Island- see?  Swimming pool!

 Lizard friend

Rum, glorious rum!  This is only a fraction of the total barrels

 Iff'n you're looking for a good drink recipe...

COME ON, HOW IS THIS NOT THE BEST PLACE EVER?!?

A couple days after we got back in town, my parents flew in to visit us as well!  They stayed for 4 days and we got some good visiting time.  We did a couple touristy things like the Orange County Regional History Center, which is fantastic, and went to see the movie "The Great Gatsby." (GO SEE IT.  NOW.)  The day they were due to leave, my cousin Sarah and her family got in to Orlando off a Disney cruise.  I knew they were going to be in town (they live in Tennessee) so I arranged for them to meet us for brunch before Scot and I had to go to work and my parents had to go to the airport.  We met up Peach Valley cafe (love me some chicken and waffles) and I didn't tell my mom they were going to be there.  She was so surprised and thrilled to see them, which made me feel pretty awesome too.  However, 8 people in a booth built for 6 is going to end with a mess.  And we didn't need the 2 kiddos under 3 to help.  

So Memorial Day is this weekend and I think we're going to plan to do absolutely nothing.  My mother told me I don't relax enough on my day off (true- we have yard work and projects and places to go) so I think a good run followed by a dip in the pool followed by some sunbathing is in order.  

run, maggie, run

I made an impulse buy today.  I bought an entry into the Tower of Terror Walt Disney World 10-Mile run.  I've never run more than 5 miles together in my life.  Let's back up for a second, though, and I'll try to explain what's going on.

The idea of doing a half-marathon popped into my brain a couple months ago when I was out running the Gemini Springs trail down to Lake Monroe in Debary.  I'd quit my gym membership right before Christmas because I just wasn't happy with the classes, it was inconvenient to try to get to it, and I was sick of paying out the wazoo each month when I didn't even have time to go.  I figured I could just do some running- I'd always wanted to be "good" at running, whatever that means.  Partly it meant NOT taking 45 minutes to run a 5K.  (That's 3.1 miles for you non-runner folk)  I still remember barely making it through a 5K in high school (back then I just did them for the t-shirt) in over three quarters of an hour with a stitch in my side and shin splints.  So not good.  I never really tried to improve, and gave up on running altogether for many years because, come on, it hurt and I sucked at it.

Anyway, I'd do a little running every now and then when I was having a "fat day" but never more than a couple miles.  I've done a few 5K runs over the past couple of years for work and Thanksgiving turkey trots and that's it.  I decided to run the trail to Lake Monroe because we'd walked it before and rode it on the bikes but I had no idea how long it was.  Something about 4 miles was floating around in my head, so, with no watch and no means of telling distance, I started out.  I had zero concept of time while running/taking breaks to walk and I figured it must have been about an hour and a half.  So, maybe 8 miles, I was thinking.  That's when the idea of doing the Disney Princess Half Marathon first manifested itself.  I was hanging in there out on this trail, I can do 13.1 miles!  I smiled at the thought- running through the Magic Kingdom, feeling good, I mean, I'd already run about an hour and a half so what's just a little more?

Until I got back to the car and looked at the map.  And the clock.

I'd run a total of 4.8 miles, and it had only been 50 minutes.

I felt like a balloon that just got stuck with a pin.  So much for my grand idea of a half-marathon, I was whupped.  And disappointed.  And stubborn and more determined than ever to MAKE IT HAPPEN.

I ran the trail a few more times over the next few weeks, with less walking breaks and more running.  I used www.mapmyrun.com to measure out some distances around the blocks from the house and found that what I now call the "big block" is 1.7 miles, and the "little block" is 1.2. I've done 3 laps around the big block twice now, for a total of 5.1 miles each time and am holding steady at 57 minutes.  If I can build up my stamina to get any farther than that, this 10 mile run that I've already registered and paid $150 to do won't be a total embarrassment!  I'll post some more on my progress and it gets closer, and hopefully I'll show some improvement along the way.  Registration for the Princess Half hasn't opened yet so I'm waiting for that announcement.  I'm also going to try to track down some 10K runs this fall to get used to the race environment- not much happens in that department in the heat of the Florida summer!

(By the way, I jumped in the pool for the first time this year when I finished my run and it was effing freezing.  As in, 72 degrees.  Brrrrrrrrr.)

So the Tower of Terror run isn't until October, so I have some time.  It's at night though, 10pm start time, which should be really awesome.  I guess it's okay to be a little excited, we'll see how I'm feeling about it come September.  

One more thought- the magician Houdini could work his way out of a straitjacket while hanging upside down and handcuffed, but he NEVER had to try to wriggle out of a tight-fitting sweaty sports bra.  He ain't got nothin' on me!

lawn ornament take-over

HEY GUYS!!!  MY NAME'S PINKY AND I'M HERE, AS THE NEW LAWN MASCOT OF TRUMBULL STREET, TO SHOW YOU THE PROGRESS THE KIDS HAVE MADE ON THE BACKYARD!  PLUS I TALK IN ALL CAPS!  BECAUSE I'M SUPER-EXCITED TO BE HERE!  AND I LOVE YOU!  I LOVE EVERYONE!

(Don't you just adore him?)

Excuse me while I reel Pinky in for a minute...

Yes, we've done a lot with the yard so far this spring.  The weather in Florida has been stupid this month though- 80 degrees, 35 degrees, tornado, 60 degrees, drought, fire, freeze, sunburn.  It's driving me batty.  Ready for summer already!  Anyhoo, Scot's relatives from Finland and his mom are all coming to visit next month so we've been working on getting the house looking like 2 mature, respectable adults live here.  (btw, if you know 2 mature, respectable adults who can step in for us, let me know...)  Anyway, I came home from work the other week and Scot was digging up the backyard rambling on about putting in plant beds along the pool screen and fence and whatnot.  So we did!

CHECK OUT WHAT THEY DID, YOU GUYS!  IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY TO BE HANGING AROUND OUT HERE IN THIS BRAND-NEW FLOWER BED!!!  IT'S AWESOME!!!!

 Before- board for the beds laying about haphazardly, power tools scattered about (those aren't normally there, but the dead-looking grass and color-less lawn is pretty accurate)

After!  We put 17 croton plants along the pool screen (right), and grounded the corners with pittosporum bushes.  The bed stretched along the left side beyond the veggie garden, and I put in some colorful flowers and handing baskets under the newly-mulched area under the tree

 Here's a better view of my tiny little veggies- hey I planted everything from seeds this year so it's taking a bit longer.  That's broccoli in the back...

The flowers!  

THAT'S MY FAVORITE PART!!!  I LOVE FLOWERS!  AND I LOVE EVERYONE!!!

Easy there, hang on to your mouse ears, Pinky

Before- equally pitiful area behind the pool screen.  Not much more to say there

CAN I DO THE NEXT ONE?  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CAN I TELL THE LOVELY READERS THAT I LOVE SO MUCH ABOUT THIS ONE?

Fine.  Knock yourself out.  Use a rock if you need help.

OKAY SO THE GIRL HUMAN FORGOT TO MOVE THE BAG OF MULCH BEFORE SHE TOOK THE PICTURE (Pinky!  Focus!)  OKAY OKAY, BUT HERE'S THE AFTER!!!!  THE PRETTY PURPLE PLANTS AND LOROPETALUM AND THEY MAKE AWESOME PINK FLOWERS THROUGH SPRING AND SUMMER!  I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM AND LOOK AT THEM ALL DAY LONG!!!

HERE THEY ARE AGAIN!  PURPLE PLANTS!  PINK FLOWERS!  IT'S AWESOME AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH!  I LOVE EVERYONE!

OOOOO CHECK OUT THE GIRL HUMAN TRYING TO GET ALL ARTISTIC WITH THIS CORNER SHOT!  I'M SO HAPPY I GET TO LOOK AT THE POOL ALL DAY TOO!  IT'S SO PRETTY!!!  YAAAAAAAAY!!!!

I'm exhausted just listening to him.  Pinky, time for bed.  

BED!  I LIVE IN A BED!  A FLOWER BED!  GET IT?!?

Good God.

Anyway, I got some more inspiration from the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival yesterday (where I bought you-know-who) and everything was really lovely and we had a fantastic time.  This year they added food and alcohol to the festival so I had lots of frozen vodka drinks, sparkling wine, and some pineapple soft serve topped with gold rum.  Lawd it was a good time.    I mean, I may have gotten some garden inspiration, but I was also inspired to want to drink sparkling wine with elderflower liqueur and mint for breakfast every morning.  Which got shot down as soon as I remembered I fly airplanes for a living and they frown on that sort of thing.  

 

13 years and still alive

January marked the 13th anniversary of my very first training flight in a small aircraft.  Cessna 172 out of the Downtown airport in Shreveport.  I immediately got hooked and never looked back.  I went to a 4 year college and majored in aviation, got my private license, my instrument rating, my commercial license, a multi-engine rating on top of that, then high-tailed it to Florida to work on my flight instructor certificates.  None of my training came naturally to me- I had to work very hard and fortunately I'm very stubborn, else I know I would have quit.  It took a long time for me to pick things up and understand concepts (a lot of the time I didn't understand most of it anyway) and I went through so many different flight instructors and got so many different points of view and opinions that no one ever sat me down and explained WHY I needed to know certain things.  Just- here, memorize this.  Why can't you?  It's easy!  (Uh, no it ain't buddy.)  I decided that when I became a flight instructor, I'd never forget what it was like to NOT know anything about flying, and to always explain the reasons behind the maneuvers and procedures we do to my students.  I admit, sometimes I get a little frustrated with a student but then I sit back and think about something I know absolutely diddly squat about- sailing and boats.  If someone put me out in a sailboat and tried to explain what all those damn ropes were for in a half-assed sort of way, I'd be hanging on to the tail (or whatever the back of the boat is called- see my point?)  

The thing with flying is, during training we always drill emergencies- what to do, where to go, what to say, memorize memorize memorize!  The idea is that, when the shit hits the fan, you react quickly and automatically as you were trained.  But you never really know how you're going to handle something until it happens.  So, for your reading pleasure, I've listed some crazy shit that's happened to me while flying, and I've detailed a few incidents below that stand out:

Oct 31, 2008
My first big incident.  I managed to get away with 8 years of little drama (a few scary night flights with bad weather, but nothing to write home about.)  I remember this because it was on my birthday- the basic story is I was with a student practicing landings at the Deland airport north of Orlando and the nose gear of our retractable-gear Cessna 182 folded up on us after landing.  The airplane went ass-up and skidded down the runway while the propeller continued to force its way around a few more times, making a screeching, thumping, grating metal on concrete noise for about 500 feet before coming to a stop.  It only took a few seconds, but I remember clearly what I was thinking- holyshitthisisnotreallyhappeningisit?  It was totally surreal.  When the aircraft came to a stop, my student and I sat very still, then silently and calmly cut off the fuel and electrical systems, unbuckled our seat restraints, and (very awkwardly) crawled out of the aircraft.  The ambulances and firetrucks showed up a few minutes later, I had to make some phone calls to the FAA and fill out some paperwork.  No one told me how to handle this situation or the aftermath of legal crap, but I managed it okay.  I had to keep myself together and project confidence because it would be a disservice to my customer for me to be rattled or to pass any feelings of discomfort onto her.  I had responsibilities to take and to this day I don't think I could have handled any of it better.

August 2012
This incident happened on a Sunday- I remember because my boss is off on that day.  I was doing a rental checkout for a customer in a brand-new aircraft we'd gotten on the flight line...a light sport Cessna 162 Skycatcher.  I had maybe 4 or 5 hours in this aircraft and thought it was one of the most fun little airplanes to fly.  I still do!  It's so light weight, about 1,200-1,300 lbs when loaded up and has large doors that raise up under the wing on pneumatic arms so that you can taxi it around on the ground and still get a nice breeze with them open.  It was my customer's first flight ever in this little airplane, so we took it nice and slow and easy getting it started up, practicing the taxiing, and I explained some of the differences on this aircraft as opposed to the Cessna 172 he was used to flying.  We got cleared for takeoff in Orlando from runway 7 with instructions to do a left-hand turn to the west afterwards.  We shut the doors and headed out and up.  Everything was showing normal after takeoff when we leveled off at 1,100 feet on our westbound heading when BAM!!!  I felt a scrape on my arm and a big rush of air and the loudest bang I've ever heard.  Immediately, my hand went to pull the tightening strap on my shoulder restraint.  I looked over and at first thought the window had blown out.  My hair was blowing about and it was windy in the cabin.  And then I noticed that the WHOLE DOOR was missing!  I was able to look straight down to the ground and that view made my stomach turn.  I don't remember my exact words but they were probably along the lines of "what the fuck?!?"  I then noticed that my door wasn't missing but had blown open from the front latch only and had peeled backward and was now bent out at a 90 degree angle- the plexiglass window had shattered and pieces had blown into the cabin and were sitting on the dash- they had scraped my arm when they blew out.  I took control of the airplane from my customer immediately, reduced the power, and called the tower and told them I was landing immediately on the crossing runway, which we were perpendicular to at the time.  The airplane handled, as best as I can describe it, really wonky.  When the airflow is different from one side to another because you have a giant drag element sticking out of the right side, it tends to make things a bit unstable.  I managed to limp the aircraft down onto the runway and get it back to the flight school, where several people had heard my distress radio conversation with the air traffic control tower and had to come check out the damage.  The door was eventually repaired, and a secondary latching mechanism was installed to prevent this from happening again.  After it was all over- again, it happened so fast and my reaction was so immediate- I couldn't think of a better outcome.  This was reaffirmed by the approval of how I handled everyhing from my coworkers and boss.  Of course, more paperwork!

Yesterday:
Yeah, yesterday.  I was with a student again in the Skycatcher (a different one this time) and we'd been doing landings at Orlando for almost an hour.  After our 6th takeoff at about 800 feet, just as he was making a right turn perpendicular to the runway and still climbing, the engine started shaking, sputtering, and vibrating so badly it sounded like it was about to rattle completely apart.  His first words were "wait, I didn't do that what'sgoingon?" and I knew something was majorly wrong.  I reduced the power, started to make a u-turn, and again radioed the tower that we were landing immediately on the crossing runway.  The same one I'd made my door-less landing on.  The engine vibration stopped when I pulled the power out, but got much worse when I played with the throttle and tried to add it back in.  I figured I didn't want to damage the engine so I completely cut the fuel supply and shut the whole thing down.  We were now gliding with zero power toward the runway.  There was no doubt in my mind that we'd make it just fine, but the thought that was going through my head was "Dammit this is my favorite airplane and now it's going to be down for maintenance for a really long time!"  The propeller completely stopped moving before we touched down, but I managed to glide in, execute a perfect landing, and roll down the runway, through the intersection of the main runway, and coast to a stop.  The entire experience from the initial vibration to the aircraft coming to a stop safely on the runway was probably about a minute.  Again, when we came to a stop and I assured the tower controller we were okay and requested assistance to tow us back to our tie-down spot, I shut everything down and turned my main concern to my student, who was in complete shock.  He turned to me and said "That was awesome, thank you!!!  You...you saved us!"  Once my leg stopped shaking a bit, I gave him a calm smile and said "Well, it's my job to keep your ass alive."  (More paperwork ensued, but I think it was an amazing lesson for my student)

Yesterday's incident got to me the most out of everything for a few reasons- if we hadn't been as close to the airport as we were when this happened, we could have literally had to land in a swamp, a golf course, a lake...our options would have been a lot worse than runway 13.  And there's no telling the outcome of any of those scenarios.  Also, it could have been ANYONE else in that airplane- a solo student pilot, a renter...anyone!  I'm not saying I'm Super Pilot (although I sure as hell felt like it), I just don't know how anyone else would have handled this situation and we're very fortunate no one was in any real danger of being killed.  I've known people who have been in aircraft accidents, I've known people who have been killed in aircraft accidents.  It's part of this industry- if you don't know someone personally, you know someone who does.  I've been very lucky to have been doing what I do for the amount of time that I've been doing it.  As I get older, I do become more aware of my own mortality, but not so much as to have it scare me out of the skies.  I admit I was a little nervous when I went up in the air today, but doing that is the only way to move past this.  

For anyone who's doing flight training though- LEARN your emergency procedures!  Memorize them.  Train for them, take them seriously.  Do some research, read up on some accident reports- see what has worked for others, see what hasn't.  Hopefully you never ever have to experience anything like what I have, or worse, but if you do you'll be glad you worked so hard for your privilege to fly.