sorry...

it's been absolutely forever since i wrote on here. so much has been going on!

last post i was training for the avon walk: 39 miles in 2 days. well...turns out that i didn't raise enough cashola to actually participate in the walk. i needed to raise $1,800 & i fell short (way short - no reference to my height here people).

i didn't get to do the "official" walk but since i trained then i thought i would do some of it. june 23 i laced up my shoes & walked 22 miles on trails here in the Springs. that same day the Waldo Canyon Fire broke out - i had considered walking trails in the canyon, thankful now that i didn't.

here is a pic from a few days after it started. the most destructive fire colorado has ever seen and it took 2 weeks to put it out.







hmmm...what else? lots of fun summery type things. camping, swimming, playing, you know...the usual :-)

mom & yearling moose in rocky mountain national park

 trail riding near the headwaters of the colorado river







all in all we are well & enjoying the last bit of summer - get out & enjoy yours too!








                                        

Acquaintance-zoned

  This type of zoning is to would be friendships what “friend-zoning” is to the would be romantic relationships.  In the dating world when a person is friend zoned they have absolutely no chance of moving their way into a romantic relationship. In the making friend’s world, being acquaintance zoned is the inability to move past a casual smile & wave with an occasional “hi” and some small talk thrown in.

  How do I know about this? Because it’s happened to me and I bet it’s happened to you too. Really, it has you just haven’t realized it yet. To help all of us who can be somewhat clueless about these things. Here are some signs that you have been or are currently being AZed (acquaintance is so long to type out each time so I’ll just shorten it):

1). You have been AZed if after the first dozen times of being around someone they still don’t respond when you bring up a variety of topics. Surely, if I bring up the weather, food, drinks, current events, kids, pets, aliens, pinterest, home towns, sports, meditating, circus clowns, or the time/space continuum we can find SOMETHING to talk about.   (I’m only giving it a dozen because some people are painfully shy).

2.) If the other person often finds something else to do, someone else to speak to, or somewhere else to be as soon as you walk up or worse…before you even get all the way to them. They saw you coming & decided to head off before you have a chance to engage them. Really, it can only occur a couple of times before it ceases to be a coincidence and obviously becomes intentional.

3) If every attempt to get together is met with a, “that sounds fun but…” No matter the day or time the other person is always busy and if you ever just leave the ball in their court about when to get together the ball never comes back.

4.) Your attempt to “friend” them on FB is left unanswered or declined. This one is pretty obvious…no subtlety here. Side note: This is the lesser of the reasons why I do not send friend requests to people; in the years that I have been on that site I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve sent a request to. My own brother acquaintance – zoned me on fb…does that tell you anything?!

Ok, so for those of you who tend to AZ people automatically: chill out & give someone a chance! So they may talk a little different than you or look a little different. Heck, they may even have a different point of view and life experiences! It is quite possible that you may find an awesome person lurking behind your perception of them.

Sunday Night: Training Update

Early in April I made the decision to register for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Rocky Mountains. What does this entail you may wonder; well let me fill you in! First I have to raise $1,800, which for someone who isn't the world's best fundraiser is slightly hard. Second, I have to walk 26.2 miles on June 23 and 13.1 miles on June 24, OK technically I don't have to walk all of the miles but c'mon...why wouldn't I?
In preparation for the walk I've been attempting to fund raise which is going so-so and I've also been training. The training program has me walking 5 times a week and doing other stuff the other two days. Here's a look at this week:
Monday - 15 minute recovery walk (you'll understand why it's so short when you read what the weekend entails
Tuesday - Brisk 3 mile walk
Wednesday - 30 minutes of exercises (usually Jack's Dance game)
Thursday - Moderate 3 mile walk
Friday - 30 minutes of exercises (sitting on the couch thinking about exercising doesn't count)
Saturday - 10 mile walk
Sunday - 6 mile walk

So this weekend alone I walked 16 miles. I should be getting pretty good at this whole put one foot in front of the other business huh?! It's quite interesting the thoughts that pop into your mind when out walking for what seems like FOREVER! It's also quite interesting that your legs can get stiff even though they are constantly moving. I'm learning new things about what my body can do as I go through this training and I have to say, it's pretty neat.
The foreseeable future will see Training Updates here on the team swink blog every Sunday night. Check back here to see how I'm doing or pop on over to my avon team walk page to check in there:
http://info.avonfoundation.com/goto/teamswink

quick update

Ok, I've determined to actually make a blog calender and post to said blog...at frequent intervals...truly. So, let me catch you up on what's been going on here at casa swink. Hmmm...still attempting to find good deals second hand rather than purchase them brand new. Still attempting to save money & a portion of the environment by not consuming copious amounts of stuff.

Swink4 played her first soccer game today...ok, well played the game may possibly be a stretch. It was more like wandered around the field in a pack with a bunch of other crazy kids in search of a little round ball.

Swink3 was supposed to have a game today but instead took a nice trip to our dentist's office to have a tooth pulled (the THIRD one this week!). Ok, ok, let me back up a little bit. Earlier in the week swink3 & 4 were jumping on the trampoline when mouth meet head & two front teeth got knocked a little loose. This episode sent us to the dentist & the decision was made to go ahead & pull them since they were just about ready to come out anyway. Two nights ago one of his back teeth started hurting; two days, no food, and a swollen jaw later saw him in the dentist chair (on a saturday) and after examination, etc... the decision was made to pull it. We have the BEST DENTIST IN COLORADO SPRINGS! This awesome guy came in on a Saturday to help my kiddo so he wouldn't be in pain...recomendations for him have been going out to everyone I speak with. So...if you are in need of a dentist in Colorado Springs check out Dr. Humble - (719) 576-6551 202 E Cheyenne Mountain Blvd, #E, Colorado Springs, CO.
 So much more going on but I'll save it for a little later. Mucho blessings!!

Pens...pens...pens!

We've got pens coming out of our ears! Swink1 got a lathe for Christmas & learned the fine art of turning pens. He's quite the talented individual and has been selling a number of them. Woohoo :-) So with the pens, headboards, re-purposed furniture, print design,blog writing; not to mention the working, building soapbox cars for the kids, raising said kids, homeschooling, etc.... we tend to keep a bit busy :-). So here is a lovely view of some of the pens he's been working on.

Oh, he's also been turning bowls...they are stinkin' cute.

That's enough for today I think.  Happy weekend!

Some good finds and a new creation!

In keeping with my challenge for the year I thought I would share a few of my latest finds with you as well as something new we created around here.
Swink1 has been wanting/needing a shopvac for his workshop area. Guess what I scored?

Yep, you got it. A nice little 5 gallon ShopVac that usually retails for $30+. I paid a lovely $13 for it! Yep, I'd say that's a great bargain.

The other deal is a Kelty Kids Carrier (the backpack you stick kiddos in to hike) that retails for around $200 - and how much did this savy shopper save? $150!! Oh yeah...have I told you recently that I love craigslist and thrift stores? Well if not - I do!

And last but not least for this little post is a lovely new headboard designed and created by Lightly Salted Designs (that's the Team Swink family). This one was created in collaboration with our lovely niece Jacks & is for her room.

Beautiful isn't it? If you get a chance, check out some of our custom hand-turned pens on facebook - just look for Lightly Salted Designs. Have a wonderful week!

A Year Long Challenge (roughly)

  For the past month or so I’ve been mulling over consumerism and our seemingly insatiable need to have more, better, bigger, and new. It doesn’t really matter what it is; cars, clothes, household items, houses, etc…the list goes on and on and it is a never-ending cycle of consuming. When does it end? Why must we constantly have new things, even if a borrowed or second-hand item will work? Why do we feel the need to spend our money on items that may only be used once or twice?

  All of these questions have brought me to a new challenge. I have committed that I will not purchase anything new if it can at all be helped. Of course there are a few caveats to this:

1)      This only applies to me and the things I purchase. I will not hold the rest of Team Swink to this as long as they are purchasing something; if I purchase it for them then yes, I will hold to this challenge.

2)      This does not include food…sorry, not ready to go freegan just yet.

3)      If there is an emergency I will go to the nearest retailer and get what I need.

How do I intend to accomplish this feat? So glad you asked! Some of my favorite places to look for second hand items are: thrift stores (the Arc, Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc…) craigsist, ebay, freecycle groups on yahoo, garage sales, and pawn shops. I’m also open to donated items from friends ;-) Check back and see if I’m keeping to this challenge. I promise to report myself if I fail at some point (which very well may happen). I will also share victories that I’ve had. This week was a nice one: Swink1 had to purchase a new suit and some other things for work and I went with him to help pick them out. Do you have any clue how hard it is to walk through Sears with giant black & yellow CLEARANCE signs everywhere and not buy anything? Very hard when I see all the things I could get my kids  but they don’t need that stuff. I overcame! Yay…let’s hope I continue this path!