#27: Family (Tea Party 2016)

I helped plan and host a tea party at my brother and his wife's home, and it was so much fun. We got to do so many Pinteresty things! And people wore fun outfits, and we had fun drinks and cute foods... this party is definitely going to be an annual for us. We did a tea party last summer, and I think Spring has been a much better time - people were able to more comfortably spend time outside and on the back porch.

Welcome to the party!

We were going with a modified "Alice in Wonderland" sort of theme, mixed with sort of a traditional (or what I think of traditional, with the pastels, lace, and flowers) tea party.

It may have been a lot of work getting ready for the event, but it was the exciting type of work and the exhilarating type of stress (if anyone is looking to hire an event planner, I am game. I loved planning fundraisers when I was working in the non-profit world too). 

Photo Credit: Justin Jetton. Dueling photographers!

Got to play a bit with my camera during the party, so that was another quest that was worked on -_^

Kyo wasn't too happy about wearing a top hat.

Talbot was cool as a cucumber, as always.

I did some portraits too, especially in our "photo zones," but I decided not to put them up, since I'd really prefer to have permission before putting them up on the webs.

Help! I've grown too big for my teacup!

I used my board on Pinterest to help plan for this event. If you are interested to see some Tea Party ideas, check it out! :-D

KJets

April Review (Month 4 of Quests)

April 2016 Questing Report

Quests Completed

Quest # 15: House Work - Boss Battle 1
We finished the renovations to the upstairs bathroom! It's so clean, bright, and beautiful now! It just needs a little decorating, and it's absolutely adorable.

Quests-in-Progress

Quest # 1: Biographies

April was The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson, which was about love, sexuality, expression, motherhood, and thoughts on gender, as Maggie contemplates parts of her life as if talking to her spouse. Nelson was very intelligent, philosophical, and really helped me think of this topic from a different viewpoint. Because I don't generally read much anymore - let alone read academic level writing - I'd like to read this book again. I'm not sure I understood everything she was trying to convey. It would make an interesting book club read, as long as you had a group of people willing to talk deeply about sex, sexuality, and gender.

Quest # 2: Finances

Commission is going pretty well so far... mostly because I've had so much work coming through that I've been spending the night at the office and coming in on weekends trying to get the reports done on time. My cash amount in the bank is now back up to what it was my first year of living in Korea. My debt is still exponentially higher. But, if I can keep up this pace, perhaps I'll have made a decent dent in things by the end of the summer.

Quest # 3: Tithing
Spacy McSpacerson. I had planned to donate to the non-profit my friend works for, Rebuilding Together. So... that'll be added to my May tithing. Along with, again, making up for a lack of volunteering.


Quest #5: Performance
I went to see Felicia Day at her book signing! (Yes, I'm totally counting this as a performance. She was on a stage, answering questions). This month has been so celebrity-filled: I got to meet Felicia Day, and I got to see Sam Heughan (Jamie Frasier in the Outlander series). Felicia Day was so brave, cool, funny, thoughtful, and positive. I kept thinking (for both actors, really, just change the pronoun) "She's real?! She's a real human?! Look, she has a real human body! Not just a moving picture you see on a screen all the time! She's 3D and everything?! I totally fangirled.

Quest # 11: Photography
Got some portrait experience in during the Tea Party! Yay! A place where people are totally ok (or mostly ok) with me sticking a lens in their faces (sometimes literally).

Help! I've grown too big for my tea!

Quest #12: Utilize Pinterest
Basically, the entire Tea Party was based on Pinterest ideas we wanted to try. "Planning the tea party," was basically code for laying around the living room sharing what was on our Pinterest boards, and then quietly Pinteresting together the rest of the evening, occasionally perking up with a "How about something like this...?"

Quest # 13: Garden

I now have a little two-plant herb garden on my deck (sage and mint), and a fairly healthy tomato plant (small but mighty!), and some pea vines curling up the cage I stuck in there with them. It may be little...but it's staying healthy (for now?). I'll be so happy and grateful if they last the summer).

Quest # 16: Job Work

Another month faster, yet remaining sloppy. I did do one report very well apparently... but then the next one... I was so sleep deprived I accidentally sent the bank the rough draft of the report, not the final draft. Whoops! I got lucky and had a super kind reviewer though. I think she just thought I didn't have a diligent boss, since she took a teachery approach to showing me what needed to be fixed (most of which my boss had actually corrected already in the final draft).

Our office manager brings me flowers. Them and my Funko Pop characters keep me from raging. Keep the beastie docile...

My cot...so I may work 'til I drop and get started all the earlier the next day.

Quest # 18: Exercise

What is this "ex-er-size" you speak of?? I have a race this next week, the first week of May. Haven't. Done. A. Damn. Thing. To. Prepare.
At least my knee should make it. It's just a 5k though, right? That's like, the one everyone can run..... ... right? I know I need to make time to exercise, but right now I really need All of The Time to get my reports done.

Quest # 20: Meal Plan

::musical interlude:: I dream a dream of meals gone byyyyyyy....

Quest # 24: Floss

The one constant on this list. If there is but one healthy thing I shall succeed in...

Quest # 26: Friends

New Yooooooork! My friend and boss from my life in Korea came to New York City,  and it was fantastic to see her again. We had a mini-reunion for us East Coast friends. Being in a big city like that again, it really felt like we could have been Anywhere, World. I
t was heavenly. I was floating on Cloud 9, grinning pretty much non-stop. We stayed in Harlem, went bouldering at a club in Brooklyn, saw men(and women) parading in kilts in Midtown/Manhattan (Sam Heughan, my Jamie!), drank expensive bottles of sake, danced our hearts out at a jazz club until it closed for the night, ate some shawarma (why did I put the crazy hot sauce on it?? You're the one crying, not me... T-T), and ended the night in a swanky back room of a bar that distilled their own vodka for their lemon-vodka martinis.

Hello NYC!

There appears to be a Whovian in Brooklyn..

What do you do when your friend comes in from Korea?? Japanese food?! T-T Good times.

Beautiful Spring flowers!

Sam Heughan! What a trooper, cheering the Scottish pipe and drum bands on through 40-degree, raining weather.

Quest #27: Family

How was this not on my list before? Maybe for lack of concrete actions to take... I have a lot of quests already on my list that don't have concrete goals. I'll try to add goals for this one... This first one has been to help plan and host a tea party at my brother and his wife's house. It was a blast! This is our second year for it, so we had a few more people, and bit more decorations. Got to practice some photography skills during it too, which was great.

Coming up next:

Quest # 1: Biographies

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day. For a bonus, "Amazing Fantastic Incredible, A Marvelous Memoir" by Stan Lee (it's in comic book form. Yasssss).

Quest # 13: Garden
Don't let the garden die!

Quest # 15: House Work - deck remodel.
I think Tim and I will be able to finish the deck this month... As long as the weather and our schedules allow for it.

Quest #19: Live Active
I'm participating in a race on Free Comic Book Day (May 7th)! It's a 5k, and I'm not quite prepared. Everyone is running in costumes, so, I also need to finish preparing for that. My sister-in-law is going as Wonder Woman, and I have part of a costume (so far) to be the Tardis (Dr. Who).


and... continue with the above Quests-in-Progress!

KJets

#26: Friends (NYC reunion)

Taking a rest after some bouldering at Brooklyn Boulders

In April I got to see some friends from Korea! One was my good friend (and later, boss) who is currently on a three-month vacation around the world.

She stopped in New York, so most of us on the East Coast could come meet up. We used to all come hang out at her cafe/pub in Korea - and then continue the night after she closed up shop by carousing downtown the rest of the evening. Until finally, the buses would start up again, around 5:30 AM, and we could make our way back home.

 At her cafe we would play board games, talk politics and philosophy and other thinky-nerdy stuff. The rest of the night was typically mindless shenanigans. So, there were a lot of good memories with these folks. It was great to have another night or two like that with them. It was a year (this month) since I left Korea. Excellent timing for a reunion.

Beautiful spring flowers!

We went bouldering the first day, over in Brooklyn at Brooklyn Boulders, which was super chill and fun! Then, checked off "east delicious NY pizza" off our list before heading back to Harlem for the night. The next morning, we made breakfast together at the apartment and went out to see the National Tartan Day Parade in downtown Manhattan.

Sam Heughan aka Jamie Fraser

It was a cold, drizzly day, and I was the one that was dying to go see the parade (THANK YOU MY DEAR FRIENDS FOR PUTTING UP WITH ME AND MY OBSESSIONS!!!). My friends were good sports about the weather as we went speed-walking through the crowds to get to the front of the parade. That was where the main focus of my attention was, wearing a kilt on top of a double-decker tour bus: Sam Heughan, one of the star actors in the tv series, Outlander.

I've read the books and love them, and the tv show has been fantastic so far (mom and I obsess over the show together. It's good to have something to bond over -_^). Sam plays the character, Jamie Fraser, who is the most dreamy man in fiction (sorry Sherlock, Gambit, and the Winchester boys). Both a studly, brave, warrior of a man, as well as a thoughtful, wise, and loving husband ::swoon:: Doesn't fiction just ruin real life sometimes?

That evening we played downtown like we were back in Korea: 5 PM to 5 AM.

We started with two Japanese restaurants (Kenka was especially...unique) to get our appetites started (and the drinks flowing), followed by one bar for a quick shot (The 13th Step), and then on to a bar with tall ceilings (Off the Wagon) and cheap beer.

After that, we went to enjoy great jazz at Groove, near Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. There was an amazing bass player in the band! We danced and cheered our hearts out until they closed up for the evening. We even got a picture with the band!

Our food break - because you need to refuel if you want to keep the night going - was shawarma, and then a final bar of the evening.

This last place we went to, we went straight to the back where they had a room (very different from their front bar), that was all "red velvet this" and "fringe on the lamps that" and mood lighting that helped accentuate the fact that they had fireplace in the corner. They made their own vodka there, so we got the house special: lemon vodka martini. So yummy! I guess it was kind of like a "speakeasy" sort of bar (although, it's not like we needed any special code to get in or anything). Google let me know later that this was The Fat Black Pussycat. Google really is on the fast track to become my new bf.

It was a wonderful night of laughing, dancing, hugging, singing and even some crying (why did I put so much hot sauce on my shawarma?!). I was beyond happy. Just, totally in love with being there, goofing around with my Korean friends again (as in, we met in Korea... only one was actually Korean).

This reinforces my need to hurry and make money so I can go back and visit. "I dream it, I work hard, I grind 'till I own it." (Beyonce) (she totally rocks.)


KJets

#15 : House Work

House work

Boss Battle 1: Renovate upstairs bathroom & Boss Battle 2: Renovate the deck

Bathroom Work:

We only have a few more, punch-list items to do in the bathroom before it is completely finished (should be finished this first Monday of May). I will go ahead and cross this Boss Battle off the list. Huzzah!

We went with a removable head for the shower. I loved having the versatility when I was living in Korea. It's pretty handy when I'm cleaning the shower too (which, cleaning the bathtub/shower is my most hated part of the worst house chore: cleaning the bathroom. Anything to make that a little easier, quicker, or interesting is a good thing).

Soon, there will be a shelf there... Loving the tiltable mirror and the oiled bronze bathroom fixtures. I'm also really enjoying having color on the bathroom walls (Ralph Lauren's "Iron Blue"). We moved around so much growing up, we were never allowed anything other than some form of white on our walls - easier to re-sell the house that way. This house has been fun, with its splashes of color. So daring! F* that resale value! -_^

Since it's the "kid's bathroom," which services two bedrooms, it's nice to have double towel rack in case we have guests (or in case I need more room for drying delicates. Yay for making practical adult decisions! -_^)

Deck Work:

The deck is now about half way finished. We just need to finish the deck boards, then move on to replacing the handrails and putting in some spacers to help support the frame (or perhaps we will put those in before finishing the top boards..)

Before

After: the narrow bit

After: the main bit (obviously the part still in progress)

We were supposed to finish the top boards this past weekend, but the weather did not agree with those plans. So this looks like a project that will be completed toward the end of May. Many, many thanks to my friend Tim for taking time out of his weekends to help me with this huge project.


KJets

March Review (Month 3 of Quests)

March 2016 Questing Report

Quests Completed

Quest # 23: Knee
Went to get my first consultation with a physical therapist. His report was that, although there may be some wearing down of the meniscus, the main thing that will help me right now is to strengthen certain muscles in the hip and along the leg. I've been doing the exercises that he prescribed, and I am on the mend!

Quests-in-Progress

Quest # 1: Biographies

March is Women History Month, and I was slated to read Bachelor Girl by Betsy Israel. HOWEVER, the library didn't have it in their stacks, nor did they have my second choice. So, I read a compilation of stories about 52 women scientists who have been incredibly influential in their fields and, the world, really. I was alternately excited and horribly frustrated - these women with their discoveries and various contributions were incredible! But... they rarely got much credit for their work. In fact, it was disturbingly common that the men they had to collaborate with at the end (to get their work published, recognized, and implemented, since often at that time in history, a woman just. couldn't.) ... those men are the ones whose names are on those procedures, vaccines, and discoveries. grr! White patriarchal society and its oppression of the masses....

Quest # 2: Finances

I've gotten into a good pattern for my bill paying. Next month I'm likely to go onto commission though, so that pattern may get disrupted.

Quest # 3: Tithing
Bit of a ... reserved month:
Time: Again, nada...
Money: My tithing went to my cousin and her mission trip to Haiti this summer.

Quest # 11: Photography
My morning routine - refill the fluids in my (lovable and otherwise trustworthy) Toyota, "Sir Walter." -_^

    

Quest # 13: Garden

I've started my seedlings and cleared out some space in the back yard! But... I'm starting to change my mind about having a garden in the yard: I don't know if I'll have time to care for and enjoy it. So, I may just wait until the pine pollen is finished coating everything in yellow, and then I'll populate the back porch with herbs.

Quest # 15: House Work
Deck: replacing the boards on the back deck (as well as replacing the door to the screened porch).
Bathroom Remodel - Started! Should be completed early April
Other: new mailbox, replaced a screen on the porch, replaced the porch door.
(All of these projects have been with the help of my friend Tim, and our favorite contractor/handyman and his "crew": Rick and Ken)

Quest # 16: Job Work

Swamped with work. Getting faster (but sloppier?). I guess after a while of going at a break-neck speed, I'll eventually be able to train myself to actually do a decent job at my work at the same time. Starting in April, I will now be on commission - so hopefully I'll start making surplus money. It'd be nice to be "in the black" for a change. Looking forward to appraising an equestrian center soon! That'll be an exciting challenge.

Quest # 18: Exercise

I've been consistently going once a week.... but then try to do at least on active thing (like the house work) during the weekend. Work's been keeping me glued to my computer. Thank God for the stand-up desk.. 

Quest # 20: Meal Plan

Nope. Nope. Nope.

Quest # 24: Floss

Been steady on this, three times a week.

Quest # 26: Friends

My little had her baby!!!!! I was able to see them the day they had little Landon, and he was so precious, I teared up a bit.
I also got to see Sarah - who was down from Boston with her boyfriend - and a bunch of university friends I hadn't seen or talked with in YEARS! I was nervous at first (I'm so bad at keeping in touch, I was worried how that would go), but it was really fun catching up with everyone. I loved hearing about their life news, upcoming events, where they are working now and what they're doing with their lives... how they've changed and grown and how they've stayed the same.

Coming up next:

Quest # 1: Biographies

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson. Time to learn a little something about gender fluidity.

Quest # 13: Garden
Time to create an herb garden!

Quest # 15: House Work - bathroom remodel.
The bathroom remodeling should be done within the first full week of April. I'm so excited! It's coming along so beautifully (but... I'm starting to get a little nervous: what if everything comes together finally and there's something I picked that I can't stand??).

Quest #26 : Friends
A reunion of expats and our good friend Hailey - the owner of the cafe/pub we all hung out at, and the friend who got us out of all kinds of trouble - are gathering in New York City for shenanigans.

and... continue with the above Quests-in-Progress!
 
KJets

#1: Biographies: Headstrong, 52 Women Who Changed Science - and the World by Rachel Swaby

Quests in Humanities

Headstrong, 52 Women Who Changed Science - and the World by Rachel Swaby

I didn't finish the whole book, but I did read through 19 of the 52.


It's a compilation of mini-biographies which are just as fascinating and exciting as they are frustrating - how many times have women been written over, or simply overlooked in history? Their names forgotten in the discovery or invention in favor of the man who discovered her? I'm glad to live today in this time. Although I'm sure this still happens today, I'm sure it happens a lot less than it used to. For that, I'm very thankful, and was able to simmer down.

This book is now on my list of books to buy. A great collection of inspirational women to remind myself of what I could be capable if I put my mind to it - and a supplement to the history and science textbooks if I have children of my own some day.

Here are some samples of the women I read about this month, in honor of Women's History Month:

Anna Wessels Williams (1863-1954) was a bacteriologist who helped develop the Park-Williams 8 (now known as "Park 8" due to the ease of saying something with fewer syllables) bacteria. This bacteria was the most important ingredient in making the diphtheria antitoxin producible on a mass scale - which then enabled the once nearly-epidemic disease to be brought under control. 

She was also the scientist who brought the rabies vaccine to the United States, and helped make the production of the vaccine a priority. She also did extensive studies on rabies - what it does to the body, how it behaves - as well as many other diseases and viruses. Below are the first and last pages of her chapter.

Helen Taussig (1898-1986) founded pediatric cardiology; helped develop the Blalock-Taussig Shunt technique, a heart surgery which saved the lives of many infants; helped the FDA discover and block medicines which cause birth defects; received the Presidential Medal of Freedom; and "amassed the most comprehensive catalog of congenital heart defects and their indicators ever compiled." All this with a sense of hearing which started failing at the age of 30. Below is the first page of her chapter:

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) was instrumental in pioneering the field of entomology (the study of bugs, basically). At a time when most other scientist did not see the connection between caterpillar and butterfly, she diligently documented and drew each stage of the transformation process, metamorphosis. Below are the first and last pages of her chapter:

Jeanne Villepreux-Power (1794-1871) invented the aquarium! 

She needed a way to study marine life, so she designed a glass box which could hold her specimen in, alive, while she learned about their habits and lives. Below is her entire chapter.

Hope you enjoyed the readings!

KJets

#23 : Knee

Quests for Health and Fortitude

I am seeing a physical therapist now, and I am doing the exercises he says for me to do (they're so difficult!! My baby muscles are screaming, but I guess that's how they grow up to be strong...)

Here's a sample of what I did my first week:

Every week he adds more exercises to the routine. I have noticed muscles growing, and at the end of each session with him, I am able to do more of a squat without pain in my knee. So, that's encouraging.

My mom went to him before I did, and I agree with her: he's funny, personable, and super knowledgeable with a healthy appetite for continued learning. If you are in the Triangle area and need a physical trainer, I highly recommend Matt at Dunn Physical Therapy (down at the Apex location):

My goal is to get it strong enough that I can do a 5k race in May (which would be a Boss Battle for my Live Active quest). And then to continue to do my exercises and be strong enough to get back into bellydancing (which then, my goal would be to eventually get my certification to teach).

Saw a doctor about the knee, and I'm actually doing what he tells me to do: Quest #23 Complete!

I'm getting more excited the more I get finished! Oh, the possibilities!

KJets