So, in the news… Erica is due at the end of July with (odds are) baby girl number 2.

This is exciting, as it will:

1. Give Autumn a moving toy to play with for the foreseeable future.

2. Fulfill replacement value reproduction

3. Reward the parents with a tax break

4. Be another cute child

5. Give the grandparents something new to talk about

This is less exciting because it will require:

1. The purchase of Diapers for a few more years

2. Another baby seat, filling the car completely

3. Tolerance of house being a disaster for additional years

4. More of Mommies time, leaving less for Daddy

5. And will reduce the number of hours that Daddy can sleep

Generally, blacksmith shops are not considered very baby friendly environments. Carpentry shops are almost as bad. And Blade smith shops the worst of both worlds, plus some sharp edges.

I don’t know why, but people seem concerned about mixing a child (or children) with limited hand to eye coordination with a scattered and disorganized pile of blades you could shave with. Go figure.

I don’t think that I have ever seen Autumn hold a knife the wrong way, and she knew what they were and what they were called before she was 2.

I keep her out of the shop mostly because I don’t have protective gear small enough and she doesn’t like to wear it when it falls off like that. Also because she makes it more likely that I will hurt myself due to the distraction.

At least she can’t really open the door to the shop while I am working yet. But I can’t imagine that day is too far away. Sigh.

And here are some recent pictures of Autumn, since I was talking about her...

With her brand new big girl skates!

And again...

and just waking up from a nap...

I got up a little earlier than usual this morning to get some packages ready for Adam to take to the post office since I dont have any cash on me right now, and we didn't want to run out and get some last night. Oh, they are going to Canada, or I would have just shipped them through paypal.

After all my packages were either with Adam, or in out mailbox with a shipping label I seriously considered going back to sleep. Not only am I tired, but it finally started getting cold here in albuquerque after an unseasonably warm October thus far. When it is cold a few things happen, first, I take longer warmer showers, second, I stay inside more, and third but doubtably final, I have quite an urge to stay in bed much longer. It is like I have hibernation instincts that kick in or something. Anyway, I stayed up to write a blog post instead.

Above is the newest screen I have printed, this image is straight off the scanner, I had to clean it up a lot before burning the screen. I think it is pretty cute, but we will see how it does. I will post a picture of it on a shirt in my Wednesday post, along with the results from my little experiment last week and some other on going projects.

Not at all related to any surrounding pictures, I have also decided to skate in Duke City Derby's championship bout on Saturday... and I am REALLY excited :) I thought I was over roller derby, that I could retire just like that... but even if I dont have time for it anymore, I really love it. In addition to asking me to play Adam was asked to ref, but he stayed strong and said no. I expect the reffing to be questionable since they will be short staffed, but I am sure I have seen worse.

Since I am playing this upcoming weekend I decided to go to the rink formerly known as Roller King this past Sunday, and I had a blast. A few skaters came up and told me I was a great skater with really good endurance, which I suppose is true for the general public. Unfortunately, not true for me, or in relation to roller derby. My actual skating skill was fine, although some of the things I was just starting to get before my surprisingly brief hiatus (specifically crossing over while skating backwards) felt a little shaky. I don't have the endurance I would like to to play a championship bout, but I cant change that in a week, and I did do better than expected after pushing through the muscle aches. I decided I need to make sure to go skating, and JUST skate at least once a week, for myself. I miss it.

Other than that we really didn't do much this weekend. I remember doing some cleaning, but that is really boring. We also went to rocketpants' house Sunday evening, Adam dropped me off at the rink and went over and then picked me up and since he lives so close we went back there for a little while longer. It is always nice to see Jon, but I cant say it was eventful.

I have had a pretty insatiable craving for green chili lately, not chopped, it is very important that it is green chili SAUCE. Right now I would eat it with three meals a day until I couldn't stand the sight of it if it were up to me... fortunately I have other people to feed who get tired of eating the same thing every day, so I have NOT been eating it with three meals a day. It is also fortunate that I live in New Mexico, as it would be very hard to find green chili in abundance if I lived anywhere else. My only guesses are that I am pregnant again (with autumn I was craving spicy V8- which I usually hate, and for my recent failed pregnancy I wanted salsa) or that since I have cut back on fruit (and other sugars, but a lot of my sugar intake came from sweets) per a suggestion from my OBGYN, that I am craving the nutrients that I am missing from all the fruit I had been eating. Green chili has Lots of vitamin C, and some other nutrients.

Oh, the outfit autumn is wearing in these pictures is a silly little thing I whipped up for her on my surger in about 20 min. Cute.

Welp, Adam calls my posts schizophrenic , and this post is no exception. See you all tomorrow for my workbench post.

♥ Erica

Bearing Necklaces galore.

This weekend Adam and I purchased a table at the Duke City Derby bout since I decided it was not really safe to play knowing that I am pregnant.

We made 16 or so new bearing necklaces for it, and since we were displaying all of the necklaces we needed a way to display them all.

This is what we came up with:

We made a stand out of my FIRST pair of derby skates!

When I say "we" I mean I said " I have an old pair of skates we can use" and Adam did the rest.

It is probably the best imaginable way to display skate bearing pendants.

I have never done a table or anything like this, so I don't really know what is good for sales, but we made over $300 in the four hours we were there, so I am pretty pleased. I ran a special on shirts and that went over VERY well and we sold several bearing necklaces as well. After the booth fee and supplies I would say I made about $240.

In other exciting news, we just got a wholesale order- our first- for 20.00 bearing pendants... so that is a lot of work, but the order is for other derby folks, so that is awesome.

And what kind of post would this be without a random picture of Autumn?

;)

Xoxo

Erica

Etsy, Derby, and some non-relevant pictures of autumn.

Another week has flown past so quickly I can hardly believe it happened.

There is a roller derby game this weekend and since I can't play Adam and I decided to buy a table that I can vend shirts and bearing necklaces at while the games are going on.

There is a roller derby boot camp that we are hosting and I will be helping with that in the morning. Tickets to the bout are included to the games so I am hoping to do well at my table, especially since a lot of my products are roller derby related.




I am thinking about stopping by the black market Gallery to see if anything new sold or if I need to replace anything. I guess I will do that if there is time.



I know I will miss skating and the amount of exercise I do now if I don't find another outlet, so I am trying to decide what I want to do about that. I was considering helping without the newbie program in duke city derby but I may just skate at the roller rink instead. I would probably benefit more from just skating, but I like roller derby and it would be ok to stay involved.

Than you to the family members who have sent us happy wishes!

By the way, I will not be doing daily treasuries any more, but you probably figured that out.

Have a great weekend!
Xoxo
Erica

Roll, Bounce, Rock, Skate

Adam, Rocketpants, Autumn and I went to the roller rink on Friday night. It was not our first trip to the roller rink with Autumn, but it WAS her first time on skates.

Rocketpants and Autumn playing with Pants' fancy schmancy phone.

Autumn in her rink skates, they were a little too big, But we figured since she would spend most of the time on her butt it didn't really matter.

Before we went to the rink Autumn tried on Adams skates. She is holding two toy horses from her grandmother Mary. She has really been enjoying those horses.

Before the fall...

Mommy and Autumn skating together.... Very slowly.

Autumn did very well on the carped, but kept wiping out on the rink floor. If we held both of her hands she would usually pick up both feet so that didn't really help her. It was also unusually busy, so it seemed a little dangerous to have her on the skating floor. We used to go skating at a rink in Portland, but we were allowed to skate with her in her stroller there so it worked out pretty well.

On Saturday before Duke City Derby's big bout at the convention center we picked up some little plastic adjustable skates for her. She'll be a pro in no time.

Xoxo

Erica

Health Update!

Woo hoo!

I have lost over 20 lbs (22-23 to be exact) since having my gall bladder removed! I am so stoked! I spent about a year trying VERY HARD to lose some of the baby pounds and was discouraged that nothing I tried worked at all. I knew something was wrong and went to a Dr about it, but since it was not a thyroid problem he didn't know what to tell me and didn't seem to believe that there was something wrong. I guess that is understandable, I am not sure that it is actually something that can be explained medically. I wish I knew more about my body because I am so curios what caused this change that I can hardly stand it! It is like having massive gall stones (which were likely caused by either my pregnancy or losing about 60 lbs in 2005) threw off my whole body.Before the surgery I had not lost more than a pound in over a year, even with enormous effort. It was really discouraging, and it was also frustrating when everyone would give me their best dieting tip because I knew I was already doing everything right.

People like to argue that one must have made some change in their lifestyle when this sort of thing happens. I did make a few changes, I started eating more, and stopped eating corn syrup. It is probably good that I started eating more, and allowing myself to eat foods that had more protien like meat and cheese because I am pretty sure that my 1300-1500 calorie diet was quite unhealthy for the aproximately 15 hours of intense activity I do a week.

I still have a good 30+ pounds to lose to get back to my base weight, but I am starting to fit into some of my looser pre-baby clothes. It is awesome. Being able to wear old clothes is a little like getting a new wardrobe, which I desparately need since I almost refused to buy new clothes while I was struggling to lose weight.

I also started taking prozac recently, and I feel pretty awesome about that. I am not sure that the dosage couldnt be raised, but I will talk to my doctor about that next chance I get.

I also finally feel like I am making the improvement in my skating that I had expected to make over the course of last year.

I guess everything is coming up milhouse!

Xoxo

Off for the weekend!

SO, I am headed to the Seattle area to play in a roller derby tournament this weekend. We will be, more specifically, in Bremerton, Wa. The tourney is hosted by the Slaughter County Roller Vixens. I am excited to play, but it is always very difficult to leave Autumn and Adam for a weekend. It is bittersweet for another reason though, it is our first travel game without our former Captain, Kamikaze Kim. I really thought she was an excellent captain for MOST of the time that she lead the Munecas Muertas and it was a sad day when she left duke city for almost everyone. It is also The first bout that Killer Queen and I will be captains. I am a little worried because our team has changed a lot and we are missing two of our top scoring jammers this weekend (Kamikaze Kim who moved to Seattle, and Muffin who will not be attending for personal reasons). I think that we have made some progress in some areas, and I also think that with better attendance at practice and positive attitudes we could really be an amazing team this season.


I am also afraid I will forget something important...




Skates.........check
Mouth guard........check
Pads...........check
Helmet............check
Uniform.......check
Helmet Covers...........check
Roster........check
Tights..........check
eyeliner..........check
toiletries...........check
Itinerary.............check
Hotel Reservations............check
Clean Underwear .............check
Knee High Socks..........check
Team Merch to sell..........check
Maybe some clothes, if they fit in the bag...
Phone............check
Charger... need to remember the charger....

Anyway, have a great weekend!

HI, From Michigan

Hello, today is our last day in Michigan!
I have to admit, I can not wait to go home.

It seems like we have been very busy, though I am having a hard time really pin pointing anything we have done...

We went to the local botanical gardens, which is run by the University of Michigan, and is small but very beautiful.

Adam and I spent one afternoon walking around in down town Anne Arbor, which we enjoyed in spite of the frigid temperatures.

We went to the mall with Adam's mom to return an item, and spent a little time walking around the mall. Victoria's Secret is having their semi- annual sale, so I indulged in some items for myself, some new underwear and some heavenly lotion and perfume as well as a few make-up items.

For me the highlight has surely been visiting the riverside skating arena, which is the nicest skating rink I have had the opportunity to skate in. The Oaks park rink in Portland is also very nice, but the staff does not let you skate even remotely fast, and that is annoying. Adam's parents were nice enough to babysit that night so we got to skate together which is rare. We had a great time and even ran into a few Detroit roller girls and some of their newbies. I probably should have tried to attend one of their practices since I brought all of my gear but it felt like our stay flew by.

Then of course we have spent a lot of time with Adam's family.

Happy new year, all. I have so much more to say... hopefully I get around to it in the new year!

Adam finished the kitchen knife he was working on, and it is really beautiful! The base is so simple but so pretty!



Adam and I worked together on this piece. It is a custom order. A very nice and fun guy ordered it for his best friend, The Bomb Dylan, who skates for Prison City Derby Dames.

I love making things for everyone but as a a derby girl, it is especially fun to make things for other derby girls, refs and fans. It did not turn out quite as well as we had hoped, we tried 6 times and used three different bearings... of course the one we went with was the first one. I guess that should be no real surprise :) What I really love about this necklace is that it has the skaters name in it- and I love that because I never would have thought to do that! I guess that one of the many why custom orders can be so much fun!



I also had several items to list this morning! I only finished listing the two letter openers. They were a custom order for another etsy seller http://BDOODLES.etsy.com Adam made those, obviously. This was fun because Adam works mostly in wood so he got to have bun and get creative with antlers. It is also fun because the antlers were provided by the bdoodles and they are meaningful to the people she is giving the letter openers to. It feels good to make these kinds of gifts, just like it feels good to give and recieve them. I need to go list those 6 bearing necklaces! Two of them were salvaged from issues we had with the custom order, and then the others were made because we saw some perfect pre cut inserts when we went to the jewelry store to get the silver for the letter opener in the picture.

Happy Friday everyone!

Well, it is Friday again, which is wonderful. These weekends come and go so fast now.

It seems like a good day for an update.

First off, after about a year of being deficient in the skating rink department the rink formerly known as Roller King is being re-opened as Roller Skate World. Albuquerque has A HUGE bingo facility. To not have a roller rink would truly be a travesty. The newly renovated roller rink is having its grand opening tonight, and Duke City Derby is planning to be highly visible and out in force tonight! I can't wait. Part of the reason I started playing roller derby is because I really LOVE to roller skate.

Also, I got the blood tests back from the doctor and everything a came back normal! It is devastating. I know that I am working harder than ever before to lose this extra baby weight and I find it impossible to believe that there is not something wrong that is causing me to retain this weight. Unfortunately this means whatever is wrong is not an easy find, or fix. In the mean time I can't really exercise more than I am during the actual derby season (we are having our off season right now) so I will have to reduce my caloric intake again, which seems ridiculous to me because we have a very healthy diet, but is the only thing I can think to do. I will also start recording my meals again. I have a follow-up appointment with the doctor in December.

I am thinking about joining weight watchers and I am also thinking about starting a fitness blog.

Custom Roller Skate Bearing Necklaces.

My husband, a roller derby ref, came up with this brilliant spin on the standard roller skate bearing neclace, a staple in any rollergirls wardrobe.

The one in this picture is one that Adam made for me early in our relationship... this was before I had a baby and I would LOVE to look like this again. This one has amber in the center. Now I wear one with turquoise in the center. This necklace is one of my most prized possessions.

This steampunk version was a custom order for another skater, the gear even turns.

This one was a collaboration, and also a very affordable piece. This one is available in our etsy store which you can get to by clicking on the side bar or clicking on this link http://AcrylicAndSteel.etsy.com

We can make them custom based on your team colors, or favorite colors.

Duke City Derby is Homeless Again!

WE had some excitement at the beginning of the skating season when Duke City Derby started skating at the Santa Ana star center, especially after two seasons at midnight rodeo, which can best be described as a death trap. We had more people show up to Santa Ana games than any of our games at midnight rodeo but the long drive to nowhere didn't draw the crowds that we needed to pay back Santa Ana and DCD went massively in debt because of it. I am glad that I got to play one game there after I got back from portland. (SPEAKING OF DCD BEING MASSIVELY IN DEBT WE ARE HAVING AN ART SHOW FUNDRAISER AT BLACKBIRD BUVETTE THIS MONTH AND I WILL BE DONATING ART, those in burque should check it out)

Anyway, we are not going to play at Santa Ana Star center any more. That's fine... except for one thing... WHERE WILL WE PLAY?

All is not lost though, I have several games schedualed. Taos, Portland, Kansas... and I am sure I am forgetting some. There is a game coming up in Tucson, but I am not going to that one. (work, baby... you know... pretending my life does not revolve around roller derby-even though it does)

In other news, DCD is now inactive. I wise woman once said "Fuck the WFTDA" and I am kind of feeling that right now.


These Pictures are from my game at the StarCenter... and my first Game after autumn was born!

Learning How To Live

I have decided to change the way we live.

I thought we were fairly healthy before, and I stand by that, but having a baby changes everything.

Before Autumn was born, I considered myself an athlete, and was in the best shape of my life. I thought we ate well and took good care of ourselves. Admittedly I still had a pretty negative body image, and wanted to drop one dress size (then I would have been going from a size 8 to a 6).

When I got pregnant I nearly immediately started having breathing problems. But I continued to exercise and I quit smoking immediately. I did everything I thought I was supposed to and still gained over 90 lbs over the course of my pregnancy. I was less worried about it while pregnant because I was militant about breastfeeding, and that burns a ton of calories. Shortly after autumn was born I learned that I was physically unable to breastfeed- After a heart wrenching battle I gave up after 8 weeks and stopped completely when autumn was about 3 months old- that is another lesson in itself- a story worth sharing when I am ready to relive it.

I started walking pretty much immediately after I was released from the hospital and started playing roller Derby again 6 Weeks after autumn was born. I had been doing everything I thought I was supposed to do, and treating my body better than I ever had, and better than most people I know. Unfortunately I really have not been losing weight the way I expected to, and almost as annoyingly, I have not been making the athletic progress I wanted to make either.

I have struggled with weight most of my life. Adam has great genes and does not have to work nearly as hard as I do to stay in shape but he has already taught me a lot about how to live a healthier fitter lifestyle. Right now, that is not enough.

My goal now is to work towards total fitness, not only that required to help me lose weight, or play roller derby well. I am reading a book called "BETTER FASTER STRONGER" and reading up on how foods affect ones body. I am trying to cater my diet to my lifestyle, and eat foods that help me perform on all levels. I am also learning that I need to Diversify my workout and add some strength and flexibility training. I need to drink more water, too. The difference between this and every other time I have lost weight is that I don't want to treat my body well until I get fit again, or can skate well again, I want to make a habit of being good to myself so that I can live and enjoy life for a long time.

I DO want to lose some of this extra weight, but it is also important to me that I feel better and play roller derby REALLY WELL. Also, like I said, I have a baby now, and that changes everything. I want her to be raised knowing how to take good care of herself, so she doesn't struggle with wieght and general fitness the way I have. I think my parents did an excellent job raising me, in many ways, but I think for the first time ever I am really learning how to live.

The Vag(ina) Assist Mastered

VAG ASSIST!
Current mood:Totally at Peace

SO ... you have to watch carefully, and it is near the end but this breeders music video TOTALLY HAS AN EFFECTIVE VAG. ASSIST! The music vid's ok too.

http://www.rollingstone.com/videos/player/27559721

I am sure it is not the first, just the first that I have SEEN that didn't result in a short girls face colliding with a tall girls ass. Back with DCD we tried these all the time.

SO, all is right with the world today.

In other news I am intent on making a pair of admittedly hideous vinyl fitted gloves. Kind of goth-y burlesque-y. I don't even know why. I don't really think I will ever wear them, I just really WANT to make them... anyway, if anyone has any glove sewing tips that they want to share, lemme know.

♥XoXo ♥
Sultry Confinement

Thoughts.

I have a lot to do for etsy. I have a lot that I want to do in general, and here I am , not doing it . Sitting on my butt in front of my computer not doing any of it, except of course, writing a blog. That was on my list of things to do.

I am not sure if I am lazy or depressed. I can’t usually tell the difference, I must admit. Maybe not REALLY depressed, just glum. I know now that I am one of those people that just NEEDS sunshine. If I had not moved here I never would have known. The sun came out briefly today, but now it is gray and cold again.

Adam left town today. He is working somewhere doing something for some biz. He is a wildlife biologist and during the spring that usually means MIA. Admittedly I feel lucky this year. So far this is his first trip out of town. It is going to cause problems for my Derby schedule, but I am abstaining from the draft so it is not that big of a deal if my attendance suffers. The only real problem with that is that I love skating, it makes me happy.

Ahhh, and derby. I miss PLAYING roller derby, but am SO thankful to be involved at the level that I am. So why am I abstaining from the draft? Well, at this time, it looks like moving away from Portland is becoming more and more likely. The draft is intense and there are lots of girls that deserve to be drafted. If I decided to participate and happened to be one of the lucky few who got drafted, I would feel much guiltier about moving. I don’t want a team to waste their time with me, and then move away. I also don’t want to take a highly coveted draft slot from anyone else who will be here for a long time. I am not going to drop off the fresh meat team because I love getting to skate as much as I do and on the chance that we decide not to move I don’t want to lose the postpartum derby progress that I have made. Besides, if we stick around I don’t want to lose my slot on the fresh meat team.

SO, Tonight is fresh meat tryouts. I am thinking about going to watch. I want to, but it seems silly to drive out there just to watch, plus, they may not appreciate having Autumn on the sidelines. I also have all these things I want to do, but that is not an excuse because so far today I have not done them. Either way I will be rooting for Frisky Sour, Knotty La Rue, and hot mamma Stormy Monday.

Oh, and my new derby name is Sultry Confinement, Thanks to permission from Sally Terry Confinement in Colorado.

What else? I am excited to be doing a custom order on etsy. I will be making a dress. I need to get some exercise today. I am sick so I skipped Sunday practice, that and it was Easter. That means it has been two days since I have done anything seriously active and my body can feel it. I also started playing with youtube. I wish I knew how to edit video, but I have put up a few awesome baby Autumn videos.

I could go on, but I know that most people have probably already lost interest, and I should have really broken this into multiple entries. Cheers to everyone who made it to the end of this blog! You are surly less ADD than I am.

Roller Derby Love Item # 1

Roller Derby Mobile By Salty and Sweet! It is only $30! How much fun is this!? Click on the picture to go directly to the etsy listing!

I did not ask them if I could post this item, so I hope they don't mind.

More awesome roller derby inspired items to come! If you are a roller girl and make stuff, I want to feature your stuff... and if you have roller derby inspired items, I want to feature your stuff! e-mail me and I will get something up. Otherwise I will hunt you down :) Just kidding.

I just made a spotlight on byhand.me

Check it out:

Roller Derby Love!

It showcases a few of the really cool roller derby inspired merchandise available on etsy. Many of the Items are made by roller girls.

In other important news, one of the young DJ's at Hillsboro Skateworld offered to download "Roll skate, rock skate" so that it can be played the next time we come. I have to admit though, I think the jam skaters will appreciate it more than I do.