mason jar obsessed.

All the time off my feet lead to ridiculous amounts of crafting. Thanks to Pinterest, aimlessly searching online and just how darn cute those little jars are, I now have a whole lot in my house. I'm not only using them for crafting, I'm storing homemade sauce in them too. Win!

the tiny ones are darling

I recently redid a dresser I had when I was young and transformed it from a piece for the bedroom, into a kitchen catch-all. I had a ton of paint left, so I used it to paint the inside of mason jars to use as canisters in the kitchen.

it took forever, but it's my favorite part of the kitchen.

Craft 2: Painted Mason Jars
Supplies: paint (I used interior home paint, you can probably use anything); brush; sponge brush


There are two different ways to go about this. You can use the brushes to paint the inside of the jar, or, you can simply pour paint inside of the jar and get crazy.

Option one (with brushes)

this was an outside project

Steps:

1. Clean the mason jar and wipe any dust out of the inside
2. Starting at the bottom and creeping up the sides, paint the inside of the jar evenly (the regular brush can
    give you a streaky look, the sponge brush will make sure everything is smooth - the streaky look is neat
    though)
3. Let paint dry overnight, repeat the process until the paint is as heavy as desired





Option two (no brushes)

Steps:

I spray painted the lids black... they're still drying

1. Clean the mason jar and wipe any dust out of the inside
2. Pour paint directly into the jar; swirl around to ensure the inside of the jar is coated in paint

3. Let paint dry overnight with the jar laying on one side; move the jar to the next side about every two hours
   the paint can begin to side and create an uneven surface)

I used both methods. I painted the jars with brushes first, but I wanted the color to really saturate, so I ended it up pouring paint directly into the jars.

pt for me.

Following all the extreme jealousy fun of marathon weekend, I limped into my orthopeadist bright and early on Tuesday morning waiting to hear "you're cured!! get your sneakers out of the closet and hit the road, friend!".

xoxo, miss you.

That didn't happen.

Apparently when there is some kind of trauma that destroys your bone, it takes quite some time to completely repair. Although I'm cleared for weight-bearing activities, I'm certainly not in any shape to run, jump, hop or skip to the start line of my next race. I've been banished to spin classes and the elliptical which could be a little setback in marathon training round two that I anticipated starting on October 31st.

Current status: Healing.
Next step: PT for six weeks. Six weeks puts me in mid-November. I'm not too broken up about having to go work out for an hour twice a week with someone who will be teaching me proper form and giving me pointers along the way. I'm also really hoping the physical therapist has superpowers that will enable instantaneous healing and restore all of the muscle I've lost in my left leg. Seems reasonable.
 

marathon weekend

Cue sad face. I wish I was sweating it out for 26.2 then propping my feet up on the ottoman dawning my compression socks, but alas. I was volunteering and wearing my ankle brace.

not quite compression socks [source]

Although I planned to be attending the event as a struggling runner, not a volunteer, it was still a fabulous and fun.

My co-volunteer and I made top hats and signs. The top hats were a big hit. We received numerous compliments from runners and there were a lot of smiling faces - you can't be anything but gleeful when you see someone wearing a top hat adorned with glitter paint.

I booked our hotel for my next attempt. Now I'm crossing my fingers and anxiously awaiting medical clearance.

you're going to get hurt.

Well, that's accurate. A few days after I hurt myself I attended a (previously scheduled) seminar offered by my marathon training group as a supplement to the program. They frequently have education sessions with great guest speakers who can provide a lot of practical insight. This session was hosted by an orthopedist who worked mostly with patients who ran themselves into injury (...totally weird, who would ever do that?).

...just kidding. (well, not about the Giants game. GO G-MEN!)

He was focused mostly on common running injuries, treatment options and prevention, but, he was also a multiple marathoner and Ironman, so his perspective was a bit more realistic than advice coming from people who don't willingly drag themselves out of bed at 6am on a Sunday morning to log double digit miles before the rest of the house stirs.

He led and ended with "you're going to get hurt". Not because you're not trying to avoid it, but because it's truly inevitable. His suggestion was to take your injury as an opportunity to learn what being hurt feels like, as opposed to being uncomfortable or wanting to quit. It's also a good time to let your body reset itself and reevaluate your training techniques.

Hey fractured fibula, thanks for the not-so-cryptic message. I get it. I'll be lengthening my training plan to a 30 week program and not skimping on the cross training - promise!!

six days til m-day.

I thought my week out post would be a gleeful overview of all the pasta I planned to enjoy within the next six days. However, consuming massive amounts of pasta and not running doesn't quite have the effect I intended. So I'll only be eating pasta once this week, I won't be tapering, but I am lucky enough to experience the "no running" induced mania many of my running friends are sure to find this week.

Wheeliechair ride around Target, thanks Q!

I'm missing running so much I re-signed up for the marathon. Not to run, clearly, but as a volunteer and to cheer like a banshie for all those runners who cross my path (especially my fantastic cousin who is looking to BQ). I also recruited one of my favorite wheeliechair pushers to volunteer with me! In turn, she recruited me to participate in my first race since my bones began to crumble beneath me the incident. It's a trail 5k run in late October - seems ambitious, yes, only we're not running the 5k. We will be dressed up as zombies trying to capture flags from runners as the pass. I signed up to be a hunter - running for short distances at a time. Best part: when you arrive you get a zombie makeover. Win. This might even be more fun than running in the race.  


This week is the week I can hit the gym again. I'll be sporting my ankle brace with my running shorts and I'm only allowed to use the bikes or elliptical, but it's something.