The Perils of Personal Training

Please see the above bruise I'm wearing on my right bicep. It is currently 14 days old! This is what happens when you gently encourage your trainee (a la my sister Jennifer) to perhaps pick up her pace a bit for some extra cardio burn. Without any warning, she turned to me and pinched the living daylights out of my arm obviously bursting a blood vessel. My only regret is that I did not create a sucession of postings chronicling the progression of its stay because it was MUCH WORSE in the beginning. Ah, sisterly love!

Great Hope

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul,

'therefore I will hope in him.'"

~Lamentation 3:21-24

Happy Birthday Marlene!

This weekend we celebrated my grandmother Marlene's 40th birthday. It's her 37th year to celebrate 40, and she's still as lovely and vibrant as ever.

Martha Stewart inspired me to bake the birthday cake; her White Layer Cake with Lemon Curd Filling was absolutely delicious.

Special thanks to my sweet friend Whit for recommending using a store bought filling. Her suggestion saved me about an hour of work and didn't seem to compromise any of the lemon curd flavoring.

Martha recommends piping frosting around the perimeter of the bottom layer to create a dam so the lemon curd doesn't seep off the edges.

and Emme helped "candle" the cake.

Marlene is wife to one, mother to four, grandmother to nine and great-grandmother to two.

She is truly a delight and dearly loved.

(In Vicenza, Italy with my mom and her brother Mark. Circa 1956.)

A Warm-Hearted Valentine's Day Gift

Turns out the heating sachets are quite the hit! I brought one to work for my co-worker Kelly who was having back pain, and she ordered 10 of them for gifts! I'm selling them for $15 each, including tie and cellophane bag. See the available fabrics in swatches above and below. These could be the perfect Valentine's Day treat, a healing gift for someone who's been under the weather or as just a little happy!

Nashville Weekend

For the extended holiday weekend, I drove 2.5 hours north on I65 for some precious time with my sister. We went to all my favorite eateries (including Fido and Bricktops), ran to Centennial Park, played with Aubie & Lauren, shopped at Pangaea, baked muffins and made these lovely (and useful) heating sachets. For the full how-to and some really cute pictures, visit: www.jenwomble.com.

Forging Ahead in 2010

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart...

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."

~Hebrews 12:1-3 & 12-13