Mother May I?

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone. May is steamrolling through my life at about the same speed as the rest of this year - superfast. Mother's Day is this Sunday and then before I blink good it'll be Memorial Day.

It's also heated up even more down here on the Third Coast since my last entry. Slowly, surely, noticeably. One good thing that has come from it is that I have renewed my efforts to lose some more weight. About dang time, huh?

I should say, if I just make sure every day that I eat and drink everything I am supposed to, it's pretty much a weight loss program. Some days it's a real struggle just to drink the metamucil, the green tea (cuz I gotta have my coffee, too!), the water, the V8... eat the salad, the cheese, the fruit, and the Lean Cuisines or dinner-in-a-bag entree... and not the fast food.

I've been hanging in there, though, and been good for a few days now. Hopefully this will continue.

I want to make clear that I am not at all motivated to do this in order to wear a bathing suit. Lord, no, I can wear my bathing suit in my own pool in my own backyard just fine the way I am. I'm motivated to do this now because warmer weather makes me less hungry overall, and I sweat more. If you had my body, you would know that my fat folds get positively psychotic about sweat.

Ok, ok, I get that way. One summer a few years back, I ignored my fat folds and developed a bad skin infection. Not fun. I believe that's when I discovered Gold Bond medicated skin lotion and I use it religiously to this day, year round. If you are reading this and not in menopause yet, just suffice it to say that after menopause your skin crawls, itches, burns...for no reason at all. It's like your nerve endings are freaking out. Gold Bond helps immensely.

So, anyway, I'm thinking that the more weight I can lose, the better my fat folds will get. A girlfriend of mine scoffs at the idea, though. She has fat folds too, and she says that fat folds are better than skin folds, meaning when you lose the fat in your folds, you are left with skin folds and they droop more.

Great, just great. Deep down I refuse to believe that my skin has lost all of its elasticity, that if I lose the fat in my folds I won't also lose the folds. Say it ain't so, Joe.

I will say one thing, I'm losing those folds one way or another, even if I have to go under the knife. I'm thinking a full frontal slice-off would do just the trick, and take the boobs off, too.

Such is the madness that May brings.... ;-)

Malto-Meal Morning

Every once in a while, I splurge. Kinda like people who never quit wanting their breakfast to be Cocoa Puffs every day.

I never got to eat Malto-Meal growing up, though. Hubs neither. Both of us were in families where foods like that and Tang and frozen veggies and tv dinners were extravagances. So we indulge our childhood dreams in this small and enjoyable way.

Well, Spring is sputtering awake around my parts. The weather has been much like Dickens described, "It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer
in the light, and winter in the shade."

All week it's been sunny at times during the day, then cloudy and blustery. No rain, though. We are down 7 inches on the year so far, which is a lot. I just don't remember such a display of seasonal change as in the last year. It's a welcome change.

I finally have a working car now! A birthday present of sorts from the Hubster...getting it fixed, that is. He took off a couple of days last week and got it repaired. The right rear wheel bearings had to be replaced. But then it got sort of ridiculous. There's a diagnostic light that is supposed to come on when there's engine trouble, but as the car aged it came on when the gas cap wasn't on there just exactly like it liked. (My Honda has the same light, and personally I think it's a sneaky way to make you have to take it in to the dealer for maintenance, if you ask me.)

Anyway, the Focus light was on and Hubs took it down to the auto parts store to get it turned off. But he had to then drive it for 40-50 miles in order to let it re-diagnosis all the different things it monitors and a-okay them. Only then would it pass inspection.

For almost 2 days, Hubs drove the Focus around and around, until Saturday it finally was ready to get inspected. Thankfully, it passed or I'd probably still be car-less.

Took it out for the first time yesterday to run some quick errands. It has just over 48,000 miles and I realized that if I drive it slowly I'll enjoy it. That is the key. Otherwise, I'm going to expect it to be as powerful and responsive as the Honda, and that ain't gonna happen. Missy always mentions how powerful the Honda makes her feel when she's driving, and the engine is quick and strong. It could easily be like crack to Missy, who never met a speed limit she obeyed. winkwink

I'm ashamed to say I've gained back those 5 pounds from the holidays. I suspect it was/is the Valentines chocolate, of course. I emailed the nutritionist and she was like, no worries. Immediately begin drinking green tea, cutting out all butter, and get more exercise in. I really can't argue with that.

The last few days have been high on pain for me. I've been trying to get all my sleep, too. And since I'm now doused in drowse, I'll seeya next time!

The life vision thing for 2009

First of all, a heartfelt wish to our military boys and girls in harm's way for a safe, peaceful, productive 2009.

Yes, 2009 is here now, and there seems to be two ways to look at it.

A new year: how exciting and promising -- an adventure with unlimited potential.

OR

Another year: might as well make the best of it.

Which sounds more familiar to you?

What if i told you that, around here, we accept both interpretations. lol

Why? Because, in reality, the truth of the thing is closer to both.

If you have any years under your belt, you know that the first approach is fraught with potential for a set-up for failure for most of us (except for the fabulous Tina Zarlenga and the equally fabu Sarah Coggins, both of whom I'd bet real money on to actually and consistently do the impossible -- they are incredibly energetic and self-disciplined women that I greatly admire, even though I have little understanding of what it is that makes them tick much faster than me...not even when I was younger did I have that much focused energy to complete so many things).

I kid about Tina and Sarah when I say that I privately suspect addiction to crack or something similar...to repeat, I'm kidding! It's just that I would have to literally be hooked up to an amphetamine IV in order to do half of what they get done, and then my lack of focus would sabotage even that. Anyway, hats off to you both, my friends. I'm looking forward to seeing what you conquer this year.

As for Sarah, that goes double since she recently announced that she is expecting her first baby! This is such wonderful news! Congrats to her and hubby Trent.

And a little story on Tina: I read today she mentioned not meeting her goal of reading 100 books in 2008. OMG, did that ever make me eyeroll and chuckle. You see, I'm one of her friends over on Good Reads. I get emails when friends update their reading lists. Let me tell you, that girl updated her list more frequently than a squirrel finds nuts, all year long. She read over 50 books! That's about 1 a week. I think I might have read one the whole year...sigh.

I might kill to get that kind of energy back again. But until then I'll just live vicariously through them both.



Anyway, I'm going to try to just stick to making the best of 2009:

-->Accept what I can and cannot do.

-->Focus on doing the things that will accomplish the goals I've chosen, whenever possible, but remember that it doesn't always work that way.

-->No pie-in-the-sky goals, but stuff that will really make some sort of positive difference in my life.

For me, 2009 needs to be about adjusting to 2008 changes. I need to re-assess and re-calibrate:

-->I am right now working on completing the paperwork that will officially end my tax business and my SOHO-career in accounting. I cannot stress how big a change this is gonna be for me after 30 years of living my life around the IRS's filings and deadlines schedule, but it is a change I welcome with sheer gusto.

-->Ike caused some changes for us that we still need to deal with, namely to finish clearing debris in the back yard and to go through several big plastic bins in our garage that are full of stuff that was stored in our portable buildings that are now debris. Our city had to "hurry up and wait" until Congress appropriated more money to pick up debris, but they finally did. Removal begins again next week and throughout January. We will probably be getting right on that, since we are not being told exactly when the trucks will be on our street...lovely planning, huh? Guess I'd better call them...

-->Missy getting her own apartment in early December with much of our furniture caused changes. Good changes, but changes, nevertheless. I have decisions to make about new furniture, as well as a new room in the house to give a function to.

And, I am finding it very enjoyable. I frankly marvel at how frugal I naturally am. Here it is, the first time in my married life that I can buy outright whatever I want, yet I am firmly rooted in a "if it ain't broke, don't throw it out and replace it" mentality. I figure it's all good, cuz I can always buy it later if things change, right?

Still, I'm needing to move things around and make existing pieces work in new spots, and at the same time look good enough. And, had Missy stayed in the dorms, this would not be happening, and I'm happy she left the dorms. I'm happy to give her the furniture. This is forcing me to re-assess how things work and don't work around here. Plus, I am trying to include my ideas for decorating with all my little ideas, like the miniature trees I've been buying to hang paper pretties and ATC's and such.

-->Then, there is my weight loss and fitness. I go to a nutritionist 4 times a year, and she finally made me a believer of her approach to it. Basically, she preaches that if it took 5 years to gain 40 pounds, it's gonna take 5 years to take it off for good. Anything quicker, and it won't be for good. For the last 2 years, I've been a skeptical follower of this, and I can now say, I think she is right.

Case in point: in May, 2006, I was 80 pounds overweight: 40 of them slowly creeping on over 10-15 years time and the other 40 blobbed on in the immediately preceding 4 years (due to me being over-medicated for pain and depression after contracting my arthritii in 2002). I spent the rest of 2006 losing 30 pounds. And then I spent all of 2007 and 2008 holding the line on those 30 pounds. As of today, 25 of them are still off of me. (I gained 5 pounds over the holidays, which is a blessing considering what I've indulged in!)

This is almost exactly what my nutritionist says should happen: that without surgery, most people can lose only about 20-30 pounds at a time without "resting" and letting the body catch on and catch up. She says that we should have periods of maintenance within the weight loss process, or we are sabotaging ourselves. The body needs to re-learn the new weight and adjust daily metabolism and energy needs, and that takes time. Otherwise, that "fight or flight" thing activates and the body fights against you to reclaim those pounds.





I didn't just waste the last two years, but now it's probably safe to lose some more, slowly and surely. So, I'll be attempting to lose 20-30 more in the coming months. No, it's not much fun to realize that at this rate, it'll take me 4 more years at a minimum under her regime, but hey, if it works for good, I'm there. I just need to remember that all good things take time, and that Rome wasn't built in a day, get back on the horse that threw ya, etc, etc.

So, there you have it -- my stab at doing my life vision thing (aka resolutions) for 2009. Yikes, them's some big goals, and I was trying to not be over-reaching. And double-yikes, we still have some chocolate ice cream and cookies left. Oh, the temptations...teehee.

What is your life vision thing for 2009? I'd love to know!

One. More. Day.

Take the Quiz

Your Mind is Purple
~~xxxx~~
Of all the mind types, yours is the most idealistic.
You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense.
Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries.
You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

~~xxxxxxxxxx~~

Geez, that quiz was kinda...revealing...and dead on. What are the oddz? LOL I saw it on Sarah's blog and of course had to take it. Be strong, Aimes, only one quiz a day!

~~xxxxxxxxx~~

Well, I had to pull an all-niter, but I'm closing in on my deadline. WooHoo! I'd have to say I'm not much into wanting to create anything right now though. More like I want to pretend to be a bump on a log...hibernating. Bump on a log. SLEEP. Yup, I stayed up all nite working. Could not relax enough. Tried. Failed. Way too much java and stress.

Oh, and all those goodies I bought for Hubs yesterday? Yup, I helped eat them. I probably gained 2 pounds back in 24 hours, but it was fun. Note to file: grazing as a diet strategy only works when you graze on good, healthy food. Otherwise? Worse than worse.

Well, back to work. Gonna bust outa here and crash in a bit. Ahhhh......then I can really "spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life...WITHOUT BOUNDARIES".

Bbbbwwwaaaaaa! winkwink

Fit to be Friday

Can I just say it?

I'm going nuts right now.

Several things have aligned in my life this year to cause me to have to learn to acknowledge, adapt, adjust, accept. Yeah, when I have more time, I'll elaborate...

But right now, it's being exxacerbated greatly by having to meet a tax deadline without my usual enthusiasm or concentration. So, I've understandably turned to trying to pop some pills in search of energy, stabilization, calm.

Much to my surprise, I'm seeing some improvement!

In addition to my daily Centrum and Vitamin C (not pictured), what's in the picture above is my current stash of miracle helpers.

I give 10 stars to Cinnamon and Green Tea. I've been a bad bad diet girl since my hip began hurting badly, and on April 1 I learned what a Fool I'd been...I'd managed to gain 10 pounds back, which would be no-big-deal had I been at a decent weight, but when you've miles to go before you sleep on your weight loss, gaining 10 back is basically shameful.

So, I immediately began trying to get back on track gradually (it is tax season, after all), and while I won't be able to get my exercising turned back on until next week, I have been cutting out all fast food and sweets, and I've been eating at least 3 fruits a day and eating smaller more frequent meals.

As of April 10th, Ive lost 5 of those pounds. So, I'm halfway back to zero, and I'm thankful it was just 10 pounds and not more.

I'd been advised to try the Cinnamon recently, and I can feel a lift within 30 minutes. And when I dip back down again, a cup of green tea helps get me peppy again. I've been eating a half a grapefruit and a Lean Cuisine every 3 hours or so, too. (Hubs bought this gigantic bag of the g-fruit on sale, and the g-fruit is in addition to the other 3 daily fruit servings). I read the stories about the water myth, but I'm still drinking as much as I can, because I cannot deny that when I slack off I start gaining weight. (So maybe it's an appetite suppressor, it works, I'm not picky).

Anyway, I'm able to handle the stress much better, but I've learned one thing this spring: no more tax work. I've already told 3 clients this is the final year. It's scary, but I'm so wanting to celebrate, so I know it's the right thing to do.

I cannot ever in my life remember feeling so enthusiastic about getting to play and make art! Just a few more days....

Now, if I can just get thru Tuesday with enough energy, enthusiasm and concentration. Where are those pills...?

Crap is a four-letter word...

It's also what I feel like. C-r-r-r-r-ap.

We had a cold front blow in late this morning, with a fast-moving band of thunderstorms and lots of volatile windshear. On the local noon news, they were already reporting on the scene of some businesses that had lost roofs and had windows blown out!

Thank goodness I didn't have to drive the in-laws to radiation treatment. They finally moved up on the waiting list for transportation with the county seniors program. Someone else has been driving them there since Monday. His treatment ends day after tomorrow, but what the heck, at least they called before then, huh? LOL And I didn't have to get out today.

Yup, I have no idea what my problem is. My head is filled with mucus, I have a crust in the back of my throat that I can clear up by coughing but then it immediately comes back. My nose is runny no matter what I do or how many times I blow it. My wrists, fingers, ankles, legs, hips, back, neck, and even my feet ache like the devil. Oh, and so does my left boob, if that means anything. LOL Not my right one, tho. And I have zero zip nada fever. Like I said, it's a mystery, but I sho do hurt.

I have no other choice but to conclude it's a cold. What a bummer.

Oh, the other weirdness is that I feel like I've gained at least 10 pounds, but only in my left boob, my stomach and at the very top of my thighs. But the scales say that I have not gained an ounce.

Anyway, Hubs has a few days off. He's not feeling much better than I am, but his problem is work exhaustion coupled with cold-front blowback (he is entirely too cold-blooded, can't handle it).

We had Chinese take-out for dinner (nothing fancy, we always get beef and broccoli, special fried rice and eggrolls, same thing every time). After we ate, we watched the only network show we both enjoy together: Boston Legal. I always get a kick out of seeing Henry Gibson play the judge. (I'm an old fan of his from his Laugh-In days.) Hubs loves Denny Craine like no other. His mood lightens and he becomes happy when he watches that show. And for someone who falls asleep at the drop of a hat, he always manages to stay up for that show.

We decided tonight that we won't do cards and candy. We are going to do a nice steak and baked potato dinner instead for Love Day. So, yay, no card to have to make for him, which is good because my mojo done gone down the road and left me.

For my final Valentine entry, here is a card I made for DD and mailed to her at school:
I totally {heart} that LOVE stamp I used on the inside. Had to use it. Missy likes gel pens so I doodled this one up for her. And she had noticed these papers last year when I bought them, so I know she will recognize them.

Well, off to slumberland for me, but before I go, I wanted to pass along a link to a really cool event over in France, their Citrus Festival. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed what they made out of oranges and grapefruits. Plus, my dang mouth was watering so much for some citrus, I had to drink a glass of OJ while I finished looking!

Open hearts

I made these artist trading cards for a swap in one of my Yahoo groups that I used to be active in back in 2006, and I recently began looking for swaps again. This time I'm determined to be more choosy, though. I'm hoping to stick to holiday-themes, because you know those little wire trees you can hang ornaments on? I have a couple that can be used year-round if I'm careful, and I just thought they would make cool displays for my ATC's. And if the cards were holiday-themed, instant ornaments.

Anyway, we will see how it goes. I'll be getting some pink cards, and some St. Patty's or Easter, as well as some Valentine atc's. It's an experiment and an excuse to do some atc's but not get obsessed with them again, frankly. I can always make my own on any I need more of...

I think today's sidebar quote, another one from Maya Angelou, is one of my all time favorites. And, that's what I've been attempting on this blog, particularly with my Dare-->Bare-->Care-->Share goal for 2008. It's unsettling for me to try to bare my thoughts, but it has its rewards.

I was so heartened to see all the comments and emails from yesterday's post. What diversity of opinion, and I respect you for them. I'm also blown away at how civil and supportive most of you are, even if we hold different beliefs. Thank you from my open heart, my friends, for respecting me, too.

Did I mention that I've tried 3 times now to get all my hair chopped off? It just never worked out, so today I cut it myself again, not as short as I wanted a stylist to cut it, but it will help until I finally hook up with an appointment that's halfway on time and I don't have to wait forever and a day.

I basically bent over, brushed all my hair to the top back of my skull, tied it with a scrunchie so that it would stay sticking up some, then stood up and wacked the ponytail off. I knew I would get a shaggy look, and it seems okay so far. I needed to get the weight of my hair off my hair. In other words, it was breaking and coming out a little too much for me. Thank God I'm on thyroid medication or I'd be bald by now, I do believe.

I have found myself not washing my hair more than once a week in order to not have to comb it out, and leaving it up and pulled back as much as possible. So, I was needing to wash my hair today and I just did not want to take another shower with hair loss.

I got my wish. After I cut it, I showered, and not one hair pulled out. So, the weight must have lessened.

Speaking of weight, I cannot believe that I've remained steady for over 3 months now. Probably wouldn't hurt to get back on the loss regimen. I'm more convinced than ever now that for me at least thyroid med helps against gaining weight, but you still have to try to lose it. Some are lucky as heck and their weight just melts. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them, LOL.

My Creative-Every-Day for 11/6 was this yummilicious dinner dish:

KING RANCH CHICKEN (ALSO CALLED CHICKEN TORTILLA CASSEROLE)
4 chicken breasts
12 corn tortillas
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 lb. Cheddar cheese, grated
jalepenos or other hot peppers, sliced (optional)

Boil chicken breasts. Cool and debone. Tear into bite-sized pieces; set aside.
Cut tortillas into quarters; set aside.
In a bowl, mix soups, milk, onion and tomatoes. Butter a large baking dish. Put a layer of tortillas in dish bottom, then a layer of the soup mixture, then chicken, and then cheese. Repeat, ending with the cheese on top. Bake uncovered at 300-325F for 45-60 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serves 4.
The Hubster fried up some extra tortilla quarters in "his" big chicken-fryin' cast iron skillet (seriously, it's his exclusively because he loves it so; I get to touch the small one to make corn bread in). We topped it off with some sour cream, a salad and some guacamole, and called it Texas Heaven. Try it on a chilly evening when you need something to stick to your ribs, as they say. Good comfort food.

I Was RAK'd!
Started out innocently enough. Went by Sherry's blog, noticed her pretty blog banner and left her a comment. Last night, I find an email from her with {gasp} a banner for me! She'd made me one. How sweet is that? Sherry, you rock, seriously! Anyway, what do ya'll think? Isn't it pretty? THANK YOU!!!!! I just love everything about it.

I really admire the talent to scrap digitally. I've been scoping out trying to learn it and I decided yesterday that I need some kind of mentor cuz I suck at figuring out some parts of the software. I'm hoping I can find someone who could answer questions if I get stuck.

I checked out Sherry's gallery at 2peas, and you should see her first digital LO: Go here and leave her some praise...that was her first one and it looks so good, it just amazes me!

http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/layout_images/1248688.jpg
I can only pray that my first digital layout looks 1/4 that good! If I can ever get through one, that is...

Well, it's another hump day. I am really feeling pressure in every area of my life lately. Have you ever felt jazzed and excited about life, yet depressed and dreadful about it, too? (I know, right? You're going "what???") Well, I have been. I think I'm really over-committed again. The Creating Thing every day is bearing down on me like a balloon made of lead. I think I'm going to have to slow it down to only a couple of times a week, because I have to do my Christmas gift-making, that was the deal I made with myself, and I've about run out of things that can be made in a day. Which of the two is more important here? I mean, "uh, sorry little Johnny and Jenny, Auntie Aimes couldn't get your gift finished because I was too busy creating a finished product every day" or "Here, you get a card or journal page, cuz it only took a day to make."

Not. So, you see my dilemma. Yeah, should have never signed up, sorry, Leah. I really thought it could work. I definitely will be creating every single day, but nothing to show for it except for every so often. That challenge is really more suited to art journal pages and such.

Well, great, now I get to feel like a failure for not being able to do it even a whole week. Man, can I ever set myself up? I guess I could try and just do a 30-minute doodle or drawing every day, pure fluff at the busiest time of the year, and call it a therapeutic break. We'll see.

So now, do you see, my attitude blows. Like, nothing to live for, even though that isn't anywhere near the truth. And, I am jazzed about learning digital and scrapping some layouts again the old-fashioned way, too. I'm burned out on cards, though. I needed a break and got a bit of one, but family birthdays are starting up again. Plus the few I make for Christmas. Back to the card factory grind.

I think I just want to be a curmudgeon. Just for that, I'm making chocolate chip cookies today. Oh, and I thought I was going to be gaining some weight (under the it-figures rule of Murphy's Law), but I actually lost 2 pounds. Didn't even walk a lot this past week, either. Must have been the yogurt and cereal. Maybe that Special K ad is correct!

Comcast kidnapped me

OMGosh, I hate our new cable and internet provider, Comcast. Time Warner skipped town during the summer and Comcast took their place. At first they were fine. But either my cable TV or my cable internet or both has been down 5 times in the last 3 weeks, and this last time it went down Saturday night and did not come back on until this afternoon.


Boy, I was livid at first, then just disgruntled, then in serious withdrawal, LOL. But, I guess I should thank them, although I don't want to. I decided to go ahead and move my computer and all the peripherals to my office. The weather was cool outside so the attic would be bearable. I asked Hubs to get up there and move my cable connection, and shock, he didn't even protest. (I've only been giving him advanced warning for like 6 months that this was coming).

Then, the hard part: move all that electrical crap and a desk and a chifferobe. Well, why not, it's not gonna move itself. Thank goodness I remembered to snap my connects on the back of the tower first (do you do that? I always do, in case I get confused putting it all back together.)

So, I worked all day Sunday on it and part of today. I had Missy's room to put stuff in (our house is so jam-packed -- ahem, cluttered, I guess -- so it's hard to move stuff around), and now there's a lot of stuff in her room. Stuff I'll have to find another place for or put back in its place, because I was also cleaning out the collected crapola that seems to accumulate.

It would have been a pretty quick job had I not had to clean, too. Missy's room was horrid, just awful. It's dusted and vaccuumed in there now. I couldn't bare to put my stuff in there on top of all that dust! LOL And then the ceiling fans in 4 rooms needed cleaning (I have to wet-clean because of my allergies). And on and on.

Finally, I got it all set back up. but not before having to slather my back in Blue analgesic stuff because it froze up on me. No wonder: my pedometer said I walked twice the steps on Sunday that I usually walk, and ditto for today, too. That's 3 miles per day of rearranging! LOL

But, it was all worth it in the end, because now my family room is on its way to being presentable for the holidays, and my office is no longer missing a computer. Trust me, I've got about another month of clean-up-and-put-away-and-gettin-just-right, because I am not killing myself to get it all done as quickly as the last 48 hours. I'll do some of it every day. But, I'm in sight of the finishl ine and it feels gooooood.

Plus, I actually followed my plan and in a timely manner, too. {Gasp!} I honestly can't remember the last time that happened. Seriously.

Sunday Confessional

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

Visited Drea's blog by way of Mackey's and finally succumbed to that dang celebrity look-alike quiz.
ROFL, gotta say that, while I am still a bit jealous of Drea for getting Hillary as one of her look-alikes, I'm more than happy with mine.
Attention Diane, Marcia, Katherine and Kimberly: look closely, my face is in the mirror of your futures!
Get thee to the plastic surgeon, chicas, now!

It's past time for a Fitness Update from me, I know. I've sort of let things go, although I have tried to get in a minimum step count every day, and I've also recorded my steps. I've tried to take my meds and eat and drink my Daily Musts, although these have suffered a bit due to my current sleep problems. Intake is best when a schedule is followed, right?

To refresh the memory, I was going to take a bit of a break on conscious weight losing and just let my body find my current weight as its new set point. (I think that was about a week to 10 days ago.) And on that, I believe I've succeeded. Although I haven't lost any more pounds, I have stayed the same weight since beginning my break. And believe me, there have been a few times I could have (should have) gained a bit. Since that eating behavior is what tests the set point, this is a good thing, especially since I have not gained.

But, I've let my water intake decrease. I've also not drunk my green tea or eaten my yogurt every single day. Now, to my mind, I maybe could have lost a tiny bit had I just kept those two things up, ya know?

So, I'm beginning a renewed commitment to my Daily Musts today, and I'm adding the list to my sidebar in hopes of that being a motivator for me. To repeat, this list may seem like it's lightweight, but for me these little things make a big difference in my health and how I feel. And, isn't the difference usually in the details? Isn't it always the little things that count the most in the end? For me, yeppers.



I also said I was going to stop my art making through the end of October, which I have. I was going to start going through all the accumulated piles of crap in the public areas of my house and put/clean/throw away. And I've been working on it! I was also going to tie up my loose work ends and print/package/deliver/mail my last group of tax returns, and on that goal I have not done well. Therefore, my focus this coming week will be on that, and then back to the general cleaning.

Sounds like a good plan for me... What are your goals this week?

Whatever your goals, I hope you accomplish them. Here's to great upcoming week for us all!

Watery Wednesday Wrap-ups

I do hope those of you who read this blog remembered that I was up to my arss in tax returns and would not be counted on to blog with any regularity. Just in case you thought I drowned....

I almost did, but only figuratively. Man, the procrastinators on my client list are just gonna have to speed things up next year, cuz I'm getting too old for double all-niters (yep, I did not sleep from Saturday evening until Monday afternoon, then took a nap and stayed up again Monday night, just barely making the midnight deadline on my last 2 returns). When folks bring you moving boxes full of craps on the Thursday and Friday before a Monday deadline, ya kinda haveta stay up. But, no worries, they will get theirs, for I will remember this at invoicing time! LOL

Bad thing is, I did not have time to do my usual thorough start-to-finish on each client, so all my paperwork is still to be done for them, like document file copies, printing, collating, packaging and invoicing. And that all needs to be done this week in order to get paid before Christmas, because it starts all over again right after that! And plus, I want some time off. I want to at least pretend to be a seasonal worker! LOL

So anyway, back to drowning...good segueway to the one thing I did do yesterday (Tuesday) besides sleep all.day.long. I took off with my camera and snapped some shots of water for this week's Funky Photo Friday challenge. I really had fun doing this, although it was more difficult to get interesting shots than I anticipated. Once I figured out to use my zoom, though, it got easier. Didn't get up early enough to catch sunrise and didn't want to wait long enough to get sunset, so I had to settle for overcast midday. Then, I took the photos and editied them in PaintShopPro, some lightly, some heavily. So, I learned some new moves, not that I'm gonna remember them, LOL. One can hope.

That first shot (above) looks like a waterfall, right? Well, It's not. It's water rushing out of a bayou dredging outflow pipe into a containment pond. What I did was zoom in on the water when I snapped it. Then, back at my computer, I used the curves function to add some heavy duty whitecaps. I love how it came out, but I confess I did not know beforehand that I was going to do that. I was just playing around with the different things in my PSP. I had read of lots of people using this functions, so I thought, what does this do? Me likey!

This next photo (at left) is just barely edited with an unsharp mask and a tiny bit of brightening. This is a tributary gully creek that winds through my city and has the infamous nickname Gator Gully. More than a few alligators have been sighted on its banks over the years. There's luckily a safe concrete perch near the banks where I stood to take the shot, so no Aimeslees were sacrificed for it, LOL.

I have to admit, I had the most fun editing this photo (at left). This is just a boring old shot of our dirty brown bayou and bank near my house that flows into Galveston Bay. Boring shots like these make me want to glitz them up, so I went exploring in PSP's Effects. This one was done using the Rotating Mirror Reflection Effect. What it does is rotate part of your image however you tell it. This one is a very slight rotation, clockwise -- can you see it? What is cool is that it created a digital smush in the upper righthand quadrant that kind of looks like there's a buddhist fairy with wings sitting there on the grass. Click on any of these for a larger view.

Well, I have to say that during my overtime at work I almost literally ached to do some creative playing. I missed it that much. And I even missed blogging. Yet, no rest for the weary. As I explained, I'll be working on finishing up the paperwork, tomorrow it's to the dentist for a cleaning, and then I will be on vacation until November 1. Not from blogging, I'll still blog daily (ok, that's the plan). But I won't be crafting for that time. The crafting supplies are going to get packed up and put away, and I'm going to tackle the remaining parts of our house reorganization.

My goal is to have most of it done by Oct. 28th, which is the next day off for DH. I need to move my computer and internet cable to my front office from the family room, as well as clean up all the accumulated crap from the family room and the front dining room and office. Then, once that goal is met, I can work in my spare time on cleaning out the back 10' x 22' room behind the garage and making it into our fitness gym! I am so jazzed at the thought of getting that done that the mere visualization of it is enough to get me moving, even when I'm in pain. Hubs wants it badly too, and we really only have this remaining window of time open, since I need to use Missy's room to store stuff in while I move other stuff around. And she will be home for Thanksgiving. So, the craftings gotta go for now. Also, I won't be online as much, but that's going to be a good thing, because I've noticed that my old bones are less painful the less time I spent at the keyboard, ya know?

So, you have all been told! LOL Please, if ya see me online alot, feel free to whip me and yell at me to get back on plan! I just feel that if I get somewhere with this, my life's gonna improve to the next level, cuz all of this clutter and stuff not being where I want it to be is bugging the caniption outta me. And being able to use all of our gym equipment, OMG, I literally cannot wait!

Have a great HUMPerdink DAY, everybody. (Gina, I will do your tag on Thursday, okay?)

The Rain, The Cards, & Other Things

Is there anyone reading this who is old enough to remember a Tweener pre-adolescent crush on the Cowsills (60's pop-singing and original 'drink milk' family that the Partridge Family tv show was 100% based on)? My blog title today draws on one of their many song hits. The Rain, The Park & Other Things. Oh man, I was eat up with them when I was 9, 10 years old (and The Monkees, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and Herman's Hermits). Next to the Beatles, those groups were my faves. (Yes, I realize the disparity in genre and quality between the Beatles and those groups, but wasn't that the way with any group compared to the Fab Four? And, I never was a Rolling Stoner, lol.) That's my Memory Walk for today.

Errands
It rained today...that's why I thought of that song. Drizzling showers, intermittant but constant, we get this great kind of rain far too little. Plus, while my eyeglasses did manage to fog up every time I ventured outdoors, the temps stayed sane and so it felt good out. I went to get my blood drawn (again) for another check on infection and thyroid levels. They have to take it out of a vein on the top of my hand and that's kind of weird icky (the lady who draws it knows all about my quirky behavior with this: she lets me spasm and emit groans while keeping the needled hand perfectly still...would probably make a great YouTube video...and she doesn't even snicker...much, LOL). I apparently have veins in my elbow that hide at the mere mention of drawing blood.

After that lovely experience, I was filled with a desire to get busy with my heretofore health maintenance procraastinations, so I called for a dentist appointment...gone for the day already, they'll call me Monday. Oh well, I tried. (I also badly need to get my eyes checked and get new glasses, but I'll have to get more inspiration at an earlier time of another day.)

Next, I had my always pleasant drive over the bridge to the grocery store I love to frequent in the next town over. Love this drive, it makes me feel free and alive being on that suspension bridge (I think it's the water below and all around since I'm a Pisces). Arriving at Kroger, Score! Lean Cuisines were 5 for $10 and I loaded up, even got some of those Panini's to try out. My fitness club girls say they're good. Oooh, and I got some Pepperidge Farms mini bagels. Love those and they're such a cute size that is a much better size for me. Only 110 calories for one, and nothing left over, since those full size ones are almost 300 calories and I always slice them in half. Now I can have an entire bagel for less calories than half a full one. Dig that.

Got home, unloaded groceries, had an afternoon green tea and answered a few emails, then got down to cooking dinner. Tried the quinoa (Keenwah)! Dude, it's tasty, a great rice or cous-cous type dish. I fized up some cornbread, some Stouffers beef stew for 2 and a romaine salad. I ladled the stew over the quinoa -- delish. Hubs liked it too, and do you know what that means? It means "approved for flight", or okay to cook from now on. LOL I researched it a few weeks ago (you may remember it's one of those Super Foods and I had to order it from amazon and it took over a week to arrive). Oh and it's super easy to cook, similar to but even easier than rice, okay? Enough said.

Frizzle My Shizzle
I do have to show you one casualty of my rainy day excursion, though and that's my hair. Frizzle my Shizzle! I flat-ironed that moptop prior to my errands, albeit lightly, and never really took a look at it while I was out and about. I almost frightened myself silly the next time I passed a mirror, LOL. The waves are totally natural. This is the first time I've ever seen the effects of my flat-ironing totally obliterated, so either I am going to have to flat-iron every inch of hair and at a higher temp (something I don't really think I should do to my menopaused tresses), or I need to use some heavy duty product on days like this. I'll be trying the latter for sure. I've quite a lot to learn about doing my own hair, something else I've procrastinated on since Missy left.

Artful Progress
I knew that as soon as I stated that I was not going to spend forever on each art journal page that I would spend a lot of time. That's just my luck. I say something, I end up doing the opposite. Oh well. So it was that the next idea I had for an art journal essay was my childhood thing about ballerinas, and a desire to play in my paints and such.

It just so happens, as I have a daughter who had her own ballerina flirtation once, that I'm left with dance embellishments among the ruins of my scraps stash: stickers, tags, collage sheet images. They've stayed in the scraps stash because of course they are long gone from the list of current "in" product, but I cannot bring myself to throw them out because to me they are very cute and some strange out-of-touch part of me keeps hoping they'll make a comeback. Well, they're only gonna do that if I force the issue, so I decided to channel the Rebel in me and create that comeback for this essay.

But, how to lessen the impact of sticker cheese? How about cool painted artsy background paper? I spent some time last night and this evening making some with junk mail paper. I didn't start with my paints, choosing instead to play with my oil pastels and my Craf-T rub-in cremes. Once I had tired of them, I moved on to my paints, applying them with a round stencil sponge dauber. I adhered some pink plastic mesh to one background with some tape runner, and then took my cheesiest ballerina image, adhered her to some cardstock, cut her out and then made several little holes in her for brads to attach her with. This is as far as I've gotten, but I ask you: try to push back your disdain or dislike for cheesy sticker shapes and just tell me you don't think she's just the cutest thing. Ah! LOL, I probably need help dealing with this sickness, I know. But hey, I am recycling and for a packrat, that's sadly as good as it gets most of the time.

Card Making, World-Style
I'll be making one tomorrow, how about you? Don't have time? Just make one, okay? You don't have to make a ton and they don't have to be brilliant. I just think the idea of card makers everywhere each commemorating the day by making a card is kind of cool. So, if you can, do. I made a pink tag just for this event from one of my cheesy dance tags last night. I painted over the text that was on it with pretty pink paint, then used my own handwriting to write the info, then added a flower, a button, some eyelets, ribbon and a staple. I liked it so much I made a smaller image to use as a sidebar ad for tomorrow. All I'm gonna say is, it's really sick how little I know about digital elements when I spend an hour making what I could have just created digitally. {Sigh} Maybe one day....

Fitness Update
Got extra walking in today, since I ran errands and walked that grocery store again. (I really ought to go there every day and buy one or two things, LOL, and don't think I won't consider that!) I was also a good girl food-wise. I slept late this morning (as usual) and then had to work at my accounting crap for a couple of hours (will have to be doing that, and more, until the 16th), but I did manage to put on my new yoga dvd just to watch while I worked. It's really cool. Can't wait to clean up a floor area somewhere in this dump so I can do some yoga! Cuz, I think this one will make me successful at being able to actually have a repetoire of positions, LOL. Based on the preview, highly recommended. A more thorough critique to come...

Feel like a Number
Well, today marked another week of viewing my TV show list. It has been difficult keeping up with everything I've wanted to see, so I added a Google calendar for them (at the very bottom of my blog page), so that when I get confused I have a place to get straightened out. Don't think I'll be adding any more shows to Sunday-Thursday, and based on tonight's viewing, I think I'll add Friday Night Lights and then I alway try to watch 20/20. FNL has always intrigued me (lovelove that Kyle Chandler!), but it has so many boring passages (part of its cinematic style and using real kids as actors, I've decided) that I'd quit watching. Now, the story line interests me again, and I'll just go tinkle or smoke during the boring parts. Sounds like a plan. But, check this out: it's on a new night (Friday), which is neat cuz it's about football, but answer me this: is the show just trying to be the most-Tivo'd show in history or something, because...helLO...doesn't the show appeal to viewers who are, I dunno, AT football games on this night? That scheduling decision just astounds me, what will they think of next? {eyeroll}

Ack, fingers sore, too much typing (and correcting my voluminous typos, hope I caught them all), so I will catch up on my blogger challenge questions tomorrow, as well as upload the card for you that I made for my nephew. Have a great Saturday, yo! ;)))

Anyone up for this?

Sorry. I didn't really mean anything by that. Just liked it as a title, hehe.

I've been in the Bat Cave since last I posted, doing accounting work and hating every minute of it. Whoa is me (sniff sniff).

And on my breaks, I began creating in my new journal. I'm doing the pages outside of the journal, then tacking them down into an old discarded cheap spiral-bound notebook of Missy's. I thought I'd try to use papers, etc., from my scraps stash on every page if possible. Then, I thought I could also try to use junk mail, too. What would that make it, journal trash? Since I'm more of a writer than an artist (like 60/40 maybe), I'm also using it as a free-writing practice vehicle. Just something to mess around with...no expectations of beauty or workanship. At. All.

And may I say that so far it shows, LOL. Yeah. I don't want to spend forever on each page. I just want to "get them out of me" and be done, and leave them until such time if and when I might want to go back and pretty them up more. The journal is primarily for free-writing, illustrated free-writing...which is why I decided to title the thing Essays in the Language of Art. That doesn't really describe it accurately, but that came to me and I liked it.

So I don't know if it's correct to call it an art journal. It's more like an illustrated diary, but not really even that. No set theme. No set topics, anything goes. Could end up being a journal about nothing at all. Move over, Seinfeld. Yeah, I wish.

One of my nephews has a birthday in 5 days, so I need to get my arss in gear and make him a card to go with his $20 bill. Nothing's percolating upstairs, though. I just wanna make journal pages, LOL. I feel displaced, like I misplaced my creativity with cards. It's my boy-card phobia, I know. So tough for me. And not a good time for it, either, as I have 3 nephews with birthdays in the next 30 days. Eegads, that's kinda scarey. Every card has to be unique, too, cuz 2 of them are related and all 3 are different ages. I would love to reach the day where I spend a weekend making all my relative's cards for the year! I've tried before. It doesn't happen. It's a combination of my Type-A deadline-driven motivation and my lack of speed in all things creative.

I read on my friend Vicki's blog about Blog Action Day on October 15th. If you click on the banner blinkie, it takes you to their website where you can read all the details. I am definitely doing this! My idea is to do a journal page about giving junk mail a real and higher purpose by making art with it. Please think about participating and if you do, don't forget to register your blog at their website and embed one of the banner blinkies on your blog.

Just great.
I've been like this lately towards everything. Bleh. Watching myself gettin' behind on stuff and not really caring. One of those rare times I wish I still had my uterus and ovaries, so I'd have PMS to blame, ya know? hehe Well, not really. Histerectomy = Good Thing. On so many levels.

Well, guess I need to post a bit about my health regimin. What a segueway, LOL.

reg·i·men /ˈrɛdʒəmən, -ˌmɛn, ˈrɛʒ-/
Spelled Pronunciation[rej-uh-muhn, -men, rezh-]

–noun 1. Medicine/Medical. a regulated course, as of diet,
exercise, or manner of living, intended to preserve or restore health or to
attain some result.

Things are good, under control. Another "save" in my book of yo-yo's. I suppose I should confess: things appeared to go South the day I drove to pick Missy up from college, which was this past Friday. She'd emailed me saying she wanted to pig out at Luby's Cafeteria, except our local one is not that great. Not bad, just not great. So, just as soon as we got on the freeway to go home, the first exit, there's a Cracker Barrel, and so we exited and ate there.

Now, I was a reasonably good girl. I ordered badly (fried catfish plate with mashed potatoes and greens, and raspberry lemonade - actually I ordered the tea but Missy wanted to switch and as Moms are want to do I took her drink). So I drank stupid useless sugar and ate all my catfish and most of my greens, but truly only a few bites of the potatoes. And then when Missy wanted the apple dumpling a la mode for dessert, I insisted on the sugar-free ice cream and I only took one bite of the dumpling and like 5 spoonfuls of the ice cream. And I was very full. So full that by the time we arrived back home, I was ready for a nap. Bottom line on Cracker Barrel: it could have been much, much worse.

I awoke from my nap to Hubs coming home from work, and guess what he brought with him? Half of the stromboli he'd ordered for lunch from this awesome Italian place that is catering their special project. (Yes, when they work a special project, Hubs and his coworkers get all meals catered. Such is Life in the discombobulated world of mega corporatism, sigh. Not complaining much, though, as we cook much less and I usually don't have to wait til he gets home to eat dinner cuz he's already eaten.) Anyway, I'd never had real stromboli, so of course I had a slice, then another. I displyed super-human effort to keep from slicing a third one, lemmetellya. M-M-M-M-Good, man. And I have no idea what was in it except a massive amount of mozzarella and some kind of boiled meat and wonderfully delish marinara.

Okay, by Friday night, my shame having caught up with me, I walked an extra large number of my step-laps and somehow managed to not eat another morsel. This was hard, as by now my stomach was stretched and I was continually hungry.

Saturday started off well, back on the program. Missy went off on her scheduled bridal party shopping trip with the bride, and life returned to normal. I was flirting with fasting for the day (other than my required yogurt and fruit quota), so when Missy returned with a doggy bag box and announced they'd gone to Olive Garden and here were her leftovers just for me, I was primed for temptation (having eaten next to nothing). Ah, the delectable taste of Spaghetti and Meatballs with a breadstick. I slurp-inhaled every molecule. I doubt my dogs could have cleaned the plate as well.

I kind of forget what else was eaten after that. I doubt it was anything else bad. Probably a tv dinner from my Healthy Choice collection. Missy came in and announced that her boyfriend Jonathan and roommate Anj were driving down to pick her up tonight instead of me driving her back to school on Sunday. At this point, all I was thinking about was how great this was: I didn't have to drive for two hours and my life could go back to normal. So, kiss-kiss and be safe and great to see ya. It's so weird how quickly Hubs and I got used to her no longer being at home, so much so that we prefer it. We're in that period where she prefers being at school and we prefer her being at school, and there's no resentment or hurt feelings. But still a bit awkward. We all agreed she won't be home til Thanksgiving, and that's so refreshing and relaxing. Here I was thinking I wouldn't be able to live without her and look how quickly that changed. I'd feel guilty, but I'm too busy enjoying not having to deal with a 3rd person at home.

So, Sunday I got back on track for good and made sure my steps number was high. When I finally weighed on Monday, I was only a half-pound above my last weigh-in. So, all I can think of was that I'd lost weight between the weigh-in last week and Friday, that I didn't know about, and that's why there was only a half-pound increase. Which I've now lost as of today, Wednesday. Back to the same weight in a week. See how lucky I was?

Blogger Challenge Catch-Up
I need to get current with these and no time like the present. Here's are the questions I've missed (this catches me up until Friday, because Thursdays was posted tonight):
When doing a layout, do you chose to mat or not mat your photos? It depends, frankly. More often than not, though, I do prefer the look of matted photos. It just adds a nice dimension and helps the eye to focus on the photos.
When you are stuck and need some inspiration. where do you turn? For cards, I like to look both at sketches and at what others have made with the materials I'm using (if possible). I usually start at 2peas' user gallery and do a search of the materials. I like to look at Maria's and Di's card sketches. Many times, though, the circumstances are such that I end up having to come up with a completely original card. Maybe I use a little touch here and there that I've seen. For layouts, I have to browse different galleries, magazines, books, not looking for a specific layout per se, but those little touches again. Often I'll combine a few of them, putting my own spin on them. Occasionally, I will get a mental picture of a complete layout, and on those, if I don't sketch it out first the layout can lack balance, since I'm not trained in graphic design or have that natural "eye". So, in each case, no matter what the piece, I do look at others' creations. I usually stop when I get an idea in my head and the finished piece looks like my own, so I look for inspiration and to get my own juices flowing. If I didn't look first, I suspect it'd be way much harder for me to conceptualize something.
Have you ever made layouts/cards to sell at craft shows? If so how did it go? Never have done the crafts fair thing. I have sold cards on commission, making them to the customer's specifications, and I've also made smaller layouts that were auctioned for good causes. I doubt I'd sell cards any other way, because of the time I put into mine. I've lucked out being able to charge at the high end of the range for them because these were people who contacted me and wanted my work without any price dickering. So even though I guess you'd say I got a good price for them, it honestly wasn't that worth it to me, didn't feel like I got repaid enough. I've thought about selling them on ebay or etsy, but so far I'm still not motivated enough. I'm never saying never, though, not this year.

Well, enough of that for now. I'm also behind in my blog visiting for my inner circle girls, so that's what I'm gonna do now. Til tomorrow, peeps! May your Thusday be as good as it gets!