Masochistic Mondays: Week 18

The Stats (as of November 30, 2009)
Starting Weight: 188 lbs
Current Weight: 177.5 lbs

I must admit I was utterly surprised to see that number on the screen this morning during weigh in. It's not like I stuffed myself this Thanksgiving, but I did eat and munch what seemed like constantly. I never ate to the point of feeling-sick-from-being-so-full, and actually never to the point of feeling stuffed, but I was sure I was going to see an increase. I mean, I was the Thanksgiving cook, so I had a little bite here and a crab rangoon there while cooking, plus the actual meal. And then there was the whole not exercising thing…I can't believe I'm actually going to say this, but I actually miss the running I was doing. Ok, maybe not the actual running, but the set time for myself to get out there and exercise. The Couch to 5k plan was so motivating, that I was forcing myself to go out each and every time and even when I had the perfect excuse to ditch, I still made sure I got out to do it. But now the external motivation is gone and it is so very easy not to do my Wii Active exercise each day. That's something I really need to change, but I'm not quite sure how. Even the 30-day challenge isn't motivating enough for me.

Anyone know of any blog challenges or something like that that I can use to keep my butt in gear?

Oh, and after a couple weeks of just gliding through, I've come up with some goals to get my head back in the weight-loss game:
- I need to start tracking my food again.
- I need to start drinking more water (the past few days my consumption has been practically zero - eek).

Unclutterer: Down and Dirty

After being anxious to jump into the project for about a month, and then getting Mike psyched up for the task as well, we decided to jump right into the uncluttering this morning. Mike had brought back the last load of his boxes for his parents' house the night before, so everything was brought into the center of the basement (from the car, from the coal bin storage area, from under the guest room bed and from the depths of the guest room closet). Because you're not actually standing in the space, it might not seem like that much stuff…but it was.

Boxes and boxes of stuff.

Unused wedding gifts. First grade report cards. Soccer trophies. Old printers. Zip disks. Artwork. Boy Scout leather work. You name it, it is probably there.

Arming ourselves with garbage bags, water and a label maker ($40 model obtained for $10, thank you Black Friday!), we started, pulling box after box onto the table and pulling everything out. Being my first foray into uncluttering, we weren't super diligent - we each have a box of things to keep and/or scan before tossing and we're maybe only halfway done with the pile of boxes - but we're making progress.

We have piles of things to donate, one of things to sell, but then the real show of progress is the garbage and recycle piles. I'm happy to report, though extremely messy therefore making it look like we degressed instead of progressed, the recycle pile is huge and over flowing. And it's not taking us as long as I had thought it would to go through things.

It will still take awhile to get through everything. To purge, then organize, but I'm confident we won't be at this for months, which is good because that basement gets pretty cold when the snow starts to fall. We just have to hope for no heavy rains until we get through the initial phase because as it's set up right now, everything is right in the path of the little streams that start to form once the ground is fully saturated.

A Thanksgiving: In Pictures

Thursday, November 26, 2009: 10AM
After waking shortly after 9, getting my ipod fix & a shower, the day begins with a little breakfast and a review of the day's timeline.


Thursday, November 26, 2009: 11AM
Appetizers in full swing, both must be baked & out of the oven before the turkey can go in.


Thursday, November 26, 2009: 12PM
Turkey out of the brine and being prepped for roasting…a bit behind schedule.


Thursday, November 26, 2009: 1PM
As the roasting turkey freaks Nibbler out (see her try to get as far as possible from the house), I try to sneak in a couple more chores before guests arrive…I don't make it.


Thursday, November 26, 2009: 2PM
Then the prep continues, this time for all the side dishes.


Thursday, November 26, 2009: 3PM
As the temperature rises in the bird, things get into full swing.


Thursday, November 26, 2009: 4PM
Turkey out, side dishes in. Boy, would a dual oven come in handy, but I have to say I did pretty well managing my space & getting things out on the table pretty quick.


Thursday, November 26, 2009: 5PM
Prayer said, plates dished, dig in.


Thursday, November 26, 2009: 6PM
Dessert, a la Cheesecake Factory (but homemade).


Thursday, November 26, 2009: 7PM
An after dinner trip to stock up on pants for the ever-growing soon-to-be-five-year-old: denied. Unable to enter the store at 6:57, as the were closing at 7. Bah Hum Bug.


Thursday, November 26, 2009: 8PM
Winding down before calling it an early night (I had a 4AM wake up call looming over my head).

And Then There Was One…

Project #40 in '50 in 2009 Challenge' - Bubble Yum Button-Tab Junior

And Then There Was Two...

Project #39 in '50 in 2009 Challenge' - The Brock Boy Hat

It amazes me how much a knit can stretch every time, which is perhaps why I've been having so much trouble with these hats. I just can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that something can stretch to well over twice it's original size and work well.

But with this hat I had to.

See.

When laying flat you think, well that surely won't be able to fit anyone but a baby. But it fits the dummy so well, and I'm even able to get it on my head without looking all stretched out and uncomfortable.

So lesson learned...
When knitting hats, go smaller than I think necessary as it more likely than not fit well that way as opposed to being loose and sloppy.

Two more hats left to put that lesson to test, let's hope I pass.

Hard At Work

Downside to not going to work: I tend not to drink anything when I'm home, therefore I get dehydrated and become plagued with headaches.

I even tried to make a conscious effort by having my water bottle filled and opened at the counter while I worked around the house. But here I am, at 9:30, water chugged, tylenol popped and I'm still fighting a headache that rears it ugly head every time I go from standing to sitting. Like my brain can't handle the altitude change or something…ha!

My day was spent accomplishing a lot, too much maybe. I was able to knock a lot of things of the to do list in a short amount of time, not exactly the precedent I want to be setting or Mike might expect that kind of magic more often.

But for the most part things are ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Last couple things on the agenda: put turkey in the brine and prep the crab rangoon (yum). Then I'm going to bed and sleeping until 10 (so Mike, you better not wake me up).

Hats are no longer my friend…

Project #38 in '50 in 2009 Challenge' - Bubble Yum Button Tab

With no gauge information, I should have known this project was doomed to begin with but I continued on, decreasing the number of stitches hoping to make it an appropriate size for a 7 year old girl.

And boy, oh boy, those ribs can be deceiving. They look so tiny, but stretch SOOO big.

So after finishing this cute little button tab hat and putting it on the dummy head for pictures, I realized it was too big. So big.

My first instinct was to throw it in the frogging pile and cast on a new smaller version, but Mike convinced me to put it on…and it looked all right.

Now pink is not my top choice of color, and even further down on the list of colors that I consider wearing, but I got a new cream winter coat and have plans to make a scarf with my french souvenir yarn and I think it should look ok with it. Originally I was going back and forth on what to make with my purple souvenir yarn (hat or mitts) but now my decision is made…plus I don't think I can knit another hat! And the sad thing is I have to knit this hat again, plus a reknit of this one in a smaller gauge (back before I learned the hard way that a gauge swatch needs to be done).

Masochistic Mondays: week 17

The Stats (as of November 23, 2009)

Starting Weight: 188lbs

Current Weight: 179.2 lbs

As awful as it is to say it, the past couple weeks exercise and conscious eating have not been a priority for me. I've had a lot on my mind with my job situation that I just didn't have much room for anything else. I've tried to stay active (though the end of the week was a bust, fresh start today, I swear) and though I didn't make the healthiest food decisions, they were not the worst. Though I did notice while whipping up a cheesecake last night that I mindlessly munched on a few chocolate wafer cookies without even considering what was appropriate serving-wise or even how my body felt regarding food, which is perhaps the most troubling. I had been feeling overly full from dinner and still I popped a few cookies into the ole trap. That is something I would like NOT to happen again. Especially this time of year when goodies will be all over the place.

This is going to take some effort, probably more effort than I was putting into it before. But I would like to come out on the other side of the holidays without gaining the weight I have lost back. It'll be tough because I haven't really lost that much weight (especially considering how easily I can pack it on). I'm really hoping that being held accountable here will help, but as an added bonus I've picked up a Motivation Buddy through Prior Fat Girl. My partner, Jesse, and I will just check in on each other regularly, give words of encouragement and ears (or eyes I guess since we communicate through email) to moan to. Fingers crossed that with people "counting on" me, I won't revert back to my old ways.

The Prep Begins.

The official Thanksgiving prep has begun. A couple weekends ago I roasted a practice turkey (we ate off that for a week)and now with only four days left, the real preparation is in full swing.

Right now (at 10 pm)a cranberry cheesecake is cooling on the counter. The house went through an initial clean up today. Our bedding was all washed and aired out in the beautiful weather today. The duvet cover has finally made a reappearance this year (I've been too lazy in the years since we got it). Fleece cuddle blankets have been laundered (yowza, did they stink of Nibbler after sitting in a pile for a couple weeks) and are currently trying to be dehaired, not sure how that will work as fleece acts as a magnet to the dog hair. Groceries have been purchased, in 2 pricy trips to two different stores. The menu is set. And the kitchen has been "staged."

I have this thing where I really like to take pictures when we clean well (see here and here and here). Maybe that says something about our cleaning habits, huh? Today was exciting though, because the kitchen was cleaned up and we put up a new piece of artwork that brings the kitchen one step closer to being done.

And more importantly I got a new gadget that solves a problems we've had the last several months...a bread box. I really don't think I should be this excited about a bread box, but I am. Up until recently we kept our bread in the fridge, I'm not sure why we changed (maybe the fridge was packed one week so the bread had to go on the counter and it just stuck) but the bread tastes better when it sits on the counter, so we haven't gone back. The bad thing is that bags of sandwich bread, bagels and french bread tended to just accumulate on the counter. Plastic and bread everywhere. Not cool, nor attractive. So we decided to finally get a bread box. I've been looking into them for awhile, but the whole jump situation put a hold on unnecessary spending. Now that things are more stable (oh yes, did I mention I accepted a job offer on Friday? I did, Friday was my last day of work and I will start my new job on December 1), Mike said that while I was out grocery shopping to see if I could find something I liked. So I did, and I am happy...no longer will plastic bread bags pile up on the counter in an unsightly heap!

..................................

Oh, and I got some pics of the newly organized junk drawer (see before here) and the decluttered "command center" in our kitchen. Both Mike and I are getting anxious to start some hardcore uncluttering of our basement, we just need to get through Thanksgiving first.

Mmm, Donut.

WIP Friday: Bubble Gum, Bubble Yum

Lookie here…I'm back to making hats. I have three left to make (two are redos). It would be great if I could finish them up in time for Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. I'd be happy with two out of three.

Now it's time to sit cuddled in my robe, watch some hulu, knit and relax, making up for the last few weeks of stress and uncertainty.

I think a mug of hot cocoa with whipped cream is in store.

1st Annual Small Fox Ornament Swap: The Goods

Project #37 in '50 in 2009 Challenge'

Approximately 1360 white ab 10mm sequins, 1360 white ball headed pins, 900 red 10mm sequins, 600 gold sequins and 1500 straight pins later, I am through with my part of the 1st Annual Small Fox Ornament Swap.

My right thumb and forefinger scream in pain at the slightest touch, but I am done. And I am happy with the results.

It sure did help sleeping on it because last night when I was painting little white moustaches on 12 little faces, I was seriously doubting my idea and more importantly, my execution.

But with whiten-downed pink for rosy little noses and cheeks, I am much happier than I was when I finally climbed into bed last night. Now that I look at them, they are very The Small Object-esque, though unintended is not a bad thing.

My Santas and Father Christmases, here, are simple, but cute…and sparkly.

Project #37 in '50 in 2009 Challenge'

I never thought I'd use sequins, but I've got to say I like the look. Kinda like fish gills. And when you look at the little box of multi-color jewel tones I had to buy because no store in town had any more 10mm red ones left for me to finish my half finished ornament they are even more enticing. I'm trying to figure out a way to use all my extras…if only pins weren't so expensive. I have an idea for something a bit out there, but I'm definitely going to have to find a source for cheaper bulk pins.

I started off strong a few weeks ago, working diligently as a knitting break, pushing sharp little pins. Sure, I tried to use a thimble, but those only really worked for the straight pins as the ball headed pins had more of a tendency to bend, therefore requiring a more nimble touch.

I was on a roll and then disaster struck. I was mid way through my sixth head and I ran out of red sequins. Quickly I headed to the store, only to find they were out of the larger 10mm red and using smaller reds was not an option as I was already going through a boatload of pins to begin with, I didn't need to double or triple that number. So I sped off to another store…no luck, and another…no luck, both stores' sequin sections were meager, so back to store #1 to pick up a multi-pack and some gold sequins. I figured I could pick enough reds out of the multi-pack to finish the ornament I had started and then the gold would help me create the remainder of my requirement as Father Christmas instead of Santa. Hats of to Jake for thinking of that one.

And soon, ok not so soon, I was left with 11 and 1/2 ornament heads. I had hopes of finishing 12, but I lost my last handful of ball headed pins somewhere between my living room and Panera on Craft Night. Go figure.

After staying up late to paint faces and then tagging & photographing each ornament as lunch today, I was able to box them up and send them on their merry way Priority (nothing but the best for my little creations). Now I wait a week or so for a magical box full of Christmas spirit to arrive on my doorstep. There are about 3 times as many participants as there are required ornaments, so despite being able to see what others have made in the Flickr pool, I really have NO idea what I'll end up with. Exciting, right?!

Unclutterer: A Beginning

A few weeks ago I discovered the blog, unclutterer.com, an inspirational source for leading a more simplified life. Like all new blogs I discover and enjoy, I dive way back into the archives to the very beginning and work my way to the present.

Along the way I became more and more inspired to actually get rid of some of the junk in our house. And I think my first successful sale of an item on Craigslist helped fuel the fire. There are tons of things that I've just been hanging on to for no real reason…guilt, thinking I might need it some day, etc. But I'm beginning to see that it's ok to pare down.

I wanted to jump in right away. To start sorting through and purging the boxes & boxes of stuff that hand been accumulated throughout my life and then neatly deposited to me by my parents (whether it was sending a box home when we visited them or my mom bringing the last of the boxes when she came to down in August). The boxes have been sitting under the bed in our guest room and when that area was taken, they were stacked in the basement, and Mike was actually getting ready to start prepping our attic to be more accessible, so we could store them up there. That's when I decided to put my foot down, I needed to end the cycle, so I convinced Mike to let us tackle it all as a winter project.

And though I wanted to jump in right away, I stopped myself. With baby gifts and ornament swaps and parties and commissioned hats to knit, I knew I wouldn't get any of the stuff that NEEDED to be done done if I started a new exciting project.

So I held off…until today, when I finally cracked (after weeks!) and needed to get some unclutterer action. So at lunch today I jimmied open our junk drawers, dumped it all out and started sorting/purging/organizing.

I couldn't finish on my lunch break, so I'm not done yet but I can tell you, it's awesome to be able to open the drawer easily.

That's A Lot of Sequins…

My right thumb & fore finger may never be the same again.

Deadline is quickly approaching and these babies still need faces.

Please send good thoughts my way that I don't mess up the faces. I don't have time for a mistake like that.

Masochistic Mondays: week 16

The Stats (as of November 16, 2009)
Starting Weight: 188 lbs
Current Weight: 181.4 lbs


I thought it was about time that I do a visual update of any progress I made, so I had Mike take some pictures of me Saturday morning (as you can see my weight fluctuated up a bit just in time for my "official" weigh-in).

I see a slight difference. It would be nice to have something more noticeable after four months, but since I'm not on some miracle diet any progress is good.

My goal is to learn moderation when it comes to food and to make physical activity a regular part of my life. I'm not to the point where my body craves exercise but it's getting easier and easier to make time to do it. I did have a nice revelation today regarding food - my body is used to those measured portions I've been sticking to. Tonight Mike made us dinner (mushroom, onion & black bean quesadillas) as I had just finished a workout (& was starving) and was trying to finish my 30 minutes of cleaning before dinner, I neglected to remind him to only use one tortilla and a measured serving of cheese on mine. My story would be better if I was able to say I didn't finish my quesadilla, but I can't. What I can say is, I've learned my body is getting used to not stuffing massive portions down my throat because I am FULL and have been for about 2 hours. Note to self: stick to the measured portions because it really is enouh food.

Ok enough about food.

I should also probably let you know that I have decided not to run in my first 5k next weekend. The past couple weeks (since the time change) I have found it very difficult to go running after work when it's already dark. So my runs have only been happening on Saturdays and the past two runs have been awful. Like can't run more than a mile (if I make it that far) awful. I have decided I will get back on the C25k wagon once the days start to get longer and hopefully run my first 5k in the spring. In the meantime, I'm shifting exercise gears to my Wii Active game. Hopefully it will help start to tone some muscles because despite strengthen my lungs and calves while running, gosh my arms are quite weak and got quite a workout from using that resistance band this weekend. And don't even get me started about my thighs and the lunges!

I want to thank everyone for their encouraging words regarding the 5k last week, but this Saturday's attempt at running really cemented the fact that I am just not ready.

What I Read

Original Photo by Made by Girl. Print available on etsy.

As it's been awhile since I updated the ole blog roll and I've noticed as time goes on old favorites are dropping out of the blogosphere and new favorites are coming in. I thought I'd take a chance to maybe introduce you to a few new reads, you know, in case you need to kill some time.

Knitting
A Friend to Knit With
Pickles
Susan B Anderson

Life
Corgipants
Crafty Intentions
Disdressed
Dispatches from the Island
One More Moore
Soule Mama
Thompson Family-Life
Unclutterer

General Crafting
A Small Fox in a Big World
Allsorts
Angry Chicken
Betz White
Craft Sanity
Cupcakes for Clara
Mmm Crafts
Posie Gets Cozy
Steno Pad
Wee Wonderfuls

Sewing
Anna Maria Horner
Hello My Name is Heather
Hop Skip Jump
Pink Chalk Studio

Food
Bakerella
Baking and Books
Joy the Baker
Not Without Salt
Pro Bono Baker

Design/Inspiration
Creature Comforts
Hostess with the Mostess
How About Orange
I Do It Yourself
Leo on the Loose
Making It Lovely
Paper Crave
Twig & Thistle

Weight Loss
Amanda, Another Prior Fat Girl
Live, Smile, Run
Prior Fat Girl
Secrets to Losing 100 Lbs

Money
Daily Deals

Hard to Categorize
Not Martha

Sweet Pea

Project #36 in '50 in 2009 Challenge' - Emelyn's Baby Peapod Sweater

No luck in finishing this in less time that it took me to knit the last baby hat, not that I really expected to, but a girl can dream, right?

I've been wanting to knit up the Baby Peapod sweater since it made the free pattern rounds a couple years ago. Luckily I was smart that time, downloaded the pattern and filed it away because it is no longer available, not even in the magazine it originally appeared in (weird situation, it was pictured in the printed magazine but you had to go online to obtain the pattern, so you can't even buy an archive edition to get it).

Almost with every project I undertake, I realize more and more what an inexperienced knitter I really am. I had more hiccups than I'd like to admit on this one, especially since I was working on a tight deadline - but being the open person I am, I'll share them.

First kudos to me for actually doing gauge swatches. My first one was off, so I started a second. Upon realizing I modified my needles in the wrong direction, I ripped out and did a third (and got it right!).

Then the trouble begins.

After trying to do the bottom ribbing chart a few times and being completely unsuccessful, I gave up and did a simple 3x3 rib. My inexperience with charts must be evident, but how was I supposed to know that I needed to pick up where I left off in the row before instead of starting for the beginning of the second row.

All went pretty well from that point on…until I started to near the end and said, "where do the buttonholes go?!" Pulled out the pattern (since I was working on straight stockinette for a long time) and started to reread from the beginning. Oh crap, the buttonholes were supposed to be worked in at the very beginning.

No way was I going to start over especially as the countdown to baby was days as opposed to weeks. Instead I resolved to make snaps work…no matter what. I've only used snaps a couple times and never on a knitted garment so I was apprehensive, but I am happy to report that all is well. It was a bit difficult to get the pieces of each snap side aligned, but in the end all 6 are strongly in place.

So all that remains is to present the gift to new little Emelyn. She won't be able to wear it until next year (I decided to make 12mo size because the smallest size in the pattern is 3mo and there is a possibility that the weather would start to turn before she could even wear it), but hopefully it still get an Aww or two.

WIP Friday: Cozy

Finally finishing up the present for my college roommate, Mariah and her first baby. I was pretty convinced baby was going to stay put until I finish, but lucky for Mariah, little Emelyn decided not to wait for me to get my butt in gear and made her grand entrance early this morning.

Now I just need to finish up the seaming and it'll be ready to present when we visit soon!

Oh, and I just have to throw it out there. I was privy to the baby name list as Mariah and her husband struggled to narrow down their choices and agree. I'm proud to say the Emelyn was my first choice (out of two) if the little turned out to be a girl. That means I can tell people I named her, right? ;)

Congrats Mariah (though I know you don't read the blog)! You'll be a great mommy.

On My Desk: 11.12.09

It's official. All student work is officially out of my portfolio.

A momentous occasion.

Ok, I lie. Technically it is still in the portfolio, but it's in the back behind blank pages. I couldn't think a a puppy-safe place to keep them on such short notice. Though after a close call in an interview, I should probably find someplace to stow them quickly.

Cookbook Challenge: How to Eat Supper #14

The Splendid Table's Corn Chowder

If you make one thing from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper book, make the corn chowder.

It may have been the best soup I have ever eaten, let alone made.

It's made even better when paired with a fresh jalapeno cornbread. And on that note, if you find an awesome recipe for jalapeno cornbread, can you let me know? I promptly lost the recipe I used after making it and ended up having to settle for a different one when it came time to make the cornbread for our BYOP party. I'll just say it…the cornbread was a total bomb.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Though you may not realize it yet, as I had quite a few backlogged entries or at least topics, I apologize for taking on NaBloPoMo and then quickly running out of things to say or even the drive to take pictures of what I'm working on. I got some pretty bummer news last week, and I've just been a ball of stress and worry and exhaustion, so I rarely have energy to pick up my knitting on a night other than Tuesday at craft group or even cook dinner…Well, let me just say that cooking has not been happening a lot around these parts. The past couple weeks I've been making one or two larger dishes and we've been living off them all week. First lasagna & chili, now turkey and it's many manifestation - sandwiches, soup, tetrazzini - the one 12lb turkey might actually last us the entire week and that includes lunches and dinners for both of us.

So back to what's up and has been keeping me occupied whether solely in my head or with my time, doing things like weed through my portfolio and update my resume, I was informed last week that my boss is closing the company so I will be out of a job technically at the end of next week. A bummer, I know. I have options so I'm trying to stay optimistic, but I still have some decisions to make and finalize before I can get back to normal.