Fresh Slate?

January is the traditional month for change. New year, new resolutions, new opportunities to make changes to ourselves, our lives, our homes.

I've been thinking for a long time of simplifying. Not downsizing because we really cannot afford to move right now. But we do have a lot of stuff in our home we could do without. And there are other areas which could stand a little more focus and a little downsizing as well.

Last year, Wil Wheaton had a blog post about making changes in some small areas, tweaks to make his life better in health, creativity, and overall living. He called it a reboot and I suppose that's what I need to do as well.

I need/want to:

Increase my exercise. I've been diagnosed as pre-diabetic for the last few years and I need to get serious about losing weight and keeping it off. I lost 10 lbs last year, but got lazy and regained it. I have an elliptical and I need to get on it no less than 5 times a week for at least 20 minutes.

Increase my intake of healthy fruits and vegetables. I fell down on the job of making sure I was eating more healthy foods and decreasing my carb intake to help my blood sugars. I need to buy veggies and get them chopped up on the weekend so that I have something easy to grab.

Decrease my screen time in the evenings. I need to put down the computer or tablet and pick up a book or my knitting. I don't need to be mindlessly scrolling through crap when I could be escaping into a good book or working on a gift for someone.

Read a variety of books each month. My hope is to read at least 6 different kinds of books a month: non-fiction, my book club's selection, YA, mystery, Christian (fiction or non) and fiction (whatever fits the category like romance, general fiction, SciFi, etc). So I really need to put the screens away at night.

Knit more. I have yarn, I have patterns. I have friends and family who enjoy receiving things I make and to whom I enjoy giving. I need to make my list of projects, put the yarn into bags with the patterns and just grab one a month.

Decrease the clutter in my home. I need to get down to the items I love, have meaning for me or serve a purpose. I've decided to do Snail Pace Transformations' 30x12 Challenge so I can month by month decrease the stuff in my home taking up valuable space better used for loved items or nothing at all. I also determined to be mindful about where I was going to donate the items, to not just use Goodwill, but also Salvation Army and more local charitable thrift stores.

Purpose to spend time in Bible study. I really suck at keeping this up. I do well for a week or two and then find myself doing rapid catch-ups on the weekend to be ready for Monday evening Bible study.

The above is enough.

I'm hoping to once a month do a check-in post to see how I'm doing. Since I also suck at posting, we'll see how that goes.

March is a lion?

We have had the most beautiful weather this month (at least up until this weekend where we are finally getting some rain per the normal weather patterns). The unseasonably warm weather has brought nature to life much earlier than anticipated. The tulip trees (some of you know them as magnolias) were beginning to bloom in February. FEBRUARY.

Beautiful weather did make for a wonderful time at this year's Rose City Yarn Crawl. Ten of us roamed across the Portland Metro area to six yarn stores (there were 15 participating), enjoyed lunch in the sun and enabled yarn and pattern purchases for one another.

You can clearly see we visited Twisted, Knit Purl and Dublin Bay. But we also saw Littlelamb and Ewe, Close Knit and Blizzard and enjoyed some ice cream at Salt & Straw. I didn't purchase something at every store we visited, but I definitely enjoyed each one.

I have definitely continued to be busy. Even with the Saturday off for the yarn crawl, it was still not a restful day for me. School, work, practicum, and activities continue to keep me hopping.

Health

Still not getting up to exercise. I have managed to get in a walk here and there, but they are not regular activities. I had a checkup and a mammogram though to get some baselines. I am happy to say the girls are in fine form and no issues there. My checkup shows I do need to pay more attention to food and exercise as my sugar levels remain elevated enough to keep me in the pre-diabetes watch zone.

Knitting

I am a poor, poor crafter. I have cast on Rob's hat and have knit perhaps 5 rows on it. I had the original goal to finish it in January, then I pushed it to February. It may become my March goal.

Reading

I have 14 books towards my goal of 75 for the year. I finished the following books since the last post:

• The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Alan Bradley)
• Yes Please (Amy Poehler)
• Garden Spells (Sarah Addison Allen)
• The Girl Who Chased the Moon (Sarah Addison Allen)
• Waking Kate (ebook, Sarah Addison Allen)
• Harbor Island (Carla Neggers)
• Rock Point (ebook, Carla Neggers)
• Tapestry of Fortunes (Elizabeth Berg)
• Thanksgiving Prayer (Debbie Macomber)*
• How to Bake a Perfect Life (Barbara O'Neal)*
• Turquoise (Marilyn Griffin)*
• Second Time Around (Beth Kendrick)*

Of those books, the last four are starred because they were also part of my empty shelf challenge.

I'm currently reading the Neil Patrick Harris autobiography and I need to read this month's book club selection, One Good Dog by Susan Wilson. We're working on a BINGO challenge this year.

Spiritual

I have not been very good at doing my study first. I've been lazy, wanting to sleep as long as possible before getting out of bed. Likely from the last year of busyness. This is the last week of the current Bible study and then I'll get a couple of weeks off before we tackle a shorter study on Gideon.

Prayer

My mother-in-law, Bonnie, is in the hospital. She went in on Thursday evening and is struggling with fluids, heart  and kidney issues. She is in her 80s and a lovely, loving woman. My husband and his oldest brother are the children still in the area so they have been with her and Rob's dad, Raye, over the last few days. They have had conversations with the doctors on prognosis and treatment, with each other on their parents and with their spouses on the difficulty of all of this.

My sister-in-law is likely to come out to stay with them once Bonnie is stable enough to move home. Raye and Bonnie had been making adjustments for their age and abilities, equipment in the bathroom, Meals on Wheels deliveries, having their sons come over to do the yard and household chores. But this event takes it into a new place, one where we have to seriously consider one without the other and the care of this remaining parent.

When I asked Rob how his mom was doing, he said she was doing well. She's calm, reading her books and likely still having the quiet life she had before, just in a different setting. She did talk to Rob about Lily, her cat, wanting us to take Lily in when Bonnie can no longer care for her. It feels like she is preparing for her time to come to an end, as gently as she can with her children. But this is my take based on Rob's reports to me and how he appears to be handling it.

I'll be able to see her today when we go down (school and work has kept me busy when he would go). I guess I'll see for myself how she is doing. I am praying for peace for us all through this.

A rare Saturday off

Since starting practicum last April, the majority of my Saturdays have been spent working at the store. Practicum takes up 12 hours a week which definitely reduces my availability to work more hours so I let the owners know they could book me for Saturdays on a regular basis. And they have.

But this month, I actually get two Saturdays off! An unexpected blessing which Rob and I took advantage of by going out to breakfast to our usual place, the Kitchen Table Cafe.

Health
No progress here to report. I didn't get up to exercise, but I did pop on to the scale. I was weighing in at 203.6 pounds on Monday which isn't unexpected as I have tended to go between 200 and 203 for the last few years. Remembering small goals is easier to focus on, I'm going to aim to lose 5% of my current weight as a goal. That means losing 10 pounds. As a reward, I'm going to treat myself to a manicure. I like having my nails painted, but I usually do it myself and it chips and looks ugly within days. Why not let a professional do it and enjoy it longer? The last time I had a manicure almost 5 years ago for my brother's wedding.

Knitting
I spent New Year's Day knitting on headbands for one of my nieces using the Whitney pattern. I was going to crochet a flower for them as well, but my crochet skills are seriously lacking. Instead, I went to JoAnn's and found a crocheted flower and a fun button to make into a pin she can add to any of the headbands.

I did attempt the crocheted flower one more time at Knit Night and was much more successful with the help of a friend. Once she explained the pattern, it was much easier to do. I didn't do the 3rd row called out in the pattern as it would have made the flower HUGE. I think I'll do a few more in different colors for her to change out her look.

Rob's Corps of Discovery hat will be cast on this weekend. I'd hoped to do it at Knit Night but the crocheted flower took up the time :)

Reading
I haven't yet grabbed a book from my shelf. I'm reading my library books and I need to read my book club book. I've finished The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen and The Funeral Dress by Susan Gregg Gilmore.

This month's book club selection is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. It was already checked out at the library, Barnes & Noble was too expensive and I didn't know when I'd be in to Portland to get to Powell's. But Amazon Kindle had it for $1.99 and that was just right.

Spiritual
I have made a point of getting up and getting my Bible study done before I do anything else in the morning. Mind you, it's a fairly quick study to get done (the week's lessons are broken into 5 days with four questions per day) which makes it easy to maintain at the moment. I've already completed the first week and am almost done with the second week. We start this upcoming Monday, so I am hoping to continue to be ahead of the game each week.

This weekend will be taken up with household maintenance chores: replace a light switch, put away the Christmas ornaments (and also thin the herd of decor we don't use), picking out flooring for the bathroom repair work we are having done in February and some NFL football now that we're in playoffs.

Now off to conquer!

Endings and Beginnings

It's New Year's Day. The time of year people look back and reflect on the previous 12 months and then plan for the next 12 months. And think "I can do better this year."

My planner, pens, highlighters
and my current to-do journal.

I'll admit I tend to be a planner. I have my 2015 calendar and January is already filled with my work and practicum hours, my activities with Bible study, book club and knitting group, my Friday classes. Next week, it will fill with more information as I get my class syllabus and fill in the readings to be done and assignment due dates. I have a pen with 4 colors of ink, multiple highlighters and mechanical pencils to color code to my heart's content. Buying this planner was the result of online searches for the "right" planner for me. Do I buy a pre-made? Buy the pages and create my own? Which then led to what size? 3-ring or disc? I finally got tired of it and bought one similar to my 2014 planner. It's not "perfect" for how I like to work (I'm a big list maker), but I was getting bogged down in the variety of planners available. I can always purchase another planner later.

So, 2015. Based on my experiences in 2014, what did I want to do in 2015? Well, SIMPLIFY is a word that immediately comes to mind. But so does CHANGE. How this will happen I'm not entirely sure, but it will be an ongoing process. But using those words for a springboard, I'm going to focus on just four areas for 2015 for personal goals.

Health

My elliptical. I need to give
it a name since we about
to become good friends.

I need to make changes here. I'm overweight and far too sedentary. I have an elliptical I've moved into the small spare room. Ignore the mess, please.

I need to commit to using this at least 3 times a week for just 30 minutes. A small, simple change which would benefit me greatly.

While I own a Fitbit, but I need to be more deliberate, more committed, more caring about my health. I can up with any number of excuses for not making time. It's time to stop doing that.

Rob and I did a little 5k walk for charity in early December. I've been thinking I should look at doing more of those. And put them in my calendar.

Knitting

The Yarn Armoire

One of the names I call myself is Knitter. 2014 didn't see much knitting from me, though. At Knit Nights, I tended to do very little knitting and more socializing. My school/work/practicum schedule tended to tucker me out and knitting took more brain power than I had available.

I want to change that in 2015. I gave away quite a bit of yarn in October of 2014 and now it's time to knit what I kept. I'm thinking of putting together 12 bags, one for each month.

Rob's been so patient in waiting for the socks and hats I've promised him for the last *mumble mumble* year(s). It's time to knock those out for him and reward his patience this year. I have other people I need to knit for (stuffies for my nieces Sam and Katie, gloves for a friend and her son), but Rob's getting bumped to the front of the line.

Spiritual

Monday nights are when I facilitate a Bible study at church. We start a new study on Joshua in just a couple of weeks. Being a table leader ensures I get the lessons done, but I had a tendency last year to procrastinate and wait to get the lessons done. Not. Good.

This year I'm committing to doing my lessons before I do anything else in the morning. My alarm will go off, I get 2 hits of the snooze bar (being realistic here!) and I'll get out of bed long enough to grab my Bible and study before diving into the Word. I just started doing this for the last 3 days and so far, so good!

Reading

While Knitter is one of my names, Reader was my name long, long, long before that.

I tend to read between 60-80 books in a year, books I've bought for pleasure or for book club or books I've borrowed from the library. But I have a lot of books accumulated which have yet to be read. So, 2015 will see me attempt an Empty Shelf Challenge.

Other Empty Shelf Challenges I've seen online start with an empty shelf with the goal of filling it up throughout the year. I'm doing the opposite - I plan on emptying this shelf of these books. There are just over 60 books here to be read and their fates determined (keep or donate).

I'll end up reading more than these books over the course of the year (book club and my library's habit of providing free access to wonderful books), but these will make up the bulk of my reading.

Oh! and one more goal. I'm planning to blog more often than I did in 2014. I need an outlet for thoughts, for accountability, for fun that isn't Facebook.

Hello, 2015. Come on in and let's get to know one another.

One Step at a Time

I was inspired to give Spark People another try after seeing the success of a woman at work. She too had been struggling with her weight, but she's taken the bull by the horns and really jumped into SP and Couch to 5K. And she looks great!

It really got me thinking about what I was doing - which was just thinking and not doing. At all. I kept coming up with excuses, kept feeling sorry for myself, kept thinking "if only."

* If only I had enough time
* If only I could afford a gym membership
* If only I could find the right program, motivation, etc

BUT: *If* I want to change, I *only* have to take a small step. Standing still isn't helping me, so a step forward will.

This week there were a couple of articles that really spoke to me. One about changing the "2 steps forward, 1 step back" to "1 step back, 2 steps forward." The idea of deliberately seeing the positive instead of the negative.

The other article shot holes in my excuses - I did watch TV off TiVo, so what's an extra half hour wait while I get in a quick walk? Or taking the commercials as an opportunity to quickly get some housework done?

I've been tracking my food this week to get back into the habit. Next week, I'll continue tracking food, but add walking to the routine.

One step at a time.

Where has the time gone?

It's been over a month since I last blogged. Facebook has taken over my life. It's so easy to hop on and see what little things people are doing. And I'm totally caught up in Hatchlings (find an egg! watch it hatch! feed the pets!).

But much has happened in the last few weeks.

March
* I went to Chicago in March and had a lovely time with my newest niece. Since she's only 4 months old (at the time), I also was able to spend time with her parents, my sister and her husband.
* I returned to Vancouver in time to sleep in my own bed and then head out to Ellensburg to visit our daughter. We spent quality time with her in the emergency room where she was checked out for a concussion from a car accident the night before. We went over items for her to do for her upcoming trip to Scotland, paid for Spring quarter and returned to Vancouver on Monday in time for me to . . .
* Teach at bible study that night and again on Tuesday morning
* I vegged out the next two days and then cleaned the house in time for my other sister to arrive with her girls for a quick visit. We had my brother's kids, her girls and our son overnight for a very full house.
* I was happy to return to work for the last two weeks of March.

April
* We went to San Diego to visit Mom and Dad and had the opportunity to see Kim, Tony and Giselle in SD as well.
* We learned first the delay of our daughter's wedding and then the cancellation of it within a 24 hour period
* Rob just celebrated his 46th birthday

I'm looking at the calendar and we still have an upcoming visit from my brother-in-law, 3 more weeks of bible study, another week off in May for me and an anniversary trip for us to Eagle Crest.

All of these things going on and I need to take my health back in hand. I keep going back and forth about doing WeightWatchers again and trying to get up the energy to workout. I need to, but the "want to" aspect is running quite low.

I have pictures. I need to upload and share.

Catching up

Let's see . . .

1) We've found The Dress. It's been purchased and taken back to E-burg to be altered.

2) I've been entering my books into LibraryThing. I'm just over 400 books and I have more to go. However, I don't think I have over 500. We'll see, I guess.

I've just finished Polly Evans' book It's Not About the Tapas. Great travel book about her cycling around Spain solo. I'm trying to keep the sidebar updated with books read.

3) I've knitted some dishcloths.

The usual kitchen cotton. The leftover yarn that's nearly gone. I think I have only bits and bobs of colors and 1.5 balls of white remaining.

4) I finally sat down and wove in the ends for the Little Sister's Dress.


I decided to add 2 different colors for the buttons to make it a little bit more fun.


5) In order to meet a March deadline, I finally started knitting slipper's for Chris, Erin's fiance. I'm using Cascade 220: black for the sole and edging and a heathered green for the top.


6) I'm trying to get over a cruddy cold likely caught from Rob. Who caught his from Kruz and Khylee. And speaking of Kruz, here's what he's learned to do:


This was easier to capture on film than him pretending to be a Jedi and making light saber noises and using the Force to move objects around.

Three times this week and I couldn't claim a headache

I managed to make it into the gym Monday, Thursday and this morning. Sooo tempting to stay in bed instead of crawling out at 3:30am to drag on gear and head out the door.

But! I do feel better for having done it.

And! It's a birthday weekend! This guy is 3 today:


He's 14 months in this picture. He's coming over with his big sister tomorrow so I'll have new photos for the grands.

And this couple:


Will both be adding a year to their ages this weekend. Happy birthdays, Sis and Hubby!

We have another family birthday on Tuesday and one more at the end of the month. March is a pretty popular month!

Working out again, but not reading much

Blogging at lunch to try to get in an update.

Weight loss: I had a setback when I got sick and completely missed working out in February. I picked up most of the 5 pounds I'd lost in January which wasn't great. I just started up again last week with the workouts and am almost (.8 lb to go!) back to where I ended January. I thought about trying to make up for February this month, but that would be almost 15 pounds to lose. I'll shoot for 10, but really? I'll be happy with anything below 195.

I need to develop a good workout plan. I spend 30-45 minutes doing cardio (treadmill, elliptical or climber) and then another 30 minutes on weights. I'm going 3-4 times a week and I need to develop something quick because marathon training begins at the end of the month and I've got to plan on run/walking it with Mom and Chris. Well Chris at least. I think Mom's competitive enough to try for a time that will kick my butt.

I did download the Podrunner podcast from iTunes to try to use on the treadmill. Well see how that goes. I don't think I'm quite there yet since I just got back in to the gym. But it will help with the interval training. (what's with the word farklet? Those Swedes, so funny)

What would be good is some kind of tracker. A pedometer won't do it for me and I don't want to spend over $100 for a Garmin Forerunner. I'm thinking of trying the Nike+ since it will work with my nano. The brother has one and likes it and I could always knit a cozy to keep it on my New Balance shoes. And $29 is a much better price for me.

Reading: I haven't read anything yet this month. Rather weird for me. I'm wondering if March will get away without anything read other than magazines or knitting patterns. I have bought books, but it's making the time to break them open. I think part of it is just letting other things take the lead on my time right now. That's ok with me, but I really do miss the books.

Progress!

Well, I have lost 6 pounds since I first weighed in on January 1st. 5 pounds if I use my "official" weigh-in day of Friday, January 4.

I'm tracking my weight at healthylivingonline.com - it's free from iVillage, has a food tracker, an exercise tracker, offers menus and exercise programs and did I mention it's free? That's my kind of price right now.

My exercising has fallen off the radar. I've been fighting a crappy cold and cough for the last 2 weeks. I'm hoping to get back in to the gym this weekend for at least a little bit of cardio.

I have been doing some knitting as well. I've knit 7 dishclothes in various colors of kitchen cotton and 2 coffee cozies in some Cascade Quattro I had left over from making felted slippers.

Right now I'm working on some gloves for a friend in a pretty blue BabyGarn, size 2 needles, from the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.

I did manage to get some reading done in January as well. A total of 13 books for the month:

Katie Fforde's Restoring Grace: a library book that caught my eye. English author so there were a few expressions that were different, but I enjoyed it. A nice, easy read about a woman who divorced, was living in her family home that held memories of her marriage but was about to be making changes to the home and herself that she didn't expect. I'll be looking to check out her other books the library carries.

Jennifer Crusie's Anyone But You: quick & easy library book. A divorced woman (again!) meets a younger man and falls in love. She thinks she's too old, he thinks she feels he's too immature, goofy dog helps brings them together.

Jayne Ann Krentz's White Lies: this is a new book for her Arcane Society series. Ok, it's only the second, but there are more to come. Paranormal aspect, modern setting. Good characters, nice setup for a continuing issue through the series. I really enjoy Krentz whether she writes as Krentz, Amanda Quick or Jayne Castle. This was a library book, but I think I'll need to purchase it for myself.

J.A. Jance's Exit Wounds: so glad I found Jance again. This is part of her Sheriff Joanna Brady series and centers around a polygamist cult and women who exit the life. Love Joanna and the strong character she is in a traditionally male role. Another library book that will need to be purchased.

Linda Howard's Up Close and Dangerous: I keep giving Howard another chance to pull me back. This was OK. A young widow whose adult step-kids hate her ends up crashing into remote mountains on a private plane. Of course, the groundwork is laid for the stepson to be the bad guy, but you know it's not him. I don't believe the relationship she develops with the pilot and it's just an OK book. Too bad, I really liked her earlier stuff. A library book that won't be making the transition to purchased for the personal library.

Amanda Quick's The River Knows: one of Krentz's historical romances. I enjoy her female characters - they're intelligent, plucky and no fainting misses. Fun read and I might consider buying it later or maybe just keep buying it from the library.

Mark Haddon's A Spot of Bother: I spotted this the moment I went into the library and snatched it up. I'd been wanting to read this and enjoyed reading the story of a man slowly going insane while the family around him struggles with their own troubles. If I spot this at Costco, I just might buy it.

Jill Churchill's The Accidental Florist: I bought this since I enjoy Churchill's Jane Jeffrey series. Rather a cosy mystery series, this one was different. Not so much focus on the mystery this time; the focus was more on the changing circumstances of Jane as she got ready to marry. OK, but not the best of the series.

Jayne Castle's Ghost Hunter: Krentz writes her futuristic books under the Castle name. This book continues her Harmony series. The series is a little different from her others I have and I wasn't sure I was going to keep the series. But what I like is that characters find that their paranormal development complement one another and they typically need the other's abilities to get through the situation.

Julie Garwood's Shadow Dance: Love Julie Garwood. Fun historicals that have made me laugh out loud. Her contemporary stuff is good as well. This one looks like it might be a bridge between the two. The setting is contemporary and fits within the series she's built around the Buchanan's, but it looks like it's going to go back towards her historicals (like Krentz and her Arcane Society). Anyhoo, it's a good book and I'm really looking forward to Shadow Music, her next book that's currently out in hardcover which seems to cover the historical mystery from Shadow Dance.

JA Jance's Desert Heat: This is the first book of the Joanna Brady series (I started in the middle, but the earliest book I could find at the library at the time). How Joanna gets pulled into the law enforcement field and the circumstances surrounding the loss of her husband. And I lucked out - the book I bought at Powell's is autographed!

Amanda Quick's Second Sight: This is the first of the Arcane Society series. I'd read it before from the library, but bought it. I wanted to read the lead book in the series to see how it was set up for the ones to come. I do enjoy her historicals.

Kathy Reichs' Monday Mourning: I enjoy these books more than I enjoy Cornwell's books that came post-Body Farm. I'm trying to read them in order and this one continues to provide interesting science, further explain the complexity of Tempe's emotions regarding her daughter, her friends and her love life. I enjoy the twists she has on cases that she worked on or that inspired the books she writes. If you liked any of Cornwell's earlier books, I would definitely suggest you read Reichs.

Getting My Move On

2008 has dawned and I have yet to make it into the gym this year. Rob & I joined a gym around Thanksgiving when I realized I couldn't make any more excuses. It was past time for me to do something for myself and just spend the money. Watching the Biggest Loser this past season may have had something to do with that as well.

This new year has yet to see me go in.

But I am determined to make this year different. Mom & I have decided to take on the Portland Marathon this year. This will make it Mom's 3rd? 4th? time doing Portland and my 2nd since 2003. That first year I walked and my time was 8 hours and something. This year I want to do a run/walk and anything better than 8 hours will be great. I say that now, we'll see what goal comes about later.

So, I have determined that my time on the treadmill will be spent bringing up my madd running skillz from non-existent to - well - existent. Gradually adding running time while decreasing the walking time. Building stamina, eventually building speed. But most of all, just moving.

I want to drop the weight I've been carrying for the last 9 years. I can't call it baby weight since I've never had kids. It's lazy weight, pure and simple. And who knows? It might be why we've never been able to concieve (regardless of what my doctor told me).

And along with the moving comes the eating. Rob & I don't eat horribly. But we could - and will - do better. I'm going to need to balance my need for frugality for spending more on healthier options. Explain to me why it's more expensive to take care of myself with good-for-me food and exercise? Can't there be a discount for doing the right thing when it's time to fork over the money?

I'm planning to motivate the running with my new gadget - the main gift under the tree for me from Rob:



Isn't it purty? It's loaded only with podcasts at the moment, but I'll be adding some music later today and spending my $15 iTunes gift card.

Let's see - have motivation, have goals, have tunes. Yep, I should be able to make some progress!

Cough, hack, read, knit

This sums up our weekend.



I spent a great deal of Friday and Saturday camped out on the couch. Three of the 4 books you see in the pile under my soup bowl were checked out from the library on Thursday and finished by Saturday. I knitted, I snacked, I blew my nose constantly and drank glass after glass of delicious juice. Rob is also suffering, but I've chosen not to photograph his little germ-laden portion of our world because, well, it's not as messy as mine.

I did, however, finish Rob's hat:



It's knit with 1 skein of Manos in Color #104 on size 6 needles. I picked up stitches along the bottom and did about 3" of stockinette that I tacked to the inside as I bound off. It's sure to keep his ears warm.

So what have I read in the last few days?

Lori Wick's book, Where the Wild Rose Blooms, the first in her Rocky Mountain Memories series. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it coming off of the other Christian romance I'd just finished reading. But this is a well written historical that does a good job creating likable characters. I've found myself wishing I hadn't imposed my book buying moratorium, but the other books in the series will go on my to-read list.

I've read three Jane Churchill's as well from her Jane Jeffry series. War and Peas, Fear of Frying and The Merchant of Menace. These aren't psychological thrillers, highly forensic tales or serial killer novels. These are fun, cosy mysteries that I've highly enjoyed. I try to purchase these when I can, but I've borrowed from the library in keeping with no-buy dictate I've made.

I've moved on to this:


I'm knitting on fingerless gloves for Rob out of some Galway wool I had on #5 needles. Pattern is the Cigar gloves from Knitty. I'm currently reading Wil Wheaton's book reading Just a Geek. I've been reading his blog since Allison posted about it and have enjoyed it very much since then.

Tired of being Physically Phffft

I'm getting back on the WW wagon. I'm tracking again on my PDA, trying to watch my portions, choosing broth based soups over creamier options. I need to add more veggies and do better on my water, but I am making progress!

I started the year at 199. Not my all-time high, but too close for comfort. Or comfortable clothes.

I've managed to drop 3 lbs and I'm contemplating a yoga class at the Y with a friend. She's making it easy by offering her free passes to try it out. I know I need to say yes.

After reading about http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ at Rachael's blog, I've found some walking routes around my house that keep me on sidewalks or wide sidestreets for 1.5 to 3 miles. That will be easier to do once spring and summer roll around. It's tough to get out when it's dark when you get up and when you come home.

I'm knitting again, too. Took a few days break and have only completed some Natalya gauntlets for Erin. I've picked through my stash and I'm knitting the 5-hr Baby Sweater again for one of 4 babies that are due in the next 3 months. I'm using some leftover lilac Red Heart for this one for a little girl due in just 3 weeks. I'll probably do the Baby Kimono from MDK's book, too.

On the reading front, I'm reading The Devil in the White City. It's caught my interest and kept it with the descriptions of Chicago and the people during the time frame of the 1893 World's Fair. I hadn't known of the serial killer using the fair as a hunting ground (don't think they mentioned that aspect in history class), and I'm finding it fascinating.

Finding pleasure in loss, pleasure in gain

So in my last post I went on about how I was stagnating with the weight loss and generally just not feeling the WW love. Well, apparently tracking everything like it was my first week on plan worked!

I hit my 10% goal. Yep, I lost just over 4 lbs last week and I'm at a grand total of 19.6 lost and weigh in at 178 even! I'd figured on taking the month of November to lose those pounds, but apparently I put myself on the fast track somehow. Really, I just think it was the carrot dangled before me - K, R & I couldn't have our monthly Popeye's lunch unless K & I reached our goals. K still needs to lose 7 pounds to reach her final weight loss goal.

Any hoo, feeling pretty good that I only had 4 pieces of candy Halloween night (they were the teeny tiny little mini bars that are more like hints of candy than actual candy). I'm going to treat myself to some new pants.

In knitting news, I'm going to be knitting a new project for KnitPicks. There's a deadline of 11/18 and it's completely doable. I'll take pics once I pick up the stuff and get going.

Here's some yarny goodness for you:


I actually did finish my Socktober socks before the end of October. I took the picture Halloween night, but didn't post until now and I'm such a slacker, I still need to update Lolly.

More knitting progress:

Mittens for the nieces! I'm using Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns and (bad auntie) I'm using acrylic. BUT in my defense, I must state that knowing my sister as I do she will appreciate washable items more than handwash. Yes, yes, I've heard of superwash wool and it's crossed my mind to get some and knit another pair. I have given this a little thought and I'm thinking of lining them with fleece. We'll see.

Did I mention I've also recently bought yarn?


The stuff on top is to knit clogs for Rob and Erin. KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Evergreen for Rob and in Mist and Coal for Erin. The stuff below is a pumpkin hat kit to knit for Kruz for next year and fun fruity baby hats for any baby that happens along. The baby stuff came courtesy of Busy Hands Yarn. They even included a hand written note with my stuff thanking me for buying from them. Nice people.

Yes, yes, this is the last of it:


Two Heartstrings patterns and yarn. Sis 2 of 2 has been after me to make something for myself. I have some EcoWool, some Lorna's Laces in River (the light blue skein in the masthead above), some Socks that Rock in the Carbon colorway (barely visible above as well). I've added the KnitPicks Shine in Orchid to the pile. I was going to make a Picovoli but now I'm leaning towards Marnie in HotKnits (Look in the table of contents). Kim, thoughts?

Starting Over (Again)

Yesterday was weigh-in at WeightWatchers. *sigh* I've been stagnating around the same weight for weeks! I hit 182.4 back on July 27th. My weight yesterday? 182.2. My progress in 13 weeks? 0.2 pounds.

When I started WW back in April, my starting weight was 197.6 and I was excited to get back on program (this is my 3rd time) and get down to around 140. WW wants your first goal to be to lose 10% of your current weight. That made my first goal to be 19 lbs. At this time, I've lost 15.4 so I only have less than 4 more to reach my 10% goal and earn the freakin' key chain thingy.

Anyhoo, I've got to get back on track. I wasn't tracking my points well (or at all) and I've got to take another look at the meals we're making. They're obviously not too bad since I've essentially maintained for the last 3 months. And *gulp* I've got to add in exercise.

Part of the drive for the do-over is that I'm feeling left behind on the weight loss front and I know it's totally my fault. My sis is doing LA Weight Loss and we're in a supportive competition, the kind only good sisters can do, and she's coming up rapidly on me. Three friends at work have collectively lost 100 pounds, individually it ranges from 30 to 40 pounds. (And in case K, R or S is reading this, I'm proud of each of you and in no way am I trying undermine the very hard work you've been doing - you guys are inspiring in that annoying way good friends can be without pissing you off)

So, today was the beginning of my new start and what a start I got off to! First, I missed my train stop (I was reading KnitLit the Third), then the train that was immediately heading back to my stop left before I had a chance to hop on. Since a woman on the train reminded me they leave every 15 minutes, I figured that if I waited for the next one, I'd miss my shuttle. Let's see . . . it's 6:55am, if the train leaves in 15 min, that's 7:10 and the shuttle leaves at 7:12, but there's a stop between the station I'm at and the one I'm supposed to be at so that spells disaster.

So what to do? How 'bout deciding to walk back to the shuttle location? So I take off walking quickly and wishing I'd decided to wear my Sauconys rather than my Keds. I'd just passed the middle station when a TRAIN WENT BY IN THE DIRECTION I WANTED TO GO. Has it been 15 minutes? NO. If I'd stopped at the station & caught it would I be on time? YES. Was I screwed? PROBABLY. What to do? Keep walking.

Missed my shuttle (I saw it go by as I was coming up to the cross street), had to wait another 30 minutes before they came back around and almost missed that one because they weren't used to seeing me that late. What did I learn? Check the schedules carefully myself, wear comfortable walking shoes and KNIT instead of reading.

But this started out as a knitting blog and I'm going to stop the whining. For now.

As you can see from the photo below, I had cast-on and started the Christmas mittens as part of Sandy's knitalong.

I say "had cast-on" because I've ripped them off and will be restarting the mittens. Going up a needle size (I'd started on #2s) and I'm going to put a pink heart on each palm of her mittens. I'll do a purple set with pink hearts for another niece.

When I've finally got it started, I'll show you.

Quick update

Weight: down and only 0.8 more pounds to go before I reach my 10% goal.
Hair: Cut, pictures will be posted later.
Knitting: almost done with the baby blanket ruffle, but will be setting it aside to work on a sweater for niece Khylie's 3rd birthday.
Job: still working despite the layoff currently underway, will continue to work as a search for a buyer for our facility gets going and will hopefully continue to work after the sale.
Family: fun with the Woolbright clan in Tri-Cities, pictures to come!
Reading: Nora Roberts, of course.

Gripe, pain, relief

Gripe - Working to finish the hoodie for Erin and it's eeeennnnndddddlllleeeesssssss. Sleeve Island? Wish I was there. I'm stuck in Seaming Hell. Remind me to take a picture tonight, won't you? The hood's attached, the sleeves set in and I only have to seam the underarms and sides. And weave in the myriad of ends.

OK, that doesn't sound bad. But add in Erin's constant "Are you going to finish this before the weekend? When will it be finished? Are you almost done?" and I just want to wrap a #8 circular around her neck.

Pain - Aunt Flo has arrived for a visit and with each passing year, she gets crankier. So during this latest visit, I'll be relying on my good friend Ty(lenol) to help me through this. And if Ty bails on me, I'm moving on to Mike('s Hard Lemonade).

Relief - Not mine. Theirs. Join in the fun of knitting (or crocheting!) for a good cause and participate in Dulaan 2006.

Where boys of all ages can find reason to smile

Lots of pictures ahead!

The first is of Kruz - he's now 4 months old and weighing in at 17 lbs, 11 oz. Big boy! Happy baby! And the auntie gets to babysit this weekend for an overnight - yippee!



This next picture is from Stitch N Pitch at the Mariner's game last Thursday.




I don't particularly care for the picture - I think Rob could have taken a more flattering photo, but he was willing to sit among 1600 knitters to watch the game, so I really shouldn't complain. Much.

It was a lot of fun and I did buy a pattern for socks from one of the many vendors. Doesn't sound like much, but I could have easily spent a lot of money. There were some really cute kits offered in Mariner colors.

The next day after the game, we went up to Mulnomah Falls to hike to the top.



There's a bridge across the lower portion that's easy to get to - a couple of switchbacks and you're there. Getting to the top? Pain in the butt! It was 1.2 miles straight UP and switchback hell. Erin took off and reached the top first. Rob tried to stay with me, but I wasn't moving fast and the not knowing just how many switchbacks I had to endure was killing me. I told Kim (little sis) that it had reminded me of the training run up to Terwilliger when we were training for the Marathon.

But look at this guy -


You can't tell, but he's really happy. He'd been wanting to do this for a long time and he's finally done it. And for a little while I was happy that he was happy. Until my knee started to hurt on the journey down and I twisted my ankle. Feh.

Vertical hiking? Never again.

Go Me!

I am my own cheerleader.

Well, not really. I'm more dance team or pep band than cheerleader. Although, I'll cop to watching cheer competitions on ESPN (oooh, they dropped her! THAT's gonna leave a mark)

Anyhoo, I weighed in yesterday and I'm down again. Yee haw! I'm now at 190 and have dropped 7.6 lbs over 3 weeks. Makes me feel better since I didn't feel like I'd done well staying on plan. But apparently 3rd time's a charm and it's starting to sink in.

If I keep going at this rate, I'll reach my 10% goal by, hmmm, today's the 5th, my goal is 19, add my age, subtract the number of times I've done WW and divide the pie to share and let's see, the 2nd week of June? That would beat my time goal of end of July to lose 20 lbs.

Not too shabby.

I dream of Gina with short brown hair

Lookie! Finally got my hair cut after a couple of years.


It was nice to get it cut off. Yeah, I've had the cut before and didn't really go in for anything different, but I thought it would be a nice start. I can go shorter in another couple of months and shoot for a different style then.

I've also been going to WeightWatchers with Rebecca. So far I've lost 4.6 pounds, so not too bad. The goal is to lose 5 a month since that's nice and safe. That should also get me to my 10% goal by the end of July. I'm happy to have Rebecca and Karen to hold me accountable. Otherwise, I'd be blowing the whole weight issue off.

Brother brought by the new nephew, Kruz. Here's Nanny holding her new grandson while on the phone with Grandpa.


He's already grown so much! He's over a month old now and a total sweetie. And Sis, here's evidence that Art's actually taking an active role in his care.


Yeah, I've been knitting on the KP blanket, but I've got nothing I want to show. I only have 9 more days to finish it and turn it in. AAAGHHHHH!

But other than that, I'm OK.