On a cloud and not coming down....

I got up and weighed this morning and I am now down 22 lbs! I usually weigh on Tuesdays, but was anxious to see if I had any damage from Chili's the other night. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.

I have luncheon today so I have already picked out a couple things from the restaurant's online site so I know what to get at the restaurant. They have mostly really fatty foods so anything I get is going to be outside good nutrition because they basically don't have it, but I am going to get the Ranch Chicken Wrap :A spinach tortilla wrapped around grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese and our homemade ranch dressing. Served with salsa and one side item, skip the side and light dressing. I am trying to adapt to choices rather than make strict ones where I come home and eat some more. Rather than getting a small salad and not eating much of it then coming home and gorging on something, for me it is better to get something as tasty and reasonable as I can. I usually only eat half of sandwiches anyway so I will try and eat just half of this and no dessert of any kind period!

I am following the luncheon up with at the commissary, which is always fun, especially late in the day. I usually try and be out there right at 9 AM when they open so I can get it over with.

I didn't get any housework done yesterday at all, but then I am having one of those cramping, spotting menstrual months. I am in peri menopause and never know when or if I will have anything. I can't say I have periods anymore because when anything happens it is just spotting, but I have noticed I can have big time cramping and I was like that yesterday. It is really weird actually. I will just be glad when the whole thing is over forever. I am almost 53 1/2 for heaven's sake and started my period when I was 10 so I am more than ready!

I am going to shoot my pets. The dog brings his food one piece at a time into the living room to eat, then leaves it for us to step on and darn it, it hurts. The cat is a total pig slinging food all over the kitchen floor for me to constantly clean up. The cat food is almost like pellets and boy what a mess they make. I think I clean the mess up 4 or 5 times a day.

Time to hit the knitting trail for awhile until I can go out and walk. I am slowly getting the blanket done, but it sure does hurt the hands to do it for very long. I didn't think I was going to get my one pattern goal done last night, but I finally finished it after Las Vegas was over.

Everyone who peeks in, have a great weekend and:

Donna (I look just like this except with blond hair and blue eyes! )

Here Comes the Red Hatter...

I finally finished the darn red hat. It isn't exactly what I wanted as the brim is floppy instead of stiff because of the eye lash yarn, but it looks a little better than the one I call the "bell cap's hat." That one, though unique looks awful on me. I may make one more solid red one with the same pattern so the brim will be stiff like a sun hat. I did get an inspiration and formed it by using a hat I liked as the form and a bowl under the straw hat to keep it's form. Worked great, actually. I had to do some pulling and had skinned knuckles, but it came out fine.

We went out to dinner last night and had a great time. Chilis has 2 for 1 drinks at happy hour so Jack enjoyed his two Margaritas on the rocks, which I took a couple swallows of. I am your basic phoo phoo drink gal though, daquiris, pina coladas, sex on the beach, fuzzy navels, that sort of thing. All high in sugar of course! I had too much fat with what I ended up ordering, but that was our eating out for the month (we used to eat out a lot, but I have cut that wayyyyy back) so it doesn't bother me. Besides, I am getting ready to go with the old CD player. Yes, I am still back in the semi electronic dark ages as I use a walkman and not a mp3 player of some kind. I imagine I will have one eventually, but for now, I am perfectly happy with the CD player.

I just bought green and yellow yarn and 3 pr of dpn's this morning. I bought the green yarn to finish up the baby set and the yellow to make a set for our grandbaby to match the heart blanket I am trying to get finished. I commited to kniting one full 12 row pattern everyday until it is done. It does hurt my hands so with the blanket to the size it has become heavy, a lot of stitches on the needle and a more intricate pattern to deal with too. I have 12 more patterns and 10 rows of seed stitch to finish it up so I should be able to have it done in a about 2-3 weeks max, which is great because the baby shower is the last Saturday in March or the next day. In between times I can work on my dd's sweater, which I have just started and get the yellow sweater, hat and booties done. I am not going to worry too much about the green sweater as she doesn't need it until June so I can make it after the baby shower and send it to her if need be. I am going to go ahead and give her the sunsuit because it matches instead of giving it to Alicia for our grandbaby. I can always whip up another one as it was pretty easy.

I better hit the streets and get the exercise in. I have housecleaning I want to get done today along with work up menus for 2 weeks and shopping list.

Have a good one and a nice long weekend if you get Monday off!

Donna

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Well, I am guessing on that because I haven't been outside yet, but I don't hear any wind or rain and the temp says it is 43, but it also says rain, so I better finish this quick before my heading is no longer correct!

I am bound and determined to get my red hat finished today. I didn't get my noodles made last night either because I looked at the clock and it was already after 8 PM and I didn't want to have to clean up the mess that late so I am going to have to jump on them this morning or Jack is going to have to get no yolks. I am not too fond of store bought noodles except the German or Amish type. Chalk it up to growing up German and living only about 30 miles from an Amish community when I was growing up.

Today is bill paying day, oh joy! Then the weekend is going to be packed with stuff I have to do, Red Hat lunch, haircuts for Jack and I, Vet appt for Fortune on Monday, carpets to shampoo this weekend, commissary to go to (of course that is my favorite chore )and on and on. Most of it can't be done until the weekend either. So, I need to get some of the housecleaning I do at the end of the week started today again. Seems housecleaning day comes around faster and faster, but then the faster it comes around the closer to I will be. Oh to be that little smiley and win the jackpot!

I just noticed my felted purse is shedding! I have an I Love Lucy wallet and she is covered in Frenzy thread. May have to give her a shave!

I hope everyone has a great day and a great weekend!

for now!

Donna

Our grandbaby is growing...

I talked to my dil yesterday and she said she is finally getting a tummy. Her ultrasound appt is the end of January so we should know then what we are having. I will be excited to know so I can buy gender stuff. I am finishing up the blanket, but that is all I am knitting for him. I picked out some adorable stuff at Ralph Lauren online and they gift box for free so I can have the stuff already boxed and only thing I have to do is wrap it and get a card. We are going to give them $500 to buy baby furniture or whatnot that they need and that is really our gift to them. I am not doing that at the shower, we will do that in private, but we couldn't do it with Thomas because Jack's job back then paid so poorly, but we want to help out as we can. They hardly need the money as she is a pharmacist and he is a salesman for a big manufacturing distributor, in fact, when I talked to her yesterday, he had just sold a $250,000 piece of machinery so he was pretty stoked. That gives him 25% of his sales for this year already. Her is going to be either March 31 or April 1 so I am planning on going to that. They live about 10 hours from here and Jack can't go so I will just rent a car and leave early on Friday morning and come back either Monday or Tuesday. My dd said something about going, but most of the time she doesn't get to because of work.

For those of you who need a real belly laugh this morning, I graciously allow myself to be the butt of this joke:

You'll get a kick out of this. I sat and laughed my head off here at the computer after it was all said and done. I went out walking at 6:30 this morning and was coming back down the street towards the condo and the older (late 60's) man that has been staying across the street was sort of pacing out on the street. He was taking out the trash when I left to walk and said good morning to me and I responded back etc. Anyhow, I didn't say anything to him when I came back and when I got up about halfway to the back gate, he started walking across the drive and said, "Miss?" I turned around and he was pulling money out of his wallet and said, "Could you give me a little sugar?" Oh my God, a masher! lol I was about ready to give him what for when he said, "I don't have any sugar for my coffee and can't leave right now!" lololololololololol I am still sitting here laughing about it. He was very nice. I told him sure, just a minute and came in and got a disposable cup and filled it with sugar and took it out to him. He introduced himself and pulled out all kinds of ID so I wouldn't be afraid of him (I never was in the first place) and just talked on and on about being separated from his wife and living with his daughter in the condo until his son graduates from high school in June etc etc. Only I would think the guy wanted you know what, but he was pulling out money! I should have figured it wasn't sex though, cause I am worth more than a dollar!

I am doing great on my diet, except for the icky Chuck E Cheese haven't had food off my program. I have exercised everyday too so I am thrilled the lbs are coming off. I am not one of those fat ladies who gives a fig newton about my size, but I would like to be able to do things that others take for granted.


My sister emailed me (not the one I made the sweater for but my other sister) and ask if I could knit a baby sweater and hat for her new grandbaby that is due in June as well. I told her I wasn't sure I could get it done because I had a bunch of projects going at the moment, but I would try. So, stupid me, sat down at the computer and hunted up a pattern and this is what I did this afternoon instead of the knitting I wanted to get done. Cute, isn't it and I used my leftover Caron Simply Soft that I bought for my dd's shrug. It is really a soft yarn and has a nice sheen, I think. Looks like that red hat is not going to get worn on Saturday as it won't get dry even finishing it tomorrow.

I guess I better get to making homemade noodles for dinner tomorrow night. They need overnight to dry well.

Toodle Loo!

Donna

Another project finished!

I finished the top for my sister and I sure hope she likes it. It will be nice and cool to wear in Southern CA where they live, yet the armholes and neckline are big enough she can stick a turtleneck underneath if she likes. I bought these beads and thought they would look nice with it.

Later Donna

Doing the happy dance this morning...

I am down 14 incredible lbs for the week! I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to weigh for a month and I succumbed to the call of the iron monster.


I hope to finish up the sweater today and maybe get my red hat done too. I would really like to wear it Saturday to the luncheon. I am not fond of the first one I made as it looks stupid on me, but then I am wearing red and purple together so just what is stupid, right?


I found this adorable free pattern at elann.com. I was looking at the specific yarn and this was the pattern attached to it:



I have a pair of pink capri pants that the yarn knitted up will look so cute with. I think I will buy the yarn then hopefully get it knitted up before vacation. I have a lot of things on the burner, but I want to get some things done for myself for vacation too. I don't wear a lot of regular shorts, but I love to wear capris in the summer. I have a bunch and none of them fit because I have to lose at least 35 more lbs to be able to wear them. I think with the way I am going, it will work out ok that by the end of August I will fit into them fine.


Well, I see by the ole that I need to get outdoors and get to walking.


Have a super day everyone and see you on the flip side!

Donna

Meeemmmmphis, TN where the winds come sweeping off the street...

It is cold and windy here this morning. I went out and walked my .8 miles this morning and it was sure chilly, but to tell you the truth I would prefer that to and trying to walk in it. Memphis is extremely humid in the summer time and boy that makes it tough to walk sometimes.

I am almost finished with my sister's sweater. I have the pattern to put in then I can bind off and sew it up. I am going to work some more of doing a better mattress stitch with this sweater. I have knitted a few rows of the stuff I bought for my top and it is so gorgeous. I think I am going to have to buy a spaghetti strap bra tank to go under it though because it feels like it will probably be itchy. I found a gorgeous aqua satin one that I think would work perfectly underneath and will probably get that.

I am chugging along with my diet. I did ok yesterday and want to do really well again this week. I am not getting on those again until the end of the month to see how well I did overall. I think you avoid disappointment by doing it that way. Maybe it is just personal preference though.

Today is call the to get Fortune's shots and then to get him groomed. He is a total mess, but with Jack being out of work and no money coming in then Christmas right after that, I haven't had the money to get him in until now. As soon as I am done blogging this morning, I am going to call and see if I can get him in next Monday because Jack is off work for MLK day.

Good grief, I don't know what the creepy neighbors are doing this morning, but they could wake the dead banging around like they do. We own an older condominium and it seems we are getting more and more renters around us. The problem is that these were built in 1973 or so and some of the people have lived here since they were built. They are now elderly and are passing away and their families are selling them to whomever to just get rid of them. Condos here are almost impossible to sell. Anyway, these investment companies are buying them dirt cheap then renting them out. In our group of 10 condos, 4 are owned and the rest rented and of course there are renters on both sides of us. The one on the left is always kept tip top because it is owned by someone who lived in the condo until they bought a house. He always has good renters except the woman that lives in there now cooks the most godawful stuff and the smell comes into our condo and just lingers. I know she does chitlins out in her backyard and they are the most disgusting smelling things you can imagine. Our bedroom is facing our deck so it is next to her back yard and ick, sometimes I can't sleep when she and her friends are out there cooking that nasty stuff. It smells really bad. The other side are just noisy. Not late night music noisey just slamming doors, loud talking noisy.

I guess I should get to knitting and call the vets

From my house to yours...
Donna