One Easter Dress Done
24 Feb 2012 4 Comments
Sorry for not posting much over the past month. I’ve had several projects take off at work, which is a good thing, except that I’m feeling rather overwhelmed trying to get everything done. It has also not been a good thing for my weight loss, and I’m up 3.6 lbs. I am trying to get back on track this week though.
I have accomplished one thing. Jillian’s Easter Dress is finished. I am so happy with how it turned out. As a beginner, I felt a bit (okay a lot) out of my league on this. With a little diligence and a couple trips to JoAnn’s for more fabric I somehow managed to pull this off.
Weigh-in Tuesday…5%!!!
25 Jan 2012 3 Comments
I did not go into this Tuesday’s weigh-in with much optimism. Last week, I felt really out of control with my eating, which stemmed from being snowed in. I rely very heavily on my routine during the week as being at work keeps me busy and I have laid out ahead of time what I will be eating during the day. At home, snowed in, with the kids…well I felt like I fell off the wagon a bit. I am back on track this week, and luckily my week astray did little harm because…
I hit my 5% goal! That’s right…I have lost 5% of my body weight.
Here are the latest stats. Snow canceled my meeting last week, so everything is over 2 weeks.
Starting Weight: 232.2
Morning weigh in:
Two Weeks ago Tuesday: 214.0
This Tuesday: 213.6
WW Weigh in:
Two weeks ago Tuesday: 220.0
This Tuesday: 216.6
I find my evening weigh-ins tend to lag my morning weigh-ins. That is, if I lose a lot based on a morning weigh-in it might not show up this week but it should the next. For example, last time my morning weigh-in showed a 3 lb drop but at my meeting it was .2. This week, my morning weigh-in showed a .4 drop but my meeting weigh-in was 3.4 lbs. Personally, I just don’t trust evening weigh-ins, but I like celebrating my milestones based on them, so I mostly use the morning weigh-in to keep me from getting unnecessarily discouraged.
One thing I shared with the group this week when celebrating was this post I read on the blog Runs with Cookies. It speaks to the difference between motivation and determination, as we often hear about motivation when it comes to weight loss but rarely do we talk about determination which a decision to do something no matter what (even after the motivation is gone). I started this journey with Weight Watchers in August, and it has taken me a long time and several ups and downs just to reach the 5% mark. However, when I was down it was my determination that got me back to meetings and tracking points despite all my fears of facing the scale again. It is easy with the new year to be motivated, but what is important is having determination because at some point all of that enthusiasm will wear off.
Ice Storm
20 Jan 2012 1 Comment
So after my post from the other we woke up to this on Wednesday:
Jillian loved all the snow while Hayden continued to be conflicted. She cried when her Dad and sister went out to play without her. She cried when she was out in the snow. The poor little girl just wasn’t happy about the situation either way.
Thursday morning, we woke up to find no power but the weather forecasters promising rain and melting snow by noon. Not wanting to use any more vacation time (me) or any more unpaid days (Jeramy), we went to work. Instead, freezing rain continued all day long, and we got this:
Driving home Thursday night there were trees down everywhere. We live on more rural country roads, which were all passable but many had become one-lane due to the debris. At home, it took Jeramy and a chain saw 20 minutes to clear the trees in our driveway so that we could even get down it. Waking up this morning, there is still now power and quite a bit of damage.
For example, here is our pond on Wednesday:
Here is our pond today:
Here is the cherry tree in our yard leaning up against our power line.
There is also a tree leaning on the power lines that come in along our long driveway, but I can’t tell if that leaning will stop once all the ice is gone. Regardless, this power outage may go on for several days based on the number of customers who are also out in this area (over 200,000). We do have generators and a wood stove, so we are well prepared for a power outage of any length.
I must admit that as much as I like snow, I am glad to see it going away. Tomorrow’s train trip to visit Portland yarn shops has been canceled, and I was so looking forward to time with my friend and time away from the kids. I have not spent a full day away from the kids since Jillian was born, which is far too long. I am also feeling a little stir crazy after spending so many days at home. I miss my routine and normal pace of activity.
In the meantime, I have gotten a lot of accomplished on Hayden’s Easter shrug:
I have never started a sweater like this before. First you cast on one sleeve. Then you cut the yarn ad cast on the start of the other sleeve. After that you knit across the second sleeve casted on, then cast on several more stitches for the back, and the knit across the first sleeve you casted on. After that you knit each of the three stitches in the pattern stitch decreasing as you go. The you end up with this after you stitch the ends of the sleeves together:
I also managed to read The Hunger Games. It seems like I struggle to find the time to read, unless I am reading a book that I absolutely love. The suddenly I ignore everything going on around me until it is finished. This was one of those books. It was fast paced, exciting and disturbing with both action and romance. I just downloaded the next book in the trilogy, Catching Fire on to my Nook. I’m guessing that it won’t take me very long to get through that either.
I hope everybody in the Pacific Northwest is doing okay after all of this snow!
Macaroni and Cheese
17 Jan 2012 1 Comment
Some people consider themselves connoisseurs of wine. Other less classy people, like myself, consider themselves connoisseurs of less fine things. Like Macaroni and Cheese. It really is the best comfort food ever invented with its cheesy goodness.
To cap off our wintery weather, I decided to make my new favorite baked Mac and Cheese recipe. I know, I know…I’m supposed to be working on losing weight! But here is the thing. I really believe that to lose weight and more importantly to keep it off that you have to make changes that you can stick with permanently. And not eating Macaroni and Cheese? Well that is just not a change I can live with. So I still eat it, but now I keep the portion size smaller, and I make sure to track the points.
I mean really…who can pass this up?
This recipe is Martha’s Macaroni and Cheese, and I found it through Pinterest at SmittenKitchen.com. Here is the link if you want to try it yourself. I used Beechers and regular Sharp Cheddar rather the the cheese they recommend in the recipe and it was pure deliciousness.
Let it Snow!
17 Jan 2012 2 Comments
Like much of the country, Seattle has gotten snow. However unlike many places, it only arrives about once a year in the Pacific Northwest, and when it does the entire city shuts down. Today, I was home for Martin Luther King Day and so far the accumulation is minimal. We are expecting a bigger overnight, so we’ll see if I’m able to make it the 25 miles to work tomorrow. Just navigating our long, hilly driveway can be treacherous in this icy weather. And yes, I realize that those of you in colder climates are laughing at us right now.
Jillian was very excited about the snow. She woke up this morning, ran to the window and declared “there’s still snow!!!” Yesterday her favorite part was swimming in the snow. Don’t ask me how she got the idea to swim in the snow, but it is water. It is sort of like a pool…a frozen pool. Today her big thing was bringing in a bowl of snow and then carrying it around the house with her. When it began melting, she would pour the water into Cujo’s bowl. So very thoughtful of her.
Hayden, on the otherhand, well…let’s just say girlfriend isn’t a fan of the snow. If you set her down in it she just cries and cries and cries. So today, I just kept her inside. In the morning, I watched Jillian from the window and in the afternoon we played outside while little sister napped.
The highlights (including the before and after of the snowman):
Weigh-in Tuesday
11 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in Weight Loss
I have been doing Weight Watchers for several months now and losing weight albeit very slowly. There have been many times where I felt like I could just never commit to the kind of lifestyle changes that were needed for me to lose weight and keep it off. But despite the ups and downs over the course of the fall, I kept with it and kept attending meetings. Over the past month I feel the momentum building, and I have really started taking control of what I eat and making the time to exercise.
My meetings are Tuesday evenings. It is crazy trying to fit yet something else into my evenings, but the leader for this particular meeting is really great, which I find makes a big difference. She is inspiring, encouraging, and best of all a real person who lets you know that she struggles with overeating every day just like the rest of us.
So I’d like to start a Tuesday post with my weigh-ins to keep me accountable. I actually do two weigh-ins because I feel like it is difficult to get a consistent weight from week to week in the evenings give normal fluctuations. So I am weighing myself first thing Tuesday morning to better gauge progress, but using my WW weight as my official weigh-in.
Starting Weight: 232.2
Morning weigh in:
Last Tuesday: 217.0
This Tuesday: 214.0
WW Weigh in:
Last Tuesday: 220.6
This Tuesday: 220.0
I was really hoping to make it to the 5% mark today (219.6), and based on my morning weigh-in I was very optimistic that I would hit it. I just barely missed it though. Maybe next week. I am really proud of myself for sticking with the Couch 2 5K program I began last week. I started week 2 on Monday, which involves intervals of running 90 seconds and then walking 2 minutes. And while only being able to run for 90 seconds at a time seems rather pathetic, it is improvement over running just 60 seconds at a time last week.
Regardless of my weigh-in results, I was glad to be at my meeting and not at home, because this is the photo I received from Jeramy while I was gone:
Yup. The girls pulled out every article of clothing from Hayden’s dresser. Every.Single.Piece. *sigh*
Two Socks, Toe Up
09 Jan 2012 5 Comments
in Knitting
I really want to be a sock knitter. Knitted socks are cute and useful, plus they make for a portable project. Plus, there are so many gorgeous sock yarns out there that I just cannot stop myself from buying it. I have completed one pair of socks on double pointed needles, and then I knit a pair of kids’ socks two at a time from the top down. Now, I’m trying to knit a pair from the toe up.
To be honest, I doubt this will be my highest quality product. There is a lot of laddering in the stitches at the end of each side of each sock, probably because I am not holding the yarn tight enough as I move from one side to another. Despite that, I am determined to see this project out because really it is about learning the technique and not the end result.
Hey, Hey It’s my Birthday!
07 Jan 2012 9 Comments
That’s right folks. It’s my birthday. This gal is *ahem* 29.
Okay, okay. 29+5.
So this birthday, I am feeling particularly spoiled by Jeramy and well, myself. Why, you ask? Well because of this:
(I’ve been insanely jealous even since I saw my sister’s at Christmastime)
Oh and there is this:
(I like my Garmin better than Jillian. And while it is entirely overkill for a girl starting week 2 of a Couch 2 5K program, I now can’t let myself give up. I will run.)
And finally there is this:
(I haven’t had a chance to do more than read the manual briefly. Tomorrow I’m hoping to learn how to thread it and test it out!)
Jeramy was working today (it’s hard to pass up overtime when you know he will be out of work by the spring) so this morning was business as usual with the girls’ gymnastics class and cleaning the house. During Hayden’s naptime, Jillian and I watched Tangled. Again. I know some moms aren’t big into princesses, but I am. I mean, I don’t care if my girls like princesses or not, but I personally can never get enough of a good Disney princess movie.
My mother-in-law offered to watch the girls for my birthday, so tonight Jeramy and I are going out together alone for the first time in months. I have been saving my Weight Watchers points all week, because I’m getting a fettuccine alfredo tonight at the Olive Garden (I calculated it…that’s an entire day’s worth of points in one meal without drinks or breadsticks). Then we are going out to the movies, and I chose The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. After all this splurging, it is a good thing that we have a gift certificate and movie passes!
All right…gotta run. Hayden just knocked over the entire bin of blocks and I still need to get dressed for tonight.
Feeling Drained
05 Jan 2012 1 Comment
in Balance
Tonight I feel drained. I worked from 6:30am until 5:15pm plus a 45 minute to one hour commute on both ends of that. I had a presentation to give at 7:30am this morning and then four more meetings many of which I was on point to lead. Days like this are just part of my job, and 95% of the time I love my job. I must admit that I don’t handle the exhaustion very well. Rather than taking the time to relax and re-coup, I just keep setting the bar high and maintain unrealistic expectations on the number of items I should check off my to do list in the evening. This leads to unhealthy behaviors like overeating or letting stress build until I lash out on those around me. And of course, neither of those reactions ever lead to me feeling better.
I knew tonight would be difficult because Jeramy leads a Scout troop on Wednesdays leaving me to do the bedtime routine with the girls alone. Normally I go to my knitting group this night as well, but I knew that I wouldn’t feel up to it after such a long day. On my way home, I let Jeramy know (nicely) how exhausted I was, and guess what…I came home to dinner ready for me and many of the evening chores done. Then I let the laundry sitting in the basket on the dining room table sit for one more night. I did not push myself to do more than the bare minimum. I did not binge on any sugary foods, although I am enjoying a small glass of wine now.
I must admit that I am proud of myself.
Oh and speaking of the new year and fresh starts, I got to put the new calendar of my girls up in my office. For the past couple of years we have made calendars through Shutterfly for inexpensive gifts for family members, and I always get an extra copy for me. Even though I’ve seen all these pictures before, there is just something about them that brings a smile to my face whenever I look over at them during the workday.
Easter Dresses
02 Jan 2012 6 Comments
in Sewing
Let me start this by saying, yes I realize it is January. And yes, Easter is in April.
You see I want to sew the girls’ Easter dresses this year. I took a sewing class last year and promptly bought myself a new sewing machine. Ever since I have been teaching myself to sew. So far my accomplishments are limited to tote bags, bibs, baby blankets and a welder/fitter hat for Jeramy. With two little girls, it is probably not surprising that what I’d really love to do is to force them to wear the crap I make create adorable clothes for them. First up are Easter dresses.
So why am I starting so early, you ask? Well I blame it all on Pinterest, which has caused my ambition to greatly outstrip my ability. You see I ran across the loveliest dress tutorial by The Cottage Home, and well I just had to make it for the girls’ Easter dresses. So I promptly ran out and bought this fabric:
Those are the pieces I just cut out for Jillian’s dress. Hayden’s will have the same pink/green floral but with pink trim.
Now this is where my ambitions really start getting crazy. I realized that sleeveless dresses don’t mix well with April in Seattle. Which, of course, led me to decide to knit the girls shrugs to go along with the dresses. I found this adorable Bolero pattern on Ravelry, and ordered this yarn:
Oh my goodness…what am I getting myself into? I am crazy excited about this, but the reality is that given my time limitations this is a lot to get done by Easter. I’ll keep you posted on my progress!
