I need a nap

Another crazy week with lots to tell

Knitting:

Been working away on stuff for Vineyard Alpacas. I finished an easy little shrug from Interweave knits:

I modified it a little, doing a slightly wider rib and only doing the lace work on the sleeves. This is a really easy way to make a shrug (a rectangle, sewn 1 1/2 inches at each end) and I'll probably being doing more and playing with different lace patterns. If I were to make one for myself, I'd make it a little bit wider, to fit around my chubby arms.

Here is a detailed pic of the lace work:

I'm now working on this:

I made a trip up to Julies to get the Fibre Trends Alpaca pattern and came away with several fibre trends patterns and the latest Rowan magazine. I fell in love with this shawl and really want to do one for myself (probably in white and light green, or two shades of green)

Anyway, it's a pretty easy pattern, although I'm not enjoying knitting 400 and some odd stitches to a row... mom told me I wasn't allowed to complain until I had to 800 stitches in a row.

I'm making one for Vineyard in these colours:

This is yarn from Loverboy and Juno, two very cute alpacas. I'll post pics of the shawl as soon as it's done... hopefully by the end of the week.

I also got my patterns organized this weekend (thanks mom)

Jewellry:

Not much is happening on this front. I'm doing a little spring cleaning, adn a bunch of beads from my stash will probably be going up on eBay soon. I have to get organized and start getting my applications together for the shows I want to do this summer... REALLY want to get into Faeryfest!

Home:

My house is a mess. This isn't a great surprise but it's actually starting to bug me. Spring must be here... I feel the need to de-clutter. Problem is, when I come home all I want to do it knit. Dave has kindly been doing my dishes when he's here. I hate dishes.... I'd rather scrub the bathroom than do dishes - don't ask why, I'm not sure.

And while I love that he does the dishes... he never puts things in the right places. At first, he wouldn't put things away at all, and just kept piling the dishes on top of each other in the dish pan. Finally he got tired of building towers (because we all know I'm too lazy to put them away) and started to put stuff in the cupboards... but of course, nothing is where I would put it if I acutally put it away. (I am very organized, when I actually put things away) I strongly suspect he's putting things away in the wrong spots on purpose (like he's trying to make a point or something.. can't imagine what it could be) because he'll put the small spoons in with the big spoons, even though the small spoons are in an obviously separate spot.... same goes for plates and bowls... he just stacks them all together even though I have seperate stacks.

Anyway, I probably won't get to de-cluttering this week.. so instead I did the next best thing to make myself feel better. I bought flowers.....

Like my vase?... it was actually a bottle of wine....

Oh and there was lonely gerbera that just didn't fit so it got it's own vase. (No I'm not really a lush..... though it might make the clutter less bothersome..... hmmm)

Fitness:

We aren't even going to talk about this... put it this way... fell off the wagon so hard I have bruises on my bum... will talk about it next week when I've found the strength to climb back on. (I did buy strawberries and bananas and apples with groceries this week though)

Work:

Work is insane.. I'm writing so much I think eventually I'm going to run out of words....

So... now I'm going to sit down, watch Rome ( need a James Purefoy fix)

Then climb into bed with Tux

and my new book

(which I read in a day yesterday but was so good I'm going to read it agian)

What a week

Wow... where did the week go?.... been busy, busy, busy, finishing up a large barette order, knitting and chasing the cat out of the yarn, the food, the laundry, etc, etc.....
I got some great new beads in the mail this week.. including some HUGE amber beads. I'll post pics soon. I also got some really great emerald beads... emeralds are my favourite stone, so I'll need something really special for them.

I also got a beautiful ring (a little treat for myself ) and I think Rocky has run off with it... I can't find it anywhere.... if you were a shiny silver ring with a honking mystic topaz stone... where would you be?

In knitting news, I am now knitting for Vineyard Alpacas, this great little alpaca farm just around the corner from my house. Her yarn is absolutely beautiful, this is gonna be fun! I also have to got up to the Needle Emporium to get this pattern:

Oh.. almost forgot.. bedtime story isn't quite finished.... got box spring on Friday.... but they sent the wrong frame..... so the saga continues... sigh...

Wool salad tosser strikes again!

Turn your back on you knitting for five seconds and this is what happens:

Across the living room...

Up the stairs

Down the hallAnd you'll find the culprit... this is some vintage angora I bought of ebay and the little turd has been dying to get his paws on it... fortunately he didn't have time to "toss" it too much. Angora is a serious pain to detangle.

I got shimmer done a couple of days ago... quite happy with it... and the silk is surprisingly warm.

In other news.... I got my bed... well half a bed. The boxspring wouldn't fit up my stairs. :(
So I have a mattress on the floor until a split box spring gets delivered later this week... it's still far more comfortable than my old one. Tux likes it too

(Note: This picture was not posed.... this is actually how he sleeps)

Bedtime stories

My mother always told me make sure your room is clean if you're going to have strange men in it (actually it was probably more along the lines of DON'T have strange men in your room, but what's the fun in that?) so today I cleaned it.... really cleaned it... even under the bed. Now, I didn't find any monsters, but they might have been hard to see around all the clothes, books and cat hair tumbleweeds.

Now the mess under my bed isn't entirely my fault....

My lovely girl Peno here is a little bit of a scaredycat. (she spent the first three weeks with me under the bed). The bed is her safe place and she's built a bit of a nest there. Socks, underpants, t-shirts, spare bits of wool... she drags it all under there.

So it was quite and adventure.

I also cleaned off my dressers, put my clothes away (which reminds me I have to get a load out of the dryer) and closed ALL the drawers.. properly. It's too bad Dave isn't here this weekend... he'd probably have a stroke if he saw the room this clean.

So you must be wondering why I'm doing all this and who are these strange men? (especially since Dave's no where to be seen).

Well I am so excited.... tomorrow... permitting the weather holds long enough.... I am getting my very own big girl bed! I bought it all by myself. This is very exciting for me because I've never had a new bed. The earliest bed I can remember used to be my brother's bunk beds.. and they were probably old when he got them (Mom how old were they?) The bed after that came from an ex boyfriend ( I was about 15 or 16)It was as single bed. I had that until just after I met Dave (5 years ago).... and let me tell you, sharing a single bed with a boy over 6 feet with shoulders to match is only romantic until about 3 a.m. and you're being pushed off. Fortunately, my brother moved out soon after and I got his old bed. It's a double. It was great for a while... except he got it when he was about 15 (he's 30 now) and it wasn't exactly a quality bed. It's pretty worn out now. Whenever Dave is over, I end up rolling into him because the middle sags so bad. And I never realized you could feel the springs until I laid on a bed where you couldn't.... and I was up at the Brick doing a story... and well, they hooked me up with a super sweet deal! And even better.... it's a QUEEN size. Tux is gonna love that. The only thing was I didn't think about it until a couple days later... I don't have any queen size sheets... thanks mom for bailing me out on that one.....

So... only one more sleep until my new bed!!!!

EDIT: :( Brick called... no bed for me today... maybe Monday :(

Had enough....

Alright... just got back from the annual doctor visit... not happy...

I have gained 15 lbs in the last year... I seriously want to make some changes for the better in my life - not just to lose the weight but also live a healthier lifestyle.

I am a notorious junk food junkie. My biggest problem is I'll be good for a while (exercising and eating better) and then I'll fall off the wagon (binge on the couch with a bag of cookies, tub of icecream and raft of potato chips)

I think I need a little support and maybe if I log it on here, it will keep me motivated. Feel free to play along and we can all get healthier together... (Mom I need your help to make a button)

My goal is:

To exercise at least 20-30 minutes everyday - To start I'm using Jeopardy.

While Jeopardy is on, I am going to walk (briskly) in place with my weights and on the commercials I am going to jog. This way I exercise my body and mind.

On the weekends I will take part in some sort of active activity, be it hiking, biking or even just an hour walking around the mall shopping. I also have several fitness videos (Tony Little is scary but puts together a good workout) that I'd like to do more often, but I think I'll stick with the Jeopardy walk and see how it goes

Drink more water: This will also help with another goal of mine - drink less pop

Eat better: I've already started this, eating a better lunch at work, but I have to stay away from the candy machine. I am no longer going to keep goodies (such as chips, cookies, chocolate etc.) in the house. Instead I am going to go out every Saturday and buy one small treat - just enough for that day - as a reward for being good

Current conditions:

Weight: 185lbs

Waist 36"

Hips: 48"

Arms: 12.5"

Things I've done good: Not been to McDonald's (or any other fast food restaurant) for a week

Things I've done bad: eaten half a bag of cookies in one sitting and chased it with some sour cream and onion chips.

Goal:

Weight: 150lbs
Waist: 32"
Hips: 42"
Arms: 10"

So 35 lbs and 12 inches to go

Now.. does anyone have any ideas how to get this guy to lose some weight?

The most wonderful time of the year

I'm probably one of the only people who like this time of year... tax time... but I really do like it.

I love sitting down with my t4s, receipts, pencil and calculator and seeing my magical return appear on the page.

It's almost like connect the dots for adults... only with math and there's (usually) a prize at the end. It's like a lottery with better results than I get from Super 7!

And the even better part... I get to do two returns, because Dave HATES math. Woohoo!

Last year I did them online, but it was really unfulfilling, so this year I went back to paper. It takes a wee bit longer to get the prize at the end, but it's more fun this way.

And of course Rocky helped me out. Between shooting my pencil around, and sitting on my papers he was about as helpful as a migraine

And he decided to show the government just what he thinks about tax time.He also helped with the laundry...

Fresh out of the dryer

Folding....

And putting it away....

All that work is pretty tiring, so the only thing left to do is take a nap in the knitting (where we've been strictly forbidden to sleep)