Reporting in. . .

In August I only lost 5 pounds, sigh.  What can I say, I still can't ride my bike and it's been HOT so it's a struggle.   I did lose a bit more in inches as well-which explains why I simply can not keep my pants up!  Only need to wear the shorts for a few more weeks though.  Have finally decided that I simply can not eat only 1200 calories a day and still function so I reset my goals to 1 pound a week.  I know I can stay at or under 1500 calories, it will just take a while longer.  I hope to begin water aerobics this month even though it seems a bit silly when I'll be gone most of October.

On other fronts, I've a tidy house again!  The kitchen work is finished and except for some packing up everything is tidy.  Tomorrow, I'll scrub bathrooms to paint trim etc on Wednesday.  By September's end I should be completely finished with the stuff that needed to happen before I could sell the place!  Yeah!  Have no idea when I'll put it on the market or where I'm going when it sells but first things first.

I've been redoing Kolby's patch blanket, adding quilting instead of just ties and resewing all the patches.  I think Brayden's will be less work, just more stitching on his patches.  Ethan's the same.  Don't know what happened on Kolby's but the backing was all wrinkled and a mess-probably sewer error!

Still working on Kolby's Christmas stocking.  I'm at the fold-ugh- it's hard to keep flipping back and forth! In fact that's where I'm headed right now, down to the basement to sew on patches and make x's!

A Finish and an Update!

First the finish!

A bright baby quilt for a soon to be born baby boy!  My machine quilting definitely needs work!  It's cute though, I hope his mama likes it.

Now a cross-stitch update.  When you last saw it:

And now:

I've been working really hard on it, I'd really like to finish this one and begin the next one before Christmas!  I always hope to finish two in a year but it never happens, sigh.  I have this one and three more to do before I'm caught up.  I only needed two more until Scott and Bri announced that they are expecting in February!  It will be their first and they will be awesome parents!  I'd like a little girl as we are heavy on the boys in the family but I will love it no matter what!

It's going to be quite hot for the next several days, so I'll be hibernating in the basement in my new studio!  More cross-stitching will be done and maybe a little machine sewing as well.

Hill country Spring!

So here it is!  In all it's "Glory" ;))

So glad I took the borders off it would have been really wide!  As it is it covers the (very deep) mattress and meets the dust ruffle!

Here's a close up of the quilting Robin did, looks great.

Another one off the list!

The Completed Office

I have finished every task in the office save one, I need to fix the shelf in the closet.  I've fixed it twice before and the screws will not stay in the wall, even with anchors!  Need to think on how to fix it. might need a board put up or something.

At any rate it is done and in use.  I know there were photos in 2010 when I moved into this room but I can't find them!  So no before photos.  It's a small room so getting a good photo is hard and the color is off in these-it's Easter Egg green (or so Tanya tells me!)

The view from the door.

The view from the corner.

The view from my desk chair.

I haven't decided if I'll keep the chair or move a small piece of furniture in (once I buy it) to hold my tv and DVD collection.  I think it depends on how well I get "air" tv in the basement.

Yes, there's huge pile of paper on the corner of the desk-mostly Town of Kansas Stuff to sort and enter onto the computer.

I think I will like this arrangement better and it will show to buyers better.  Quinn loves the new space-there's actually room for her to lay on the floor and she's found TWO air conditioning vents she can lay by!  Heaven.  

Part of the ME Project complete!  Having is tidy house is a big Happiness boost!

Project Me--July update

I can happily say that I lost another 8 pounds during July making a total of 20 pounds lost!  I found that little piece of paper with my measurements on it from April 26 and this morning's measurements show that I am down 1 inch in the bust, 3 inches in the waist and 2 inches in the hips!  This makes me really happy!  I needed a new push to keep going-while I am determined to loose the weight, losing the bike ride has made it more difficult.  Dieting is SO boring!  I  am wearing a pair of shorts this morning that I couldn't even get up to my waist in June--of course that means that all my other shorts are getting harder and harder to keep up!  That's a lovely problem, or it would be if shorts were available in stores here-fall stuff's out.  I have a long way to go, when I began in June I figured that it would take a bit over a year to lose the weight I wanted to at a 2 pounds per week rate-so 10 or 11 months from now I'll be thinking about how I'm going to  maintain my skinny self. (As well as what to do about all the extra skin!)

Other parts of the project are moving, at last!  The office is nearly finished, I need to find my desk top, paint the vent covers and put back up, buy curtains for the windows and the closet door, make some cushions for my rocker and decide on wall ornaments.  Once done I'll have a reveal.  Oh, I need to buy a skinny head extension cord as well!  The room looks much better, the only trouble being that I've lost my tv watching space.  Must figure out where to put that tv in the studio as it is the one I hook up to the "air" to watch for free, don't get as many channels but that's ok by me as I don't watch that much anyway.

Speaking of the studio, I'll begin working there now but the pool table is still in the way.  My Dad is trying to sell it without much success, so I'm waiting until Aug 10 to take it down and return it.  Meanwhile I'll fix some rather minor issues with the walls and stick down tiles where I can reach.

Quilting wise, I finished Hill Country Spring and began a baby quilt.  Cross-stitching showed a bit of progress as well.  I really didn't stitch much for the past two months.  BUT, I did stitch.

On the knee front.  I'll be calling the ortho today to make an appointment as the insurance referral went through (quite speedily!) yesterday.  I feel like a broken record.  It has made me decide to change things  I've been dithering over -like where to live etc-as I'm not getting any younger and who knows how long I'll be able to hike and bike etc. I guess a kick in the pants (or in my case, knee) has been needed!
I'm off the the chiropractor this morning, then a few errands before I hit the office again.

Have a great day, get in something creative and enough sleep!

Cross-stitch Wednesday

I've looked and looked through my photos and I can't find a "before" post for Kolby's stocking.  It's really not much of a difference as I haven't made tons of progress since (or still) but I did promise to try and post progress. (There's and ulterior motive there-in order to post I have to actually work on it!)  So here it is now:

Not a great photo, sigh.  I'll try and do better next week.

Also on the stitching front I've finished the binding on Hill Country Spring!  I'll take a photo as soon as I have my bed made up properly for it- I hope that will be tomorrow. 

I have a new quilt up on the design wall/board-whatever.  A baby quilt using some of the Rainbow scrap blocks that I made last year.

Currently the blocks are just pinned up there on the sashing fabric but tomorrow I hope to cut the sashing, borders and binding. To begin stitching the top together Friday (after I set up a table to sew on in the basement/studio-more on that later.)

I'm nearly finished with the redo to the office (formerly the office/studio and very full).  I'll do a reveal as soon as I'm all organized in there.  You would not believe how much stuff I hauled to the basement for the studio!

The Weekly Deal

Hi all!  I'm trying for once a week, ugh, probably won't make it.  The big news is all about the knee.  Chiropractor on Wednesday and Friday--hips out of alignment and band on left leg very tight.  He can feel a cyst in the back of the knee--again, sigh.  He will do treatments for the hips and band hoping that relieving the inflammation will help the cyst dissolve. Monday, Wednesday, Friday for 4 weeks. (I don't think he's very hopeful.)  MD on Thursday, the back of my knee is swollen and she acknowledges the fact that I know what I'm talking about! She has ordered an MRI (scheduled for this coming Wednesday.) Probably will end up at orthopedics if confirmed.  Hi! Dr Salin!  I believe that all the riding I've been doing probably caused it and may have been a factor in last years cyst issues, so I'm off the bike until further notice.  I'm willing to try most anything to keep from having that surgery again, it was without doubt the most painful thing I've ever had!

On other fronts, I'm still working on Kolby's stocking, still have Hill Country Spring to  bind (geesh someone should crack a whip over me!)  I had Brayden and Kolby every afternoon last week, it was lovely and cool so we did some outside history places, had Yogurtini and went to the movies.  Between that and the doctors I really didn't have much time at home!

I drove to Columbia to visit Scott and Bri yesterday returned with a sofa for Beth.  Good thing I have a truck!  I ate entirely too much-I'll be afraid to step on the scale in the morning!  But we went out fro Indian food and I never get to have that, SO good!

I'm tired, going to put my legs up and stitch a little while watching the telly!  Something I'll be doing quite a bit this week as it's to get very HOT  and HUMID again.  I hate it.  Somedays I'd just like to sleep until blessed fall!