Quilt retreat, here I come (almost)!

Hi, all!

It’s been a while since I’ve updated, so I thought I’d drop a line to say hi and fill everyone in on the latest (which isn’t much).

On the weight loss front, I’ve worked out at Curves 3 times a week for 11 weeks now, and have lost 15 pounds (unofficially - I get weighed and measured next week). We’ll see if it’s still 15 pounds after this weekend. Weekends are hard for me anyway. I shouldn’t say it that way. Let me say it this way: weekdays are easy for me because I have the same things for breakfast, lunch, and snacks every day, so I know what I’m eating and I’m not tempted (much) throughout the day (though I did have a dream about doughnuts recently...). On weekends, my meals aren’t at regular times, they aren’t always at home, and I just get all discombobulated with my eating and don’t feel the same control. I still try to not eat like a piggy, but it’s just not as easy as it is during the week when I know when and what my meals are.

I’m also trying to give up Diet Coke, which is another whole issue in itself. Now I have to figure out how to stay awake until 2am this weekend working on my sewing projects! LOL! I guess I’ll have to pack some tea and a cup.

This weekend is going to be particularly interesting because it’s the weekend of my long-awaited quilters’ retreat! We get meals served to us, but quilters love chocolate and I’m sure there will be some available between meals. I’m taking pretzels and a friend of mine is taking nuts, so at least there will be a couple “better” choices. I’ll also take a few things that are better alternatives than a candy bar in case I get hungry or get the munchies. Now if I can deal okay with mealtimes, I should be fine. In theory. I just never know what food I’m going to grab when I’m frustrated with my project and need a break. Maybe there’s a place I can take a walk to without getting lost (assuming it’s not raining, which there’s a chance of this weekend). I’m not too stressed about it, but I am aware that I’m going to be in a situation that could make my weight loss not as much as it could be. ;-)

But enough about the food and more about the retreat. I have a quilt top that I really want to finish up this weekend, so that’s my goal. I have a couple other things with me in case I get done or get to a point where I can’t proceed any longer (need fabric, have to rip the whole thing apart, etc). I have so many projects in work that it was hard to pick just a couple, yet so few that are portable (or that I am willing to have under scrutiny in a group environment). The second thing I’m going to work on if I get the rose quilt done is a project that my friend Kelli and I have been passing back and forth (kind of like a round robin, but with two people). I’ve known for about a year what I’m going to do to her block next, have even bought the fabric, but just never got around to doing anything with it. That’s #2 on the list. #3 is a toss-up between my block on the project we were passing back and forth, and edging some eyelet lace yardage with some fancy-schmancy machine stitch. I’ll probably do something with the lace yardage first (it’s going to be a bedskirt eventually), but I’ll probably get brain lock trying to decide what stitch to use and whether to roll a hem or just trim the excess. Heck, I’ll get brain-lock no matter what project I tackle, so I don’t know what the difference is. ;-)

Not much else is new here.... those are the highlights, and I know it’s none too exciting for you all. But there’s something to be said for stability. ;-)

Have a great weekend, and I’ll try to remember to post next week and let you know how much (or not) I got done at retreat!

Blessings,

Kristin

Weekly Update

Hi, all!
My updates haven't been weekly lately by design... it just seems to turn out that way. ;-)

Last Monday I had my monthly weigh and measure and I'd lost another 2.5 pounds. Because of a variety of factors that I'd rather not subject you to, I knew that wasn't as much of a loss as it should have been, so I weighed myself again on Friday (31 days from the last weigh) and I'd lost an additional 2.5 pounds. So officially I've lost 9.5 pounds since Feb 17, and unofficially I've lost 12. Of course I like my number better. ;-) They keep track, but I'm not committing total inches to mind, just whether I've lost anything off key measurements (which I have a little, so that's good).

I've also been itching for something available at home to do on non-Curves days to keep me off the couch for 10-15 minutes, so we're getting an eliptical-ish thing (just the foot part - no handles - can you see me on this? LOL) and I got some dumbells for toning. I've used the dumbells already. On Sunday, Bill and I went for a jog. Mostly Bill, but a little me, too. :-) My legs gave out before my lungs did, just as the terrain started going uphill. It's been a while since I have been reminded that I have muscles in my shins, but Sunday was one of those days. ;-)

Also Sunday we went to dinner with a couple friends of ours - we don't see them nearly enough and they don't get away from their two boys for the night nearly enough, so it was a good combination. :-) We visited for about 3 hours, talking about just about anything and everything.

This weekend I tried to do something creative, but it just wasn't coming to me. I haven't played with my jewelry stuff in a long time and I miss it, but the projects I had in mind aren't stimulating me, and all the "fun" stuff I thought of before is gone. I got really discouraged when I was replacing a couple earwires and a brand new 14KGF ear wire broke on me. That was the end of the pursuit for Saturday. Sunday I went through my bead and project boxes, and nothing jumped out at me. I thought about making another badge lanyard for work, but that wasn't thrilling me, either. So I played online a little and got a little more done on my crocheted sweater. It seems to be going a lot slower, even though the piece I'm on is smaller than the last, so you would think it would go faster. That's what I get for thinking. ;-)

This week isn't going to be terribly chaotic - I've got a dinner date with a Facebook friend penciled in for Thursday, workouts M-W-F, and then a free night on Tuesday (YAY). We're supposed to get together with my parents over the weekend, but I don't know whether it will be here or there or what we'll be doing - stay tuned.

I guess that's about the news for now. Hope everyone is well and doing more exciting things than I am. ;-)

Blessings!
Kristin

Pre-Easter week

Happy Easter Monday, one and all! :-)

The week before was really busy for me... getting my three workouts in plus the social activities... my workouts ended up spilling into Saturday since I had things going on Monday and Wednesday and Friday. Monday we went to a buffet dinner and opening day watch-the-game deal hosted by the minor league team I have partial season tickets with. Lost money at that casino, too. ;-) The dinner was good, the game (on the 12-foot screen) was great, and it was a fun time out and a nice way to start baseball season. Now we’re chomping at the bit for live baseball, but the Aquasox don’t start until late June. :-(

Wednesday night I had my monthly Sew Fun meeting. It’s a little seminar type thing that’s put on by a local sewing and vacuum chain. They show new products, new techniques and patterns, and they have a show-and-tell time for the people who attend. If you’re a member of the Sew Fun club (which I am for the first time this year), you get a free gift each month as well. Fun stuff! I went to a different night than I normally do, and it was quite a difference in attendance. It’s usually packed when I go, and this time there were maybe only a few dozen people. It worked out well, because I got to win my first door prize ever, and it’s actually something I wanted - sewing machine needles! YAY! They also demonstrated something I’m trying to decide if I want - it’s a small table that sits next to your machine that is a gliding table to help you with free motion quilting with your regular machine. I have my main machine in a table, but it would be great for the machine that I don’t have in a table, and for “one the road” at retreats or sew days (if I’m going to be somewhere that I know I’ll have the room). I just don’t know if I’ll get the $$ out of it. Yes, I have three quilts right now that are ready to quilt (and more to come - I’d go broke sending them all out), but would it make me more likely to get them done? Good question. If I’m out somewhere, for sure. But since I have my main machine flush in the table anyway, I’m questioning whether I feel like it’s a good purchase. I played with it a little bit and it nice, but I’d rather see it with a sample that’s closer to a quilt size than a placemat size. ;-)

Friday night Bill and I went to a Good Friday service. It was really nice - I hadn’t been to one in a long time. I liked the sobriety of it - but I’m one of those focus people who doesn’t really care to chit-chat with people at church, at least during service time anyway. I’m there to worship and learn, and that’s what I’m focused on (unless my ADD gets the better of me, then I’m looking at the pretty quilted banners or staring at the organ pipes). I had my eyes closed the whole time (except when we had responses we were supposed to do). It’s hard to describe, but since the congregation didn’t sing and the readings and music had continuity, it was easy to kind of empty one’s self and just listen and imagine the events as we heard them unfold. We weren’t “interrupted” by the temptation to follow the readings in the bulletin as we are on Sunday mornings. We weren’t distracted by trying to find page numbers in the hymnal. It was really nice.

We had a nice Easter weekend... Saturday my parents came up and we hit the outlet stores and a casino that they hadn’t been to before (Bill won $2 - the rest of us lost various amounts). We found some good bargains at the outlets, though. I’ll spare you the list since I don’t know of a person out there that would find it exciting to know what clothes we bought. :-p Sunday Bill and I went to church (with a breakfast at the church before the service) and then came home. The four of us played cards before, during, and after dinner preparations. I didn’t take a picture of the table like we did last year... I guess the second Easter dinner with the good china isn’t photo-worthy. We joked later that we should have taken pictures so we remembered what we had and what we would do differently (like make less mashed potatoes). All in all, a good weekend and a good Easter.

This week is going to be a little less hectic, thank goodness. Tuesday night I don’t have to work out and we don’t have any social plans, so I’m going home straight after work, getting into comfy clothes, and doing whatever I want to! :-) It may be nothing, it may be sewing or crocheting. Speaking of crocheting, I got the back of my sweater done this week and I’m a couple rows along on the left front of the sweater.

I guess that’s all I have for now... hope you all are doing well!

Blessings,

Kristin