Well, I'm taking the plunge. By selling a pair of baseball-themed earrings to the Director of Merchandising at the local minor league baseball club, I've made my first sale. She is going to show them to a few people and may be interested in carrying them at the stadium store and on their website! I don't know if it will be Christmas or next season or ever, but my work has gotten noticed and I may get an order for a whole bunch more and will be able to say that my merchandise is carried by a minor league baseball team! Isn't that cool? I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but the gal sounded pretty upbeat about the possibility. Just waiting for the phone to ring. ;-)
Since someone besides my mother has shown me that my stuff is worth money (no offense to Mom, but you know, she and Bill are my biggest fans), I've decided to list some of my work on Etsy. It's a sales website that is only for handmade items, vintage items, and supplies, so I'm not as likely to get caught in the noise as I would on eBay. I've looked at some of the jewelry on Etsy and some is way out of my league, and other things are kind of on par, so we'll see what happens. Things don't tend to move quickly, so patience is a virtue. I don't have that particular virtue, so we'll see how I do. :-p I'm listing 4 items today, and then I have plans for several more items once I get the time and energy to get them made. They're all replicas of things I've made for myself, so it shouldn't be too hard to do. All I need is an all-nighter with caffeine overload to crank out some product (you Facebookers have seen what that's like). I don't have any free Saturdays for a while, so I'll have to try to find a few weeknights to set up shop. Problem is, my shop is the dinner table, so that makes things inconvenient unless we want to eat in the living room. ;-) We'll see. I'm still trying to catch up on sleep from quilt retreat, so it won't be this week.
Oh, yeah! Quilt retreat! Last weekend Mom and I went to a retreat in the woods at the cascade foothills (I'd been there twice before - she'd never been). We both had a great time and were really productive! I finished a block swap that I've been holding on to for the better part of two years (and Kelli, I'm going to try REALLY HARD to remember to bring it Thursday to dinner), I got the 48 blocks done I need for another quilt (needs sashing and borders and stuff, but I didn't have sashing fabric with me), and ripped apart another quilt I started 4-5 years ago to fix it and I have all the rows constructed and just need to put on setting triangles and sew the rows together. I was really happy with the amount I got done, even though on one project I spent almost as mich time ripping as I did sewing. ;-) One more full day and I would have had that done, but we only paid for the weekend (the retreat went on until Tuesday afternoon) and Mom was out of medication, so we couldn't even buy another night if we wanted to (and we talked about it, but the meds were kind of a show-stopper). We're planning a sew day at my house in October sometime, so we'll see what I work on then (and how much I get done before then, if anything). Sorry, no pictures this time. I only took one with my Blackberry and it's just to show the 48 blocks I got done. Not worth the trouble of downloading to anywhere.
I'm still working out three times a week and watching what I eat, and I've lost about 40 pounds to date since I joined Curves in February. I'm almost halfway to my goal weight now. I've been working out 7 months now, and I still have to talk myself into going half the time. I thought by now it would be a habit and I would just do it and maybe even like it, but I haven't had the attitude change yet. I guess it's just because I'm so tired after being at work all day that I just want to go home. It's not Curves' fault. ;-) But I go, and some days I do better than others, but at least I'm there. Today is my monthly weigh and measure - last time I lost a few pounds and my body fat % went down, but all my measurements went UP! ACK! I hope I don't see that nonsense again tonight! :-p
So, there's my attempt to manufacture news. ;-) It's been a while since I've posted, and I did want to let you all know to look for me on Etsy and wish me luck!
Blessings,
Kristin
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Vacation in pictures (and a few words)
Welcome to a pictorial view of our recent vacation! We went to
Tuesday
Dinner Theatre at Chanhassen - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
All the girls ready to go!
On the road!
Wednesday
Surprise birthday party for Bill’s sister’s 50th birthday...
And a picture of us because we’re cute. ;-)
Thursday
Twin Cities tour (
We’re on opposite sides of glass for this picture. Cool, huh?
Big fish!
Downtown
Flowers at the farmers market
Friday
Twins vs. Indians
Family over in the cheap seats (digital zoom). Look for the ones who are waving.
There - that’s closer. They came over to sit with us for a bit.
Swing, batta batta!
Saturday
Family birthdays party day!
Bill’s breakfast - he did such a beautiful job I had to take a picture!
One of the many pictures of family - there were about 20+ people there.
Bill and 5 of his 7 siblings.
We had a great time, and we missed the family as soon as we got to the airport. Bill’s family is so nice and open and warm... which is a good thing since I’m used to a much SMALLER family. ;-)
Not much else new besides vacation... still going to Curves, still losing weight (slowly but surely). I have a quilt retreat coming up in a few weeks, and while Mom and I are gone to that, Bill and David are going to install track lighting in my craft room. WOO HOO! :-) Bright light! I’ll probably be blinded! No excuse that I can’t see what I’m doing, that’s for sure! We also got a ceiling fan for our bedroom. It’s probably a little late for this season, but when the temperature gets up over 80 degrees again, we’ll be ready.
Hope you all are doing well... drop a note if you get a chance!
Blessings,
Kristin
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Has it really been that long???
Hi, all!
It always seems like nothing's new, but this time I have a little news and I've had way too much caffeine today, so now seems like a good time.
New weight, new phone, new hair!
Friday I had my monthly weigh and measure at Curves, and I was officially under 200 pounds! YAY! 198.5! Another goal reached! In half a pound, I also will have lost 30 pounds, which is 1/3 of all I want to lose. It's so nice to see progress, especially since the past couple of weeks I've been yo-yoing and plateauing with my weight. I've been eating right around my calories goal and working out my three times a week, but I was still gaining or not losing. I was pretty frustrated. Hopefully that nonsense is over and we can go back to losing weight. ;-)
About the time of my last post I decided to try out a new phone (if I told you this already, feel free to skip down - I don't feel like going back to look). I wanted something that would have street addresses of my contacts in my phone so I'd always have them, so my choices were a Palm or Blackberry. Well, the Palm device I had the choice of doesn't work with the navigator software that I can't live without, so Kristin got a Blackberry. I'm such a geek. Now since it's not a work device I couldn't sync it with my work contacts (where all my contacts live) so THANK YOU to one of my coworkers, I transferred everything into Google Calendar and Contacts and now I have my schedule and contacts on the go. It wasn't without some manual intervention required, but at least I got the phone to do what I bought it for. Oh, and I got a great deal on it (assuming I remember to send in the rebate on time).
A week ago, I got my hair cut. And I mean CUT! I'd been thinking about going really short ever since my big cut last year, but Bill (and I) needed to ease into it a little bit. I took some pictures with my phone camera that will have to suffice. The first two are fuzzy because they are pictures of my reflection in the mirror the day I came home with the new do. The other two are "direct" shots taken other days.
Bill had day surgery this week (Wednesday), so I've been trying to be a good nurse, but not doing too well, I'm afraid. It's been a long time since I've had to do anything like that, and I've pretty much forgotten how. ;-) He's doing pretty well, though, independent guy that he is. He's still in some pain, but the meds are keeping that in check. All in all, he's being a good patient (now - he was being a little too independent the first day or two). He worked from home Thursday and Friday; I'm not sure if he'll work from home Monday or go into work. He'll probably still be on meds so I'd prefer he stay home, but it's his call. He commutes by bus so I don't have to worry about him driving, but he's been on the drowsy side. I can just see him falling asleep on the bus or something. He's certainly not as loopy as he was the first couple of days since he's decreased the dosage since then. :-)
This coming week I do my three workouts, and Thursday I'm going to a baseball game with my friend Joanne. She and I go to several of the Aquasox games together every year, and I'm really looking forward to it since I haven't seen her in forever. I think I've seen her since last baseball season, but I don't know that I could tell you for sure. We keep trying to get together for dinner, but her work schedule changes every week (ah, the joys of retail) so it's hard to pin her down.
We're still looking forward to our vacation to Minnepolis coming up in August. I'm going to be in internet withdrawl because Bill's parents have dial-up so I won't be able to Facebook or read and reply to email except through the Blackberry. Sure, that's what it's for, but it's laborious to type much on that little keyboard. So, don't be offended if you email me or send me a FB comment that week and I don't reply or say much back. It's nothing personal. ;-) Can you just see me trying to catch up when I get back? Yikes!
Well, I think that's about it for this update. I actually had news and pictures and everything! Are you impressed? ;-)
Blessings,
Kristin
It always seems like nothing's new, but this time I have a little news and I've had way too much caffeine today, so now seems like a good time.
New weight, new phone, new hair!
Friday I had my monthly weigh and measure at Curves, and I was officially under 200 pounds! YAY! 198.5! Another goal reached! In half a pound, I also will have lost 30 pounds, which is 1/3 of all I want to lose. It's so nice to see progress, especially since the past couple of weeks I've been yo-yoing and plateauing with my weight. I've been eating right around my calories goal and working out my three times a week, but I was still gaining or not losing. I was pretty frustrated. Hopefully that nonsense is over and we can go back to losing weight. ;-)
About the time of my last post I decided to try out a new phone (if I told you this already, feel free to skip down - I don't feel like going back to look). I wanted something that would have street addresses of my contacts in my phone so I'd always have them, so my choices were a Palm or Blackberry. Well, the Palm device I had the choice of doesn't work with the navigator software that I can't live without, so Kristin got a Blackberry. I'm such a geek. Now since it's not a work device I couldn't sync it with my work contacts (where all my contacts live) so THANK YOU to one of my coworkers, I transferred everything into Google Calendar and Contacts and now I have my schedule and contacts on the go. It wasn't without some manual intervention required, but at least I got the phone to do what I bought it for. Oh, and I got a great deal on it (assuming I remember to send in the rebate on time).
A week ago, I got my hair cut. And I mean CUT! I'd been thinking about going really short ever since my big cut last year, but Bill (and I) needed to ease into it a little bit. I took some pictures with my phone camera that will have to suffice. The first two are fuzzy because they are pictures of my reflection in the mirror the day I came home with the new do. The other two are "direct" shots taken other days.
Bill had day surgery this week (Wednesday), so I've been trying to be a good nurse, but not doing too well, I'm afraid. It's been a long time since I've had to do anything like that, and I've pretty much forgotten how. ;-) He's doing pretty well, though, independent guy that he is. He's still in some pain, but the meds are keeping that in check. All in all, he's being a good patient (now - he was being a little too independent the first day or two). He worked from home Thursday and Friday; I'm not sure if he'll work from home Monday or go into work. He'll probably still be on meds so I'd prefer he stay home, but it's his call. He commutes by bus so I don't have to worry about him driving, but he's been on the drowsy side. I can just see him falling asleep on the bus or something. He's certainly not as loopy as he was the first couple of days since he's decreased the dosage since then. :-)
This coming week I do my three workouts, and Thursday I'm going to a baseball game with my friend Joanne. She and I go to several of the Aquasox games together every year, and I'm really looking forward to it since I haven't seen her in forever. I think I've seen her since last baseball season, but I don't know that I could tell you for sure. We keep trying to get together for dinner, but her work schedule changes every week (ah, the joys of retail) so it's hard to pin her down.
We're still looking forward to our vacation to Minnepolis coming up in August. I'm going to be in internet withdrawl because Bill's parents have dial-up so I won't be able to Facebook or read and reply to email except through the Blackberry. Sure, that's what it's for, but it's laborious to type much on that little keyboard. So, don't be offended if you email me or send me a FB comment that week and I don't reply or say much back. It's nothing personal. ;-) Can you just see me trying to catch up when I get back? Yikes!
Well, I think that's about it for this update. I actually had news and pictures and everything! Are you impressed? ;-)
Blessings,
Kristin
Monday, June 29, 2009
Little bit of news
Hi, all!
Not too much new here, but I thought I'd pop in and say hi. :-)
June 23rd was the home opener for the Everett Aquasox, and we were there for the extra inning, the win, and the fireworks. Kind of late on a work night, but I would have been sleepy anyway the way I've felt lately. Then Saturday night we were back at the ball park witnessing another win (but in a regulation game and no fireworks).
Sunday I got together with a couple of friends and got four pages scrapbooked. I now have my pages done for our wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I should probably write some names on the pages for when I get senile and forget who my friends and family are in the pictures, though.
As I alluded to above, I've been really tired lately. I think I've been sleeping okay (I haven't been waking up and staying up or anything) and it seems no matter what time I get to bed, I'm still tired in the morning (and for most of the day). I hate to go back on the Diet Coke, but tea just isn't doing it (and it's been too hot at my desk for tea, especially today). Plus I have a bribe with myself that I'll drink two bottles of water before I have tea so I make an attempt at getting all my water in during the day that I'm supposed to, and that makes the morning pretty long because I'm just not in the mood to drink water today, thank you. There. I just drank 4 ounces of water. :-p Usually I'm okay drinking water - I'm just having a rebellion today for some reason. I don't want water, thank you! :-p Okay, I could have green tea, but then we have the hot liquid issue again. I guess I'll have a Diet Coke with lunch and see if that wakes me up. *sigh* I was doing so well, but now I've fallen back off the wagon this past week because of the sleepies.
I've still been working out my three times a week at Curves. My Wii Fit arrived last week (but I was busy every night) so maybe I'll have some time over the long weekend to unpack it and try it out. I hear from reviews that it's going to tell me I'm overweight. Hopefully it won't say "obese." ;-) I've heard mixed reviews and I got it for free using an "atta-girl" award I got from work (or a combination of awards, actually), so if I don't use it much, it's not like I spent a mint on it. But I think I'll use it. I hope. If I think it's going to work out well, there's a sports game out there that uses the balance board that comes with the Wii Fit that's gotten good reviews. But I want to wait and see how much I use this first. I think it'll be great for weekends or for in between workout days (assuming I don't have plans between workout days, which is pretty rare).
On the weight loss front, I've been flirting with 200 pounds now. I was 203 at last weigh-in, and I've lost a couple pounds in the last two weeks. I've had some bad eating days, though, so I don't know how much progress I would have made otherwise. Either way, I'm still hoping to be under 200 by my next weigh-in in a couple of weeks.
Tomorrow night I have one of those rare evenings where I get to go straight home and change into comfy clothes - I have nothing on the calendar. I love those evenings! They don't happen nearly enough. After that I have something going on every day and/or night until July 9. I don't know what I'll do with myself tomorrow night - I haven't felt much like sewing lately, so I don't know if that will work into the mix or not. I think a nap will probably be in order if I feel tomorrow anything like I feel today.
Well, that's the scoop! Have a great week, all!
Blessings,
Kristin
Not too much new here, but I thought I'd pop in and say hi. :-)
June 23rd was the home opener for the Everett Aquasox, and we were there for the extra inning, the win, and the fireworks. Kind of late on a work night, but I would have been sleepy anyway the way I've felt lately. Then Saturday night we were back at the ball park witnessing another win (but in a regulation game and no fireworks).
Sunday I got together with a couple of friends and got four pages scrapbooked. I now have my pages done for our wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I should probably write some names on the pages for when I get senile and forget who my friends and family are in the pictures, though.
As I alluded to above, I've been really tired lately. I think I've been sleeping okay (I haven't been waking up and staying up or anything) and it seems no matter what time I get to bed, I'm still tired in the morning (and for most of the day). I hate to go back on the Diet Coke, but tea just isn't doing it (and it's been too hot at my desk for tea, especially today). Plus I have a bribe with myself that I'll drink two bottles of water before I have tea so I make an attempt at getting all my water in during the day that I'm supposed to, and that makes the morning pretty long because I'm just not in the mood to drink water today, thank you. There. I just drank 4 ounces of water. :-p Usually I'm okay drinking water - I'm just having a rebellion today for some reason. I don't want water, thank you! :-p Okay, I could have green tea, but then we have the hot liquid issue again. I guess I'll have a Diet Coke with lunch and see if that wakes me up. *sigh* I was doing so well, but now I've fallen back off the wagon this past week because of the sleepies.
I've still been working out my three times a week at Curves. My Wii Fit arrived last week (but I was busy every night) so maybe I'll have some time over the long weekend to unpack it and try it out. I hear from reviews that it's going to tell me I'm overweight. Hopefully it won't say "obese." ;-) I've heard mixed reviews and I got it for free using an "atta-girl" award I got from work (or a combination of awards, actually), so if I don't use it much, it's not like I spent a mint on it. But I think I'll use it. I hope. If I think it's going to work out well, there's a sports game out there that uses the balance board that comes with the Wii Fit that's gotten good reviews. But I want to wait and see how much I use this first. I think it'll be great for weekends or for in between workout days (assuming I don't have plans between workout days, which is pretty rare).
On the weight loss front, I've been flirting with 200 pounds now. I was 203 at last weigh-in, and I've lost a couple pounds in the last two weeks. I've had some bad eating days, though, so I don't know how much progress I would have made otherwise. Either way, I'm still hoping to be under 200 by my next weigh-in in a couple of weeks.
Tomorrow night I have one of those rare evenings where I get to go straight home and change into comfy clothes - I have nothing on the calendar. I love those evenings! They don't happen nearly enough. After that I have something going on every day and/or night until July 9. I don't know what I'll do with myself tomorrow night - I haven't felt much like sewing lately, so I don't know if that will work into the mix or not. I think a nap will probably be in order if I feel tomorrow anything like I feel today.
Well, that's the scoop! Have a great week, all!
Blessings,
Kristin
Thursday, June 18, 2009
What's new in my zoo
Hi, all!
This blog post also serves as an experiment to see if my posts will feed onto Facebook. If you’re on Facebook and tempted to read, do so at your own risk (or if you’re having trouble sleeping). I don’t have that much excitement in my life. But that’s not an entirely bad thing. SOme kinds of excitement we can all do without. ;-)
Well, here I am, lunchtime at work after a self-proclaimed mental health day off yesterday. It was a good thing I had decided to take the day off, too - I didn’t go to bed until 1:30am. Bill and I had walked to our local bar for dinner Tuesday night, and their iced tea was really strong (someone had made it wrong). I was WIRED! After we got done there, we walked to the grocery store to pick up a couple things, and then walked back home. After Bill went to bed, I was playing games on the computer and doing nothing productive until 1am. I wasn’t even tired when I went to bed, but I didn’t want to pull an all-nighter, either. Life isn’t very exciting at 3am when you’re trying not to wake up someone who has to work in the morning (sucker!).
Wednesday morning I woke up when Bill got up for work, but had no trouble getting back to sleep. 8am rolled around and there was a cuddly kitty next to me, so I stayed in bed until about 8:30 and then started my day. I went to work out, and met the new manager of the club (she seems really nice) and so I talked to her for a few minutes (must have been the residual caffeine - I’m usually not that much of a chatter). When I got home, I played with my dumbbells a little and had the need to shower but not the energy. ;-) So I played on the computer for a bit and threw in a load of laundry. After the laundry was done in the washer, it was my turn to get washed.
Clean and refreshed, it was time to make some banana bread. Now I need to tell you that I honestly cannot remember the last time I had baked anything. I know it hasn’t been in the last 20 months. But, hey, that’s what recipes are for! I used to LOVE baking, and the bug bit me again. Too bad I’m concentrating on eating healthier (as are several people at work). I could see myself baking again sometime soon. Anyway, I tried out two banana bread recipes I found online that used part wheat flour and used applesauce instead of oil. One of them came out denser than the other, but they were both edible. ;-) The “winner” was good, but still was a little different than the bread I’m used to making. More banana might have helped. I had some in the freezer and some fresh, and I split that quantity between the two batches and don’t know how much I really had. Next time we’ll do more banana! (More cowbell! Never mind - inside joke. Laugh if you get it, though.) While the bread was baking, I was watching a video I got from the library that was due back today, and rescuing the laundry mentioned in paragraph three. I was so busy running between the computer, kitchen, and living room that I almost forgot to eat lunch. I know, what idiot forgets to eat lunch? But I didn’t forget altogether, so lunch happened in there somewhere during baking and video. All in all it was a good day off, and I want another one! PLEEZE?
Of all the things I did yesterday, one thing I didn’t have time to do was sew. I don’t know that I had the desire, either. Maybe some night during the next week or so. I missed my Girls Night Out sew night for June, so I didn’t have that time to work on my project, so I have to make up for it here somewhere. Speaking of sewing, last Saturday Mom and I went to an internet fabric store with a couple of our friends. Mom almost fell over! Shelves and shelves of fabric on two floors of a barn! I didn’t buy nearly as much as I wanted to but managed to find a few things. I stuck to my list pretty well, but Mom “made” me buy some panda fabric I didn’t have. ;-) She also bought a half yard of a fabric that looks fabulous with the panda fabrics I bought, but I didn’t notice it until we were home playing show and tell. So I’ll have to head to the website and get some of that once I decide how much I think I will need of a fabric that I have no idea how or when I’m going to use it. :-p I’m such a nut.
In other news, I’ve had a couple people mention recently that they’ve noticed I’ve lost weight, so that’s been nice. My weigh-in last Friday had me at 203 pounds (YAY!) for a 25 ound loss so far (YAY!) and by my August weigh-in I hope to be under 200 pounds. I know I was under 200 pounds in 2005, but I don’t know at what point I went above because I stopped weighing myself after I stopped working out back then. Main reason I didn’t weight myself? I didn’t have a battery for the scale to replace the battery that died because the scale used to be the cat’s favorite perch in the bathroom. :-p The scale is now in the hall closet and we go get it if we’re curious. I usually just weigh myself at the gym so the time of day, clothing, and scale are all consistent. I didn’t weigh yesterday since it was a different time of day, so I’ll probably weigh Friday and see if I’m making any progress this week. Monday I was still at the 203, but we’re not surprised because it was only 3 days from the last time I weighed and because I didn’t eat as well (or as little) as I could have over the weekend because we went to a brunch buffet on Sunday. Though I did pass up the pizza Saturday night because I wasn’t hungry, and we only had one other meal on Sunday night after going to the theatre. Baby steps. Oh, yeah, the theatre! We went to see Fiddler on the Roof. I had never seen it before, and I really enjoyed it (even if I did cry in public - something I hate doing). :-)
This weekend we’re headed north to
I think that’s about all the news from here. Still awake? ;-)
Blessings,
Kristin
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