Sunday, March 30, 2008

Color me Cheap!

Well maybe not cheap, but at least very frugal.

Yesterday my mom and I went shopping at Goodwill. It was their 50% sale. I wanted to go because my jeans are looking a little too baggy and I just refuse to pay $20-$30 for new jeans. I just can't make myself do it. (I'd rather spend the money on fabric or yarn) The few times that I have purchased brand new jeans, it always from the clearance rack and hopefully with an extra 15% or 20% off coupon like they have at Kohls or the Avenue.

I found 3 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of capri's, 1 shirt, 1 scrub pants, a black leather coat, a new shower curtain and 2 new green curtains for the sewing room. The jeans/capri were only $3.50 each, the shirt and the scrubs were $3 each, the coat was $25, the shower curtain was $4.50 and the curtains were $2.50 each. All in all, I think I got some great deals.

Mom found the leather coat for herself, but it was too small. But since I liked it I got it instead. However she made me promise that if she loses 30lbs by Thanksgiving, that I will let her buy it back. I think I can handle that. I meant to let her take my "The Cardio-Free Diet" book home, but by the time we got back to my house we were so tired we just unpacked and she headed home.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Long Needed Haircut

I have been needing a haircut for so long now. I finally broke down and made the appointment on Tuesday thinking I probably couldn't get in until next week or later. Luckily they had an opening last night. YEAH!!

There is this movie from the 90's named Switch. In the movie the sleazy guy actor is killed by his 3 girlfriends, but is given a second chance and re-incarnated as a women (actress Ellen Barkin). Anyway, there is this seen were Ellen Barkin grips the hair on her head and says "I can't think with all this hair." That's exactly how I was feeling. Not that my hair was super long to begin with. It was about chin length and sort of cut in a bob style. My hair is really baby fine and the longer it gets the more limp and lifeless it starts looking.

So here are the photos of my new hair cut. Well not "new" as I have had this style before. But let me tell you, I was so ready to get sheared!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter!


Hope everyone out there has a nice Easter. SW Michigan got between 4 inches of snow where I live and 12 inches of snow where my Mom/Dad lives. We live 30 minutes apart. Go figure!

Anyway, hope you all enjoy the day and have lots of yummy food.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Weather Woes

Rain Rain Go Away
Come Back Another Day.

If there are more lines to that little rhyme, I have no idea. I just want it to be true. We had a great sunshine filled weekend, but now the dark skies are back. It has made into a grump today.

UGG!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Old Friends - Again

Last month I was talking about looking up old friends that I hadn't talked to in a couple of years. I had heard back from Lisa, but not Beth. I have been worried about her. The last time I spoke to her, about 2 years ago, she was going through a rough time.

Well, I finally heard back from her. Actually, she replied back 2 weeks ago, but the stupid junk filter at work ate her message. Today, just for the heck of it, I thought I would look through it. Normally it just has ED adds for Cialis or Viagra and "Make your Girlfriend so happy with bigger...." adds. I get so tired of those. Anyway, as I'm scrolling through the adds, I came across her email.

I was so glad to hear from her. While somethings have gotten better, others are still rocky. One of the things she was telling me about is that her boyfriend is about 10 years younger than she is. She sound a little worried about it. I told her "who cares what his age is if he treats her and her kids right and that they care for each other." Enjoy the relationship you have.

Problems aside, I was really glad to hear from her. I got her phone number and will be calling her this weekend.

Beth if you read this, I have missed you and the kids.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Sock Progress

I got the cuff on Sock #1 of my Crosshatch Lace Socks done. Instead of starting the heel, I decided to set that aside on a pair of bamboo needles and start the cuff for Sock #2. Once I have the cuff done for that one, I will add #1 back onto the magic loop needles and see how successful I am at finishing them both at the same time.


Also, I got a copy of the Cul-de-Sac vest pattern from the fall 2003 Knitters Magazine that I have queued on my Ravelry page (moonlightserenad). I started working on the gage swatch at lunch, but I will have to frog it, because I didn't have the right size of needles with me. But I wanted to knit something, so I just when ahead an 'pretend' knitted. Just so those of my friends who aren't on Ravelry can see it, here is a picture of the one made by Michelle (alwayscastingon).

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Oldies but Goodies

Yesterday, I played lazy. I spent the morning re-reading a book that I have re-read several times before. It was Flowers in the Storm by Laura Kinsale. I really like this one. I have been re-reading a lot of my older books lately. I re-read the entire Diana Gabaldon Outlander series. All 6 books. Several historical romances by Julie Garwood and Catherine Coulter. I just don't seem to remember to stop at the library until I'm home, then I end up digging out an old book and not needing to stop until the next time I "forget."


Once I was finished the book I realized there was absolutely nothing on TV. I don't have cable or dish or whatever else it's called these days. I not home enough to watch enough TV to justify the cost. And even when I'm home, I usually reading or knitting or sewing. Yeah, there are times I would like it, but to me it's just not worth it. There are 8 local channels that I can get. On the weekends I usually watch a lot of PBS. All those craft and cooking shows. But this weekend they have their pledge drive going, and there just wasn't anything I was interested in. So I decided to watch some old movies. And what better way to watch old movies, than in the sewing room, where I can sew at the same time. Because let's face it, I've seen these movies mutliple times and although I may forget a few things, I do know what's going to happen. But even those old movies would be more interesting to listen to than the Kunf-Fu man David Caridean teach Ti-chi on PBS. I grabbed 4 movies off my shelf, thinking I would get to see 2, maybe 3 before I got tired of sewing. Wrong! I watched all 4 of them and was still sewing afterwards. I saw Matchmaker starring Jean Garofalo, Ladyhawke starring Michelle Pfiffer, Rutger Hauer, and Mathew Brodrick, Robin Hood starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, and Rob Roy starring Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange.

And to top it off, I got a lot done on my Lillibet's Garden Block of the Month quilt I that I started at a quilt retreat in Oct. 2006 and hadn't touched since. There are 8 blocks in this quilt. I had 4 of them done. As of this morning when I had to get ready for work, I had 7 done and all I have to do the the 8th block, is sew the 9 component blocks together and it will be done. All of the background sashing and background applique fabric has been cut too. I need to lay out all the blocks to see what color I want to add to the sashing pieces. If you click on the link, I'm talking about the beige squares that go around the 8 blocks. I still have to cut all the applique flowers also. I'm thinking I want to machine applique those instead of doing them by hand.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Before & After Photos

I really do not like to have my photo taken. I always end up with the forced smile look. But I had this photo taken with Jim Karas last October when I started the B100 Fit Club.And I had Clara take this photo of me today-30 lbs lighter.
I know I feel better and am in smaller cloths, but I don't see much of a difference in the photos. I think it might have to do with the distance; one is a close up and the other isn't. Maybe I'll try another photo soon.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Revelations!

Just wanted to let everyone know how the new job responsibilities are going. I am really liking working in purchasing. I still do most of my other stuff to, but I am having fun with this. I love learning new things and I get to get away from my desk (in the front office). And to top it off, I get to shop, shop, shop. Of course I don't know what half of the stuff I'm buying is.., but hey I'll learn eventually.

I think all of the extra walking from the front office to the purchasing office, to the back to count parts, back to the front because I forgot something and then back to purchasing for a bit before starting the rounds over has been really good for me. I say this, because I jumped on the scale on Friday (first time in a couple of weeks) and I am down a total of 30 lbs. NEVER did I think I would be able to cross the 30 lb barrier. YAHOO!! I went home Friday and tried on some older jeans I had stored in the basement. As we all know size is relative. Because different manufacturers make their sizes differently. Here is a great example. My size 16 Liz Clairborne jeans fit wonderfully. (Gonna wear them to work on Monday!!!) However the size 18 Chic jeans are still too tight. I mean I can get them on (and zipped!), but I wouldn't plan on trying to breath or God forbid I try to sit down or bend over. Would probably pass out. Then I went to Kohl's yesterday and tried on some stuff just to see how things were fitting. I didn't buy anything, (1) because I still have a few lbs to go in some areas and (2) I still have a bunch of cloths in the basement that I haven't tried on yet. But how great is this!!!

While I was out and about yesterday I was enjoying the weather too. God was the weather awesome!! The sun was shining and I ended up turning the heater in the car to low and opening the windows just a bit for some much needed fresh air. I went up to St. Joe because there was a quilt shop called the Silver Needle that is going out of business. One of the partners is moving to Florida. Anyway, they had had this deal that if you saved up $200 in receipts, you received $20 worth of free murchandise. I contacted the shop and asked if they would still honor that as I still had my receipts. They said yes, so... instant roadtrip. Well, I had $150 in receipts and my friend Patsy had just over $100 worth. She gave me hers and I got free $20 worth of fabric. I got a piece of green to go with some fabric I already had and 4 other pieces in fall colors. And I bought a pattern and plastic template for a 3-D star. Everything was 25% off and then I got $20 free. I still ended up spending $36, but I got a lot of fabric. So this morning I figured that since I bought more fabric, I should maybe clean/organize the sewing room, so that I can do some sewing. When I was done, I pulled down a block of the month UFO and finished sewing 1 block and got another all cut out. A very productive morning I think.