Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Weight Game and Garage/Yard Cleaning Time

The Weight Game:

The week after I gained 2 ounces, I lost 4 ounces. This past week, I lost a whopping 8 ounces. This all leads up to a grand total of 11.2 pounds. I'm happy I'm losing but it's driving me crazy that it's going so slow. I thought losing a pound a week would be slow but ounces???? UGH!

I know that I'm eating less and that's a definite plus. I'm eating mostly the right things. I guess it's those little treats that are doing me in. That, and the fact that I'm not exercising. I walked for about 10 minutes on Saturday and 30 minutes on Sunday. I thought that would lead to a better weigh in on Monday...NOT!

Oh well, I'm proud of my 11.2 pound loss. I need to focus on the positive. :)

Garage/Yard Cleaning Time:

I was given these two great metal shelves. I have a small patio so there isn't room for them to be side by side but I have one butted up against the other.

Here's the treasure inside the big one. All of our spray paint! LOVE this. I guess you can tell we're loyal to Rustoleum brand. :) Looking at this picture and seeing two little nozzle things sitting there, I realize that I need to contact Rustoleum to see if they sell replacements. Sometimes they just get clogged and there's almost a whole can of paint left. I then play the switching game...taking off a good nozzle from one color to put it on the one I'm using. The only problem with this game, is opening a can and there's no nozzle. Not a big problem but a little irritating when you've taken the can to your spray area and then have to walk back to get a nozzle...(like 10 steps but STILL). lol Matt gave me the great idea to save nozzles when the can is empty so we have a reserve.

Ignore the wax paper on the top shelf. These used to be my storage shelves at church and I guess I forgot to take this out. :)

Side view. They are lined up by finish...gloss and satin. There is one lonely semi-gloss off to the left side. The next shelf down is all the oddballs...plastic paint, clear coat, primer, etc.

And now to the bane of my existence...garage bins. My husband and I have a system in the garage...we each get half. Somehow, he manages to ooze over past his half. I have most everything in bins. At one time, I took stock of everything in the bins, wrote it down and numbered the bins. I had a little notebook with the bin numbers and list of items. I intended to put this all on my computer since I knew I would inevitably misplace the notebook. I got about half way into logging this info on my computer and got bored. Oh well, I still had the notebook. Over time, I shifted things, got rid of some stuff and that whole number business went out the window. I finally just got a sharpie and wrote (on the bin) what was in there. If I change it, I just cross it out and start again. I can always wipe it off with bleach if I run out of space. :)

Every year, I remove all the bins from my side and go through them. I toss out stuff that I realized I don't need or want. I sweep out the garage and put everything back in. Ah, I love it when it's all neat. Little by little, things get shifted or added. I get tired of undoing the stacks to get to the bin I need that may be at the bottom of the heap and I'll just leave it on the side. Matt might buy a couple of bags of potting soil and place them in the garage. Hubbys stuff oozes over more and before you know it, there's not much of a walk space to get to the back shelf. Then things just get put anywhere. So, the next year comes and I start all over again.

That time is now. Here are just some of the bins. See that clear one right behind the bright blue one? I was excited to see this one. It has enough new containers in there for my Christmas baking that I give as gifts!! Woo Hoo! I don't have to buy any this year. Well...until they go on clearance and I buy them for next year.

This is the inside look at the madness. The empty space is where all the bins in the previous pic sat. As you can see, I still have more to take out before I can even get to my shelf. This picture is also proof of the ooze from hubby's side. See that orange nosed rocket hanging from the top? That's the middle of the garage. As you can clearly see, the homemade (awesome) telescope, the towel covered welding thing a majiger is past the middle and on MY side. What you can't see is a pile of boxes and packing peanuts that sit behind the telescope. I'm telling you, one of my home improvement dreams is to gut this garage and have people come in and put drywall and peg board to make it all nice and bright looking. :)
This picture shows the overflow. I have about 3 different sets of craft drawers blocked by this IKEA bead frame that my son is supposed to put on Craigslist. The red Christmas looking bins hold my Goodwill treasures that are waiting for their transformations. I've forgotten most of what's in there. :/


Needless to say, I have A LOT of work ahead of me and here I am blogging about it instead of doing it! Ah well, that's life. Please God, no rain. :)




Monday, September 19, 2011

Link Parties!

Linking up to these great parties. Check out all the cute stuff that everyone's making. :)



Sunday, September 18, 2011

Crafting and Sewing go Hand in Hand


I should be taking a daily walk to get some exercise. I should be cleaning and/or organizing my house. But instead, I am making almost daily trips to Michael's, Jo-Ann's, Target and the Dollar Tree. I don't even have a lot of extra money but Oh! The possibilities!!! :)

I made my fall wreath today. The wreath form, ribbon and goldish leafy thing, I got from the Dollar Tree. The little berries and apple sticks, I got from another little dollar store in Brea, the wooden leaves and "give thanks" pumpkin I got from Jo-Ann's. Funny story about the yarn...I bought an autumn looking one at Jo-Ann's and when I showed it to my son, Matt, he went to his room and brought out all his yarn...he had the exact same one! Saved me a few bucks. :)
My sister and I are still on our fabric buying extravaganza! We've been to different Jo-Ann's and Wal-Marts and just keep finding stuff we HAVE to have. :D

My sister bought this fabric with the intention of making me a purse. I went
to her house for our monthly craft day to make fabric bracelets and she decided she would show me how to make the bag for myself. Here it is...all nice and finished. You can't see the strap but it's a black strap like the kind on backpacks. I forget what it's called.

Here is the (cool) inside. Love the contrast of the zebra (outside) and leopard print (inside). :) It has a simple velcro closure.
So, our monthly craft day turned into two craft days and here's another bag I made. We found some beautiful fabric at Wal-Mart with these flowers and leaves. I cut around one flower and it's leaves and sewed it onto the bag. I love color, so I added the fuschia button and made a fuschia strap.
So, that's what I've been up to and now, I need to go get ready to meet my sis at Jo-Ann's. The fleece is half off!!!

Happy crafting!!!!! :)




Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Struggle Continues

So, I went to my Weight Watchers meeting last night. I didn't lose. In fact, I gained 2 ounces. Most of me says that it's ok...it's only 2 ounces. But a small part of me feels like a failure.


Normally, after weigh in, I say it's my cheat time. Time to eat what I want...just for that evening. After leaving the meeting with a weight loss, I don't really want to cheat. I feel so good, that nothing tempts me. This time, I ate! All it took was 2 lousy ounces and I reverted back to bad habits. I had two taquitos with guacamole, beans and some chile cheese fries. Granted, I didn't eat as much as I would have prior to Weight Watchers but I felt terrible afterwards. I went to bed feeling sick, like I had a ton of bricks in my gut. Plus, my blood sugar was high!


After praying that I would be able to sleep and not be sick during the night, I told myself to remember this feeling. If I stop and think how it makes my body feel to eat junk, maybe I can stay away from it. And I don't mean that I'm never going to have fries again, but everything in moderation is a good plan.


Today is a new day. Today I will make it my goal to exercise and make healthy food choices. I can do it! :)

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Highs and Lows 9/5

Linking up here...


Here are my latest Highs and Lows...


Highs:

1. Had breakfast with a friend on Tuesday.

2. Met with another friend on Wednesday.

3. Made a scarf and tote bag for a friends birthday. It's always fun to craft. Especially when making gifts. :)

4. Had lunch and visit with friends so my husband could look over their old coins and see if there were any special (valuable) coins in the mix. My husbands nerdy like that. :)

5. I've lost 10 pounds with Weight Watchers over the last couple of weeks! Woo Hoo!

6. Due to the fact that I'm eating better, I've been able to cut back on some of my diabetes medicine. Yay!

7. Went crazy at this fabric store my sis took me to. Plus, she treated!! Even better. :)

Lows:

1. I've been sick! Bleh :/

2. Because of the sickness, I had to break down and use the inhaler my doctor prescribed to me in March. Hah! I never used it...asthma my ass! Well, I had to concede...and it helped. But it's still a low cuz I didn't want to take it (insert foot stomp here)!


So, even though I've been sick, the highs still outweighed the lows. Joy! :)



Weight Watching

My second weigh in was quite successful...I lost 4.8 pounds for a total of 10.2!! Yay!! I was even able to wear a pair of capri's today that didn't fit me at the beginning of summer. :)


For some reason, I felt like I didn't do as well as the first week...I felt I was eating too much of the wrong things. I was still within my points but maybe not making the best choices. That's the thing I'm loving about Weight Watchers... I can still eat and not feel deprived. I just have to choose...choose to eat less, choose brown rice instead of white, choose fruit instead of candy. And you know what?? I'm already cutting down on my diabetes medicine. That's one of the biggest pay offs for me. To take control of my health instead of letting bad decisions control me. :)


Blessings!