Happy Saturday!

I am really in shock that I have already spent a good part of this weekend hunkered down in front of my computer working, but I have. I stayed up until 2 am last night and then worked today from about 11 am until now, 5 pm. But, it was time well-spent...I feel like I am in great shape for the week, and even better, in GREAT shape for when I go on vacation in two weeks. I'm one of those looney people that likes to have a spotlessly clean desk when I go on vacation, and when I go on vacation, I really am GONE...I take minimum one week off. Anything less, and I don't really feel like I have a break at all! And this WILL be a break. I'm hiding my cell phone and turning off my fax machine and my office phone. I'm not answering any calls. My boss will have my personal cell phone just in case, but she knows and values the importance of vacation so I know I'll only be hearing from her in the case of a dire emergency!

No, I don't like spending my Friday night and my Saturday working. Not at all. I skipped the gym last night because I fell asleep on the way over there and then I decided to skip it again today when I just looked at the clock, realized it's 5 pm and I haven't had anything to eat today other than egg whites, whole wheat toast and some hash browns. I don't even think I have anything to GIVE to a weight workout, let alone cardio!

But it's ok...I'm not stressed. I got on the scale this morning to see my lowest weight in a few weeks, which makes me happy, so clearly I've found my happy place where I can maintain. And I'm glad for that. I'm starting to feel more normal, that's for sure. Tomorrow morning, I'm there for back, biceps and cardio...no excuses and no letting it sit till later in the day.

I kept checking all day and the Saturday Slant was never posted, but considering how I'm new to it, there are tons of old memes that I can write about, so I decided to respond to last week's theme.

My favorite 80s culture moment is...

Considering that I was five years old when the 80s started and fifteen when they ended, this was a tough question to answer. The 1980s were my formative years! I hate to borrow one of the ideas that was posted under that meme on The Memes, but for me it really was when MTV first came out. I watched a LOT of videos when I was younger...probably too many. I remember Madonna's Borderline video was my first glimpse of Madonna (my hero!), I thought Cyndi Lauper's waffle thing was about the weirdest thing I had ever seen, I loved Michael Jackson's Thriller "movie" and all of the others, I just couldn't get enough of those videos!

And apparently neither could anyone else, because MTV sure was popular!

I'm off to shower and go out to dinner with my husband, and then I am determined to relax tonight...no working! I think if I put in a few hours tomorrow, I'll be all set and totally caught up from my little "slacker" state earlier this week. *grin*

The Friday Five!

I am SO glad it's Friday! I don't know why though...I'm going to end up having to work this weekend. This week, while starting out slow, went to hell in a handbasket in a hurry.

You know, it's interesting that clothing and wardrobe is the subject matter for today. One of the best things about losing 70 lbs was being able to start completely over with clothing. I didn't throw everything out at once, of course, but it was a process over about a year. I started by replacing my business pants, jeans and t-shirts, and then slowly moved on to dressier clothes, and then underwear, bras and socks, and even SHOES by the end! Who knew that you could gain weight in your feet? I actually went from a size 11 to a size 10. (Yup, I'm a Sasquatch!) I still have a lot of my old t-shirts hanging around the house to hang out in, but I had to cut a lot of the bottoms off to make them short enough to where they didn't feel like a dress.

1) Of everything in your wardrobe what do you feel the most comfortable wearing? Why?

I am the most comfortable in sweats around the house, no question. I love sweatpants and sweatshirts (probably because they hide and that's what I've been used to doing for so long) and I would live in them if I could. I just feel so warm and comfortable in them and nothing feels better than a freshly-washed sweatshirt out of the dryer. I also really like wearing jeans and fitted shirts and feel the most comfortable in that when I go out.

2) How would you describe your style?

In a word? Boring. I am probably the most conservative dresser that I know. Everything in my wardrobe is a solid. Solid t-shirts, solid knit tops, solid long-sleeved tops, jeans, khakis, black slacks, white capris...all solid. I do have some striped racerback tank tops, and two Hawaiian button-downs, but that's about it. I won't wear stripes because I feel like vertical stripes look weird, I won't wear horizontal because they make me look fat, and I downright refuse to wear anything with a small floral print because that's what all my "fat girl" shirts were and I just won't wear that. So, I choose to really dress understated and just accessorize. Right now, I'm wearing black pants, a light blue scoop-neck t-shirt and black boots. See? Boring. One of the things that I always thought I would do when I lost all my weight was to wear all the cute trendy clothes that I couldn't wear when I was heavy, but only my body changed...not what I like. And what I like is solid basic classic stuff. I always think stuff looks cute on other people, but then I'll try it on and just feel like a dork.

3) How many pairs of shoes do you own and do you wear them all?

Let's see. Two pairs of boots, two pairs of running shoes, two pairs of strappy black heels, one pair of heeled flip-flops, two pairs of leather slides, four pairs of beaded sparkly flip-flops, one pair of rope sandals (which give me rope burns), two pairs of Lucite heels with crystals (one platform, one regular) that I had bought for my competitions, a pair of Birkenstocks, two pairs of heavy-duty work boots for fires, and two pairs of leather work shoes (like Oxfords) with rubber soles. Total=21. I do wear them all from time to time, but the ones that I wear the most are my boots, my Timberland work boots (for fires), and my running shoes. I love Nike. I don't wear my Lucite princess shoes, though...haven't slipped them on since my last posing class.

4) Where do you buy most of your clothes?

I buy almost everything I wear at Old Navy or Kohl's. I have bought one pair of pants at Chico's (a pair of sage green corduroys), a few shirts at Banana Republic, and a few things at the Gap, but for the most part I stick to Old Navy and Kohl's because it's cheap, I can dry my clothes in the dryer, and not sweat whether or not it's going to shrink. Plus, all the stuff at Old Navy is just so darn cute, I can't stand it!

5) What was the last piece of clothing you bought?

I'm fairly sure that the last thing I purchased was a bunch of t-shirts at Lady Footlocker. They were having one of those 5/$10 sales so I bought five v-necked t-shirts to wear around the house, and I also found two UNC shirts on sale which were great...one was navy blue with royal blue lettering and the other was heather gray with pink lettering. I think I need to wear that heather gray one this weekend actually...I just realized I haven't worn it yet!

I can't wait to settle in tonight with a cup of tea after I hit the gym and read everyone else's blogs and see what they say about what they wear! Clothing has really started to be one of my favorite things...of course, now that I actually care about how I look in them. I used to hate shopping, but now I love it. I even have (I can't believe I'm admitting this) my closet organized by color. I didn't even realize until I organized it that I had a shirt in every color. You open my closet and you see a rainbow of shirt colors! But organizing your closet that way only makes the most sense...it makes it so much easier to decide what to wear each day, that's for sure.

TGIF!

*yawn*

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to watch Red Dragon last night while I did my nails and waited for them to dry. This movie did not even start until midnight. Yeah. That was a good idea! But at least my nails had the opportunity to dry thoroughly and now they look good. I can't seem to understand that mystery...how is it that my nails will dry completely and then I'll go to sleep and still wake up with marks on them from the bedding? I just can't understand it. But I'm going to start using a top coat on them, so hopefully that'll help prolong the life of my enamel. Anyway. I love those Hannibal Lecter movies...can't quite explain it. And the books are excellent, if you like horror stories.  I actually dug out a couple of them last night to loan to a friend...coincidentally, I could not find my copy of Red Dragon. Only Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal.

I did not stitch last night. Occasionally I'll have a night (like last night) where I just feel kind of restless and don't really feel like sitting still. Plus, by the time I was finished eating and puttering around the house, it was 11,  and I really wanted to manicure my nails. So, no stitching. But there's plenty of time for stitching this weekend.

Today I am going to my claims office to work for the day since I stayed home the last two entire days, and I'm kind of looking forward to it considering that I have not left the house all week this week except to go to the gym. It'll be nice to actually socialize with people. On the other hand, I'm not looking forward to going because it means I'll actually have to talk to the other supervisors in person. Yesterday was a tough day for assignments, and considering that we got yet another storm that rolled through Dallas last night, I don't expect today to be much better. The only adjuster on my team that takes storm claims yesterday normally only gets four, and I was forced to give him eleven yesterday, which just pained me the entire time.  I've already given him two this morning and I hated to even make the call!

The one bright spot of today is that one of my friends (who is also my coworker) is going to come up to the office and we're going to go try a new sushi place that is close to my office. I haven't had sushi in a while. In a way, it kind of still feels like a cheat food even though it's really not...avocado is a good fat, white rice (while not as good as brown rice) is not a horrible carb, and well, you can't beat fish for protein. Anyway, I'm looking forward to that, especially since today will be my one day out all week!
 
Plans for the weekend...gym tonight (since I played hooky Wednesday) for back, biceps and cardio and stitching, and tomorrow I plan to have "date night" with my husband. I think we're going to hit Jack Astor's since my husband says it's pretty tasty! Maybe, just maybe, we'll be inspired to go see a movie...we maybe see two movies tops a year in the theater. Just not big theater people. I would so much prefer to see a movie in the calm and quiet of my home, where I can pause the movie as much as I want to use the facilities, not to mention that you can't stitch in the theater! But we'll see...maybe we'll be in the mood to see Spiderman 2. Sunday is just our errand day...chores, laundry, grocery shopping, and of course, stitching.
 
More later...the Friday Five still to come!

Thursday's Tattle

Good morning to all, and let me just say how crazy this morning has been already! As I've stated already, I've been slated to work for my boss this week while she's on vacation, and due to the storm that rolled through this area last night, we had tons of claims to assign this morning when I woke up. It's going to be a busy day! Not much to report otherwise...I skipped going to the gym last night because of the storm (which means I'll lift on Friday, no big deal) and stitched on the Precious Moments' Noah's Ark for a while last night, and that was pretty much my night. I wish I had had time to give myself a manicure, but hey, such is life. I'm hoping I'll have a few minutes today to get to it, but we'll see.
 
The meme for Thursday is how I will start out my morning! It's called "Thursday's Tattle". I don't have a button yet to get to this meme...I'm still waiting for the list's administrator to email it to me. I'm waiting patiently, because it is a really cute button. You won't miss it when I do get it posted...it's animated and just adorable!
 
Today's meme deals with lawns...something (as you will see) that I don't give much thought to!
 
Do you have a seeded or sod lawn?
 
Quite honestly, I have NO idea. Our house was built in 1979, and was part of a development that was all built at once, so if I had to guess and use my adjuster's knowledge of building and contractors, I would say that in all likelihood, it is probably a seeded lawn as I think all the houses on my street were built at the same time and seeding is cheaper than sod. But I don't know for sure.
 
Who mows the lawn?
 
My husband, thankfully.
 
Do you like to mow the lawn?
 
I am kind of embarrassed to admit that I don't know how to operate a lawnmower. I've never mowed a lawn. Ever! It involves a fear of running over my feet.
 
Is your lawn big or small?
 
Small. I think our total land is half an acre and our house is 1,717 square feet, so it's small. It's a good sized area though for our dogs!
 
Is your lawn mower self propelled?
 
No, it's a push mower, which is part of the reason why my husband hates mowing the lawn, but it's not a big enough lawn to justify a riding mower!
 
Thanks for reading and visiting and come back soon!

My new Dooney to be...

Anyone that knows me in person knows how proud I am of my Dooney and Bourke purse. It's the first purse I've had that cost more than $20 and I take really special care of it. I have the It barrel bag in periwinkle.
 
But...I really want this one too and have ever since I saw the pictures of it coming! This is the Hearts line...I want it either in black or raspberry. I'm becoming a purse hound...I think my husband is going to concede defeat and let me get it in a few months! 
  
 
 
Isn't it just too cute for WORDS!? And then I'll have two! Which will be good, because I'm already putting a hurting on the periwinkle It bag despire my efforts to take such good care of it.

Wednesday Matinee

Okay, so I'm a self-admitted dork.
 
I have been playing with this blog yet again ALL DAY and checking out all the memes that are out there. Whew. There definitely is no shortage of stuff to give you ideas to write about in your blog, that's for sure! I really like the idea about writing in my blog every day, and I love the idea of having a meme every day, so down below, you'll see I've linked to a bunch of daily memes...one for each day of the week. My thought is that this will become more than just a "well, this is what I ate today, this is what I stitched on today, this is the body part I trained at the gym today". While I know that is interesting to some, it'll be probably MORE interesting and more fun if there was other stuff to read about too...plus a lot of these questions I'm finding are making me think! So we'll see how this goes...I don't have a whole lot of time, and of course, my OCD nature is to really get me interested in something to begin with and then it kinda dies off, so I don't know how long this will last but we'll see!
 
I'm just going to start today...with Wednesday's Matinee. I love movies. I LOVE THEM! I have a million of them on VHS and DVD and I'm always turning them on when I'm stitching. I just really love a lot of movies and consider movies one of my hobbies. So, on with the meme!

(whisper) I see dead critics...
 
1. What's your favorite suspense movie?
 
I love the movie Seven. You know, the one with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman? The first time I saw that was my last year in college, and it was just incredible. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! I don't ever remember a movie affecting me like that one did.
 
2. Do you lose sleep on good horror / suspense movies?
 
Only twice. Once was after the same movie! I made the dumb mistake of watching that movie after I got off work at night around 1 am and when the movie ended at 3 am, I couldn't fall asleep for nothing. I finally had to take a Unisom to help me calm down, I was that jittery! The other time was when I was in high school and we watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre at a party. It really scared the socks off me and I had a lot of trouble sleeping not only that night but a few nights after as well.
 
3. Would you make a pact with the devil to save yourself or those you love?
 
Okay, that's a weird question. Of course, no one knows what's going to happen until they are in that given situation, but I would have to say no because of my belief in God and my belief that God has a plan for us all.

An even bigger yawn!

Why in the world am I so tired? I just can not figure it out. I've been averaging about 7-8 hours of sleep per night, which I think is a fair amount, and it's not like I've been running ragged the last five days or so. Last week, yes, but I've had more than enough time to catch up from it. I did start taking my multivitamin and my calcium again this week, and while I know it's too soon to have kicked in, I just can't figure out why I feel so exhausted and weak all the time. I dragged my butt out of bed this morning at 7:50 to come check assignments for my boss and call one of our trainers to tell him I couldn't make it to a 9 am continuing ed class, and then as soon as I hung up and confirmed that there were no new assignments, I crawled right back into bed, and probably would still be there right now if someone hadn't called me at 9:20.
 
Yesterday was not a bad day, except not very productive since I spent a good part of the day playing with this blog and getting a global Ez account set up, which was tricky. I did make it to the gym for shoulders, abs and 30 minutes incline walking on the treadmill, so that was good. My friend that I work out with thinks I'm nuts, but I said last night that there was slowly going to come a point where I didn't feel comfortable working out in my sports bra and shorts anymore. I just feel like a layer of fat is starting to cover my midsection. I'm trying to not think that way, but it doesn't help when I see all these girls at the gym with lean tight torsos...like I used to have when I was at the most depleted point of my precomp prep...and I want it back again so badly. But then when I think about what I had to do and how I had to suffer to get to that point, I shake my head and say that it's not worth it. I have to accept my body for the way that it is. My weight is up a little bit...only 2 lbs...and I'm sure it's probably from the heavy lifting I did last night and the raw cookie dough I cheated with a bit on Monday night. I can now shoulder press with 75#...I was so pleased.
 
I did work on In The Arms of An Angel last night for about 2 1/2 hours while I watched She's Having a Baby. I'd never seen that movie before...it was pretty good, albeit a little slow. The scene at the end where he's waiting to find out if she and the baby are okay was very touching. Kind of made me want to have a baby for about....oh, five seconds! The stitching went well, although I am struck with a very strong sense of deja vu over it all...it reminds me a lot of Firefly Fairies. It uses 150V #4 braid for the gold sparkles to make the brocade, same as Firefly Fairies, the symbol is even the same as Firefly Fairies (a solid #), and the texturing and shading is also very similar, ie, using a lot of confetti to create a subtle shading effect.
 
My boss told me last night at our final call of the evening before she went on vacation that I could work from home this week and didn't have to come in, which was quite a shocker to me. I had assumed that I would have to go into our office. Now that I don't, I feel like I have a nice quiet office to stay in and it's wonderful. She did tell me that I should at least show my face a little bit around the office, but somehow I just don't wanna...maybe I'll go in tomorrow. Today I'd kind of like to stay here and just not see anyone in person.
 
Anyway, that's all that's going on with me, which isn't much. What an exciting life I lead.

Friday Five

I could probably go back and answer ALL those questions on that Friday Five list, but I do need to get some work done at some point this week, so I'm just going to do last week's and then I'll continue on this week.
 
1) Who was your favorite band/musician when you were younger?
 
Hands-down, Madonna.
 
2) Why?
 
Like every teenager of the 80s and 90s, I thought that she was just about the coolest thing ever. I wanted to be her, dress like her, dance like her, look like her. One year for Halloween I was a punk rocker and I dressed up just like her! I had the bracelets and the socks and everything. And I LOVED her music.
 
3) Are they still your favorite/one of your favorites?
 
While I still really admire her and respect her for doing exactly what she wants when she wants to do it, I'm not really a fan of her recent stuff. Some of it, yes...I loved that song from Austin Powers and the remake of Miss American Pie, but some of her stuff is a little too eclectic for me. I'm pretty mainstream!
 
4) What is your favorite of their songs?
 
Oh, my....we don't have all day. Pretty much I love everything on The Immaculate Collection, but my favorite song of hers is Like A Prayer. I just love that song! And nope, the video didn't bother me a bit.
 
5) Are there any specific lyrics you hold dear?
 
I always liked this portion of Material Girl:
 
Boys may come and boys may go
And that's all right you see
Experience has made me rich
And now they're after me
 
Kind of one of those things...I wish I knew then what I knew now? I remember getting SO upset when I was younger over boys and if I had KNOWN then that there is a big ocean out there, I think I would have let myself enjoy my youth a lot more.

More about Moira...

I borrowed this from Lissa's blog, who borrowed it from Annette's, and so on.... 

Act your age? Probably much more than I should.
Born on what day of the week? Wednesday
Chore you hate? Cleaning out the litter boxes.
Dad's name? Daniel
Essential makeup item? Lip gloss
Favorite actor? Brad Pitt
Gold or silver? silver
Hometown?  Winston-Salem, NC
Instruments you play? Clarinet and piano
Job? Insurance adjuster
Kids? Two Labradors and three cats
Living arrangements? Married
Mom's name? Christine
Need? A way to turn a 24 hour day into a 40 hour day!
Overnight hospital stays? Umbilical hernia and oral cyst
Phobias? Sharks and small confined spaces
Quote you like? "You're on a need to know basis and you don't need to know!"
Religious affiliation? Catholic
Siblings? One sister who is about three years younger
Time you wake up? Between 8 and 9 am
Unique talent? I speak Spanish
Worst habit? Fingernail biting
X-rays you've had? Dental and one CAT scan
Yummy food you make? Spinach and artichoke dip, cheesecake (any flavor) and just about any dessert you can think of
Zodiac Sign? Taurus

Everything you always wanted to know about me and stitching!

Okay, maybe not!
 
Here are the answers to the questions from Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week. This will pretty much bring me up to date and I can start again next week:
 
1) Which project (finished or in progress) are you most proud of? Explain why.
 
Good question. I am the most proud of Camelot Sampler by Teresa Wentzler. You can see a picture of the framed piece on my webpage. This was the first Teresa Wentzler piece that I attempted, it was the first piece over-two, and was far and away the most complicated piece that I had done up until that point or really, have done to date. I added Kreiniks to a lot of the over-one sections and made a lot of personal little changes to really make it special. Plus, my framer did the "baseball diamond" style of framing, which he commented was really unique and something that he had not done often.  And...there is a funny story about it as well. When I started Camelot Sampler back in 1998, I actually started stitching on it the wrong way...I had the fabric positioned incorrectly on my Q-snaps, and my husband came in the room and said, "Shouldn't it be going the other way?" He still says to date he's never seen me that angry over my stitching! I am surprised that I didn't just chuck the thing in the corner, but I didn't...I painstakinly frogged ALL the over-one lettering in the sword block and started over.
 
2) How do you choose a project? What “calls” to you the most?
 
Definitely the colors. I can't really explain it, but it has to be something very colorful and striking...something that I can really see myself being excited about for years, since that's how long it takes me to stitch most of my pieces. It also has to be a subject matter that I really like. As a general rule, I dislike stitching buildings quite a bit...I make exception for castles, but I remember I had to do this firehouse scene in a round robin a few years back from Stoney Creek's Cobblestone Village and it was sheer torture! I hated it. I just find houses and buildings very boring. But I really love colorful dragons, female fantastical figures, castle scenes, angels, samplers, etcetera. The more color and the higher the detail, the better!
 
3) Would you consider yourself ‘addicted to stitching’? Why or why not?
 
Several years ago, I would have said yes without even hesitating. There was a time when I lived, breathed and ate stitching...it was all I thought about and all I wanted to do. I remember I would take vacation time off JUST to spend the day in front of the television stitching. It was highly addictive and obsessive. Now, I would not say that I am addicted to stitching. I still love it and I'm very passionate about it and I love talking about it, but I have realized that there are other things in my life that require just as much attention.
 
4) What are your favourite cross stitching websites and why?
 
Well, obviously I love mine. It's the only place in the world where I can look at ALL of my works in progress on one screen, and that's pretty cool. I really enjoy posting on all the bulletin boards and sharing my works in progress and talking about stitching, especially rotation, which I attribute wholeheartedly to my success at stitching the last five years. I love surfing the sites for Teresa Wentzler, Mirabilia and Told In A Garden, which is why I have all those links set up in my sidebar. I also enjoy looking at Donna Vermillion Giampa's website (note to self to add her link to my page!) because it is so colorful with great music! I also like looking at the Wichelt and Kreinik websites because it's the best source for researching fabric and fibers that I might not have. I have chosen many fabrics for my various projects just based on what I've found on the Wichelt site.
 
Okay, that's it for now! Stay tuned and happy stitching!

Yawwwwwwnnnnn....

Very tired this morning! But there's a reason for that and you are looking at it! I stayed up until 2 am last night customizing and setting up my blog...and realizing that I am a total dork when it comes to knowing html. A BIG thank you to my pals Annette and Kevin for the time you spent with me last night online patiently helping me decipher the html of my template and getting this page set up JUST the way I want it.
 
Now. Let the blogging begin.
 
I think I am really going to like this a lot. There are so many neat things that you can do! I even like setting the I-mood up there that you see, which I plan to set every time I post to my blog. It only takes a second. I added the buttons for the stitching and Friday Five questions (thanks again, Annette) and hopefully that'll help those reading get to know me a little bit better about stitching and other things. I plan on posting some answers to those questions a little later today and getting some interesting stuff going on in here. Moira's Little World is just that...it's my little world! I don't do much overall...most days consist of long hours working at my job (I'm an insurance adjuster specializing in residential fires), a couple of hours at the gym each night pumping iron and whatever shreds of time I have left at night are spent relaxing on the couch with one of my fifty projects. I don't have kids. My kids are my Labradors Katie and Simon and my cats Gabrielle, Moira and Taylor.
 
Being online for such a long time last night made me remember how connected I once was to the stitching community...and how I really withdrew when I started my quest to lose weight in early 2003. I didn't mean to...but it just kind of happened. I started connecting more with people interested in weight loss and body building, and not stitching as much, and...well, you know how that goes. I really want to not only reconnect with my old friends, but really make some new ones, and it does seem that there is a very tight community out there for stitching bloggers. I'm totally with that...I want in! I promise, for anyone reading this, I'm going to keep this entertaining and interesting so you will come back.
 
And to kick that off for interesting, I'm going to confess something here, in my private blog, that I haven't had the courage to post on any stitching sites anywhere or tell anyone other than two close stitching friends. I don't know why I'm embarrassed about it, but I am, sort of, even though it explains a lot about me. As you can see from clicking on my Body For Life transformation, I underwent a HUGE physical transformation last year. Total weight lost was 67 pounds, but I estimate once you factor in the gain of muscle, it was more like a 70 pound loss. I went from a tight size 22 to a size 10, where I live currently. But that's not the confession. The confession is that as a result of trying to diet down and train for a physique competition (note I said trying...I didn't make it, which is part of the problem for me in my head), I developed obsessive compulsive disorder and about the worst case of self-esteem and distorted body image that my therapist has seen in a while. In layman's terms, basically I obsess about everything I put in my mouth making me fat and no matter what, I see fat in the mirror and wake up every morning with a sense of terror that I won't be able to fit into my new clothes. It's a disturbing way to live, and I'm working on it, but I thought I needed to go ahead and air that right now as it will shed a lot of light into my ramblings about food, weight, working out, etcetera. I'm not looking for sympathy, as I know that there are a lot of people that would kill to have lost the weight that I have, and I feel so silly sometimes whining about feeling fat in a size 10. A year and a half ago, I would have KILLED to be in the size that I'm in right now, but yet it's not good enough, and I know why...because I still have the image of a figure competitor in my mind as the "perfect body" and well....once you see your six-pack, it's hard to move back to a smooth and soft midsection. *sigh*
 
Anyway. Like I said, I'm working on it. Annette told me that blogging is therapeutic, so maybe this is what I need to get past this stage in my life. I know OCD is a lot better than what it could have been...my therapist said that she is surprised that I didn't end up with a serious eating disorder or depression, and that it is good that I came in when I did. I'm trying to change my playmates a bit and step away from my competitor friends. They are good people and I love them for who they are, but they can make me feel very bad about myself sometimes without even knowing that they are doing it. I have lots of stitching friends, both online and offline, friends at work, and stitching has always been a great way for me to take time to think about what's going on in my life. It will be again. And I really want to make more stitching friends through blogging and getting more involved on the bulletin boards now that this quest to slim down is over. I have to focus on the fact that my eating habits are about a million times more healthy than they were a year and a half ago, my blood pressure and cholesterol levels are way down, and my body fat level is significantly lower than what it once was...I was in the high 30s and now I'm somewhere around 21-22% body fat, which is a perfectly respectable place to live. I just need to get the image of my chiseled six pack out of my head. It still exists, but women just weren't meant to maintain that low of a body fat percentage and that's the bottom line.
 
Okay, enough of that...for now.
 
Yesterday morning at about 8:15 am I got a call from my boss telling me that she would take me off fires and claims this whole week...if I would just sit in for her Wednesday through Friday while she goes on vacation to Chicago. I was thrilled at the prospect...it has been SO long since I've gotten any time off claims and this is going to be a great week, at least I hope so. I was fairly productive yesterday, I hope to be so again today, and while I'll be doing "boss" stuff the next three days, just having the mental time off anything new is going to be just wonderful. And, since I won't be out in the field climbing roofs or digging through fire debris in the heat, there is no excuse for me not going to the gym. Last week I begged off two days in a row because I was just so tired, and this week there can be none of that! I'm there, every night!
 
I didn't get to stitch last night as I had hoped because I got sucked into the vacuumous blogging world, but I hope tonight to find a few hours to work on In the Arms of An Angel. I've also got my Precious Moments Noah's Ark up on Q-snaps as well. One of my new things that I started doing with this new 50-project rotation was to have two projects going at all times so that way I wasn't locked into one all the time. I just pick which one out of the two that I work on each night, with the only provision being that I have to finish the ten hours on the one that is first in the rotation. Right now I have three hours on the PM Ark and 45 minutes on the angel piece, so as long as I keep working a little at a time on that PM Ark and get it done before the angel piece, I'm in good shape. I really don't know why I started that PM ark now...it's starting to be one of those pieces that I really wish I hadn't started, but at the time seemed like a good idea. At this point though, five years after starting it and 160 hours in, it's really too late to just toss it in the UFO pile. I did that with my baby afghan, and it is going to come back into my rotation at some point. I don't like having UFOs...they take up space in my tiny cross-stitch closet! And with a 50-piece rotation, I really will only have to work on my projects a few times a year. Working on the PM ark a few times a year will not kill me or make me hate stitching!
 
I suppose I better go walk the troops now and start being productive at my work for today. But I will be back later to post some more interesting stuff to read, namely the answers to some of those questions that I referred to! Thank you for stopping by, and if I haven't terrified you confessing my OCD, I hope you will come back soon.

The end to the weekend....

I feel like total fluff today. Granted, it's the weekend and I guess that's how I should feel, but I opted not to go work out tonight like I should have and stayed home to get laundry done and stitch instead. I'm glad I did, because now I'm starting to feel like I'm more rested and "together" for the week, but I can't help but look at my bod and just feel the fat coming back, especially right around my hips. Blah.
 
Even though my hubby thinks I'm NUTS!
 
I started a new project tonight...In the Arms of An Angel by MLI. I have always loved that piece, and starting it tonight made me remember how much fun I had selecting the perfect shade of green to stitch it on. How fun.
 
Tomorrow's a Monday...my car is clean, I put a CD visor out there with twenty CDs to keep me busy, and my laundry is done.

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my blog!
 
I never thought that I would be the kind of person to ever set up a blog, and never thought that I'd have the time to do it, but the more and more I read other's blogs, the more I think it'd be really cool to have one of my own. I hear from so many people that I am an inspiration on stitching and on weight loss, and I guess maybe I thought some would have an interest out there in reading about me, thoughts I have, and things that I do every day? I don't know...maybe I'm wrong on that.
 
A little about me...I'm 29 years old, I live in Dallas, Texas, and I'm an insurance adjuster, specializing in residential fire claims. I live with my husband, two Labs, three cats and my messy house. I am a prolific stitcher. I also lift weights regularly. I lost 70 lbs between December 2002 and May 2004. I went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have been married for five years. Hm. That's the thumbnail view of me!
 
Moira is my cat, and my stitching handle, so I thought (since most people reading this will be stitchers) that I would keep the name in my title so people could recognize it easily.
 
Welcome to my world and please come back and visit me often!