Finished Project!!

I have a finished crochet project!! Now to see if I can figure out pictures here. I've heard rumors that it can be...finicky. :-) It's a shrug from a DIYNetwork pattern with a shell pattern at the bottom and scallops on the cuffs and collar. You can't see the collar, though. Most of my spring/summer shirts are sleeveless and that's not acceptable at work. So I'm hoping that I can get away with wearing shrugs over them, using yarn I have on hand (de-stashing to boot! LOL) rather than having to go spend money on new clothes. I hate clothes shopping anyway. So...here we go...

I do like it, and I even like how I look in it, which is rare. :-) It's a very simple pattern, and now that I've done it once, I can also modify it in the future. BUT next on my list is one made from Lion Brand Homespun Yarn, the color is "Blueridge". Unfortunately it's a discontinues yarn, so here's hoping I have just enough to finish this project!! The pattern is here, and since I plan on making the sleeves a little shorter, I should be OK. I have 1 UFO (Un Finished Object) to get done this week (hopefully by tomorrow) then I will start this one. It seems odd making something for ME for a change!! LOL

As far as workouts, this week has been somewhat but not really slow. LOL Monday I raked leaves and bagged 'em for about an hour, then later on that evening took my dog for a 30 minute walk. She was happy, since she's been essentially stuck indoors all winter long. Yesterday...nada. :-( Well, lots of trips around the house with laundry, I suppose. :-) Today I had hoped to hit the gym, but I will take my dog for a walk again this afternoon. I have a meeting tonight at 5:15 and I don't pick up my DH until 8, so hopefully I can still squeeze some gym time in there! I plan on wearing my shrug (above) with one of my sleeveless tops to the meeting so I can get my supervisor's approval before I go too gung-ho. :-)

Thanks for checking in!!!

Heather

New Goals

OK...so I'm at work, and I've been thinking long and hard on some things. Like my job and it's frustrations. But it has a lot of positives, too. So I'm debating between keeping it or looking for another one. I'll let you know on that when I decide. :-)

The other thing I keep thinking about is my health. It's not the greatest, but thankfully it's not all that bad either. I have slightly elevated blood pressure and cholesterol at the moment. At my weight, it could be a LOT worse. I could have very high blood pressure, clogged arteries, diabetes and breathing issues. OK, so I have breathing issues when I'm done going up a flight of stairs, but they could be worse. ;-)

I'm setting a new goal of at least walking 1 mile per day and Monday when we go to the library again I'm going to check out a book on strength-training that I enjoyed a long time ago. I'm going to go to the Nordby Center as many days as possible, but on the days I can't go I'm going to either take my dog on a long walk or use a Walk Away The Pounds dvd. I will also go to the once-a-week yoga class at the Nordby Center. When I reach my first weight-loss goal of 14 pounds, I will purchase another dvd or book on fitness/health. That will be my reward. :-)

My poor husband, God bless him, tries to be supportive, and he IS! When we have pizza (the bane of my weight loss journey!) he always asks if I want 1 piece or 2. I always say 2. I should always say 1. Last night I "gave him permission" to trick me. When I say I want 2 pieces, to give me 1 piece and cut it in half!! LOL We cut (rather, HE cuts) pretty big pieces, a 16" pizza he cuts into 6 pieces, so you can see why 2 pieces is too much. :-) He found it amusing, and I have to give him credit, he WILL do it, too. One of the things I love about him!!

And for my birthday? (Which isn't until May, but it pays to plan ahead!) I want new tires for my bike. When we moved (over a year ago!!) I discovered that one of mine had rotted and since they're an odd size, I need to replace both. Then we see how well my dog does at staying nearby when I'm on a bike and not walking! I think she'll do well, though.

So what are your goals?

Heather

Yikes! A whole month??

No wonder Tanya was getting on my case!! I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last post!! (Thank you, Tanya, I need someone to get on my case!!)

I suppose it's because not much has been going on. I've made the decision to again work towards my goal of becoming a Medical Transcriptionist. It will be a few months until I can re-enroll in the course I had started, but I will continue to work on it in the interim with the materials I have. I've become increasingly frustrated with my job at the hospital. I love the people (generally) and I do like the position. But the switching back and forth from night shift to day shift is really taking its toll on not only myself and my health, but also on my family. I was also supposed to only be working every 3rd weekend, and so far I've been working 2-3 weekends a month instead. I don't mind filling in & helping out when needed, but I really feel like I've been taken advantage of. I did address this with the supervisor, and the reply was "well, we can't pull from the Business Office to cover, they have to get caught up on their work." Which I understand, I do, but this person should NOT be permitted to pull the stuff she has been (including changing the schedule without talking to me and changing other people's requests for time off that have been approved already!). I've arranged an interview with a local department store, we'll see if they can meet my needs. I want to stay part-time with benefits, and while working the occasional weekend is OK, I want most of them off. My son is only 14 once, and I've missed almost 1/2 this year already!! But also, I don't mind working more days per week for only a few hours a day during school hours. I really feel that I need to be more available to my son, and this job is just not cutting it like I thought it would.

BUT to keep this from totally becoming a rant post... :-) For crafting, I've almost completed a set of 6 placemats/coasters for a friend, I'm working on a shrug to wear to work (because I can't wear sleeveless tops, and all of my tops for summer are sleeveles!!), I've found my blue knifty knitter loom back so I can work on some projects on that again. Most cool: I got a candle making kit!! I haven't tried it yet, but I plan to next week. It came with wax, I also picked up a couple of scents to try, additional wax and colors. I can't wait to try it!! (Because I can never have too many hobbies!! LOL)

The kitties are all doing well, loving the new-to-us sectional sofa we got. It really opened up the house, giving them lots of room to run. The dog is loving the spring weather, as she gets to be outside again. She's probably really looking forward to walks too!! :-) My husband is doing great, he's been a non-smoker since Jan. 29th and I'm so proud of him!! My son is looking forward to summer so he can go swimming. We're lucky enough to have a pool across the street from our house, and it's free to residents. YAY!! :-)

Until next time...

Heather