Success at the scale today

Today's weigh in at Weight Watchers was a bit intimidating as last week I had gained 3.6 pounds while in Chicago for two days.  Yikes!  So I was starting out this week by being in the hole.


So, I have been very conscious of what I eat as well as working hard in the garden.  Add summer heat to that and the appetite at night is pretty much gone.  This all helped me achieve a loss of 6.6 pounds this week.  That's the most I've ever lost in one week since starting.


I received my key chain and first charm for attending for 16 weeks and a sticker for having lost 10% of my total weight since beginning.  Total loss since March 31 is 19.2 pounds and I'm itching to see the first official 20 gone.


My goal had been to be 160 by my 60th birthday (on July 31st) so that's not going to be happening.  But seeing 170 on the scale was a motivator for getting into the 160's and on my way to my new goal of 150.


It doesn't seem like much each week to lose only one pound but it's still a step forward towards better health and nicer clothes.  I bought my first size 14s today at Good Will to have some summer clothes at this size.  It's an affordable method of finding clothes to wear during the journey without spending a ton of money.


Today's chores involved going to the DMV to renew my eight year driver's license.  I fixed my hair as best I could and went crazy and put on some mascara and lipstick for the photo.  I had to laugh at the stats on my drivers license.  The weight shown has been 135 pounds for many years now.


Who knows? If I can continue at five pounds a month I will be able to achieve that goal by the end of February.  All you can do is take it one day at a time


Long Live the Queen of the Scales!

Halloween projects

This weekend is my first art show, so I decided I'd better start creating something for the show.

I have some dolls prepared from before, but I wanted to catch up on my Halloween items.  One of my best seasonal sellers are the witches legs.  They are fun to tuck into dresser drawers, place under toaster ovens and my favorite...slam into the hatchback of my van.  This batch has just had their boots painted on and are drying.  Then I'll add the shoelaces.

Another favorite are my little witches.  This group just got their heads placed in position and are waiting for hair, hats and props.  Let's see...I've got two days to finish them...should be okay.  I hope.


I really need to stop procrastinating.  I'll work on that tomorrow.


Long Live the Queen of Put It Off for Another Day

The battle continues

We started out with a bird feeder that is supposed to close up when something heavy gets into it.  That didn't work so we added a baffle to it.  It stopped the squirrels but not the raccoons.


I tried a different style of baffle - nope.  I tried both baffles at one time.  No good.


Most recently I have added a 3" PVC pipe and they still got up there.  Someone said they can't dig into aluminum so I put on a 4" piece of that.  I was certain that would work until I saw them shimmying up the pole the other night.  Rats!


So tonight I've added a coating of vegetable oil to the aluminum barrier.  Now I just have to stay up late enough to see what happens.  I hope they come early so I can go to bed at a decent hour.


Long Life the Queen of the Pole Dancing

She Devil and the Vet

It was a rude surprise for She Devil this morning.  We generally get up about 6:30 or 7:00 and have a leisurely start to our day.  But today she failed to wake me on schedule.  Did she see that there was a vet appointment scheduled?  I've got to keep her off my computer!




I woke at 8:45 and scrambled to get dressed, grab the dreaded cat carrier and load her up and run out the door.  We wove our way through the construction on the way to the vet, her howling and me swearing, but arrived on time.


Big exam today - blood work to check her insulin levels, rabies shot, distemper shot and general physical.  She'll be 14 at the end of the month and is doing pretty good for an overweight, old diabetic cat.  The vet recommended a different med for her arthritis and found a source that is more affordable than what we had tried before.  It's becoming necessary to get her off the prednisone, she's been on it too long.  This will involve another injection for her, but hey...what's one more.


She is showing the signs of cataracts forming and is definitely getting older and slower...unless she's really ticked.  The vet and tech took her off to do the blood work and shots and when they returned to the waiting room she looked at me, realized I wasn't the one holding her and made a lunge for the vet's hand.  I've never seen her move so fast in a long time.  But the vet is a very wiry, quick woman and moved even faster.  It was all such a blur, but she remained unscathed.


Once safely back home  I put my jammies back on and fixed our breakfasts of tuna and cereal and we restarted our day the way it was meant to be.  She's now dozing in a puddle of sunshine on the floor and all is well.  Now I need to get dressed again and hit the studio and start preparing for the first art show of the season this weekend.


Long Live the Queen of Sleeping In

Life interrupted

I don't have any plan of attack when I set out for the day. I might have a vague notion of what I think I want to accomplish and there are those times when you simply must do what you gotta do.  But, it's nice to keep your options open... or you miss out on unexpected delights.


During garden season this happens a lot. People walking by stop to visit and ask about the plants and this often ends up in an impromptu garden tour.  When the neighbor dog sees I'm outside he makes a bee-line over to visit me for some loving and petting and, of course, dog treats.  I've found that he really enjoys tomatoes.  When I went to pick yesterday I noticed a large bite out of one that was just nicely ripened.  Hmmm. At first I thought it was the raccoons but it was too large, just about the size of his jaw.  


I set out excess produce for people going by to take and enjoy and now that I find I have a tomato eating dog next door, I place it in a dish pan for safe keeping.  It's like having a little roadside stand without the income.  But the benefits it provides are sweet.  Often I will find a handwritten note, a thank you card or small jars of jelly they have made as a little gift.


It's these little one-on-one encounters that I enjoy the most.  I decided to mow the neighbor's yard yesterday since they are on vacation and I hated to see him have to fight through it when they get back.  The other neighbors were coming over to water their plants so we had a nice visit.  Then Taz the Tomato Eating Dog ran over...followed by his owner and we all chatted for a while.


The ladies (and Taz) took a garden tour and home tour of the canned ham.  By now it was dark and time to head in.  Did I get everything done that I wanted to that day?  No.  Was I blessed with the unexpected joy of neighborhood fellowship?  Yes.  That was a good day by my standards - better than the one I had planned.


Long Live the Queen of Contentment