I’m knitting my first scarf, which the ladies at my local LYS have dubbed my “sampler scarf.” :) I knit a specific stitch or pattern until someone suggests another, whereafter I’m off doing that one for a bit.
It’s fun. I’m glad I’m learning and meeting this goal for myself.
I spent about 2 months at the end of 2009 considering how I was going to tackle weight loss, this time. I’m 48 years old, been overweight for most of my life. I may well be overweight the rest of my life – but one thing’s sure, I don’t want to spend whatever time I have left feeling like I can’t trust my body. I don’t want to live my life feeling like crap all the time.
It came to me that if I’m going to do this for real this time, it has to be a “for the rest of my life” kind of change. No fad diets, no gimmicks, no severe measures. And it probably needs to happen slowly. Not as slowly as I put it on, perhaps, but slowly nonetheless. How to do that? How do I change what I’m doing so that it’s just a way to live my life, rather than be on a diet?
It came down to this: Burn more calories than are consumed. Keep fat consumption down to a reasonable level. I wanted to lose one pound a week. Just one. And when I hit a total of 50 lbs. of weight loss, I’d STOP and go into maintenance mode to see if I could hold that ground for one year.
And that’s about it really. I’ve changed some things that I’ve been wanting to change for awhile anyway. I eat less meat, especially red meat. I still enjoy it – had steak last night in fact – just less often, and in smaller quantities. I get lots more yummy yogurt these days, and more fruits and vegetables. I discovered quinoa and have been enjoying incorporating it into recipes.
So far in 2010 I have lost 19 lbs. This is much faster than I’d planned, so I’m taking steps to slow things down. I finally did hit my “one pound a week” goal last week, and have been steadying the process down in the past few days. What’s more important, I do believe the changes are those I can live with—for the rest of my life. :)
More to come…
Today I have a blog entry!
http://bit.ly/dexZ4H—Thread Conditioners: To Use, or Not To Use? All needleworkers, weigh in!
I probably have too many blogs and that’s what’s at the root of this goal. The three main ones are my personal blog at LJ, one “professional” blog (metaphorsforlife.com), another “business” blog which I suck at (xstitcher.webs.com). And then there are the lesser things, like the journal at FatSecret.com, the “notes” on Facebook, Twitter (microblogging!)—and this place, in which I get to write small entries about anything goal-oriented.
I think I’d like to focus down on just one though. I already write a few times a week in my personal blog, but I really need to amp up by business blog. The interface sucks @ss, but it’s a way to get a message out there and I’ve been completely slacking at it for months. There are lots of things to write about in the needle arts, they’re evolving at a good pace insofar as materials and designs are concerned. I just need to get motivated to do it and keep up with it.
I’m hoping that making it a goal here will help with that.
- if I put it there, I can’t write entries about it. Which seems like an oversight to me, but then, I’m really just getting reacquainted with this place after a few years’ hiaitus.
Glastonbury Cross is a Vickery Collections design. The colors he uses are so bright and lovely, I really enjoy stitching on them as a break from the darker, more dramatic pieces I have going at the moment. The attached picture is what I have completed so far—only 5 months left to go for the fair, but I know I can do it.
This project is being stitched on 32ct “Scattered Leaves” hand dyed lugana from Silkweaver Fabrics, stitched over two. I’m using DMC cotton floss, 2 strands for cross stitch, 1 for backstitch.
Wish me luck!
I think cross stitch (stamped or counted) is probably one of the easiest needle arts to learn. I’ve been stitching on and off for 27 years and I’m continually amazed at how large, beautiful projects come from taking one tiny stitch at a time.
Some will tell you it takes patience. I’m not convinced – I’m probably one of the least patient persons I know. What it does take, I think, is a willingness to focus on a task, even if only for a few minutes at a time. I’ve taught children with ADHD how to cross stitch – even if they could only focus on a few stitches at a time, most of them were able to complete projects in what I considered to be a very reasonable amount of time.
So yes, definitely put this on your list of things to do, either with your life or as a goal for this year. As I tell everyone I meet: This aint’ yer gramma’s cross stitch anymore! :)
I’m not really sure where this goes. I like the style. I like the attitude. I like the culture. After that? We’ll see.
and realizing that this has become a good habit for me. :) So I’m marking it “done” and “want to do it again.”
Go team!
It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
Some day after we have mastered the winds, the waves and gravity, we will harness for God the energies of love; and then for a second time in the history of the world, humans will have discovered fire.
If anyone asks you
how the perfect satisfaction
of all our sexual wanting
will look, lift your face and say,
Like this.
When someone mentions the gracefulness
of the nightsky, climb up on the roof
and dance and say,
Like this!
If anyone wants to know what “spirit” is,
or what “God’s fragrance” means,
lean your head toward him or her.
Keep your face there close.
Like this.
When someone quotes the old poetic image
about clouds gradually uncovering the moon,
slowly loosen knot by knot the strings
of your robe.
Like this.
If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead,
don’t try to explain the miracle.
Kiss me on the lips.
Like this. Like this.
When someone asks what it means
to “die for love,” point
here.
If someone asks how tall I am, frown
and measure with your fingers the space
between the creases on your forehead.
This tall.
The soul sometimes leaves the body, then returns.
When someone doesn’t believe that,
walk back into my house.
Like this.
When lovers moan,
they’re telling our story.
Like this.
I am a sky where spirits live.
Stare into this deepening blue,
while the breeze says a secret.
Like this.
When someone asks what there is to do,
light the candle in his hand.
Like this.
How did Joseph’s scent come to Jacob?
Huuuuu.
How did Jacob’s sight return?
Huuuuuu.
A little wind cleans the eyes.
Like this.
When Shams comes back from Tabriz,
he’ll put just his head around the edge
of the door to surprise us.
Like this.
Not only did I manage to sleep 8 consecutive hours in a row—I did it two nights in a row. :) I feel human again.
In fact, I feel so darn good I’m taking myself out for a drink tonight at the local casino, which has an upscale restaurant where a friend of mine plays piano on weekend nights. My hubby’s spending time with his girlfriend, and as I got to thinking about my options for the evening, I decided to spend the evening doing what pleases me. :) And this sounds like a very enjoyable, relaxing way to spend a few hours.
I don’t gamble, so that has no attraction for me—but my friend’s a wonderful musician (check out his website at http://www.matthewcook.com) and I’m really looking forward to just suffusing myself in his music, and then chatting with him a bit during his breaks.
After that, I don’t know. We’ll see what feels best in that moment. I just wanted to share how much good a couple of complete nights of sleep can do. ;)
It’s Thursday again. I think what I’d like to do for myself most is to sleep 8 consecutive hours… That seems to be difficult to achieve, lately.
Wish me luck. ;)
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
This one is and has been especially meaningful to me… that feeling of having an “invincible summer” within gives me strength to keep going when all my life is locked in ice and snow…
