NaNoWriMo

Gonna be quiet this month.

Doing Nanowrimo.

Brain frying...

Clearing out...

Lately, I've been feeling trapped by my clutter. My immediate response was to bring in 5 bags of books to donate to my library. Despite this being a drop in the bucket when you think of the thousands of books we have in the house, it's a start and I feel really good about it. ^_^

When my money situation gets better, I plan to go clothes shopping again. I've been dressing better and treating myself better in general because (I hate to rip off the commercial but) I really am worth it. I'm worth the effort to wear nice clothes and decent shoes. Not that I plan to break the bank on designer lables (insert laughter here) because I really couldn't care less. I want high quality, skin friendly clothes that won't melt in the wash. Some of my clothes I will learn to take in, but many are old and threadbare and should go. I've been losing weight on a very consistant basis so I don't wanna spend a lot of money. I don't have it to spend anyway. :p

On a lighter note, I decided to put my site up. My writing will be there and if there's enough interest, I'll have printed copies. I'm tired of waiting for an agent to decide if I'm marketable to them. If I never made a single dime with my writing, I'd be fine with it. Its more about getting the story I've written out there for people to enjoy. ^_^

Till later! :D

Okay!

My brain has clicked back in to place and here I am updating!! :D W00t!

Baltimore con was of course very awesome. I had a great time with Mel *glomps* and went extreme fangirl on David Mack. I really think I freaked him out a little but honestly, it must happen so often, it's like water off a ducks back to him.

I found some Dawn comics that I've been pining for and a white blood cell for Ma. She cracked right up when she saw it. XD She was going to bring it with her to the doctor but the next day, she found out her white count was low and no chemo for her for awhile. -_- But she's in good spirits. ^_^

All in all, the weekend went too fast and it was mentally jarring to come back home. I missed my monkey something fierce while I was gone but it was great to get away even for a little while.I was so dedicated to having fun, I went completely off my diet. I need to get back on track with that and working out. I also need to take better care of myself in general. I gotta dig through my clothes and unload what I no longer wear (again, you'd be suprised how much can be buried in the bottom of the closet) and also use up all the lotions and crap I've been building up. I have the terrible habit of buying things when they're on sale whether I need them or not then I have so much, it begins to take over the house. Not good for my mental clarity. >_<

I'm going to start using my website soon and I have some items to put in my shop. I am hustling the hell outta life right now because this upcoming wedding is costing me an arm and a leg. I have to build up some sort of savings and Christmas season is coming. For a moment there, I wasn't even sure if I would have the money to make cookies for everyone but I think I can still swing that. ._. Penny is getting clothes. That girl has enough toys, more than she even knows how to deal with; I'm not buying anymore. Let Daddy and Gramma spoil her. XD

This passed Saturday was the second anniversary of me and James getting married. We kept it nice and simple: He came to eat lunch with me (since I had to work that day) and we just enjoyed each other's company. Just how I like it. ^_^

Hmm... Can't think of anything else now but I'm sure more will come to me. ^_^

This month!

No mission this month. XD I'll be running around waaaay too much to really focus on anything but getting to the next moment. I have a ton of overtime, Baltimore Comic Con this weekend, and a sweet sixteen on Samhain. Getting rid of old books didn't go as well as planned mainly because my Ma had already done most of it. XD I've had some success selling some on Ebay and Amazon but that doesn't really count towards the monthly mission since that's an ongoing thing. Any money I make from that goes towards my savings or to pay off more debt. I had paid off all my credit card debt but my friend is getting married in November and the ceremony is in Florida. I'm in the bridal party and so is my daughter so we all have to fly down there and back. That all went on the plastic, which is now smoking from overuse.

In weightloss news: I'm down to 200 pounds!! Woohoo! I had a digestion issue in order to get there but whatever works, works. XD I've been bad with my diet and cheating (I had a gyro with lamb, so sue me), which has triggered a major desire to bring everything back together properly. Which has touched off a whole bunch of deep thinking and planning...

Lately, I've been focusing on removing myself as much as possible from mainstream shopping. I get locally grown food when I can, fair trade if I can't, and grow whatever will survive. My eyes have turned towards sewing as a way to take another step in that direction.

I have a good figure but I still despise shopping for clothes. While I may be a plus size woman, I'm only 28 and have no intention of dressing up like a 70 year old spinster from 1980. I like clothes that fit. I am resigned to the fact that no matter how the fashion industry tries to cater to larger (read: NORMAL) sized women, if I want something to fit, I'll need to either alter or make the clothes myself. I am so very tired of settling for clothes that fit "alright" and then having them sit in my closet for years till I finally dump them in the clothing drop. What a waste of resources! I can't be flippant with where my money goes and what I get has to last. I love to knit and crochet, but it takes too long. So, I've decided to learn to sew. ^_^

I won't be doing anything major regarding that endeavor until I can get rid of some of the yarn I have as well as unload a great deal of the clutter that's closing in on me these days. I'll do some reading (librarianship has it's perks) and see what I can find of my Granny's sewing paraphernalia (she was the best seamstress). Other than that, nothing yet. I have some major cleaning out to do before I can start anything big like that. I found this book and the part about balancing your home environment really spoke to me. That needs to happen first and that is a long process. =_= It's happening but me and Ma have let things build up for way too long.

Hopefully, I'll take on another mission when things settle down. Probably January the way things are going. @_@

Monthly Mission!

It's been an ongoing thing of mine to get rid of things in the house. It's hot happening fast enough for me and the realization is that I tried to do to much at once. I've decided to take it one part at a time and give myself a month to tackle that specific area.This month: The basement books.Specifying the books is important. I've been selling some of my old books on Ebay and donating some to the library but it's been very choppy, just sorta grabbing what catches my eye. September will be dedicated totally towards cleaning out the books. Not clothes or anything else.Lately, I've been thinking a great deal about the home I live in and how I can make it better. Tripping over things all the time is not living a balanced life. Things should have their place and the things surrounding you should be things which are useful as well as used. Books I read in middle school and have not touched since to not fall in to either category and are frankly wasted in the darkness and dust of the basement. They will be much better served in the hands of children who will enjoy them. :)Next month will probably be clothes and then my old toys. There is an entire room in our home dedicated to housing items we don't use and that is ridiculous. Time to really clean house!

YAY!!

Down two (or three) pounds!

Now, the parentheses is because of the difference between the weight I took in my house and the weight taken that same day at the gyno. I had 205, they said 206. My following appointment with them (Monday, two weeks from the previous one) Had me at 203. YAY!!

Keeping that food diary has been helping. I forgot to fill in the written one very quickly but I had great success with the one over at about.com. I like their tools. As before, I discovered very quickly I was not eating enough food and that was probably why I wasn't losing weight. So, I started encorporating more good foods into my day and lo and behold! The weight comes off!

It just figures that this week is a bunch of brides maid celebration things where there's crappy food and booze and no time to workout. I'll have to be careful.

Journals

I've been thinking of restarting a written food diary again. Online ones are well and good but in addition to the special feeling of pen to paper, there is the honest fact of not always being near a computer when I eat. No mobile browser I've seen can handle an online diet tracker like Fit Day in a way that won't drive my brain to frying from the frustration.

Like any writer, I have a wealth of blank books hanging around so while I am in love with the idea of buying a handmade one from Etsy, I spent a bunch of money on these other blank books. Better to use them up first.

Like any person struggling to lose those last few pounds (few, 20, what's the difference? ) I'm looking for any little thing that will help me. I was never sure if keeping a food journal was helpful but I will really try and stick to it until the pounds/inches I need to come off are actually gone.

Will I list every crumb I eat here? No way, nobody wants to read that. It's boring. But if I come up with another recipe, I'll post what I did and how I did it.
Perhaps seeing it on paper, be it good or bad, will bring me out of the funk I've been in the last few days. 9_9

I finally got to see the bread machine I bought last night but I haven't had the chance to play with it. I can't wait to start making my own bread! :D