My Week in a Nutshell

Looking for a full-time job.
Going to Walmart for dog supplies, lots of flippie chips and pig sticks!  LOL
Checking out Walgreens for Sinful Colors nail polish, it's 99¢ this week.  There are some beautiful colors!
Sewing and knitting for a few minutes each day.  I'll finish the knit top today.  I just have to hem the neckline.
Watching a few favorite TV shows while I ride my stationary bike.  Continue training for the 5k walk Weight Watchers is having in May.
I think I'll work on my 101 Things too.  I haven't done much work on the list lately.

Why is blogger

being so difficult to edit html and post pictures too?  What a pain in the ass.  I hate when my posts aren't neatly aligned.  OCD.  LOL  In the overall scheme of things not a big deal, but, damn.  It should just work the way it is supposed to work.  It won't even let me cut and paste.  Does anyone know what is going on? This is just pissing me off.  Sorry.  I suppose I could try using a different computer.  But, again, it should work the way it is supposed to work.   So if it appears correctly ya know I edited it on my laptop. Anyway.........                                                                                                 

Okay,  I didn't sew Wednesday, Thursday or today.  But I did do something creative.  Wednesday I drew up simple plans for a display for my nai polish.  Yesterday I went to Lowe's and picked up the materials and supplies.  It took me a couple of hours to make the display.  As you can see there are two shelves I still need to put the fronts on.    I have to go back and get another piece of molding.  I didn't realize that the piece I got was only eight feet long.    This is basically a practice display.    I'll make another, bigger one in a few months and curve the upper edges on the side pieces and put a saying and/or some sort of carving above the top shelf.  Overall, Im pleased with the way this one came out.   

 

Today I did a fill in on my nails.  The ones on my left hand were really good. I hardly had to file at all.  But the ones on my right hand, looked like they had been done by someone who rarely picks up a brush.  The creative part came in when I did my nail art.  Nothing fancy today.  Two shades of pink polish layered over one another and black and gold stripes on four of the nails.  I did better putting down the stripes with my left hand than I did putting down the acrylic.           

I have been enjoying watching Criminal Minds lately.  I enjoy the interaction between Penelope Garcia, played by Kirsten Vangsness and Derek Morgan played by Shemar Moore.  Who I might add is one fine male speciman. mmm mmmm mmmmmm  LOL

Tomorrow, I'll be going shopping at Sephora.  There is now a Sephora inside J.C. Penney's at Tyrone Mall. Sephora is one of my favorite places to shop.  LOL    I'll probably go to Joann's too.  I think Simplicity patterns are "on sale" for $1.99 this weekend.          

            

Shoes!

I LOVE to shop! I don't go very often these days because I get muscle spasms in my back when I walk more than a few feet. But yesterday I was feeling ambitious so Walt took me to Payless to get a pair of sandals? booties? I had seen a couple of months ago. Usually I procrastinate getting something and then it's either a rectal irritation to find or I miss out. Luckily, they had the pair in the color and size that I wanted.













I couldn't find a picture of the ones I actually got, which are the tan ones. So cute! I didn't think I would like shoes like this when I first saw them. But I changed my mind when I saw how cute they are on.
And because it was BOGO I got a second pair of sandals. I think these will look nice with a maxi dress.















I still get physical therapy twice a week for my left arm and my back. My arm is much better, my back not so much. I see my orthopod on Tuesday. I should be able to finish up my nail class in the next week or so. Then I need to go back to work. Hopefully I can go back to the nursing facility I worked at for a few weeks earlier this year.

The little Girl is still rough housing with Buddy almost non-stop. He gets a little tired of it after a while and gets crabby with her. We separate them and put up a safety gate just so he can get some rest! I still miss Pongo so much. But at least I can now look at his pictures without crying.

Football and other Ramblings

My Saints lost to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night. It was inevitable that they would lose sooner or later. I’m not upset. They have a record that any NFL team can be proud of. Next game is against the Bucs. Whose record is 1-13. The Saints have already beat them once this season. Just sayin'.

I'm having a bit of trouble with my camera and haven't been able to post the pictures of the project I made for my aroma therapy class. I'll post them as soon as I can.

Back on the 5th of this month I posted about some changes I was going to make. Well, as I usually do, I have changed my mind about some of them. I did go on a diet, but, I didn't go back to Weight Watchers. WW is a great eating plan, but I didn't think I could do it just yet. I decided to go on a low carb diet for a while. As of Monday the 7th I have lost 16 pounds. I haven't had any grains, ie bread, flour etc...no potatoes, no starches. I have tried to eat healthy fats also. And....I have had minimal to no arthritic pain since then. I feel like I'm slowly getting back to my old self. I haven't been to either gym, but I am riding my stationary bicycle each day.

I still haven't been sewing, but, I have been knitting and crocheting. Slowly. I'm just now learning how to decrease on one of the scarves I'm making. I have some knitting shows on the DVR and watch them as the mood strikes. I have a list of projects on Ravelry. There are a few things on Knitty I want to knit too. I hope to complete at least one of my projects by the 31st. Some knitters can really crank out the projects. That wouldn't be me and I'll probably never be a fast knitter, but it's something I really enjoy.

This week I'll be:
1. knitting
2. listening to Christmas music
3. reading How To Read a French Fry and Other Stories of Intriguing Kitchen Science by Russ Parsons
4. AND waiting for Santa!

My Mother's favorite Christmas song was "Little Drummer Boy". She loved to sing along with it when it came on the radio. I'm gonna miss spending Christmas with her. It was her favorite time of the year, and mine too. I love shopping, especially at Christmas, even with all the crowds. I did the last of my shopping today. This is the latest I've ever done my shopping. How is your shopping? Almost finished? Or waiting until the last minute? Only four more days til Christmas!

Christmas Gifts

Every year my husband and I post a list on the fridge door of things we would like Santa to bring us for Christmas. Some times I put really expensive things such as a car, and sometimes I put really inexpensive things such as alcohol inks. I would rather get something I really wanted that costs .05¢ rather than something I didn’t want that costs $500.00. Here is my Christmas list this year:

1. Tripod
2. American Girl Molly Skating Outfit, skates and muffs
3. Molly sweater and skirt
4. MAC brushes 217 or 242 or 226 or 214 or 231
5. MAC Painterly Paint Pot
6. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion-purple bottle
7. Joann Fabrics gift card
8. Pilates lessons
9. MAC Pro Palette Eye Shadow x 15
10. MAC Pro Palette Blush x 4

As you can see I'm really into make-up this year. LOL

I also have a list of books and Santa usually brings me three or four of them:

The Perfect Pajama by Kristina Nilsson and Jennifer Pirtle
Makeup Makeovers: Expert Secrets for Stunning Transformations by Robert Jones
Simply Amazing Quilted Photography by Tammie Bowser
Vein of Gold by Julia Cameron
Mary Frances Knitting and Crocheting Book: Or Adventures Among the Knitting People by Jane Eayre Fryer
Chakra Clearing (Book & CD) by Doreen Virtue
Knitting on the Edge: Ribs, Ruffles, Lace, Fringes, Floral, Points & Picots: The Essential Collection of 350 Decorative Borders by Nicky Epstein
Crocheting on the Edge: Ribs & Bobbles*Ruffles*Flora*Fringes*Points & Scallops by Nicky Epstein
Story-book Crochet by Sally Ann Gronsand
Faux Surfaces in Polymer Clay: 30 Techniques & Projects That Imitate Stones, Metals, Wood & More by Irene Semanchuk Dean
Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks by Scott Fullam
Saturday Night Hat: Quick, Easy Hatmaking for the Downtown Girl by Eugenia Kim

What's on YOUR Christmas Wish List?

Shopping

I love shopping. I don't care so much what it's for, I just love shopping. I admit, however, I do enjoy shopping for shoes, clothes, fabrics, patterns, and yarn more than I like to shop for hardware items such as a new shower head or a toilet seat. But, I still enjoy shopping for those types of items, too. I can always find something at Lowe's that I can use in my altered art or for sewing.

Last Thursday Christian Siriano was on Oprah. He was, if you remember, the winner of season four on Project Runway. Annnnyway, he has designed a line of shoes for Payless Shoesource. Some of them are fierce! His line isn't being offered at every store, and, they weren't at the store I went to. But you can see them online. A fifty percent off coupon was offered on the Oprah site that was good until Payless closed on Friday. I got a pair of animal print ballet shoes. I had been wanting a pair forever, so I used the coupon. They cost nine dollars and some change.

Class today was very quiet. I didn't have any clients scheduled. I was going to help another student do a body wrap, but the client didn't show-up. The client is going to try to make it in tomorrow. I only have one client scheduled tomorrow, so far, and I don't have to go in until noon. The massage therapy class uses the clinic on Tuesday mornings.

Looking forward to watching the Saints play tonight.

The Weekend

I received an email a week or so ago informing me that the magazine "Threads" is now available on DVD. From 1985 to 2009. One hundred forty-six issues on one DVD. LOL It comes out bi-monthly. Back in the late 80s I had several issues. I decided that I would clip the articles that I wanted to keep and get rid of the magazines. Boy, did I regret that. Later on I got another subscription and I replaced all the ones I had clipped from and thrown away. I had all but a few of the first few issues that were hard to find and were no longer being published. I monitored e-bay for months until I was able to complete my "Threads library". I'm proud to say that I have every issue of Threads and duplicates of some of the copies. They have been invaluable for my sewing. The earlier issues didn't focus just on sewing, but had articles on other fiber arts. I frequently pull out a random issue and read it. This is probably the finest magazine published today for home sew-ists.

I went shopping at the MAC counter at my local Dillard's yesterday. I just LOVE MAC cosmetics. I got the "Pink Swoon" blush, a "Snob" lipstick, and Dazzleglass Creme in "My Favorite Pink". It was a toss-up between Pink Nouveau and Snob, but after swatching, Pink Nouveau seemed a little too bright. Snob is a little light for me, but I'll get a different lipgloss to wear over it or mix it with a darker shade of pink. I love the Pink Swoon blush, it's such a pretty fresh shade of pink. But I think I could have worn "Coygirl" or "Well Dressed" just as well. All the associates were really busy. A LOT busier than at the other cosmetic counters. They were all gorgeous and their make-up expertly applied. I would have loved to have taken a little more time and just looked at and compared the different shades of lipsticks and eye shadows and such, but my back was killing me after just walking a few minutes to get to the counter.     :(     Oh, and I got a pump dispenser for my bottle of foundation. You can be sure that MAC cosmetics are going to be on my Christmas list this year! LOL

I've been taking a half an hour or so most days and knitting on the Irish hiking scarf. I have about a quarter of it done. I'm such a slow knitter and if I don't pay close attention I make a mistake and have to frog it and reknit it. Looking at it I can see a couple of places that should have been reknit, but I'm not going to reknit it. It will take me too long. I'm amazed at the knitter's who are almost finished with something and frog all of it and restart it. Anyway, I'll keep knitting away and it should be done soon.

Shopping!!!

I went shopping this morning. I LOVE shopping! I had to get some electrodes for my TENS unit. Got an ink cartridge for my Dell printer and went to Barnes & Noble. I couldn't find the book I was looking for so I went to Borders where I did find the book. Organic Body Care Recipes. We studied aroma therapy earlier week in class. I was already familiar with it, but this class helped expand my knowledge. We are also required to make three items and display them in a basket for a project. I started making mental notes as to the colors, scents, and items I wanted to put in my basket. One of the scents I want to use is lemon. It smells so fresh. I am thinking I will use the colors purple and white. I want to make a small purple eye pillow. Among the other things I'm considering is an eye cream, bath salts, bath bombs, and soap. I may change my mind after I read through the book I got today and my text book, The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy.

I went to Weight Watchers today, I'm down half a pound. I'm not disappointed with the small loss, any loss at all is better than staying the same or gaining.

I have two sewing WIP (works in progress). They have been lingering on my sewing table for over a year. I love sewing, but just don't do it as much as I used to. I love doing other things too. I read other sewist's blogs and admire all the projects they sew. I'm ok with the fact that I'm not a prolific sewist. There is a cardi-wrap sew-a-long on Pattern Review. I've had a McCall's cardi-wrap on my WIP list for several months. I have the material and the pattern, but haven't actually cut it out. I'm going to see if I have enough material to make Simplicity 2603 instead.

The Biggest Loser starts the new season on Tuesday. The previews are showing one of the "losers" from last season coming back. He was one of my favorites and I was disappointed when he was voted off the ranch. He was working so hard to lose the weight and get healthy. I'm so glad he's getting a second chance.

My week

I went for the interview on Monday morning. The attorney came out promptly at 9:30. We introduced ourselves. "Follow me." she said. We went behind the desk where "Jerry" (not his real name) was sitting. She then said, "This is where you will be working. Take your jacket off so you will be confortable." What??? this is it?! I was anxious the whole weekend. I guess I need to try not to think about things, the way that I do. Certainly, all she could have done was to say, I don't think this will work. But, I am now doing my externship for a very nice attorney!

I have had to go clothes shopping several times this week. I purchased a few nice tops and a couple of pairs of slacks/trousers. I just couldn't see myself spending time and effort to tweak patterns to make clothes when I would just have to do it all over again in a few months. Better, I think to continue to amass a coordinating fabric stash, so when I do start to sew it will all work together.

And speaking of amassing a stash......The fabric I ordered from Ann at Gorgeous Things arrived on Wednesday. It is a luscious knit. The colors coordinate with a few other pieces I already have.

I have signed up for the Summer Reading Challenge for 2007. Some of the books I didn't read last summer will be on the list, some won't. I'm taking Cell off the list. I am still reading it, but it is one I keep in the truck. It may be months before I get it read. I have six from last summer, a couple are in progress and I'm going to add six more. I would like to read some light novels, but I probably won't have much time for that. I do like to read "text-book" type books. Books where I can learn something. Dummies types books, Idiot type books. So.....what to put on the list.......So many books, so little time!!!

Oh, and if you scroll waaaayyyyy down, you will see the button for the reading list. I think the top and skirt the girl is wearing is sooo cute! Would be fab for a summer's evening here in FLA!

Today's shopping trip

I had an appointment with my chiropractor this morning, so I thought I would do some shopping afterwards.

First stop was at Joann's Fabrics. I used a 40% off coupon and got a soap making kit. I'm usually at a loss as to what I need to start a new hobby. What the basics would be, so to speak. This is something I have wanted to do for a while and is on my list of 101 Things. I'm going to get the Embossed Soap Bar Making Kit also. I'm looking forward to making soaps with different colors and fragrances and packaging them in pretty packages.

Next stop was at Art Stone Co. Inc. I have wanted a lawn goose for some time now. She was chosen and is waiting to be painted. Nothing special, just the usual goose colors. I'll be looking for patterns to make her clothes. Raincoat, apron, dress, swimsuit......LOL

Last shop was at Sam's Club. Where I got a few groceries and a book named The Secret. I have wanted to read this book since I saw Oprah's show about it. Many people have said it changed their lives. A personal friend called it very powerful and recommended it. So, I would have gotten it even if I had not seen it on her show.

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

I found this on Hanna's blog. I like little questionares like this.

playing with my webcam!

I got a webcam this evening when I went to Walmart. This one has some interesting effects as you can see from my pic.

Last night was the last class of the session. Everyone thought we were going to start the new session on Monday, but NOOOOOOO!!!! It started tonight. Luckily, it was a short class and I got to go shopping after class ended.

I LOVE to shop! Especially for clothes and shoes, but I like shopping for almost anything. I like going to Lowe's and Home Depot. I even like shopping in a hardware store. I can always find things for my sewing room and for altered art and other crafts.

I installed the webcam and made a couple of stills. When I opened Snapfire Plus to view the pic, there was a window asking me if I wanted to update. Well, of course I do! LOL WWWAAAHHH!!! Now I wish I hadn't. the msi file is now missing and I can't complete the update and the old program won't open. I don't think I received CDs for the programs when I bought the new Dell in December. Although I find that a little odd.....don't you always get the application CDs when you buy a new computer???

wow!

Its been several weeks since I've posted. Classes went well for this session. I have the 4.0 that I wanted.

I haven't done much on my list of things since I started. I need to try to work on at least one list item a week. I need to feel I'm making some progress on it. I can't wait until classes are over. I wouldn't have enough time to complete it. And I am going to complete it!

I finally finished one of the books on my list. I will finish that list too, but not in the time allowed. I'll be putting a review on Amazondotcom later today. I've misplaced a couple of the books I started, so I need to find them this weekend. I'm not sure which book I'll finish next. Maybe a short one not on my list. A book by Louise Hay. I should be able to finish it today even with all the chores I have to do.

My Dad came down last weekend. We will be going out to Ponderosa for an early dinner this evening. I haven't gotten to visit with him as much as I wanted due to class. He's staying with my sister while he's here.

The past couple of weekends I've gone shopping. There is a shop called Whim-so-Doodle that sells scrapbooking supplies. I went there a couple of weekends ago. I found lots of things I can use for my altered art. I also went to Joann Fabrics and took advantage of their pattern sale last Saturday.

I want to get some new shoes next weekend. I saw a cute pair of ballerina flats in a Seventeen magazine at work. Now...I'm not sure who it belonged to, because none of us there are anywhere near the age of 17! LOL I picked it up because it has been so long since I looked at one. Besides, I like to keep up with the fashions, whether or not I can wear them. And they have such cute clothes now!!

All in all I'm really enjoying my time right now, even though it's very limited.

Disappointment

I went clothes shopping today. First, at Penney's. It's interesting, I stepped into the larger sized department and the clothes became dowdy and appeared to be designed for much older women with NO fashion sense at all. I tried petite's for trousers, but no luck as they don't have my size.

Then I go Macy's. SAME THING. I get off the escalator, a turn to the left and there was BEAUTIFUL tiny clothes. A turn to the right and I was in polyester town. Seriously tasteless clothes! A person would think that Macy's would have something in larger sizes that was stylish. As I was leaving, getting off the escalator, I saw beautiful business suits, stylish with gorgeous lines, but none in my size.

Off to Lane Bryant.

What happened there? I admit it's been a while since I've gone clothes shopping, but...honestly. I couldn't even FIND a dress trouser there. It was all summer styles. Gauzy and floaty, tanks and halters. Nice clothes, but not suitable in my mind for school and eventually working in an attorney's office.

I gained some weight, but I didn't lose my fashion sense. So, I am very disappointed.