musings

I love James Lee Burke. I especially love his Dave Robicheaux series. These are the kind of books I like to have on hand for a few months before I start to read them. Then, I read them very, very slowly, because I don’t want them to end. I always have a “NOLA” themed weekend where I have a dressed fried oyster po’boy or crawfish etoufee and listen to zydeco music.

There is a trench sew along on Pattern Review. I have some periwinkle supplex that might make a nice trench. I might get a pattern this weekend and try to sew-a-long. I like McCall's 5525 and Simplicity 4084. It seems as though several other sew-ists like the Simplicity pattern also. It's from the Threads magazine collection.

My diet has consisted of the same thing for the past three days. I’ve been looking for some easy recipes that are high in protein. I’ll need some variety for dinners. I don’t mind having the same things for breakfast and “snacks”. Oatmeal, cottage cheese, ham, and pineapple is my favorite breakfast. The protein bar isn’t the greatest, but it’s tolerable. It certainly isn’t as bad as some I’ve eaten. I’ll also get a few ingredients to use in my protein drinks also. Different flavorings and fruits, etc I did my upper body work out today. Tomorrow I’ll do aerobics again and on Friday I’ll do a full body work out. I read a few pages daily in my old Muscle Media or Energy for Women magazines to help with motivation.

The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the one who will win.

Roger Bannister
(1929-, British athlete, first person in the world to run a mile under 4 minutes)

9-11

Whenever anyone says 9-11, in our minds we all go back to September 11, 2001. It's a day in history we all know exactly where we were and what we were doing when we heard the tower had been hit. We knew as an American family that our lives had been changed forever. In the hours and days after 9-11 the horrors were on the tv and radio over and over again. I didn't watch tv OR listen to the raido for weeks afterward. I knew what had happened, I didn't need to see it time and time again. So, now, when I see a clip on the news or hear something about it on the radio, I am still deeply affected. More so, I think, because I didn't saturate myself when it first happened. (At the time, I was doing technical support for CGS, an outside vender for Allstate Insurance Company. The calls from the agents were almost non-existant that day. Our building was at the north end of the runways for Tampa International Airport. We used to watch the planes take off and land. It was an eerie sight when all the planes were grounded, just clear blue skies.)

Many life decisions were affected by that day also. Numerous young men and women decided to join the military, others decided they should have a child, and just as many decided to never have children, that this wasn't a world they wanted to bring children into.

Are we any better off today than we were then? No, I think not. Oh yeah, we were going to show them. Make them pay for what they had done. Really. I believe this country is weaker than it has ever been in the past 100 years. It is certainly less respected. We, as a whole are so afraid we might offend someone, that, in itself is offensive. We are a laughing stock. We are fighting a war that no one will win. Ever. Religious wars are like that.

Sorry, I didn't mean for this to turn into a rant on a soapbox. I just wanted to remember those men, women and children that were lost.

I will remember them and their loved ones in prayer, as I hope you will. I will also remember the troups that are fighting for our freedoms (my right to express my opinion on this blog being one and your right to disagree with me being another) and their families as well.

Bodybuilding

I come from the "old school" of bodybuilding. Meaning "no pain, no gain". Now...listen to me for just a minute. I don't mean serious pain, injury type pain, but a little bit of soreness after a work out to me is a wonderful thing. To look at me you'd never know at one point I was seriously into bodybuilding. I was strong and as one male friend said "a brick house". (I LOVED him!! LOL) But life intervened and here I am today. A back injury with pain that has never totally gone away, a knee injury. Not making the time to exercise the way I should. And I do love to workout. I love the feeling I get, I love feeling strong, and I love "making a muscle" and having my biceps pop. Sooooooo.......I refuse to get another year older without getting back another part of me that I lost.

My aerobic workout for today was 20 minutes on the treadmill as follows:
minute....speed (MPH)
0-1.......1.5
1-2.......1.5
2-3.......2.0
3-4.......2.5
4-5.......3.0
5-6.......3.5
6-7.......2.0
7-8.......2.5
8-9.......3.0
9-10.....3.5
10-11....2.0
11-12....2.5
12-13....3.0
13-14....3.5
14-15....2.0
15-16....2.5
16-17....3.0
17-18....3.5
18-19....4.0
19-20....1.5

I was quite winded after doing it, but it felt good.



Life is raw material. We are artisans. We can sculpt our existence into something beautiful, or debase it into ugliness. It's in our hands.

Cathy Better

I am very upset

I had a 9:40 a.m. appointment with my chiropractor this morning. She asked what I was going to do today, so I told her I was going to workout later in the morning. She said no, I should wait 24 hours before I worked out. It's rather ironic. When I was working as a nurse my lower back would hurt when I had to stand or walk for any length of time. Now that I have a job where I will be sitting at least part of the time, my upper back hurts. I had a strange mass near my spine a month or so ago. She said it was a rib that had "popped". She "hammered" and massaged my back and it went back into place. Now I get a burning stabbing pain in the same area. So, anyway, I have to wait until tomorrow to start the exercise portion of Body for Life.

My food choices today were:1/4 cup old fashioned oatmeal (I don't like instant), 1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese, 1/4 cup of pineapple chunks and 2 ounces of ham for breakfast. I had a Maxplex™ Nutrition Bar - Peanut Caramel Crispfor one snack and a chocolate Desginer Whey protein drink for another snack. For dinner I had a large salad with a no fat ranch dressing and 3 ounces of baked skinless, boneless chicken. I will have a small box of raisins and a wedge of light Swiss original Laughing Cow cheese. I LOVE this cheese! I love any cheese, but I really, really LOVE THIS cheese! It's sooooo good!!

This will keep me within my Weight Watchers points. I will go 1.5 into my 35 weekly points, but that's ok, usually by Monday I've already used all of them I still have about 15 left. I tend to eat the same thing over and over until I get tired of it. So, I'm going to try to find new Body for Life recipes and some lowfat, high protein recipes. The breakfast I described is my favorite breakfast, that I got from BFL (Body for Life). I've also got to get my protein drink recipes out and go through them. I especially like my "Reese's Peanut Butter" protein drink and "Peppermint Patty" protein drink.

What color is your soul painted? Red Your soul is painted the color red, which embodies the characteristics of love, strength, physical energy, sex, passion, courage, protection, excitement, speed, leadership, power, danger, and respect. Red is the color of the element Fire, and is associated with blood, life and death, birth, volcanoes, and intense emotions. Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can't accomplish it. You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.

Rosalynn Carter
(1927-, American First Lady, Wife of President Jimmy Carter)

arrrrrgggggg!!!!!

In the past three weeks I have regained nine pounds. It's stress eating because I'm having a difficult time finding a job in my newly chosen career. When I first started the paralegal course attorneys were practically begging for paralegals. The school wanted to send us out to work then. The attorneys didn't care that we had just started, they needed help and were willing to work with us and teach us how they wanted things done. Now, some of the attorneys want as much as ten years experience in litigation.

I have decided that I must do something more to lose this extra fat. Weight Watchers is helping, but I have to do more. Sooooooo........I'm starting Body for Life tomorrow. I have done the program in the past and it worked for me. I am posting my "before" measurements and a "before" pic. (oh NO!!!!!) I will also be posting my workout routine and my diet on a daily basis. On the 9th of each month Every four weeks I will post my results (measurements and a new pic) for the previous month. I will re-evaluate my routines at this time.
So here is the starting point....
Date 9-Sep-2007
neck 14.75..........hips 43.5
U chest 41.5.......R thigh 23
bust 47..............R knee 15
L chest 38.75......R calf 14.75
R bicep 14.25......R ankle
R wrist 6.75........L thigh 22.75
L bicep 14.25......L knee
L wrist 6.75........L calf
waist 37.5..........L ankle
abs 45.5............Weight 189.4

I know, I know, TMI, but bear with me. It WILL get better!
I just took the pics for my journal. I just want to cry. I must have been in severe denial as to how I really looked. Know how you look at your body, but don't really see it? It's really difficult to overlook flaws when you're looking at a pic.

Lists

I have lists of things to do that are "miles" long. Books I want to read, patterns I want to sew, art I want to create, places I want to visit, career goals, etc. I have my 101 Things list I blog about, my list on 43 Things, and I have several lists that are personal, that I keep on my pc. I make sure every day I do something towards several of these goals. I always write down what I do towards the particular goal I'm working on. When I get discouraged I am able to look back at how far I've come and how much I've accomplished. Some of these goals will take a year or more to complete. These are goals I'm committed to, not just something I'd like to do.

Aprons

I still have quite a way to go before I reach my goal weight. I'm itching to start sewing something for myself that won't need fitting. So I've decided to make an apron. I LOVE aprons and I'm happy that they are fashionable again, along with dresses. I LOVE dresses also. I enjoy wearing dresses, and heels, and even pantyhose. I'm a girly-girl. Always have been, even when I was climbing trees with my next door neighbor. LOL


I have 3-4 apron patterns. I'm thinking for my first one I'll use either Butterick 4945or Butterick 6567. I like the ones in the middle of the pictures. I like the flounce and bow on 4945 and the piping on 6567.
















New Orleans, Louisiana is still feeling the effects of hurricane Katrina. Are the levies going to protect the city if another hurricane strikes this year? What has been done to protect this city? Why are there still people who cannot return home? Why did it take the government 5 days to give them assistance and why is it taking so long to get to get this city back on it's feet? My heart aches for the people whose lives have been turned upside down. I do not live there. But I love NOLA as if it were my birth place. I feel at home there. I love it's people, I love it's music and I damn sure love it's food.

New Autumn Patterns

After looking through the Big Four‘s new autumn patterns, I’ve chosen a few that I would like to sew. I didn’t see very many that called my name and demanded to be put on my sewing list though.

I’ve always liked Butterick patterns so the majority of the ones I’ve chosen have been from Butterick.




Number 5100 is a cute tunic! It can be worn a number of ways. I like all of them except the dress. I would also wear straight leg pants with it instead of the tapering ones.




Butterick 5101 is a wrap dress and top with an elastic waist skirt and pants. I like the jacket, even though I’m sure there are others like it that is prettier. I just haven’t found one I really like yet.




I love 5087. I could see view B in a royal blue hound’s-tooth check with a black belt and black pencil skirt.






I like the simplicity of 5066. Since my SWAP colours are black, gray, and white with splashes of red, burgundy and pink and maybe royal blue. You know I love the ensemble as is with a red shoe and bag.



I envision New Look 6729 view A without the bell sleeves in a pretty shade of pink( such as Pantone Confetti 16-1723). I would maybe think about wearing a thin lace cami underneath and an animal print ballet slipper with it and jeans.








And the last one I really like is 3673. I love the retro look, although it’s usually garments and patterns from the 1940s era.







I've also been looking at Ralph Lauren's collection for fall. I love the menswear look and this particular one is my favorite.




When I was a junior/senior in high school my favorite outfit was a black & white hound's-tooth pencil skirt, white shirt, black vest with a tie and heels. I stood out like a sore thumb. I never fit in growing up, from my music (blues, Motown, good ole soul music, while everyone around me was listening to country), to my political views (I was a registered Communist, please don't ask, Angela Davis was a personal heroine, again, please don't ask) to the clothes I wore. I was goth before it was called goth. I believe it was the summer before my sophmore year, I refused to go out of the house unless I was totally covered. I have pale skin anyway and refused to tan. I died my hair jet black and wore red lipstick and all black clothes. I lived by the personal motto "Why be normal?". I guess the few friends I had got used to my weirdness. And the others were afraid it would rub off on them! LOL I still struggle, but I think I'm really close to normal now! (yeah, right.)

Today

I received my Diploma of Paralegal Studies from Florida Career College along with my final grades. I graduated with a 3.97. Not the 4.0 that was my goal, but not too shabby either. Now to get that coveted CLA certification. I also plan to get a specialized certification and a Florida certification. After the first of the year I will start working for my RN degree. I will allow myself one year to complete that.

101 Things: #2…As for my SWAP. I have a clearer picture of what I want to sew and wear. I don’t want to actually sew something until I am much closer to my goal weight. I’d love to be able to take advantage of the beautiful autumn colors this year. Especially since I don’t have to wear a uniform to work.

Your Power Element is Water

Your power colors: blue and aqua Your energy: deep Your season: winter Like the ocean, you evoke deep feelings and passion. You have an emotional, sensitive, and spiritual soul. A bit mysterious, you tend to be quiet when you are working out a problem. You need your alone time, so that you can think and dream.

What's Your Power Element?

It's been a long time

between posts.

I visited with my Dad. We ran a few errands. Mostly we just sat around the house. It was way too hot to do much of anything. I'm planning on going back in a month or so to drive him to FLA for a visit.

I had a very nice long visit with my cousin Reba. We went through Mom's old photos. She identified quite a few family members. Mom didn't write the date and names on the backs of her photos like I do my "hard copies".

Reba explained some things regarding my birth Mother Maggie Lou Russell. Maggie died in 1997. The last time I saw her was in 1964. Of course at the time I didn't understand who Maggie was. She and I share the same birth day, January 21. She had 4 sons. I'm going to try to contact her other family members to see if they could share a photo of her with me. My adoption was a little more complicated than most. (I have always known that I was adopted. I can't remember a time when I didn't know or understand what it meant to be adopted.) My birth grandmother and my adoptive Father’s Mother were sisters. My Dad is my cousin by birth.

When Maggie died, my son Michael went to the funeral home with my parents. They had explained to him who she was. Now, there is a very strong family resemblance between my son and me. No doubt who his MOTHER or FATHER is. Mike looked like Roger, his Dad, too. Mike’s comment was, “Mom, she looked like us.” LOL
Reba said that I look a lot like Maggie.

Things are finally getting back to normal here at home. I’ve thoroughly cleaned the house. I’m sending out resumes and studying for the CLA exam in Nov/Dec.

Now if I just had a job! I’m thinking I might have to go back as a nurse until I can find a paralegal position. Trying to keep a positive attitude. I can do this!!!!

New Look

I made a few changes to my blog tonight. I was going to do this while I was visiting my Dad, however, I can't get either of my laptops to go online. Neither of them recognizes the dial tone on the phone line. I will take them with me and try to get them to work while I'm there.

I finally got my ipod working today. I had to restore it to factory settings and put all the songs on it again. I didn't put all my pictures on it this time though. I'm going to rescan them and get them totally organized before I do that again.

I look forward to seeing my Dad and my nephew again. It's difficult to go back there. That old saying you can't go home again rings true. Things have changed so much since Mom and Mike died. I don't think I could ever live there again. My nephew and I talk about the "good times". I do think that each day we live as long as we are healthy and have people we love around us are the good times. Some of those people may only be here in memory and spirit, but they never really leave us.

on to less morbid things.....

Damn! someone came when I wasn't looking and bleached my hair white, at least at the roots! LOL So I colored my hair tonight. It's back to its "natural" reddish brown. I've promised myself after I reach goal weight I'll get it cut short and dye it a darker red color. I have an appointment to get my nails done tomorrow. oh and I'll do a pedi tomorrow too. Gonna be looking spiffy when I go see my Dad! He hasn't seen me since I've lost 35 pounds. He'll be surprised to see me. I haven't told him I was coming!

How Nerdy Am I?

Countdown to Graduation

Tonight was my last class for the paralegal program. Yesterday, my instructor emailed me the spreadsheet for the final exam, I did it and emailed it back to him. It wasn't difficult, just basics. I met a classmate and we went to Senor Loco's for dinner. Yeah, that kept me within my points for WW. LOL The countdown on the sidebar reads there is approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes left. I'll be removing the countdown around midnight-ish. I will be able to mark that complete, including the 4.0 that I wanted so much. We'll be getting our grades in a week or so. We will walk in October. The past 13 months went by fast. It seems it was just yesterday that we started. I'll be taking a couple of weeks off and then get started studying for the CLA exam. "Stick" and I will be having a once weekly get together to study. We both will make an outline and time frame of what we need to study. We have numerous books to use for studying. The school and program director was going to throw them in the trash,so we students took them instead. Many of them had instructors manuals. We'll be able to use the workbooks and then check our answers.

I'm looking forward to getting on with my life. Still sending out resumes and looking for a job. If I don't get one soon, I'll go back to nursing for a while, until I can get a paralegal job.

I haven't posted in a while and I'll be making upn for that. There are quite a few things I've wanted to blog about but didn't have time. Next week, I'll be visiting my Dad and will play catch up then.

Silly Quizzes

You Should Learn French

C'est super! You appreciate the finer things in life... wine, art, cheese, love affairs. You are definitely a Parisian at heart. You just need your tongue to catch up...

What Language Should You Learn?

You Are Pinot Noir

Sophisticated and worldly, you probably know more about wine than most drinkers. You have great taste, and you approach all aspects of life with a gourmet attitude. You believe that the little things in life should be cherished and enjoyed... and of the best quality possible. And while you may take more time to eat a meal or tour a city, it's always time well spent. Deep down you are: A seductive charmer Your partying style: Refined. And you would never call it "partying" Your company is enjoyed best with: Stinky expensive cheese

What Kind of Wine Are You?

MISSING -- Stepha Henry (Miami, FL)

I copied this directly from Erica B's blog. I don't think she will mind.



Read the story!



If you're a blogger...it would be nice if you posted this as well to get a bit more awareness out there. Some folks have already begun expressing concern that this young lady's disappearance isn't getting the media attention similiar cases receive. Whereas that may be true...when you focus on THAT aspect of it...it takes away from the matter at hand...that this young lady is MISSING.

The BLOG WORLD is a media all it's own. This would be a good use for it. IN MY OPINION.

If you decide to post it...ask your blogging readers to do the same.

101 Things

#39-Follow Flylady. I had my own system/routines in place when I found Flylady. I tried to follow her routines but I keep going back to the ones I had in place because they work for me. I'm going to mark this as completed.

#49-Nails. I got my nails done today. In November, it had been 2 years since I had them done last. I always take them off for about a month to let my nails "breathe." But my hands were so dry and cracked from the colder weather, washing my hands all the time (I was a nurse at the time) and from stress, I decided that I would wait until they were completely healed before I got them done again. Now, in all that time, they have been completely healed maybe 4 times. This is very painful. Sometimes I would wake up at night and my fingers would be throbbing. I now use presciption creams and lotions and parafin dips on a daily basis. I really dislike not having long pretty nails!

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!

Graphics and other things

Yesterday, after my WW meeting I went to Joann's Fabrics. Nothing was calling to me so I went to Barnes and Noble. My instructor, Paula, told the class that The Elements of Style would help with the communications part of the CLA exam.

I also got Photoshop Creative, a magazine on how to work with Adobe Photoshop. This is a powerful graphics program in which you can do almost anything.

Many of the digital scrapbookers use Photoshop. Many write tutorials so others can obtain similar results for themselves. Many scrappers also share freely their hard work in the form of "papers" and "elements" so that other scrappers WON'T have to do it for themselves. I am very appreciative of all their work. I tried to use a couple of the tutorials, adapting them for PaintShop Pro XI without much success. I haven't done any of the tutorials from their website or read any books about "Paintshop". So, I guess I shouldn't comment. LOL Actually, I think there aren't as many as for Photoshop. I do like Snapfire though. I have an early edition of Elements I like too. Perhaps I should just "dig-in" and study the Paintshop tutorials and search out Paintshop books, rather than lusting for an expensive graphics program......naaahhh, I think I'll just lust a while. LOL

Tomorrow is the day for my interview. I am more anxious the closer it gets. I found out last Thursday that I must have an externship by the end of this week. Something about putting it into the computer. So I'm feeling the pressure to do well with this interview. I hope the attorney will make a decision on the spot, although I know that isn't usually how things work.

On the crafty side of my life, I have picked through my fat quarters and chose some fabrics to make a couple of mats for the dogs' water bowl. They leave drools on the floor every time they get a drink, and with three dogs that is a lot of drool! Their old mat is in tatters. I also was finally able to print a proper sized heart for the Chain of Hearts Yahoo group. I'll be looking through my stash to see what I have appropriate for CQing. I'm still trying to find the silhouette of my son from when he was a child. I want to do it in cross-stitch. I have no idea which container I packed it in.

Lest I forget, I ordered from fabric from Anne's Gorgeous Things. I am going to make a "Stacy Top". This top is nicer looking than the one from Macy's! I tried to post a link, to the exact fabric, but I think she has sold out. There was only 19 yards left after I ordered.

101 Things Update
Friday I had a massage before my appointment with Dr Weller. I see her about once a month to be adjusted. Makes all the difference between walking upright and crawling. LOL It was wonderful! I haven't had one in such a long time. It was very relaxing. I had my eyes checked about three weeks ago and got new glasses. I'm going on Wednesday to order my colored (brown)contact lens. I have an appointment on Tuesday to have my nails done.

My Recipe

If austin were a drink they would be: 1 parts bitch 4 parts tranquility 4 parts alluring Get Your RECIPE Here!