Yeah. I'm Lame

Forgot my frakking password to sign into this blog. I hadn't written it down, thinking that I'd remember it. I finally worked it out and wrote it down. Old age is encroaching faster than I would like lol The funny thing is, this password is a variation on another password and sickeningly easy for me to remember. I think that I have been so distracted, lately that it just slipped my mind. It's hell getting old. But getting old is better than the alternative.

I'm all dressed and cozy and just about to run out and do a little shopping. We aren't doing up Christmas like crazy, it's not easy, right now with out current budget. But I am buying all of us a few things that we need or want. William wants to buy me a new camera. He knows how much I want one but I am conflicted about it. On the one hand, I want to jump on it and get it and on the other, I feel incredibly guilty because a decent quality camera isn't cheap and that money can do a lot of other things. Look, the camera I have my eyeballs on isn't horribly priced... It isn't a thousand dollar SLR or something. But I am still struggling with letting go and just doing it.

I will most likely not buy it, right now. Maybe a tripod would stabilize my old camera enough to get me better shots. And fifteen dollars for a tripod is smarter than a couple of hundred for a camera and memory card. There was a bundle I was drooling over in Best Buy, last night. A Nikon with a memory card, tripod and case for $288.00. And I tried out a Fuji at HellMart. Less money. But I wasn't as impressed with it, overall and a lot of the reviews I read on that camera, last night weren't great. A lot of complaints about focusing issues and grainy photographs. Not something I need, with the work I do with my camera. If I am going to have to sharpen photos, I might as well just keep using my current camera.

The guys just got back from taking the Inlaws to HellMart and we are going to head out, in a few. It is cloudy and cold and perfect for this time of year. Feels Wintery. :D

I had a great day, yesterday and today is going well, too.

Just a Quickie

I am alive. I am still fighting. Having a few more good days than bad and battling to get back into my form.

It's snowing, again.

I have a ton of shit to do and have to get to it.

That is all I have to yap about, right at the moment.

Keep Shoveling, Bitches

Snow. More of it fell, last night and on and off, all day today. Patrick and later, William, too kept it cleared pretty nicely. The snow finally stopped just before sunset and the clouds parted, the sun came out and the temperature started dropping. Rapidly. By the time it was dusk, it was in the mid twenties, out there. Brrr! It shoudl be well and truly frozen solid out there, in the morning.

It is supposed to be clear and sunny and warm into the forties, so the ice that is everywhere, right now should melt in pretty short order.

You know... I wouldn't bitch so much about the snow so much if we didn't live on the side of a hill. Seriously, what I woldn't give to have a short, level driveway on a well plowed street.

Patrick is shoveling, looking as if he is about to go sliding down our steep drive on all that ice while William leans on his shovel, goofing around on his BlackBerry.  (That's our neighbour's car. The obnoxious smoker on the balcony one.)

The view off of my front balcony, looking off to the right. The sun was just beginning to set and gold and pink and coral light were beginning to flood the landscape.

This is looking off to the left, you can see Willow Creek Road, snaking along in the distance.  I loved how everything was overwhelmed with gold from the rapidly sinking sun, here.

Patrick, shoveling madly. He really wanted to get done and come in and warm up. lol

This one looks much better, enlarged, as yu can actually see more detail. Shooting right into the sun is never a good idea, but I still had to try it. It just makes me crazy that my camera doesn't capture what my eyes see.

I love the colours of the setting sun on snow.

Patrick, surveying his hard work as the sun gets ready to sink below the hill below it. It was already in the twenties when this photograph was taken and in spite of all of the snow clearing activities, the drive was slicked with ice. Landlord needs to provide that snow melter stuff. It would make the drive so much safer. 

Did you know that Washington Irving was the first author to describe Santa as fat and jolly? I imagine that he would describe me as fat and bitchy.

I am tired, tense and my head hurts and I think I am going to make it an early-ish night. I am looking forward to hitting the sack, tonight.

Snow. Blech.

Snowed yesterday. Snowed last night. Snowed, today. Not large amounts, Just dustings, each time. Thank the heavens above. I have places to go and people to do, tomorrow. I do not need to be trapped on this hillside like a rat.

I really need to remember to write down all of my passwords in one place. I had to have my smartphone hard restarted, again. Forth time in less than a year, thankyouverymuch. Gah! Damned thing bleeds memory like a stuck pig does blood. It's super annoying. After that restart, I had to go in and re do everything. E-mail accounts, Twitter, Facebook... You get the drift. I was humming right along, getting everything back up and running. Remembered everything flawlessly with just a tiny, "Uh... Which e-mail is my personal Facebook attached t, again?" Until I hit Slacker. Yeah. Had to log in to that one several times until I hit on the right e-mail address/password combination. Yeah. Write it down, you addlepated old battleaxe.

So, what else is going on? Not a whole lot. I managed a fairly good day, today. Didn't dig into the big, greasy pizza that William and Patrick brought home for dinner. Not even a bread stick. Yeah. That was beginning to add up, let me tell you. Oh, I'll just have one. Yeah. Right. *rolling my eyes* I can't do even just one. time to keep remembering that.

My head has been hanging on the precipice of a major blow, all day, today, then tonight I started haloing. *sigh* I am in for it, tomorrow. Should be lots of fun. Especially since I can't just sit in the house with the blinds drawn. I have too much to do. So I get to go out and about, and pretend that my head isn't a nanosecond from imploding.

Say, Am I crazy for wanting a pink Christmas tree, this year?

Okay. I am going to bed. The right side of my head is about to blow like Mount Saint Helens. 

So it Begins

December. Winter. Snow. I don't like the snow. Not one little bit. It wouldn't bother me so much if we didn't live on the side of a hill and get trapped by just a couple of inches. I have to tell you, it's stupid. Utterly stupid.

I like the clouds we had today, tho. It was dark and gloomy and cold. Kinda matched my mood.

I don't really have all that much to natter about, really. I just wanted to start December with a post. And I will be back to talk more, tomorrow.

I Keep Forgetting

That my lappie is wireless and that I don't have to keep it upstairs or use it only there. I can bring it down here and be comfy in my beddies. So, that is where I am. In bed. With my computer.

Anyone tried the updated Blogger interface? Is it any good? Easier to use? What's the dealio? I am intrigued but I don't want to click the link and get stuck with something that I don't like. Knowwhatimean? I am up for new things but I have to be sure I can handle it and that it will benefit me.

Anywhoozle. I got back on the road, tonight. It felt so good to walk, again. I did a fast, and I do mean fast two miles on Willow Creek with my bodyguards. For a while I was walking as fast as it is possible to walk without actually running and boy! Did that ever work my ass out! I was breathing hard, like I was running but it was easier on my joints and I could go longer at that pace than when I try to run. I kept going like that through a whole song. Whew! It was getting cold, when we set out, by the time I got back to the Jeep, I was hot and sweating.

I feel great and I want to keep it up, now. I did have some cramps in my calves, when I got home so I drank tons of water, took two potassium tablets and pounded a pile of dill pickle spears to up my potassium and hopefully I have staved off leg cramps, tonight. I usually get them when I pick back up on exercise and I have learned to load up with a ton of potassium to hopefully prevent them. Nothing like being jerked out of a sound sleep with your legs cramping so tight that all you can do is sit and rock back and forth, monaing and groaning, saying, "No! No! No! No!" over and over while you massage your legs and pray for death.

I ate well. I have good days and not so good days. I am still trying and I will beat this. I will. I think about how I had planned to be so much further along by now and I get pretty pissed at myself. It's my own damned fault. I am not blaming anyone or anything but myself. No one is holding a gun to my head and forcing me to be an idiot. Oh, no. I am doing that quite well on my own. I am not in trouble or out of control. I can still fit into my jeans... But I am not hapy with the fact that I am so utterly stalled and stupid.

Better than gaining it all back. I am grateful that I haven't done that. But still...

Anyway, I need to finish up my Thanksgiving shopping, tomorrow. I have some stuff to get, including Patrick's Dutch apple pie and I want to get a lower cal, sugar free dessert of some kind for me, just for that meal. I have my sides and the sides for the guys all planned out. And, I had planned to do another oven ready turkey but Fry's had Honeysuckle White whole turkey breasts on sale the other day for five clams each, so we grabbed one and it is in my fridge, happily thawing. It should be ready to roast, come Thursday. I am looking forward to having a nice roast turkey breast. Yum. I can almost smell it.

In addition to last minute shopping, I need to do laundry, tomorrow. Joy. How I love that chore. And I need to do my nails and I have a couple of other things on my back burner that I would like to do, should I have the time.

Okay, so I guess that is about it, for now. Time for me to go to sleep. I'm tired.

A Good Day

I got through it in pretty fine style. Just over fourteen hundred calories for the day. I didn't binge on a bag of chips, I didn't eat a bag of sugar free candy. (Yeah, that shit isn't coming back into my house. It is too yummy and too easy to justify "just one more!") I did have a lot of popcorn. If I hadn't, I would have been under 1200. Way under 1200. It was worth it, to have the popcorn. :D

I am feeling pretty danged good and pleased with myself. Now, to repeat, tomorrow. Next thing you know, I could be on a streak.

Think I'll hit the lake trails, tomorrow. My knee is finally not swollen and I can walk without pain. I still have a big honking bruise on it. In fact I still have a whole bunch of big honking bruises on both knees and thighs and shins. Falling up the stairs... I don't suggest it. But, the swelling is gone from all of my banged sites and the bruises are beginning to turn yellow and fade. My knee is still tender to the touch but it is working fine.

I think that is about all I have to yammer about, right at the moment.

BYOC: I'm doing It

Yay! It's BYOC time. Draz finally got one up and I finally got here to do it. The planets must be aligned. :D

1. What is your FAVORITE part of Thanksgiving?

Astonishingly enough, cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I know, half of you just fell over in shock. But it's true. This is the one meal that I actually look forward to cooking, every year. After that, it is turkey. Golly, I loves me some turkey! :D

 2. How many Thanksgiving family events will you attend?

Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. I do Thanksgiving at home. With my husband and son. We send food over to the In-laws. I wish that I were close enough to have Thanksgiving with my family. *sigh* I wouldn't mind having people over. Maybe next year, when we live in a bigger house and my budget isn't so disgustingly tight. 

 3. What’s your biggest Thanksgiving tradition?

A Jennie-O Oven Ready turkey. No, really! Two minutes from freezer to oven and make my sides. No thawing, no rinsing, no slippery turkey carcass sliding across my kitchen floor. (Think I'm joking? You have never seen me do a turkey the old fashioned way, have you?) I don't have to worry about timing, temperatures and basting. And I have a perfect bird, every time. Now, that is a tradition I could pass down to future generations. Except that Patrick isn't planning to have kids. Nor does he cook Thanksgiving dinners. So, it began with me and it dies with me. :P

 4. Do you Black Friday shop the day after Thanksgiving?

Oh, hellz fucking no! I don't do black Friday. I sleep in, then start decorating for Christmas. I don't like crowds, I don't appreciate being jostled, pushed, stomped on or having things taken from my hands because someone else thinks that they "deserve" that item more than I do. I don't consider TVs and so forth Christmas gifts. So I don't need to be first in line at Hell Mart to get one for forty-nine dollars. 


5. Repeat question: Summarize your week in real life and in blog world.

In real life: I suck.

In Blog World: I suck.

Not So Smooth-ee

Brekkie today was a smoothie. Or it was supposed to be smooth. I made a smoothie with almond milk, some cherry vanilla Yoplait Light, a few frozen strawberries and some chunks of frozen pineapple. Yummy. Then I had the bright idea to add pomegranate seeds. They added nice flavour. And lots and lots of crunchy bits.

*sigh* Drinking that smoothie was interesting. Especially spitting out all of those seeds and chunks of seeds. Lesson learned. No pomegranate seeds in smoothies. Maybe I will get some pomegranate juice and freeze cubes and toss them in, instead.

 A big tumbler full of fruity goodness. Would have been better without the crunch. lol

Laundry day, today. Load number two is in the washer. I have sweaters and delicates tumbling gently in a low dryer. So much fun. I still need to run my vacuum and put my blender away. I was going to scrub my bathroom, today but I changed my mind and I'll do it, tomorrow.

I had a pretty good eating day, yesterday and the day before. Plan to do even better, today. I'd also like to get out for a walk. Now that the nasty swelling from my recent fall is finally going down on my frakking knee, I think I can handle it.

I can't think of anything else to say, right now so I am going to motor. I'll talk to you, later. (If anyone is still reading this drek. ;) lol)

Another Year Older...

 No. Birthday coffee, maybe. Cake, I don't need. lol

It's cool and getting cloudier. yay! Perfect Birthday weather for yours truly who loves her cloudy, grey days. Maybe we'll get some rain later. That would put the polish on it, fo shizz! :D

Okay so... My day is starting off well. Had my coffee and oatmeal and I am stuffed and about to go jump in the shower. I have some shopping to do, I need to blow the last of my Birthday money on foundation and powder, maybe I will have enough for a liner, a shadow or two? We'll see. :D My pressie was polish, this year.

Blech. Coffee breath. The kind that makes the roof of your mouth go gah! and you can feel it in the back of your throat. (Sorry Draz... Probably not something you wanted to read... ;)) Time to brush my fangs and rinse, too. Blech! Speaking of which, I am down to one dose of Crest Pro Health rinse (I love that stuff!) and I need to put that on my list. I can't live without it. It's the only Crest product I like and it is a doosy. It works faaaabulously.

Okay, so time to run. I hope that you are having a fantastic weekend. I am going to make this a really good day. Under 1500 for the day, here I come!

Later, gators. :D

11/11/11

Heh heh. One off title, to be sure.

So... Not too much going on around here. Just most of the usual. Housework, laundry and so on. Blech. I am so in the mood to get out and go crazy, run wild and howl at the moon.

I just did a little pampering, instead. I exfoliated my face really well, slathered it in a chocolate clay masque and kicked back and read a book for about half an hour. I applied so much of the masque that it still wasn't fully dry when I was ready to rinse. It came in a single use packet and I didn't want to waste any, so I piled on all of it. Too much. Yeah, I know... Weird, coming from me. Next time, I think I will squeeze out the amount I need then roll it up tight and wrap it in packing tape. I can easily get two or three uses out of a single packet. I bought the masque at Walgreen's. It was nice. Smelled yummy, like chocolate frosting in a plastic tub. There are different kinds, I love the mineral one on a cloth, when I use that one I get all relaxed, boneless and floaty.And it makes my skin look and feel nice, too. Temporarily lifted a little. Which at my age...

Speaking of age. Tomorrow. 47. Yikes! I guess it is better than the alternative. In fact, I would say that I know that it is better than the alternative. Besides they say that fifty is the new thirty so, I am sctually going to be twenty-seven.

Yeah. Keep on telling yourself that, Erika.

I need to go grocery shopping. I need some different stuff in this house. I am so burnt out on the same old crap that William brings home and it isn't good. I need some new and foods that will inspire me to cook a bit (yes, I said cook. Shut up. lolol) and get back into my rhythm. I have been off of it and I miss it. I really do. I do well for a couple of days, then not as well, then do well and so on. *sigh* I also need to get to walking, again.

I keep saying this, don't I?

I think that stuff to make smoothies would be nice and some protein powder to make them more nutritious. Squash is coming into the store. Butternut squash and spaghetti squash and even fresh yellow and zukes. I haen't been getting and eating much in the way of fresh veggies and salads. I hate it when I have to just accept whatever William buys and brings home and maybe I have been rebelling and taking my anger about that on myself. Not good, really if that is what it is.

I am going to start hauling out the Christmas decorations, soon. I am going to keep it pretty simple, this year. Decorating this condo is a nightmare so I am going to scale it back a bit. Actually a lot. And buy a smaller tree. I love my big one but it is just so big and takes up a lot of my dining area and I have to smoosh my table against the wall and a smaller tree will make more sense, I feel. I think that the inside tree, the deck tree, lights outside and some garland and simple decorations on my mantel and scattered about here and there will be festive but not overwhelming.

I had hoped that we would find a new house soon but William wants to wait, now until April and the Bk is finished. Just five months to go. Chapter 13 is hell, my friends. Whoever says that BK is the easy way out never lived through a three year Ch 13. It is hard. It sucks. It isn't the easy way out. Trust me. So anyway, we are now waiting until April.

Whatthefuckever. Make up your mind, already and stop telling me one thing then changing direction midstream. I am getting just a tad sick of it.

Anyway. Another sickeningly boring entry is on the record. *sigh* I still suck. lol

Is This Arizona? Or Alaska?

Bleargh! Moar snow. And we are still under a Winter weather advisory for the rest of today. Which means... Yepper. You guessed it. Possibly even more snow will fall. Patrick and William will love that. :P Patrick is out, right now clearing the drive. Considering how long and steep it is, I am sure that he is having a real bast. lol (That is an evil laugh, BTW.)

Pretty? Yes. Pain in the ass? No question. I suppose I would object a tad less strenuously to snow if we didn't live on the side of a steep hill and it weren't so frakking difficult to clear it.

Other than my constant bitching about the weather, not too much going on, around here. Marley is flaked out in front of the fireplace and Sabryna is passed out on her beddies. Nothing like warm, contented hairbags on a cold, snowy Autumn morning. :D

I need another cup of java. My brain is still in fuzz mode. Then I am going to get some new polishes swatched for my nail blog and... I dunno... Just hang. I get to have a lazy day since I cleaned house like a dervish, yesterday. I love that. Even housewives need vacay days.

Okay, off to the kitchen to make more coffee and some brekkie. I think that a nice, hot bowl of oatmeal with some chopped apple will go down very nicely, right now.

Did You Know...

That you can fall upstairs? It's true. You can. I know 'cause I did, today. I had finished scrubbing my bathroom and had my phone in one hand, a tube of face "scrub" that I was taking upstairs so that William could remember to return it and I started up the stairs and instead of clearing the riser a couple of steps up, I jammed my right foot into it, instead. I lost my balance and footing and fell down the couple of steps and came to a halt at the bottom. I jammed my toes, knocked the hell out of both knees and thighs, took some skin off my left forearm, wrenched my back and left shoulder and smacked my beak on the step above me as I fell. I now have sore, swollen knees, a big, swollen lump on the top of my left thigh and another spot like it above my right knee. My poor toes are killing me and my fingers on my right hand are stiff. Which is making typing a ton of fun, lemme tell ya. lol

When I fell, I dropped my phone and you want to know what is really sick? It was my first worry when I came in for a landing. I was afraid that I had broken my phone.  :P I am stiff, sore and not moving around too fast, right now. Aleve is going to be my bestest friend, for a few days, I am thinking. But I'll live. I'm just thankful that I didn't break anything. Especially my poor beak.

My house smells like caramel and apples and a little like cinnamon. I love scented candles sooo much! They make the air smell so yummy and the flickering light is so warm and welcoming.

Warm is needed, right now! It is much colder, all of a sudden. We got snow, yesterday morning. Just a dusting. But I remembered, later in the morning to grab my camera and fire off a few shots. Some melting had already occurred but there was still enough of the white stuff to show you. I hope that you like the photos. I did the best I could with my busted down old cart horse of a camera. (I am hoping that Santa will be bringing me a new one, this year. It is time, my old one is six years old and really starting to show it's age. lol)

Photographs are clickable. 

 I just love the shapes of this tree in the below photo and I have been wanting to shoot it for a while, now. :D

I just turned on my fireplace for the first time, today. It is just so chilly in here and my toes are froze and I want some warm. It is already beginning to throw a little heat. I wonder how long it is going to take my cat to figure out that it is on. He loves a good fire. He is currently curled up in a tight little ball on his blanket on the top of the back of the sofa.

It is dark and cloudy, this afternoon and The Weather Channel is threatening  more snow. Just an inch or so. Blech! Yuk! Ptooey! Rain is fine, I like rain. But not the fluffy white stuff.

I'm working hard to keep my fat ass on track. And doing a little better, the past few days. Yesterday was a definite good day, I came in under 1500 calories. I should come in right around the same, today. I am also pushing water, I had been slacking on my slurping and was feeling the effects. It is good to be getting more hydration, again. I would like to take a walk, but I am going to need a few days to heal and unstiffify. (Yeah, I know it isn't a word. But I am using it, anyway. :P) I think that I am going to go take a really hot shower, in a bit. That should help to soothe me and loosen up some of my stiff and sore muscles.

Jeeze! I am such a klutz! lol

I just put Marley down in front of the fireplace. He is now sitting there, staring into the flames and giving himself a little bath. He will probably pass out soon. He likes to sleep in front of the fireplace with his paws stretched out to the heat vents and hose up all of the warm. :D

Okay, so I think that is about all I have to yap about, for right now. I'll talk to you all, soon.

What's Uuuuup?

Hey everyone.

I meant to post yesterday but I got busy and by the time I thought about it, I had just hit shut down on my puter and I was ready to hit the hay so... Here I iz, now.

Ever have one of those days that is a total waste of makeup? I did, yesterday. Literally. I was putting my war paint on and the first try, it looked horrible. Partly my own fault... I am using a Roc retinol night treatment that can dry my skin and I have to exfoliate more often and I forgot and I have micro peelies and when I got my foundation on I looked like a zombie that was sloughing it's dead skin.

Not pretty, my friends. Not pretty. So, out came the makeup remover wipes and on went fresh moisturizer and I applied more foundation. And I do mean more. And once again, I looked as if Sabryna chewed my face up then barfed on it. So, out came the makeup remover wipes and the moisturizer. *sigh* What to do? I had to get my makeup on but I didn't have time to scrub and let my skin calm down before I had to be ready. Then I remembered, duh! Some stupid bitch forgot her primer. I smoothed some on, applied my foundation and much better. Not what I wanted but better.

Turns out I was out of scrub so I grabbed some while I was out. I am going to be going through a lot of it, this Winter. the air is dry, dry, dry and the cooler it gets, the drier my skin gets. The humidity is so low, right now and it is windy, too. So, it's going to get worse before it gets better. I think I need a vat of jojoba oil that I can just lower myself into until Spring. lol

Speaking of cooler. It might snow, tonight or in the morning. What the fuuuuu???? Noooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do. Not. Want! Rain, fine. Snow? Nuh-Uh! No thank you! Snow sucks. And I have stuff to do this weekend so it had better not stick around. It isn't supposed to. If it does fall, we are only supposed to get an inch or so and it will be in the upper forties y tomorrow afternoon so, no worries.

William is watching Grapes of Wrath, again. Steinbeck bores the snot out of me. On the screen or the page. Doesn't make any difference. I hear his name and my eyes glaze over and my brain shuts down. Same with Shakespeare. Bleargh!

I got another dish towel knitted and I am hot into dish cloths, now. It's nice to have a drawer full of them, again.

Let's see... Oh. I busted open and seeded the first big, beautiful pomegranate of the season, tonight. We had a smaller one the other day but it was so sour that it was inedible. This one is scrumptious. Want more.

I guess that is about all I have to natter about, for right now.

Goodnight. :D

Dropping, Dropping

Are the temps. It was much cooler, today and it is supposed to just get cooler. there is talk of possible snow on Saturday. Perish the thought! I will not have it! I have things to do. Snow is not welcome. Noooo siree! But yeah, it was significantly cooler, today. I did open one window in the afternoon when it got a little stuffy in here when the sun swung over.

I took the Hallowe'en decorations down, today. There is always something a little sad about my home after I take down holiday decorations. Not only does it look and feel bare but it is the knowledge that another holiday and passed and is gone. I won't have too long to lament, tho. I will be decorating for Christmas, before too long. I am not going to do my customary Christmas Puked All Over My House decor, this year. I am sick of trying to get everything to work in this tiny place so I am going a little more low key, this year. I am also going to buy a smaller tree. I love my big one but it just takes up too much room in my tiny dining area. So,I'm thinking a five foot pencil tree should be just the ticket.

I got most of the laundry done up... I still have one load. And I really need to scrub my bathroom. Blech. Not in the mood but it needs done so I'll probably knock it out tomorrow, really quick. It doesn't really take me all that long. I have a system and can get my bathroom sparkling clean in pretty short order. It is just mustering up the gumption to actually do it, lately.

I am feeling a little burned out in the housework area and I think that I could use a vacation. Not that I am going to get one, mind you. But the thought of one is a nice thing.

Okay. I have a headbanger and I am going to take it to bed and see if some sleep will ease it a bit. I'll see all of you fine, furry people tomorrow. *muah!*

Happy November!

I say that at the beginning of every month, don't I? Lame. lol

It's been a while, again but I mean to change that. I am giving myself a challenge to get back in the habit of daily blogging and I want to post every day, this month, Even if it is boring and stupid as I am, I am going to do it. So, buckle up for a lot of mundane stuff ahead. lol

The weather has been amazing, here. Seventies, even eighties. In the seventies, yesterday. That was warm for Hallowe'en, even around here. It's supposed to be 73, today then cool into the 60's and then the 50's throughout the week. Maybe it will start feeling like Fall. :D The warmer weather has been a nice thing, since I certainly don't need to heat my home. Unlike the poor people who had a ton of snow dumped on them, thanks to the freak snowstorms that hit. I hope that all of my readers and family who got snowed upon are okay, have your power back on and are recovering from the October snow madness.

My days are so routine that sometimes I wish for some dramaz, something to break up the monotony. But I guess it isn't a bad thing, really... Things are pretty peaceful. William works a lot and when he is home, I am buried in my computer and so we don't talk much and as a consequence, we fight less. Laptop as peacemaker. lol

I had a pretty good couple of days, diet-wise. Still working at it. I am not giving up, no matter how pathetic I am and how I have slowed myself. I know that my mojo is within reach and I will get it back and I am not quitting.

Now to get to walking, again, too. I miss that and I am just going to have to take it into my own hands. If I wait for William to feel like driving me to the lake or walking with me, I'll never get out there. *sigh* That's bullshit. I'm a fucking adult. I can go by myself.

Okay, so that is what is going in, right now. I am going to drink my coffee and read your blogs and see what everyone is up to.

Later, gators.

Good Morning, Blogland

I hope that everyone is having a good morning. I am waiting for my kettle to boil so that I can have my first cup of coffee. It is sunny and chilly, this AM but it is supposed to warm up to 80 or so this afternoon. Should be a pretty day.

Mmm... Coffee. :D Marley just had his morning pile of Party Mix. He expects his treat every day. He sits up on my washer, meowing, staring at me and licking his lips until he gets his goodies. lol Oh! I have to watch Anderson, today. It's about germy stuff. Should be fun. Pardon me while I set my DVR...

Cripes I need to wake up. I hate mornings.

Okay, I am going to have my java and watch The Biggest Loser. I'll see all of you later. :D

Whew!

Holy shit! It's warm, tonight. The windows are open (I am breathing skunk stank, a-fucking-gain!) the fans are going and I am toasty. WTF? We had to run the air for a bit, late this afternoon. It just got too hot in here.

Did someone say it was Fall?

Did they lie? lol

In other news, I don't know if I mentioned that we got a new neighbour. She is nice enough... Not too noisy, her rat dog doesn't bark too much. I can hang with her there. But her SO who is there more and more, he is another story. You see, he is a smoker. *sigh* Another cigarette sucking outside smoking person next door. We got rid of the last ones and now the smoke is once again drifting into my house and choking me. And I can't keep my windows closed because it is too warm and besides, why should I have to?!?! These are non smoking units, damnit!

Technically, he isn't smoking inside, so he isn't breaking the rule of the building but still... Keeping the smoke out of his girlfriend's place is clogging my air with the stuff and I beyond don't appreciate it. It stinks, it triggers my asthma, it can also trigger my migraines, it stinks and I just don't want to breathe it. If I wanted to breathe smoke, I'd go buy a pack and go to it.

Look, I get that he has every right to smoke. He is an adult and can make his own choices. If he chooses to blow out his lungs with cigarettes, that is his deal. But I firmly believe that I have rights, too. And one of those rights is to not have my health and well being jeopardized by his bad habit. One of the reasons we chose to move in her, in the first place was because smoking isn't allowed. We assumed that meant that there was no smoking. At all. Wrong. Apparently, it is perfectly okay for smokers in other units to enjoy their cancer sticks outdoors and send their nasty, noxious, dangerous second hand smoke my way. Blech!

Anywhoozle, we are sick of this condo, sick of sharing a wall, sick of sharing a driveway, sick of neighbours who smoke, sick of three adults cramped into a two bedroom unit... It is just getting to all of us. So, we hashed over the old budget and as long as we don't go too much higher than what we pay now, we figure we can go up about... $200.00 a month or so, we can move. Find a house. A real, honest-to-goodness house. With no connecting walls, no noise from next door, no smoke wafting through my domicile.

We are now in official house hunt mode and the instant we find something, we are out of here. :D Oh, to have a house, again. I am soooo over condo living, I can't even tell you.

I have already begun preliminary preparations. I like an organized, smooth move and I will start a long way out, gathering boxes, packing materials, making lists, sorting, discarding stuff that doesn't matter and I don't want to move, packing up stuff not used on a daily basis and so forth. I am a moving machine, I have done it so many times. lol And I can't wait to move, again.

That is one of the many things we love about being renters. If we get shitty for any reason neighbours or we just get tired of the place we are, we pack up and go. See ya! Wouldn't want to be ya!


I had another good day. White knuckled it in a couple of spots but did right well, overall. Spending time in my sanctuary, swatching and photographing polishes took up time I would have otherwise spent having thoughts I don't need to be having. Keeping busy really does help! A lot! :D

Okay, I think I am yapped out, now. I have to pee and you know what? I am not so much in the mood for the fudge pop, after all. Think I'll just hit the hay.

So, goodnight. :D

Have I Mantioned That I Hate Skunks?

Seriously. They spray around here almost every night. This morning, I was sleeping so nice. Cuddled up with my cat under m blankets, the fresh, chilly air coming in through my bedroom window and Blam! Skunk stank. I had to get up and close my window and come upstairs and do the same. Now my house reeks and I just want to gag.

Fucking skunks. When we first moved into this condo, there were no skunks. We never smelled them. Then it was as is, after some time they managed to follow us down from Highland Pines, found us and are now spraying joyfully. Blech! Go back to the woods where you belong, you little stinly bastards. There is plenty of fresh air out there for you to befoul.

Coffee. It is nectar of the gods. :D

I have laundry to do. The towels are all used up and hubbie needs undies. I also need to finish swatching that new Wet-N-Wild polish collection I picked up, the other day. I still can't believe that I found a LE collection in my Podunk town. You bet I snapped up one of every colour.  :D

Yesterday was another good day. I think? I am on a roll. :)

It is clear and the high is supposed to be 81, today. Just gorgeous. Of course, this time of year I prefer dark, grey cloudy skies and wind and slashing rains. But if I can't have that, I suppose no humidity and 81 degrees and a nice little breeze. That is just about weather that comes from a dream.

Okay, so I think that I have nattered enough, for right now. I'll talk to you all, later. :D

Oh! I think that oatmeal is on the menu for brekkie, this morning.

I'm Still Alive

Really, I am. :p I am a dorkface and I thought that I didn't deserve to blog here because I have still been struggling and wasn't inspirational and blah, blah, blah. Yeah. I am a weird-o. But that is how I roll.

Life here is chugging along as normal. Boring. Stupid. Or I should say, I am boring and stupid, since I have strange ideas about deserving my blog and posting in it. lol I also feel stupid about posting all about my exciting days dusting and doing laundry and taking my dog out to pee. I am not "busy" and interesting and have things to talk about. So I don't.

But I miss my blog and my bloggy buddies and I want to write here.

See? Stupid.

It has been unseasonably warm, here. Like a second Summer. Highs in the eighties, tho it is supposed to gradually cool into the seventies through this week. Nights are gorgeous, cool. Perfect sleeping weather and cat under the covers to be my personal furry little hot water bottle.

So, I had a good day yesterday. I am planning to make today the same. I don't know where my weight is, exactly... My scale battery needs to be changed and I am in no hurry to acquire a new one at the moment. I am afraid of what I will see and that it will shatter me. I know that I am up a few pounds but my jeans still fit so it isn't terrible but still... I am so mad at myself. And I am not giving up! Ever!

Okay so, 'Nuff boring on and on and on. I am going to try to get over this silliness and blog more.

Anyway, hi! :D

Dear Biggest Loser,

Is it really necessary to torture us with NFL kiss ass episodes?

Love,

Erika

Laundry day, today. Joy. #eatmysarcasm

Maybe I should e-mail this to my husband. ^^

We finally got some rain! It got windy, yesterday. Huge gusts tore through and ripped the cover off of my grill. It flew away, never to be seen again. When William came home for lunch, I had him move my grill down to the garage. And he got it down there just in time as shortly after he went back to work, the heavens opened up and rain dumped down in buckets. It actually rained for quite a while. If we get some more storms like this, the moisture deficit might just be rectified and the tinder dry land be refreshed. 

Oh shit! I forgot to turn on my dryer. Fucking brilliant. Jeeze!

 New brain, perhaps? 

I think, perhaps, yes. I can't think of another thing to write about.

October First

 For your viewing and listening pleasure. :D I love this version. And the video is sooo Eighties-licious! :D

Good grief! October first! Already! When did that happen? And why is the year flying by so damned fast? lol I do love October, tho. This is the month when the temps begin to fall. At least... They are supposed to! I mean, it is still unseasonably warm and I had my A/C running, yesterday. It is humid, today and we are expecting thunderstorms, later. I thought that the Monsoon was over?!?!

The guys are off work today but William had to go in to the office and route his crew for today and Monday. Stupid, but that is how they do it. Then William and Patrick with take the in laws or, as Patrick calls them, The Goon Squad out to do all of their weekly shopping.

I skipped walking, yesterday. I had the Migraine from the Bowels of Hell and didn't want to breathe, much try to pound out miles on my feet. No, I haven't gotten new shoes and I won't, for a while. I am just going to make the ones I have work, for now. I think that asking for more shoes right now... Not a great idea. *sigh* Whatever.

Yeah... The sugar free chocs. If I watch how many I nom, I am okay. Overdoing it is a mistake, tho. I only go for the sugar free because the ones with sugar hurt my teeth. I really need to get in to see a dentist. But I hate going to the dentist so. much. that I keep putting it off. And putting it off. I suck! lol I'll go. Probably when driven by pain to do so.

I suppose I should go take a shower and get myself pulled together for the day. I'll talk to you all. later. :)

Sugar Free Chocolates

Sooo good. Seriously. Dove dark chocolate ones filled with a lovely ganache truffle stuff. Yum! Russel Stover sugar free caramels. Yes, caramels. Rich, chewy, enrobed in chocolate caramels. I allow myself a couple a day. They are a nice reward for staying on track and it has been so long since I have had candy...

But.

There is a side effect.

Bleargh!

Did you know that luscious, smooth, creamy sugar free chocolates cause stomach rumbling, explosive, offensively stanky gas?

Neither did I.

I sure do, now. So does the rest of my household. I am busily getting revenge on my guys for gassing me out of house and home for all of these years.

Maybe I need to buy a few more bags... :P

In other news, we walked again today. We got a little farther before we had to turn back, thanks to encroaching darkness. It is about time to shift from the lake to the sidewalks along Willow Creek Road. Light is handy, when you are walking at night. I am happy to be walking, again. I feel so much better, already. And I want to stay on track to make it all worthwhile. And I need to stay on track and lose this frakking weight!

My feet hurt. Not too badly... I am going to see if I can get used to these shoes before I go whining for another pair. I just don't need the heavy weather involved in asking for new shoes so soon after receiving the last pair, you know what I mean?

Okay, I suppose I should wrap this up as I have nussing else to yap about. 

Goodnight, chickens.

My Husband is Going to Kill Me

When he finds out that I need another pair of new shoes. I thought that I loved my new New Balance runners. Turns out, not so much. I loved them in the store. I love them wearing them casually. They are fab for running around, shopping and so forth. But out on the trails they just don't work for me. The low profile toe box catches my toenails when my foot moves, the balls of my feet ache terribly, the outsides of my feet hurt and I keep getting blisters on my big toe and my heels. My difficulties with these shoes is one reason why I have been so reluctant to get out and walk.

We got out, last night. Walked nearly a mile and a half before encroaching darkness drove us back to the car. And my feet, this morning are aching. More than they ever did. I think that I need proper walkers for walking. I think that runners just don't have enough cushioning and support in the soles. So, I need another pair of shoes. And William is going to kill me when I tell him that. Until I can get them, I'll just have to make the New Balance shoes work. And take a little extra Aleve.

I did mention that we finally walked again. Haven't since... July? Geeze! No wonder I am sucking big green donkey dicks on the scale. Why I feel nasty and sluggish and just plain shitty. And a little bigger. Oh yeah. Bigger. My jeans are a little tighter. *sigh* But I am getting it back together. And that is going to change. It is changing. It has to. I have no choice.

At least the weather is perfect for walking in the late afternoon and evening. :D

I am working on another dish towel, once it is finished I will start on dish cloths. I love having a drawer full of them, available and ready for the tasks they must perform and not run out between laundry days. Speaking of laundry...

I don't have to do any, today. Yaaaaay!!!

Geeze! I have to pee. Again. Stoopid water.

Time for a blog redesign... I am bored with the grey and white.

Happy Fall!

It's one of the best days of the year. :D

No leaves changing here, yet. They usually start in October and depending on the species go into November. Sometimes we get peak on some trees as late as Thanksgiving. I am so looking forward to the leaves. They are one of the most beautiful things ever. 

You know what else Fall brings? Oh yeah... You know. You know what makes this TV junkie happier than a pig in fresh, wet mud. New shows, baby! And returning favourites. *sigh* I mean, what could make a TV addicted poor fool like me just vibrate with joy? A whole lineup of new stuff to fill my addled brain. This is the season when so much stuff is flooding the airwaves that my DVR smokes. I am test driving new series to see what I think of them and enjoying the season premiers of old friends. Oh! Amazing Race fans, the new season kicks off Sunday nights, check your local listings. 

One of the shows that kicked off this week was of course, The Biggest Loser. I like this show. I make no apologies for that. Hell, I make no apologies for anything I watch... Including the Real Housewives franchise, of which I happen to be a huge fan. But I am annoyed with The Biggest Loser this season. And my annoyance all boils down to two little words. Anna Kournikova.

Would someone please tell me what the high holy hell some second rate former tennis player knows about the physiology and psychology of obesity? Okay, so she knows how to whip herself into shape for rolling around in steamy music videos with Enrique Iglesias, doing Maxim, FHM and Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition  photo shoots and strangely suggestive sports bra adds. But how exactly does that qualify her to understand and even more crucially be able to in any way, shape or form identify with obese persons. Especially senior citizens?

Oh wait. I know. She's hot. Apparently, that is the sole qualifying criteria, nowadays if you are going to be on TV in any capacity. Hell, it seems to be vitally important if you are going to do anything, anywhere. If you are hot you are qualified to do anything. Never mind that her extremely limited professional tennis successes during her extremely short professional tennis career (not entirely her fault... she suffered an injury that cut her pro competitive career short) came on the doubles court. Let's forget that ESPN has named her number one on their most highly overrated athletes ever list and #18 on their list of the biggest athletic flops of the last 25 years. Let us forget, for just one moment that the girl hasn't been educated in exercise physiology. Has she spent even one moment in a classroom? Read books on the subject? Hell, can she even read? 

Okay, maybe that last one was a little harsh.And I don't know whether or not she is educated in exercise physiology. Tho my guess would be a big, fat no. (If I am wrong, I will happily eat a huge, steaming plate of crow. Feathers and all. I am a big girl and I can freely admit when I am wrong. And apologize sincerely for being so.)  And, since I am not a huge fan of the whole everyone must have a degree mindset that has pervaded our culture so thoroughly, I will give her credit for on the job training. But I still don't think that her accomplishments, her credits, if you will, qualify her to work successfully with obese persons. I can't see her getting into the nitty gritty of the complex nature of why a person is obese. I don't think that she has even a clue of how and why a person can get to the point where they need intervention for a severe eating disorder. An eating disorder that has taken them to the point of no return and is threatening to kill them.I am waiting with bated breath for her down and dirty talks with her team. It will be interesting to see if she has any ability to listen, identify, empathize. I doubt that she can. I really do.

But I could be wrong. And if I am, I will, once again munch nasty scavenger bird and shiny black feathers with alacrity. 

Holy shit! I am watching Project Runway as I type this and Oliver just flat out offended his client! The look in Ewen's eyes when Oliver said the nasty things he did about him. I am so sick of Oliver's bitching about big people, plus sized people. Hell, having to dress anyone of normal size. He only wants to work with "model sizes" and waaahhh, waaahhh, waaahhh. I hope that he fails miserably and gets tossed out on his whiny little ass. We shall see.

Yessssss! Little Mr. Whiny I-Hate-Big-People! Pants Oliver is out. Finally.

Well, I guess I have had my catty little bitchfest for the day, hmmm? 

Do I have anything else to natter about right now? Not really. So I am going to go. I have some stuff to get done and I am ears deep n a couple of little projects I need to finish. They both involve nail polish, but they aren't both on my nails. 

Arrr!

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day, Mateys!

It is a pretty Monday morning. Sun shining. Birdies singing. Skunk stink befouling my air.

Frakking skunks! Why can't they go spray in the woods?!?!

So, did you see the news coverage of the pumpkin harvest? Stupid hurricane wiped out a bunch of pumpkins. So there is supposed to be another shortage. Gah! I needs my pumpkins. Fresh. In cans. Fro Jack-O-Lanterns. This sucks. The last few years have been miserable for pumpkins. And this year is supposed to be the same.

Okay, that is about all I have to talk about, right now. Yes, my life is lame and boring.

Arrr!

Old Dogs

We can be taught new tricks. Might take us a little while to get it, but we can learn. Yes we can. For instance, I learned, through uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox that it wasn't the program that was the problem. Turns out it was my bookmarks. They had been corrupted when my original  version of Firefox got corrupted and crashed. I saved my bookmarks, thinking that the program was flawed. But every version of Firefox I tried gave me the same problem and I finally figured out that I needed to dump my bookmarks (waaah!!! Now I have to build a new list of bookmarks) and then install Firefox all over again.

And now it all works as it should.

Yepper. Just call me tech support. But don't call me because I can't help you. But now I have this profile attached to this browser again and am able to follow new blogs and so forth, again. Can't do that with Chrome, as that browser is attached to my other profile. Yes, each blog/profile has it's own browser. My profiles are oh-so-exclusive.

So, Frost Princess got out the other day... For a while. Sneaky bitch got past my Dragon. Don't now how. But I caught her and tossed her back in. She had damned well better stay there. I hope that I have a better number on the scale, tomorrow morning. Blech.

I think that the Monsoon is drawn to a close. It is less humid and clear. We have had the first harbingers of Autumn, around here. Cooler night time temps and chilly mornings. I have had to turn off fans in the morning and even closed the windows a couple of mornings. Marley tried to talk me into a fire, two mornings ago but it isn't quite that chilly. lol 

I was up just before six. Couldn't go back to sleep so I got up, did a few little things, got my coffee going, put Sabryna out to do her business, fed the cat... That sort of thing. Made my coffee and Sabryna went into my laundry room to drink water then barfed it out all over the floor. So back out she went and William had to get up and clean the floor. Yeah. Mama doesn't do barf. :P Poor baby girl. Some days her tummy is just urpy. Some days she is fine. She has always been that way. Sweet dog. Good dog. Smart, loyal dog. Has a bad tummy. She is getting so old. She gets tanglefooted, slips on the kitchen floor, looses her balance, the other day she had a terrible time getting up off the floor. She sleeps a lot. More than she used to. She is winding down. I hate it when dogs get old.

Let's see... Anything else going on? Nope. Not really. I have some laundry to do and I want to swatch some polishes for my other blog. That's about it. Yepper. Boring. That is my life. 

Something Pretty... Something Ugly

This weekend was busy and I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. But I did, indeed get on my scale on Saturday and snapped a pic of the number.

But first, I want to show off my pretty, pretty flowers. William's and my 23rd wedding Anniversary was on the ninth and William had a bouquet of huge, pink stargazer lilies delivered to me here at the house. What a surprise!

Aren't they gorgeous?!? I love stargazers and these are really lovely specimens. 

Okay, as I said, earlier, I did, indeed get on my scale.

And I have to tell ya, folks. It wasn't pretty.

Up three. I can blame some of it on puff. But not all of it. My idiocy is to blame. And that bitch Frost Princess. Seeing that number threw a scare into me and I tossed Frost Princess into her tower room, threw all of her nasty junk food in with her, slammed and locked the door and put my Dragon on guard in the corridor. That little sneak isn't getting past my Dragon. If she does, I am screwed. And I don't want to be screwed.

Yesterday and Saturday were stellar days. Two in a row. Time for three. I am back to thinking day by day, even minute by minute, if I must. I let my guard down, I stopped my constant vigilance. It hasn't been working for me. So I needed to get back to something that I know does. *sigh* Still learning, still have work to do to change old patterns. Sometimes I wish that there was a magic... Something that could just poof! And my mental and emotional wiring was put right. Wouldn't that be nice?

It is finally starting to cool off a little around here. But it is stupud humid. We are expecting possible thunderstorms. We got a bit of a blow, last night. Some wind, a little rumbly and lightening and a sprinkle but I have to say, this year's Monsoon is, so far a total bust.

So what else? Not too much, really. Life is just ticking along and. Yeah.

Happy Wednesday, Hackers Suck and Homicidal Tendencies

Hello gang. I hope that you all had a great Labor Day Weekend. Mine was meh. William was sick, we were broke (shocker) and so we just sat in the house, with the A/C on and stared at each other. Or would have, if he hadn't been hogging the TV and I wasn't face planted in my laptop. I didn't do too well, diet-wise over the weekend. I didn't binge or eat burgers, or anything but snacks... Yeah. *sigh* Frost Princess is a bitch and I grow weary of her shenanigans.

Joys. I haz dem.

My abcess is shrinking and the pain is dwindling. Thankful for little mercies, that is I. The antibiotic is doing it's job.

I kicked Frost Princess's ass, yesterday. And am planning to do so again, today. I have a weigh in coming up and I want to see the number on my scale move. In the right direction, thankyouverymuch.

Texas is burning down. Shit! They need rain so much. Maybe we should all get together at an agreed upon time everywhere we are and do a rain dance for Texas. They need it so badly.

Fucking hackers. They aren't just curious sprites playing in Cyber-Land, you know. They are dangerous, offensive criminals and they need to be stopped. Some of our bloggy friends have been attacked and infected. I am not going to bandy names, I am sure that they know what is what and are ding what they can. Hackers piss me off. They ruin things for other people for no better reason than they can.

So, I have this horrid headbanger, today. Every sound, every beam of light makes my brain want to implode and of course, this is the day that some dumb-assed crew decided to do some super noisy work, locally. They started at six in the morning. Banging and crashing and loud heavy equipment engines and beep-beep-beep-beep-beep and jackhammers and more banging and brakes squealing and oh. My. Sainted. Aunt. I am contemplating closing my windows and turning on my A/C just to get some dark and quiet. In fact, I am going to do that, right now.

That's a little better. Fuck the electric bill. I need quiet and dark or I will end up smashing my head against a wall to make it all go away.

What the high holy hell are they doing out there, anyway? It sounds as if they are tearing up the street and bringing in huge loads of metal and rocks and dropping everything everywhere. In between the clanging and the jackhammering.

So, we are getting our first breaths of Autumn. The last couple of nights and mornings have been so lovely and cool. I am talking turn the fans off cool. It is still very much Summer and the heat and so on will still linger for a good while, yet but I am certainly enjoying these few rare gifts of the coming season. It is making me want to get out my Fall decorations and change my blog background. But I am going to wait a couple of more weeks. Then begin redecorating my house. And my blogs. :D

Golly, I love Autumn.

I am lazy, today. I have laundry in a basket asking to be put away and the basket is just sitting by my dresser, ignored. I didn't make my bed. Just fluffed my pillows and pulled the covers up sorta straight. Didn't change the liners in my wastebaskets, dust, vacuum... Screw it. I am not in the mood and my head hurts too much. I did empty my dishwasher. So I can't call myself a total sloth. lol I'll probably change the wastebasket liners and put those clothes away in a bit. Probably the next time I hike downstairs. But they can wait, for now.

I have three dish towels knitted and number four is over halfway finished. This payday I need to obtain a couple more of those huge skeins of cotton yarn. After I finish knitting up as many dish towels as I want, I will start on dish cloths. I need new dish cloths, too.

That is all I have to yap about, at the mo so I will go.

Back From the Doc

And I have just one question...

Why do they have to poke and poke at the sore spot? I mean, first the tongue depressor, sharp edge gouging into my big old abscess. Ow! Ow! Ow! Me, pulling back, recoiling. Then the gloved finger goes in and poke, press, poke, again. Then the fingers, poking outside on my cheek. A couple of times. The "OW!" and the reflexive shrinking from touch isn't enough of a signal that you are hurting me? I mean, you can tell by looking that the thing that it has to hurt... But still, you need to poke.

And poke.

And poke.

Gah!

I know... A doc needs to get the full scope of the situation. And that means poking. I just needed to bitch a bit. lol

I am now the proud owner of a bottle full of Amoxycillin (or howeverthefuckyouspellthat) capsules. I have taken my initial double dose and I am hoping that this kills this infection, fast. And yes, I am going to find a dentist. And make an appointment. And go. I now have no choice, do I? My mouth is trying to tell me something and it is time to listen.

I have to tell you, tho... I would rather have a sleepover with the Evil Triad than go to the dentist. :P

I am a badass black widow stomping bitch. We got home and there was a black widow in a web in the corner of the garage. The big, strong, tough-guy men were standing there, looking at it, talking about Raid and shovels and all kinds of ways that they could kill it without having to actually go near it. About that time she headed down web to go hide in the crack at the base of the wall. When she got closer to the floor, I just stomped on her ass and dragged the black, nasty spider juice out across the garage floor.

Job done.

Black widow vanquished.

Big, strong, tough-guy men safe.

You should have seen their faces. lolol They were fascinated and horrified. And William couldn't believe that I actually stomped the bitch. Hey, I just wanted her dealt with. And I didn't want her making babies that could come crawling into my house in the time it took those two pussies to debate spider extermination tactics. So, I took care of her.

Guess it would have sucked if, instead of stomping on her, she had got up my pant leg...

I am going to get a cup of java and some lunch. I am hongry. And I need coffee. So, I'll talk to you later. :D

Accountability

Image Credit

I got on my scale, this morning. And I took a picture:

(No feet... My pedi is in sad shape and no one needs to see that! lol) Note the date stamp.

Time to kick this pig. I have lost fourteen pounds since January.

Fourteen.

That is fucking abysmal. 

I have no one to blame but myself. No one held a gun to my head and forced chips, popcorn, peanuts or what have you, a handful here, a bowlful there down my throat. Oh no. I did that. 

And it really needs to stop. No more dicking around. No more hiding. No nonsense. 

I will weigh, with my camera on Friday or Saturday morning every week. (Whichever morning I am least puffy, urgh!) And I will post the photograph, date stamped. Good, bad or ugly. Accountability. I do better when I own it. I do better when I am actively showing how things are going for me right here, on my blog. 

 I am going to start a personal challenge. There is no start date, no end date. It is a challenge to remember to be accountable to the most important person in this whole endeavor. Myself. I am worth this and I am accountable to myself for my health and well being. And I am challenging myself to stay on track and stay accountable and stop the nonsense.

You are welcome to join me, if you like. If you want to, grab the above photo (not my eight one...;)) and post it, with a linkback to this post in your sidebar. Lets do this for ourselves! We deserve this. We are worth it. 

Thank you for your sweet messages on my last post. Three years. This one, for some reason hit me kind of hard and I thought a tribute was a good idea. I don't do this every year. I am not a big believer in dwelling but sometimes I need to remember and feel. :)

Okay, I need to run. I have to get my lazy azz in the shower. I have a nasty infection in my gum and it hurts like a sumbitch and my face is all puffed up as if I got hit by a Mac truck so I am going to pop in to the Urgent Care and get me some Godzilla antibiotics to kick it. Then I need to get my procrastinating ass to a dentist and get my teeth dealt with. I hate going to the dentist but I really can't put it off any longer. But I can't hold out with this infection, any longer. Waaahhh! 

Three Years

R.J.M.   1941~2008

I love you Daddy. I will miss you, always.

Tuesday Evening

A good day has passed. I day in which I wasn't obsessing over bullshit I shouldn't eat. A day in which I felt good, calm and confident.

I hung a sign on my bedroom wall... It reads, "90 Pounds to Lasik!" If that doesn't remind me what I am working toward, I don't know what will. I have wanted to ditch my glasses and contacts for so. Very. Long. And I can, once I get solidly below 200 pounds. The money will be there, I just have to get to that point so that I can reach out, grab it and use it to fix my eyes.

It is still so hot. Heat advisories. Humidity. Hazy skies. We get clouds, a few rumbles of thunder from time to time but little rain. I doubt it is even measurable. It gets more and more dry.

Patrick made flavoured instant oatmeal, today and my house smelled like cinnamon, brown sugar and maple. It smelled like Fall. It smelled so delicious. I was wishing that I could look out the window and see the leaves changing.

Autumn will arrive soon enough.

I have finished knitting a dish towel and am about halfway through another one. Knitting keeps my fingers busy. It is hard to stuff junk in my mouth and knit, at the same time. Tho... I could probably figure out how to do it, if I really wanted to. ^^

So, my stupid cell phone finally killed off the last of it's memory, so it went back to the Verizon store and they ordered me another one, same model. I received the new one, yesterday. New one. Now, that is an interesting term. They sent me a "like new" reconditioned and inspected phone. So, get this... We bought a brand new cell phone. And a warranty that cover it for repair or replacement under just about any circumstances. Drop it and break it? Get a new one. Run over it with the car? Get a new one. Flush it down the john? Get a new one. Phone gets eaten by a Velocaraptor? Get a new one. I need a new phone. What do I get?

Someone else's piece of shit cast off "like new, inspected" old ass phone.

Granted, it is in lovely condition and everything but still... I am a little cheesed. I am cheesed that my old phone was such a piece of crap on a stick and my "new" one, the same model is already proving it's self to be more of the same. The memory is swiftly disappearing. If it holds up for two months, I will be shocked. If you want a 'Droid smartphone, whatever you do, avoid the LG Vortex like the plague. I hope that I will get to upgrade to something with better memory, more power, a better keyboard and more features, later this year.

I never thought that I would hear myself say that! lol Funny how things change.

You want to know what really annoyed me? It took me forfuckingever to find my Simple Calorie Count app, again (Android App Store has been totally redesigned and is an utter pain in the ass to navigate and find apps.) and I had to re install Angry Birds and start all over. Dammit! I was really rocking that game, too. I am getting through the lower levels faster than I did the first time around, tho.

My wedding band is dangerously close to falling off by it's self. If I shake my hand, it flies across the room. lol

Okay, that is about all I have to bore on about, for right now.

Facing the Music

I am a little obsessed with this: :D  

The pipes on this gal! Yes, I am a fangirl. :)

Thank you all so much for your lovely, supportive comments. You can't even begin to grok what they did for me. *squishes everyone in bloggyland*

So. Accountability. We all need to grow up, grow a pair and admit our shit. It is a part of being an adult and becoming the person we want to be, deserve to be. So, I will admit my shit.

It is hard to admit my shit.

Seriously hard.

I mean... I would rather be locked in a circular room for 48 hours with Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter and Michelle Bachmann with Sean Hannity on a continuous loop on a loudspeaker than admit my shit. But in the interest if being an adult and accountable, here it is: I got on my scale last night and... I am up. Two pounds.

Ouch! That sound you just heard was a baseball bat to my solar plexus. Thanks, life. I needed that. A reality check. Knowing. It is better. Now I can get back to work and check this before it becomes a spiral back into three-four hundred pound hell. Not going back there. I can't and I won't.

Frost Princess can bite by big, dimpled white ass. She has had her fun. We all need to. But her moment in the sun is over. I am not saying that the little bitch is banished. Sadly, she seems to like me and it appears that she isn't moving on, anytime soon. Too bad I can't get her and Drazil together. The two of them could ride off into the sunset on Sheniqua's ass. Then there would be two gals who would have an easier time of it. :D

Speaking of Drazil (Me, you need a screen name, dude. Calling you Drazil is not fair to you and calling you Me... Well... It is just... Confusing. lol) I read that fantabulous comment you left me about what was said between you and Jen. It made me run away for a while. But it also filed me with an incredible glow. I wanted to squish you both. Maybe one day I will get to.

I have lost my writing flow. I had to pee while I was writing this and when I got downstairs, I decided to clean my Sanctuary so I scrubbed down my bathroom, dusted, vacuumed, fluffed my featherbed and made my bed, folded a basket of laundry and put it away, got another hamper full sorted and the first load in. Then, while I had a slice of sunshine, I grabbed my camera, lightbox and some nail polish gem jewelry that was sent to me for review and took some new photos. (The last batch I took were a super fail. *sigh* I hate my old, lameass camera. And I sooo need an Ott light! And a tripod. STAT!) Hopefully this batch will come out. It is now cloudy...

Stupid storm clouds! No rain, mind you. Oh, no! Just heat. Humidity. Clouds. No cool, refreshing downpours. No relief for the parched, thirsty land and trees. Dry storms, if the storms form at all. This Monsoon Season is, so far, a huge bust. See, I am always bitching about the weather. If it were raining a lot, I would probably be pissing and moaning about that, too. :P With the heat, humidity and general late Summer yuk, it is like living all snuggled up with Satan's nutsack.

So, where was I before I got off on this insane tangent? Oh, yeah. Accountability. I need to have more. And that means getting my lazy ass over here and blogging and getting it out on the screen instead of eating it. Yeah. I think that seeing an additional two pounds on the scale re firmed my resolve. Threw a bit of a scare into me. I admit, I expected the damage to be worse. If I hadn't been trying and restraining myself as much as I did, I would have done some serious fucking damage. If I had been chowing like I used to, I have no doubt that I would be right back up around the 300 mark. Or higher? Frightening, how fast, how easy it is to spiral out of control and have everything we work so hard for slip right through our fingers. I am not going there! I am not.

Okay, I hope that any of you who live anywhere up The Eastern Seaboard reading this who are in the possible path of Hurricane Irene are getting yourselves ready. Prepared and gassed up to get the hell out of Dodge. Please, heed the warnings, the evacuation orders and be safe! I do not want to hear about any of my bloggy buddies coming a cropper of this storm. Those who gas up and run away, live to blog another day! ;)

Time to go get that load out of the washer and toss it in my dryer and start the other load. Laundry. Dude! Where does it all come from?!?!

I Suck

I suck at staying on track.

I suck as a blogger.

I suck at exercise.

I suck as a bloggy buddy and support for my bloggy buddies.

I have just been sucking at everything.

I am on track, today. But I admit, I am afraid to get on my scale. I am afraid that it will show a small gain and I will go ballistic and spiral out of control and have a royal shitfit and then it will get really ugly.

I am afraid of everything, right now. I am afraid to fail. I am afraid to succeed. I am afraid to blog. I am afraid to read blogs.

Told ya.

I suck.

*breathe!*

I need to remember to pick up my knitting needles to keep my fingers busy and not pick up something I shouldn't be snacking on. I need dish towels. And they aren't going to knit themselves. After starting and frogging four dish towels, I am finally on a roll and getting this one going well. So I don't suck at that. lol

It is so hot. Hotter than Satan's nutsack around here. Just as nasty and sweaty and yuk. Summer sucks big green ones.

It is good weather to eat light and stay on track. So, I am going to try to suck less at getting my mojo back and get more of this weight off. My job isn't finished, yet! I still have, assuming a goal weight of 140 about 140 pounds to go. This is not the time to get burned out... Or should I say, pull out of my burn out and power on to the finish. I can do this shit. Hell, I have done it. I certainly know how to get it done. My block is mental, emotional, to a certain extent. I know that I am attempting to comfort eat, to numb out, again. It isn't my old issues. This is more recent and it is time for me to get over the need to feed my way out of it and move the fuck on.

I need to blog more and read more blogs, return to my support system and offer support. These are so important to me and I have been neglecting myself and my friends, here. I feel so bad about that. And so ashamed for not being the powerhouse I want to be that I just avoid, avoid, avoid. And avoidance is the last thing I should be indulging in.

So, I have to stop that shit, too. Get back into my rhythm and push on.

And be here for you. You have all been here for me and I appreciate that so much. And I am determined to do the same for you.

Okay. I want to suck less.

I will suck less.

*broken record*

Bite Me, Frost Princess

So, after a bit of a shit day, yesterday, today was great. I am determined to keep this stall from becoming a freefall. I am continuing to fight the good fight. I won, today.
Failure is not an option. I refuse to go back from whence I came.
It is so. Frakking. Hot. I hate August.
Okay. I am outie. My phone keyboard is driving me infuckingsane.
Good night, loves.  :)

Meh...

I am still having trouble staying on track. Frost Princess has been in control, weak, snotty and self indulgent. I do great until late afternoon or evening and the snacking begins.

Gah!

Not looking for sympathy, here. Just venting my shit.

Meanwhile, it is hotter than hell, and I am so tired of Summer and I feel blah and just...

Meh.

I need another cup of coffee.

BOYC: Lazy Sunday Edition and a Bit of Trivia

I should be doing laundry. I am going to do BYOC, instead.

After I run downstairs and grab a load to toss in my washer and pee.

BRB.

Okay. I'm back.

Let's rock and roll.

1. I’m going to pick a person in your life – not knowing if you have a good or bad, existing or non-existent relationship with them – and your mission is to pick 5 words or traits or thoughts to describe them.

Your paternal grandmother.


My paternal grandmother was:


Wise
Kind
Passionate
Warm
Generous. She passed her dark circles under her eyes and huge knockers down to me. What a gal, huh? ;) lol 


2. What’s your all time favorite color to paint your nails? And your toes?


Uh... Have you seen my polish collection? lol But seriously, I would have to say blue. I own more blue polishes than any other single colour. I also adore red, pink, I have come to appreciate a great purple. Even green. Just about anything goes, for both tips and toes. Even black. (Black polish is very chic! It isn't just for goths or emo brats, you know... :)) Except brown. Any shade of brown, tan or cafe au lait isn't flattering to me and give me lobster claws. 


3. Do you get along with your parents well?


My mother and I are, in the parlance of Forrest Gump, like peas and carrots. We are very close. In fact we share some kind of freaky psychic bond. My mother is my best friend, my mentor and has an elegance of self that I can only aspire to. 


My bio father is dead. We didn't have much of a relationship. He wasn't that interested and I never saw him after my mother separated from him when I was nine. He died in 1996 of CHF.


My step dad, whom I considered my real dad died nearly three years ago from prostate cancer. We weren't closecloseclose but we had a really good relationship. I loved him and respected him so much and I think about and miss him every day. 


4. Speaking of rainbows – rank the rainbow colors in the order you prefer.


Aw, geeze! Do I have to? Okay... Crap. What are the colours in the rainbow? My second grade science fled my poor, menopause addled brain long ago. (Back to Draz's post to refresh my memory.)


Blue
Red
Yellow
Purple
Orange
Green


And because Draz did it, I am going to stick pink in there, too. Right between blue and red. Hey, if she gets pink in her rainbow, so do I! :P Neener! Neener!


5. Repeat question. How was your week in real life and in blog land this week?


Set your needle on my broken record and watch it spin, baby! (The first person to leave me a comment saying "What's a record and why does it need a needle?" is going to get punched in the boob. Or the onions. Whichever.) 


It is hotter than Satan's nutsack, today. Thank heaven it isn't humid along with it. I would be ready for the crazy house, if it were. 


One quart of water down... Two to go. Maybe three. We'll see how it goes. No more trying to force six quarts down the hatch. That is just too frakking much! Besides, I have other things I want to do. Like breathe. I don't need sucking down a gallon and a half of water and pissing it out to be the main focus of my life. That needs to be reserved for bad TV and YouTube videos. :P


Grok and grokking are in my spell checker! How fucking awesome is that? 


Oh. Yeah... After a few not so great (but not disastrous) days, again yesterday was really good. And I am feeling good today, too. Why is it that I always seem to get on a roll when I start paying attention to what I am doing on a Saturday? I are a strange one. That's for sure. Now to get my lazy ass out to walk, again. 


There is a spider living under my dressing table. It needs to die. But thanks to my trashed knees (I am screwed if I ever have to go squat in the woods and pee) I can't get down there to wade in and make him buy the farm. I may have to use a teeny bit of Raid. I don't like the idea of using that stuff in my room. Maybe I can talk one of the male pussies in this household to get down there and get him for me. If not... I am going to spray the little fucker. Because one way or another, he has to go. I can't have a spider living in my bedroom


Did you know that over the course of our lifetime we all eat several spiders in our sleep?