Four by Four

Snagged this from Annette's journal


Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Farmhand
2. Burger King Manager
3. Creative Director
4. Marketing Specialist for a financial office (current)

Four movies I would watch over and over again (and do watch over and over again):
1. Lord of the Rings
2. Shawshank Redemption
3. The Usual Suspects
4. Chicken Run

Four places I have lived:
1. Bluff Point, NY (Finger Lakes area)
2. Lake Mary, FL
3. St. Petersburg, FL
4. Philadelphia area

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. CSI
2. Seinfeld
3. The Simpsons
4. Fawlty Towers

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Maine
2. Gettysburg
3. San Francisco
4. Mystic, CT

Four websites I visit daily:
1. SparkPeople
2. Mirabilia BB
3. 123 Stitch
4. FirmDirect

Four of my favourite foods:
1. chocolate
2. blueberries
3. potatoes
4. turkey or chicken (love them both)

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. San Francisco
2. St. Petersburg, Russia
3. Vienna
4. the spa in Ojai, CA

Nice day off

I scheduled today off because I knew I'd need it after out awards banquet on Saturday. The banquet went well, but these things tire me out because I have to dress up and pretty much work the whole night. The venue was beautiful -- The Union League in Philadelphia. I could only see certain parts as I'm not a member, but it's a gorgeous place. I heard the dinner was very good, but I only was able to get a little salad and pasta. It was set up with stations and I only had about half an hour to eat before I had to go back to the laptop and run the rest of the presentation, so I didn't get to eat much. Desert was really good. We had that after the awards part so I could relax. They had one of those huge fondue fontains with fruit and pretzels and cake. Yummy! I figured since I didn't get much dinner I'd be darn sure to get desert :)

So, today was a day off but was still pretty productive. The cable guy had to come out to fix my cable, as it was on the fritz. I also had to call our maintenance guy to come out and fix my toilet. This time it was leaking, thank God, but the tank wasn't filling up so we were doing the old flush with a bucket of water routine. We used to have to do that when I was a kid in NY because we had well water and when the power went out so did the pump in the well. It took a long time for me to get used to having running water when the power goes out. Anyway, he fixed it pretty quickly with a new washer. Probably something I could have done but I'm no plumber and don't mess around with pipes and things like that -- asking for trouble.

Then, I took my car to the garage up the street that Tim likes. Friday my car was steaming from under the hood but all my guages were fine, so I figured it was a radiator hose. I could see the one on top was fine, but couldn't see the one underneath. I took it up the street today and the guy looked at it and said the hose was split in half. $58 later and it's fixed, so that was a car repair I handled pretty easily. I'm going to take the car back after I've saved some money because I want to get an estimate on either rebuilding the engine or getting a new one. My car is 10 years old, has less thatn 70,000 miles on it and is in good shape other than the engine and that it needs a paint job. I've been weighing my options and figure a new engine will probably cost around $1000-$1500. I figure that's probably 3-6 months' worth of payments for a car with the same mileage, give or take a little. I'd rather get this one fixed before the engine completely goes and have it for more years before I start paying car payments again.

So, after that I was able to enjoy the rest of my day off -- at about 3PM. It was a beautiful day and I was actually hot for a while. The weather has been really wonky. We had a wind chille of 12 early last week, and today I was walking back from the auto mechanic in short sleeves in the sun. Crazy stuff!

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Almost forgot to mention I bought the best line of shampoo and hair products I've used in a while. They are from Redken and aren't cheap, but are less that some others out there. When I got my hair cut on Thursday, the girl at the salon used them and I asked about them and she was really good and told me to start with one first and if I liked it to come back for others. Obviously, I did :) Also, I really appreciated that she didn't try to sell me the whole thing at once, just the one most inexpensive product. That means a lot to me.

Anyway, my hair is now resting on my shoulders and has long layers. She cut it a bit at an angle and when I style it (only need the hair dryer and a round brush) I kinda bring the hair out and around so that it frames my face and curls in a little in front, but out a little in the back. I need to take a picture but I just let it air dry today. I got a lot of compliments at the dinner Saturday.

Anyway, the line of products I bought is the "Body Full" line because my hair is pretty fine and I'm noticing that, probably due to wearing my hair in high ponytails too much, my hair is thinner than it should be at my crown. This shampoo and conditioner makes my hair feel fuller, and a few treatments make it look fuller and give it volume.

Anyway, I really like my hair and these products help, so I figured I'd share :)

Update

Been a while since I've been here. Our bedroom phone line stopped working last weekend so we were without the Internet for a few days - not necessarily a bad thing.

I've been busy stitching. I did update my sidebar but didn't post everything. I started both Rose Celebration and Garden Verses. I also started Misty Morning Vineyard from Chatelaine. I took a picture earlier in the week but made a lot of progress so need to scan again tomorrow and post it. Below are Rose Celebration and Garden Verses, respectively. I really love the hair in Garden Verses.








I've been doing pretty good on the health front:

1. Down 5 pounds from New Years
2. Drinking one can of soda a week, usually on the weekends (or a soda at the movies)
3. I didn't realize until 3PM today that I hadn't had any tea, my only source of caffeine for the most part, aside from the chocolate I eat at times. I had no symptoms whatsoever of caffeine withdrawal -- major stuff coming from someone who was a Diet Coke/Coke junkie a month ago.

I'm still not exercising as much as I'd like. I need to get new sneakers but first need to be sure I have enough to get my car fixed. I think it only needs a radiator hose, but I want to be sure before I spend that other money. I've been using "The Firm" DVDs and like them, but my flat feet hurt too much doing them and I really need to buy the good shoes. I should be able to get them on Monday, after getting my car fixed. I'm taking that day off to relax after the banquet this Saturday. In the meantime, I'm using my stretchy bands and weights to help keep things steady.

Three-Day Walk for Breast Cancer

I'm already getting into shape for myself, but I'm seriously thinking about using the Three-Day Walk for Breast Cancer as even more motivation. I haven't signed up yet as I really want to be sure about it and get all the information I can. In ten months I should be able to do this, but I haven't done anything like this since high school, and even then it was a swimming not a walking marathon.

I have a stitching friend who is really fighting what started out as breast cancer right now and I've known so many others who have fought it more than once and lived and others who haven't. It seems like I need to do something.

It won't be easy -- sixty miles is a lot of walking -- but I can do what I set my mind to. The other part is raising the money for it. I think I can do that, too. I may be able to get my employer to partially sponsor me, I'm not sure. I may find some shorter walks to get ready for this one.

Again, I've been mulling this over for a day or so and haven't made a definite decision. I need to go to an orientation meeting and think about it some more. I have some time, as the one in Philly is in October.

If anyone is interested in the event, which is held in several cities, go to The 3 Day website.

On to other stuff:

I can't believe I didn't get that stuff scanned in last week. I actually remembered to bring my WIPs one day, but when lunch came I really needed to just take the time and then was more than ready to get out of there at 5PM. I have done some work on Rose Celebration and today started Garden Verses, both part of Guilt Free January. I have rinsed the silks I've received for Misty Morning Vineyard and expect the rest next week. That dark purple is a pain, though. It's beautiful, but I'm still getting slightly purple water after soaking it over and over. I don't know how much longer I should do this, but I don't want to have purple stains on my project when I'm finished with it, either. I'm going back to the Chatelaine board to read that section about washing silks. I think somebody else had the same problem but I don't remember what the solution was, if any.

I must be doing something right

I didn't post it but when I weighed in this week (Wednesday) I was down 3.5 pounds from the week before. Very cool! I just finished my first week of those Firm videos. I did the third day today, but am only on the second video. I'm following a calendar that takes you through them in a specific order at first and it's good because I'm doing the same one a few times before moving on so that I can work on what steps I learned from the first one. I really need a bit of a bigger space for the aerobics one, but I'm able to make it work.

The dreaded picture

OK, we'll see how long I decide to keep this up, but this is the picture I was talking about yesterday. This is the picture and event that made me realize that I was just not comfortable with myself anymore. I'm sure nobody else sees me that way and were happy for me, but the whole time I'm smiling I'm thinking, "Oh my God! Does my jacket cover the bottom bulge of my tummy?" Luckily, you can't see my gut in the picture but my face is just way too rotund.

Whew!

My TransFIRMer set came in today and I did the first DVD when I got home -- Supercharged Sculpting. It was tough, but I got through it. It will be a little easier once I get the steps down. I don't have a lot of room, but just enough for this. There's one part, the leg presses, where we combine the two parts into a 14" step. I'm only 5'2", so that 14" step is pretty big for me, so now I'm only using the 8" step for that. Eventually I'll get there, but I don't want to overstress me knees when I'm just starting out. I figure a few months of this and I'll be a little thinner and feel more confident going to the pool, so then I can do a combination.

I have a picture at work that I'll post tomorrow if I think of it. The photo is the reason I'm really into changing my eating and exercise habits. It's of Harris, my Big Boss (Pres. of the firm) giving me a surprise $100 AMEX gift card back at our big firm meeting in early December. I'm smiling in the photo, but the whole time I'm focusing more on all the people who are looking at me and Donna taking my photo and how fat I look, rather than on the fact that people are applauding me and I'm getting an award of sorts. I used to not be bothered about talking in public, but now I am a little, thinking everyone is focusing more on how fat I am than on what I'm saying. I know how ridiculous that probably sounds, but it's affecting my career and my social life, not to mention my health.

On to other stuff...

I keep forgetting to take some pieces to work to scan. I'm close to finishing Guardian Angel and have put some time into Rose Celebration, and need to scan Rose Celebration for my Mirabilia Board SAL progress photo. I'm bad about remembering, then I get busy and forget to scan at lunch or before/after work. I get there eventually. I need to start making my lists and using my card file again. I'm trying to change things slowly, so I'm worried about adding all the card file stuff back into my schedule after not doing it for so long. Maybe I should make that a goal for February -- start using it slowly again.

Diet and Exercise stuff

I know this is probably boring for most people, but it's good for me to get it down.

I know I had an abs tape from The Firm around here somehwere, but I can't find it. I'll probably find it after my Transfirmer set comes in. In the meantime, I'm just doing crunches and other strength exercises. I can already feel a difference in my crunches -- it's much easier for me to do 20 than it was a week ago. I know The Firm really works everything, so at least I'll have done something before I start.

So yeah, I ordered the Transfirmer System from Firm Direct but then canceled it. I ordered it from them because I couldn't find anywhere that had it in stock. It was pretty expensive from FirmDirect, then I saw that a lot of people had problems with it taking forever to arrive. So, someone posted that they got theirs at newegg.com so I ordered it. It cost me $20 less total, and I was able to get it shipped Next Day. No contest!

I'm exercising at home for now, mainly because I just don't feel comfortable in public in a bathing suit right now. After I lose 20 pounds or so, I'll probably feel better. I know that I'm still a great swimmer and tend to be better than the others in the pool who weigh much less, but I still don't like the way I look in a suit.

I'm not sure when I'm going to do the exercises. I prefer to exercise in the morning, but I feel funny doing it with Tim home even if he's sleeping. I get home about an hour or so before he does, so I'll do it then. Maybe after a while I'll feel more comfortable doing it when he's home. I just know that at first he won't take it seriously, and I'll have to tone up a bit before he'll realize I'm really doing this. It was much easier when he went to work before I did, but we can't always get what we want, can we?

Had a good day today. I was going to have more blackeyed but after seeing them in the fridge I realized how much fat is in there due to Tim cooking them with the hambone. I was kinda disgusted by it (yuck), so I just didn't eat them and had a potato with diced tomatoes instead. I'm not going to tell him, because he'll take it the wrong way. I appreciate that he cooked something, but will have to figure the best way to get that fat out of there when I eat them and didn't want to deal with it tonight. I know you're supposed to be able to skim it off, but it looks like there are bits everywhere. I'll figure it out.

Lotsa stuff

Well, I got home from visiting the hospital (not for me) a little while ago. My friend's son had an emergency appendectomy yesterday and is coming home tomorrow. So, I picked him up some sketch pads and a bunch of markers, colored pencils, metallic pens and gel pens (aren't dollar stores great?) so he can keep busy there and while at home for the next week. He's doing fine. He was in a little pain when I was there because a mutual friend was there and can't help being funny and it was hurting Sean to laugh. Dana's been staying with him in the hospital room and I hope she can get some sleep this weekend.

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My diet is going pretty well. I've been off soda now for a week, which is huge for me. I was talking to one of my coworkers and she said she'd noticed that whenever she came to my desk there was always a can or bottle of soda sitting there and that she realizes that's a big step for me. She just quit smoking, so she's taking some pretty major steps herself. I've been pretty good about staying in my range and getting a little exercise each day. I really like how this program eases you into everything. I don't feel like I have to change everything at once and it seems to be working.

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Oh, this is cool! MassMutual had a company-wide contest: the agent who sold the most life insurance policies with a specific rider won an all-expenses-paid trip to the SuperBowl -- tickets, first-class airfare, deluxe room, autograph session, parties, box seats, etc. The package is worth about $15k. Well, one of the agents in my office won, out of the whole country! Even better, she's a new agent (only been here a year) and she almost quit the class. They have a huge amount of stuff to learn in that week-long class and she was really worried. Well, she turned it around and has become one of our leading new agents in the last year, and now this. It's great to see somebody follow through even when scared and come out so well. We are all so proud of her :)

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Karri has already booked our rooms for CATS in Hershey next year! Woohoo! She called me last night to tell me where we were staying and it's already paid for. This is very cool, as I can pay her a little over time and be ahead of the game. I did OK this year, but I want to save up and not buy much stitching during the year so I can buy some good stuff there. I'm already looking forward to it.

Random thoughts

Check out the Silkweaver Stitcher's Showcase, if you haven't already! No, I don't have anything entered this year. Maybe next year, if I can finish that Chatelaine by the end of 2006. However, I wanted to be sure everybody saw the beautiful pieces :)

I've been thinking about those miners and their families all day. I honestly don't have much to say about it except that I'm so sorry this has happened to them and I know the mix-up over the miners being alive then dead must have added to their grief, and anger. Personally, I'm not ready to start pointing fingers at this point, but I certainly don't fault the families for their anger at the moment :(

Happy New Year!

I had such a lovely New Year's Eve last night. I feel kinda guilty saying that, since Tim wasn't here, but it was nice. He was going to go to his mom's for the evening, but then decided he was going to visit a few bars (not so much for drinking but for visiting people) and I just can't do bars with all that smoke in the air, so I didn't go. I don't think he was upset about it, but if he was that's too bad. It's never been a big holiday for me so it's not like we spent Christmas apart, and we both enjoyed what we were doing, so it works for me.

I spent the night watching movies and stitching on Guardian Angel. I thought I could finish her before today, but not quite. I'll finish her this month or maybe during Finish It February. Today I'm starting Rose Celebration. I kept calling it Scent of Old Roses but that's in my StRIP list. I'm stitching her on a pretty wedgewood blue fabric and I think the colors will really look nice on that color. You know me -- I think every design out there will look good on some shade of blue. In fact, my other Guilt-Free January design will also be stitched on a blue fabric. :)

Anyway, back to New Year's Eve. I remember two in my life where I really had a great time and they were very different:

1. When I was a freshman in college and was home for the break, a bunch of friends from work and I went to Rosie O'Grady's down at Church Street Station in Orlando. That's where they drop the orange. Yes, it's a large orange-lighted ball that goes down a pole, similar to the ball in New York. Well, I was the oldest one and only 19. We walked into Rosie's trying to figure out if they'd serve us, and the bartender just asked us what we wanted, no ID or anything. We all ordered flaming hurricanes -- boy, those were good! That was the only drink I had, but a few of my friends had quite a bit more. Luckily, the guys who drove were designated drivers (yes, we at least had THAT much sense) so we were OK with that stuff. Looking back, I can't believe that guy just offered us drinks, but I think the laws weren't as strict back in 1990 as they are now. Either way, I had a lot of fun. It was before I got to the point where I really can't handle crowds well, so that didn't bother me much.

2. During college and for the few years I lived in FL after graduation, I used to spend some time on the weekends witn an ex-boyfriend of mine and his friends playing Dungeons and Dragons or Magic. James and I had dated when I was first in college, broke up and didn't like each other much, then became good friends. Anyway, one New Year's he and I were at one of his friend's homes and a few of us stayed up all night playing Magic and drinking Rumplemintz. They were also drinking Jagermeister, but not me -- can't stand that stuff and the Rumplemintz is pretty good stuff.