hi!

i am getting my hair did tomorrow!
how exciting!
Also I am going to a barbecue at Joe and Michelle's house and I have called dibs on bringing dessert so there.
I am really looking forward to tomorrow but not really to sunday because its my sisters birthday and shes already being weird about it and the last thing i want is for her to be dissapointed... sigh
anyway
go colts!

update

Oh my lord I am so tired

work is going better, I am starting to get my head around the new stuff that I am doing. It helps to know that some of it will only be temporary.

We had our garage sale friday and saturday and it was literaly hellacious, the heat, the sweat, the lifting and dragging. It was so hot candles melted. It was worth it to get rid of the stuff and to make the moolah (we didnt do half bad) but I cant say that we would ever do it again .

A few people looked at our house yesterday (after the garage sale we were sweaty, smelly and tired but we couldnt go in our house sine there were people there so we went swimming in my moms community pool) and mac got an email this morning saying that a couple that came through (that we really liked) is going to make an offer monday!!!

Today they are showing the house again so we have to load up the pups and head out to the airport. We figured two birds with one stone, Mac can take the broken bag in to be repaired by AA and the dogs and I can enjoy the cars lovely A/C in the nice shady parking garage.

It is pretty much guaranteed that we will be napping (Mac+Kristin+puppies= snuggly nap) later this afternoon.

I started an email on the 412 ladies group just asking people questions about how various things in their lives are going and I think it is by far the most entertaining and informative email i have ever read. Perhaps we should make this a bi-monthly tradition?

and that ends this very boring update!

update

Well humph its been awhile
sorry about that to all my readers
all two of you
i know its been tough
As you all know I got a job, and its freaking awesome. At firs the commute was killing me and Mac and I were even talking about me moving to an apartment early to cut down on my 12 hour+ days but now that I have a toll tag things aren't so bad, I even am able to run errands after work.
Tuesday Mac and I are leaving for Seattle and I have to say I am THRILLED.
I finished Nathans crochet surprise and I am pretty happy with it, I hope they all like it. I also ordered Jason's b day present, oh, and Mac and I bought luggage, aren't we just all grown up?
Yesterday Mac cleared off all the shelves in the office and kitchen, its so empty and lifeless now, and actually a lot less cluttered looking. There has to be a happy medium with all of our collectibles. In the next house they are not just going to sit on a shelf, we are going to have to find a better way to display them.
Its so weird how times change. The last couple weekends since I started working I have been waking up around 7 and forcing myself to stay in bed til 8 before I get up and give in and let the dogs out and what not. Of course them 10:30 rolls around and my eye lids are all heavy and sleepy, lame.
I saw Ghost last night on HBO. I had never seen it unedited, the special effects are completely 80's-tastic but as a lover of Highlander I guess I am really not one to criticize. Anyway good movie, got me thinking about other movies everyone else has seen that I've missed out on, like ghostbusters and dances with wolves. Any suggestions for movies I need to see?
okay I need to go do laundry and get packed so that I am not up crazy late Monday night, our plane leaves at 9 Tuesday morning.

easy breezy

I feel so good right now!!! there is nothing like being surrounded by (relative) cleanlyness to just brighten your spirit!
wow, okay remind me to never say anything like that again, it was so out of character.
"spirit" heh.
well anyway
i do feel pretty good. I got all the mail cleared off the front table, did all the dishes, cleaned the counters, cleaned up the shoe mess in the closet, we are done with the bathroom renovation aside from mac's dad helping to install the new shower head and bath tub faucet next weekend (happy fahters day john, please fix our bathroom, kthanx) and so i was able to move all of our daily toiletries out of the guest bathroom finally. Also I drank a mountain dew.. mmmm....
Also I am almost done with my AoC destiny quest and will soon be leaving the island of Tortage!!! you don't have to know what I am talking about, just get excited!
Tomorrow is a very serious recommital to weightwatchers and exercise. Mac made a good point the other day, he wasnt being judgemental he just said "you worked to hard to just let it all go away", and he's right, i did work too hard, and now i have gained 10 pounds so i can longer say i lost 50 pounds and that hurts a little, actually it hurts a lot. The freezer is stocked with smart ones and veggies, the fridge is full of fruit, pantry is full of fiber one bars, black beans and soup so as of tomorrow it is so on (like donkey kong) (i had to say it).
so tonite is pizza buffet!!! and of course i had a tuna melt for lunch.. tuna salad has become my biggest foil, its just too tasty.
After reading Adrienne's blog I feel the need to say, for the record, that this is really about my health, and not about how others perceive me or about stereotypes that i feel i need to live up to. Thats why I follow weight watchers, I don't have to starve myself, I use my flex points for food that i get genuine enjoyment out of (that's right, I LOVE to eat and that will never change) and i rarely feel hungry let alone deprived, its great, i'm great, you're great.. lalala
sigh
this is becoming a strange post so i am just going to end it here

Jerome

He is officially my favorite thing that I have made so far. I am so glad Harold is going to give him a good home.

My house is a mess
my fridge is full of old leftovers
my dogs smell
but oh Conan, you are so awsome
hehe
this too

	I love to play Crazy Cakes Take the role of a lead baker in a fantasy dessert shop.
Pogo.com — play hundreds of fun games online!

hello

My lack of updates is a reflection of my efforts to not waste my time on the computer. Not that I have stopped entirely, but I am trying to make more of my days. I have been on a ton of interviews, I have even been offered a couple of jobs but nothing that paid enough. One place only paid $12/hour and required a college degree.. huh? wow

I have gotten a few crochet pieces done, I figure if I am going to be home I should be creative. I finally figured out what to make for Nathan, its a surprise but I will say that i got the pattern today and I need to star on it now so that i can get the whole things done by July when I finally get to see my little man in person. Also, I recently mastered a flat crochet heart and leaves that I think would be cool to incorporate into my scrapbooking pages. I love anything textural or dimensional, like felt and tissue paper and chip board. I am considering finally starting on the Honeymoon Scrapbook as well, I have an empty 81/2 by 11 book and thats a size I have been wanting to try. I wonder if i can print out weather reports for that week (Boo hurricanes!).

I think tomorrow I am going to be productive, I think it would do me good :)

lata!

oops

well it's been a while, hehe, oops.
Not much really hs been going on. We decided not to move to Austin so now I am getting a job here instead of waiting and getting one down there (I suppose I could still get one down there but it's just not a commute that I would find fun).
I determined that I don't want a lab job at this time. They pay terribly and the work is monotonous. I sat down one day and just looked at what I enjoy and what I am good at and I think customer service/ sales type jobs are something I would be good at. The problem is thats hard to put on paper. Oh well. I will find something.
We have looked at a few houses and I think I am winning the new vs old house war (yay new!) I can't wait to move but it does make the job issue a little more complicated, or maybe it just gives me too many options :)
I finished Lyla's lion (Stan Grossman) and have moved on to Hydrienne's bear (possibly a Kola) and will work on Aidan's monkey next and now you are all caught up
Oh yeah mother's day was fun, we went to a RAngers game with Carol the day before and church and lunch with my mom the day of, good times.

oh so stealthy

on so many levels

showered

Today was a long day. Yesterday my mom called and convinced me to go to a baby shower for a girl who I knew when we were children and who's mother is good friends with my mom today in Arlongton. The shower wasn't bad, everyone was really nice, the games were fun, the cake was good. I hate those situations though, when you havent seen someone in forever and its evident that their life is pretty much planned out and on track and then they say "so whats up with you? what's the plan?" I am without plan and apparently that makes me a leper so I always make up a plan, blah. Honeslty if I could crochet and watch General Hospital for the rest of my life that would be cool, but apparently you are only allowed to do that if you are an heiress or have children so thats probably not how my life is going to work out... damn.
On the way home from the shower (hour plust long drive each way people, in a car with my mom. my mother is a TERRIBLE driver, its seriously frightening) my mother decided we were stopping at some outlet store place thing. It was filled with christmas serving platters and eater cookie jars, not realy my scene, but oh well. She spent a little over 100 there and that drove me insane, that she tried to get me to go to Marshall's with her. I would rather hang myself, not neccesarily because Marshal's is so terrible but because its so har dto watch my mom spend money when i know she needs a ton of dental work done and rocks car is old and they are always broke... sigh.
On the way home from my moms I stopped by hobby lobby and got an E crochet hook and some Sculpey Premo for my new amigurumi. I finally go the "creepy cute crochet" book on friday and it is definitely a challenge compared to my other book but its a challenge i feel like i am up to. I think I am going to start with ninja and work my way up to chthulu.
When I finally got home Mac and i got take out form yummy's (mmm.. greek pizza) played a quick game of phase 10 (i won!) and then went to Lou's for matt's "last night in Denton" celebration. We didn't stay all that long but it was really fun, Mac and I pantsed Matt and I even got along with sarah.
Its so weird to think that matt is moving out of denton, its even more odd to think that none of my inner circle will ever live in the same city again... well probably not, I am trying to conveince melissa to come live near me. I mean seriously how cool would that be? Of all the people I know, only Mac and Melissa dont drive me crazy after an extended period of time. Okay I have to go teach myself the crochet slip stich, lata.

aren't i crafty?

SO I have pretty much been spending all my time crafting and driving lately.

oh and going to the doctor

tuesday I got up early and drove to the lady doc so that she could check my liver enzymes and make sure my medicine isn't killing me (woohoo). I got there and the receptionist was completely rude and i was very frustrated by the time i finally got to check in, late for my appointment btw even though i had arrived on time... thats when i found out my appointment wasnt until wednesday. hehe... oops.

Now all of my doc appointments are over and none of my medicines are killing me so life's pretty good right?

I have been making myself drive everyday (the psychiatrist agrees with this plan now which means i have to keep doing it, lame) so yesterday I drove to my mom's house (akward). I had made a turtle, a cd and a card for my sister whos been having a tough, yet thankfully, relatively single, time of it lately and since my sister's afternoon job is at my mom's school I thought she could save me the postage. the weather was looking a little over cast when i got there and by the time I left the lightening was crazy but it was just drizzling so when I got to bell and university I turned left instead of going straight to the house so that I could stop by the store and get a sandwich. Of course by this time it was nearly 8 pm and I was starving so getting a sandwhich turned into looking at the sandwhiches, picking a couple up for a closer look, and then looking at pizza and wandering the frozen foods for a while before deciding to get a sandwhich after all, I'm awesome (I am learning that shopping alone is HARD when you are indecisive). When I left the store it was raining cats and dogs. The apocalypse had come at last and i was stuck in the middle of it, and my umbrella was in the car (i had the forsite to put the umbrella in the car but not to bring it into the store, awesome). I drove home terrified that i would hydroplane, skid into oncoming traffic and die. Turns out its not so bad. Also turns out that i no longer have the ability to eat a whole sandwhich from the kroger deli AND soup, but I gave it a good try (translates into I ate it and then felt ill for the rest of the night).

SO how come 30 Rock has been funnier than The Office lately?

Oh well at least there is a new BSG tomorrow, I am definitely looking forward to it.

I wil leave you with the fruits of my recent crafty labors.

I can't believe its been so long since I last posted. Not a whole lot has been going on. I washed the sheets today and we ordered tuscani pasta from pizza hut (amazingly tasty it turns out). Oh, hey Luke's Bday dinner was over the weekend. That was really fun, and I totally drove all the way out to their house. Mac wouldnt let me drive home cause he thought i wasnt completely sober, but I was, I was just tired. Emily and I had very serious cases of the yawns near the end of the evening. The snuggly warm baby sleeping on my chest did not help, but was much appreciated.


Mac made the awesomest card for luke's bday. He needs to find a way to make money off of this stuff, although i guess thats what this whole art school thing is about. Speaking of, it would be nice to get some sort of response from the art school. i am ready to know already.




Melissa was gone all day which made my day pretty boring but I did get some crochet and Tv time in, so thats good. Now I am thrilled that I finaly got my phlinx badge (pogo) and can now go back to playing addiction solitaire (very aptly named)

What ARE they doing in heaven today?

Ahhhh!!! super cheesey title alert!!!

I just saw a commercial that featured a song with the lyrics "what are they doing in heaven today" with pictures of americana sunsets and children waving flags. Oh and the product for sale was "moo tracks" ice cream, full of chocolatey goodness. Just sayin'.

I finally got my driver's license monday. I was kind of terrified to drive alone. After Mac left for work I just made myself drive to the craft store (Joann's, thank you Kerry for telling me about the sale!) and then to the grocery store. Not only did I drive alone for the first time but I also shopped alone for the first time, and it was nice. After I got my license Mac and I went to Johnny Carino's to celebrate. As usual our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. We ordered an appetizer, salads, entrees and desserts. We managed to eat the appetizer and took the rest home and ate it for dinner. Go team Edwards! My goal is to drive everyday but I need to find places to go where I won't spend money lol. Maybe I will visit the main library or a park or something. I also want to get a car harness for Stella so she can go with me but won't climb in my lap while I am driving.

Part of my reward to myself for achieving 60 days of non smoking was a popcorn popper and it arrived yesterday. It's ridiculous but I haven't been so excited since Christmas. I waited all day for the UPS guy and when the box arrived I tore into it and had a giant bowl of popcorn ready within the half hour (this includes a trip to the store to buy popcorn kernels and oil) BTW best popcorn ever.

Mac and I managed to do "the Shred" again this morning. Last time was such a punishment that it was actually a pleasant surprise when we didn't have to crawl away from the living room when it was over. I think I like this exercise-early-in-the-day thing. We kept planning to do it when Mac got home from work but 9 o'clock on a full stomach was just not working. It was a better time for watching TV then "shredding".

Mac was making fun of me this morning because I am so excited by our bird feeder. Mac bought the feeder for me ages ago but over the weekend we went out and got a tall shepheard's crook so we could hang it outside the office window. All week my favorite part of the morning has been watching all the little birds going to town on the seed and taking pictures. I even went out and bought seed thats supposed to attract cardinals and song birds (but I have to wait till we run out of our regular old bird seed first). Its funny because our pretty, expenisve bird feeder in the back yard gets no birdie love, but the cheapo one in the front is like bird grand central station.

Today is Cross Country Craft Day 2 and 1/2, a chance for me to make up for last times day of depression. I am trying to come up with creative craft ideas, i.e. crafting a blog post, crafting food stuffs etc. but i think most of my day will be devoted to cards and scrapbooking. My printer is out of black ink so I may have to go to best buy or circuit city for a replacement. So I am going to go do that.

like adding chocolate to an electrical storm

here is a little funny brought to you via Melissa



So Mac and I ended up driving to Gainesville to try and take my driving test Friday but they were all out of appointments so I have to try again Monday morning. I did manage to leave my ID and social security card with the lady at the driver's license office so fingers crossed that they still have them because otherwise no license for me.

I checked my google calendar today to see when my next psych appointment is and realised i never put it on the calendar, so I=lame.
Monday is going to be a busy phone day for me

I finished my first Ami

I still suck at the legs, but at least I dort of completed them, I think I will call him.. umm.. I don't know, any siggestions?

Melissa and I proved we have too much time on our hands and way too much imagination when we hatched this plot last night. It took Mac forever to notive it but ooh well, I think it was worth it

okay I have to go get ready for dinner with Beau

damnit

So they rescheduled my driving test again. I guess "rescheduled" isn't even the word because there isn't a new appointment scheduled yet, but Coach says it will be maybe monday or tuesday.
this is such bullshit. Its the 3rd time they have done this to me, I am so pissed off and dissapointed and angry, and sad....
I mean Coach had mentioned he was going to be doing a lot of testing this week and I said well I'm not in any particular hurry but that didn't mean I wanted to be put off 3 fucking times. I thought it meant I might get pushed to friday not to never. come on.
seriously I could cry right now
today is already not going to be a good day

Come on, feel the Illinoise

As promised (or close to as promised) here is a pic of Mac Birthday present from me (well one of them). I cross stitched his favorite phrase from his favorite movie, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". I think its kind of funny and he really seemed to like it. It funny because Mac genuinely works the quote into conversations, which is seemingly impossible but my man is a clever one. I don't think I like the frame though.



Monday was Cross Country Craft Day II - Revenge of the Crafts. Melissa was pretty productive. On my end the crafts won the battle, as I did not produce a single thing, not even dinner (mmm chinese take out). I did determine that my sewing machine doesn't work (or at least I don't know how to work it), and that it's easy to get your thumb smashed if you arent being carefull while fiddling with a sewing machine. I spent the whole day in a funk (deep depression/crying) and was begining to think I had completely lost my mind until i found this website http://www.askapatient.com/ . It turns out that the new medicine I am taking can have that side effect in the first two weeks, but for the majority of people it goes away and is well worth it.

Unfortunately craft day suffered and I totally need to make up for it and to that end I started on an amigurumi mouse yesterday morning. The head is completed (kind of wrong but its a learning process) today I plan to work on the body and ears cause the head is creepy all by itself sitting on my desk. I also spent about an hour making the pattern for a new top secret x-stitch project. Here is a hint, I showed it to Mac and he liked it.

Ahh and now on to my dissapointment. Today I was scheduled to take my driving test and get my license. I was nervous but confident that I woudl pass the test since coach has had me drive out to gainesville and run the test several times now and I have "passed" every time. Well the weather is kind of shitty today and coach called and cancelled, but we did reschedule for friday. I hate when things dont work out they way you planned (I was going to get my license and maybe take lunch/dinner to my husband since he has his figure drawing workshop til late tonite, and then I was going to go to michael's and get thread for my new cross stitch project) but you have to roll with the punches.

Oh, on a happier note, today is my 60th day of not smoking.
here are the stats peeps:
Time Smoke-Free: 60 days, 9 hours, 4 minutes and 31 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 483
Lifetime Saved: 3 days, 16 hours
Money Saved: $123.60

So I get to do something to celebrate, not too expensive but not free either (mama didn't raise no fool). Any suggestions?

happy birthday..

Happy Birthday Mac! I could not ask for a better husband or friend. Way to get older (my age).


I made Mac something neat for his bday, I will post pics tomorrow. Whenever I ask Mac what he wants for his bday (for about 6 years now) he has always said "make something" which usully translates to throwing a surprise party or making him dinner (its a mixed bag) this year I tried something a little different. I could only work on it when he wasnt home and since he was sick last week and home a lot and i was sick the week before, I spent a couple of nights were working on it til 4 am but I think he will like it so I am excited.

Its hard for me to keep presents a secret. I always manage to do it, but I struggle with it. I want to give it to the person!!!! I want them to like it!!!! SO the actual birthday/shower/wedding/christmas morning is always a relief to me, which is nice.

I am going to go run by walmart. I want to get some craft supplies for tomorrow's Cross Country Craft Day partII - "revenge of the crafts"

Goodbye Bobo

We went out over the weekend and bought all new toys for the dogs. Mac has been saying that their old toys are pretty gross (that might have been true) but I know my husband is a tight wad and refused to throw them away without assurance that we were going to purchase new ones. When the polar bear was here she consumed a large quantity of fuzzy dog toys and plain broke the rest. Even my frugal husband could not deny the need for new dog toys.

Sunday was like dog Christmas. Sparky was the most excited of all. He got in the toy box just to be among them.

Bobo is a favorite around here. I believe petsmart calls him "loofah dog", he's the toy from the commercials with the weiner dog. Usually we get a small Bobo for chloe and she takes it with her everywhere she goes (she uses it as a pillow, its really adorable). Sparky is a toy destroyer, so we bought him an overstuffed sheep which he immediately chewed the feet off of. Stella has no toy preference at all, aside from wanting what the others already have.

In an effort to keep Bobo from becoming a sad, dirty shell of a toy I have been working on keeping Sparky away from him. I thought it was only fair that Chloe should at least have one nice toy since she often treats them like snuggly playmates. Things had been going pretty well, Sparky had accepted that Bobo was not for him, then Stella got involved. Apparently Bobo was now Stella's special friend and Chloe was not to go near it.

It did not turn out well.

RIP fair Bobo, we hardly knew you.

In other news I learned how to parallel park and drove on the highway today, not as terrifying as I thought it would be, but I still managed to get all sweaty. I am getting my haircut later today and I have no idea what I want, which will probably annoy the hair guy. Guess I should go look for pictures

Quote of the day: "oh my god it looks like a killing field, I hope they never decide to do that to Maddy" -Mac Edwards upon observing what was left of Bobo.

aww yeah.

Greatest accomplishment since last blog? Pineapple upside down cake
Alright I admit it was a box mix, but does that really matter in the scheme of things? I still had to use the electric beater thingees so its still domestic.

Let's see, what else? Lola did not end up going to a rescue. I went a little crazy and blitzed the internet with found dog postings and guess what? it worked! The night before Lola was going to the rescue her owners emailed me. Turns out they live fairly close by. Oh and her name is Baby (/dumb name).

I started my driving lessons last week. I have had one so far and it was great. Coach got me out on a country highway type road and got me up in the 60's. After that 30 felt like crawling. I felt fairly empowered and unlike Mac, Coach doesn't wince and startle while I'm driving, in fact he thinks I am doing jsut fine. Tomorrow is my second lesson (highways! I am terrified) and I have another wednesday and my final one friday. I take the driving test on the 7th (wish me luck).

Last week I started taking Zyrtec for my allergies, it works great! The next day I got a sore throat and the day after that I was chest deep in Death Flu. The doc told me to keep taking it but the sore throat just kept getting worse so umm, yeah no more Zyrtec. I started taking an antibiotic Friday and seem to be through the worst of it today thank god. The whole not smoking thing seems to be helping. In fact I was helping Mac look for a screw he had dropped while trying to put up the new light in the dining room and I realised "hey I don't smoke" which is like saying "hey I don't stink". That was nice.

Today was the first Wellbutrin day. I feel different and I got a lot done today. I knew when it was kicking in. It was kind of an Adderal-esque feeling, but to a lesser extent.

Have you seen "Highschool Confidential" on We? Its incredibly depressing. Please tell me I was not that dumb of a bitch in highschool. I cringe with the thought.



Oh and get this! I found the part of me that can crochet! No shit, I mean it!

Amigurumi here I come.

What a difference 7 days makes....

Well since my last post the Nogles and Quattrochis schooled the Edwards in the newlywed game (but at least mac knows what our sheets look like) Mac and I decided to move to Austin, we found a polar bear who is currently eating us out of house and home (and stealing our hearts) and Emily and Luke became parents! Lets see, what to talk about first...

Newlywed game night was really fun, everyone came which shocked the crap out of me because as of friday night no one was confirmed, except of course Luke and Emily but they were tentative due to emminent childbirth. We ended up ordering pizza to have with our pie (it stayed within the pie theme though) and there was beer and hot chocolate and cheese and crackers and lots of catching up.

Oh yeah Mac and I went to Austin, we had an absolute blast. We got their right on time for Mac's interview at the Gemini school. At first we were a little put off by appearences but I guess thats why TV always says not to judge a book by its cover (my parent didnt say those kinds of things, but Danny Tanner certainly did). We were pretty impressed, and I think the founders were impressed with Mac too. He is in the process of filling in his application, cross your fingers for us guys!

moving to Austin would be a big change. I would be supporting us and we wouldn't be near our friends or family (i am actually okay with the family part but extremely bummed about the friends part.) but I think it will be a good thing. Mac is not happy with what he is doing and right now we are young, we have no children and we have the oppotunity so I say, take it. Besides our friends will come and visit us, and then decide to move too, you just wait and see.

We also got to visit SxSW and the capital while we were in town, I preferred the capital, but only because we didnt get to go to any shows.

Last Saturday a polar bear followed me home. Its hard to talk about right now because I just emailed a rescue saying that they could have her, and its made me very sad. A part of me wishes Lola had never come into our lives and a part of me is very glad she did.

the best news of all of course is the birth of Lyla Celeste Quattrochi on March 19th, and not just because I won the baby pool (yay $50). She really is an above average beautiful child already don't you think? I can't wait to see her again, she will probably throw up all over me because I am a baby vomit magnet, but I don't care, shes just so cute, and smart and creative... well I am sure the last two will come with time.

Okay time to pick a recipe for dinner and then take Lola on a short jog and then work on the laundry situation and then play with my new bam pop stamps (they are truly awesome). I will leave you with a slide show of little Elsie Q

and we are a go

Ear surgery is now complete, and was pretty easy, all I had to do was sleep. Misson accomplished. The only crappy part was the crappy nurse who did a crappy job trying to put in my IV. She was crappy. Mac was watching her dig at me and almost passed out. The second nurse did a much better job. Props to the second nurse.

Went over to the Quattrochi Casa and I finally got to see the finished mural, and I must say my husband is a real talent, I am so proud of him.

Luke amd Emily made us dinner (fajitas!) and the boys installed a ceiling fan.

Then I continued to fail at crocheting (I refuse to give up though) while the guys played the new smash brothers game.

Emily was as impressed as I was by how AWESOME the game was. (sigh)

By the by, Elsie Q is coming soon, she even popped out her mucus plug... ew (hehehe)

Tomorrow (the 13th, I haven't selpt since the 12th so it's still tomorrow to me) Mac and I are going to Austin to tour an art school and for them to look at some of his work. I think he's a shoe in, his stuff looks pretty great (even if it isn't all that professionally put together, but they said to just bring in a rough collection so its fine). Of course SxSW is going on right now, and some huge rodeo, so its pretty impossible to find a hotel room. Mac is going to call around and see what he can find in the morning. I was looking over the SxSW schedule and saw that Priscilla Ahn, Meiko, Ingrid Michaleson, Joshua Radin and Sara Bareilles are all playing a show together tomorrow night at The Parish. Um, yeah so that's pretty much my playlist on winamp right now and I was pretty excited, until I found out its impossible to get in, so no super awesome happy fun time for me. Mac and I may stroll by though just to get a quick listen, assuming we feel like braving 6th street, otherwise we are going to go see a movie, heh.

Well I should probably get to bed. night night, I'll let you know friday how it went!

quickness

3 things
1. crocheting is hard (to do and spell). Got the cute amigurumi book in today and have achieved nothing, but I did find some really great instructional videos online (knit bitch on youtube rocks!) and look forward to trying again tomorrow after the anesthesia wears off, speaking of which...
2. I am having ear surgery at 10:30 am, wish me luck, I am not as nervous as the first time but the closer it gets the more nervous I am. Speaking of nervous habits...
3. I am at 32 days smoke free, go me! Saturday was surprisingly hard, I don't know why, but I got through it and today wasn't difficult at all and telling various doctors over the last few days has been very liberating.

I would like to thank...

I would like to thank Fiber One oat and chocolate chewy granola bars for being delicious. I would also like to send a shout out to the weather for being so fine today.

Michelle came over on saturday, we baked cupcakes and went to El Matador and ate cheesy wonderful nachos, it was pretty much a perfect day. However it was not the most weight watchers friendly day. Sunday I figured the week was pretty much blown anyway so after lunch at Olive Garden with my mom for her birthday I had three cupcakes, a huge salad, and two chili dogs. mmmmm, chili dogs.

The very best part of Sunday was discovering 8 hours of Masterpiece Theatre's Cmplete Jane Austen on my DVR. I pretty much sat on the couch and knitted for 6 hours as Catherine Morland fell in love with Henry Tilney, and then as Anne Elliot regreted her decision not to marry Captain Wentworth. It was enough to give a girl the vapors, heh.

There isn't another episode of Masterpiece til the end of the month and its Emma (not my favorite) so I am somewhat dissapointed, but at least I got alot done on the hat I am knitting. (the book from the library has come in amazingly handy)

I am very frustrated with my sister right now. I really felt like she was making some headway with her situation and then she turned around and threw it all away and ontop of that she is letting her situation beat her up again. What do you do? She's an adult, she pays her bills (and his) and she doesn't want it to change. I take that back, sometimes she does, but those are rare times and it's just more important to her to be with some than to be safe and happy. Its pretty messed up.

OOO OOO I almost forgot! I have decided to learn how to make amigurumi and to that end went to Michael's and got a shit ton of yarn and crochet needles and "I Taught Myself to Crochet" (by the makers of "I Taught Myself to Knit" from which I, ... well, I taught myself to knit actually). I also ordered this book

and preordered this one so be

expecting me to start churning out ninjas, owls and lions any day now.

I kept busy over the weekend and didn't get to talk to Melissa as much as I usually do and when I did get to talk to her I found out that Haydrienne has a stomach bug thats been going on for days. If you are reading this (does anyone read this?) send happy thoughts to miss melissa.

pity party day

that's right I am having a little pity party for myself
sort of
I have been needing to update badly, I even wrote it on my list of things to do that I keep on the front door. (it is one of the many items not checked off)
Let's see, since the last time I was here I have.. hmm.. been to the H&H rehearsal (mmm good food, boo bad focus)the H&H wedding (...) a few doctors (I am scheduled to have tubes put in my ears AGAIN on the 12th) and... oh and it snowed!
real genuine snow! It was so great, we even made a snowman (steve) and snow angels. then we made coacoa and watched cabaret, and later opened champagne and had a decent dinner.
no wonder I am down today, what's a world of brown sluch compared to a winter wonderland. I made hazelnut coacoa this morning in an effort to recapture yesterdays fuzzy feelings but it just wasn't happening.
Mac made an appointment for me to have private driving instruction on the 25th, about which I am both excited and nervous, I just need to get it DONE. I am sick of eating the same canned and boxed foods for dinner everyday but I can't do anything about it when I can't even go to the grocery store you know? and I REALLY REALLY REALLY want a job.
Speaking of, I really want to go into pharmaceutical sales, I think I would be good at it and my mom tutors for a woman who does sales for pfizer, awesome! as soon as I get my license I am going to see if my mom can hook me up.
I went and got a library card the other day (the library is within walking distance, why cant the grocery store be as well..hmm,.. actually piggly wiggly isnt all THAT far...) and checked out a book on knitting. Its been great, I have learned how to purl, rib, increase and decrease, I think next I am going ot make a hat, wish me luck!
Now I am going to go look up how far the piggly wiggly is and decide if its worth it to me to have something new and different for dinner :)

umm...

The Academy Awards were on tonite. I love the Oscars, the pomp, the circumstance, the ridiculous dresses and of course my righteous indignation when the movie that clearly deserves to win does not. I was a good movie slacker this year apparently, I had only seen Juno and Atonement. Mac and I watched together while we ate dinner and made a list of what we want to see. I am too lazy to go get the list out of the living room but I know we had There Will Be Blood, The Savages, Away From Her and some others. BTW I had no clue the guy from No Country for Old Men was so hot.. just sayin'.
Apparently it takes 21 days to break a habit, so far I have 15 of them covered. I am still having weight issues but not as badly as before, and I think my hardcore hours of daily workouts might have something to do with that. The cravings really haven't been bad lately, they haven't been gone, but they seem to be passing more quickly so that's awesome and stuff.
I can't believe its so late! I've been watching alot of Sex and the City reruns lately and I lose track of time.. sigh
bedtime!

Spent most of the day working out (only a week left before I have to squeeze into that bridesmaid dress) and the evening making chicken tacos and then making cards.
Not a whole lot to say so here are some pictures!

so I kicked my own ass for cookies

It's true. I wanted to eat a smart one's cookie dough sundae for dessert tonight so i worked out enough so that I wouldn't have to go into my flex points, since I am saving them for the bachelorette party this weekend. After working out it was around 6 o clock and I was tired so I decided to watch some stuff I had stacking up on the DVR and have a small snack which turned into a large snack (you can't eat a small snack at 6pm, it is impossible, especially not while sitting on the couch watching Sex & the City) and I wasnt giving up my cookie so I worked out again. I am already one large achey muscle but I feel pretty good about it.
Bought pesto, garlic and pine nut marinated chicken breast from target ealier in the week and decided to have that for dinner with some leftover spaghetti and sauce I made sunday. ahhh the best laid plans...
So it turns out Mac ate the pasta for lunch tuesday and so instead I got out the left over couscous from monday and made my first attempt at steaming vegetables. Then I rememberd I didn't care much for this particular variety of couscous so I made myself some black eyed peas. We sat down to eat and I determined that I dont like steamed carrots (the broccoli was actually pretty good) or giant slabs of pesto, garlic and pine nut marinated chicken breast. So I put the chicken away in the fridge to put in something (the flavor was jsut to strong to eat alone, perhaps an itallian sandwich?) threw out the carrots, and finally just at a lean cuisine, heh.
This has officially been the most boring blog ever
period.
Oh and I haven't mentioned smoking in a while, prolly cause it hasn't really been on the forefront of my mind, at least not at the moment I sit down to type this thing, so that's progress.
I haven't smoked in 11 days, 20 hours, 27 minutes and 56 seconds.
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 95
Lifetime Saved: 17 hours
Money Saved: $22.66
I think my favorite part of the morning is getting my quitnet stats email letting me know how long its been and how much time and money I have saved. Neat idea quitnet, keep up the good work!

wasting time

The husbandit doesn't get off work til late during the week so I usually put off starting dinner til around 7:30, ... so right now I have a little bit of time to kill.
Let's see.. it was a busy weekend, but I enjoyed it. Saturday was Baby Q's shower and there were a ton of people there! seriously Emily and Luke have a ton of friends and family and everyone was incredibly nice with just the right amount of silly. My favorite part of any party is the food and this one did not dissapoint. I personally am always happy with chips, dips, cookies, the usual, but they had egg and chicken salad mini croissant sandwiches, smoked salmon, this really lovely, soft herb cheese, hummus, interesting salads, really it was a dieters dream. After the shower some of us felt like going out (I don't get to see these people all that often since we suddenly grew up and moved all over the place) so we hit Lonnegan's, which was an old stomping ground when i was in highschool. A friend of mine's dad managed the place so we would either go there or Denny's after school (who wants to go home?) Walking in, that old familiar smell of cigarettes, cheese fries and beer washed over me, and I was taken back to the days of Lucky strikes in the back booth while playing trivia during happy hour. This was the first place I felt sexy smoking a cigarette, the cigarette machine by the bathrooms was a good friend to 16 year old me. It was the middle of the afternoon, the place was hardly busy, only one other smoker thank god. We sat together in the booth and at first my hands were shaking, but by the time our queso and quesadillas got there I had forgotten all about it. I guess its true that "this too shall pass". I let myself just enjoy the conversations with my friends and for the first time didn't feel bad about smoking in someone's face.
Sunday Mac left early to work on Baby Q's mural. I woke up late and went to Fuzzy's Tacos with my friend Beau. Beau and I used to work out together 2-3 times a week before I graduated. We also used to smoke on the walk to the gym from the parking lot, from the gym back to the car, and on the way to my front door from the street when he was dropping me off. Beau and I were a good imitation of an industrial district. Luckily you can't smoke in Fuzzy's and the weather wasn't nice enough to sit outside. After lunch we walked around Target and then Beau had to go home because "he had to smoke". I didn't blame him.
So it felt like a weekend of little victories.
This weekend is Heather's bachelorette party which means I need to order her gift.. its totally naughty!
lata

ta da

my weight was down to 157 this morning, pretty much made my day. I think jogging is helping.
Had a dream where my brother jason was a smoker but he was trying to quit and having a hard time with cravings, and I kept telling people "leave him alone, it will pass, he just has to get through it" then he and I smoked a cigarette and we both felt guilty.
I actually woke up feeling guilty and it was just a dream.
I also woke up to someone banging on the front door. Somehow I got up and looked through the peephole. It was the fedex guy and he must be familiar with our house, cause our doorbell is broken. The dogs were going nuts and I was scantily clad but apparently I needed to sign for what he was delivering and I need the stuff for Emily's baby shower tomorrow so I just went out there, head held high, boobs flailing and signed for it. Somewhat embarassing actually but oh well.
And now I am going to to make lunch

Be careful how you touch me, my body's like an earthquake...

It was a good Valentine's Day but now I am just in a foul mood. It has nothing to do with anything, I can feel it behind my eyes and it would probably be best if I stayed here and typed instead of yelling at my husband. It will subside, eventually.
Didn't go to sleep til late last night, I waited until Mac went to bed so I could decorate his desk with the card I made for him, and the one from the dogs (it said "I ruff u" how cute am I?) and put out the boxed up cookies I had made for him (I feel certain eventually he will eat them right? probably not) and well.. I don't sleep much these days.
Mac had a meeting this morning so he got up early and I got up with him to make chocolate chip pancakes. Actually he got up before me and went to the store to get some flowers. He put a small arrangement in the bedroom next to my side of the bed, then a huge arrangement in the living room and lastly a medium arrangement in the office on my desk. Turns out he also drank all the milk so he went back to the store to get some more and got me some orange juice too.
After breakfast I bagged up the left over pancakes, whipped cream, candy, chocolate chips and cookies in the house from my valentine's day baking and sent it to work with Mac, the last thing I need is all that junk staring at me all day.
The bright and shiney spot of the day? Lunch. Not neccesarily the love in the air (I love my husband but he was tired today and not much of a talker, that and he didn't feel hungry, so it was not exactly romantic) but the food. I love Johnny Carino's. They take risks, true sometimes they sound odd, and occasionally they don't really work but most of the time you end up with something amazing. The garlic jalepeno tilapia is to die for, I ate half for lunch and the other half for dinner with some broccoli. mmmmmmm
Oh hey yeah I hit the road again today and went jogging. I guess my lungs worked out whatever they needed to since tuesday because the only burn today was in my thighs and biceps (yay wrist weights). I wanted to go around the block 4 times but I only got in three before it was completely dark out and I had to go in (I don't like jogging in the dark all by myself with headphones on. I keep imagining my family telling my story on Oprah and how stupid it would sound, "she loved to jog in the dark, without protection and diminished awareness". I would basically be the example of what not to do) It still took 48 mins which is pretty good. On the last time around I was next to some apartments and I smelled smoke so I was looking around (lots of grass fires lately) when I noticed flashing lights so I paused my music and almost got hit by a fire truck, that was fun. Actually I love that kind of thing. When Kerry came over while Mac was out of town, a few police cars and an ambulance showed up on my street around 2 am and totally made my day. Some people would be scared or ambivelant but not me, I wanted the scoop. It was freezing out and I stood on the front porch watching like it was reality tv. My street ends on the back of the same apartment complex the trucks nearly killed me trying to get into so I jogged my ass off and passed my house to get to the end of the street to catch a glimpse of the action but all I could see over the fence were the flashing lights. The oddest part was how quiet it was. I was expecting to hear booming voiced firemen barking orders and the sound of hose slapping the ground as the water gushed out. What I got was dead silence, so I went home and watched the office.
By the way the ratio of Schrut Bucks to Stanley Nickels is exactly the same as unicorns to leperchauns.

pity party

I am so mad at myself. I screwed up pretty badly by smoking. It was so stupid, I was so stupid and its just one more reason why teenagers shouldn't be trusted to make any deicisions ever about anything. There have been so many times when I have wished (as I smoked a cigarette in the rain/freezing weather/blistering sun) that I had never started but right now, this moment I am feeling that so acutely....
So I have worked my ass off to lose weight, over 50 pounds, from 209 to 150, I hadn't weighed that little since I was in highschool (granted I weighed less than that too but I did weight 150 at one point, before I got really into Thai Bo). Sure I havnt been working out like I should lately but I have been keeping busy and eating right...sigh.
When I went on my honeymoon last summer, I went completely off weight watchers. I drank all day long (mmm pina coladas on the beach..) I ate hamburgers and french fries for lunch every day and chicken nuggests and noodles everynight. When I got home I discovered I had gained 9 pounds, (over a week) and I lost it all a week later. Fast forward to now. Its been five days since I quit smoking, and I have gained 12.4 pounds, 4 of those pounds were gained in the last 24 hours.
Kill me.
Sure okay, yesterday I had whataburger for lunch, not great, its true. But I haven't eaten at whataburger in literally 6 months if not longer and I also had a three point smart one for dinner (3 points is nothing, NOTHING) and jogged for 40 mins, so whats with the four pound gain?
I feel like I am drowning in fatness. Poor Mac, I informed him today that it is going to be a long time before I get naked again.
Of course I had my bridesmaid dress altered when I was at 150.... I am scared I won't even be able to get it on.
Gah!
I am so frustrated right now. So tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and Mac and I are going out to lunch. I will try to be reasonable, that's all I can promise. Friday I will start working out everyday, and quit the snacking I have been allowing myself to do since I quit smoking (even if it is just on pickles and popcorn)
/pitypartty

it burns

Oh my god allergies, serisouly, all over the place. Worst moment? Woke up this morning with a hair in my nose, it tickled and made me sneeze, I was miserable.
Spent a chunk of yesterday downloading music from amazon.com. The service is great, the music is DRM free and reasonably priced, what more could you ask for? wait, oh yeah, more selection, but they are definitely getting there. Favorite new (to you) artist you ask? Meiko, especially "reasons to love you".
It turns out that when you quit smoking you don't gain weight just because you are putting food in your mouth instead of cigarettes, no that would be to easy, you also gain weight because your metabolism literally slows down, that's why fatigue is a symptom of nicotine withdrawal. Case in point? I have gained 8 pounds since quitting 5 days ago, I kid you not. True I have been eating more than usual, especially when it comes to pickles, but come on people, 8 pounds? that's ridiculous.
I decided I had to combat this so I went jogging last night. The weather was gorgeous. the sunset was beautiful and I almost died. Well close to died. Suddenly jogging sucks! I had to stop after two laps around the block, not because my legs or arms (I was wearing wrist weights) were tired but because my lungs were burning and I was tasting blood... BLOOD! I got to the house and could hardly breathe, it was scary and incredibly painful and I am so trying it again tonite because before the lungs tried to kill me jogging felt really good, so there take that lungs. (I had some pretty nice looking legs before christmas hit with all its family trips and cake balls)
My husband just asked if I am writing a novel.
so what if I am
yeah i am a little on edge these days...heh
I am going to go clean something.... anything

well there you go

I am actually going to use this thing, I've had the account forever, basically to post on the blogs of friends, and now I guess I am just bored enough....
Today is Day 4 of not smoking. Supposedly its all mental from here on out. (Does it really take 72 hours to get all the nicotine out of your system?) I have to admit that if I had not given Mac the pack of cigarettes I had in the house yesterday before he went to work I probably would have smoked the whole things by the time he got home. In fact I nearly smoked the cat.
In an effort to be distracted I went and saw "Atonement" last night. We were running late so I missed the previews, which sucks, I love previews. I am a person who likes to have something to look forward to. Right now all I have to look forward to movie-wise is "be kind rewind", I was hoping to find some more gems to anticipate. Anyway, Atonement, right. Visually the movie was wonderful. Very interesting and watchable without being sugary, they used the lighting well. The music was amazing and incorporated seamlessly. The acting was spot on, and subtle, I can see why there is Oscar buzz. The story was only so-so. The popcorn was GREAT! My husband always get upset that the popcorn is my favorite part of the movie, I say he should consider himself lucky that his wife is easy to please.
Today my brother and I are going shopping for Valentine's Day supplies. I am going to assist him in wrapping his gifts for his.... his... friend? and then I am going to make cookies and candies for the hubby. I love Valentine's Day. There is no good reason for it, I shouldn't but I do. Hope springs eternal right?

Flavor Country

SO Matt Gunter is a real @!#J@$# He just sent me a message letting me know how much he is enjoying a cigarette right now. oh well, I'll live longer and happier... right? right?
SO in 6 hours it will be 2 whole days.
I can't remember the last time I went two days without smoking. When we were visiting Mac's grandparents I snuck outside in my pajamas in a snow storm around midnight to suck one down. At the time I kept thinking how ridiculous it was, right now I would kill for that cigarette, hell I'd smoke it bare foot in 2 feet of snow.
Probably shouldn't focus on that.
Been doing my best to stay busy. Yesterday we went shopping, I got some body shaping underwear for Heather's bridesmaid dress (its just one of those dresses, her sister is skinny and she needed it too) and we got some groceries. I chewed a lot of gum but didn't use the patch, its existence in my house is a nice safety blanket but I haven't actually had to use it yet. Today I did some card making, watched mystery on PBS, went to Luke and Emily's with Mac to do some talking about the baby's mural and had dinner with Mac's parents. I have to admit I have been eating more than usual but it hasn't been insane. Its mostly pickles actually lol. Monday I need to get active again. I am going to walk a dog to the park (I am not brave enough to walk all 3 by myself so I will take a different dog each day) Maybe mon, wed, fri will be dog walking day and Tues, thurs will be jogging days and i need to get on the ab lounge too, I should probably make a schedule....

...and Proud to be

So today is the first smoke free day. It's been about twelve hours, I haven't used the patch yet, I have chewed a lot of gum. I haven't really told anyone about this. I guess I just know that most of the people I know don't take me seriously and that makes me not take myself seriously. I also know that I would be given that look of "yeah right" which I don't need right now. I would rather tell people when its over and done with. I pretty much want to eat chicken nuggets and mac and cheese and lay in bed and smoke a huge long cigarette right now. lame