Catching Up!

It is a day late for Easter and it is only a top, but heck, I am working at a slower pace these days, trying to enjoy my crafts and not guilting myself if I don’t finish thing by a self-assigned deadline!  It is very naive/imperfect/primitive and drawn by hand from motifs I have liked from other quilts and folk art… I like it, but how should I quilt it?

And look, Katy‘s socks are finally done!! We did a little swap and she finished 2 cross stitch samplers for me before I got her socks done. Here is a package I got from her that shows the latest cute sampler she sent me, another part of the inspiration for my quilt! She also added some cool cut-outs in pretty papers for me to use in card making, so nice!

I also did a few quick baby onesies for a friend who we visited last week…forgot to take a photo of the onesies before I packed them up in their cute little gift basket…

When I got out of hospital I was surfing blogs as I always do, and came across a link to The Vintage Pearl. She hand stamps these lovely necklaces, and Dave got this for me as a mother’s day pressie. Isn’t it lovely?

I also finally finished the quilting on my cousins quilt, it is designed for a specific room to match the colors in there and fit an area behind her sofa. I did a Missouri Star for her since she lives in St. Louis, the blue border is great, has the words family, friendship, love…very appropriate… and I even quilted some shamrocks into it, lol! The colors are based on a Navajo blanket she had in her room. Hope you like it Col!!

LOSER UPDATE: I am up to 181.2, which means I am still down 10 lbs despite my side track with my hospital stay and MS diagnosis. I hope you fellow losers can be patient with me, as I still plan on really joining back in the next few weeks, but am not quite  ready yet.

I am going on a trip next week to visit Barbara and Katy, I can’t wait!! A week without the girls with crafting, shopping, sightseeing in Stockholm and a show (Wicked!) in London’s West End. A bit of mommy recharging time, just what the doctor ordered. And the doc told me to wait till returning from the trip to start my injections…something I am not looking forward to, but will use it as a line in the sand for starting my healthier eating regime, trying to cut out as much processed food as I can, i.e. junk food, my favorite stuff!!

And just because I don’t have enough photos in this post, here are several more of the girls.  Mommy did a bit of bunny crafting with the girls and our little neighbor one day, I find these masks slightly disturbing, but the girls had a great time making me make lots of stuff for them, lol!

Here is the one decent photo I got of the girls doing their easter egg hunt Easter morning.

And finally, my big girl Aine learned how to swim and ride her bike last week, all within days of each other…here is the biker girl!

 

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 8

I am going to do this post early, as I went to the doctor on Wednesday about that trapped nerve and they sent me to the ER to rule out scary things like MS. They seem to think that it isn’t neurological so that is a relief, but they admitted me to hospital Wed night and Fri morning I had an MRI. Due to a technical glitch the results won’t be on the system for the doc to read till Monday, so I am home for the day (have to return each night to sleep in hospital to keep bed…) so am home and just wanted to check in and say if anyone can send good vibes, karma, prayers, thoughts, my way I’d really appreciate them, esp on Monday. I will be home for a few more hours tonight and then tomorrow for the day. I really am nervous about what is happening with my numb foot/leg, so hope they can come up with reasons for why it is happening then, preferably something not too scary!!

I hope to be back to my weighins next week, but finding it hard to concentrate at the moment while waiting for results.

Thanks 🙂 Cathi

 

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 7

I was down 1.2 lbs this week! I hit the stone mark!! (14 lbs gone!) I promise that next week I will mix it up and gain some weight as I was bad bad bad over the weekend again and won’t be working out as much this week. I have a trapped nerve, numb foot/leg thing going on…time to go to the doctor…got it after shimmying too hard at salsa dancing last week…it is very strange and I hope that it can be sorted out soon…

I got started swimming last week and hope to get back on track with my exercise soon! No yoga or dancing till I get the trapped nerve sorted out. Sigh.

 

Weight Loss Challenge 2009: Week 6

I made it into the 170s, yeah, it has been ages since I’ve seen them! And next week I hope to lose .8 lb again if I can manage it (though had a bad weekend, they are really my downfall!!). The reason for the .8 goal will be appreciated by any UK/Irish readers: I’ll have lost 14 lbs, a full stone!

I have salsa dancing class tonight but have also signed up for the swimming pool again today!!! I hope to get my laps in 2-3 times a week to add to my exercise regime…might try to add a walk or two eventually as well…plus the swim membership gives me weights and cardio gym time and other classes…hope to add the weights in a few months maybe…can’t be doing everything all at once!!

How are all the other “losers” doing??

I have that promised crafty post from last week still coming, but will get it done for tomorrow!!

 

Weight Loss Challenge 2009: Week 5

Just a quick update before midnight here in Ireland.

Current weight: 180 lbs/ 12 stone 12/ 81 kilos

I am at 180 lbs even this week and hope to see the 170s next week, should be doable, as I only need a .2 lb loss. Guess I better make sure to stay on the straight and narrow!!

I took some measurements to see the progress over the month and I am down 2 inches in my waist, hips, and chest, woo hoo!

I have some crafty finishes to show and promise to get those posted tomorrow.

 

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 4

WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!

I lost 1.6 lbs this week when at the beginning of the week I thought I’d be lucky to stay the same.  Now you all know I weigh in on Fridays, so after weigh in I headed off to Wexford for 2 days of retreating and you know I was NOT GOOD over the weekend!! My goal for the next weigh in is to remain the same or only be up a little bit. If I lose this week, it will be a true miracle, but I can always aim to be the best I can for the next few days and you never know…miracles happened throughout the entire month of January!!

Current weight:  180.8 lbs / 12 stone 12.8 lbs / 82 kilo

JANUARY TOTAL LOSS:

11 lbs!!!!!!!

I took my first salsa dancing class tonight, and while I really liked the dance steps, when they put it to non-salsa music (pop music) and made the tempo so fast it seemed more like aerobics and less like real salsa dancing…I wasn’t as excited about it as I was before… but it still was fun!

Here’s hoping for some good news next weigh in!

 

Weight Loss Challenge 2009: Week 3

A miracle happened!! I was hoping for half a pound’s loss and actually ended up losing 2.8 lbs for a total loss of 9.6 lbs!!!

Current weight: 182.4 lbs/ 13 stone 0. 4/ 82 kilos

I still haven’t focused on exercise, though I have started a yoga class that is currently killing me and my poor unused muscles!! Next week salsa dancing starts and I was hoping to start swiming today, but have had a sick Aine to deal with overnight, very bad cold and sore throat and discomfort. She will be staying at home with me…we’ll have a quiet day which I will used to catch up on last weeks scrapblog, only a day behind on this one!

I will try to post soon about a project I finished yesterday, and some updates on other longer term projects.

 

Weight Loss Challenge 2009: Week 2

Down 2.8 lbs for a total of 6.6 lbs so far!!!!

Current weight:  185.2 / 13 stone 3.2 / 84 kilos

I am struggling a bit this week with food cravings and haven’t been drinking all the water I should, which I find really helps me keep down my appetite… I weigh in on Fridays, so am hoping for half a pound or a pound loss at the most this week, if I stay on the straight and narrow for the rest of the week!! But still, it is movement forward…

Started yoga last week and am thinking I should have waited for a bit of flab to be gone, lol, I am in a class full of thin bendy pretzels!!

Eek, have to do my weekly digiscrapbooking page, and do a post with the little bit of progress I’ve made on my projects this week, including a patchwork roman blind that is driving me distracted ! More soon.

 

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 1

I am down 3.8 lbs!!!

Woo hoo!! I am not eating perfectly yet, but getting so much better.  I need to get back to pointing witH Weight Watchers points, but right now I am just trying to eat less, eat better and drink lots of water. So far so good!!

We are supposed to post before pics this week but I did mine last week and Lord knows that I don’t want the posted 3 times on this blog, so if you are curious, and don’t scare too easy you can see my before pics here.

Current Weight: 188 lbs / 13 stone 6 lbs / 85 kilo

I will be joining a salsa dancing/slimming class February 2 with a friend, and yoga on Thursday…should be good!! Hopefully good news again next Monday and a report of some decent exercise achieved.

 

Monday Weight Challenge 2009 Update: Let’s Get Started!

I will be keeping a little record of my weight loss on the tab up there.  I plan to weigh in every Friday, but will report on Mondays.  The method to my madness is that our family does Movie Night after school on Fridays, kids get a “junky” meal of their favorite fish fingers and nuggets and tater tot type things, and DH and I get takeaway and we watch high class Barbie and various other movies till 8pm!

Now way back in 2001 I lost 5 stone (aka 70 lbs) here in Ireland on WW, got my gold membership and all, went from 190 to 120 in ten months, eating a takeaway once a week religiously…you gotta have your splurge or life just isn’t fun. I had had two misses trying for babies and figured it was time to get healthy, I was on a mission!! I highly recommend swimming and walking for fitness, they worked great for me. I got to my goal February 2002 and Aine arrived November 2002, wink wink nudge nudge…getting fit really helped!!

WW worked for me, but the meetings in my new area haven’t so I will do it on my own using my online community and DH as my support group 🙂 .

I am who I am and can’t be ashamed of who I am.  I am not happy with my appearance right now, but I am not going to hide it. Here I am in full frontal and side view glory in my kitchen!

Start Weight:  191.8 lbs / 13 stone 10 lbs / 87 kilos Yuck!!
(Since I am in Europe, thought I’d post the US / UK / European versions of my horrible weight!)
Height: 5′1″
Waist: 40.5″
Hips: 46″

There is a CardioSalsa class starting in a few weeks, I think I am going to start that…should be fun and I love dancing 🙂

Wish me luck and don’t worry, the update will only be once a week!! Crafty content to follow soon!!!!!