An update of sorts...
It's been ages and ages and ages since I've updated here, and I'm sorry for that, but I feel like I'm kinda living my life at warp-speed lately! Trying to stay in touch with people and all that, but haven't had taken much time lately to post stuffs...
The State of Me:
Generally I'm good. Actually, I'm pretty darned good! I'd posted at the end of February about my knee and the recovery from surgery and how nice it is to be able to walk well again! Things have only improved! My "lifestyle changes" aka "making less of the me" is going really well. As expected I did hit a plateau on the scale. The numbers refused to budge in the downward direction for all of March. I'd creep up a couple pounds then back down to the original number and then hold for several days before creeping up a couple pounds again. Thankfully That's Finally Finished! (for now) As of this morning I'm a mere 4.4 pounds from the "goal" I'd set for May 1. I won't make it, don't really WANT to be able to drop 4.4 pounds in a week, but I should get there very, very soon! Next goal is short-duration. My doctor's scale weighs me heavier than my own and I want happy numbers when I go to see her so when I've gotten down 14 or 15 from now I'll go see her for my annual checkup. I do have longer-duration goals that I'm generally aiming for. I have a "hope I hit it" very reasonable number for September 1 and another for January 1. Whooot!
The good news is how well I'm getting around. Not that I'll ever run a marathon, but I've more energy and a bit more stamina and I'm certainly walking more comfortably. Very, very much looking forward to faire season, and very much hoping that Bristol keeps it's music stages FULL so I'm hiking back and forth across the site a LOT. I did a bunch of up-on-the-ladder painting work, last month which had me up and down a ladder a LOT for a few days (and will be happening again this weekend) and I was really surprised at myself at how well I did. Got utterly and completely exhausted but managed to keep moving a LOT longer than I ever dreamed I'd be able to, and ended up feeling much stronger just in general.
Work Stuffs:
Work is interesting! As of May 1 I'll have been here for 4 years, though the first 16 months or so was as a contractor. I hit my 3-year anniversary as an actual employee in mid-August (at which point my PTO accrual goes up two more days annually) It's been an interesting 4 years! I really, really like it here. I think it's a really good company and I've been really fortunate to work on a truly fantastic team! These people are Smart and Good and Honest and Conscientious, and Kind. There is no condemnation if anyone needs to answer a question, questions are encouraged! People help each other and work hard and pitch in whenever help is needed. We watch each others' backs here, and really have good TEAMWORK which is just lovely.
The one thing constant here, though, is change. I don't think the teamwork and awesomeness is changing, but teams are moving around again. The team I've been on for much of my time here seems to be generally dividing up and moving around. Several of my former teammates have been either temporarily or permanently assigned to other groups within the company. I've moved onto our "Future" team for now but it looks like there may be another move in my near future. A big one, career-wise. Can't really say much for now but folks seem to be praising me highly around here and my ability to "wear many hats" seems to have been noticed. More on this when I can...
Home Stuffs:
Got some unwelcome news on the home front yesterday morning. Stepped outside to head to work and my neighbor was outside sweeping the walk and she asked me if I'd heard the news yet. Hadn't, so she told me. Seems that my landlady has run into a bit of a financial pickle and it's either likely or definite that my building is going into foreclosure. I'm still fuzzy on the details, and the time line, but per the neighbor it certainly seemed to be a definite thing. Wish I knew more about the time line, haven't called the landlady yet, but wow.
Seems there's a federal law that says that if a building is foreclosed and sold, the new owner has to give existing tenants until the end of their lease period (for me that's December 31) or 90 days (if there is no lease except I do have one) So, unfortunately, it appears that I'll be moving in 2010. I hadn't planned to, don't really WANT to, but probably don't have a choice. Of the positive, this means that I'll have no choice but to sort through my Vast Piles Of Crap again and get rid of stuff again! That process should start nearly immediately, though I'm not planning to kill myself with rushing through things. (by 'immediately' I mean hopefully starting this weekend, as this week itself is Booked Solid!) I moved to my current apartment something just over 7 years ago, and at the time I probably eliminated about 1/3 of my then-current belongings. I've gotten lots and lots more since then, though, and probably need to jettison 1/3 again. Wheee!
Craft Stuffs:
I've been crafting a lot lately, but not sewing much hardly at all. I think the last thing I made for myself was finishing my new linen chemise last fall. Didn't sew anything significant for Christmas last year, either. Even weaving has taken a back-seat lately. Have been mostly playing with yarn lately. Nothing yet to show for it but there may be pictures soon.
Did have a lovely, lovely time on Good Friday when I hooked up with some new friends for a Pysanky Day. I managed to complete 2 eggs in the evening. Was VERY nice to make eggs again! Met these fine folks last year and did one egg, but prior to that I'd not done an egg in more than 5 years. I do miss it. They're so beautiful, and it's so peaceful to draw all those lines with the wax. I *will* get back to it again!
Next month I'm heading northward to spend a weekend with cmerun12 doing a card-weaving demo thingy which I think is Saturday only. As it's not terribly far from the Janesville Faire, I may see if I can do the 2-events/1-trip thingy and do both!
Random Bits and Pieces:
Well... I guess that's the update for now... Am certain I left off important bits and it may be a bit disjointed, but it's something of an update, anyway...
The State of Me:
Generally I'm good. Actually, I'm pretty darned good! I'd posted at the end of February about my knee and the recovery from surgery and how nice it is to be able to walk well again! Things have only improved! My "lifestyle changes" aka "making less of the me" is going really well. As expected I did hit a plateau on the scale. The numbers refused to budge in the downward direction for all of March. I'd creep up a couple pounds then back down to the original number and then hold for several days before creeping up a couple pounds again. Thankfully That's Finally Finished! (for now) As of this morning I'm a mere 4.4 pounds from the "goal" I'd set for May 1. I won't make it, don't really WANT to be able to drop 4.4 pounds in a week, but I should get there very, very soon! Next goal is short-duration. My doctor's scale weighs me heavier than my own and I want happy numbers when I go to see her so when I've gotten down 14 or 15 from now I'll go see her for my annual checkup. I do have longer-duration goals that I'm generally aiming for. I have a "hope I hit it" very reasonable number for September 1 and another for January 1. Whooot!
The good news is how well I'm getting around. Not that I'll ever run a marathon, but I've more energy and a bit more stamina and I'm certainly walking more comfortably. Very, very much looking forward to faire season, and very much hoping that Bristol keeps it's music stages FULL so I'm hiking back and forth across the site a LOT. I did a bunch of up-on-the-ladder painting work, last month which had me up and down a ladder a LOT for a few days (and will be happening again this weekend) and I was really surprised at myself at how well I did. Got utterly and completely exhausted but managed to keep moving a LOT longer than I ever dreamed I'd be able to, and ended up feeling much stronger just in general.
Work Stuffs:
Work is interesting! As of May 1 I'll have been here for 4 years, though the first 16 months or so was as a contractor. I hit my 3-year anniversary as an actual employee in mid-August (at which point my PTO accrual goes up two more days annually) It's been an interesting 4 years! I really, really like it here. I think it's a really good company and I've been really fortunate to work on a truly fantastic team! These people are Smart and Good and Honest and Conscientious, and Kind. There is no condemnation if anyone needs to answer a question, questions are encouraged! People help each other and work hard and pitch in whenever help is needed. We watch each others' backs here, and really have good TEAMWORK which is just lovely.
The one thing constant here, though, is change. I don't think the teamwork and awesomeness is changing, but teams are moving around again. The team I've been on for much of my time here seems to be generally dividing up and moving around. Several of my former teammates have been either temporarily or permanently assigned to other groups within the company. I've moved onto our "Future" team for now but it looks like there may be another move in my near future. A big one, career-wise. Can't really say much for now but folks seem to be praising me highly around here and my ability to "wear many hats" seems to have been noticed. More on this when I can...
Home Stuffs:
Got some unwelcome news on the home front yesterday morning. Stepped outside to head to work and my neighbor was outside sweeping the walk and she asked me if I'd heard the news yet. Hadn't, so she told me. Seems that my landlady has run into a bit of a financial pickle and it's either likely or definite that my building is going into foreclosure. I'm still fuzzy on the details, and the time line, but per the neighbor it certainly seemed to be a definite thing. Wish I knew more about the time line, haven't called the landlady yet, but wow.
Seems there's a federal law that says that if a building is foreclosed and sold, the new owner has to give existing tenants until the end of their lease period (for me that's December 31) or 90 days (if there is no lease except I do have one) So, unfortunately, it appears that I'll be moving in 2010. I hadn't planned to, don't really WANT to, but probably don't have a choice. Of the positive, this means that I'll have no choice but to sort through my Vast Piles Of Crap again and get rid of stuff again! That process should start nearly immediately, though I'm not planning to kill myself with rushing through things. (by 'immediately' I mean hopefully starting this weekend, as this week itself is Booked Solid!) I moved to my current apartment something just over 7 years ago, and at the time I probably eliminated about 1/3 of my then-current belongings. I've gotten lots and lots more since then, though, and probably need to jettison 1/3 again. Wheee!
Craft Stuffs:
I've been crafting a lot lately, but not sewing much hardly at all. I think the last thing I made for myself was finishing my new linen chemise last fall. Didn't sew anything significant for Christmas last year, either. Even weaving has taken a back-seat lately. Have been mostly playing with yarn lately. Nothing yet to show for it but there may be pictures soon.
Did have a lovely, lovely time on Good Friday when I hooked up with some new friends for a Pysanky Day. I managed to complete 2 eggs in the evening. Was VERY nice to make eggs again! Met these fine folks last year and did one egg, but prior to that I'd not done an egg in more than 5 years. I do miss it. They're so beautiful, and it's so peaceful to draw all those lines with the wax. I *will* get back to it again!
Next month I'm heading northward to spend a weekend with cmerun12 doing a card-weaving demo thingy which I think is Saturday only. As it's not terribly far from the Janesville Faire, I may see if I can do the 2-events/1-trip thingy and do both!
Random Bits and Pieces:
- The kitties are good! Both are at a very, very healthy weight. Winkers continues to get bald and Cinder continues to get increasingly snuggly. Her latest has been to insist on snuggling with me for a few minutes every morning between my shower and getting ready for work. She's even starting purring audibly from time to time! This from my girl who didn't even understand the concept of petting when she came to me. I'd say that it's a miracle, but in reality it's all J's fault (amilyn's wonderful hubby) as she gets more and more affectionate every time he comes to visit!
- My car is doing well. Late July will be her 2nd birthday and she crossed 28,000 miles about a week or so ago. I do need to get her into the shop for the Toyota recall stuff and probably should feel more urgency about it. Will do it soonish. She's averaging just under 38-mpg, though. Makes me HAPPY!
- Have been spending a bunch of time lately down at rogue461's shop, Game Nite. Haven't ever done much retail stuff before and it's an interesting world to explore! Customers are funny ducks. Never know what to expect from them! (he does, I'm clueless) Mostly I hang out there, but do work some. Cover the occasional shift if someone is out or something is up. I'm not infrequently down there on Saturdays, especially in the morning and early afternoon. Saturday is Pokemon day, you see, and G is often busy with the kids, who also like him to play, and rogue461 is often either busy or also enjoying playing with the Pokemon kids, and since I can barely spell Pokemon, it's a way to help them out by covering the register while they enjoy a happy version of customer service. The store can also be a way to get a bit of a workout. Remember that ladder-climbing and painting I mentioned earlier? Yup! Store moved last month and I got to help pack/move and also help paint. Having a fairly steady (though far from perfect) hand, I got to do the edging, which required ladders to work near the ceiling. Wheee! Is it weird of me that I'm actually looking forward to painting again this weekend? Probably... but there you go...
- In other news, Yummy Food Is Yummy! As part of my "lifestyle change" I've taken a somewhat interesting (at least to me) approach to food. I EAT IT!! And I go for The Best (generally) Just... less of it! I figure, what's the point of eating things that aren't SPECTACULAR?!?! And thus, I do. It actually helps rather than hinders the willpower thing, as there isn't really all that much truly spectacular food easily available in the world. Vending machines, at least the ones here at work, aren't very notable. Having gotten accustomed to small doses of imported fine chocolate I have an easier time avoiding the tub of Hershey's kisses on my aisle-mate's desk (not that I don't indulge from time to time, but it's a lot easier to only eat 2 kisses instead of grazing on them all day) Generally I cook, and if I do say so myself I don't entirely suck at cooking. And I've always been a fan of leftovers, so I'll happily cook a large quantity and apportion it out across several meals. SO easy to avoid the siren-song of McDonald's (or any fast food, really) when I know what leftovers are available at home if I can just hold out another hour until my errands are done! If the food doesn't taste GREAT it's no hardship to eat just a small portion. And if the food DOES taste GREAT then a small portion is quite satisfying! At least I find it so. And thus, life is easier!
- What I'm also finding incredibly interesting is how many vegetarian dishes I seem to be encountering and feeling intrigued by. While I still eschew green food (in general, there are a few exceptions) there are a lot of non-meat things out there, and lots of good ways to get complete protein (I'm a protein junkie!) Have fairly recently, for example, discovered that chickpeas are lovely things! And thanks to the S family, I've been simply overcome and inspired by lentils! And I find that I often CRAVE baked brown rice ala Alton Brown as taught to me by ladyotterfae. Yum!!! Why yes, I am hungry at the moment. Could you tell? Tonight will be chicken in some sort of Indian sauce (from a jar) with brown rice and possibly lentils. (I can't eat ALL the lentils, I promised to share them, but WOW! WANT!!)
Well... I guess that's the update for now... Am certain I left off important bits and it may be a bit disjointed, but it's something of an update, anyway...