Category: Life Happens

Fabric drop has commenced!  We drove up to Granny’s yesterday and dropped off the first big box of fabric.  We went over the four different patterns I’ve bought and narrowed it down to probably one to use for most of the pieces.

This is where it gets complicated.

I want to mix and match pieces to come up with several different outfits.  I have two corsets:  one sparkly and formal, the other more steampunkish.  Fabric can be really expensive and a full-length skirt can take up to 5 yards of fabric–or more!–even though I’m really short.  So I want to keep the base skirt the same, but mix and match coordinates–that don’t require as much fabric–to change the look.

But my skirt fabric hasn’t arrived yet.  I ordered 11 yards of black taffeta on clearance over a week ago.  A few days later I ordered everything else.  Everything else arrived 2 days after I placed the order!  The black taffeta still hasn’t shipped yet.  (Same company too.)  There was a problem with the yardage, so now I’m down to 7 yards, which should still be okay.  I just need it to ship!

Mom would have started with the skirt…but since the fabric isn’t here, she’s going to do some of the other pieces first.  But where it gets complicated is my desire to change things up.  I want a detachable bustle, so I can wear the same black skirt and have it look completely different.  One of the patterns had an easily detachable one, but it was full length + a train.  I’m short and dumpy.  Sad but true.  I don’t think I need 5 yards of fabric trailing after me.  Plus how annoying would that be?  Probably not fun to wear for very long.

The other bustle is more complicated — though shorter — and we’re not sure if we can make it detachable.  Part of the pattern shows it getting sewn into the skirt, and the other part of it isn’t really clear how it’ll go together.  It’ll probably be one of those figure it out when she gets there deals…

But again, the fabric’s not here, so we can’t proceed.

The other mix and match pieces will be a cute bolero with flowing chiffon sleeves and a little knit tank that I can wear beneath the corsets.  So I think Mom will get started on those and I’ll hope and pray the black taffeta arrives soon so we can finalize arguably the most complicated piece of the outfit.  That blasted bustle!!

After Granny’s, we went to Papa’s for awhile and the girls rode horses.  Somehow I made it home without any of my cups.  I took my coffee pot and two little espresso cups to Mom’s and then went off and left the cups.  (I didn’t forget my coffee pot though!!!)  Then I went off and left my favorite water glass at Papa’s.

Eating was a challenge.  I took cheesecake to Granny’s so we could snack and visit over the dress plans.  I had one bite of Middle’s and that’s it–but it was hard.  Luckily Mac ate the other piece of turtle cheesecake, and the plain didn’t tempt me as much.  Then Granny and Mac took us to Pizza Hut for lunch.  As any dieter knows there’s not a lot of options there, definitely nothing gluten free.  I did have the salad bar, so that helped (although it was one of the smaller bars I’ve seen without a lot of choices) and I only had 1 piece of a medium pan.  Downside:  I was still hungry.  🙁  It’s never easy to sit and not eat (when you’re hungry) while everyone else is chowing down.

After a few hours at my Dad’s we stopped at Smith’s in Collins — the monsters’ favorite place to go for burgers and shakes.  See where this is going?  Typical greasy spoon type place with fantastic patty melts (my favorite).  Instead, I had a grilled chicken salad that wasn’t bad at all.  It was large enough I didn’t feel like I was going to eat anyone’s arm off in the car on the way home.

However, the chicken was blackened — which at the time tasted great.  But this morning, the scale is way up, which makes me think it was probably loaded with sodium.  There’s nothing worse than making the best choices you can in difficult situations, turning away from tempting food, and not seeing any sort of reward on the scale.

Well, yeah, there is something worse.  I could have eaten all that terrible but delicious food and then seen even more of a gain on the scale, plus felt yucky to boot.  I even managed to get Power 90 in before we left yesterday, so it was a pretty good day.

Not a lot of writing in the car, but I did possibly figure out Mama Connagher’s beau’s name.  I thought it was Thomas, but I didn’t want another T name (her husband’s name was Tyrell).  In my head, Ty is played by Sam Elliott.  In fact, the original “Connagher” name came from a Western he was in called Conagher.  *sheepish*  I also took the name Tyrell from The Sacketts.

Since I’m pulling in Tom Selleck to play this new man, I thought a name from the Sacketts might also work, but neither That Man nor I could remember what the other two brothers’ names were.  (Tell and Orrin.  I’m glad I couldn’t remember.)  I wanted something old fashioned and uncommon.  Something I could see Sam Elliott and Tom Selleck saying.

I think…. *knocks on wood*  that he agreed to be called Jebadiah Garrett, Jeb for short.  We’ll see if it continues to work.

I’ve been battling the beast again.

It’s an old enemy that has haunted me most of my adult life.  I can conquer it for awhile but it’s more than happy to sit back and wait, allowing me to think I’ve got the upper hand.  But as soon as I falter just a little, it’s back.

Weighing me down.

I’ve struggled to get back on track with Weight Watchers and Power 90 since before Thanksgiving.  I just can’t seem to get it all together.  I have a great breakfast most days.  Most of the time I can even put together a good lunch — unless it’s the weekend.  But then other days I stand in front of the fridge and think to myself, “What did I used to eat?  I can’t remember.  I don’t know what to eat.”

Most of it’s a mental game.  It’s keeping my head in the right place when we eat out.  The more I try to limit how much we eat out, the more resistance I get.  I can put food in the crockpot before we leave for church…and we’ll still eat out.  Either no one wants what I’ve made, or it won’t be done in time (this is true sometimes — especially on a Sunday lunch), or…  There’s always an excuse.

I have to pick my battles.  Some battles are easier than others and sometimes I just get tired of battling all the time.

Weeknights are easiest.  As long as I have dinner done before That Man gets home at 5:30, we’re eating at home.  There are the nights when I’m stuck at the Evil Day Job for an urgent production issue, or I spent a solid hour with Middle Monster doing homework, and the evening just gets away from me.  But most of the time, weeknight dinners are in my control.

That doesn’t mean the after dinner snack monster won’t bite me though.

Mental fatigue.  That’s all it is.  Most of the time I can easily resist the snacking.  Even if everyone else is craving Taco Bell, I can stick to my guns and eat a sandwich on my homemade freshly ground wheat bread.  But more often than not lately, I’m too mentally tired to stand strong.

So I’m up 14 pounds.  That’s what happens when I lose the mental battle and surrender too often to bad habits.

Enough is enough.  I have to find a way to sharpen my mental game.  I have to keep doing the things that set me up the best for success.  That means I *must* exercise.  I’m more likely to track my foods if I exercise.  I’m more likely to eat healthy the rest of the day, and if I don’t, it won’t hurt me as badly if I’ve already burned some calories.  I’ll feel better all around.  It’ll help me deal with the Evil Day Job stress better.

(You know stress is doing a number on your body when you lie in bed at night and your back muscles are sore to the touch and you’ve done nothing but sit and work all day.)

It just so happens that Littlest Monster wants to sign up for two 5Ks in the next few months.  I’ve never done one before and I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that I cannot *run* 5K.  But with a little practice, I can walk it.

So.  I restarted Power 90 today, and I’m going to attempt my first 5K in March.  With some hard work, those 14 pounds will come off and I’ll get headed in the right direction again.  And my old enemy will be beaten back for another time.

As if the holidays aren’t enough craziness, my two oldest monsters both have birthdays in January:  5th and 10th.  Middle is having a few friends over tonight and then we’re officially DONE with all the celebrations, special foods, and cake.  I’m almost over the cold — just have some lingering congestion.

So you know what that means.  I really need to get serious about Weight Watchers and Power 90 again.  Ugh.  I haven’t looked at the scale since Christmas.  It won’t be pretty.

I’m still battling Sig a little at a time.  I’m pushing to finish the first draft by Jan. 31st but we’ll see how it goes.

On the bright side, I’ve read 3 books already this year and they were all really good (two Cherise Sinclair and John Everson’s NightWhere).  Have you read any good books this year?

Well the good news is I’m writing like a maniac.  The bad news is that it’s not on Sig’s story.  For whatever reason, he’s still a 250-300 word speed.  It’s slow and painful but I keep slowly chipping away.  I was hoping to finish the first draft by the end of the year, but we’ll see how it goes.

Meanwhile, a story I started on Friday (and barely touched all weekend because we were driving for an early Christmas with my mom) is already 10K.  It’s first person, contemporary, and not very politically correct.  I’m not sure how long it’ll be yet but I’m shooting for novella length.

I know I’m naughty working on something else, but I’ve got to get some more completed stories in my pipeline.  And hey, It’s a pleasure when a story flows like this.  Though I’ve gotta admit my wrists are KILLING me.

And no, I’m not done with Christmas shopping either.  Sigh.