Anita Blake – Vampire Hunter

I’ve been reading this series of books, and am on book 5. I’m not too sure about the series, it’s OK and all, but I don’t know if I like them. I mean I’m into book 5, and they’re holding my attention, but I just don’t think I like any of the characters. They’re all so staunch in their beliefs and uncompromising. The only one who has any appeal for me is Jean-Claude, and he’s evil. I mean, come on Anita, screw his brains out and move on. None of this “he is a monster and I can’t be with him. I just want a regular guy” crap. In your line of work that ain’t gonna happen. Bang the vamps brains out and move on!

I thought the books would have been much more interesting if she became Jean-Claude’s human servant and was still a vampire hunter and zombie raiser.
And where is all the damn sex in these books. When do we get to the sex? I was promised literary sex (Did you know there is a band called “We Were Promised Jet Packs”? Well we were! But I digress).

I’m going back to Stephen King’s Gunslinger series for a while. Not that there’s sex in these books but I need to re-read and move on to some of the additional novels that I haven’t read yet.

Is three a crowd?

I’ve been playing with the idea of getting another cat. This time, a kitten. I think Noel needs a baby of her own to play with and groom and generally be a momma to. She tries to do that to Katie, but my little Katie-Buttons is having none of it.

Fights ensue and Katie usually gets the worst of it. She’s been poked in the eye, scratched in the ear and God knows what all. I’ve heard the wail of pissed-offed-ness and seen Noel come racing into the living room with Katie fur in her mouth. Not cool.

So that is definitely the solution for Noel. Get her a cat of her own. But I’m a little worried about Katie. I wonder if this will put her right off the deep end. I mean, I already wrecked her life by adopting Noel, what if a third cat puts her right over the edge?

The girls have their “well visits” this month so I think I’ll ask the vet about a third cat. I wonder how much supervision they’re gonna need if I do get a third cat.

Is that one step closer to crazy cat lady?

Casting On…

Or rather, looping up that chain!

This is the first sweater I’ve attempted to crochet. Crochet has been for blankets and scarves mostly in my yarny repertoire.

But this sweater jumped off the pages of Interweave Crochet and made me have to make it. I started it this 2 weekends ago and I love the shell pattern. I’m making it with Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk in pretty much the same color.

Picture courtsey of Interweave Crochet

The color is TDF, but the damn stuff is staining my fingers. It’s going to need a lot of washing and rinsing to make sure it won’t stain whatever I decide to wear under it. Probably a shell or cami for work, or a T-shirt or tank for casual.

Momma I help holds the string, k?

This is how far I’ve got so far on the back. If Katie would stop having to be a cuddle Button, maybe I’d be further along. She was another hindrance to completing my olympic sweater for the gold medal!

Shopping

I’ve never been one for shopping. Well, maybe that isn’t exactly true. I do shop and boy can I shop. When it comes to clothes, I always went to the same big girl’s store and just picked out what I knew would fit; what shapes looked best on me. I never tried on and if it didn’t fit the way I thought it would, I’d return it.

Now, it’s a different ball game. I needed a dress for a wedding. Having no idea what size I am now, I thought it would be a good idea to just go to the big girl’s store and get the smallest size dress and hoped it worked.

But a few weeks ago I was hanging out with people from my HS, and one of the girls from my class was saying that she needed single friends because she is recently widowed. I said I needed single friends too. So I told her about this wedding and that I needed a dress. We made plans to go dress shopping.

Man, can that woman shop! I have never shopped like that in my life. I tried on every dress that even remotely interested me. Even if I thought “meh” it went into the try it on pile. And there was a pile.

I ended up with one of the “meh” dresses. It looked kinda crappy on the hanger but OH MY it looked really great on me. It’s just a fancied up black strappy dress. I have a bolero sweater to wear over it, which has pearls stitched onto it around the hem and neckline and down the front. Pretty.

What amazed me was that I was fitting into dresses that were 5 sizes down from what I was before I started losing weight. In a few more pounds that size will fit me perfectly. I did get the size that is 4 down from what I was. That’s a major accomplishment.

I found a dress!!! Woo!

Olympic Sweater - do I get a bronze medal?

I participated in the Knitting Olympics, and I didn’t finish until the first week of March. I wanted to make a sweater that fit me properly, and I did accomplish it.

I had a couple of sweaters in mind, and since I was on Team Briar Rose, I needed to use that yarn, which was a joy because the stuff is beyond yummy. When I swatched with the two different Briar Rose yarns I had, I could have made the sweaters, but with size 2 needles. Can you even imagine? Size 2???? Both of them! Egads!

So I hit the books. Wendy Barnard’s Custom Knits (aka No Pants for You! to me and Bezzie) was my savior. There were a couple of sweaters in that book I thought would work well, but the one that called to me was the Slinky Rib sweater. I got gauge and when the opening ceremonies started, I cast on.

The construction was interesting, and the short row sleeve gave me some trouble, but seriously, I loved knitting it. I’m thrilled with it and I think it’s beautiful, but I think it may be a tad too short. I may make this sweater a little longer, rip out the bottom hem, take out the cast off and knit a couple more inched on it. I think I’ll be happier if it covers my lower belly a little more.

Now I just have to rip out all the other sweaters I have in progress and start them over, or find other things to make with the yarn. ;-)

“It’s a MAJOR AWARD!”

A few weeks back I received a package from our office in North Carolina. Now we have three major US offices, one in CA, TX, and NC. It was kind of odd that I’d be getting a package from there and what the heck were they sending me?

Well, unbeknownst to me, I completed an “Administrative Challenge” last year. Maybe I was the only one.

The funny thing about it is that I never heard of this challenge. I wasn’t aware I was completing anything for it and I certainly didn’t expect any sort of award. Heh!

I ordered a frame and have it on my desk. I laugh every time I look at it.

Old Meme I thought would be fun to resurrect

List the first 10 songs that come up on your MP3 Player when you have it on shuffle:

Wives and Lovers – Jack Jones
Simple Kind of Life – No Doubt
You are My Kind – Santana w/Dave Matthews
Girl from Impanema – Laurindo Almeida
Put Your Lights On – Santana w/Everlast
For All The Cows – Foo Fighters
Violin Concerto #5 in A “Turkish” Movement #2 – Mozart
Then The Morning Comes – Smash Mouth
Don’t Speak – No Doubt
Crushcrushcrush – Paramore

This says more about me than any blog post I could come up with! LMAO!

Play along if you want to and leave a comment so I can check out your play list.

Happy Spring!

The dating pool – Part 2

So there’s this guy who works at the off sight field office I work at two times a week. He is not at all my type, but really cute. I’ve noticed that the skinnier I’ve got, the more attention he’s been paying me.

Which I guess in some ways it’s kind of superficial of him, but really, I wasn’t anyone you’d look at seriously 70 lbs ago except to note that I was a big girl. But he’s always been nice to me. And the fact that he’s giving me a little more attention just confirms and reaffirms that losing the weight was/is the right thing to do. It also keeps me motivated, kind of like working out next to a cute guy at the gym. It keeps me on the equipment longer. ;-)

Anyway, the company he works for is a contractor for Big Oil Company like my company is. So we don’t work for the same company, but we answer to BOC. We’ve spent time chatting, and since he is a cat lover, he’s shared a picture of his cat with me. He actually printed one out and gave it to me. LOL! I couldn’t throw it out. Who can throw out a picture of someone you know’s fur baby? Really. Not to mention that he is prone to putting things on his cat and taking pictures. Like the other photo he showed me of a very pissed off cat in a birthday hat. How can I NOT be attracted to this guy?

If there are too many people around, like the client or the 3rd and newest contractor to start working with BOC, he’ll walk by and tap the doorway to my office. Bezzie thinks there is a permanent dent in the doorway now. LOL! So there is interest on his part, I think. I know I’d be open to a drink, or whatever. But I have no idea how to get the dude to ask me out.

Yeah, I know. This is the 20th century and I shouldn’t be a chicken shit and I should ask HIM out. But, well, I’m an old school, disco era, chicken shit chick and I’d need 37 Xanax to just get up the nerve to think about walking up to ask him out. Isn’t there a way to kick the flirty-ness up a notch or something?

As a reward for reading this dribble… Gratuitous kitty photo!

She thinks it’s hers but it’s really MY bed.

The Dating Pool – Part 1

Now that I’ve lost so much weight I feel much more positive about myself and more self confident. Since I’ve been working so hard on me, and all that implies (mental and physical), I thought I’d give on-line dating another try. This time, I tried eHarmony. Maybe that was a mistake, I don’t know.

There is only ONE guy who has answered my request to communicate. There are like 30 others that haven’t had the decency to reply or even “close” communication. Whatever. It seems like a lot of money to spend per month to not reply to someone. I’ve tried both the suggested way of communicating and going right to e-mail, and nothing.

Except for the one guy. We went through the whole eHarmony process and then went to e-mail and then he asked if he could call me. He is the most polite, gentlemanly guy I’ve come across. He texts me to ask if it is a good time to call. He was on vacation with his family the last 10 days and he texted three times and called me once. Nice. Not pushy, but at least he kept in contact and I know he’s still interested. He asked if I’d like to go out with him when he gets back, so we’re going to meet this Sunday for lunch.

I’m hoping it’ll be much better than the last date I went on!

Physical Torture

Yeah, that’s what they call it at my therapy place. I know they’re there to make me feel better, to help me with what is aching and paining me, but I secretly think they enjoy making you hurt.

My evaluation appointment was actually kind of fun when I first got there. There were so many people who were so glad to see me, hugs and compliments on my weight loss, chatting to catch up, it was great. The therapist I had for my knee is the one I’m going to (along with another guy when she wasn’t available) for the hip.

So she poked into my hip/groin area. She made me go through all these range of motion things for my hip and my back because the problem may have been coming from my back, which it isn’t.

Then when she had the problem diagnosed, she asked if she could do some stretching to see if she could get it to stop clunking every time I take a step. Right up front I need you to know that it worked and didn’t start clunking again till after I got home from dinner last night (around 8:30).

What she did was STRAP HERSELF to my bent leg with a big long seat belt. I was laying on the treatment table and she stood next to my bent knee, put a folded up pillow in my, ahh, crotch, and buckled in. Then she started rotating my leg/hip, which takes a lot because I’m really flexible and so she really has to work at getting some sort of stretch in there.

I’m in pain today. Mission accomplished.

And I have another appointment tonight after work.

With the guy.

Not embarrassing at all.

New Toy, oy, oy!

Yes, it is lavender!

It was time to upgrade. I am a spoiled girl. I really am!

Diagnosis...

I have an injury to my hip flexor. Whatever that is. I have to go to the store and get a soccer ball or something of that ilk for use with my home exercises. At least it's fixable!

2 posts in one day. It's like a St. Patty's Miracle!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!!!

Check it out! 2 posts in ONE WEEK!

Hippy Hippy... Aw Hell.

One of the resolutions I made was to post more frequently here on the ole blog. Here it is, March and I haven’t posted one damn thing. I also resolved to have my taxes done by the end of February, and they still have to be taken care of.

We’ll see how long I can keep this going. You may get some old news since I don’t have too much new going on. And my weight loss can’t be too exciting to anyone but me, my family, and dear friends. I don’t want this to become a weight loss blog.

I’ve lost just under 70lbs now. I’ve been going to the gym. If you know me at all, that’s shocking in and of itself. Here is another shocker… I have a gym injury.

I did something to my hip. I think I was using my hip instead of my thigh muscle to do leg presses. Now it clicks when I walk. Like I needed any more problems. Sheesh. I went to the doctor and we tried the rest and anti-inflammatory medication route, which didn’t work after the prescribed time. So I’m starting Physical Therapy on Wednesday. I’m praying there isn’t something seriously wrong with the damn thing.