Continuing the update

In the rest of August we mostly stayed home and worked on the apartment and my garden. The peas this year were glorious, but the tomatoes were a complete bust. Or so we thought. Brian tells me there are several baby tomatoes growing right now, so we might get one or two before frost kills them. Brian is the one to check them as the rest of my plants have completely taken over the deck, and I love it. My impatients are over 2 feet tall and a glorious riot of colour. I just can’t reach to step over them in their planters into the tiny walkway he left to get to the tomatoes. I tried a new flower this year called 4 O’Clocks, and they’re really just starting to get to their full glory. Lots of small flowers on trailing vines that open in the afternoon. I’ve got to plant more of them next year. When Derick stepped onto the deck for a smoke the other Saturday, he asked “When did you move to a jungle? And where am I supposed to stand?” To which I cheekily replied “Just quit smoking and it won’t be a problem!” There is actually some space for the BBQ, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to use it every week.
Over Labour Day weekend we didn’t do much special, just relaxed with friends (and gamed of course). Harry lent us the Firefly DVD’s, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I finally got a bunch more stitching done on Noah’s Sub and will try to post an updated photo. I’m well into the animals on the top of the Sub right now, and it’s going quicker than I expected. If work doesn’t keep crashing in on “me time”, I could (at a stretch) possibly have it done in time for Christmas. Wohoo!
Later in September we went to Jersey for the day to go to a Ren Faire that we go to every year, and this time we took Jen and Joe with us. We made a stop on the way there at my old LNS (Local Needlework Store) since there aren’t any on the island/in NYC so Jen hasn’t ever seen one. I think she might have been a little overwhealmed. I gave in and bought Dracolair’s Phoenix, which has been calling me for months. I might have to make a deal with myself that for every 5 hrs I work on Noah’s Sub I can have one hour on Phoenix. I’m doing it on a different fabric (a mottled yellow) and am loving it. I don’t know why this design calls to me so strongly, it just does. But because of the fabric, it’s not washable, so I’ll have to be careful with it. And the chart sucks. Massively. And it’s all blended threads. But I love the design. I just don’t think I’d ever do another one by the same designer.
We also got to see Janel at the Faire, so that was awesome. I owe her a phone call ... And the jousting was as fantastic as always. It’s the real reason we go to this faire. The faire itself is very small, it’s an annual fundraiser for the local Lions club, but they have acutal competitive Jousting. Not staged, not scripted, not planned, actual try-to-knock-each-other-off-the-horse jousting! And the main team is from Guelph. Who knew? But we do make it a point to go see them every year. And this year it was the only Faire we made it to. We went to dinner at Mastori’s afterwards, so Brian was thrilled. I was fairly good with what I ordered/ate there. For once. For those of you reading who haven’t been to Mastori’s, it's a diner where the menu has over 300 choices, and you get enough food to feed an army. Of starving soldiers after a 2 week forced march on no food. With leftovers. And it’s sooo good. And the desserts! Oh my the desserts! I ordered one (Chocolate Mousse Cake, heavenly!), had some with dinner that night, and the next, and the next, and Brian had a serving too. I wouldn’t pay the tolls to go to Jersey just to go to Mastori’s, but if we're in Jersey, we’re going to Mastori’s. Brian wouldn’t let us not!
My weight loss plan is coming, I’m down to only 54 lbs to go. As you can tell, this is a long term plan. Very long term. But I’m down 10 lbs since the middle of August, so it is working. It’s just hard. And knowing that I was going to start a proper program after we came back from vacation meant I sabotaged myself while we were away. I won’t be doing that again. So now it’s lots of being very picky on what I eat, and going to the Y as often as I can. I’ve really found that if I can plan my workout times around there being something of interest on the TV (we have individual TV’s at the treadmills/bikes/stairmasters), I do work out much longer. So now I’m trying to pick times when there are hour-long shows on to go workout. I’m loving the cross-country mode on the treadmill as it changes things up every couple of minutes. But 10% incline is steep! I use my iPod on the rowing machine (no TV), and it works well for that, since I’m nowhere near getting up to an hour on it. But I have made it to 20 minutes! I just have to make sure I do it first, and that I have really upbeat music on the iPod. I love just getting into the rhythm with it and just zoning out. My torso on the other hand...
We went and saw Serenity on Friday night with a bunch of the guys and had a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but won't post spoilers here for those who read who haven't seen it. All I will say is: River+Reavers=Dervish Dance. Good thing Summer Glau is a classically trained Ballerina.
We still haven’t heard from the family members mentioned in the last post, so no big announcement here. I’m starting to get a little hurt that they haven’t tried to get in touch with us to tell us, but it’s their lives and their choice. We got burned pretty badly once by calling to congratulate them on news that had been shared with us by another family member, and have no intention of that happening again. C’est la vie.
No big plans for October (so far). There was a Con in Toronto that we considered going to, but it just isn't worth the money. It would have been a lot of fun though! Mostly I just want to try to take time to relax and spend time with Brian. My work life is so hectic right now that I'm not much use or company by the time I get home. And night-owl me is now starting at 7am. Ugh! Then Saturdays are gamedays, which I love, but are not exactly just relaxing doing nothing and spending time together. So Sundays have become "Us Days". Just the two of us, relaxing and doing what we want. And I'm liking that. I'm still working on the apartment, but I finally got those horrid shelves out of the living room, so I'm feeling much better about it. Next up is painting!

So now we're all caught up.
Leave me comments so I know who's actually reading this!
Heather