Really quick weekly recap

I'm running late on this and won't be home tonight, so just a quick update from work.

Miles walked: 2
Lbs lost: 2
Stitching done: Loads! All four wings on the Phoenix are now finished, and I'll post a photo from home this week.

Brian had a great time away with John and TJ, but neither of them are ever allowed to navigate again. Ever!

Gotta run!
Heather

Another silly quiz

Which Japanese name fits you best?

Your Japanese name should be

'Sora'

which means "sky".

You're a real day-dreamer. You wish you could just fly away from it all to explore the world... You love to explore and travel, and if that's not possible in reality, you'll just think and day-dream about it. You're probably very curious.
Take this quiz!

Photo Post

Lots and lots and lots of photos here folks!

I present: The Phoenix, as promised, and with lots of progress:


My one and only picture of Becky from our Christmas visit:


My dad, wearing my shirt that I love so much!


My oldest niece Madison. I'd include one of Natasha, but the only ones I took turned out horrid.


My dad in his new apron, which he forgot to use!


Brian (of course...)


Percy, relaxing as only a cat can. Note the careful use of the fold in the rug as a pillow...


The new Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. Initial pose holding hands was accidental, but then we decided it explained a few things... Supposedly Jabba the Spud is up next. I can't wait.



Last but not least is Brian and David on our couch with David giving Percy the love he is divinely entitled to. Brian making a face as usual! :P

We had an uninvited little visitor this week...

Who made life interesting. He was in the kitchen cupboards when we came home from work on Thursday night. Life is never dull here, I'll say that. We knew they were up in the attic (we can hear them now and then) and they have an exterminator come every so often to get rid of them. This enterprising little guy had managed over time to claw through the drywall in the kitchen to get into the cupboards. It's always an interesting night when you open up the cupboard to see that! He was escorted out that night after discovering our maintenance man is an absolute wuss (and squeaks like a mouse). In the end it was Brian who caught him, using my cake carrier, no less! They're coming to finalize the patching and replace the cupboards themselves tomorrow. They're also paying to replace what we're throwing out, so it's all okay in the end. The kitchen's had a serious cleaning with bleach and we're fine.

Weekly Recap:
Weight lost: 2lbs
Miles walked: zero, my back is mostly better, but I don't want to aggravate it again. I'm waiting for next week to go back to the Y to work out. I've been doing gentle stretching and light yoga in the meantime.
Staying on diet: Not so good. Tomorrow is another day though to start again.

We had our immigration physicals this week (Thursday, in fact), and they went fine. We've been immunized, poked, prodded and checked, and they say we can stay. Other than the fact that they cost 3 times as much as we'd planned, it was all good. The plans for the freezer purchase will just have to wait. This was much more important to our lives. Hopefully the old one will last until we can afford to replace it.

Nothing much else exciting to say about our week. We went shopping today to get replacements for some of the kitchen stuff, and them spent the afternoon relaxing. Well, I did at least and spent it stitching on the Phoenix. I PROMISE a photo soon, but it's all safely packed away for the night now. And I'm *this* close to finishing the head, so I'll photograph it then. I have to be carefull and pack it up once I'm done with it since it is not washable. Brian spent the afternoon doing laundry, which he claims is relaxing. Sometimes I just don't know about him.

We spent Saturday gaming and had a blast as usual. Helen turned in her book to Random House this week, so she was able to come out and play too. It was great to see her again! Brian's going away on a "guy's weekend" next weekend to a small con near Albany. It'll be a neat thing for both of us. We haven't deliberately spent a weekend apart since we moved to the US. I haven't had a weekend to myself in at least 6 years! He's taking a rental car, so I won't be stuck in the apartment all weekend, and I can't wait. The weekend after that is my LNS in Jersey's annual Superbowl Sunday Sale, so I'll be going for that as a day trip on the Sunday. Good thing as I know I'm going to need some Kreiniks fairly soon on the Phoenix. And Brian will get his Mastori's too.

PS If you don't already know what our visitor was, click on the title...

Dancing at Best Buy

Let's see if this works. If you click on the title, it should open what has to be one of the funniest workplace videos I've ever seen. It's our regular Friday afternoon relaxer here...
PS If any of you readers out there can tell me how to actually manage to SAVE the video, I'd be grateful!

Weekly Recap

Miles walked: 7
Miles Biked: 4.5
Days off work: 1.5
Apparently a half hour on the recumbent bike wasn't such a good idea.
Weight lost: Gained 3 lbs!!! WTF? I'm up 4 lbs from yesterday! {shrug} Today was the weigh-in for the National Body Challenge for the Discovery Channel, so at least it will help make me look better at the end!
Fitness videos purchased: 2, one of T'ai Chi which I've always wanted to try and one that is stretching and toning based. I know I need to do more to build up muscle tone, especially in my upper body. Can you say I never want back problems like this again?
Cross-stitch accomplished: Several hours while home from work, not stoned on muscle relaxants and waiting for the next dose. I'm really happy with my progress on The Phoenix and promise to post a photo soon. And Wednesday night Jess is coming over so I can addict her too. {Evil grin} I've chosen several simpler, smaller pieces for her to choose from, and I can't wait. Superbowl Sunday is my cross-stitch store in NJ's annual sale/trunk show and Jen and I are going. I can't wait. I forsee several project finishes this year, it'll be a nice switch!
Gaming: I actually managed to play in both slots yesterday and had a great time. Even more rarely, so did Brian. My dragon disciple Tervagant died, but I'm actually perfectly okay with how it happened. I don't want to post spoilers, but it was fair. Crits happen. I think Derick feels guilty, but I don't. She's at that really awkward stage in her progress where she hasn't come fully into her own yet and needs a few more levels to do it. I got to play Pin for the later mod though and had an absolute blast. All puns intended. We were a bad party mix (according to the "experts") who pretty much walked all over everything... well... except the dread wraithes. But we survived and dealt with them too!
Dinner's ready!

And now for the Quiz I was looking for

You're My Little Pony!! Sweet and innocent and
happy, you make people want to spew burrito
chunks. Even a Care Bear could kick your ass.


What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


NNNNNNOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
I *HATED* my sister's....

Brian's quiz results

I think I may have created a monster in showing him Quizilla... It's all Joanna's fault. I wanted to go do a quiz I'd found on her blog. Expect more quiz results soon!

What character is Brian from Alice in Wonderland? Was there any doubt?



You are the March Hare! You are crazy just like the
Mad Hatter! You have one friend just like you!
My advice is keep that friend forever!



As for me, no surprise either!


You are the Mad Hatter! You are crazy and talk in
rhyme-type! You have one friend just like you!
My advice is keep thet friend forever!

Okay, so I'm cheating a little

So sue me. I'm significantly drugged up right now on muscle relaxants and not totally coherent. Work's been... fun. I'm surviving and will live to move again!

Weekend update:
Miles walked:9.5 (so close!!!)
Miles biked: 2
Lbs lost: 2
Stitching done: zilch (see above note about meds...)
Discovering that I can RP a very diplomatic character much better when essentially stoned: Priceless :)
Heather

Your Life Path Number is 4

Your purpose in life is to build your vision. You are practical and responsible. You work hard, knowing that there are no shortcuts in life. You work for a better life for yourself and those you love, but you are not an idealist. Trustworthy and honest, you also demonstrate great courage. People can count on you. In love, you are a loyal and committed partner. You are the ideal spouse. You don't give up easily, and sometimes you can be too stubborn and unwilling to change. You also can be too conservative at times. You sometime miss out on good opportunities. Also remember that not everyone can work as hard as you, as disappointing as that is!

What Is Your Life Path Number?

One last resolution, courtesy of Whizgidget's blog...

In the year 2006 I resolve to: Be kinky more often. Get your resolution here

Adding more goals

Finally finish Queen Anne's Lace. She's been unfinished for more than four years now! I've done her on a completely different fabric and think she looks way better than she does in the designer's photo. There's probably only 5 more days of full work on her left. I may work on her on and off, or I may wait until the Phoenix is done. Again I've changed the fabric on this one to a slightly mottled yellow one. Unfortunately, this means the piece can't be washed, so... I'll have to keep my eyes out for a travel project. I picked one up with Becky, but now I'm thinking I should have something smaller as my travel project. I have too many on the go that are not washable! But I love the effects of the silks and the hand-dyed fibers.

I'm increasing my mileage goal for the year. I want to make 10 miles/week of walking. That's only 3 one hour treadmill sessions at the Y. I just need to find times when I can devote 2 hours to working out three times/week. Our Y is awesome, but it's almost a half hour drive away. Fine in the evenings, but not so great for before/after work. There's an interesting class I'm going to try on Thursday night called Stretch and Roll. I'll go and report on how it went. I know I need to do more strengthening and stretching.

I'm also increasing my weight loss goal. I want to make 38 lbs lost by August. It's not unreasonable, and I was playing around with my diet software last night, and it should be easily done. Well, not easily, but you get my drift.

Work on strengthening my back/neck so I never have to go through this again. I managed to lock it up completely on our trip home. Poor Brian had to do all the driving from Sudbury all the way back here to Long Island. I got in to see the Dr. yesterday, and am now going to have a *fun* week at work. When all three prescriptions warn that they may cause drowsyness, and don't drive et cetera, you know I'm not getting anything coherent done at work this week! But, in the positive news, I managed to actually sleep for a total of 6 hours last night. That felt wonderful!

I'll post more as they come to me.

Happy New Year's Everyone!

We had a great trip home, and got to see most of the people we wanted to. Not all, but most. The driving was fine, except for the last leg from Syracuse to home where we had snow the entire way. So we just took it easy and didn't worry about it. Had a quiet weekend (with gaming, of course...) and today I'm back at work. While we were home I managed to lock up my back and neck, but I've seen the doctor about it already today (so there Becky!) and Brian's off to the pharmacy with some new prescriptions for me. Here's hoping they work! I'll post more about our trip home soon.

I'm not big on New Year's Resolutions, but I thought if I actually typed some of them out, it might help encourage me.

Plans for the New Year:
Finish the Phoenix cross-stitch (and don't buy any more projects for myself until I finish 4 more from my stash!)
Lose 30 more pounds (or more if I'm doing really well!)
Have Elizabeth and Morley choose their cross-stitch and make a good start on it.
Walk atleast 365 miles, with no cheating and using bike miles to inflate it if I get behind! That's only 2 hours/week at the Y on my favourite cross-country program.
Help kick Brian's butt into gear for coming to work out with me.
Be able to do a full half hour on the rowing machine with tension!
Take atleast two small, relaxing mini-vacations.
Get our Permanent Residency.
Get a new job.
Be happy in my life, and satisfied with the choices we have made together.

Some vendors suck

Rant Mode On:
I won't name names yet since I still want the gift to be a surprise, even if it isn't going to make it in time. I ordered Brian's main Christmas gift (and a little present for me) from a fairly well known (in their circles) online vendor. It was a very specific specialty item, and one I was thrilled to find for him. I'm really excited about it. Placed my order on Dec. 12th, and chose the free regular shipping option (5-7 days). It hadn't yet arrived today, so I called the company. Turns out the little thing for me is on back order. And won't be coming in for several months. So they weren't shipping the order yet. When I asked why I hadn't been contacted given that it is the holiday season, I was informed that they would have contacted me next week. NEXT WEEK!! So I go ahead and cancel the item that won't come in for several months. Then I ask about getting the present item shipped out at a faster service as I'm leaving for the Holidays on Friday. They said they'd send it if I paid for the expedited shipping, with no delivery guarantee, and it was going to cost me 3x the cost of the item to get it here (hopefully) by Friday. The sales guy was absolutely not helpful, refused to reduce the shipping charges, and never once apologized for the problems. At the end of the phone call, I reiterated what I wanted done (cancel item X, send item Y regular) and told him that we will never deal with them again, specialists or not. I'll post a link once Brian's opened his "gift" for Christmas. Guess I'll have to just print out a picture and wrap that, and I can't even do that at work as the site sets off our internet filters! I am SO not a happy camper. I actually had something really cool for Brian for once. Do you realize how impossible that is to pull off? And now he's not going to be getting it until sometime in the New Year.
MURP!!!!
Rant Mode Off
I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog entries...
I have lots of little news type items to post, but I can't do most until after Christmas.

Random photos..

Why I have such a hard time losing weight. Brian was bored and poking around in the kitchen. I left him to it, and this is the result. Yum!


This one just goes to show Bonnie that her totally helpless/clueless hairstyle challenged sister can in fact (and VERY occasionally does) use hotrollers...



Afer the rollers come out, ready for my company Christmas party. It's a totally horrible photo, I'm hoping the "official" photographer got at least one good one of me, he certainly seemed to be always catching me in the eye with a flash!



Noah's Sub update photos again, this one after Saturday's stitching...



And after Sunday's...




I probably won't post any further as I'm this close to actually finishing it in time for Christmas so I want the "final look" to be a surprise!
{fingers crossed}

Cross-stitch photos

Photos of previously completed cross-stitches, since it was nice and bright this morning to take photos without flashes! They're not great, and I'll try to take better in the future, but they'll do for a first run.

This one is Catch the Wind



And this is Celtic Christmas, adapted by me to be done in purples.

Now hiding...

I think my friends here are going to kill me. I said (more than once) that all I wanted for my birthday was snow. Even just a little snow. It can't be my birthday until I've had snow. And that little pretend wink-and-you'll-miss-it bit last week didn't count. So Sunday morning we got snow. Not much, but almost an inch, which is enough to seriously screw up traffic here. We weren't actually here for it, being in Conneticut for the weekend at Anonycon (more on that later), but it counted. I got to see snow where we were too, and the drive back Sunday night was a breeze. We were home in under an hour and a half. I was happy. But here's the part they're going to kill me for. There's another storm coming, this one expected to drop somewhere in the neighbourhood of 7 inches (or more) on us in the next 24 hours, starting tonight. Just in time for my birthday. Whoopee! Now if we could only get the heat working properly in our apartment. We're not freezing, or anything like that, but it does have to get fixed. And we recieved our notice of what our rent increases will be for next year (yeouch) in the mail on Saturday, including the fact that if we're leaving, we have to notify them by not later than Monday. I plan to give them written notice that we plan to stay pending resolution of the heating situation. We'll see. I might have to move into protective custody anyways once my friends dig themselves out of the snow!
Gotta run!

Amazing what a four day weekend can accomplish...

That's a LOT of stitching accomplished in one weekend, four days or no! I might actually have a chance at finishing this in time for Christmas after all. We're heading away next weekend for three days (I can't wait), but I don't think I want to bring it and risk having something happen this close to finished!

SNOWWWWWWW!!!!

We had snow this morning. Nothing I'd even call a dusting, and it certainly melted as soon as it touched anything, but we had snow!
{giggles maniacally}

And I get out of work for 3pm today!

Stitching Update

I've gotten a lot of stitching done on Noah's Sub the past few weeks and wanted to actually post a photo of it to this blog. I'll be updating it to the xvart website in the near future too... I'm on the LAST PAGE! Wohoo! I've gotten most of the yellow for the sub done, and the periscope. I did one colour of the sky across the top just to make sure it would meet up, and it did. I was very happy about that!


Other than that, not a lot to tell. We hosted gaming on Saturday, as usual and on Sunday went out to see the new Harry Potter movie with Jen, Joe and John. It was fun. Brian's in the middle of trying to organize an insane amount of gaming over the upcoming 4 day Thanksgiving weekend. We have players coming from two different states, and one from England. Hi Hayden! We miss you! The Y is going well, I'm branching out into more different types of exercise, and the results are really starting to show. I'm down almost 20lbs since the middle of August! Wohoo!

Gotta run since I'm at work. The image upload to the blogs doesn't work from my mac (atleast not that I've figured out, I haven't tried too hard) so I post the photos from work which is all PC's.

Can you see the difference?

Wednesday November 16th, 2005


I can't see the difference...
Thursday November 17th, 2005


Yep, Percy's been shaved again! I'd feel bad, but if he's willing to lie there for the groomer, for all intents and purposes saying "Go for it!", my allergies will thank him!
(Note: Both photos were taken from about the same distance away, and with the same lack of zoom. He really is that much smaller without his fur!)