Knit. Run. Reap. Eat.

And we're off!

2012-01-27T06:29:00.002-05:00

The last time my husband and I were in Asheville we met up at a huge rented house near the downtown area with my kids and their spouses/children. We were all coming from different directions and Asheville was the coolest destination that was equidistant for all of us. That was seven years ago. The youngest member of the group, who was four at the time, put up with the shopping, the restaurants,

Finis!

2012-01-26T07:54:00.000-05:00

Remember those clogs I was working on throughout the college football bowl season? The first half of the first and littlest pair was done less than a month ago. And while my original goal was to make four pairs and then felt them all at once, I stopped after three: The blue ones are for my daughter-in-law and granddaughter, leaving the brown/green ones for my husband. I'm still going to

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

My Hershey girl.

I promised you pictures …

2012-01-24T07:24:00.000-05:00

and I deliver! I swear it took as long to edit these pictures as it did to clean the closet. Heh. On the left, the before view of a very messy closet that gets all kinds of stuff dumped in it. When I don't know where to store something, I put it in the hall closet. On the right, everything's tidy. And I've already moved some things around since I took the after photo. Can't. Leave. Well.

BIG NEWS from the Middle of Nowhere

2012-01-23T15:50:00.001-05:00

We have a gym! A gym, a gym, a gym. With machines. And weights. And wi-fi! Oh, and I JOINED IT! Today. Four hours ago. I've already done my first workout, 2 sets of 10 reps on a dozen MACHINES and 20 minutes on a fancy-schmancy treadmill. Wanna know how fancy it is? I'm not making this up: JILLIAN talks to you on it! And you can travel the world with Google Maps if you want to. I thought I'd

Tie one on

2012-01-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

Great comments yesterday, thanks so much. No offense, RDK, but I think I'll try Agatha's suggestion and listen to "Footloose" when I need a little jolt. I'm so close to the brink of things a spoonful of sugar might put me over the edge. (My motto, back in the day, was "if you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space." Thank you again, AA, for saving my life.) Okay, what does

The best-laid plans

2012-01-22T07:18:00.001-05:00

When my husband returned from an errand yesterday at about noon, I still hadn't worked out. I was kind of waiting for him to come home so we could walk together. He took one look at me and said, "You look like you could use a day off. Let's get away from here for the rest of the day. We can take care of some things in Blacksburg and have dinner out. It'll do you good." I might not be the

Still no answer ...

2012-01-21T08:21:00.002-05:00

on the logo. Maybe I'll make a video and it'll go viral on YouTube and out of the millions of people who view it, the original designer will come out of the woodwork and offer me lotsocashmoneybucks for the one remaining gimmetote left from that particular event. Or not. Moving on … I originally dedicated my Project 365 blog (I guess it should be 366 this year, eh?) this year to food, glorious

Oh, what a relief it is …

2012-01-20T07:17:00.002-05:00

to wake up and realize it was all a dream. It's taken nine days without sugar for my subconscious to break free and put me in one of the craziest using dreams I've ever had. Recovering addicts/alcoholics frequently experience dreams in which they're high or drunk. I've had more than a few of those myself. But this is the first time I've ever had a similar dream about candy. SCARY! I'll tell

Hoarding, up close and personal

2012-01-19T08:26:00.000-05:00

First, let's get this out of the way: yesterday was a strength-training day and I did, indeed, lift some weights. Four-pound and eight-pound dumbbells for presses, rows and curls, and mumble-mumble pound bodyweight for tricep dips, lunges and squats. Yay, me! Now on to the hoarding. My husband has spent nearly every day for the past two weeks helping a family member declutter several rooms of

Using prison as a motivator

2012-01-18T07:46:00.002-05:00

My husband was able to join me for my walk yesterday. He's been working on a project which takes him out of the house most days so it was a treat to have him tag along with me yesterday afternoon. It was grey and very windy, but warm enough that I didn't need a coat. Quite remarkable for January. My New Year's goal of doing some strength training 3x/week has completely gone by the wayside. I

One week done, three pounds gone

2012-01-17T06:59:00.000-05:00

I'm smart enough not to say they're gone forever, since they've been gone forever before. Many times, just for the record. The three pounds last week are in addition to three pounds lost just counting calories the first 10 days of January. To sum up, since New Year's Day I've lost six pounds, half of that last week following the South Beach plan. It's a miracle! Or a fluke, only time will tell.

Continuing the conversation

2012-01-16T07:07:00.002-05:00

Denise's comment from yesterday's post jolted something in my brain, and I'd like to thank her for it. If you're in recovery, you've probably already heard this, discussed this, felt this, learned this, accepted this: The chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear – primarily fear that we would lose something we already possessed or would fail to get something we demanded. 12&12

Here's my answer

2012-01-15T07:57:00.000-05:00

Denise left a thought-provoking comment yesterday, one which I've not been able to get out of my head. You can read her entire comment here, but the gist of it is this: … what … would you tell your younger self now that you have the wisdom of age? (Aren't I so trendy, using Tangerine Tango to spruce up the question? Heh.) I would begin the conversation at around age 12, and say emphatically

Don't get old

2012-01-14T06:36:00.001-05:00

It seems that the older I get, the more winter weather affects my physical comfort. I'm not just talking about grabbing another layer of clothing to trap the heat, although I do that. I'm talking about the discomfort in my right hip, which I've been calling arthritis, although I don't have a real diagnosis. I'm 60, my hip hurts, why should I pay the doctor a hundred bucks to tell me I have

One down, two to go

2012-01-13T07:56:00.000-05:00

Friday the 13ths, that is. We'll have another in April and one in July, and the most you can have in one year is three. A third of the way done with the bad-luck Fridays. I've had more unfortunate incidents happen on the Ides of March than any Friday the 13th, though, so I will keep calm and carry on today. And keep warm while I'm at it. The arctic cold front came through last night, dumping a

Insights from a trip to the grocery

2012-01-12T07:35:00.000-05:00

When I travel for a few days, I usually leave the refrigerator fairly empty, as my husband doesn't won't okay, can't cook (job security for me) and I don't want to come home to spoiled food. The confluence of my return home and my decision to follow a South Beach plan meant I needed to stock up. It's not like I didn't shop while I was at my daughter's. Heh. And never mind that I brought oat

Check this OUT!

2012-01-11T06:30:00.000-05:00

As both of you know, Pinterest is the new crack and I'm totally addicted. I was able to cut back slightly while I was away, simply because I thought it would be rude to stay glued to the computer at my daughter's house the way I'm glued to it at mine. And, wonder of wonders, I really didn't gawk much yesterday, since the day after a trip usually means laundry and cleaning and cooking a Real Meal

Game? What game?

2012-01-10T08:17:00.002-05:00

I knew yesterday was a travel day, and the older I get the harder travel days are. That trip to Tennessee takes a good, solid seven hours. The trip TO my daughter's is less difficult – I'm excited to be going, I'm moving from EST to CST, so there's more day left when I get there, I have more energy starting out. Coming home, though, I catch myself sliding onto the warning grooves at the edge of

The party's over …

2012-01-09T07:36:00.002-05:00

Time to put my singed credit card back in my wallet, throw away the tattered shopping lists, point my car toward the east and drive for about seven hours. Give or take. Actually I never found time to go to a craft store – Michael's would be my preference – so I'm going to see if there's one with easy access to the highway on my way home and make that my lunchtime. My daughter and I built an

And another thing I don't do much in the country …

2012-01-08T09:03:00.000-05:00

is go to the movies. With my grandson gone in one direction and my granddaughter in another, my daughter and I spent part of yesterday afternoon with George Clooney and his Descendants. Fascinating movie, good story and great acting, particularly by Shailene Woodley, who played Clooney's older daughter. It's on Entertainment Weekly's list of 25 films to see before Oscar night. Whew. Checked

Country mouse goes to the city

2012-01-07T07:16:00.001-05:00

When I have an opportunity, as I did yesterday, to spend time in a city, I begin to fantasize about actually living in one again. I don't know what I would call the blog, because leaving the Middle of Nowhere would mean the end of the reaping part. And I would miss that. A lot.But I had a very full and satisfying day in this city, and I could certainly get used to it.I'd probably need a lot more

Time to myself

2012-01-06T07:59:00.001-05:00

Yes, I'm visiting family in another state, but they're all scattering to their respective schools and offices today and I have a day to myself. In a city. That has stores. Both of you know how infrequently I shop, given that I live in the Middle of Nowhere. Tiny Kroger is a 12-mile, one-way drive from my house, and that's the closest place to buy basic groceries. They've just now begun selling

Yay me.

2012-01-05T10:33:00.001-05:00

So I'm filling up the car with gas and my green smoothie didn't last very long and I'm a hungry, hungry hippo. Er, blogger. I walked into the convenience store, asked if they had bananas, they didn't and I left. Empty-handed. This is MAJOR for someone who thinks a road trip comes with permission to eat anything and everything. So what if I'm hungry? I'M NOT GOING TO DIE. Sent from my U.S.

Orange you glad we won?

2012-01-05T06:38:00.002-05:00

We sure are! Let's goooooo, Mountaineeeeeers! I completely forgot to talk about getting ready for last night's football game yesterday. Because I was so busy talking about kitchen scales, apparently. Thanks for your great ideas for other gadgets. I've never used a microplane. I have a box grater which works well for grating most cheeses, and I have a hand-turned Zyliss cheese grater for hard