Grandma has turned mushy

Is he adorable or what?

Lost more weight

Woot! Lost another 2 pounds... and I managed to do it while away. We were at a bridge tournament last week and keeping to my diet was a challenge. I hit the gym 3 mornings and did the best I could with eating. Now that I am more aware of what I can and cannot eat, it is easier. The hard part was finding places to eat that were not all fast food. I have now lost more than 7.5 lbs and am halfway to my goal. Yeah!

Anniversary

I almost missed it. I just passed my 14th anniversary. Life is good.

Dinner 8/14

I was very good today! I walked a bit over 3 miles and walked off 350 calories (that should have taken care of last night's dessert!).
Tonight's dinner was steak on the grill, one half of a luscious heirloom tomato (the best I have had this season), and some steamed asparagus. Total carbs.... 5. Total for the day is 11. I will  have some blueberries for a snack later. 

A splurge

Just so no one thinks I am perfect.... we went out to dinner last night with a friend and I shared a piece of flourless chocolate cake 3 ways for dessert... plus about 6 oz of wine. I was really good on the carbs all day and even with the rich dessert, I think I was still within my limits... or 1 or 2 over. Gotta have some treats some of the time! This was my first splurge in 2 weeks. I figured I earned it. I was worth it.

What was for dinner tonight?

Tonight's dinner.... Ned made sea scallops with a caper sauce and I sauteed up some bok choy... add an heirloom tomato and a glass of Chardonnay and the total carbs come to 17. Weird thing this morning... something is off with our scale. I weighed 1.2 lbs more than I did yesterday.. when I got on it again this afternoon, fully clothed and having eaten 2 meals and lots of water I weighed the same as this morning. Ned weighed 1.5 lbs more this morning than he did yesterday. Maybe the battery is going. I am well under the carb and calorie counts for the past few days so something is really screwy.... but my pants are looser!

Ok, so I couldn't resist.

He is so adorable! Love the red hair he got from me ( the young me).

Random? Maybe not.

I have a few ideas for my next project percolating in my head but I not quite ready to start them yet. In the meantime so I wasn't quite fiddling my thumbs, I decided to just sew. I cut a fair number of strips from my leftover piles and thought I would just sew them together randomly. Nope, not happening that way. I noticed that after the first few strips I was not grabbing random pieces. I was actually looking at how the next strip fit with what was there. This did not start out as a conscious effort but rather developed the more strips I had sewn.

Has anyone else found themselves doing this or do you actually just close your eyes, reach for a piece and sew it next?

Tonight's dinner

It is hot out.... Ned and I were both lazy and didn't want to cook. We settled on hamburger from Whole Foods. Add a slice of heirloom tomato, slice of onion, slice of pickle, a bit of ketchup and some broccoli to about 3 oz of Zinfandel and we had a tasty and easy dinner. Total carbs.... 15. I am way below my total for the day. I have also lost 4+ lbs. This is working!

Update on my diet

Sorry, no pics... meals are good but boring. I am getting the hang of this low carb thing and it is not so bad. There really are a lot of good foods that I love that I can eat. The strangest thing is that my craving for sweets has gone away and I am not willing to kill for pasta. The diet is also working. I am down almost 4 lbs which is slow but fine. I eat at least one salad a day but filled with goodies so it is not bland. I am also finding that I am eating fewer calories per day. I suspect that my weight loss will pick up a bit. I have only been getting on the treadmill every other day, but I will add some extra days this week. Since I don't feel like I am starving myself, I have stopped whining. I don't have to suck my gut in to get my pants closed, but I do want to go down at least one size since I went up 2! I may even aim for down 2. What I really want to do is find a way of eating that keeps my weight off but allows me to splurge every once in a while.

Great customer service!

I have something nice to share about a company with superb customer service. In April I bought one of those hippy dippy coffee brewers by Keurig. I don't use it very often but decided today I wanted an iced drink. Worked fine this morning. I went to do it again and got an error message. Went through the troubleshooting directions to the letter and it still did not work. Since today was Sunday I figured I would either have to leave a message or get a recording to call back during regular business hours. Much to my surprise a live body (who spoke American) answered!!! He ran me through the troubleshooting instructions again and decided the machine had died. They are sending me a NEW one with a new full year warranty. How good is that???

I am surviving the low carb diet

What was for dinner tonight? Tilapia, green beans, Bufala Mozzarella with tomato, and since I was good with carbs today, a glass of Chardonnay. Total carbs 12, calories 566, and 86 gms of protein. I am well under my limits for the day. Never got to those rasperries... maybe snack before bed.

Low carb diet

OK, I finally bit the bullet and hit the low carb diet route. I hate it... I am a carb junkie, but it does work. I started it about a week ago and have lost 3+ lbs already. I also get on the treadmill 3X a week. This was my lunch today.... kept it to 10 carbs. I made chicken salad from the left over roast chicken from Costco.

Masters Art Quilts Vol 2

I am lucky to be on the Lark review list for their Art Quilt books. Each one I get seems to get better and better. This one was no different. Martha Sielman has again put out a fantastic book to follow volume 1. There are 40 artists showcased in this second volume and each one makes you want to see their quilts in person. The group has an international flair and the artists hail from all over the globe. Their personal stories are fascinating and I wish there were more of them.
I am continually astounded at the creativity out there. Many of the artists in this book I had not heard of before so this was really an education for me. The variety of techniques used in these art quilts only makes me want to reach higher and higher. There were many aha moments as I looked at each picture and read the artists statements. Every time I look at the pictures I see more and more. It really cannot be fully enjoyed in one sitting but something savored a bit at a time. This is more than a lovely coffee table book. This is a book I can learn from.
I know quite a few of the included artists and of course I have my favorites, but now I have some favorites of ones I never heard of before. I waited a few days to post this as I had asked for photos of some of the pieces. Since I have not heard back yet, I decided to post my review anyway and I can add photos later. Some of my favorite artists include Jan Meyers-Newbury, Leslie Gabrielse, Elizabeth Busch, and Paula Nadelstern just to name a few.

The book is published by Lark Crafts which is a division of Sterling Publishing Co. You can buy it through Amazon. 

My new date?

Ned thought Will needed this guy!

Finished another piece

Woohoo... got a piece off the to finish pile! Time Warp is done. This piece just did not call out for a facing to finish the sides, but thanks to a piece I saw by Jane Davila, who had pinked 2 of her sides, I decided to pink all 4 sides. It works for this. Thanks Jane.

This piece is a great departure from my usual work but it was fun. It has about 8 layers of fabric paint and is quilted.

Happy baby...

...happy grandma! I just spent a week + in New Jersey battling the heat wave there (it is more comfortable in Arizona at 108 than NJ) and cuddling this cutie. I have fallen hard for this grandma thing! Have to find a way to spend more time with Robin and Will.

Will's first smile

Google Plus or Facebook?

I, for one, am not ready to make that choice yet. Most of my friends are still on FB, and Yes, I like some of the features of FB. Perhaps since I do not friend the world and they me, my list is manageable. Plus most of my friends don't post much so I don't have to wade through a lot of garbage. I have had no qualms about defriending people who only wanted to sell me something or just boost their numbers. Right now, I am not sure I like Google Plus. It has lots of things going for it, but I am not sure it will be a total replacement of how I interact with family and friends. Many of my friends and family are not tech savvy and don't want the learning curve of having to learn something new. Am I suppose to ditch them because they prefer to stick with what they know and I want a new toy to play with? I don't think so. Social Media is fine... up to a point. Most of the big guns have moved over but frankly, that doesn't really excite me. It is not likely they spend any time reading what I post or have the same interests that I do. Let them have their fun, but I have never been a lemming. Jury is still out for me. For now, I will have one foot in each camp.

Funky

I decided today that along with a haircut I needed a bit of funky in my life.  I am not into tattoo's... I can't imagine what they would look like with wrinkles, and I not into piercings. I decided a bit of color in my hair was about my speed..... as long as the color was lavender. I kind of like it. Not sure how long it will last as my hair does not hold color. Here is the result.