Someone thinks I'm Fabulous

Yeah, my first bloggy award! My good friend over at Quilting Newbie has awarded me this lovely token of appreciation. Thanks!

With the award, I'm to list my five addictions and let you know of five other blogs that I also think are Fabulous.

ADDICTIONS, hmm kinda a harsh word.....how bout things that make me happy!

1. Magazines, OMGosh I love them! Gossip, crafting, quilting, cooking, anything Martha-ish
2. My Dog, aka my child, I love her smelly popcorn feet and stupidness
3. Fabric, nothing like a good fondle to make a girl happy!
4. Coffee and Wine, mmmhhhuuuummmmm!
5. Blogs, for the entertainment, friends and inspirational ideas

I have some blogs listed on the sidebar that I read everyday, but I would also like to point out the following blogs that I also enjoy reading and I think are all Fabulous!

1. Assorted Notions because I love the clothes she sews and her hair is fantastic
2. Erica B.'s - D.I.Y. Style! because of her amazing garment sewing skills
3. The Pioneer Woman because she cooks like a fiend and shows pictures of cowboys butts!
4. use real butter because Jen is an amazing woman who's winning the battle of breast cancer
5. David Lebovitz because he lives in Paris and is a fantastic cook and photographer

On a frustrating note, I was almost at work today and noticed that my car was smoking/steaming? I pulled in to the parking garage to find out it was leaking fluid all over. After a panic call to the husband on what to do; I went upstairs to get an emergency day off from work (thank goodness were allowed 3 "emergency" days a year).

I took my car to Precision Tune Auto Care in Brooklin. These guys are fantastic.....I brought my car over unplanned at 11:30 this morning and it was all fixed by 6:00 that same night. Turns out I needed a new water pump and some belts replaced. Great pricing as well, $200.00 less than what they quoted to me earlier in the afternoon.

Broken TV = Basement Renovation!

On Wednesday morning I was on the treadmill; we've been having problems with our TV snapping, clicking and flicking in and out. I thought I'd turn off and on the TV to fix the snapping.....snapping turned to zapping and that was the end of my Sony 46er!

Funny enough our friends exact same TV crapped out last week with a $500.00 service call to fix it. The Big Man and I decided to say farewell to our Sony and purchased a brand new 50 inch flat screen plasma on Friday. The new TV is being delivered on Monday so on the spur of the moment we decided to re-paint our basement (we affectionately are now calling it the bottom-room)!

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

While I was busy painting, the Big Man was occupied with something else........all I can say is better him than me! See all that snow and not even a weather warning on the Weather Network. What the heck are they thinking over there?

We purchased a new light fixture that has directional halogen bulbs. This photo is a bit dark but shows how nice and cozy the new bottom-room will be to snuggle up and watch TV in.

Just like the kitchen, we used the Sico Cashmere paint from Rona in the colours Surreal Blue for the lighter colour and Charcoal Slate for the darker.

THIS IS FOR J.T. ESQ....COME AND GET IT BIG BOY!!

Elvis the Pelvis....??

It has been a disgustingly long time since I have provided a 32point5 status update. Since it's Monday and a week into the "New Year" no time like the present.

First off I want to explain a medical issue that I have been dealing with for about a year now. Last year around December, they got us new chairs at work. They are supposed to be great ergonomic chairs, but I found they were so hard. For lack of a more polite word, my butt started to really hurt.

Ischium = Letter F

I went to my family doctor and told her how much my butt was hurting. Basically she just gave me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and told me to ice and rest the area. I was also going to my Chiropractor, some times up to three times a week. After months with no improvement, he suggested I go back to my family doctor and ask to have x-rays done. By this time, the pain had crept from my butt into my groin/hip with ever increasing pain.

If I unexpectedly knock my left leg, the pain is so fierce that I will gasp outloud! I can no longer sit comfortably anywhere which is hard to do when I drive 2 hours a day to work and have a desk job. I can move my left leg over to the right, and forwards and backwards with no pain but not outward to the left.

The x-rays have revealed that I have bone spurs on my left Ischium, letter F on the diagram above. I'm not sure how they formed but basically the muscles and what-not that surround the bone are tight and pull on the bone making it grow the spurs. It's the spurs that are creating the pain and limiting my hip extension and movement.

I have to give a huge amount of love out to my husband. I feel bad for all the money that I have spent on doctors and "remedies". Not once has he lost his patience with me; and trust me I've been a Super-Bitch at times!

There is no "cure" however the number one recommendation is weight loss to take the pressure off the joints. So hence, the 32point5 plan is not only to make me hawt, but to help relieve the pain in my butt.

I have been using a free daily food journal over at My Calorie Counter. As you add a food, it stays in your lists, so it's really easy and fast to journal your daily food consumption and physical activity. There are really interesting charts and graphs once you have enough information stored for comparison. For my height, weight and physical activity levels, I need to consume about 1460 calories a day to lose 20 pounds by the beginning of May.

Below is an example from Thursday, see how nicely it shows the comparison of my intake against the RDA-recommended daily allowance. I have noticed that I eat too much protein and consume too much sodium. Go a head, try it out and let me know how well you do.

Thanks for the support to everyone who has had to listen to my constant moaning for the last year. Giant hugs and kisses!

Hey There....

Hey, how's things going so far this year? I've been sticking to my New Years resolutions. I only missed washing my face once but I had had my shower late in the day and I didn't have any make-up on so I figured that was ok.

I thought I would follow up on some left over stuff from December. The cookie exchange at work was a great success. Everything turned out yummy and we all had a lot of fun. I ended up making shortbread, some plain and others with Skorr Toffee bits, and Chewy Molasses-Spice Cookies from Martha Stewart that are a dream to make and never fail me!

For my birthday, my husband gave me this radio. It is small, but has HUGE sound and a little credit card size remote so I don't have to get up to change the station or volume. I love it!

My "Flying Geese" quilt is moving along. I have all 348 of the blocks sewn. I used about seven charm packs resulting in two blocks of each fabric pattern. I separated them in half and tossed them in the dryer (on the air/fluff setting) to mix them up randomly. I have two full rows sewn; it's taking about 45 minutes to sew and iron each row.

The final photo is for my Dad who enjoys chatting about the weather. My parents spend the winter in Florida so I just wanted them to see the lovely weather their missing out on! I guess it is all a matter of situation....staying at home, I love it. Having to drive 60 KM to work in it, not so much.

Happy New Year!

Well for the first time in a few years I DON'T feel like the person below!

My New Year was spent at home with my dog beside me and my husband sleeping upstairs in order to get up for work at 3 AM.

Resolution wise I have only two and they should be fairly easy to keep.

1) Get back to weighing myself every morning. I got lazy in December and had to cringe at the number I saw on the scale today.....so back to the hard core 32point5 plan.

2) Wash my face every night before bed. I know ewww, but I confess I really don't show my face the luxury it deserves. No more cheap cleansers, moisturizers and make-up.

Happy 2009 and I hope the year is filled with love, happiness and health for all of you.