Pounds
I’ve lost some weight since starting Atkins, naturally. I can tell a difference in my clothes and on the scales, but it certainly isn’t enough proportionally for anyone else to see, not yet. I don’t mind shedding it at a reasonable pace, since it took me years to reach this size. Even when I’ve cheated, I’ve steered clear of sugary stuff (yeah, I know breads and pasta are just sugar without the sweet taste.) But it’s a good sign when I crave a ginormous salad instead of starches and sweets. I had the same cravings when I was on Atkins a few years back. Fortunately salads are cravings I’m allowed to fill.
My blood glucose readings aren’t where they need to be, though, so I doubled down this week. The scale is tilting at a faster pace. The blood glucose is slower to respond.
Yards
See all those purdy blue and gray prints? I promised G a quilt for our bed. Unfortunately, almost everything I bought a couple of weeks back was in the pink/red/magenta family. It’s all they had. G isn’t a fan of pinks/reds/magentas. (Gross understatement.) So yesterday I ordered online from Joann’s and picked up after work. Yeah – you can do that. I found out when I bought the stuff to make the toes-warming slipper/sox atrocity I stitched up by hand a few weeks ago.
Joann’s had some of their quilting fabric on clearance and I had a coupon. I still didn’t spend a fortune and got plenty to make a blue quilt to suit my Sweetie’s tastes. I also have a solid pale-gray linen duvet that’s probably going to be cut apart and added the mix.
If you can’t tell in this picture, all those dots surrounding the leaves are subtly metallic. This specific one also wasn’t on clearance. I bought it because I knew G would love it – and I was right. He decreed it was well worth the extra price.
For the record, there will be scattered punches of purples, reds, and/or yellows added to the mix. Much as we both like this palette, it’s too muddy to stand on its own.
Pennies
It’s tax season! Yay!
Well, “yay” might be an exaggeration, but I was determined to get ‘er done early this year. I started working on our return today.
As part of the process, I went online to pull a 1099 form — and discovered due to an error, we were owed money. It was someplace where we make a pittance, so I didn’t watch for their deposits to hit our bank account. When I checked the history, I discovered it has been accumulating for over a year. A year’s worth of pittances add up.
Oops.
Two minutes later, the snafu was un-snafu’ed. My bank shows the deposit should apply overnight.
Now I just have to remember to win the lottery this weekend. I keep forgetting to do that.
Degrees
The past couple of weeks have been freezing. It isn’t a figure of speech – it’s literally been freezing here. As in, our local forecast a couple of days ago was for snow.
Yes, I realize the Midwest and Northeast are playing the world’s smallest violin for us. However, we’re not equipped for this kind of chill. Some homes here don’t have any kind of heater.
For better or worse, our place didn’t get snow. We are having hard freezes every morning, and the house is COLD overnight. It’s been too cold for G to do his woodworking on the carport even in the afternoons. I hope our lemon tree survives. G threw a sheet over her for several days to try and protect her. Of course she can’t stay covered indefinitely – and when he pulls back to sheet to let the poor thing get some sun, he forgets to cover her again at night. She’s already showing signs of freezer burn. She’s lost some of her upper limbs for sure.
Yes, the heater at left is smaller than my hand. Ignore the perspective: my fingers were touching the floor. Our heat pump is close to useless once the thermometer dips below freezing. The Barbie-doll-size heater is supposed to be a one-person deal for under the desk – but we found with the office door closed, it bumps the temperature in the room up by at least 10º as compared to the rest of the house.
Fingers crossed the cold snap doesn’t stick around much longer. Tomorrow it’s supposed to get up to 60º. Saturday and Sunday should be in the mid-60’s, then early next week there’s rain in the forecast, which will knock us back into the 50s or cooler.
We’re gonna have a hell of a wildflower season this spring, once it warms up enough for the desert to bloom.
I hate feeling cold myself, so despite my side-eyed derision at anyone who complains about mere 30 degree weather, I feel for you. If you’re not used to it, and you aren’t set up to deal with it, it’s a bitch. That tiny little heater certainly does not look up to the task, so I hope you’re not uncomfortable for too long.
Another option: eat carbs and bulk up again. Adipose tissue is very insulating 🙂
The itty bitty heater kicks butt for its size. It was cheap and worth every penny.
We were out and about all day today, and by noon it was spectacular – mid- to upper-60s, according to the readout in the car. We were tooling around this afternoon with the windows partway down and in short sleeves. I’m surprised G didn’t break out in song. Unfortunately we’re expecting cold, rainy times early in the week, though hopefully it’ll warm up again by next weekend. We’ve hit 100º in March before. We do get into freezing territory at least one or two nights a year, but not usually into the mid-20s and under, not usually snow, and not usually for this long.
The fabric for the new quilt should be lovely, especially when you add little pops of other col0rs in the mix. Good luck.
Thank you! I found some alternatives for adding other colors subtly – like a predominantly-white piece with a tiny pattern including both reds AND yellows :).