Day 3

Today is a great day! Breakfast consisted of a breakfast bar and a glass of water. I had a wonderful Peppermint Cookie Patty about 2:30. It was very good! Lunch I had the Chicken and Dumpling entree. It was good. I could have had it with rice but I would have had to cook that, which I didn't. I also ate a 6oz A&E Keylime Yogurt. For later I have a Fudge Graham bar.

When I got home last night I made me an instant soup, the Nutrisystem Split Pea and it was great. It could have used a tad more salt but didn't salt it.

As I was sitting in my rocking chair, I thought I had a peek of my right knee. My tummy overhang has been such that I hadn't seen that knee in a while when I sit. Now I realize I could be imagining things, looking for things, seeing a difference because I want to. I have been making LOTS of trips to the bathroom to urinate, much more than I normally do and thought it was odd but could be the result of my change in diet. I told my best girl about it and she said she heard once on Paul Harvey that fat just doesn't disappear, it dissolves into fluid to be eliminated by the body. I need to check on that because I want to make sure that is true. I know I was having muscle spasms in my left foot here at work yesterday so I thought I was dehydrated, even though my urine was almost clear. (the darker it is the more dehydrated you are) So I drank the water this morning.

I am looking forward to the fresh vegetables and maybe some fruits. I want to get a food scale for more accurate measuring. A half cup of crackers isn't nearly as much it would be if weighed. Does that make sense?

I did receive my Nordic Needle catalog yesterday in the mail. It is here with me at work to do wish list shopping.

I have 4 members now on my Stitcher's Antics group. I am so excited. We have a sweet foursome. God Bless!

Day 2

Well last night I went home and had some ham and bean soup. It was really good. I can't remember which dessert bar I had but both were really good. I was starving when I got home. I went to bed not hungry but I felt like I needed to eat something to create a full feeling. Maybe this was all in my head.

This morning when I woke up I was hungry but I also felt like I was more energetic and I felt lighter, for the lack of a better word. Now I don't believe I lost any weight in 24 hours but it was in my head. I had a breakfast bar and then some orange/pineapple juice. I got on the computer and really forgot about food as I was listening to talk radio and playing BeJeweled. When I got up to brush my teeth I felt the hole in my stomach talking to me.

I wanted to get a cheeseburger at McD's on the way to work but didn't. I really want to try this and be honest with myself.

I brought a dessert bar, a almond biscotti. It was okay and I made it last almost 30 minutes. I was trying to stave off the hunger because lunch wasn't until 4:30. I did make it to lunch and wasn't starving. I had the meatloaf and mashed potato dinner. It was pretty good and filled the hunger in me. I also had a peach A&E low fat yogurt. It is really good. I had brought 2 servings of mandarin oranges but didn't eat that. It is 7:46 and I opened the container of oranges and have been snacking on them. I don't want to be starving when I get off.

I know I am not following exactly the meal planner but I didn't have the money to go buy groceries and get Rose's Rimadyl. She needs her medicine more than I need my vegetables. I get paid Thursday so I will be okay. As a funny side note, I was looking at my finances and sort of panicked because I had $100 and knew if I got Rosie's stuff I wouldn't have enough to buy food, fast food. Then I remembered that this goof has food, don't need money for stopping by fast food after work!

The grocery ads came today, I have them with me. I am going to look thru them and see what is on sale. I was thinking about the Farmer's Market, not sure if it opens in March or April but I am craving vegetables.

I got my Nordic Needle January Card of the Month in the mail yesterday. The card itself is gorgeous and the design that goes in the opening will be really nice when stitched. It has a pretty variegated blue perle cotton to stitch the design with. I look forward to stitching on it. Oh goody, another project to start. Have a blessed day.

Day 1

I thought about posting yesterday but didn't. I went up to HyVee and was totally impressed with their Health Market, which is a store within a store really for healthy/organic foods. There was the cutest little gal named Kat which knew her stuff and was a delight. By the time I got done looking there my back was kicking so I didn't even to to the fresh vegetables and now I am sorry. I sure would have loved a nice salad today.

I haven't eaten all the food I should have today. This morning I had one of the wonderful granola bars and it was good. I also had a AE low-fat yogurt, it is the best. I just got done with lunch and I had a Chicken Pasta Parmesan dinner entree. It was very good, the only problem, there wasn't near enough of it. I also had another yogurt and some mandarin oranges. See, this is where the salad would have come in handy. I brought some bunny whole wheat crackers and I counted out 14 of them which would be 2 breads and put them in a little baggie to snack on.

When I get home tonight I will have a lunch entree before I go to bed. I really need to get some fresh vegetables. I looked for my Weight Watchers recipe of a ranch dip using plain no fat yogurt, buttermilk, Hidden Valley ranch mix and I think mayo but I can't find the steno book I have it in. It made a huge amount and you could have a large amount at a time and it was SO good. I was thinking of snacking here at work with it and cauliflower. I will have to look further. I did a google search for the recipe but none I found were it.

So far so good, and I am not looking too far into the future. Already I am hungry and it has not even been an hour since I last ate.

Stitching is going, I did start on my praying hands bookmark. I was enjoying it. I see that Nordic Needle took my money for the hardanger card of the month club so I hope I will be getting that soon.

My new life start today had a very surprising addition which is quite personal and I won't share it, but it has made me realize God is answering my prayers. Wow is all I have to say. When we let things go, they do come back to us in a fashion which can take our breath away. God go with all of you.

New Year, Nutrasystem, Needlework

It's a new year and true to form I have neglected this blog for quite some time. I have decided to take it to a different type of blog in a sense. One of my goals this year is to lose a pound a week. I would like to document my progress with that goal and of course my stitching. I pray that I will lose the weight and become more active physically and with my needle too!



New Year's Day I turned on QVC and the Today's Special Value was Nutrasystem. 15 days worth of food for $124.50, that is 3 week's worth of food with weekend's off. If I am not happy with the food or program, I can get my money returned anytime within the 3 weeks and not have to return any food. I watched for a couple of hours before I called the phone #.



I am not a stranger to losing weight, I am not a YoYo dieter. 20 years ago I went from about 250 pounds down to 168 pounds and I looked and felt good. I did it on Weight Watchers, but when I got down to 168 pounds, I became bored and my motivation disappeared. I was also getting a lot of attention from men and I didn't like it. Let me clarify that, I love men, they are definately one of God's better ideas. What I didn't like was men who had known me for years, suddenly wanted to take me out and that made me SO mad and uncomfortable. I discovered most men are very sexual creatures, I don't know why I didn't know that before but I had hoped they might be more interested in my mind, than my body. I hear the laughter!



Back then though it seemed as though every waking moment was about food and that IS a struggle. You plan your food each day, you buy your food, you cook your food, you pack your food for lunch, you eat your food, you think about tomorrow's food, you plan your food purchases, you hunt for new food recipes. It seems like an obsession. I don't want to be obsessed with food. With Nutrasystem, I don't have to "think" so much about it, it is cooked and prepared for me. It is packaged to pack and go to work. 2 days a week I have to fend for myself, the rest of the week is a no brainer.

I don't want this to be about numbers on a scale. The planner book has a place for you to write your weight in that day. I am not going to do that. I want to measure my successes in other ways like is my belly still touching the steering wheel in my car. Can I finally wear a seat belt comfortably? Is it easier to tie my shoes? Can I make it through the WHOLE grocery store without my back hurting? Can I perform the cleansing of myself after a (to put it nicely) bodily function in the bathroom? How are my clothes fitting? I believe you get the idea.

So I will begin on Monday, my work week starts on that day. I do need to pick up a few things at the grocery, like milk, yogurt and fresh vegetables for a salad. It is really cool because I can have unlimited quantities of some vegetables so......... I need to dig out some recipes I had when I belonged to Weight Watchers. I had a great one for a Ranch Dressing made out of yogurt and it was so good.

The picture is of my Cheaters Sampler. My friend Amy and I are doing a year long monogram sampler. It is a sampling of different styles of our first initial. Mine of course is a "S". It is stitched with silk floss from Vicki Clayton called "BeLaced" on 28 count white cashel linen. I can't wait to see Amy's.

If anyone is interested in joining Amy and I for this stitch along, I have a Yahoo Group, "Stitcher's Antics", there is a join button on the upper right hand side of my blog. Right now it is just Amy and I but we would love a few new members. God Bless and talk with you soon

Boos, gameboards and autumnal thoughts

Do you see my right hand held high? I promise I have been stitching, not very fast but steady. I am very close to being done with my Cocoa Sampler and I have in the wings the Lizzie Kate Boo! Banner. I am very excited about getting started on it. I have decided to change the checked border to black squares and purple squares, rather than black and white. I am going to use DMC 3837 which is a good match to WDW Purple Majesty.

I have found an old stitch group member and have been invited to join her new group. I am going to go for my first session on Saturday, August 22nd. I am very excited about meeting up again with Chris. She is very fondly remembered as a lovely lady with a wonderful husband and children. Not to mention a wonderful hostess and a very good stitcher. She stitched a Stoney Creek Sampler that was to die for.

I found a wonderful blackwork Halloween game board. Witches Hat

Checkerboard Game Board is a from Sapphire Stitching and here is a link:http://sapphirestitching.com/blackwork-checkerchess-boards.html I have to admit I did have help finding it. It was posted as a WIP by a sister stitcher on 1-2-3! Stitch message board. I love it and have yet to dig thru my fabric treasure chest of drawers for a fabric for it. It should stitch up quickly too. There is also a cute pumpkin gameboard there too!

I don't have any pictures to post with this entry, my computer is fritzing out on me. I am very much looking forward to AUTUMN, soup and chili weather, cozying into the house weather. Of course my distant thoughts of my fragrant Lilac Thicket in my dreams. Happy blessing and may your needle fly!

"Hot Cocoa" progress

This is my little bit of progress on "Hot Cocoa". I hope to add to it today. The picture is pretty accurate as to color and I am really pleased with the colors of the fabric and silks working up.

Not much stitchy stuff going on in the Thicket but yesterday my third call (at work) is one I would like to share. I spoke with a Mrs. Kathy who is 62 and she up front said she is told she gives way too much info. She wanted to refill a prescription which I helped her with but she went on to tell me she was bi-polar and the challenges she had in her life. She was VERY spiritually founded and as I have long believed, people with mental health issues seem to be be much more connected with God. It seems He connects with them in a more profound way then with individuals such as myself who are deemed "healthy" in a mental capacity. I could have talked with her all day as she was SO full of wisdom. She shared she had 3 times in her life where she knew God was right there with her. I told her I had only had 1 experience where I knew God was in my presence here on earth. I told her the feeling was beyond words but SO intense and I was very emotional as I was saying this to the point she heard it in my voice. I told her I prayed for another experience just like that, to feel God inside me and surrounding me all at once. She told me that her minister told her that is exactly what the Rapture will feel like and that blew me away! As we were ending the call she told me she had 159 angels all over her house which she collected over the years and she wanted me to know that she had just named one after me. I was sobbing as we hung up, told her I loved her and would pray for her. There are NO coincidences as to who comes into your life on a daily basis and I have NO doubt that she was sent my way to strengthen my faith and love of God.



Mrs. Kathy struck me as a true gift from God. She said life brought some very troubling people into her life but told me that Billy Graham said our job is to love these people and it is God's job to judge these people that are troubling and then to judge us on how well we loved these troubling people. How simple and yet, difficult.



Thank you God for sending Mrs. Kathy my way, she has forever changed my life. So here at the Oh, so humble Lilac Thicket we pray for blessings for you.

My new project

This is my newest project "Hot Cocoa" offered by Casey Buonaugurio. I purchased this from another stitcher on 1-2-3! message board. I bought the Hand Dyed Fibers from Vicki Clayton and they are so pretty and vibrant. The fabric is an un-named evenweave which I purchased at C.C. & Company from the bargain bin with Miss Cathy's great help and actually I like it much better in color than in the above photo which is from the leaflet. My fabric has a little more brown to it and wow the silks look great. I stitched yesterday and all afternoon. I definately have sore muscles in my right arm which come from the stitching. But it has been a while since I really enjoyed stitching.

I have ordered more skeins of silk from HDF for an older Four Oaks design called Rhapsody in Blue which is shown on the leaflet in NPI silks. What I loved about it was it reminded me of an old postage stamp. I collected stamps when I was young and there is one very old US postage stamp which is quite rare and it reminded me of the color of that stamp.

I want to hit C.C. & Company on my next days off and pre order and pay for the new Just Cross Stitch ornament issue. I will get a coupon for 25% off a piece of fabric for doing that. I haven't been there in a while so it will be fun to see what is new. I haven't been up to the Old Mill in Liberty in a while either and I would like to take a drive up there, maybe eat in the tea room for lunch and enjoy a leisurely outing.

We had some thunderstorms rumble thru the Lilac Thicket this morning. I would say about 8 a.m. When I drove the streets on my way to work, the birds were hunting the roads for little pockets of water in the cracks of the pavement. I am so afraid I am going to hit one. We shall see how much rain we get today and see if it clears the humidity here in the wilds of my Thicket. Until we meet again, may all your stitching be peacefull!