Progress Report

It's been a rough few weeks, but i am ALMOST caught up on blogs. I had them down to 18 unread, but then I worked on the house all weekend last week, and it went back up to over 100. Sigh.

On the weight loss front, I lost 4lbs! I was doing OK on the diet part, but not so great on the exercise part. But all that changed this past Monday. Joe got a bad report card from his Dr. on his cholesterol. It's 282, which isn't horrible, but his good cholesterol is way too low, and his bad cholesterol is way too high. So major changes are going on in our house. He & I re-joined the gym & have been going every night, I am cooking or preparing everything that goes into his mouth, and eating out is back to every two weeks. The restaurants we like cook pretty healthy food, but I just don't want to chance it. I have him on 300mg or less of cholesterol per day and 16-20g of saturated fat. So one tablespoon of accidental butter could throw off his whole day. He's also having to take his coffee black now and he is NOT happy about it.

But it's not all doom and gloom at our house; we got a new TV!

It's a samsung 52" 650 something. Obviously, we haven't upgraded our sound system yet (I guess it says a lot about Sony sound systems though, as that's my old stereo from 1990 & it still works), but we're working on picking one out.

In knitting news, I'm done with CPH's sleeves & fronts & plan to start the back this weekend. I also made a chemo cap for a friend's MIL:

It's Lace Edged Women's Hat (free Ravelry download!). I used one ball of Zara that I had in the stash & I think it came out pretty cute!

In sewing news, I made a new cover for the ottoman at the foot of our bed, but the fabric was really floppy & slippery, so it didn't come out so perfect. I'm done with Joe's robe except for his monogram, but I need to whip out the manual for that. After that's done, I'll tackle the mending pile, and I don't really have any solid plans after that. Well, that's all for now!

Christmas Vacation

I took a little internet break this holiday season in addition to my work vacation. I still get email and facebook updates on the Blackberry, but I have been blog and ravelry free since the 23rd or so. As punishment, I have 432 unread blog posts, but I'll tackle them during this afternoon's playoff game and tomorrow's down time at work. I have a LOT to show and tell you guys though! I got Joe to model his Anniversary sweater (Don't feel sorry for him; It only snowed 12 inches that day!):

I made some Christmas presents:


I got some Christmas presents:


And I started a couple new projects:
Central Park Hoodie for me:

McCall's 4244 for Joe:

I'm still working on my pirate themed socks, but my size 2's got splinters, so I'm contemplating which needles to try next. The finalists are Darn Pretty Needles and Knitpicks harmony's. I got a gift card to Creative Fibers in the office Secret Santa, so I might see if they can get the Darn Pretty's as a special order. My criteria for dpn's are flexible, slippery, and short (under 6"). My absolute favorites are Bryspuns, but I've yet to find the size 2's in the short length.

One project that is a priority this year is my increasing ass size. I gained TEN pounds since our Aruba trip in November (I currently think it's funny; we'll see how long that lasts), so I'm on grilled chicken salad for lunch and one hour of exercise every day until it's gone. In my defense, I was on light duty/no workouts for 2 weeks due to surgery on my legs, but that's really no excuse. I just fell off the wagon big time.

Our annual trip to VA on Christmas day went well as usual. We were able to stop in Arlington this year since Aimee is a new mom & stayed home this year, which suited us perfectly. This allowed us to avoid the family for a good 3 hours! And with all the in fighting going on this year, that was a GOOD thing. My mom was crazy as usual & I forgot to photograph it, but I did manage to finish her annual knitted giftie (Socks made with Spunky Eclectic yarn). As some of you know, if she had it her way, I would knit exclusively for her 24/7. But, sadly, I have a JOB so I am unable to do so, and she "only" gets a couple things a year. She actually said she had been cursing Aimee's baby thinking that he was getting all the knitted goodness this year. Who the eff would curse a little baby? My mother, that's who. Although, Hewen DID get the best gift this year:

So cute. Hee hee.