Sugar Bunny Boulevard

Very Quick

Quick!  Quick!  I want to make this as quick as possible because I have had a crazy busy day and I need to sit down and knit a stitch before going to bed.

Today was the first day of VBS at El Dorado First Baptist Church and y'all... they have a huge VBS.  We had 250 kids on the first day.  Whew!  It's a fun theme (ranch/cowhand kind of thing) and I'm helping keep the 3rd grade kids corralled.  The babies and I were up at the church by 8:30 (they go to the nursery) and got home around 12:30 - long busy morning for all of us!

I hurried home and made them some lunch and read a few emails and then... my gosh it was suddenly 2pm.  Where had the day gone??

I started to panic because I've been hoping to reach Gina Bonomo, the First Lady of Afgan Projects, out in Blacksburg, VA, and I needed to call her before 2pm central time!  After a tiny bit of telephone tag I got Gina on the phone and we had a very pleasant chat.  We apparently think a lot alike because my plans have progressed very much like hers did.  The big difference between our projects is the ultimate SIZE.  The number of squares received!!  I hope and PRAY we do not get 8000 squares.  Y'all, please do not send me 6,000 more squares than we really need, okay?  Pleeeeeeeease??  :)

So that was helpful and nice to feel like I've made another knitting friend - we had such a fun chat about all the things knitters like to talk about - yarn companies, socks, what we knit and why we don't knit other things, etc.  You know how it is.  And we did discuss the afghan projects and compare notes about a few things.  They didn't wash every block but did steam/block some that needed it.  I might modify my plans to do that same thing.  Overall it was a good information session that will help me to go forward better prepared and with an experienced brain to pick if any other questions come up.

On Sunday I visited with a nice lady from church who is our main piano player and also writes a column for the local newspaper and also seems to be the go-to lady in town for a LOT of community activities, etc etc etc.  We chatted about the project and she gave me some VERY VERY GOOD suggestions for where we could get yarn for seaming and other needs we will have for the seaming event.  She's also going to be writing about the project in her column and assured me that everything I'm hoping to accomplish is do-able - especially getting the people to come help.  She gave me an example of an occasion when she was needing about 100 people to help with a project and over 1000 people showed up!!  heh  I don't think we'll need 1000 people to help with the seaming party!

Everybody has GREAT IDEAS for seaming yarn and wish list, etc.  If you have yarn needles to spare and wish to send them, please do not hesitate!!!!  I have begun inviting a lot of people to this seaming event and I do not expect very many of them to come with a chibi and scissors!  Soooooo... we definitely do need the yarn needles.  I think we probably won't need a crazy number of scissors, but that will be addressed very soon - hopefully together with the yarn issue.

I will keep you updated about the project and hope to be making decisions within the week about whether we need to post a wish list for yarn or not.  I'm hoping not!  Stick with me - I promise to let you know what I need.  Right now it's a YES on the yarn needles.

What ELSE is going on around here??  Oh, I've been gardening - and now watching the garden grow.  I'm thinking of putting a growth chart next to the morning glory vines because it's fascinating how much they grow up the climbing strings in just one day!  This evening I took pictures of my first hollyhock flower shortly before a rain storm came through.  What an amazing joy it is.  Surely there is a book called the Joy of Gardening??  Hollyhocks are one of those flowers I have always dreamed of growing and having just the right place for it.  Last year I planted some from seeds and over the winter only one plant survived.  Just one!  It's the type of flower that only makes leaves the first year and then flowers the next.  I was happy to see it growing this spring but Overjoyed to see flower buds.  I didn't know what color they would be until yesterday becuse it was a mixed color seed packet!  Here's what luck gave us:

More happiness from the garden... First squash blossom: you might remember my horrible disappointment last year when the squash were attacked by squash vine borers.  This year I have rebutted with Ferti-Lome pesticide.  It appears to have worked.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.  First red cherry tomato:  last year the ones I planted didn't produce much and only made one. at. a. time.  Not the way to enjoy them on a salad, really.  I think this plant is going to give me more than one at a time.  First two leaves that you see on my favorite flower:  I've always been so amazed at how different the first two leaves look from the "regular" leaves of any plant when they grow from a seed.  For those who don't know, this is what the first two leaves look like on a Morning Glory.  I have planted a BUNCH of morning glories this year and even got adventurous and planted a 2nd variety with a different color of flower!  Way to step outside the box, huh?  heh 

This afternoon I was helping Lila Pearl use the potty.  Neither of the girls is enthused about potty training - only about the candy treat (a single Skittle) they get for sitting on the potty.  Apparently chocolate (three M&M's) is not enough incentive to actually DO anything in the potty.  As I'm encouraging Lila to sit there long enough to finish the candy in her mouth and wiping drool from her chin, Emeline comes around the corner exactly like this (photos below) and says "Whatcha doin' Mama?"  I looked at her and thought I should be asking HER that question!  Instead I did as any good blogging mother would and said "Do Not Move.... lemme find the camera," as Lila Pearl chomped on her Skittle and continued drooling.

 

Yes.  She has removed her shirt, her sandals and her socks.... and is wearing one Hufflepuff sock (2nd sock is about to turn the heel) and swinging my new nostepinde around like a baton!  No Margene, she didn't hurt it.  :)  Obviously you can see where Emeline spends her time when my attention is diverted.... trying to roll around semi-naked in sock yarn and winding new yarn into balls for me... right?  Riiiiiiiiight. (oh the unwanted google hits from that sentence will be awful)

Anybody still wanna hear about the Weight Loss Challenge??  A funny thing happened.  I am still weighing and all that, but last Monday I woke up and thought "should I mention anything about WLC today on the blog?"  I weighed 210.5 that morning.  I told Jeff I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep up the public humiliation about my lack of progress on the blog.  He suggested that we do a diet together for a week: the frozen dinner diet.  We have breakfast on our own and then eat frozen Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice or SmartOnes, etc, for lunch and dinner.  The holiday kinda messed us up in the middle of the week, but anyway I said Okay.  THEN I went to the computer and there was an email from a lady named Nancy stating that she is joining me on the WLC!  WELL!  I guess that was a good reason to keep doing it.  Problem is, I never wrote Nancy back - and I have no clue if she has a blog, so I can't link to her and say that you should go tell her Way To Go!!  So, Nancy, I hope you are having satisfying success and continue to follow your heart with the Weight Loss Challenge!!

I think the point of Weight Loss Challenge is that we should challenge ourself.  To lose weight.  To eat healthier.  To listen to the things our body is telling us and visit the doctor if we need to rather than putting anything and everything else first.  To get exercise.  To simply live and eat in a way that is kinder and healthier for our bodies.  I'm not sure what the trick will be for me - but I'm still not doing the MAJOR things that I should.  There are two MAJOR things that I really want to strive to do - and it's a challenge!!  Eating healthy is not a challenge - it's one of the easier things for me to do, as funny as that sounds.  Two big things for me are:  1) drink more water and 2) get in bed before midnight.  Getting enough sleep is HUGE for me and I rarely do it.  I do not consistently get as much sleep as I need and it causes me to be run down - who wants to exercise when they're already tired??  SO.... guess what... this morning I was 208.5.  I lost two pounds in the past week.

Losing two pounds this week is a sweet little incentive to set a tiny goal.  The tiny goal is to do my two big things this week:  Drink More Water and Get More Sleep.  I hope I can do that for myself.  :)

If you're looking for a square report... I'll hopefully have one tomorrow after we get home from VBS.  I haven't opened today's mail yet and there probably won't be a lot tomorrow.  I'm teaching a knitting class tomorrow night so it'll be another crazy day!!

Everybody take care and do good things for yourself.  XOXOX

Daily Square Report + Mini WLC Report

Hi Everybody!!  It's the last Monday before Estes!  That means it's time to give my final Weight Loss Challenge report.  My original goal was to lose 20 pounds.  I have lost 2 pounds.  Bleh.  I'm still trying to have the right mindset but it takes self control, of which I apparently have little, and a degree of organization.  About the only organized thing AROUND here is the Afghan Project.  The Weight Loss is going to happen but when..... I'd like to know when it's going to click for me.  Jeff is being very supportive - yep - he's lost... oh, at least 10 pounds since I started the WLC.  Yay for you honey!  Oh, I'm always just thrilled for him when he does the weight loss dance every morning for the past WEEK after getting off the scale.  ha  I usually groan and get back under the covers and wish I could lose weight in my sleep.  Maybe that's the problem.... I'm not following Susie's advice - I'm not going to bed before midnight.  Why can't I just do the water and get enough sleep?  That would make a big difference right there.  Maybe I need make a chart to be sure I've had all my water and set a timer that takes the knitting needles or spindle and wool out of my hands at midnight?  Hmmmm......

On to the Daily Square Report!!

Counting the squares I received from the ladies at World Wide Knit In Public Day on Saturday (fun but I didn't get to stay long), we are adding 71 squares and 35 cloths to the count today!  WooHoo!!!  That brings the total received to 988 and still need 1252 to make 40 afghans!  From the emails and notes in packages that I've received, I have a feeling we'll make that goal.  I'm really excited to see the mail every day!!  SO many people tuck a note into their package that says they're still knitting away and several have sent emails stating that they are knitting until August 1st and then sending one BIG package at that time!  Wow - won't August be AMAZING!?

I'm practicing with the new camera so please bear with me if the pictures aren't up to the standard you're accustomed to.  It took a lot of time getting to know my old camera before it took good pictures for me.  Hopefully the learning curve will be shorter with this one.

71 Squares - that's a tall stack!  Nearly fell over!

How about from the bottom up??

Today's squares came from the following people:

Melissa - North Mankato, MN (this is her 2nd package because after sending her first package and seeing the daily updates and photos she couldn't resist making MORE!  YAY!!)
Sherry - West Roxbury, MA (under the supervision of her 2 dogs and 3 cats!)
Debra - Kansas City, KS (2nd package!)
Cindy - Wauconda, IL
Gwen and Dawn - Wichita, KS (a few of my KIP ladies!)
Dana - Winona, MN (the one millionth package she's sent!)
Barbara - Jaffrey, NH
Kriss Goerts - Winona, MN (Love's Many Cloths)
Mlarie - Jacksonville, FL
Pat and Barbara - Houston, TX (sisters knitting together for Greensburg!  YAY!)
Lisa - Middletown, RI
Maurine - Troy, MI (2nd package?  going on memory with this one)
Ruth - El Dorado, KS

The babies and I visited 92yo Ruth here in town this morning to pick up a few squares and leave off a simple crochet block pattern made from the center out.  She wanted something that works up with less holes than a Granny Square but she had to have a pattern but didn't want anything complicated - no color changes - needs to be in big print.  I said okay, I'd bring a pattern by Monday morning, so I wrote it up yesterday, made the square last night, made SURE it was 8 inches, and took it over this morning.

I showed her the square and she said "well, I don't need a pattern for THAT!"  heh  Ohhhhhkay 92yo Ruth.  She did have two bias garter knit squares finished already though!  I'm sure I'll be back over there in a few days to pick up more squares.  She loved visiting with the babies and they seemed to enjoy her more than the usual stranger, letting her hug and squeeze and smooch on them as if they knew her forever.  After getting the royal treatment from Emeline and Lila Pearl I'm sure 92yo Ruth will find plenty of reasons for us to visit.  :)  We went to the church and picked up the afghan mail and Emeline was sure to tell Miss Chris that we had been to visit Ruth (Mrs. ____ to Emeline).

We had a nice evening and enjoyed a little walk before dinner.  We were planning to make dinner when we got home but once our walk began Emeline decided there was a different plan for us.  She directed us to walk all the way back to.... Susie's Chili Parlor where she had her birthday lunch!  After walking back home we took the girls to get new summer sandals and then home again to tuck them in bed.  It was a busy day!

Tomorrow I'll try to have pictures of my spinning for the Spun Stitches KAL.  Oh I'm having a lot of fun with my spinning for this project.  As I mentioned before, I'm blending a few fibers that people have gifted me.  They'll come out in a stripey way when knit up.  I also remembered that I have some exotic fibers that I received from my friend last fall when she gifted the stroller to us because she had won this fiber in a contest but she doesn't spin and... you know.... I do!  Friends are so awesome!  heh  Anyway, I'm incorporating some of those exotic fibers into this shawl as well.  Photos of all that tomorrow and I'll tell what shawl I'm hoping to knit as well.  I think with this one I'll actually have to SWATCH!  Can you imagine?

Have a great night and I'll probably be back with a late'ish post again tomorrow for a square update!  :)

Yard Work

Oh my goodness gracious.  Where to begin?  It's been a long day y'all!

I have all kinds of random thoughts in my head though I'm pretending to be organized about it all and I don't know of a good way to glue it all together into something sensible.

First, wow.  I got quite a few private emails and detailed comments about people's weight loss efforts and how they were inspired by me and that I shouldn't give up!!  Well!  Okay then!  heh  I wasn't giving up in the first place.  Just taking a moment for a bit of self-analysis.  One lady wrote and said that she was so inspired by me and my "coming out" about my weight, etc etc, that she started a diet and exercise routine at the same time I started the WLC and she has lost 25 POUNDS!!  Yes.  25.  In the time I lost 2.  Congratulations to EVERYONE who has been inspired by the Weight Loss Challenge and who has made changes!  That's EXACTLY what I hoped would happen.  I didn't want a bunch of people all trying to do the same thing.  I want a bunch of people to do the best thing for THEM.  And they have.  And I'm working on it.  Thank you for all of your kind words and encouragement and suggestions.  Every word is taken to heart and appreciated.  I'm TRYING to keep emails and HOPE to reply but people - the emails are backing up.  And if I don't get a personal reply sent, please please forgive me.

The current phase of WLC for me is to get RID of the nasty ugly fat five pounds that I gained in the past two weeks.  Actually I've already lost 2.5 of them.  It's amazing what yard work will do for you.

I have been taking a few "before and after" pictures of a very challenging garden space in our yard.  It's very challenging because it is taking a LOT OF WORK to clean out the English ivy, weeds, tree pieces and various other undesirable mess that you don't want in a garden space.  And I'm tellin you that English ivy is a PEST.  I went out there today when the babies went down for their nap thinking I would work (pull weeds and cut ivy) for 15 minutes then clean up (bag up the weeds and ivy and mess) and eat lunch.

Yard work seems to go about like knitting with hand painted variegated yarn.  You can't wait to see what's around the next corner and the more you do the better it looks.  I ended up spending an HOUR pulling weeds and cutting ivy and digging up little tree bits and at least twenty minutes bagging up the mess.  I just could not stop myself.  The soil is GREAT.  So wormy and dark and falls apart easily and full of old leaf mulch.  Awesome.  JUST AWESOME.  It was actually easy to pull the weeds.  English ivy is never easy to get rid of and I'm sure I will be fighting it until the day I die because I'm never leaving this house.  Unless we move to a better house in town with no English ivy and someone else unpacks everything for me.  It'll never happen.  So I worked.  HARD.  And I'm only about 1/3 of the way done with the task of cleaning out the garden spot.

When I did that yard work I got quite a work-out.  Whew.  My. Legs. Are. Killing. Me.  Back.  Arms.  Hands.  Breathing.   I also got a lot of sun.  And I also did some good work in the yard.  I think that was an awesome way to spend the babies nap time.  Of course then I had to shower, get dressed, and eat lunch.... then go to church after the babies were up and dressed.

All that means that I didn't open my afghan mail until after church tonight.  It's way too dark to take pictures now and there are some squares I JUST HAVE to show you.  And another fun surprise.... so I'll just say that we did receive 57 squares today!!  Pictures and names tomorrow - I promise!  That means we have received 881 squares and still need 239 to meet the minimum goal!!  Yay!!  Keep on sending those squares!! 

We're going to blast past the goal I set and really, I'm done setting goals because I don't want to limit ourselves to a certain number!  Please - if you are just learning about this project - PLEASE do knit squares!!  We want to make as many afghans as possible for Greensburg families.  There are a LOT of families wanting to rebuild in Greensburg and our minimum goal was only for 20 afghans.  We would be overjoyed to be able to send many more than twenty afghans to Greensburg families.

I am encouraging people to knit as many squares as they would like until August 1st.  At that point, finish up what's on your needles and get them in the mail by August 10th.  Starting August 15th I will begin sorting squares by size and putting afghan packets together for the Seam Teams!  We are having a Seaming Party on Saturday, September 15, 2007 from 10am to 4pm at El Dorado First Baptist Church.  I hope that the advance notice of this date and the hours will permit people to drive in from surrounding areas (I know there's a group coming from Kansas City!!) and still get home that evening.  My plan is for lunch to be provided.  Dunno the details on that yet but if you come we will feed you!  We're looking forward to having a LOT of afghans to seam up that day!  If you are planning to come please do email me.  I know a few have already mentioned it but I hadn't started a list of names and emails until now.

I'll be back Thursday with a FULL Square Report, pictures, and a surprise that came in today's afghan mail!  :)

Did I Say Birthday Cake?

I should have said Birthday Cake, french fries, steak, ham, french fries, hamburgers, pizza, french fries, ham, ham, ham..... and and and....

I did say we'll look at the Weight Loss Challenge today, huh?  Gosh I hate when I put something in writing and then wish I could back out.

Today I am 5lb heavier than my last WLC report two weeks ago.  Total weight loss, uhh... 2lbs?  It's lame.  Sad.  Pathetic even?  I've had good days and good weeks, and weak days and embarrassing weeks in the WLC. 

In the past few days I have had the urge to give up on a few things.  The first thing was growing squash in my garden.  Last year I took up a lot of garden space with summer squash and got nothing from it because of nasty squash vine borers.  I was cleaning the garden spot on Sunday and thought "I just need to quit trying to grow squash."  I was convinced that it was a pointless effort.  I really have to talk a lot of sense to myself and forget the "I want to give up" feeling during those chats.... yes, those chats with myself.  I decided that I would talk to the people at the garden center about using a pesticide.  This doesn't make me a quitter - I'm not sure if it makes me a winner either because I wasn't too excited about using a pesticide on my garden.  But I want squash.  The garden center people were more than happy to sell me some pesticide.  I'll let you know if it works. 

I also thought in the past few days that I would quit the public WLC because at the moment it's turning into public humiliation since I have essentially lost no weight.  Sorry but 2lbs in 8 weeks is not progress of any kind.  BUT.  I am not quitting.  This took a little longer self-to-self chat than the squash discussion.

I am intelligent.  I can analyze things.  I may be poorly organized (i.e. mountains of sewing and fiber and yarn around house) but that doesn't mean I can't work this out.  (sorry about all of the "I's")  I have come to some common sense conclusions about losing weight during my self-to-self chats.  Here are the ones I can remember at the moment:

• There are two ways to lose weight:
  • work - this means following a diet plan and counting calories/carbs/fat grams and exercising - essentially against my will and generally evolving into a loathing for the plan and activity designed to force myself to lose weight (this is also the no-taco option).  What happens when you reach your goal with this method?  I wouldn't know, it's never happened to me.
  • lifestyle change - this can be initially guided by a diet plan (or nutrition education plan) but is better when it's an overall choice to make forever-changes.  Changes that happen because they feel good and I don't have to think about them.  Increasing regular exercise like walking, gardening, outdoor activities with the children (frisbee or ball or bike riding).  Food changes - some have already happened but they need to continue, like drinking more water, quitting coffee (still trying), less red meat, more fish (occasional tacos allowed).
• Increased outdoor activity in summer is hopefully a good thing because honestly the very last thing I really want to do right now is work out at the Y.  It's a winter/cool weather thing for me.

Soooo.... no chart this week.  I'm looking forward to continuing with the WLC and thinking about how I want it to evolve.  Overall I know that having support and cheers from friends is nice but the change has to be from within myself.  I'm not quitting.  Just deciding how to move forward.  I will try to keep posting about my thoughts and progress on Mondays.  It's still a challenge.  :)

So back to everyday life.... thanks everybody for the SWEET comments about Emeline's birthday.  She had fun and is still riding the birthday wave.

We do love living in this little town and we're lucky to live in a good spot that is within easy walking distance to a lot of things to do!  We could walk to the movies if we wanted to.  We have a choice of ohhh... several restaurants within walking distance.  Also the post office, bank... (not our bank, unfortunately, but more than a few banks), hair salon(s), court house, several parks, at least one funeral home, lumber yard, real estate office, more churches than I ever realized, the upper elementary for our part of town (will have to drive the little ones to early elementary building), junior high school, and all of our doctor offices!!!  The big kids have walked to the pool (just a little far for me with the stroller) but they prefer to ride bikes.  Wal Mart and grocery are a little out of reach.  I was telling Jeff this morning about how the Yarn Harlot rides her bike everywhere and has commented that she always has very fresh produce because she only brings home what she can pack on the bicycle!  heh  I couldn't do that with little ones but it's still pretty cool.

Yep.  Old house in an old town.  We do love it.

Ready to hear about our day in squares? 

Daily Square Report:

Today the girls and I left just a little earlier than usual to walk down to the church in hopes of catching the mail man on his way in with packages!  According to the church secretary, Chris, he is having a grand time delivering the packages because everyone in the church office is always so excited to see him coming!!  I'm sure the phrase "Santa Clause is here!" is heard nearly every day.  So we got there to find that the mail carrier had just left (it's not Christy).  The girls went through their sweet fun little routine by peeking around the corner of Chris's desk and saying Hi, giving Chris a hug, then getting stickers (I hope she has a lot of stickers cause we're using them up 2 per day!).  Here is Chris hugging the girls.  Picking up the mail is a fun part of our day.  :)

Today we received another 35 squares and 20 more cloths!  Yay!  This brings our total squares received to 824 and only 296 needed to reach the minimum goal!  YeeHaw!!  Happy happy happy!!!  We also have 127 cloths now!  :)

Some people tell me the fiber content or what yarn they used for their squares on notes inside their packages.  It's completely unnecessary because they'll all be combined with other yarns and fibers but it's been very interesting to notice which yarns are mentioned the most.  I've had several squares coming in made from Lion Brand Wool Ease, Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride, and Cascade 220.  I've always heard that Cascade 220 is virtually the hands down favorite of LOTS of people and now I know why!  Those yarns really make beautiful squares!!  EVERY square is beautiful but I'm starting to recognise those most frequently used yarns.  I also recognize Noro Silk Garden and there have been some of those coming in too.  One acrylic yarn that's really nice and has great stitch definition with dreamy softness is Caron Simply Soft.  Pretty colors in that yarn too (and oh so affordable!).  I need to dig out my Caron Simply Soft leftovers from preemie knitting and make some squares with that!  Always pretty.  Today I think I saw some .... oh, I don't remember the brand but it's an acrylic "transitioning" type yarn and wow, so so pretty and soft.

So who wants to see some squares?

35 squares received today

Today's squares came from the following people:

Michelle - Pinckney, MI (and 20 cloths!)
Kathy - Lebanon, IN
Margot - Vienna, VA  (2nd package!)

Thank you so much for your beautiful squares and hours of work!  We're so grateful to receive these squares and to be able to bring this project together for the families of Greensburg.  :)

Everybody have a great week and I'll see you tomorrow with another square report!  XOXOX

Emeline's 3rd Birthday - WLC - Squares! - What else???

HI!  I'm here!  Were you looking for me before 9:30 pm?  So sorry.  I thought things were supposed to get easier when the big kids left for a while?  Uhhmm.... no, I just started doing EVEN MORE THINGS!

I think I last posted on Friday so let's start there.  Kids went to Texas.  Saturday morning when Emeline woke up we went in and said "Emeline, do you know what today is?"  She said, "My birthday!  I want my birthday cards!"  heh  Good thing she forgot about the cell phone!  We all walked down to the donut shop for her birthday breakfast.

Everybody loves donut holes!  You can see our chariot out the window.  It gets a lot of attention everywhere we go because it's a great lookin' ride!

After the donut shop we went home and watched movies for a while.  Emeline received an early (morning) birthday gift of a child size table and chair set.  We were headed home from the donut shop and she was saying "I want my table.... I want my table...."  After a failed attempt at napping their Gammy arrived so we got them up and prepared to take a walk down town for lunch.

Obviously a big 3yo girl doesn't always want to ride in the stroller.  Emeline rides about half the time when we go places.  She often walks on the way "there" and rides on the way home.  We had lunch at Susie's Chili Parlor down on Main Street.  It's a pretty popular place and is housed in a great building.

Emeline had a hamburger and fries and loved every bite!  Lila mostly ate fries.  :)

We got home from lunch JUST in time to catch our mail carrier Christy!!  Emeline just loves Christy and we have told her that Emeline has been saving up "Pirate Coins" from the back of cereal boxes to mail off for a free Pirate Clock (part of some kind of Pirates of the Caribbean promotion with Kellogg cereal).  Christy has been waiting and waiting for the day we send our Pirate Coins away in the mail.  One day she even had a special delivery for Emeline - she had pulled out the page from the Wal Mart flyer showing all the special Pirates *stuff* they carry at Wal Mart and telling about how you can get your Pirate picture taken at Wal Mart on a certain day and everything.  The love runs deep between these two.  heh  We had enough coins so Saturday we filled out the little form from the inside of the cereal box and put it all in an envelope to mail away for the Pirate Clock.  I'm so glad that we were home in time that Emeline could personally hand the letter to Christy - and Christy had a birthday card to deliver!  Usually Emeline is napping when Christy arrives so Christy said that if she's napping when the Pirate Clock arrives we have to get her up for the delivery!!!  heheh  See there.... she's also holding the two piece of afghan mail that I got at home on Saturday (on today's list)!  Yay!

You can tell Christy is a rockin mail carrier - check out that tattoo!

After all the postal excitement we left Lila Pearl with her Gammy then took Emeline to her first movie!!  We saw Shrek the Third and she did a GREAT job of sitting through the movie.  She had a few moments of distraction but for the most part she sat in her seat and had popcorn and soda.  Afterward she posed with "Ugly Spiderman" in the theater lobby.

When we got home it was time to have cake!  And candles!!  We forgot to get the birthday hat that she requested so I threw one together at the last possible minute.  It doesn't take much to please a 3yo, thank goodness.  Pardon the mountain of sewing and fiber and yarn stuff in the background.

So (if you're still with me...) after cake we opened presents.  First were the cards - look! - Money!  Every good girl puts her money in the bank.  :)

Oh look!  A tea set!

After the gift opening and excitement of the day, a simple dinner of Rabbit Cereal (Trix) at the new table was just perfect.  Whew.

So let's see.... what else?  How about Weight Loss Challenge?  How about we wait on that until tomorrow.  This is already long enough and I could benefit from the delay - still recovering from eating birthday cake.  :)

Daily Square Report:

The babies and I walked to the church this morning to pick up our afghan mail but we came back empty handed!  That's because there was SO MUCH MAIL we had to get in the van and drive back to get it!!  It's Crazy!  Awesome!  Cool!!  There just aren't enough great words to describe this project so how about some numbers and pictures and names??

Today we received 167 squares!  Today we also received 63 more cloths from Love's Many Cloths!  My goodness it took quite a while to open all those packages!  This brings our total squares received to 789 and we still need just 331!!!!!  Oh hmmm... think maybe we'll reach the minimum goal?  I'm picturing one of those fund raiser thermometers that has blown the top and is splashing out everywhere!!  We now have a total of 107 cloths from the Love's group!  Hopefully these will be distributed to families that receive afghans and to other Greensburg community members as well.  What do you think Dana?

From this stack of packages..... to this stack of squares.  When I see the packages I think "what a lot of packing material - thank goodness it's recyclable" and also "what a lot of postage for all this."  When I see the stack of squares I think "what a lot of yarn" and also "what a lot of hours of work people have done for this project."

Do you see your square(s)?

Today's squares were received from the following people:

Kim - Morro Bay, CA
Frieda - East Northport, NY
Jan - Caledonia, MI
Jessica - Hoschton, GA
Wendy - Attica, MI (squares and cloths!)
Dana - Winona, MN (I have stopped counting how many packages have come from Dana!!!)
Mary Anne - Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Karen - Mountain Green, UT (2 boxes today!)
Valerie - Huntsville, AL
Elizabeth - Cary, NC
The MarkB Family - Western Springs, IL
D - Page, AZ
Barb - Duluth, MN
Kyra - Leawood, KS
Me! - El Dorado, KS
Suzanne - Seattle, WA (4th package from Suzanne!!)
Kate - Danville, KY
Anne and Mary - Firenze, ITALY (this package really blew me away coming from Italy and maybe it's my imagination but their squares SMELL SO GOOD!)
Adrianne - Everette, MA
Barbara - Ft. Lauderdale (2nd package!)
Mary Jane - Seekonk, MA
Maurine - Troy, MI
April - Los Alamos, NM
Mardeen - Cripple Creek, CO
Ann - South Bound Brook, NJ
Tammy - Yoakum, TX

WOW!  What a LIST!!  I think this is the biggest day we've had as far as number of packages received!  Thank you EVERY ONE!  These packages contained anywhere from 1 to 23 squares each!!  Every single square counts toward the goal and will be loved and appreciated by the families of Greensburg, Kansas.  Thank you!

Have a wonderful week and happy birthdays and satisfying challenges and all that good stuff.  See you again Tuesday with another square report.  :)

Weight Loss Challenge - Week 6

Hi Everybody!  It's Monday and wow, I'm really starting to like Mondays!  I have good news in the Weight Loss Challenge and Great news about the Greensburg afghan project, so let's get started!

Weight Loss Challenge (April 16 - June 15, 2007)
Beginning Weight:  213.5
Today's Weight:  206.5
Total Pounds Lost:  7.0
Pounds to go in short term goal:  13
Days remaining for short term goal:  25

Other participants in the Weight Loss Challenge are:

Kathy
Elizabeth
Britt
Ginny
Michelle

Please visit their blogs and give 'em a WAY TO GO!  :)

Rebuilding Greensburg - Block by Block

You would not believe what I saw when I got to the church this morning to pick up my afghan mail!!  I walked into the office and our church secretary had the biggest grin on her face and said "Look over here at what you got!" (or something similarly quotable)  I didn't have my camera so I took a picture when I got home.... there was so much mail it had to be put in a big SACK and brought to the church today!

Daily Square Report:

Today we got 52 new squares!  Can you believe that?  That brings our total number of squares received to 105 and the number still needed to 1015.  Thanks to everyone who sent squares!  We got some from Canada this time!  Yay!  It's exciting to see how this project is growing!  Today's 52 squares came from (in no particular order):

Margot - Vienna, VA
Dana - Winona, MN
Wendy - Briarcliff Manor, NY
Suzanne - Seattle, WA (2nd package!)
Margaret - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
The "B" Family, Seattle, WA
Elaine - Portland, ME
Anne - Bluffdale, UT
Barb - Duluth, MN
Julie - Kettering, OH
Christine - Reading, MA
Cheryl - York, PA
Gloria - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Tracy - Needville, TX
Suzanne - Seattle, WA (yes, this is her 3rd package!!!)

Thank you EVERYONE!!  I'm still getting emails from people who have just heard about the project and they worry that they're getting a late start - NOT SO!  We are knitting and crocheting squares until at least August 1st!

I am getting the Group Hug for Greensburg crochet block finished up and tweaking the pattern.  I hope to have it ready tomorrow and will try to have it available on a web page as well as having a printable .pdf version available.  I dyed the yarn and had my first block about 90% finished then decided the gauge was too loose.  RIPPPPP!  Then I didn't like the way one of my yarn colors came out.  Actually I'm not thrilled with ANY of them.  Five hand dyed colors - and they don't appeal to me?  How did they look so great in the LTL bag and NOT so great here?  Hmm.  Honestly I think I am trying too hard to make it matchy!  Silly me.  If the LTL bag experience has taught me ANYTHING it's that random contrast works great.  Still tweaking everything.  Hopefully pattern and photos tomorrow.

Jeff's Dad was moved to Intensive Care last night but when Jeff went to visit this morning and this afternoon he said that he seemed better than yesterday.  That's great news!  Hopefully the news will keep getting better.   Grandy is a faithful reader of my blog and I will be so happy for him to be well enough to read all of the well wishes from everyone!

Take care and have a great week!  :)

Weight Loss Challenge - Week 5

Hi everybody!  Let's get the Weight Loss Challenge out of the way first.  I will tell you that I was VERY excited to post about the Weight Loss Challenge.... until I got on the scale this morning.

We might have to get a new scale because I'm about to throw this hunk of junk out the window if it doesn't stop telling me LIES.  LIES I tell ya.  LIES.

I had a super awesome diet week.  Every day was better than the last.  I was drinking water.  I was eating well.  I was busy with the babies and didn't officially exercise all week but the pounds were falling off and the scale confirmed it every morning.  Yesterday morning I was down to 205.5!  YESSSSS!  I was doing the "I LOVE EVERYTHING" dance!  heh  Church was great yesterday - Jeff stayed home from work and did so much with the babies - I took a nap - it was a really nice Mothers Day.  Last night we had tacos for dinner... one of our favorite family meals.  Jeff and I joke with each other that we both always GAIN a crazy amount of weight the next morning on the scale after we have tacos for dinner.  Maybe that's because we're taco pigs?  I don't know.  Both of us were conservative with the tacos last night.  I had five.  I think he might have had only three.

This morning I was really looking forward to visiting the scale.  As I stepped on the scale Jeff poked his head out of the shower curtain to see my reaction.  I stepped on.  Stepped off.  Kicked the button again.  Stepped on.  He was holding his breath.  Stepped off.  On.  Off.  On.  Off.  I looked at him.  I looked at the scale.  I gained four pounds in a day.  In a DAY.  WHAT. IN. THE. WORLD???????

I said "I'm going to have to lie on the blog."  He tried to be encouraging.  I said "I'm giving up."  He said no I wasn't giving up.  I said again "I'm just going to lie on the blog.  They won't know."  He poked his head back inside the shower.  Ugh.  I can't lie on the blog.

So this morning I took the girls to the park after breakfast.  We had a nice walk, a nice time playing.  I'm drinking water.  I'm eating smart.  I'm not giving up.  But I am disappointed.  I'm nearly half way to my goal DATE but not half way to my goal WEIGHT.  So I'm still in it.  Just having to tell myself that it's not a good idea to do something terrible like eat a bunch of cookie dough or some other terrible diet busting thing like that.

Weight Loss Challenge (April 16 - June 15, 2007)
Beginning Weight:  213.5
Today's Weight:  209.5 (no change from last week)
Total Pounds Lost:  4.0
Pounds to go in short term goal:  16
Days remaining for short term goal:  32

Other participants in the Weight Loss Challenge are:

Kathy
Elizabeth
Britt
Ginny
Michelle

Please visit their blogs and give 'em a WAY TO GO!  :)

So how was everyone's Mothers Day?  Mine, as I have said a few times, was very nice.  Quiet.  Pretty weather.  We planted some flowers outside.  Jeff got me some flowers (I won't mention the candy for obvious reasons).  I got to take a nap.  Did I already say that?  heh  It's worth mentioning again. It was a nice day.  Our finches have a 2nd egg in the nest.

Last night Benny came down after I thought he was in bed and said he felt badly that he didn't have a Mothers Day gift for me so he wrote me this poem. 

A LOVING MOTHER:  Mother's Day Acrostic Poem
by Benny, age 15, May 13, 2007

Always there when times are hard

Loves me whether near or far.
Open mind and soothing eyes
Valued over any prize.
Involved in everything I do,
Never hateful in any way.
God's greatest creation I ever knew.

Making it fun to live each day.
Only wish I could begin
To know the position that she's in.
Helping me grow up to be a man, in
Every way she possibly can.
Remember Mom, I love you and always will.

Love,
Benny

A very nice way to end the day.  Benny gets his poetry talent from his dad.  I'm so proud of all the kids.  As the school year winds down they all three have all A's and B's.  I don't think there will be much of anything else that could damage their grades at this point - they all had a little bit of a struggle with a few C's over the past six weeks and they all worked hard to overcome that.  I'm very proud of how they have made friends and adjusted so well to the major life change of moving here to be with us.

In the Rebuilding Greensburg - Block by Block news.... things are starting to quiet down in my email in-box.  I have received many many private emails of support, asking questions, stating that squares are being knit and several knitting groups are making it a group project.  I'll tell a little more about some of those groups as their squares come in.

I have been giving a little thought to the size of this project and trying to decide where to go with it.  Will we just let it be what it is?  Yes, but now I think I want to set a goal.  The project has grown to proportions I never imagined and hopefully is bigger than my greatest imagination.  I have begun to wonder how many squares we will get - how many afghans will we make?  Rather than leave it to fate, I want to set a goal for afghans.  One afghan, if I make it 7x8 squares (56" x 64") will require 56 squares.  Ten afghans will be 560 squares.  Five hundred sixty.  Is that a lot of squares?  Yes.  Is that more squares than I think will arrive?  ....  Knowing the power of the worldwide knitting community, No.  Five hundred sixty is small compared to what I think is possible from knitters and crocheters out there.  Setting a goal is supposed to be slightly uncomfortable.  Supposed to stretch your limits.  Make you wonder if you can reach it - am I right?  So I decided to set a goal of 20 afghans.  That is 1120 squares.  I honestly hope that is a small number compared to what we will receive.  I think the potential is much greater than 20 afghans.  If the Red Scarf Project got 15,097 scarfs I honestly and truly believe that 1120 squares is a TINY number compared to what we can really do.  Incidentally, 15,097 squares would make 269 afghans.  Tell your Girl Scout troop.  Tell your Sunday School class.  Teach your kids to knit or crochet and have them make squares during summer break from school!  Tell everyone you know that feels the smallest bit of compassion yet doesn't know how they can make a difference.  This is a way to express in a tangible way to the people of Greensburg, Kansas that you care for them and send your best wishes for their successful recovery from this tragic event.

We have a few more FAQ's to add to the list so here they are.  I will also add them to the original post about the afghan project so that new people clicking on that link will find the most current information available.

What if my square is not exactly eight inches - is that okay?
Don't worry - send it anyway!  I have read many other afghan project organizers say that the squares they receive are all over the map in the size range.  This looks like it will be a big project y'all!!  That gives us the luxury to sort squares by size.  If your square is 7" or 7.5" or 8.5" or whatever, it will be sorted with other squares the same size so that when it's time to seam we won't have to worry about stretching or pulling ones into submission to conform with a larger or smaller square next to it.  Send what you have - we can use them all!

What needle size should I use?
Use a needle size that will give you a fairly dense fabric.  With worsted weight yarn that will probably be US 6, 7, or 8.  If your stitches are a little loose you could double the yarn or add something else as a carry-along to add a little bulk.  Two strands of sock yarn = worsted weight in most cases.  A sport or DK + one strand of sock yarn will work well too!

I don't knit but I do crochet.  Will you accept 8" crochet squares?
How could I possibly say no??  Please yes - if you only crochet and would like to send a square we will LOVE to receive your square(s)!  I have been contacted by several people who want to send crochet squares and it appears that we will probably have at least a few afghans made entirely of crochet squares!  Knit On! Crochet On!

Who will be seaming the squares into afghans?
Once we have received enough squares to sort into similar size categories I will begin seaming what we have and will also organize some of the ladies at our church to help with seaming as well.  The Knitting in Public group in Wichita is full of awesome ladies who are enthusiastically supporting this project too!!  Hooray!  We plan to have a knit night for knitting squares some time in June and will have a seaming night (or two!) too for those that would like to help out.

How will you decide who gets the afghans when they're finished?
At this point I know that if the church plan works the way they hope, the family we adopt (as a church, not my husband and I adopting a Greensburg family!) will receive at least one afghan.  Possibly a few small ones too if they have children.  I also hope to give afghans to the famlies of those killed by the storms.  I will learn more from the church and through the internet about agencies that are organizing support for the families of Greensburg and will contact those places to make arrangements for how the afghans will be distributed.  One thing to remember is that we won't necessarily know who receives the afghans we make.  The families in Greensburg deserve privacy and anonymity if they wish.  Due to that fact we probably will not receive a list of family names, etc.  Those lists will be organized and kept by official agencies like the Red Cross and United Way.  The churches of Greensburg will also know what families will benefit the most from the things we can send.  I will try to let you know more about these families as information is available but I don't expect to know too much about them myself. 

How many afghans are you making?
Watch the sidebar on my blog to keep up with the number of squares received and what our goals are.

I finished my 3rd square and have started on number four.  I'm also working diligently on the chemo cap that was to be Shedir but is now Odessa.  Whew.  I can't concentrate on the pattern well enough to make Shedir right now.  I'm so glad I thought of Odessa because the pattern is looking very nice with this Silky Wool.

Tomorrow I'll be telling about some of the Greensburg storm survivors that you probably won't hear about on the news.

Have a FABULOUS week and send in a square for the Greensburg project if you can!  I am excitedly anticipating a lot of squares!  SOON!  Yay! 

Weight Loss Challenge - Week 4

Good Rainy Monday Morning Everyone!!  I have a LOT to talk about here.

First - I'm not even going to take the time for my little weight loss chart today.  I weighed 209.5 this morning which is a success compared to where I was a few days ago.  It's half a pound heavier than last Monday but I'm okay with that for now.  My mid-week reality check slapped me into shape and I have been doing better about sticking to the meal plan at www.diabetescontrolforlife.com and also drinking at least 64oz of water per day.  I also haven't been drinking coffee for several days and that seems to help too.  I had one cup last night but other than that - nada.

Still not the most important thing of the day - I've made good progress on the Larger Than Life Tote and have pictures.  Do you love this fabric or WHAT?  I should be finished with the body of the bag this evening and will make the lining maybe tomorrow?  Depends on what else I have going on - not sure yet.  Here it is in pictures so far:

The fabric I chose is from Hancock Fabrics in their Quilting Shades collection - I think that's what it was called.  This is the "Rust" color but they also had brown and burgundy.  They all three looked great with these yarn colors so it was a hard choice!  Don't forget to prewash your lining fabric when you make this tote!  OH, and I picked two different zipper colors - one is Barberry and the other is Deep Purple!  I was really into the idea of using a contrasting zipper color when I read the caption on the designer's flickr set stating that she used a great BLUE zipper in the original bag.  Isn't that awesome!?  It really goes with the feeling of the color variations and having it be a jumble of contrasting yet complimentary colors.  I'm loving this pattern in every possible way!

I've taken a few pictures to do a little tutorial on hints and tips when making granny squares, which I think will be really helpful to anyone who is just learning to follow patterns, etc.  I know I'm constantly learning new things as I knit and do other types of needlework (though knitting is still my main squeeze!) so maybe there will be a helpful tips for those who already know how to crochet as well.  Watch for the tutorial in the next few days.

NOW for the most important part of this post.

Everyone on the planet seems to know about the tornado that destroyed Greensburg, Kansas on Friday night (local news coverage here).  It was a town of 1400 people.  Every church building was destroyed.  Every business on main street was demolished.  Every house was left shattered shredded and splintered.  I know that despite their hopeful outlook at the moment, many of the people and families will eventually feel shattered shredded and splintered because the road to recovery from a total loss like that is long and difficult.

Sunday morning our pastor told us that they had a signup sheet ready for volunteers and by the end of the day the signup sheet was full and there was a plan in place to select a family to help clean up their property then rebuild their home from the ground up.  We will know in about a week what family we are adopting and what their specific needs are - whether they have children, etc.

I can't go to Greensburg and help them clean up or build a house.  But I can do something that many knitters have done - I'm going to knit squares and assemble an afghan for the family.  I hope that you will help.

REBUILDING GREENSBURG - BLOCK BY BLOCK
What:  8" garter stitch squares knit from corner to corner on the bias
Fiber:  Wool or Superwash Wool - Worsted Weight
Color:  Any color - solid or variegated yarn

(please save image to your own computer, etc etc etc)

If you are interested in helping with this effort please email me for the address to send squares.  Ladies at church have expressed an interest in helping.  The finished afghan will be approximately 64" square (8 blocks long; 8 blocks wide).  If we collect more than we need for our adopted family there are plenty of families who would love to receive a hand knit afghan.

I will be asking if the ladies at church are also interested in collecting quilt squares.  There are quite a few quilters among them and I know there are also quilters among my knitting friends as well.  I was thinking of 12" blocks with a flower basket theme - you pick whatever pattern you like.  Let me know if anyone is interested in this idea.

Have a wonderful week and even if you can't help out with afghan squares please keep the Greensburg, Kansas families in your thoughts and prayers.

My button photo was used with permission from the photographer.  Her original photo and tribute to the families of Greensburg, Kansas can be seen here on flickr.

Weight Loss Challenge - Week 3

Happy Monday Everyone!!!  It's a very good day.  :)

I've had a really great weekend!  Saturday night we didn't get to go to our first choice restaurant.  Nor the second choice.  Not even the third or fourth choice.  It was Prom Night in Wichita!  There were kids lined up outside every nice restaurant in big frufru dresses and tuxedos with stretch limos out in the parking lots.  No way were we getting in.  So we went to Jason's Deli.  No problem with overeating or picking something bad for me.  Spinach Veggie Wrap was all I had to see and I was sold.  Didn't really fill me up much but I guess that's how it is on a diet, huh? 

Sunday was a fun day.  I won't go into the long background of this but we've recently started going to a new church after pretty much not going since we moved here two years ago.  We've visited a few but they just didn't feel quite right.  So we've been going to this new church for a few weeks now (actually Benny has been going on Wednesday night ever since we moved here) and I'm really loving it.  The people are awesome, the pastor is a good speaker, and the singing really makes me happy too.  I love singing in church and it's a good sign that we'll probably stick around when the singing makes me happy.  I talked to their Music Director last Wednesday night and found out when their choir practice is held.  I went to choir practice on Sunday evening and enjoyed that very much.  They were so nice and seemed happy to have me there.  And then following that was a Southern Gospel concert by Terry Hall.  The kids enjoyed the concert, the babies had fun in the nursery, and I was very happy. 

A few weeks ago when they announced during the morning service that they would be having a Southern Gospel concert I let out a little whoop!  Later on...

Katie:  Mama, you do not listen to Western Christian - what were you whooping for?
Mama:  It's not Western Christian, it's Southern Gospel.
Katie:  What's that?
Mama:  It's what our every day church music was in Texas.

Honest, we went to a sweet little church with an aging congregation (not necessarily a good thing for growth) and we sang old style church hymns.  It's still my favorite music, and this guy Sunday night sang plenty of the songs that we sang all the time at our church in Texas.  Leaving a congregation that I loved so much is part of what has made it hard to find a new church here.

Soooo.... enough Church Chat.  :)

Let's get on to this week's Weight Loss Challenge!! 

I finally got hooked up with www.diabetescontrolforlife.com and I'm really happy with it.  There was some kind of problem with my original registration - not their web site.  So I made a new user ID and that took care of all the problems. 

I got SO MANY nice suggestions in last week's post and links to various web sites with nutritional guides and articles about weight loss and heart health and lots of other great information about eating right.  I was going to make a chart of all the sites and their features but I decided I'll just focus on the ones that I found to suit the scope of my needs the best.  There were just two.  Diabetes Control for Life and Spark People. 

When I thought Diabetes Control for Life wasn't going to work I signed up with Spark People.  I REALLY like Spark People but their diet plan and menu suggestions weren't designed for people with diabetes.  So I was very relieved to finally get Diabetes Control for Life working.  Then I realized, Wow, they're nearly the same.  And I don't officially HAVE diabetes - I have pre-diabetes.  I'm still in a physical condition where losing weight and managing my food choices will, at the very least, delay diabetes if not prevent it all together.  SO - either choice is good, but if you have diabetes or are at risk for diabetes, I recomment Diabetes Control for Life.  Both sites are good and both are different.  Spark People has very sunny bright colors and motivational language on their site!  Diabetes Control for Life has very subdued and tranquil colors along with good articles regarding health.  Like I said, they're both great.  And if you don't care about having a diet menu provided for you that has adjustable calorie levels and a flexible food menu, there are TONS of other sites out there to try.  One of my runner-up favorites was www.thedailyplate.com.  I wasn't thrilled with the food journal but at a different time in my life it might have been just perfect!

Weight Loss Challenge (April 16 - June 15, 2007)
Beginning Weight:  213.5
Today's Weight:  209.0
Total Pounds Lost:  4.5
Pounds to go in short term goal:  15.5
Days remaining for short term goal:  46

Other participants in the Weight Loss Challenge are:

Kathy
Elizabeth
Britt (got married April 21 and is starting her WLC tomorrow!)
Ginny
Michelle

Please visit their blogs and give 'em a WAY TO GO!  :)

Yep - I've been knitting.  A bit of secret'ish knitting.  And I did finish sock #1 for my Hogwarts Sock Pal - oh this sock is SO SOFT!  People, I really have to dye up some of this merino/silk blend and share the squishy sock love.  It's absolutely divine.  Virtually undescribeable.  Is that really a word?  heh  The chemo cap is waiting quietly as you would expect - lobbing big fat guilt balls at me every time I look its way.  It's next.  Really really it is.  And then I must finish that vest for Dulaan which is cold and weak and poor I don't know how it manages to pitch big sloppy splatty guilt balls at me for leaving it to sit rather than finishing up its button band like a good knitter would.

We got our Sockapalooza 4 matchups today!  YAY!!!!  WOOHOO!!!  Oh no.  My pal doesn't have a blog.  *snap*

Have a wonderful week!  :) 

Weight Loss Challenge - Week 2

Good afternoon everybody!!  Happy Monday All Around!  The weather was beautiful here over the weekend, it's gorgeous today, and it is supposed to be rainy here tonight and tomorrow.  I wish these days in the mid 70's (F) would last all summer.  When I was a kid growing up in Michigan I remember wanting a suntan SO badly, and one summer the hottest day was 80.  With a cool breeze.  Jackets were needed for summer mornings but I wanted HEAT!  I think the summers have been warmer over the past 20+ years in Michigan but I'm not there any more.  Soon we'll be in the 80-90-100 degree days, so I'm enjoying days like this while they last.

SO!  This is week 2 of the Weight Loss Challenge!!  I've continued to stay in touch with a few of the other participants through comments and email this past week and so far it seems that we're keeping a good attitude.... o