Busy Bee!

The title of this post is quite appropriate to the amount of work that my family and I have accomplished this weekend. The cleaning extravaganza began Friday evening. The weather was cooler, (thank the Gods for that one) and we began the monumental task of tackling the garage. We (as in the family) have not really been keeping to a cleaning schedule, nor do we really have much time too. There has been a lot of hurt feelings, frustrations, from the lack of clean spaces, clutter, and overall lethargy because we are just all exhausted by the end of the day.

So Saturday night the four of us, (Mom, Mikel, Kristen and I) sat out to begin cleaning the garage. I suppose we were all in a purging mood because we worked for about 4 hours Friday evening, clearing a lot of excess clutter out of the garage. We had to make room for a couch in the garage, since Mikel and I received two new matching couches and are using them in the living room.

So Friday night went fairly quickly without much to worry about. Saturday was a very long day. It started at 9 am and ended at about 8 pm with various breaks scattered between. We discovered the washer was pissing it's contents all over the floor, and molded over some of our sleeping bags, old bedding, and other possessions. Luckily we didn't really care and just started throwing it all to the curb.

Mikel ended up leaving some time around 12 pm to get the couches, and came back around 1:30pm meanwhile Mom and Kris were scouring the garage, and I was in the process of cleaning our (Mikel, Scarlett and I's) bedroom to make room for the armoire that was coming back in the room. Stopped to get lunch, then continued cleaning. After another few hours of cleaning, getting the couches in, Kris and Mikel set up Scarlett's toy organizer, and I put all of her toys in that. I finished cleaning and organizing the bedroom, and finally we stopped.

Sunday was a day of fun too! Mom (thankfully) agreed to watch Scarlett for us so Mikel could go tuxedo shopping with his dad, and I was able to get some much needed sewing done on our faire garb.

Faire Garb fix list:
* Velvet pants need lots of repair in crotch area.
-Solution: whip-stitching then bias tape.
*Resew tab back on too doublet.
*Find a shirt that fits my skinny boyfriend.

*Kirtle stays need to be shortened.
-Solution: Open up top of kirtle, snip stays, whip-stitch back together

*Red Over-Dress:
This one was giving Amy and I the sad face. :( I am still about 20 lbs heavier, but my kirdle fit fine. My hips are about 4 inches wider, and the beautiful Flemish over-dress we created was not lacing far enough in. We searched the basement for the yard or so scraps, but could not find it the same material. I found various yardage of every other costume I've ever made with her, but not the beautiful berry linen.
-Solution: 1/4 yard of gorgeous berry silk nearly identical in color added at the sides.
Now I have a beautiful over-dress again, and a complete costume!

I left Amy's about 6:40pm ran to get some sandwiches for dinner from Winco and ended up back home. Mikel put Scarlett down (she finally fell asleep about 8:30 pm) then I set to start reinforcing grommets on the over dress by covering them with embroidery floss. At about 11:30 we went to bed, then started the battle of Scarlett going to bed. Apparently she had decided that 3 hours was enough of a nap, and was up and wanted to play. Luckily mom was taking the day off anyway to deal with her car and she took Scarlett so Mikel and I could salvage some of the night and sleep. Went to bed at 1:30am, got up at 8. I was supposed to ride my bike this morning, but I was far to exhausted from the lack of sleep. So instead of the 32 miles this week it'll only be 24. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. :)

Anyway that is my update! Oh and my weight is back down to about 198-199. I guess stress is evil, and does mean things to my body. I'm hoping with all this biking that I will see some significant weight loss in the next few months. :)

Until later than!

Need Motivation

It's been about a week and a half since I last rode my bike, simply because I need to replace the inner tube on my back tire with one of those nifty goo inner tubes to battle the thorny sticker bushes.
On this note, I've gained a little bit of weight back. I'm back at 200-203 range depending on the day. I think part of it reflects just how crazy school has been, and trying to eat healthily, figure out the calorie intake that I need in order to bike back and forth, juggle other forms of exercise (currently none), and the heat.

It's probably partly a mood thing as well. I've been fairly self-conscious lately, and I've given in to some sweet treats. I need to not too, especially if I want to lose this weight and keep it off. Then again I've looked at how insane my class schedule is, plus studying time, I'm not sure how I plan to actually get my butt motivated to exercise. Zumba was a great motivator, except the fact that I'd bike home get home at 4:30, hope someone could watch Scarlett then get sweaty again an hour later, followed by tarot. PLUS Tuesday nights are big core in readings as well for school.

I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that I just may not have enough time right now, besides from eating decently and biking to take control of my weight loss like I initially intended. There does not seem to be enough hours in the day. Maybe things will change a bit when it's cooler outside.

I know that I don't look bad, I tend to feel better on an average day, it's just the nagging in the back of the head, "you used to look different... just 2 years ago" then again I remind myself that 2 years ago I was 175 and just found out I was pregnant... Yep fantastic. It's not actually all that much weight when I think about it, it's just getting it off... and keeping it off. 20 lbs isn't all that much in the grand scheme of things... it's just getting there when my body has decided it's comfortable at 200. :(

Well I don't know. I'm gonna try and get back on it next week, hopefully I can knock these last few pounds off that I gained and get back on the horse of losing weight.

 Mikel is awesome through my random emotional stages. He's really supportive, and I definitely fall in love with him more as each day passes. He's super positive, sometimes fairly sarcastic and makes me laugh daily on multiple occasions. He has made life much more pleasant and Scarlett absolutely adores him. That's a major plus.