Do These Shoes Scream Happy Birthday, or What?

I didn’t order these shoes for my birthday, but they arrived the day before, and they were the perfect way to celebrate! (They are Saucony Kinvara 3′s. My previous pair were Kinvara 2′s, so I knew I would like them before I ordered them.)

I had a great day, starting with breakfast with a good friend. A good friend, I might add, who was willing to split a breakfast with me! Score–one way to cut the calories a bit!

Went to the gym for a really good workout. I am only doing upper body exercises on the weights, and throwing in a few ‘core’ exercises as well. And I am doing HIIT on the bike now for a better aerobic workout.

Then it was off to the movies, where I saw “Life of Pi.” I will not say much about it, except that it kept me on the edge of my seat, and I have no idea how they got some of those shots with the animals. They looked real, not computer animated, but I don’t know how they did it. Anyway, if you can’t tell, that is two big thumbs up for that movie.

So it was a great day. I ended the day with one pre-planned piece of birthday cake, most worthy.

And today I went right back to my “diet plan.” I am so pleased with that.

Taking One Hat Off, Putting the Next One On

I do feel like I’ve been wearing a few too many hats the past few weeks, or actually, wearing one hat at a time, but switching them frequently! Here’s a few of the things I’ve been working on:

The Singing at Church Lady: that’s the hat I get to hang up. I was asked to sing at the ladies’ Christmas event. It wasn’t high stress, but it does take some work and it is kind of always there in the back of your mind. The event was last night, and it was a success. And best of all, I previewed all the homemade goodies, and I didn’t take one!

The Good Patient: Going twice a week to physical therapy and doing all the new exercises he gives me every day. I do think it is starting to make a difference.

The Art Quilter: I continue to work on the quilts for my exhibit coming up in January. I set myself a goal of creating 20 quilts for this exhibit, and it looks like I will be close!

The “Healthy Quilter Blogger”:  for a little while, that was consuming me. Now that we’ve got it started, and I have posted several times during Thanksgiving week, it will just be a post once a week or so. (This is for The Quilt Show online community.)

The Executive Assistant: I tell Wendy she is the President of The Bridge, our sponsorship program for the children of Carrefour Poy, Haiti. I guess that makes me the executive assistant. Whatever. It has been a busy week for The Bridge, and has involved some meeting, consulting, and writing. We are having a shoe drive to bring nice shoes with us for the kids. It will be fun to see them piling up under the Christmas tree at church! (We are going to Haiti on January. I’m not even THINKING about that hat right now!)

The Magazine Writer:  Yes! Related to the healthy quilter blog, I was asked to write one column for each issue of The Quilt Life Magazine. They have a cooking competition in each issue, and my job is to comment on that. So they each sent me their recipes, and I wrote about my take on them. And, I had to get a high resolution picture taken–that was the most stressful part. First, as I told my neighbor, make me look 40 pounds thinner. Second, could I even get a good enough pic for the magazine with my little camera? And third, who do I know that the dogs will be calm enough around that we can get a picture? So, as I mentioned, my neighbor who babysits the dogs was the perfect solution. I wanted a picture of me with the dogs on my lap while I was quilting, which is my real life almost every evening. I set my camera on ‘L’ so it would take the picture with the most pixels. Here’s the picture we got. I was very pleased with it. That’s not how the dogs are in real life. In real life they are all sound asleep under the quilt that I am working on. But it does the job. And I was so happy when the editor said that it would work! I kinda hope she knows a trick to get rid of the ghostly doggie eyes.

And lastly, the hat I am putting on today–The Seriously Dieting Birthday Girl! Yes, I am dieting–5 whole days-but you’ll have to wait for another post to hear about that. And today starts my birthday celebrations. But I have a definite plan food-wise for each day. If I veer off course, I will just pick up the Dieter Hat on Friday and continue on.

I think the best thing I am learning AS I AGE, when I have a lot going on, is a deeper understanding that I can only do what I can do. I don’t stress as much about ALL. THE. THINGS. I. MUST. GET. DONE. I just do them one at a time, as time allows. And I am okay with that. And you know what? Just as much, or more, gets done without the hurricane of worry and stress that we are so prone to put ourselves into.

And now, I must leave my Blogger Hat behind, put on the Birthday Girl Hat, and go out and celebrate!

The Birthday Season Ends, Now for the Rest of the Week

Oh my goodness.  As I told several of my friends, having this much fun is exhausting.   I do believe I will be satisfied with a simple single birthday celebration next year!  Two birthday lunches out.  I am very happy with the choices I made and how I stuck to the plan once I got to the restaurant.  Plus.  At Pinkberry, a small original with no toppings?  Go me!

Yesterday was shopping in addition to birthday eats.  Mostly I scored some great food items.  I left my friends at Home Goods and ran across to Trader Joe’s to get some supplies.  Got their gingerbread coffee, the only flavored coffee I still like.  Some almond breeze–I’m using a lot of this these days.  That egg nog protein smoothie is really good!  –205 calories and 33 grams protein!)  At Costco I got some blueberries and pears, some of that yummy goat cheese with cranberries on the outside, and some new little lettuces to try.  Cause tomorrow?  Another party!  This one is our sewing day party.  I am making a salad with the baby red and green lettuces, green onions, corn, mandarin orange slices, cranberries, and chicken, with an oriental ginger dressing.  Doesn’t that sound yummy?  My plan is to go heavy on the salad, and have ONE COOKIE.  Okay, you read it here.  Now hold me accountable!

Oh, I got two fun items.  Nabbed one of those lap desks at Costco–you’ll laugh–its to eat my dinner off of.  My BFF does this at her house and it is so convenient.  And, at the last store, Marshall’s, I was heading to the check out counter in a daze (I am really done shopping before 3pm, unlike the guerilla shoppers I was with) and I spied a technical shirt that looked very much like a swim shirt!  At $19, it was a heck of a lot cheaper than the $70 swim jacket that I had been contemplating.  Even if it doesn’t work for swimming, it will work great for mid-winter walks.  I bought it without even trying it on.  When I got home I tried it on and it fits and feels great!  Score!

I am still fitting in some exercise, although not to my stated goal.  With such a busy week, I am giving myself some grace.  That said, I think I will end this and get out for the long walk with Noah this morning.  Maybe I’ll give that technical shirt a try on dry land.  Swimming is on the agenda after the party tomorrow!