Patriots Princess

Super Bowl XLVI!!!

2012-01-23T16:56:00.000-05:00

So! Excited! Already planning the big bash at my parents' house! Go Pats!

Must. Blog. Again.

2012-01-09T12:33:00.000-05:00

Wow! I can't believe the last post was when puddinhead was just a kitten. He's still with us, and the center of attention whenever possible. He's our baby.

Going to blog more this year. I swear.

Introducing Lucky, our newest family member

2009-08-31T11:35:00.003-04:00

This is Lucky, aka Puddintater or Puddinhead or Taterhead. Abandoned by his deadbeat barn-cat mother at a young age, we found him at a farm, underweight, with a respiratory infection, and having suffered severe eye trauma - without a doubt he was at death's door. Seven weeks later, after "passing" his 2nd feline leukemia test this weekend, he's officially here to stay. He's a loving, playful and happy little one-eyed kitten, who rides like an angel in vehicles, hangs out by campfires, and climbs screen doors like a champ. It's hard to recall what it was like without him.

Carolina Wrens

2009-06-16T20:57:00.005-04:00

Before:

After:

One step closer to being able to use our back door again!

Nieko, meet Hermie. Hermie, meet Nieko.

2009-06-12T13:35:00.002-04:00

Embedding a video from facebook of our new dog, Nieko, and snapping turtle, Hermie. :-)

Treadmill Research

2008-12-03T20:58:00.002-05:00

Haven't posted anything in a while - figured I might as well post my treadmill research in the event that anyone else (besides Laba2) asks about it.

SO many options/opinions. Keep in mind what Matt told me: you're never going to find one that someone doesn't have some sort of complaint about somewhere.

I was looking for one that I could jog on, 30-45 minutes, 3-4 times a week at 6-7 mph on a slight incline. I didn't care about bells and whistles in the computer or TVs/MP3 players attached or whatnot.

I used these sites to research:

What I found was that for jogging you want a minimum of 2.5 continuous horse power motor. Belt length is something else to consider if you have a long stride (I don't). And the heavier, the sturdier, the better.

I originally planned on getting the Smooth 5.45 for $1000, but ended up with a Smooth 7.1 HR Pro from Costco b/c it was $200 off last month ($1300 vs. $1500) and Costco provides in-home delivery AND set-up (although I think the set-up would have been easy to do ourselves). The major difference between the two is that the 7.1 is 2.75 horse power as opposed to 2.5, has more programs (hill, interval, etc), and is about 70 pounds heavier. Also, I've had good luck with Costco - although this wasn't the smoothest transaction ever. I'd do it again for the savings, but if you do end up getting one from Costco, let me know! I have some 800 numbers for you!

Honestly, I've only had it set-up for a week so far, but I do like it. It squeaks a little on an incline, just like the ones at the gym, but once I have music/TV set-up down there I won't even notice it. Other than that it's amazingly quiet. It has far more programs in it than I'll ever use. Power-incline is smooth. So far, so good and the warranty is decent too.

I did buy a mat to go underneath it, at Dick's $30. It's supposed to help keep dust out, provide extra cushion, and protect the flooring underneath. Figured it can't hurt, might help.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything that has decent reviews on that first link I sent above. They have reviews by brand so you can get a sense of the company/construction, or they have reviews by specific product too including weaknesses. Here's a good place to start on that site: http://www.treadmillreview.net/best-treadmill.html

Also, I got the impression that Soles and Smooths were comparable mid-price treadmills. Dick's carries a bunch of Soles, so you could always try them out in the store if you wanted. I can't remember exactly what I read about ordering from Dick's vs. Sole directly though - you might want to look into that as I think there was an issue with service from one vs. the other.

Long weekend, hopefully not with Lyme disease

2008-09-18T08:08:00.000-04:00

Of course, I had to go and poke fun of tick borne diseases in my last post. Now debating going to a doctor about the possibility of Lyme disease. I've been achy all week, headache on and off, stiff neck, and exhausted. No other symptoms as far as digestive or respiratory goes. Also, haven't found a tick on me or seen a bite rash. Bleh.

Anyway, this is the big weekend for the new camp! We went and removed the deck, packed up the glass, and blocked it down last Sunday and it is currently sitting safely in NH having made its journey from the south-west corner of CT yesterday. Mark and I are heading north tonight (where it's supposed to be 27 degrees F!) and with any luck we'll meet the mover coming off of I-91 first thing tomorrow morning.

The gravel pad is ready and the septic and electric lines are buried. Won't be in move-in condition by the end of the weekend, but one major hurdle will over. I just hope I have enough energy to enjoy it!

Missing VT

2008-09-03T23:05:00.002-04:00

5 1/2 years. Really? :-(

I miss VT. I miss the idea of hiking without deathly fear of "tick-borne diseases". I miss cool mornings and evenings. I even miss the clouds. I miss the mountains and the lack of traffic noise. I miss bitching to friends about my ridiculous life, in their offices. I miss office-gossip. I miss 2 hours to camp. I miss camp.

I miss VT. Only 278 more weeks. I'll be back. I swear.

I live in a nature show

2008-09-02T16:05:00.002-04:00

Mark got 12 minnows and 3 goldfish for Hermie today. 10 minnows, 2 goldfish, and the 2 survivors from the first batch remain. Hermie slinks around like a cat stalking them. Sometimes he takes the "rock approach". It's disturbing. Can't. Look. Away...

Turtle Condo

2008-08-31T17:51:00.003-04:00

We adopted a new turtle, Ming-Ming, this weekend from friend. She came in a 5-gallon tank, which we upgraded to a Hermie's old 10-gallon tank, then set the tank into Hermie's 50-gallon tank to make a new turtle condo. It works out well because Hermie likes darkness and Ming-Ming likes light. The are both much happier now.

The best part about Ming-Ming is she's nice and can come out to visit. Jazzy just loves her. (Don't worry, Jazzy was just curious and it didn't even phase Ming-Ming)

Twin Fawns!

2008-08-13T12:23:00.001-04:00

And they were just about to come up to the apple tree when Hobbes shook his head and the tags on the collar jingled... even though he was inside they house, they darted off in a chorus of snorts.

Road Trip!

2008-07-28T17:23:00.001-04:00

I'm actually looking forward to the upcoming road trip.

View Larger Map

Unfortunately, there won't be much (any) time for sight-seeing and we will be towing a trailer (so no short cuts through the Adirondacks :-( ), but it will still be a road trip (aka scheduled down time with my sweetie). And, when it's all said and done, Turbo will have a backhoe for this tractor, Lorraine will have her new-to-her wood stove, and Mark will have a riding lawn mower to tinker on. Oh, and we must not forget the third deer head (Mr. Victor Jenkins) for the living room (joining Oscar and Billy), thereby securing Mark's presence in the household redecorating efforts. (Sad part: Victor's head cost nearly as much as my new couch and he's not nearly as comfortable to sit on.) :-)

New Couch!

2008-07-24T10:43:00.004-04:00

	Before
	After - Mark style
	After - Lee style :-)

Weekend of Processing

2008-07-21T12:25:00.003-04:00

The garden is overflowing with veggies. Mostly summer squash and beans, with cukes and tomatoes on their way. With the hot, hot, hot weekend, we spent quite a bit of time, indoors, processing food. We did 6 quarts of dilly beans a week or so ago and then this weekend we turned this:

into these:

We also took a loaf of zucchini bread and some cukes and squash to Shoreline Soup Kitchen dinner in Chester yesterday.

Wasps and Decks

2008-07-16T10:27:00.001-04:00

This:

is keeping this:

from finishing this:

Zits & Wrinkles - Note to Self

2008-07-11T19:45:00.010-04:00

Dear Body,

You're 30 years old now, and you have a choice to make: zits or wrinkles. Pick ONE and stick to it. You can go the adolescent route and give me all sorts of grief with acne on SMOOTH skin. Or, you can go the middle-age route and give me crows-feet and smile-lines on CLEAR skin. The choice is yours. While I was willing to tolerate your indecisiveness in your twenties, I simply will not accept both at the same time any longer.

I appreciate your prompt attention and quick resolution to this matter. Should you have any issue with this request, please direct it to Mother Nature. Hey, I don't make the rules, I just want you to start following them.

Yours truly (no pun intended),
~Lee

Wordle.net

2008-07-10T17:42:00.000-04:00

Finally got a chance to check out wordle, the cool tag cloud art generated by IBM's own Jonathan Feinberg.

I made this one is for John and Phyl, in celebration of their new tats!

And this one is for Mom and Erin, seeing as training camp is just a couple weeks away!

Detaching the Porch at Camp

2008-07-09T18:07:00.003-04:00

So, major decisions about my camp need to be made. The options are endless, limited only by time and money: rebuild entirely, start building next to existing camp, rip it down and bring in a house trailer, build a guest-house with a bathroom and use as is, or try to save the camp. We decided to try and see if we can save the camp, for a few more years at least, and then build a small bunk house with a bathroom. Terry had a contractor come look at the site, to see if it would be possible to jack-up the camp. He thinks it is, but said to take the porch off first. So, that's what we did this past weekend, with the intent of reattaching it later.

The Great Porch Removal Project from Lee Ives on Vimeo.

Back from Mini-cation

2008-07-09T11:17:00.002-04:00

Guess I should be happy it wasn't one of those new, trendy 'stay-cations' and that we could at least afford to go up to camp for a few days. Ah, camp. I miss it already. I don't recall ever having such perfect weather. Photos coming later tonight.

A Deer!

2008-06-26T13:10:00.007-04:00

Normally I'd never be so excited to see a deer in CT. I mean, it's like a petting zoo around here come fall when Mark puts out corn for them (yes, it's legal in zones 11 & 12 - the population is out of control).

They've been hiding out in the woods with their fawns for weeks. I was hoping this one would have a baby with her, but if she did, it was well hidden in the brush. She looked pretty thin to me - like she should eat a sammich or two.

She let Hobbes and I get check her out for quite some time while she licked up salt out of the stump before snorting loudly and bounding off.

Rain water tank

2008-06-19T18:25:00.004-04:00

How clever is my boyfriend?! Really. I mean, he has what appears to be junkyard crap all over his yard, and has at least one good use for each and every piece of it, but not enough time in the universe to pursue every one. But this time he really followed through. He took a commodity tank from a friend of a friend of a friend of Agway and made it into a rain water tank!

Now why would you need a rain water tank, one might ask? Well, apparently, way down here in the deep south, wells can run dry during a drought. While this is very rarely heard of in the cool, lush hills and valley of the glorious Green Mountains, it is quite common in CT. What is also quite common in CT, is the need to water gardens during droughts. So, in the spirit of conserving water, we can now use the rain water tank to water the garden during droughts. And really, the possibilities are endless: use it to flush toilets during power outages, wash muddy bare feet off before coming inside, the list goes on and on...

Here's the simple design:

Rain falls on the roof
Rain flows into the gutter
Gutter spout flows into the tank
Tank has valve at the bottom to which you can connect a hose

That's it! It's all gravity fed. And here's the good news: he has ANOTHER tank, so he can collect rain from both sides of the roof! (He has lots of extra gutter spouts lying around, of course.)

While you might have sensed a degree of sarcasm in all this, I have to say, in all seriousness, I am impressed. We had a 0.5" rain storm yesterday, which yielded a foot of water in the tank (you can see the water line in the photo below). So, being the smartass that I am, I asked Mark, "If he hadn't collected that water, wouldn't it have ended up in the well anyway?" Short answer: No.

"In heavy storms, most of the water from the roof ends up going down the driveway."

Not being convinced of the practicality of it all, I asked, "Why does your well go dry anyway? Is it dug or drilled?"

"It's drilled, but it's only 80 feet deep."

Gotcha. So that puts an end to that. I'm impressed. And with produce prices going the way they are, I'm happy I'll always have water to use to keep our garden alive!

Side note: Mark's only online presence is facebook. Go ahead and friend him! Tell him you read about him on my blog - it'll make him smile. He's an interesting, and very clever, guy! And I love him to death!

Simplify.

2008-06-19T08:00:00.004-04:00

This article on dumpster diving by choice is long, but if you can make it through it all, it's pretty interesting. It illustrates an extreme I don't relate to but the undertones of voluntary simplicity struck a chord. Lately I've found myself overwhelmed with 'stuff' and am making an effort to simplify. It seems I'm not alone! As habitual consumers it's not an easy thing to do, especially when you've been accumulating for years or decades.

So, how do I get rid of stuff? I've been a fan of freecyle for some time now. The concept is simple: freecyclers post things online that they're giving away, no strings attached, and other freecyclers pick them up. I may not be the most active freecycler, but I have scored a few items (including roofing paper in photo above to redo the shed roof with - we really do need it, and it will get used!) as well as gotten rid of a few things, and done it quickly. Another article, 10 Tips on how to be a 'freecylcler', outlines the following rules for freecyclers

1. Know how to begin.
2. Brace yourself for a deluge of e-mail.
3. Check out other recycling groups as well.
4. Mind your manners and attitude.
5. Show respect in your postings.
6. Keep it legal, honest and clean.
7. Stay safe.
8. Don’t leave people hanging.
9. Examine items carefully.
10. Decide how to handle multiple responses.

Another way I get rid of things are to pack them away in boxes labeled 'yard sale' and put them in the garage, basement or attic. Then, when enough boxes of stuff are stored, I call my mother and have her run a yard sale for me. :-) I find it easier to get rid of my things when I'm not the one actually doing it. Another advantage of a yard sale is that you go through what you've packed away and can pull out anything you've had second thoughts on. It makes packing it away easier in the first place and I'm surprised by how much I don't pull out to save. Another bonus on a yard sale? You usually end up with enough money at the end of the day for a kickass dinner out.

With clothes, I again enlist the help of my mother. I put them all in a box and she sorts them - some go straight to the Salvation Army or Goodwill, others she takes to one of a couple second-hand shops she frequents (Swirl in Putney is one, Talula's in Willmington is another). She makes a decent amount of cash at 2nd hand shops, but it does take some time to make sure everything is clean and pressed, as well as to learn all the rules each shop has regarding appointments for dropping things off, how the money is split, how many items you can bring in, etc.

The last place I get rid of stuff is the drop-off station at the dump. It's better for smaller household things. It's safe, it's quick, it's easy. And if none of those options work for you, there are other ones as well - donating to big yard sales where the proceeds go to a non-profit or donating to independent non-profits such as Recycle North or Twice Blessed.

It's not easy for me to simplify, but I'm trying. "Do I really need it? What else do I already have that I can use instead?" Moving into Mark's house has helped, as we're simply limited in space. I'm going to start a 'wishlist' of items that I want but don't want to buy new, and then keep my eyes open. I do agree with something that was said in the dumpster diving article: things have a way of falling into your lap. And if they don't, perhaps I don't actually need it! Less is more. 'Less' means fewer things to maintain, fix and keep track of, and it means less to clean, sort and keep organized. Less time and money spent on 'stuff' means more time and money spent on 'life'. Simplify.

Turbo and Lorraine's 40th Anniversary Weekend

2008-06-17T15:59:00.002-04:00

This past weekend we made a flying trip up to camp for Mark's parents' 40th Anniversary party that Mark and Paul threw at the Hidden Country restaurant. We brought Shirley with us, Mark's neighbor, which made for a fun and never-dull weekend! Terry's mother, Lorraine's sister and brother in-law, Stub and Phyllis and Roger Stewart all attended.

We also found time to stop by Walt's, Bill's, and the Cow Palace for some signatures on the petition to leave Holland Pond as is. Saw Ed's Spyder Roadster at Walt's - he's planning to sell them next year.

Unfortunately I was too fried by Sunday afternoon to take photos at Bethany's graduation party... bummer. I still gotta get better with the camera!

So, the weekend flew by, spent a total of 13 hours riding in a car and didn't spend a lot of time at camp :-(. But I think these baby Robins were happy with that - they had made a nest in the entry way to Mark's camp, so we used his back door the whole weekend. Hope they all make it. Will have an update after a long July 4th weekend up there!

Plurk

2008-06-07T01:51:00.004-04:00

Just not sure about this plurk thing. I mean, yeah, twitter sucks right now, but somehow (and I can't put my finger on it, exactly), I feel like plurk has insulted me. Twitter never did that.

<sigh>

I miss twitter.

Peonies are blooming

2008-06-04T17:15:00.006-04:00

Just a quick post to show off the peonies in the rock garden (and how awesome picnik as is demonstrated in the below before and after shots).

NASTY Cedar-Apple Rust

2008-06-04T15:19:00.003-04:00

by leeives

Ewwwwwww!!!! So, so gross! So gross. Yuck. phhhhhh.

It's been raining all day and I can barely stand to look outside. There are thousands of orange octopuses in the red cedar trees. Apparently it's called Cedar-Apple Rust, and it's bad. And gross.

More photos of it here.

LOVING tumblr.com!

2008-05-30T19:11:00.004-04:00

I think micro-blogging might be more my style and I LOVE tumblr.com! Check mine out. It automatically takes feeds from this blog, as well as twitter.

Off to the garden to plant the peppers, cukes and tomato plants we just bought. Will try to post photos this weekend.

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-29T07:03:00.009-04:00

Had a great holiday weekend! Good time at Trevor and Marie's on Friday. Despite Trevor's and my intention of getting "snot-slinging, elbow-scraping drunk", we had a relatively calm evening visiting with each other (and with the pigs and chickens!). One of their cats, Lefty (of "Poncho and Lefty" fame) was missing which was a bit upsetting to those of us who love cats (namely, NOT Mark or Marie). Turns out he was stuck up a tree and rescued by Uncle Bruce on Saturday.

Oren's Bar Mitzvah was a blast! It was a great evening for a cruise on Lake Champlain, great food, great company, and it was wonderful to see Gerry, Mary Jean, Oren and Flora after so many years! Oren is such a cool kid - can't believe he's 13, I still think of him as the 4 year old I spent so much time with! Wish I had gotten more (and better) photos!

The Vermont City Marathon was fun too, even though Matt was unhappy with his time (2:56). Gorgeous morning to enjoy Bruegger's on Church St and a morning out in the sun.

We spent Sunday evening up in the Islands at Matt's parents' camp for a BBQ on the lake. We saw a beautiful sunset on the way back, even though there was a couple having a heated argument on the beach, making it quite uncomfortable to be taking the photos (but obviously didn't stop me!).

Spent ALL DAY packing the truck and trailer FULL with my stuff to move down to CT.

Got most of it (unbelievably)... now just to UNpack!!! Got the clothes started, but already running out of room and we haven't even touched the rest of the stuff! Yikes!

Photo-less entries must go!

2008-05-22T07:10:00.003-04:00

I know. How many times before have I said I need more photos?! But one camera is in VT (and I am not), another's battery is about to die and charger is with aforementioned camera. So, soon. Getting the rest of my stuff from VT this weekend!

I'm in CT officially now. Working on new job, officially. You'd think with all this "official" I wouldn't feel so disorganized and entirely unsettled. Was in Somers all day yesterday - productive meetings, met my new team leader, Norb, and am feeling like I understand the new job a little more.

I'm changing the ticker to track the number of times Mark and I jog/walk before his doctor's appointment mid-June. We're (I'm) aiming for 12. If we're making good progress as it approaches I think I'll suggest rescheduling it (shhhhh!). His blood pressure is high - generally around 150ish/90ish - needs to come down significantly.

Looking forward the long holiday weekend.
Thursday evening - head to Linda and Buzz's in Dummerston, VT for dessert and lodging
Friday morning - head to Bradford, VT - Lee will work, Mark will help Trevor
Friday evening - dinner with Trevor and Marie then crash there
Saturday morning - head up towards Burlington, VT - Lee has appointment
Saturday evening - Oren's Bar Mitzvah (I'm officially OLD) - crash at Matt's
Sunday morning - Matt's marathon - GO MATT! GO MATT!
Sunday evening - ???
Monday - pack up my crap and drive back to CT!

Sunday blues

2008-04-27T23:27:00.002-04:00

Weekend's nearly over, but a good one. Beautiful weather! Ate WAY too much food. In the past three days I've had meals at the following:

Big Chile Republic - Colchester
The Bagel Market - Essex
Tiny Thai Restaurant - Essex
Michaels on the Hill - Waterbury
Trader Dukes - South Burlington

Needless to say, I have a lot of salad-eating and jogging coming up this week. In VT through Thursday then heading to CT for the weekend.

Ice off the Pond

2008-04-23T22:15:00.002-04:00

Mark heard from his Mom that today is the day the ice is officially off the Pond. Although, on my drive up this morning there was still snow in the shaded corners of the fields in Randolph and atop Camel's Hump and Mansfield.

Short post - tired. Sleepy... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Forbes Article

2008-04-23T12:12:00.002-04:00

Sweet article about IBM, and some of the stuff I'll be working on soon! IBM's Webbie World

The Luiz Suarez they talk about was at the Web 2.0 Summit I attended last week in NY - he's a pretty cool guy!

OMG, I have a COMMENT!!!!

2008-04-22T21:41:00.000-04:00

Someone, nash, commented on my last post! That's just crazy!!!

Anywho. Thanks nash!

BIG changes: new job, new home, new roommate. I've taken a job with IBM Corporate working on collaborative software in Web 2.0 technologies! Too cool. Huge challenge. Very exciting. It will allow me to work from home, and thus, make my home East Haddam, CT, living in sin with Mark (err, "keeping company with" as Edie might say). All this is effective May 15th. So much to do, so little time.

So, as blogging (and Wiki-ing and Twittering, oh my!) is a huge part of Web 2.0 and collaborative software, I'm going to stay in touch with all my friends back home with this blog (and yes, of course, still Facebook and Scrabulous!)

So, to put you all to the test, give me some comments on the following questions:

1. Blog name (Patriots Princess) - keep or change? Still haven't recovered fully from that awful, awful night. Feb 3rd, 2008. So sad.

2. What should I have up top for a new ticker, now that my divorce is old news?

3. So what do you think is worse?
Having to watch out for this:

causing this (yes that's my wrist):

or this thing sucking your blood:

But really, CT isn't all that bad. For instance, I saw my first Bluebird here today, since I was a kid.

I'm on the road at 4:30 A.M. tomorrow. Which means, time to hit the sack!

An Official Divorcee

2007-09-25T20:12:00.000-04:00

PO box had the notification that as of Sept. 18th, Todd and I were officially divorced. All we have to do is send in our acceptance, which I have done already and Todd will do soon.

Whew.

Tired, happy, sad and... at a loss for words. Gonna call it a day and see what tomorrow brings!

:-)

So tired

2007-08-28T11:13:00.000-04:00

SO tired. But on vacation next week and at least I don't have the burden of going to my old house to get my stuff anymore. That's over with. Yard sale was a success. Moving on. A little sad. Not sure when I'll see this one again... miss her at times. But no one ever said life was easy.

T-Minus One(ish) Month

2007-08-13T19:56:00.000-04:00

So tired. Big yard sale week coming up... Should be SO much happier a week from now.

It's starting to feel like fall already - something has changed in the air.

Weight ticker has been replaced!

2007-06-13T17:34:00.000-04:00

I now have a Divorce Ticker. And a new profile photo. Surreal.

How to post without saying too much. It's been quite the ride for the past 3 months. Bit of a roller coaster. Good thing I LOVE roller coasters - the emotional ones not as much as the Cedar Point ones - but still better than the emotional drought I've been in for way, way too long. Overall, life is good, complicated but good.

Drank too much last weekend - Mom's retirement party. It happens. Don't want it to happen again for a little while at least - maybe until the week of the 4th. I'm excited to spend that entire week at camp! Can't wait! And what time is it at camp? Beer-thirty. But until then, I think I'll take breather. Actually deal with my life a little. I've actually been pretty good - only a handful of times I've felt like too out of control since March 13th. And, well, a handful of times before that too!

Anyway, housesitting my former home for the rest of this week. Hope Chad will help me get furniture out tomorrow night - borrowing John's truck. That will be a huge relief. We'll see how much other stuff I get accomplished. The goal is to get the furniture, anything else would be icing.

Spring Cleaning!

2007-04-06T08:57:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I last posted. Been busy.

Notice the weight ticker!!!! I now officially weigh less than I did in high school! :-) how'd I do it? Answer: Spring cleaning! Took a good, long look at my environment and spent some serious time getting rid of the clutter. Got rid of a lot of stuff, including a husband who's never been in love with me. We both deserve so much more.

Life is good. Todd is fine. We're still friends, just as we've been for the past seven years. Lee is happy.

Here's a photo of the last snowmobiling weekend of the season - we had a big storm and some great riding (St. Patty's Day weekend).

Weekend Photos

2007-02-23T12:18:00.000-05:00

I finally got the photos from last weekend. Here are a couple of good ones.

So, I'm heading up again this afternoon. Leslie wasn't able to get a new belt for the snowblower so we'll be doing some shovelling to get the trailer unburied. She needs the trailer because...

I SOLD THE GREEN MACHINE!

So excited that it's taken care of! I sold it a coworker of Leslie's. Pretty sure he's the prick who blamed me when a board was ruined the summer I worked there. It wasn't my fault - it was ruined LONG before the board reached me for punching - but he wouldn't even listen. Royal @*#$&. BUT, his kids will be excited and they should get something good for having to put up with having him as a father. Anyway, Leslie is bringing it down to him on Monday and getting the cash for me! So glad to have it taken care of AND he wants it as is. So, I knocked $200 off the price and now I don't even have to worry about reparing it! Woo hoo!

Mom is still here - helping clean up some. Dinner was amazing last night. She also gave me some presents - Patriots tablecloth and plates for tailgating and a barn jacket (for the barn!).

I started work early this morning, so I'm going to do Y!F at 3:00, then try to get on the road by 5:00. Should be a low-key weekend. I plan on enjoying the snow!

OK, lunch break is over. Back to work - I plan on doing another weigh-in next week.

TGIAF!

2007-02-22T11:13:00.000-05:00

I can't wait to go up to camp this weekend! I think both my aunts are going - Leslie and Vicki. Should be fun. Unfortunately my Cabela's order isn't scheduled to arrive until next Tuesday... it's in Illinois now. I ordered some warm stuff that I want to try when riding.

Did 30 min. of Y!F yesterday. Didn't have any more time than that since we had planned to meet Alena and her new beau out for dinner at American Flatbread (YUMMY!). The aerobics really kicks my ass... so much jumping. I'm taking today off - well deserved rest - and planning on doing an hour tomorrow before heading to camp. I've stopped weighing myself because it keeps going UP!!!! I'll try again next week.

My Mom is taking Todd, Chad, Lana and me to The Alchemist tonight. I've decided I pretty much love any of the restaurants that are part of the Vermont Fresh Network (EXCEPT LUENIGS!!!!!). She's also picking me up for lunch and we're going to go shopping for snowpants. Peter Glenn closed in Essex and none of the snowmobile shops have non-bib pants (I hate bibs). So, I'm going to check out Dick's.

So Tired!

2007-02-20T10:45:00.000-05:00

I'm SO tired! What a (sleepless) weekend! Will post photos with more details later when I pull them off my camera.

Good news: Did 60 more minutes of aerobics with Y!F last night. As expected, she kicked my butt. I didn't tell her it was easy this time!

Bad news: I weigh more than I did before the weekend (now 143.6), despite all the shovelling and riding on CRAPPY trails that I did.

So, I did exercise yesterday and that's good - hope to continue the trend with 30 min. on the bike tonight. Actually, I may just get my exercise by shovelling the banks of our driveway back. My mom is coming up either tomorrow or Thursday (she's on school vaca), so we really should get the driveway under control. My eating has been under control too. There's still a remote chance I might put on my bathing suit in FL in a month.

Finally: Y!F

2007-02-15T19:08:00.000-05:00

So, I finally did Yourself!Fitness today! It was good - told her I wanted her to increase the intensity next time, so I'm fully prepared to get my ass kicked. I was breathing pretty hard though. Used the step I just got from Walmart, but have decided I need more space downstairs. Time to down-size. We had a huge snow storm the past couple of days. Over 2 ft snowfall and 3 ft drifts around the house. So, I've been shovelling for exercise until now.

Last weekend, Leslie and I did 250 miles on the snowmobiles. I'm picking Kim up at the airport tonight (9:30 delayed to 10:30) and taking tomorrow off. AND... I BOUGHT A "NEW" SNOWMOBILE THIS WEEK!!!! See the photo! I'm so excited. It's got quite a few miles - 6000, because the previous owners travelled in Canada a lot. It used to be their late son's machine. I checked the obits online and he died in March 2004 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound... I didn't know that at the time I bought it, otherwise I would have told them about Jason. Their son was 28 when he died - graduated from UVM in 1997 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I surely saw him around campus. So sad. Makes me think of Jason. But, I'm giving the machine a good home. It's a 1-up and 600cc which is 100 more than the '94 Indy Trail Deluxe (2-up) that I have (and currently needs to go to the shop!). So, I'll be selling the '94 after I get it fixed.

Really, the only bummer is that I lost the Orvis hat that Tracie and family gave me for Christmas... and I LOVED it. It must have fallen out of the truck in Barre (where we picked up the machine) and with the huge snowstorm we just had, got plowed into a snow bank :-( Totally bummed.

OK, well gotta go get showered and finish packing... OH! On Tuesday I was down to 143.4. Forgot to weigh myself the rest of the week, but will be sure to do it next week - hoping for less than 143!

Still bad

2007-02-09T15:11:00.000-05:00

2100 calories yesterday! And no exercise. I jumped on the scale last night just for fun. I only count morning weigh-ins, so it wasn't official, but it wasn't good!!! Oh well. I'm feeling fat in my jeans today, so I WILL ride the bike before leaving for camp tonight!!!! No weigh-in until Monday a.m. now... hopefully will be enough motivation to be good at camp this weekend.

Todd's going with me this weekend, and Leslie. Not sure if anyone else will be up there or not. Next weekend is girls' weekend! I think I'm going to look for new snow pants this weekend - my Mom is getting me some for my birthday.

So, hopefully I'll have good news on Monday - maybe even drop a pound!

Bad, bad, bad

2007-02-08T14:32:00.000-05:00

Ooohh - so bad this week. My calorie intake actually hasn't been bad... until yesterday. We went to the Kitchen Table with John and Phyl. So yummy! But, my calories and fat were WAY over (2400 cal.). It was my own fault - could have done a lot better, but oh well. I haven't improved much today - eating cookies for breakfast and having pastries at a meeting, but I can still meet my goals for today so we won't call it a failure yet. Heading to lunch after I post this.

The biggest failure is how I haven't exercised since Monday :-( Bad, bad, bad. Y!F isn't here yet. I've been tired, I've been busy. Same old excuses. Tonight we're babysitting Macy until 8:30... perhaps there's a remote possiblity I could ride the bike after that?

I'm especially tired today after getting called at 2 a.m. by work, and then for fuming for an hour or so afterwards... but that's not something we need to get into here.

Here's hoping I have something good to post tomorrow. We head up to camp tomorrow - NEK is looking prime for riding: Island Pond Weather.

New DDR mat?

2007-02-06T10:03:00.000-05:00

I found my DDR mat creased when I went down stairs to set it up. :-( It still works - most of the time. The "up" arrow sometimes doesn't work (usually when I'm about to pass a song, of course) and it got pretty frustrating. I put a ream of paper on it, with a stack of magazines on top of that - maybe it will flatten out enough. If not, Todd said he'd buy me a new mat instead of the makeup brush he still owes me from Christmas.

I'm not convinced that I got the best workout with DDR, but I feel pretty good about it anyway. At least I got moving a bit. I feel a lot more motivated after starting DDR - I find myself wishing I was better at it so I could do more challenging songs for a better workout. I tried using the workout mode, but I find it a little unsatisfying for some reason. My plan for tonight: do one course of workout mode, then go back to that damn song I couldn't pass last night, and keep trying until I'm sick of it. Then upstairs for 30 min. on the bike (while watching TV, of course) and hopefully some upper body toning with hand weights.

What I really want to do is break down and buy a nice treadmill like Matt's. There are so many problems with that idea though: there's not enough room for one in our house, it's not in the budget (especially after the 50" Plasma)... but I want one. New plan! I'm going to give Y!F a try and also continue with some DDR and staionary bike through the rest of winter. Maybe I'll even get out on some snowshoes at some point. Then if I really want a treadmill, I'll have to prove it to myself (and Todd!) by jogging outside through the summer. If I can manage to do that, then I'll revisit the treadmill idea in September.

Turns out I was right on about how much I weigh: 147 (well, 146.8 this morning). I re-did my weight goal on Spark People this morning and as it turns out, the most aggressive plan they'll allow (2 lbs/week) puts me at 135 on the exact day we leave for Sanibel! Coincidence?!?! Probably :-) but it sure would be nice, especially if Todd's mom is able to bring the bridesmaid's dress down for me to try! The new plan also puts me at 143 for President's Day weekend when Kim will be up for snowmobiling - I'll be happy with anything under 145.

Mandy just emailed about me not making it to her bachelorette party - she's completely understanding, and I'm completely relieved! I'm not a very good bridesmaid, but I'm doing the best I can. I'm just lucky she's the complete opposite of Bridezilla!

Gaming exercise

2007-02-05T16:32:00.000-05:00

Gotta shed a couple of inches... for many reasons including

1. More comfortable while snowmobiling
2. Won't mind packing swim suits and shorts for Sanibel trip 3/21
3. Fit into bridesmaid dress for Matt and Mandy's wedding

But too cheap and unmotivated to join a new gym (Junction Fitness closed :-( ). So, found this article today on gaming exercise, and went online and purchased Yourself! Fitness. I already have DDR, so I'll stick to that until Y!F arrives. I have no idea how much I weigh right now, but I do know I don't want to be seen in my long johns at camp, and that's a problem! Anyway, I'm adding a weight ticker - guesstimating 147 for now.

So, tonight, I have to clean up the basement a bit and set up my DDR mat again. Before Y!F arrives, I need to go out to the garage, find the unopened yoga mat I have, ask Todd to blow up my fitness ball, find the LTT (and blow the dust off), and the hand weights - must find the hand weights!

I also plan to start tracking nutrition again at Spark People. That's what jump started my everything the last time I was in shape.

Just kidding - I LOVE the Patriots organization!!

2006-09-06T17:41:00.000-04:00

So, a lot has happened since I last posted... most notably, I DID get Pats tix to ALL the home games - SRO tix, but still very happy about it. Todd and I are heading down to the season opener this Sunday vs. the Bills, although we have damn good seats for this game that we received as a wedding present. Oh yeah, we got married. August 19th at our house - big tent, DJ, open bar... had a BLAST. It was SO much work that I'd never want to do again, but it paid off in the end and I think (hope) most people had a good time. Only a few snafus... nothing too major... caterer ran out of salad (not impressed with that) and wine early on and vodka a few hours into it. It was like they hadn't done this before (but they have, many times). Two things kept me from flying off the handle - price (was VERY reasonable) and the fact that they didn't run out of food in general and they didn't run out of alcohol. People still found stuff to eat and drink. Other than that - DJ was perfect, weather so-so. It rained the day of, but stopped just in time for the outdoor ceremony, then rained again later. After everyone packed up and left, a few of our closer friends stayed and hung out until 4 a.m. We left for camp Monday and stayed up there relaxing the rest of the week - it was fantastic!!!!! We did forget the camera, but there'll be plenty of other opportunities to take photos of camp!

I hate Ticketmaster and/or the Patriots organization

2006-05-13T11:03:00.000-04:00

So, after calling constantly for over 3 hours and then often for the rest of the day on Wednesday for the presale of Pats tickets (sold only by phone to people on the season ticket waiting list) and getting nothing but "All circuits are currently busy..." or the busy signal itself, I tried to get them online for the general public sale today... what a joke. There's no way they even had two seats together for any of the regular season games! So, I got four tickets to a preseason game to give to my Mom and aunt for Mother's Day. Good seats - 16 rows back of one of the endzone sections. I hope they have fun - Todd and I will be wrapping up our "honeymoon" at camp that day :-).

Now, off to Chad's graduation. Misersable, cold weather... of course. At least there won't be another one next year :-)

New place for non-knitting stuff

2006-05-11T10:13:00.000-04:00

Since I've decided to start the masters program for hand-knitting at TKGA, I decided to make my old blog "knitting only" (mostly). With it comes a new name: Sauntering Stitches. Not exactly sure what I'll post here... whatever I feel like, I guess.