Step by step

On March 24th I’m participating in the National MS Society Mid-Florida Chapters Walk MS that is being held at Lowry Park Zoo.  The funds raised via the Walk (and Bike event) are used to help those living with Multiple Sclerosis here in the Mid-Florida area.  Funds raised help people afford durable medical equipment to make living their lives easier, it helps people afford disease modifying medications that they may not otherwise be able to afford.  Funds go to research to help find better medications, why MS happens and hopefully, one day soon, a cure. 

MS is something that has been a part of my life since the late ’80s when my dad was diagnosed.  In 2006 I received my own diagnosis.  The symptoms vary greatly and it affects each person differently.  I walk so I can help people who are affected worse than I am, I walk so that one day someone does not have to hear “You have MS”; and I walk so that my own version of this stays just as it is and does not get any worse.  Please help me. You can help by donating here.  Every dollar helps, so even if all you can do is $1, that’s ok. It helps.  Thank you.

Bags, Glorious Bags

Some more H Bags and a Stashbuster Tote.  For the H Bags  I used the Snowflake Hotpad pattern with a modification and an I hook.  The yarn was Red Heart’s Christmas Yarn.  The first is done in Burgundy/Aran and both colors have a gold metallic thread running through them.  The second is done is Red/White.  The red has red metallic thread and the white has silver metallic thread.  And of course the H Bags are lined. 

 

And finally the first Stashbuster Tote I made.  I made this using a purple heather and Caron Pound in white. I haven’t yet lined this one.

December AP Challenge Winner

The winner of the December AP Challenge prize drawing was Marcincukswife1.  Here is what she chose as her prize.

 

She decided on the Stashbuster tote.  It was done in Red Heart Soft Chocolate and Toast.

Why I apparently don’t look as good in clothes as a celebrity

Granted this is something I’ve never really thought about.  But the author of this post makes a very very valid point.  I’m not sure if I want to explor tailoring my clothes, I can’t help but wonder how much that would end up costing me.  But on the other end of the spectrum I know I can’t make my own clothes either.  I’m not capable of cutting or sewing a straight line (even with guides).  Anyway, please read this post, it is very interesting.

http://inkdot.tumblr.com/post/7243925631/no-shit

100 Days Challenge – Day 4

Today was a nice, easy walk that ended up being 59 minutes.  No wonder my feet hurt by the time I got back home.  Duncan got wore out (Yes!) and pretty much plopped down as soon as we got in.

100 Days Challenge – Day 3 Re-done

After getting a migraine yesterday the last thing I wanted to do was exert myself in anyway.  So today has become Day 3.  And today I did C25K Week 1 Day 2 which took 28 minutes.  My overall walk/jog time was 44 minutes, because by the time I finished C25K I still had to get back home.  Once I got back home I needed to make sure to get some proper stretching in, especially given the hip issues I had early last year.  I was able to get in at least 30 minutes of stretching which always feels good.  Tomorrow’s plan?  Walk the dogs (because Duncan really needs to be worn out!) and maybe a bike ride.  We’ll see what the weather brings.

**Disclaimer, this was written on January 4, 2012 and I pushed the Publish button.  The fact this post didn’t show up would explain why IE asked if I really wanted to leave the page.**

100 Days Challenge – Day 3

Is not happening.  I had it all planned out, I had a doctor’s appointment this morning and physical therapy evaluation at 4.  So I was going to walk the dogs and possibly do a bike ride in between appointments.  Then a cold front visited us, and I don’t like being cold.  So I changed my plans to finding something On Demand and doing it in the house so I could be a baby and not go outside in the cooler weather (and by cooler, it stayed in the 50′s here with a wind chill).  Then a migraine hit.  As I type this, at 7:30, I’m still feeling the effects of it; therefore I am bypassing a workout today in favor of babying my head, and to a small extent my stomach.  I’ll be back at it tomorrow, I promise.

100 Days Challenge and Days 1 and 2

I’m participating in the 100 Days Challenge.  What is it?  It’s the commitment to move at least 30 minutes a day, every day, for 100 days.  That shouldn’t be too difficult, right?  To help keep myself accountable, I’m going to chronicle my journey here.  The daily posts will probably be pretty short, and hopefully you all won’t get too bored.  But if you don’t see a post each day about what I did, call me out on it.

Day 1 – I started yesterday with a nice walk with the puppies.  We did 40 minutes around the neighborhood.  I actually slightly altered the route and plan somewhat because it was very warm.  The temperatures weren’t too bad, but it was dang humid.

Day 2 – Today is a whole different kettle of fish temperature wise.  Where I was in shorts yesterday to do stuff, today it was jeans.  The weather people are saying our overnight lows are supposed to get into the mid-30′s with some areas seeing low 30′s.  I don’t like being cold.  In fact by the time I decided I really needed to get my butt outside it was already 59 degrees.  I had a hard time convincing myself to get up and get outside today; I would have much preferred sitting curled up under my nice warm blanket.  But I put on my workout pants (pants instead of shorts!) and a t-shirt.  Leashed the pups and headed outside.  I’m easing back into Couch to 5K (C25K).  I find that I really want to be a jogger/runner.  And the only reason I can think of why is because it’s not something I can currently do.  It’s a challenge.  So it’s becoming part of my 100 Days Challenge.  I did Week 1 Day 1 with the puppies today.  Duncan seems to like running, Ciera is tolerating it right now.  That may change and she may get left home if I manage to actually make it further into the program.  Today’s total movement was 40 minutes of C25K and about 15 minutes of stretching after.  Now I can spend the rest of my night curled up under warm blankets.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,100 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Snowflake H Bags

I actually started these last year and then J got the house and these went by the wayside.  I used the Snowflake Hotpad pattern with a modification and an I hook.  The yarn was Red Heart’s Christmas Yarn.  The Hunter Green/Aran one went to my friend Julie and Mom loved the Green/White one so I sent it home with her.

   Julie’s Bag  Mom’s Bag