Friday is fun day! ha!

Pretty funny, after reading the book about the Language of Clothes, while watching parts of the CMT awards, I found myself looking at the women's shoes!! ha!!

My pain was pretty bad yesterday. Just a constant pinch/pull on the left side and an occasional twinge on the left. Did take a pain pill at night. siiiiiigh. When you think its done, its not.

I did get my Anything Goes ATC's finished,
the only thing I changed was the colors, used tea dye and broken china distress inks and used different stamps. My embellies are 'got flowers' with tiny bling. (boy, handling that tiny bling was a li'l difficult)




Last night was fun! On Monday, our electricity went out, and though it came back on our stove/oven has not been working since. DH unplugged it hoping it would 'reboot', but it didn't. So, yesterday, I asked ddil if I could come over there and cook and bake. I had 3 overripe bananas and a recipe for a banana split cake from Betty Crocker's website. (yummy, by the way) And had been in the mood for a taco salad. She said yes, so I brought my stuff (she bought some) and dgd and I cooked and baked. Adriana was a big helper. She did the salad spinner, helped mash the bananas, stirred my taco salad dressing, sampled the grated cheese. She also 'helped' with the cake mixer...she put her hand on tip of mine...and of course, had to introduce her to licking the beaters and spatula...a rite of passage, right?

Of course my camera was left at home...so no pics...oh well, we'll just have to bake another cake another day!! ha!!!

don't worry, both Adriana and I had a piece without frosting, as both of us don't really need that extra chocolate.

vanity sizing and the language of clothes..

Yesterday, I watched the first part of the Dr. Oz show. Now, I am trying to not become a tv addict during this period, so generally I have the 'rule' of no tv before 4pm. Yesterday, I turned it on and saw the segment about 'vanity sizing'. Did you know that Marilyn Monroe was a size 12...and that a size 12 back then meant a 28" waist, but a size 12 today is @ 36" waist!! (even size 12's are different from manufacturer to manufacturer). Dr. Oz and his guests were not putting down vanity sizing, but warning women not to think "Oh, I'm fine, I'm still the size I was 10 years ago"...cuz the size ain't the same. Do not use clothing size as a gauge of health. I did, for a lot of years, I thought "oh I'm not gaining too much weight, I'm still a 16"...well, both me and my 16's were growing.

They said the best way is to take your height, mine is 65" and your waist should be half that. So, my healthy waist size is a 32.5". (I've got a way to go!)

Why am I spending so much time on the couch? The pain has been worse the past couple of days, that tight pinchy feeling. On the hysterboards, I had read about that, so I'm not too worried...but...I am avoiding reaching/bending and lifting more than I had been.

So, I also spent the day reading. Read "Hang-ups the Secret Life of Clothes" by Gloria Heidi. At first, I wasn't that impressed, was thinking this is a better blog than a book. But, I warmed up to it...it is about the history/sociology/psychology of iconic pieces of clothing..like the trenchcoat and the high heel. She uses personal observations and classic movies to make her point. I esp loved her chapter on the therapeutic effects of SHOPPING!! for some reason, that really resonated for me.

Yesterday, before my Jenny Craig appt (a small loss)...I went to a used bookstore and picked up an autobiography by Gene Tierney...so, her book is next.

What do you do without electricity?

Well, when you are limited...not a whole lot!! I've been spending my time on the computer, reading and scrapbooking..all things I need at least light to do. When we lost electricity this morn, I considered going to work with dh...at least I'd have access to a computer and light.

So, the hour or so the juice was off, I took a shower (quickly, cuz our water pump is electric and water will go out, also) folded towels left out on the couch, lit candles




and took pics.

Walked around with my container of batteries looking for a radio that will work. Didn't find one, but then it could be my odd assortment of C batteries...and hurray!! lights came on!

here is the ATC I've been working on, wish ya'll could see the pearly-blue splats...I found myself getting too serious while embellishing. creating a mini card with a word definition to attach to the card...then I thought...this is supposed to be fun, a reflection of you, not something you are not... so I did the standard 3 gems in a row.



I'll be playing with the colors, but I think I'll keep the same process.

yesterday was reading day. Read 2 books, the first was Memory by Philippe Grimbert..short book, I read it in @3 hours, but powerful and haunting. After reading such an emotinal book, I went for fluff...and read The Seducer by Madeline Hunter. Yes, a historical romance with some racy passages. I was so enthralled by the mysteries surrounding the characters, i found myself skipping those passages. So it was a good fluff book. Today I'll start The Secret Life of Clothes.

5 books toward my goal of reading 20 during my recovery period. I don't count the romance as they are fluff. I probably shouldn't count the James Pattersons cuz I go thru them quickly also.

Ya'll have any recommendations for good reading? something that can be read quickly,under my time constraints, yet a li'l thought provoking? A li'l mind enriching? A li'l world expanding??? I do like biographies...

this is what I woke up to...

a gift from Winston:


of course its still there...as I'm not supposed to be bending, and it would not even occur to dh to pick it up!


then I go in the living room to this:




fortunately dh did put it into his closet before leaving for work. I ended up kicking the laundry basket into our bedroom and throughout the day grabbing a couple of things and putting them away.

Last night when he started the laundry, he was putting all his button down shirts in the same load as his tshirts and my pj's (thats all I wear these days). So I told him, 'you know, when I do your shirts, I keep them seperate from the t-shirts"

I feel like that keeps them from getting as wrinkly and helps them to dry quicker.

His response, "well, that is your way, I have my own...and I've got it all under control"

So, I asked, "Are you going to change the litter in the litter box this week? Oh wait, THAT is my way, and YOU have your way" His response, "yeah, and I've got it all under control"

My way is to completely change the litter twice a week. We have 3 boxes and 3 cats.
His way is to scoop the poop then add another layer of litter. The last time the litter has been changed out was when I did it Sunday before my surgery.


I'm not the control freak, micro-manager I used to be...but can I just say it?

His way is driving me C R A Z Y !!

Finished another book today, You've Been Warned, by James Patterson and Howard Roghan...interesting...I won't give it away, but it is an unexpected ending and interesting.

Also got a lo done...actually used a couple of items from a swap I was in at Scrapbook.com. It was themed page elements, I had camping, swimming and beach. So, todays lo I used the waves and a tag someone else had done.

And made ATC kits for the kid swap I'm doing at Splitcoast Stampers...I've got 3 girls doing ATC's, so, I'm setting up basic kits...keep the chaos and mess down when they are actually working on them.

AND just played with an ATC...it may be the start point for another swap at Splitcoast Stampers. Had an old dictionary, tore a page out, then did a li'l distress ink painting, followed with splotting more distress ink w/perfect pearls....then stamped image in copper (love that copper ink) and then stamped it again. Gotta figure out how to embellish...then I'll take a pic.

"color story", yeah, I went there...

Last night, while talking to dd, I was working on a layout. But just could not make it 'pull together'...as we were saying our byes, I told her, "Yeah, gotta go, just can't make my color story work". wha? Guess that's what happens when you watch a marathon of Project Runway over the weekend.

So, here is the lo.



I've been working on my ATC's, finished another group for the PATC's yesterday...this has been a lot of fun. With PATC's (pick a theme) instead of doing one card for the group, you do a card in each person's theme. These are for..Paris, tropical fashions, Bahamas (the decorated angel wing) and France (a pic I took in Nice)

BUT all this play in my scrap room has left it a li'l messy...and since, technically I'm not supposed to bend or reach... can you imagine my asking dh to pick up my scraproom??



yeah, not happening, then I'd have to hear all his "you have too much stuff, you should open a store...blah, blah, blah"



Oh, I ended up taking a pain pill last night. I did load the dishwasher in the morning, got on the floor to help dgd put away some stuff, picked up trash from around the house (its trash day) BUT it is when I tried to sort dh's laundry in the closet...I felt the 'pinch' Just to the left of my belly button. Soooo, I'm trying to be good today...really!!!

had my first post-op appt...

Had my first post-op, dr. showed me a pic of my tumor...um... yuck. Told me that I had some emdemytriousis (sp) but no cancer.

After the appt, dh took me to Red Robin for an early dinner. He was practically pulling me on the sidewalk ...said I was "so slow", he could be seated, ordered and eating before I got inside. I told him then go and order! He told me, 'nah, you won't be able to open the doors, they're too heavy for you'.

Then had an appt at Jenny Craig, I've lost 4 lbs!! Don't know how, I've been eating the meals provided by the ladies at church...and lots of sweets and not exercising.
Does your body burn more calories while healing?? But today, I go back to my 1200 calories. All 'contraband' has been tossed, dh will take whats left of the pies to Bible Study tonight.

In the morning I worked on my ATC's for the PATC swap. Bahamas, France (not eiffel tower) and tropical clothing. And created an ATC 'kit' for the Kids Only Swap on Splitcoast.

Good day, BUT I was in bed before 8:30...I was e x h a u s t e d !!

simply smashin'

what can I say, havin' fun with my Smash Book...

since I'm at the start of my 6 weeks recovery period, I've decided to Smash that.

so page 1,2 are my hospital bracelet and some notes, including a pic of Hubert, my pillow pet frog.



next are lists of meals brought to me and the books I am reading (my goal is 20) including my personal star rating...for the books not the meals. Speaking of which, I don't see how we have ANY thin people in our church...the meals have been YUMMY!!!




last pic is another page set aside for book list and a poem my dd wrote out for me many years ago for my birthday..its a poem about books by David McCord. I'm not esp fond of the domino pages, so covering them up was a good option.

I also have a list of the ATC swaps I signed up for and of scrapbook pages I'm doing...

so far, so fun...the little bits I've been keeping on my desk are finally finding a home. I have a metal candle holder/dish from the dollar store that I keep next to my tool bag on my desk...bits and pieces go in there as I work...and now, I am finally using them.