Chats on the Farmhouse Porch

It's time to head over to Patrice's for the weekly chat. I truly love these chats, they remind me of sitting with my bf on her porch before I moved. She lived just 5 miles from me and we spent lots of time chatting, canning, gardening....... It's always so much better when you have friends around.

Here are this week's questions:

1. Do you have pierced ears?
2. Do you have a porch?
3. If you could have a wish for someone you know, what would that be?
4. There are less than 100 days to Christmas. Have you started shopping yet or doing anything to prepare?
5. What song is going through your head lately? If you aren't being pestered by a particular song, then what are you likely to sing or hum while you work?

My answers:

1. Yes, I do. I have multiple piercings (in my ears),and when I wear earrings I usually wear 2 pr, unfortunately, that is not very often.
2. I do have a porch, but not one as nice at Patrice's or my bf's either. But I still find myself sitting out there just about every night when the weather is good.
3. I wish my daughter would get pregnant. She wants a baby so bad - and was so upset when her brother told us they were expecting. I told her that we had 2 weddings within a year, maybe (keeping my fingers crossed) we'll have 2 babies within a year.
4. I've done a little bit of shopping already - not nearly enough. I'm at a loss as to what to get my son and daughter in law. I know they will need lots of things for the baby but it's really hard to ship things overseas - and sending money just takes the fun out of it.
5. I tend to get some of the old country songs in my head - George and Tammy usually - I was raised on country music and still love it - the new stuff doesn't hold a candle to the old classics.

So far - so good

Ok, day 1 of the challenge was ok. I had 2 apples at work, then had to go to Biz's mom's house for dinner but I did ok. I had 1/2 of a pork steak, some brussell sprouts and a few fried potatoes - I turned the pie down. When I got home I had some grapes before bed. This morning I weighed in at 168.4 which is a 1.6 loss from yesterday. That may sound like a lot but it's not. With me, I've found that the first 5 pounds comes off really quick when I stop using salt. I didn't have time to do tae bo last night because of the dinner but I plan on doing it tonight. I've also parked at the far end of the parking lot these past two mornings so I have to walk a litter further to get into work - every little bit helps (I hope).

Christmas Dress Challenge

I also am the type of person that sometimes needs a little push.  Or a challenge.  Last year I dropped 17 pounds by joining a "biggest loser" group at work. This year I am taking a part in the   Christmas Dress Challenge over at Thursday's Child. Here are the rules:

• The challenge will run from Mon September 19th - Mon December 19th.

• You must define a goal(s) at the start of a challenge.

• There will be a check-in once a week, everyone must take part in the check-in. 

1.  My main goal is to get back into this dress. 

This is the dress I wore for my daughter's wedding two and a half years ago. I bought it in February - the wedding was in June and I had to drop 63 pounds to get into it but I did it. My profile picture is of me wearing this dress, posed with my daughter and my son. Since that time I have put 40 of those pounds back on-but I did it once - I can do it again.

2.  I will exercise - Tae bo got me into this dress once so I'm hoping it'll do it again.

3.  I will stay completely away from salt as it tends to be my worst enemy. I will also stop using the flavored creamers in my coffee - I drink a LOT of coffee and those calories add up fast.

My starting weight is 170 pounds I need to be at 150 to even be able to get this thing zipped - and 136 to actually wear it (and be able to breathe).

So I guess that's it - we're off! Good luck to all of us and I look forward to watching everyone's progress!

Remodeling pictures

 

 This is where I used to live- pretty much out in the middle of nowhere - I loved it but due to a lot of issues, had to move

This is the house I bought - in a small town - it's the same distance to the town I work  in but 40 miles closer to my daughter - but it is IN TOWN - hard to get used to.

I miss my truck!

 This was the kitchen when I bought the house.

 This is the kitchen now- stripped all that awful paint off the cabinets and this is what I found. I still need to do something with that backsplash.

 This was my bedroom.

This is my bedroom now

 This was the other upstairs bedroom

This is it now

 The stairs

Those stairs now

 The living room before

And now

 Dining room/entry before

Dining and entry way now

 And this is the computer room - actually another bedroom. It's next on the list to do.

 Here is the bathroom - it will be after the computer room

And this is the built in cabinet in the entry - it didn't get painted because I want to strip it. I can tell that it is supposed to open from both sides but the kitchen side is walled over with this knotty pine paneling (last picture) - I will be pulling that off as soon as I get brave enough - Any suggestions on how to go about stripping it?

Why I haven't posted for a few days

• September 12, 2011

• 12:00 PM Module 3 due

• September 13, 2011

• All day Quizzes 1-4 END (& DISAPPEAR) TONIGHT MIDNIGHT!

• September 14, 2011

• All day Group Discussion 1 ENDS TONIGHT MIDNIGHT!

• September 15, 2011

• 8:00 AM Unit 1 Exam

• September 16, 2011

• 11:00 PM - 11:59 PM Server Maintenance Window

• September 17, 2011

• All day Unit 1 Exam CLOSES 8 pm tonight!

I think that about sums it up. This "getting a Masters degree" thing at my age, while working full time and trying to do some remodeling on my house is starting to wear a little thin. Seems like all these upper level classes want you to do is: write papers; read countless articles, books, etc.; watch documentaries; discuss said articles, books, documentaries; and take exams (which usually consist mainly of essays). I'm tired!