I got a new drug

Yesterday I learned a new trade.

That's right.  I can now use a jig saw.

You're impressed.  I can tell.

One things for sure, I was impressed.  It scared me a little bit at first.  There may have been some girly screaming on my part. It doesn't hurt that the Captain loves to torment me.  He claims it's part of his job.  I have tried firing him over and over but it hasn't stuck.

He didn't let me cut any of the important stuff out.  I think at the end of the day he really didn't trust that I would do a good job.  To be honest, I probably wouldn't have done as great a job as he did, but the learning curve was completely different.  He has done this before.  I should have gotten points just for that.  But even so, there was a rush learning how to do it.  What a high!

Anyway, I'm sharing because from now on when we have company everyone gets to see me run the saw.  When you come to visit you'll get a cocktail before I rush you out to the garage and show you how I saw.  Cuz that's how we roll.

What's next?  Chain saw here I come.  

Sometimes Faking It can be Good

Good news...I lost two more pounds. 

Hello!

Thank you very much.  I am feeling pretty good today.

My measurements didn't go down, but my weight did.  So I guess there will be some good days and some bad days.

This weekend we got our decorations done for Halloween.  I got pics of the Captain cutting out things in ploywood.  He is such a great guy.

But I am going to spend this week sharing funny video with you guys.  Here is one that I found to be cute.

Love in the Elevator

Halloween is just a little over a week away and I wanted to get everyone in the mood.  Okay, this is really coffin humor, but it cracked me up.

Check it out.

Book Hungry: Sweet as Sin; Yum!

Sweet at Sin by Inez Kelley was this months Book Hungry selection.  It was Patty's turn to pick and boy did she select a winner.

I want to just lay this out there.  I liked this book.  A lot.

I also enjoyed the opportunity we had to speak with Inez Kelley this week.  How freakin' cool is that this lovely lady took the time out of her schedule to chat us up?  Plus I got to spend an hour the girls that are the Book Hungry crew.  Check out their reviews today if you have the time.

Here's the blurb on Amazon:

John Murphy is tormented by nightmares. A bestselling young-adult author, he writes the ultimate fantasy: stories where good always triumphs. He knows better. His past has shown him the worst in people—and in himself. When he moves next door to the sexy, vibrant Livvy—a woman completely unlike his usual one-night stands—he's driven to explore every curve of her delicious body.

Pastry chef Livvy knows that giving in to the temptation that is John Murphy won't lead to anything permanent, but she deserves a passionate summer fling. John discovers she's as sweet as the confections she bakes while Livvy slowly unravels his secrets. But what will happen when she uncovers them all?

When I first picked up this story and started I really thought I was going to dislike John and maybe even the story.  I didn't want to read another romance without depth, which is exactly what I thought I was getting.  Thankfully, my feelings soon changed and I was hooked.  I don't want to give any spoilers here because if you haven't read this story and love romance you need to pick this up.

I will tell you this; John Murphy has become one of my favorite hero's.

This book is dark and intense.  But that's not why he leap-frogged to the top of my favorite hero's category.  Nope.  His unwavering spirit in the face of such despair was especially telling to me because he never sees it in himself.  Which is the mark of a great hero, to me anyway.  He knows that what happened to him as a child was wrong, but he can't help but still fell as if maybe there was some truth to it all. 

There is also a great side story here regarding with the fantasy fiction John writes.  We get a glimpse into his world of monsters and they truly enchanted me.  I was routing just as much for Jondi and Vory and I was for John and Livvy. 

This is a read I would highly recommend, but need to advise you there are some hot, steamy, need-a-glass-of-water by your side scenes.  I was fanning myself through quite a few of them.

If you've had the opportunity to read this Ms. Kelley has a follow up interview on her website where she went back a few years after the ending of the book to catch up with John and Livvy and we get to see where they are now.  That was just a bonus for me. 

John is one character I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet. 

The loss was in the inches

So yesterday I did my weigh in. 

Disappointment should have washed over me since I had lost nothing since last Friday.  It didn't.  I strayed over my designated carb count this weekend.  Don't get me wrong, I didn't go all out.  But I didn't stick to under 20 grams of carbs per day Friday through Sunday.  My portions were still small and controlled but I did allow sugar back into my diet.  

We were getting together with friends and a glass of wine was in order, plus we went out for dinner.  I find it harder to stay within my carb count if I am not the one making the food. 

In other news, I still lost inches.  Which was good news, even if the weight didn't come off.  Plus it assured me I am still on the right track.

So yesterday I hunkered back down and returned to the low carb eating plan I had been practicing for the previous two weeks and hope to see more of this weight fall off.

I will keep you posted.

A whole lot of nothing

I'm late.  I'm late for a very important date. 

That is all that kept going through my head this morning as I woke up and realized that I didn't have my blog posting done for today. 

Scandalous.

In my defense...er...what defense.  I simply forgot.  I was really caught up in some reading last night and before I knew it bedtime arrived.  And while you guys don't know this, Kelly needs her eight hours of sleep each night to function like a normal person.  Or as close to normal as I get.

So I jumped out of bed, bright and semi-early to get to my computer to get this done.  (See how much you guys mean to me.)  Unfortunately, I don't have anything brilliant to say, mainly because today is going to be about the cleaning out the tornado ravaged office  I am currently occupying.  Yes, I was supposed to get this done yesterday, but Sunday is a day of rest.  Even God got a day off, so I figured I was due.  What I neglected to take into account was how depressing it is to start your day in such ruination.  I have no one to blame but myself.  By the way in case you missed it, that Tornado was named Kelly. 

Plus, let's face it, I don't really ever have anything brilliant to say.  Those delusions of grandeur are all mine baby.  But I promise this week will be a week of good things. 

I will update you guys on my ongoing weight loss.  Yes, it is ONGOING, so I am glad about that.  There's also a book review coming up.  I'm pretty excited because our book club is going to have a conference call with the author of said book tomorrow evening.  I will be live tweeting our discussion, so check that out.

What are you guys reading right now.  Go!

PS:  My pics not a tornado, it's a waterspout, which really is just a tornado on water.  But since I live in a place where these are more common than tornado's I selected this one for my illustration.  Although now I just feel silly explaining since you guys probably figured that out all by yourselves.

Her dress wasn't the only thing see through

It's almost that time of year again.

Halloween.

I love everything about this night.  We get to give out lots of candy.  Decorate our house and play dress up.  How is it that every adult doesn't love this night. 

We go all out on Halloween.  Dressing up.  Scaring the kids and decking out the house.  This year I got a great idea from a good friend Tim.  He created a skeleton wedding in his front yard.  And no I am not ashamed to say I am stealing this idea.  But since I like to play fair, I'm giving him total credit for the idea. 

We haven't decorated yet.  In fact we won't until the day before.  I promise to take pics and post them after so you can see how my yard turns out.  But here is a pic of how he did it.  I wonder what music they used as the bride walked down the isle? 

And since I am looking for more ideas for the yard and I'm not above "borrowing", tell me what you're doing to your house this year for this ghoulish night.
 

Just a girl and her gadgets

You know I like to share new things with you guys when I find them.  New techie things.  Well, I've found a new gadget I'm hoping to find in my Christmas stocking this year.  Seriously cool.  Check this out.




Everyone is going to want one of these.  I don't know how well it will work, and I'm not convinced that I could actually use this on a daily basis for my work flow.  Me and my keyboard spend a lot of time together.  A lot.  But, being the gadget girl that I am, I am willing to take this one for a test drive. 

I already told the Captain I want one for Christmas so we'll see if he comes through.  But to be honest I don't know if I will be able to hold out until Christmas.  Who am I kidding?  Of course I won't be able to hold out until Christmas.  I am rushing over to www.thinkgeek.com and getting one today.  Shh...don't tell, okay?

Ghosts, Bones and some Glass Pear

Last night the hubs and I enjoyed a Bones marathon.  I forget sometimes how much I really like this show.  Not so much for the forensics, I enjoy it more for the relationship between the two main characters.  Which, by that way Hart Hanson, someone needs to get off their butt and get these two crazy-no-longer-kids together.  I am just hoping that when the new season finally starts in November *silent scream* we don't beat around the bush for another season.

Of course I know the chances of me getting what I want are slim.  I mean, hello.  That was some serious bomb they dropped at the end of last season.  We didn't even get to see them take the tumble.  Not that I would have watched.  Much.  But I would have at least liked to have known something was coming.

Where was I?  Oh, yeah.  Last night we were watching a marathon and on one of the shows I heard this song that I just had to find.  It fit the scene perfectly, but it touched a cord.  Thankfully, I found it and thought I would share.  Tell me what you think.

Don't worry, its worth the listen.

I give good party - Almost

In May I co-hosted a baby shower. 

Said baby has arrived.  Actually she got here in July. 

But it has taken me this long to get the book completed.  Yeah, I did a commemorative book to remind Mom and Maddy (that's the baby in the belly here in the picture) how that special day went.  It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.  Hey, it's my blog, I can boast if I want to.

Anyway, I thought I would share some pics. 

Here is Mom...we made her queen for day.  How can you tell?  The crown, silly.

She had a thrown and everything.

Well of course she did.  You can't be queen with out a crown and a thrown.  We threw in a sash for good measure too.

I made the baby cake.  I thought, "what the heck...how hard can it really be?"  Okay, I will tell you.  It can be hard.  And of course I didn't pick any easy cake either; even though the web site that I found it on said it was fairly simple.  Yeah, maybe if your a BAKER!

But Mom liked it and she was touched that I went to all that trouble.  Here's a tip.  If you ever decide to take on the making of homemade fondant.  Do it a couple of days in advance.  You will need the time to let it set up so you can roll it out for your pattern.
 

Don't laugh.  Oh, alright you can go ahead and laugh.  Half the ladies that came kept giving me those looks as if to say, "You poor thing.  You really thought you could do it huh?"

Yes, I learned my lesson.  But on the bright side the centerpiece was a diaper cake that turned out much better.  Here's another shot of that.  In fact the Captain and I both agree I need to let him do all of the baking in the future.  The only reason I couldn't get him to volunteer for this job was because "he ain't crazy."  His words not mine.

Besides the disaster that was the cake, the day turned out pretty well.  We welcomed the spring/summer season the right way.  In style.  Sadly, it's coming to an end.  The days are getting shorter and my boating season is almost over.  On the bright side, the book is done and I have a great present for our Mom.  See, I can always find that silver lining.  Or in this case pink.
 

 

Bitch-Scale is going down!

I'm updating you guys today on my weight loss because it has been one week since I started low carbing it and as of yesterday morning I lost...drum roll please...

Seriously people!  Somebody do the drum roll!

Nine pounds. 

That's right.  Yesterday marked a milestone in my life.  No it wasn't the nine pound loss, I have done that before.  Many, many times.  No, yesterday was the first time that I can remember that I wanted to express an emotion besides extreme hatred for bitch scale.  No really, that's her name.  I actually felt a little like she was finally on my side.

In the past we've had a love/hate relationship.  She's loved tormenting with the bad news and I hated getting it.  But someone once said, "The one who cares less holds the most power in a relationship."  I know this to be true.  Especially in this case.  She smirks when I walk by.  Swear to God, smirks.  I can hear her.  And when I step up.  Well, sometimes it's mortifying.  She laughs.  But the scales are starting to tip in my favor.  (Oh, I love it when I am funny like that.  Get it...scale tipping.)  And I think if things keep going the way they are; that power may very well be shifting.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not throwing her a party or anything that drastic yet, but I promise to keep you guys posted and let you know when I get to that stage. 

In the meantime go out and have some drinks and toast to my loss.  Really, go.  Out.  Have a drink for me, since alcohol is one of the things I have cut out for the foreseeable future.  Not forever.  What?  Are you crazy?  But for the time being, while my body is in this super fat burning mode, I am going to abstain. 

Promise to keep you guys posted.


PS:  Thanks for all the calls, comments and good wishes sent my way via email last week.  It really does make a difference.  Now I am off, into week two.  I am so kicking Week Two's ass!

A New Way to Say Douchey

Okay, its Friday.  I love Fridays.

Namely, because Friday means: end of the work week.  True Story.  Look it up.

Okay, maybe not. 

But since I wanted to give every one a reason to smile today I decided to share this video that cracked me up.  This is a 2nd City skit called Sassy Gay Friend.  Just so you know, every girl should have a friend like this. 

Favorite Line:  "Stop being a 'Summers Eve."

Just watch, you'll see.

Enjoy!

Battle of the Bulge Update

I know I told you guys recently that I was going to start Weight Watchers. 

I did.

It didn't work for me.

At all.

Instead of losing weight I found myself gaining. 

Something else you guys might not know about me.  I am insulin resistant.  I have to take bio-identical hormones or I become the Hulk minus the green skin and I love carbohydrates. 

Yeah, that is a lot to overcome.  But I got lucky.  I found a new doctor.  He advised me that while WW was a good food plan, for what I was dealing with it would be very difficult for me to lose.  He recommended low carb and I cringed.  No way, I had been down that road before.  Give up my potatoes?  Give up my bread?  I resisted.

Then I hit the third week of WW and was disappointed with the results.  Again.  So after talking it over with the Captain (who can eat anything he wants and still maintain, no I don't hate him...much) I did some research on this diet.  I was a little bit familiar with it and had tried it once before.  But this time I had a plan.

I researched it, got my pantry and refrigerator cleaned out and even had a party with all of the foods I love before I started.  Yeah, that menu was balanced.  Chocolate, pasta and Funyuns.  No wonder I needed help.  But here we are a week into this and I am a believer.


I can't believe how good I feel.  I am coming to the end of the first week of induction which is pretty restrictive in the amount of carbohydrates I can have, but I don't feel deprived.  Mainly because I stocked up on a lot of protein before I started. 

The withdrawal was hard, but one of the websites I researched at suggested taking a potassium supplement and it worked.  The withdrawal symptoms have seemed non existent.  I promise to keep you guys posted on my success.  For the first time in a long time I feel like I am back in control, and for an OCD control freak that is a really good feeling.

The Pages I Was Between This Month

In September I got my read on.  For those of you in the know, I love to read and  was able to spend some quality time with my kindle.

Here is my book list from the last month.

Next month it's going to be my turn to offer up the bookhungry read.  I have been revisiting some of my favorite titles in the hopes of finding something awesome to offer.  One set of books that I read a couple of years ago was Kathryn Shay's Hidden Cove Firefighting Trilogy.  I was so happy when she started putting her back list in ebook format.  I immediately went to Amazon and bought these three up for my kindle.  I had to re-read them immediately.  Great news; they stood the test of time.   After the Fire, On The Line and Nothing More to Lose.  Right now you can get them on Amazon for $2.99/$3.99/$3.99 each.  If you haven't read them; go and get them right now.  I promise you won't be disappointed.
 
The next selection of books I read was the first two books in the Stepp Sister Trilogy.  Getting What you Want and Wanting What You Get.  The first one wasn't so impressive, but I did enjoy the second one.  I haven't decided if I want to invest in the third one yet.

After a discussion with a good friend, I found myself going back for another re-read.  This one was Susan Mallery's Tempted.  Love this one too!  This is the last in a four book series.  I liked all of the books, but the last one of the series just stayed with me.

I checked out Heaven Is For Real, a book that I am still thinking about now, but am unsure of my final thoughts.

As a huge Day Leclaire fan I am currently downloading and reading her back list books.  This month I took on Shotgun Marriage and Long Lost Bride. 

I found a new author this month that I had never read before.  Jaci Burton.  I took in her Dare to Love which I found enjoyable.  She has a series that I am hoping to get to next month or at least before the end of the year.  So many books; so little time.

I rounded out the month with some Christmas stories.  I know, I know, it's not time for the holidays yet.  But I found some good ones really inexpensive so I decided to check them out.  Shannon Stacey is a new author that I discovered at the beginning of July, I picked up two of her holiday novella's.  Holiday Spark's and In the Spirit.    I also picked up one of Jaci Burton's holiday novella's All She Wants for Christmas.
 
So check back next month and I'm hoping to have some new reads to offer up.

From one generation to the next...

This weekend was a pretty big deal in the family.  One of our youngest members was baptized. 

To be honest I haven't really thought about what that could mean to a child because I don't have any.

I was born into a Catholic family and my baptism happened when I was two months old as the first part of the sacrament of initiation.  I have no remembrance of my baptism.  Not like that of Confirmation and Holy Communion. 

Here's a peek of me on that day.  See how cute I was.  That's me in the while dress. 

On Saturday my niece followed in these footsteps.  Kylie was baptized.  She is almost three years old.  A lot older than I was when it happened to me. 

I don't know what her thoughts were on Saturday.  Other than the fact that she got to spiff up in a pretty dress with shiny shoes.  Of course afterwards, there was a party in her honor with cake and gifts.

I guess the good news of her being older is that she will have a memory of today.  Or at least I think she will.  I have memories of that age, so I am assuming she will as well    She did look pretty fantastic and I have to admit I was impressed with her shoes.  Of course I have a pair that are very similar.  But I think her expression is priceless.  It truly says she knows she is in for a long, long (sigh)...long day.

Blogger Help

I have lately noticed that I can not embed videos in blogger.

I didn't have any problems when I was working in the "old" blogger.  But this new version, while sleek, seems to not want to work the way the old one did. 

I am frustrated.

So if any of you have any suggestions on how I can embed videos better, please offer them up.

Don't misunderstand.  I can upload videos from my computer, but I don't have the ability to embed them from other sources. 

Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Meet Gracie Lou

Lately I have been a little morose due to the loss of our beloved cat, Rocky.

But I have a bunch of reasons to be happy and not sad. 

And here is one of them.  She makes me smile every single day!  As you can see she is not quiet at all.  She loves to talk to me.

So say hello to Gracie Lou.

Do you Diary?

Do you diary?

In all of my life I have never felt compelled to write about my day.  Which is odd to me.  After all of this time I wonder why that is.  I mean I can wax poetic about storms, or even about great books that I've read.  Yet, in all that time I've never felt the need to turn my musings inward and examine myself that way.  All that changed in the beginning of September when I decided that for a year I'm going to journal.  So far, so good.  Yeah, I know it's only been a month but it's not as hard to keep up as I had originally thought. 

Something to be happy about.

It's definitely not as hard as blogging everyday because I don't have to be politically correct when I look inward.  If the Captain's been a little less than his stellar self, I can be honest there.  After all it's for no one's eyes but my own. 

The biggest thing that I realized is that journaling is very cathartic.  And it has really helped me work through some trying times.  As I said before, September has been a sad month for us here.  But, last night the Captain pointed out that even though its been hard, my rallying skills are getting better.  I can only contribute that to being able to let it all out between the pages. 

Each evening I take twenty minutes to clear my thoughts before I put pen to paper or in this case fingers to keyboard.  Plus, I've given myself permission to write whatever I want while including pictures, stickers and other fun things that gives it a decided kellified look. 

So what's next you ask?  I think I need a theme song.

Welcome to Paradise

I want to take another cruise.  Mainly because we had so much fun the first time we went.  But this past weekend as I was confined to the kindle, I discovered a place that I really want to visit.

Because I like to be completely honest, when I don't feel well I normally reach for a re-read.  I always go for something that I have previously read and loved because when I don't feel good I don't want to have to think about what I'm reading.  Go ahead, read that again, I promise it does make sense.

So one of the books I have read over and over again takes place on an island in the Caribbean called St. Barts.  Honestly, I always thought it was a made up island.  Sadly, geography must leave me the older I get because I swear when I was a kid I was good at it. 

This weekend, after reading the book, AGAIN, I decided to look this place up.  And to my forever amazement, it exists. 

So of course the next step was for me to see if I could find an all inclusive or a cruise line that visits here. 

I was successful.

So now I want to plan another trip.  I think I could get the Captain on board if we hadn't already been talking about taking an all inclusive trip to the Dominican Republic this spring.  The difference in the cost is significant, but in all fairness the trip to the Dominican is flying to one destination and that's it.  The cruise, as you can see by the picture I have attached, would give us the ability to visit six ports. 

SIX!

I haven't figured out how I am going to get him on board yet, but I am working on it.  After all, I'm not getting any younger and I want to see new places every time we leave home.  To me, what is the point of seeing the same places over and over?  I need to get my travel on.  And,  I am  not getting any younger.

Have you ever been inspired to visit somewhere based on a read?

Back In the Saddle Again

The month of September has been a trying month.  We dealt with some personal loss and then last week on top of that I got a nasty sinus infection.  But great news came my way on Friday (thanks Patty!) and I got to spend the weekend in bed with the hubs.  See, silver lining.

So I'm officially back. (Applause.  Applause.  Applause.)  Really, the applause isn't necessary.  Yes, I know you missed me.  I missed you too.  No, I did.  Really.

I don't have anything to offer up today in the way of entertainment, but I will be back in full swing tomorrow.

In the meantime, tell me what new shows you are loving?