Sunday, September 30, 2012

All Moved In

Well, it's official. I am all moved in to my new apartment. Overall, I really like my new neighbourhood. It's an older area, but people seem so warm and friendly here. I even know the names of several of my neighbours outside my apartment building and the name of only one living inside!

Although I am in the same 'city' that I was living in before, it really feels like I've moved somewhere else entirely. Everything about my life has changed in the span of only a month. I have a vehicle now. I have a new apartment, a new (part time) job to add to my life. It's almost like starting fresh. And I like that idea.

Actually, this is more than like a fresh start. This is more like a new me. I'm thinner than ever before...and just getting better with everyday.

It's even time to start a new NaNo Novel. I've got a new plot in the works and a plan to push through on another draft of "Memoirs" after NaNo. Of course, I've still got an apartment to finish organizing during all of this, but I'll get it done. I know I will.

I do have to say one thing though. It's kinda nice having my desktop up and running again. It's been collecting dust for far too long, but I have room for it...in my bedroom no less. I'm hoping having it here will help with the novelling. Although my longest work to date was done mostly on my laptop, I do actually prefer working on my old desktop (that I call Franken-Carl).

So who else is on the NaNoWriMo band wagon this year? Who wants to be my novelling buddy this year as I attempt to crank out a fantasy novel (a genre of great weakness for me)?

Don't know NaNoWriMo? Then get out from under your rock and check it out! http://www.nanowrimo.org.

Monday, September 17, 2012

For Bean

In my last post I mentioned near the end my pets. I also said that I don't spend a lot of time talking about them.

Today I make a big exception.


At 2300h my cat Bean passed away in my arms. He had been sick a long time, but I nurtured and him cared for him and gave him another good year or so.

Bean was a rescue cat. He had fallen out of the loft in a cow barn and was found, at only a week or two old, between the feet of one of tha calves. No amount of searching produced the mom and litter he belonged to, so only one thing could be done. He was hand-raised by my best friend Liz and her good friend Chrissy.

As a kitten he was often referred to as demon spawn. He would attack anything, whether it moved or not! But once he was neutered everything changed. He went from hyper to lazy right away.

Bean (and his "sister" Missy) came under my permanent care when they were both about 4 years old. I wasn't willing to give them up for anything. Even when I moved provinces, they came with. It didn't matter how much it cost to make it happen.

Bean was an odd cat. Probably a result of being hand raised. He was as docile as anything till he saw a strange cat or dog. Then he went balistic. He coulenMt have cared less about rodents, but birds were fascinating. Until they flew in his direction.

He liked to sleep under the covers. It wasn't unusual for me to come home from work to throw myself on my bed and land on a cat. He never seemed to mind much. He'd just give me a dirty look and find a new place to sleep. If he was especially forgiving, he'd just come and snuggle.

He had one trick that he did. He would high five for treats. It came naturally. He loved to hold his paw up when I was giving treats. He just wanted to grab my hand to bring tthe food closer to him, but it didn't take much to get him to tap my hand instead.

He loved menthol. In fact, I couldn't brush my teeth right before bed for fear that he would try to stick his whole head in my mouth. He once even tried to like tigerbalm off my fingers. Crazy cat.

He was an intensly curious cat. He may not often want what I was eating, but he often insisted that he had to check it out first. Heaven forbid I eat something without his okay!

That was Bean. The cat that moo'ed. The cat that I'm going to miss. That cat that I had known for 13 years.

I'm going to miss him so much.

RIP Bean.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

A New Introduction

Almost two years ago when I started this little blog, I decided that it was a good idea to sort of introduce myself. This was what I wrote by way of introduction. Most of it is just as applicable today as it was then.

Since I have some new readers, maybe I ought to expand on it little though?

First off, for new readers, WELCOME! I appreciate you taking the time to stop by.

There are a few topics that I do talk about on a semi-regular basis.
One of them is my weight loss. I've been working very hard to lose a lot of weight since November 2011. It's been a slow process, but I'm quite proud of the fact that I am doing it on my own. No programme. Just me, my research and my own judgement.

Another is my little projects. Organization, growing plants, my attempts at building things. I plan to add more about my efforts to introduce hobbies into my life as time goes on. We'll see. Some projects, I've dropped, but if I talk about it often enough - there will be a tag for it.

Writing. I do talk about my writing. Although you'll find more of my writing over at my other(and less frequently updated) blog A Tale to Spin. Sadly, I haven't been writing much lately. I've been too busy/distracted/whatever to write. I always intend to change this. To write more often, but it rarely seems to happen....


Over the course of the blog you may learn a few things about me. Things like the fact that I am very accident prone. I don't always talk about my accidents (for example, until now I don't think I've really mentioned running over myself with a quad in August), but they happen. A lot.

I have pets. I love my pets, but I know talking about them bores a lot of people so it is also a topic I tend to avoid talking about too frequently. If you're curious, I currently have two cats (13 years old) and a dog (6 years this December). Over the course of the last few years I've also had reptiles, fish, birds and rodents (ah, Emo - you are still missed). At one point, I even worked in the pet industry and I was still freelancing as a pet trainer as recently as a year ago.

I don't like people. I shouldn't really say that on a blog, but it's true. I'm sure it's come out over the course of my blogging. And hopefully, people don't run away because of that. I like individuals, but I have little tolerance for stupidity - including my own. I am angriest at myself at the times I realize I'm being or doing something stupid.

And I think that is just about enough sharing. Now you know a few things about me - the "author". Although I shall leave you with this quote from a close friend of mine:

"You are just the perfect mix of neurosis's and phobias - enough to make you interesting, but not so much as to make you unbearable."

Monday, September 10, 2012

What's Your Chocolate?


I've never done a blog hop before, but my friend The Capillary does them quite often. When I saw her post about this one it caught my attention and I figure. Why not? Let's give this a try. I can talk about chocolate.

In fact, I eat chocolate all the time. At least 5 times a week. Not much, mind you, just a little bit everyday.

When I was younger I wasn't much of fan of chocolate. I mean I liked it like most kids seem to, but it wasn't my favorite thing in the world, but still better than most sweets. (Actually I never really liked sugary candy much at all).

When given a choice, I would generally choose white chocolate over milk chocolate. I never knew such a thing as dark chocolate existed back then. I was a snob in my youth about quality though. I liked the taste of European chocolates over most domestic stuff - with the exception of Purdy's chocolate.

I have no idea how old I was when I discovered dark chocolate, but I never looked back. As soon as I tried it it became my favorite chocolate. In fact, it renewed my love for chocolate. I had always found milk chocolate so 'meh', but this rich, wonderful stuff was like a full on chocolate explosion.

I'm quite grateful for my love of dark chocolate. A little goes such a long way and, in moderation, dark chocolate actually has many health benefits that are still be researched.

So how do I prefer to indulge? Well lately it's been a little square or two of Lindt Chili Chocolate or any 70% (or sometimes a bit higher) dark chocolate bar. Especially with coffee. After sucked on a square of dark chocolate as you sipped at your coffee after dinner? It's absolutely delightful. A friend's mom introduced me to that one.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Just a little bit more...

It's almost hard to believe that I am coming up on another big weight loss milestone. I only just dropped out of the '2's and into the '1's. Now, I am approaching a goal that seemed incredibly far away from the last one. In reality though, it is only a difference of 10lbs.

This coming weigh-in or the next one I will hit the 50lb mark. Yeah, it blows my mind. That is a number that always makes me go "wow". I have be honest that there was a large part of me that wasn't sure I could do it. That I could achieve the 50lb gone mark.

At that point I will only have 20lbs left to go. I know the last 10 and 20 can be the some of the hardest pounds to get rid of, but I'm okay with that. What bothers me more is one thing -

Will I know when I am done?


I have a goal in mind. 170lbs. I call it my reassessment weight. It may seem like a high number to a lot of you, but I also measure in at 5'10" and I'm not built small. My sister, at only an inch shorter, has such a small bone structure that 130 is a good weight for her.

I'm a little afraid that when I hit that point and look in the mirror, I won't see what others see. I'll still see me as being overweight. I won't be able to objectively judge if I need to push myself for another 5 or 10 lbs. Will I be able to look and go - I'm done now. Time build myself back up with muscle instead of fat.

Of course, with a focus on weight training, I know my body will continue to change, but I still worry about what I am going to see in that mirror. What if I can't see it? What if I just keep telling myself "just a little bit more..."

Thursday, September 6, 2012

An Upsetting Realization

First off, this month between posts thing has got to stop. After the move I do hope to be able to get myself onto something that will resemble something almost, but entirely quite unlike a schedule. Wait. Backup. No, that is actually what I wanted to say. I think.

Anyway, it's not much of a post, but I felt I needed to say something here and so you are stuck with what just happens to be on my mind tonight. Which is about how old I look. Not exciting, but I came to the upsetting realization this evening that I may actually be getting...old.

I know, it happens to the best of us, but at 31 years old I still often pass as my mid to late twenties. This evening, however, as I tried to take a picture of myself because I liked how I had done my makeup and hair, all I could see was wrinkles. All I could think was, boy do I look old.

It was a very depressing moment for me. 31 and single and now I don't even look young anymore! What am I going to do now? Well, for starters, I pulled out my microderm abarasion kit and went to work. A good skin polish couldn't hurt.

As I attempt to scrub away my imperfections I decide that it's about time I start taking better care of my skin. I have the products just sitting around waiting for me to use them, but I don't. Lack of time, lack of memory.

But no more. I need to start taking care of my skin. Looking good isn't just for attracting a guy, but when I look good, I feel good. And I want to always feel good about myself.

So, anyone want to recommend anything?