Weighty Wednesday-Facing the music

As you may have noticed, the postings are few and far between and there hasn't been much of anything regarding exercise. That's because there isn't any exercising going on. :/

I have been wearing my new shoes that I posted about last month, and while they definitely give my calves a workout, I'm not sure they are doing much else (they are still cute though!) and neither am I. I have been an absolute mess this month. Between 3 birthday parties, school starting, cub scouts, and court craziness, I'm lucky to still have hair.

On the walk home from school today, Yar turns to me and, out of the blue, says "Mom, when are you going to start exercising again?" I honestly didn't have an answer to that question... I keep thinking that I will start after the court stuff is sorted out, but that keeps getting pushed farther and farther away. In reality, if I say I'm not going to start until after court is settled, then I might as well say that I am not going to exercise until Worf turns 18. That is a REALLY long time...

I need to do SOMETHING. This is getting ridiculous. I just don't know where to start. I keep thinking that if I have a schedule, then it would be easier to fit exercise in regularly (along with housework, kids, and other commitments), but my schedule never seems to last for more than a few days. My willpower to get out of bed early is minimal at best. *sigh* I HAVE to change.

SO, I am starting over. New measurements, new goals.

Waist: 30 in
Hips: 38.5 in (holy crap! when did I lose that??)
Weight: 140 lbs
Body Fat: 32%

Goal: exercise at least twice this week.

Scrappy Saturday- Girl's bed canopy

Yar is currently obsessed with Tinkerbell and fairies. However, I don't want to succumb to the craziness that comes with buying decorations from a certain conglomerate company. You buy the comforter, the girl wants the sheets. You buy the sheets, she wants the wall decals. You buy the wall decals... you get the idea. So, I decided to go more with a floral theme, since Tink is always flying around in the flowers right? Needless to say, Yar was not happy with the fact that I wasn't going to go out and buy every single Tinkerbell thing ever made (yes, she even threw out the "my MOTHER decorated my room with Tinkerbell." Well, great. Now you already have a Tinkerbell room, so you can explore other options...). Even after seeing all the hard work I put into her room and how cute it turned out, she's still not entirely convinced (I'm sure that has to do with her void issues, which is a whole other story).

Anyway, I made these cute tissue paper flowers that I think were supposed to be dahlias, but turned out more like peonies. I hung them from the ceiling with fishing wire and thumb tacks. The bedding was from my younger sister, who is now married and has more "marriage friendly" bedding (what guy in their right mind would sleep on multi-colored floral bedding? Willingly mind you), and was kind enough to donate to the cause. I also put up a cute curtain that has multi-colored polka dots (yes there are a lot of colors and shapes in this room!) and some vinyl stickers in pink and green circles. It still seemed to be missing something. I figured that a canopy over the bed would add a touch of whimsy. Besides, I had wanted one for years as a kid (truth be told, I still want one...). Here's what I came up with:

So, I grabbed 4 old sheer curtains that I wasn't using anymore, but didn't have the heart to toss and started brainstorming. It wound up being SO simple. Before my husband tossed it out, I pulled the front frame off of our oscillating fan that died last week. I could have used a wreath form, and probably should have just due to the time it took to remove the stupid fan frame, but it was late at night and I was in craft mode (must... complete... craft...). I snipped the wire to allow for threading the curtains on and then wrapped the frame in ribbon to help the curtains not catch on anything. I put the curtains on and hot glued the ends of the frame back together. I then put two ribbons across the frame in a cross (between each curtain) and hung it up! Easy peasy! Aside from the fan frame, I think this project took all of 15 minutes. 20 if you count the ribbon wrapping. You could easily buy fabric instead. I just wanted to use up what I already had on hand.

Tasty Tuesday - Rhubarb Pie

It's days like today that I really miss my great grandma. Her birthday is just a few days before mine and I think of her often on my birthday (not to mention her birthday would have been yesterday). She died just a few weeks after my 15th birthday from cancer and I took it really hard. She was an amazing woman who I thought could take on anything. She had a strength and determination (some would call it sheer stuborness) in her that I have never been able to match. I have admired her (or the rose colored memory of her) for years, and know that she is watching over me and urging me on as I go through my life and try to live up to the great qualities she had.

So what does my great granma have to do with pie? Well, for my birthday each year, I make a rhubarb pie from her recipe. There are a number of reasons for this. 1) I make a lot of cakes for other people, so I am pretty tired of making cake by the time my birthday rolls around 2) with the sheer number of birthdays, anniversaries, and reunions in my family during August, I am sick of EATING cake and 3) my grandma's birthday is the day before mine, and we are the only people who really like rhubarb in our family, so we make a pie to share. (my grandma was her daughter. I'm not sharing a pie with a dead lady. I'm not THAT crazy...)

This year, I wasn't able to visit with my grandma, so I had to eat my pie by myself (and, yes, I ate the majority of it by myself... so much for losing weight!). It turned out so amazing this year, that I have to admit that it was probably the best pie I have ever made. Therefore I thought I would share it with you so you can have an aweome birthday (or any day) pie!

Nonie’s Rhubarb Pie

4 c rhubarb, chopped

1 ½ c sugar (I typically cut this amount in half because I like mine tart)

6 T flour

½ tsp salt

2 T butter

½ tsp orange zest

Double pie crust

Brush pastry w/ butter and chill

Mix sugar, orange zest, flour, salt. Mix in rhubarb.

Put in shell & dot w/ butter

Cover w/ top crust, crimp edges, vent

Bake at 450 F for 10 min

Lower to 350 F, cover edges of crust and bake for 45 min.

Enjoy!

Weighty Wednesday - I'm a slacker

So I am sorry to say that I did not exercise a single minute this week. I have been so overwhelmed with the crap I have been dealing with lately and the frantic scramble to get my house back in order before all of the kids come home from summer vacation. I have made some progress so far, but I am still falling behind in other areas, namely exercise. The worst thing? I didn't even eat healthy this week. I put on weight instead :(

My small silver lining: I had to buy new shoes this week and I found some shoes by Danskin that are supposed to help tone while you walk. I figured, what the heck. They were the same price as the regular tennis shoes, so why not? Since I walk the kids to and from school every day (total of 2 miles a day), maybe it will help. We'll see.

Scrappy Saturday - Dress Form

I have a confession to make: I am obsessed with upcycling right now. My poor husband probably thinks that I have gone crazy. I have dug through our closet I for anything that is outdated, ill-fitting, or otherwise shoved into the back of the closet. (I have a huge box of "supplies" now)

The only problem is that I don't always have the time or ability (I wear Geordi in a Moby wrap most of the time I am crafting) to fit my new creations on myself. So, during my obsessive hunting of DIY blogs, I came across a tutorial for making a custom dress form of duct tape. (Hooray for cheap alternatives!!) So I convinced Riker to let me go crazy and buy tons of duct tape, and then talked him into being my helper (lots of bribing him with back rubs).

I went the route of using cellophane and, as a piece of advice for anyone who chooses to do it, make sure the room is COLD. I wrapped myself up in the middle of the night when it was 73° and had the fan on and I was DRENCHED in sweat by the time I cut the thing off. But it was well worth it. For a minimal cost, I have an awesome dress form made just for me! Check it out:

That's right my friends. That bad boy is made out of DUCT TAPE! I bought a bunch of cheap tape because the tutorial didn't really specify how much to get. I wound up using 3 rolls of 40 yard grey tape and wrapped myself in 4 layers (I still think I should have done 5, but it was late) and 3 rolls of decorative tape to cover the finished product (totally optional as it is much pricier than grey, but looks SO much better! Plus, it helped keep the cheapy grey tape taped together, as it was having difficulty along the back seam once it was stuffed). I also used 3 old pillows to stuff it. Total cost? $15 including tax. WAY more affordable than the $100 adjustable form my sister bought years ago. (Another note: when the directions say wrap the mid-section snugly, they mean SNUG. I didn't do it tight enough and it shows. My belly doesnt really poke out that much).

So now I have a second me (if only it could clean the house too...) and, I have to admit, it is a little weird to see exactly how my body looks. Riker, on the other hand, says it looks really good and is begging me to make a leopard print bodysuit. Hmm...