Embrace Yourself

Today I made three purchases and I can't tell you which one I prefer the most. Of course, first chance I had I headed over to Idle Hours and picked up the new Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts edition.

Jared, of Brooklyn Tweed fame has an amazing cabled hat pattern in it. I've never knit a cabled project and I think this hat is the perfect way to start. What does one do with a cabled hat in Florida though? Play your cards right and it could be yours! The hat is modelled by a woman in the mag but I think a man could wear it, do you? Check it out here on Jared's blog.

After the dry cleaner and bank, I headed over to Lowe's to pick up this puppy and boy have I embraced my guy side.

This baby has 2.5 horsepower but man can it suck up glass. It's amazing -- I was tempted to bust the other sliding glass door just to keep using the damn thing. They ought to make vacuum cleaners with this kind of power. You could vacuum the whole house in 5 minutes. I shop vac'd until there was no more glass and like all good things, I wanted a cigarette afterwards, it was that good!

Perusing the bins at Barnes and Noble, I came across this on the bargain table.

How could I resist it? Three professional jugging balls and a beautifully photographed instruction booklet. Everyone wants to learn to juggle as a kid. And as an overly-serious adult in recent years, I've discovered it's time to embrace the silly side of life. I'm not juggling responsibilities anymore, I'm juggling balls!

One Good Deed Deserve Another - NOT!

So I spent the last 2 days taking care of a friend recovering from elective surgery. I hauled my butt to St. Petersburg, drove her to the hospital, changed surgical drains, bloody gauze, cooked and woke up every 2 hours to express icky gunk from science fiction tubes popping out of a human body. I know, enough, but when you love someone you do what you have to do.

So I drove home, went to work and on the way home, got rear ended (a little damage and yes, I'm okay - only shaky) to come home to a shattered glass door. No reason, nothing fell on it but it cracked into a million pieces and waited for me to arrive home for its crescendo finish to the floor.

I've always said and now I believe it even more that all things that can be fixed with time and/or money mean nothing! So I'll call the insurance company tomorrow and sweep up the mess. The mess, perhaps symbolic of my life could have got me down. Instead, I believe that striving forward, moving towards my personal center will always have a few bumps in the road.

Happy Wednesday! - the new joe

Salvation - Day 7 and the Weekend

Yes, Day 7 came and went with little fanfare so I'll make my own.

DRUMROLL PLEASE....I lost 5 lbs.! I hoped for more but definitely feel better, even though the weekend involved tortolini and an amazing brownie. I really don't have any weight to lose but I always like lower numbers on the scale but I'll save that for my therapist. The detox definitely worked. My skin was wacked out, my tongue was all kinds of funky and no matter what I did, I was tired most of the week. Outcome: I recommend it. Lose a few pounds, clean out your system and prove to yourself (if you need to) that you've got the will power to do whatever you want.

What could be next?

P.S. Never watch the film Brokeback Mountain if you're feeling down---5 times. Ooops.

Rounding the Corner

Day 5 and 6 come to a close and not soon enough. This detox/diet continues to be easy, after all, you get to eat plenty of food. The problem is there's simply no variety. It's just plain boring! Who wants to eat the same stuff every day, no matter what it is? I've learned, anything 24/7 stinks - foodwise. I've had steak two days in a row and for me that sounded like a real treat on Day 4, but now, I won't have one for months and months. Tonight, that juicy filet could have been sour cream and I'd have been happier.

I cheated today with a cup of coffee and I'll probably do it again in the morning. It was so good and let me tell you, it was guilt free. Oddly enough, I'm not craving any of my favorites, instead sour cream (obviously), pasta sauce and cashews are constantly on my mind. My "go to" is sweets and I haven't craved them at all except on Day 3 when I walked by the pastry kitchen at work and kind of passed out on my feet for a second. Come Sunday though, all bets are off. There's definitely a crab cake with my name on it and after that, I'll play it by ear. Hmmmm, ear, that sounds good!

Say goodnight Dr. Lecter. Good night Dr. Lecter.

Day 4 and Going Strong

This detox/diet is rocking and going really well! Today was the weirdest day so far. Skim milk (what's detox-y about milk?), bananaas (up to 8 of them) and all the cabbage soup you desire. I have to say, the soup is getting a little tedious but manageable. Tomorrow is Day 5 and steak, tomoatoes and soup are on the menu. I've cooked an amazing sirloin to perfection, halfed and then quartered it for 4 small meals. But I cheated, I wanted A-1 but I settled for 2 tablesspoons of rice wine vinegar for the tomatoes. They needed a little something, salt and pepper gets lonely.

Otherwise, I wasn't the most clear headed at work, decisions came a little hard and everyone kept asking me if I was paying attention. This is not a diet for a surgeon but it's just fine for a spa director with his last 10 lbs to lose! Stay posted for full results on Day 7.

On other fronts, I'm not impressed with the new Bionic Woman television show. I loved it as a kid and would often "act bionic" with my friends (making that ou, ou, ou sound and running in slow motion)! This new bionic woman is kind of rude, she said douche in prime time. Is that even aloud?

Day 3 ... a Duck, a Dream and a Donut

Day 3 begins to comfortably wind down with a little knitting on the afghan and the "Astronaut Farmer", another questionable Blockbuster choice starring Billy Bob Thornton.

I remember starting this blanket, the excitement of one of my first (at the time) major projects. It was for us and now there is no us, so now it's for me. I still love the coloration but I'd forgotten what it's like to use size 17 needles, Turbos of course.

Today the Cabbage Soup Detox Diet got a little easier with some fruit in the mix. We've already had, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes and a peach. Tomorrow is all about bananas - 8 of them and as much skim milk as you'd like. It's a kooky mix but seems to be working. It's incredible how the mind works, how an afternoon nap can turn into a rhapsody of donuts -- dancing, taunting me with their glaze, sprinkles and other accoutrements but I'm resolve in my decision. If I get through Day 4, Day 5 and 6 are all about red meat, steak, and I've purchased some fine cuts to indulge in along with some spectacular tomatoes. Enough food talk, Giada's on!
I took a walk down to the pond early this morning and visited with my colorful friend here. He was completely un-amused by me but I was relentless in getting my shot. If you click on him, you'll see he's staring me down. Isn't he amazing? What should we name him?

Whoever Smelt It, Dealt It

Day Two of the Cabbage Soup Detox Diet! And I'm not even crabby yet, WooHoo! Tomorrow I get to have fruit again and then on Day 4 I can eat bananas and somewhere towards the end of Hell Week, I get to have lots of steak! I assume that this mix of preposterous food groups has some metabolic effect on the body to help you lose weight. 10 lbs and I'll be the same weight I was when I graduated from college and that was a lifetime, many, several, a few years ago. It's amazing what happens when you stop exercising, even for a short time. After I hurt my knee and had to take a rest from my new running and swimming regime, factor in a free cafeteria at work (with ice cream and fries EVERYDAY) and you get the Cabbage Soup Detox Diet.

On the knitting front, I picked up the needles today. I've decided that there's some psychology to finishing unfinished projects from Los Angeles. I'm currently working on the most simple afghan (which I started about 6 years ago). A basket weave design, mindless 8 row repeat of only knit and purl. It was complex at the time but now simple, uncomplicated and easy. It's symbolic of the way I live my life these days. It's great therapy and something to take my mind off The Princess Diaries 2 and Hannibal Rising, two very bad Blockbuster choices! Fine, I admit it, the Princess Diaries had its moments. Anne Hathway's so cute and all those suitor guys, even cuter! Until Day 3!