Prepping Time

I came back from my long weekend away for Memorial Day and there on the porch was a package from Amazon.com. The sewing machine I ordered had arrived!

Trip time!

Going on a trip. Gonna take a plane. Gonna see my friend. Going to Pittsburgh!

Even my horoscope agrees

Here is my Horoscope on MSN this morning:
Scorpio (October 23 - November 21)
Discard those items from the past for which you really have no use anymore. Much as you like to surround yourself with objects of sentimental value, the time comes when it is necessary to look to the future, rather than dwell on the past. Time spent cleaning up and throwing out will release you from the past and allow you to embrace the future...

This goes right along with my plans to clear out some clutter, reorganize my books, and make my apartment livable!

Check-in with the doc

I met with my doctor, Dr. S. this morning for a check-in with my process of tapering off of the anti-depressant Celexa. I started the weaning process on March 12th. I've now been completely off the medication since last Monday, a whole 8 days. I am still having severe withdrawal symptoms; dizziness, inability to focus, periods of hyper affect and general fatigue. The first week of the changes in tapering (20 to 15, 15 to 10, etc) have been the hardest in this process.

We talked again about by fasting blood levels. Dr. S. had me take a 12-hour fasting blood level about 6 weeks ago. My blood sugar was normal, but my blood glucose, insulin level was very high. I am not diabetic, and she told me that I am not pre-diabetic, but that my levels are a pre-diabetic indicator. She didn't do a big scare tactic with me about me having to go on a crash diet and work out an hour a day. I was pleased to discover that Dr. S. was actually listening to me, taking my history, and planning out a method of change that I can actually do.

Today she suggested a medication to help with my high insulin level called Glucophage/Metformin. It is not a weight loss drug, but for me would act as one, allowing my body to process the insulin better and distribute what it needs to so my body's metabolism can function better. Dr. S. said that my body has probably been like this my entire life. It's not something I caused to happen. In other words, not my fault. That I could do the same things as someone else my weight to and would not lose the pounds because of the way my body holds onto things.

I mean, here is someone saying 'hey, maybe it's not your fault that your fat', and I feel so guilty about it.

Reading project for summer

Once again I've been trying to get rid of some stuff in my two room studio apartment. I recently bought a used loveseat futon for my living room/lounge area. It's fantastic, exactly what I wanted, only... I don't have room to keep the chair and small table that was in that spot before I brought the futon home. Here's a shot of the futon (not in my apartment, but as shown for sale on craigslist)

I'm trying to weed out books and movies that I don't 'need' to have on my shelves. I managed to pull 4 dvds and list them on half.com (one of which sold already!) but books are much harder to relinquish. I have two bookcases that are overflowing with books

So many of the books on my shelf now are books I intend to read, but haven't yet. So, my goal for the summer is to read these books, and not buy new books. Of course this doesn't apply to any that I've already ordered that are on their way (the new Haruki Murakami, an old Murakami, and the last Harry Potter) or any books that I might get while on vacation (there are two trips coming up that I know will be a book temptation).

Here are shots of my three bookshelves. This is really pared downfrom what I used to have. I moved to this apartment in September 2006, and had to get rid of a lot of things to make better use of my space. As you can see, some shelves are now two layers deep with books.




LIST:
Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
Vanity Fair
The Sensualist (by one of my favorite authors, and I've started it a few times over the years, getting more than halfway through, but something happens and i've never finished!)
The Go-Girl guide (or maybe just sell)
Crime and Punishment
Germinal by Emil Zola
Les Miserables
From Dalloway to Woolf
Mama Gena's Guide to Womanly Arts
The Reign of Law
The Phish Book
Fight Club

Resisting Temptation

Why does it take all of my strength lately to resist buying more cross stitch supplies?

I have just started a gift project, and received the supply order I placed last week for the threads and fabric to start the 18th Century Mystery Sampler in The Gift of Stitching, but i want more. I also have some other WIPs, and the freebie kits that came with my last few issues of The Cross Stitcher UK.

Right now I'm looking at the it designed by Sheila Hudson, a vase of anemones. It's very pretty and comes with yellow aida cloth, the threads (presorted), and a needle even! Why do I think i need more projects to work on? More fabric? More threads? I also feel like I need more hoops for holding my work, but I have a tendency to want to leave pieces stretched. I know that's not good, that it'll mark the fabric, so I'm trying to avoid getting more hoops. That way, I can have a max of 3 projects stretched at once, and if I want to switch to something else, I have to take one out of the hoop. That's good isn't it?