The Bag in my closet

This evening after work, after spending some quality time with my cat Harry, after eating cottage cheese out of the container while watching clips of Michael J. Fox talk about Back to the Future (it's the 25th anniversary of when he went back in time, didn't you know that?), I settled in to do a bit of picking up. I picked through my aromatherapy oils and put something suitable in the burner, pushed play on the stereo to listen to Death Cab for Cutie, and began.

Putting anything away in my closet usually involves taking the contents of my closet out. The air conditioner has its own place, but to get to the empty box I had to pull out the mini trampoline and flattened storage boxes. Not a perfect system, but it works. I realized that there was no empty space in my closet and decided to pull everything out that didn't have a place, namely everything wedged behind and under the hanging clothes.

Out came rolls of wrapping paper, shoes, a purse, boxes of cat litter (actually those belong at the bottom of the closet, that is their designated storage spot) and last but most important, I pulled a Bag out of the bottom of my closet. Bag is capitalized because it means a very special sort of bag. The kind of bag that develops from my haphazard way of dealing with messes, stressors, company coming, lack of available surfaces, the urge to clean, etc. I end up with these bags stashed all over my apartment. They can be plastic grocery bags, but I seem to have moved on to paper grocery bags and more substantial reusable shopping bags.

Anyway, let's look at the contents. For the first time I am going to list what I find.

The bag itself - a paper shopping bag from The Container Store. How fitting!

Contents:
1 pair of pants - put in the bag when they were a little too small. Now they are too big. Into the donate bin!
1 scarf - a friend had one like this and it looked good on her. I have never worn this - would be good for a gift?
1 paper bag full of stuff - a Bag within a Bag.
silver tissue paper
2 cancelled stamps
1 plastic lid - recycle
3 unused Band-aids
1 expired coffee coupon
1 sewing kit
1 6 outlet power strip
my knitting needle gauge!
1 double pointed knitting needle - I've been looking for this for at least a month
1 crochet pattern
1 empty plastic grocery bag
unused tissues (yes I will throw them out)
1 teddy bear filled with catnip (now I know why my cat disappears into the closet all the time)
bubble wrap
1 return envelope
1 mini notebook with pen, with only the 2 pages used
8 plastic hanging file labels
4 bits of trash (post it note, wrapper, etc)
1 trouser sock
1 black lacquered strip of wood that looks like it fell off of something - wait - that's off a picture frame in the living room?
name badge from a sci-fi convention in January 2009

Phew! But wait...there was a Bag within a Bag. What is in THAT Bag?
cassette tape of a bootleg Phish concert, 1997
1 used Band-Aid (I know, gross)
catalog of accessories for my cell phone, in Spanish
freebie 2009 pocket calendar book
email printout of family Christmas lists, 2009
1 Christmas card that came back in the mail - maybe I should send it to my friend for this year?
1 birthday card from last year
Energy Guide sticker and new owner paperwork from the refrigerator in my apartment
hanging file folder labeled Astrology Stuff, which yes, contains my astrological chart
half of a Real Simple magazine, March 2008
paperwork from LL Bean return from 2005
pamphlet on the nutrition department at my doctor's office
sushi menu
pet store loyalty card
instruction sheet for my mini trampoline
a book forced on me belonging to someone I no longer know - donate
1 filter that fits into the lid of the litter box, but I tossed the lid this summer
crossword puzzle book
Comcast cable agreement pamphlet
insert from the Boston Sunday Globe, January 4, 2009
2008 wall calendar
Obama cross stitch pattern

I wonder if this could be considered a Time Capsule, a term that professional organizers and clinical psychologists often use when dealing with hoarders. Everything from one particular time gets dumped into a container, and time stops for those things. Time seems to have stopped mid January 2009. Eep!

Interesting that I did not find:
a rock
a marble
coins
receipts
I forget what else my sister says lurks in every bag I open, but whatever that stuff was, it's not here. I think this bag was worked over a bit before it ended up being a bag in the closet. There is a definite pocket of paper that should be in the recycle bin at the bottom. Hmm.
Well, that's what I did with my Friday night.

I think i have found the perfect trench coat! and i think there are 2 women wearing the same coat but in different colors both right next each other. Is that weird? I LOVE the belt detail. slit grommet things on a special fitted waist panel. beautiful! I managed to read Via Spiga on the buttons of the girl now sitting. I think I have to run home and look up this coat. I always love via spiga shoes when I find them on clearance at DSW. And the clearance price? Around $100. It probably doesn't come in my size anyway...

Slog along...

So, I was reading some posts by Mooncalf and trying to catch up so that I've read and seen all of her lovely knits, when I started reading a post called Slog Along 2010. In it she references a podcast by Stash and Burn as her inspiration, and it seems to have something to do with working on hibernating WIPS, so of course I want to know more. Didn't I just pull Babette out from the darkness and see what was what?

But what is this Stash and Burn? I typed it into Google and found a website with NINETY-SEVEN podcasts, ready for listening. How have I never heard of this before? I have only listened #97 so far, which prompted me to pull out ALL of the Babette mess that is on my yarn shelf...

Yes, that's 4 plastic shoebox-sized containers of yarn or squares and a bigger showbox, and a project bag of current squares and yarn. It looks like a lot but hey, if it's going to turn into a full/queen blanket then there had better be a lot of yarn! I bought the yarn in two stages. When I first committed to the project I waited until a sale at AC Moore and bought 20? skeins, in 17 colors. Then a long while later, the Vanna's Choice line was expanded to include brighter colors, and I went out and bought 5 of those. Doesn't it look nice with my blue couch?

On another note, the handle end of my Babette crochet hook is nicked and is bothering my hand something terrible. Any thoughts on how to fix? I wrapped the end in medical tape, but that's now a bit sticky and irritating. I know there's Plasti-Dip, cool handle dippy stuff, but it's probably cheaper to just get another hook right? Anyone has a spare round-tipped J hook that they can't stand the sight of and want to get rid of it?

Babette is back in rotation!

To prove I wore a skirt today... not saying it looks good...both the shirt and skirt are too big somehow. didn't I just go shopping? I did try on skirts but didn't find anything I liked. I wasn't quite ready to buy skirts. And as of this morning, 25 pounds gone since April 24. Hooray! Maybe that's why none of my clothes fit? This week's loss was 2 pounds. I ate more than normal this week and didn't work out once. Maybe my body just needed a break. I also feel terrible from getting a tetanus shot Friday. Like a mild flu. Blech.

Shaping up...

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Originally uploaded by bareblueskin

Not a great picture, but it was really late with low light and my cell phone. And I was a bit tipsy... This is what I wore to a pirate costume party. Not so much pirate as mime, dressed as french barista, dressed as pirate. Hmmm.

I took the photo because for the first time in a long time I felt good about how I looked. I fit into clothes I haven't worn in TWO years! And didn't have to suck anything in. Woot!

Mmm. Nothing like a grilled cheese on whole wheat with tomato and avocado. For breakfast. After a meeting with my nutritionst. Did I mention it's Muenster cheese? Mmmmmm.

Black and White Hats

Little Xavier grew out of his blueberry hat, and I've had a request for a new hat, but this time with a matching one for mom, and this time, in black and white! So, Xavier's hat will be black on bottom, white on top, and Emily's hat will be white on bottom, black on top. I bought the yarns months ago but I'm seeing them in two weeks (!) so I'd better get knitting. I managed to make the 6 month hat in a week before, and that was with cotton yarn which was tougher to work with, so I'm hoping that I will be able to crank out these two hats. (holy run-on sentences, Batman!)

That means I won't be able to work on Citron OR my new socks, and once again I have way too many projects sitting around collecting dust.

Rav link for hat project: Black and White Hats

This week has been long and tiring, and I'm struggling with being hungry and getting workouts in at all. This weekend is full of activities - book group, party, outdoor music, and while I do want to go to all of them and see peple I'm just so tired. Maybe tonight I'll skip the workout and just do laundry, knit, take a nap, have dinner, wash dishes, reorganize my apartment...

Parmesan-Cauliflower Fritters

***I found this post sitting in my draft posts, but it's all done as far as I can tell, and I've made this recipe a lot. I think it will be a good staple for fall.***

Sitting at work this afternoon I started thinking about what the heck I was going to make for dinner. It's dreadfully hot, I am sort of out of anything fresh (veg, fruit, meat, dairy, yep, all of it) and I'm NOT going to grocery store and walking my purchases home when it's 90 degrees out and sunny. Perish the thought, or perish myself, right?

I was going to walk through the harvard Square farmer's market on the way home, so I picked up some tomatoes, Narragansett Creamery cheese, local handmade chocolate, etc, but I had already decided to make a recipe that I made for the first time last week, which uses the oven. How crazy is that?

I found myself mentioning this recipe to my sister, to friends, it was that good!

Parmesan-Cauliflower Fritters

Biggest Loser Year 10!

Along with the fall 2010 season of the Biggest Loser I am starting a new challenge for myself in my fitness and weight loss efforts.

I joined a Ravelry group for some added motivation called Biggest Loser Fitness and Knitting*. There is a mini competition where people can sign up to keep track of percentage of weight lost, and will be matched up with motivation buddies and that sort of thing. There are already some discussion threads going about nutrition and exercise.  I am also helping out as assistant moderator.

Of course, since this group is on a knitting site, there will be some knitting and crafting involved. Hopefully there will be a knit-a-long too.

So far my goals are to:
-work out a minimum of 3 days a week
-convince my doctor to take me off blood pressure meds
-strengthen the muscles around my knee and thereby stop the creaking and occasional pain
-continue to lose weight - at least 1 pound a week
-lose 30 pounds by December 31, 2010
-buy and use a heart rate monitor to keep my workouts more consistent and more productive

The premiere is tonight! Off to buy healthy groceries, work out, and watch the show.

*You have to be a member of Ravelry to join the group.