Monday, March 16, 2009

our first nice weekend

It was our first nice weekend of the year here in Northern Illinois. That is if you call temps in the 50's nice. :-) But it was sunny and that helped to dry things out. The pugs and I set up our first agility training of the season and a good time was had by all. On Sunday I took Aoife and Clancy to a fun run at an agility club west of me. Clancy was a star and did really well. I'm hoping taking a few months off has helped his confidence. One of my friends there talked me into giving Aoife a chance. What a disaster that was! All she did was run around a bark at me. Everyone had a good laugh. I told my friend she owes me $4.00 for the cost of her run. :-)

On Sunday morning it occurred to me that I didn't have a thing to wear to the fun run. I like to wear fitness gear when I do agility and I've lost over 45 pounds now and I literally have not replaced one bit of my agility wardrobe. I found the cutest pair of capri pants - in a size 6! It really hit me on just how much weight I have lost. It's hard to tell when you make due with the same clothes for months. I haven't wanted to spend a lot of money until I got to were I wanted to be weight wise and as a result I walk around in baggy clothes all the time. I'm about 10 to 15 pounds away from my goal now. It feels great!

Because of the nice weather I didn't have as much time as I wanted to stitch. Here is my progress on the Big Zipper. I'm finished with the top portion of the project and I've started working on the tree. I'd love to have the parts that I own finished by the end of the week but I bet that house in the center is going to take several days as it's pretty big.

On Saturday I really wanted to start something new. I thought it should be something small and I've been wanted to start Earth Sampler since I saw a couple of WIPs online from blogging buddies. Here is mine. I'm doing it over one on 32 count Purely Primitive. I love how it's turning out but because it's over one I am losing a lot of variegation of the floss colors. I guess that is the trade off when using overdyed. It's going to be tiny - less than 4 inches square when complete. I won't work on it again until the weekend because I really need to focus on HoHRH and my BZ and I can't do over one on the train in any case.
I didn't get my house done as I didn't start stitching until after 8:00pm last night. I spent a couple of hours going through my closet and tossing more clothes. What a nice feeling that is. :-) I have to replace everything. :-)

13 comments:

Lisa said...

Congrats on the weight loss - I know how hard that is. On the upside you get to go shopping! Great new start btw.

Anna van Schurman said...

I think cleaning out your closet is worth putting houses aside for a night or two! Congratulations on your weight loss.

Deb said...

A big congratulations on the weight loss. Isn't it just the best feeling when you finally do go shopping and you have to keep going down in size until something fits!

Margaret said...

Wow! Congrats on losing that weight! I'm currently trying, but not succeeding. Sigh. I just love how the Big Zipper is coming, and OMG -- your Earth Sampler! Just spectacular! I think it's worth the over one look that you lose the variegation. It's wonderful!!!!

Siobhán said...

Wow!! YGG on the weight loss! You're so inspirational. I have been trying to lose weight since I was, oh, 7 or so but it always finds me & brings friends. LOL You should be so proud of yourself. :)

Love the WIPs! And the new start--ack! I am anxious to start that one... it is a perfect spring/summer stitch, I think. Enjoy the nice weather.

Carmen said...

congratulations on the weight loss.
Aoife help with the run and bark.:D
beuatiful stitching,i hope you have a nice and happy week.

Sheila said...

Congratulations on your weight loss - that is terrific. I love Siobhan´s comments . . .
Earth Sampler is looking great, as are the other two.
Glad to hear Clancy enjoyed himself, and Aoife too.

Andrea said...

YGG!! Your weight loss is amazing, I'm very happy for you!

Love love LOVE your Big Zipper, it's just prettier every time you show your progress on it!
And the Earth Sampler is adorable, I love that you're doing it over one, it's going to be so perfect!

Kiss those Pugs of yours for me! I know they'll be enjoying the warmer weather with their skinny Mama :-)

Theresa said...

Sounds like a fun weekend you had!!!!! Those sunny spring days are always a joy after a long long winter~~
The Earth Sampler is so cute~~ Making me want to start one as well!!!

Suburban Stitcher said...

My goodness...Congrats on your weight loss! That's quite an accomplishment! All of your WIPs are stunning. I can't wait to see Earth Sampler completed over 1!!! Looks great so far :)

Nicole said...

Great progress on your wips! Love your new start! It's so cute over one! :) Congrats on your weight loss - that's wonderful! Good luck on meeting your goal!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on all that wonderful weight loss! Although I must confess, I think I woke the entire house laughing at the idea of pugs and agility training. The running joke in my house is that Pugs used to have a normal dog's features...he just ran headlong into too many walls!

I have to say, I am really enjoying the progress on your HoHRH. I'm going to have to add that pattern to my stash pile.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the weight loss Margie!

Your Earth Sampler is looking fantastic and HOHRH and BZ are coming along great!