Hi all...Sorry I haven't been posting much this past week.  Lots happening.  I've made the switch from spring to summer.  I passed the torch of Stitchery Guild secretary onto another very capable lady...so no more Tuesday night meetings. 

We switched Bible studies from nights to during the day mid-week...so I could spend the evening with Paul.  He was actually disappointed!  He used Bible study time to go to the public library and do family history research.  Now he says he feels beholden to take me along.  This is no hardship for me.  I'll spend my time catching up in the magazine and newspaper section.

Friday morning stitch-in has stopped, so I've replaced it with an afternoon stitch-in on Tuesdays.  This makes for a rushed Tuesday, but if I'm organized on Monday and get my shopping and laundry done, I'm set to go.

Wednesday night activities have ceased...providing me with more time for sewing, reading, and handwork.  Wednesday afternoon I spend with friends.

And Thursday and Friday I like to spend time with friends.  Saturdays I am knitting with a group in the mornings and quilting with another group in the afternoon.  And of course Sundays are always full.

I've been running errands on foot a lot...which is eating into my computer time.   But it's for a good cause.  My weight hasn't dropped below 176 lbs. yet, and I'm frustrated.  But I have a couple new tricks to try.  I'm currently trying a detox tea with mild diuretics in it.  I think a lot of what I have is water retention issues.  I just lose the weight too fast when I come off meds (10 lbs./mth) for it to be much else. 

But, just in case it is something else...I discovered "The Serotonin Power Diet" at the public library the other day.  I checked reviews on-line and everything seems favourable.  I've decided to try it.  What have I got to lose?  Besides 40 extra pounds!

I've been doing well with exercise...getting 7500 to 15,000 steps in each day.  I need to vary it a bit I think.  That will be my challenge this week.  I need to do more upper body work.  I just find it hard to motivate myself when I don't know if I'm doing it properly.

I canceled my appointment with the exercise therapist because I need to talk to the physiotherapist first.  Turns out my doctor has signed me up for physio and exercise therapy.  Too bad I can't afford both!

My diet has been wild.  Paul is the master of carb loading.  He decided to buy an entire 10" Black Forest Cake from Safeway to eat this weekend.  I sighed and decided to help him.  I was surprised that I did not have any ill effects from it.  But I ate a lot smaller pieces than normal.  And I ate it on it's own.  And I exercised after every piece for at least 20 minutes...walks, etc.  I was surprised to note I did have an improvement in energy levels and clarity of thought after eating them.

The Serotonin Power Diet advocates eating carbs, but not junk carbs like the Black Forest Cake!  And they advocate eating the carbs at certain times and with certain combinations of food.  Carbs have been linked to serotonin production in the brain.  According to the authors, if eaten with protein, the protein will block the carbs from being absorbed and used for serotonin production.  All this is the result of various studies on rats at M.I.T.

Anyway...onto other things...I've done virtually nothing in the sewing department...Let's see...I got the wrap around skirt made...except the waistband.  I did get the sashing on the sampler quilt...kind of.  I ran out of fabric and have to contact the lady to arrange a time to pick up more.

In the knitting department I continue to knit on my drop stitch scarf made from Sea Maiden Double Sea Silk.  It's turning out lovely!  And ooooooh so soft!

In the frugal department...I decided to try shopping locally...and discovered it's expensive.  A local yarn shop had knitting magazines for sale for $1-2 more than the local bookstore.  I bought one at the yarn store and, when I saw the prices at the bookstore, picked up a couple there.  I'm fixed for knitting projects for awhile.

I also tried to buy frozen boneless pork loin chops at a local butcher's.  But when I opened my package of 4 chops (for $9!), I discovered one was almost all fat and the other three had to have huge chunks of fat cut off them.  Never again.  We'll be going to Sobey's for pork chops from here on in.

A friend has been supplying me with ionized water from her filtration system, and I love it for making tea.  It's just so smooth going down.  She also passed on some insecticidal soap she was given by someone else.

I helped another friend who had a three day garage sale this past week/weekend.  I only spent $5 the whole event.  I netted:

• 2 soaker hoses,
• a fancy sewing kit for traveling,
• unopened perfume with delightful decanter (AVON),
• a blue willow plate,
• an old tobacco tin full of 50+ year old buttons,
• 2 videos,
• a book,
• and other things I forget.

Paul and I have decided we aren't being very frugal these days.  Well, it seems that way.  I don't know... we have set up the house so we don't have to use all three floors anymore.  I just go into the basement to do laundry and get things from the freezer.  Paul is down there showering every morning.  But other than that, there's not much we need to do there.  It's my winter exercise room though.

I've become slack at hanging up clothes to dry.  We only do two loads of laundry a week: one light and one dark.  I find I am often rushed with doing it on Mondays.  So I just push it through.  Washing full loads saves on electricity.  I try to get to it before Paul because he likes to set the dryer on moisture setting...which can take up to 2 hours to dry the clothes!  I set it for 60 minutes on the timer and they're done by the end of the hour.  We've reconnected the dryer vent hose to the outside for the warmer months.  No need to have it redirected inside.  As per usual, I do not recommend redirecting the dryer vent hose inside if you live in a damp climate.  You will only be encouraging mold to grow.

We've been grilling more on the gas grill outside now the nice weather is here.  We're also eating a lot of blender/microwave/indoor grill meals.  I can't remember the last time I cooked a meal on the stove top.  Could be why our electricity bill has plummeted below $60 from around $80.  I love summer!

We decided that seeing as we couldn't find anyone to replace our fence this year, we'd replace the kitchen window instead.  So we have people coming to look it over.  Right now it has a crack in the glass and it is leaking majorly bad in winter.  Which, if you know the Canadian prairie winters, is not a good thing!  It's going to cost roughly $1000CAD to replace a 30 x 55" window.  We have the money saved up for this.

Paul and I have decided to dispense with watching TV every night before bed.  Consequently I have been falling asleep much easier and am having a more restful sleep.  It is nice to wake up rested in the morning!  I suggested we watch it earlier in the evening when we do want to watch it.  We'll see if that works for me as well.  Paul has been watching his TV shows on the Internet instead.

Meghan and Lisa are both in Halifax now.  I am suffering from DWS...daughter withrawal syndrome!  They only have cell phones.  Lisa's doesn't have long distance (or at least it costs an arm and a leg to phone her long distance!), and she doesn't have Internet till mid-month.  Meghan is either not near her phone, or on it, and I can't get through to her.  Interestingly, she is not responding to email either.  I wonder what's going on there.  You know, I've come to the conclusion that a parent's job is to always worry about their children.  I'm sure she's fine, but I'd feel a lot better if I could touch base with her.

Well, that's my catch up post everyone.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!