Does Walking to the Mailbox Count As Exercise?

I am so lazy on the weekends, or at least that's what it seems like.  Actually, I think it is more accurate to describe my weekends as "a body in rest, stays in rest; a body in motion, stays in motion".  Today, I am definitely in motion.  It's not that I did anything extraordinary, and actually it is a rainy, overcast day, but I managed to prepare two casseroles, one for the husband and one for a co-worker who just had surgery, complete the laundry, clean the kitchen, and make chicken for stir-fry tonight.

After I finish this blog post, I'm going to go back to knitting my sweater wrap, which has been on my needles since forever (February of 2010).  I have about 12 inches left to knit on it but it feels like I have a mile to go.

I also finished my thank-you cards from the wedding.  I have two left to do, and they are for my bosses at work.  Of course, I only had a few stamps on hand but I'm sure I have a few extras in my purse.  In fact, I found a stamp stuck to the hand lotion in my purse.

Just about the only thing that isn't making me satisfied is my weight.  I gained very slightly last week (I attributed it to the wedding) but I am not feeling the love this week either, even though I'm on plan.  I hope I'm just maintaining and that I'm not actually gaining weight.  I would hate to start the holidays this way.

I've been bugging Mr. Grumpbump to buy me a EA Sports Active 2 for the Wii.  I actually used Active and I should probably just start using it again until I get the latest and greatest version.  In fact, if I'm being honest at all, I need to start exercising in order to see results on Weight Watchers.

Possible good news regarding my cats.  Although they do not hesitate to hiss at each other, there have been developments that offer promise and hope that one day these guys might be friends.  On three separate occasions, Delilah and Macy have been on the same couch without incident.  Typically, these two just steer clear of each other and do not share the same space.

Temporary Truce

We can always count on Delilah to provide drama in our lives.  She has now taken to napping in the dryer, if we leave the door open.  Mr. Grumpbump is guilty of this as his idea of doing laundry does not include taking the clothes out of the dryer and putting them up.  Instead he just uses the dryer as additional clothes storage.  And, of course, Delilah takes full advantage of that.

Dryer Cat

We still have no word on our house purchase.  I am getting depressed that we might not close before the end of the year.  With only three working days this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, I am sure we will go yet another week without much news.



 

I Now Pronounce You Crazy Cat Couple

I made vegetable soup today.  Nothing fancy, just a bunch of vegetables I bought at the Farmer's Market this morning.  My goal was to make something very weight watchers-friendly.  It's not exactly zero points (I added chicken stock and whole-wheat rotini) but it's still relatively okay for my new eating plan.

I have not lost any weight this week.  I've splurged too much and I'm afraid to get on the scale.  I have to get out tomorrow and do some exercise, just to justify the extra intake.

Back to the soup, the good news is that it smells really good.  I'm having a bowl of it right now, but it's too hot to eat so the verdict will have to wait.  I made it in the slow cooker and you really can't screw up crockpot food.

Macy and Delilah have exciting news.  Two members of their staff, the ones who provide Delilah and Macy with food and water and love, got married on Thursday, November 11.  Yes, we are very happy.  We are now Mr. and Mrs. Grumpbump.

We had a few guests to our house on Thursday, and, honestly, we were most worried about Macy.  She's still edgy about sudden movements or loud noises, so with everyone in the house, we were convinced she would hightail it to the safest place in the house, under the bed.  We figured Delilah would just ignore everyone and go about her business.

Macy definitely surprised us, in a good way.  While she was not social, she was not shy about walking around all of the new people in the house.  She did not run and hide but stayed out front in her normal positions by the  window.  Delilah hung out in the bedroom and ignored us.  After the wedding, when we got home, we thought all was normal.

That was a big mistake.  Delilah might not have acted out while company was here, but she certainly let us know later that she was over us.  We let her outside, as is the normal routine but she never came back.  After several hours, I went outside to look for her.  She was nowhere.   I had Mr. Grumpbump go look for her and Delilah typically will respond to his calls.  Again, no sign of her.  Of course, I get upset.

Then, around 11:00 p.m., our phones rang.  It was a neighbor calling us to say Delilah was at their house, which was at least five buildings away.  Jeezo'man, I was relieved but also embarrassed because a lot of people have definite opinions about cats wandering around.  Mr. Grumpbump and I walk over to the house and sure enough, Delilah is hanging out and talking to the neighbors.  After introducing ourselves, we explain that Delilah has been like this since we've known her and we do have a collar (with our phones numbers) for just this reason.  Mr. Grumpbump called Delilah to come to him and she headed his way.  However, she then made a beeline to the next house, yelling at us and warning us with her tail swishing that she wanted nothing to do with us.  We cornered her and I picked her up; Delilah was howling at me the whole time, definitely unhappy that we were taking her away.

I was even more upset as Delilah has never acted like this before.  Sure, she doesn't always stay right around the house, but she has never before been unhappy to see us.  We had her inside that night for about 10 minutes before she started howling and crying to leave again.   We let her out.

I'm not sure when she decided to come back in but later that night, I woke up and Delilah was in bed with us, as normal.  My concern was elevated because that next day, Mr. Grumpbump and I were gone for the whole day and were staying at a hotel that night.  I called a friend of mine, who agreed to stop by and look after the cats while we were away.  Delilah was in the back of my mind all night.

When we got back from our trip today, Delilah was in our bed, sleeping, not concerned about anything.  I felt pretty silly about working myself up and convincing myself that Delilah was leaving us.  Macy was awake and alert.   Macy has so many good qualities and I'm sure that her sensitivity will wear off as she gets more and more used to us.  She already is very good about sitting with us on the couch, and she talks to us all the time.

Delilah is my fickle, quirky cat, and her indifference to me makes me try harder to control her.  Of course, this equation equals failure.  In fact, as I type this, Delilah is out roaming the neighborhood, while Miss Mace sleeps on the couch behind me.

When our guests were here, Mr. Grumpbump left the door open and Macy actually walked four steps outside.  We all panicked and followed her, calling her to come back.  Lucky for us, Macy is smart and knows that the home she has means constant food, water and love.  She took her four steps of freedom and turned around and came back in the house.

Macy Love

When we get our house, Mr. Grumpbump is concerned that Delilah will be hard to train to stay around.  If we get the house we want, Delilah might just be forced to be indoors all the time.  If we can convince her to stay indoors, most of the stress associated with her would be gone.  I think our best bet is also to introduce ourselves to our neighbors and let them know who Delilah is.  We will deal with it when the time gets here.

Happy With Less

I'm working on another pair of socks.  This pattern is knit 3, purl 1 rib.  It goes well with the variegated yarn of blues and browns.  The sock is rather large on me (as usual).  I could not get a decent photo of it on my foot so here it is on display:

The second of the pair on the needles but I'm slow going on it.  I have been busy lately.

I have lost 10.6 pounds since September 22!  Slow and steady - about 1.5 lbs per week on Weight Watchers.   I've not had a week where I didn't lose weight, although I had one week where I only lost .2 lbs.  Seriously.  What is that?  However, I rebounded the next week with over 2 lbs.  Weight Watchers has really helped me with portion control and eating smarter.  My vegetable and fiber intake has dramatically increased. Now I actually eat vegetables with pleasure.  I have finally reached adulthood!

I'm still waiting for an answer on the short sale offer on two houses.  I would love to have a definite answer from the seller's bank before Thanksgiving, but there are no guarantees.  

The cats are doing fine.  They aren't friends but they manage to stay away from each other enough.  I feel like Macy does not get as much as attention, mainly because she is not as pushy with us as Delilah Bug.  Macy is so sweet and does like to sit with us on the couch, compared to Delilah who is usually too busy outside to give a hoot about us.

Macy Gray relaxing on the couch

This upcoming week should be a big change, but I reserve the right to post about it until after the event.

Covering Up

I finished my socks. They are unremarkable and I'm hoping to improve on this new short-row heel technique I've learned.

Nothing Fancy.

The New Heel

These socks were knit with size 2 dpns, which are easily my favorite size.  I just cast on 64 stitches and knitted a cuff of 12 rows of K1, P1 (but you knit through the back loop of the knit stitch).  The foot and leg are simple knit stitch all the way around.  The socks don't have a good fit, probably because the garter stitch does not have very much give.

I've started a new pair of socks, but this time I'm going to do the leg and cuff in a rib pattern, to (hopefully) insure that the fit is more snug.  The color pattern of this yarn is also variegated - this time it is greens and browns and gray and turquoise.  I'm planning to knit more of a knee sock.  We will see how this first sock goes.

I have completely given up on trying to do cable patterns in my socks.  I used to love knitting cables, but with socks, I find it too aggravating.  I tried to do cables in my newly cast-on sock, but I frogged it back to the cuff after about four rows.  I'm searching for some patterns that are based on rib stitches but create interesting patterns.  I have a couple more skeins of solid colors (purple and pink) that would really show off cool stitch patterns.  I am relying on Ravelry searches to find free patterns.

I'm trying to distract myself from some real problems at homes by concentrating on my knitting.  So far, all I have been doing is pushing them to the bottom of the pile, but those problems have a way of creeping back up to the top.  I'm not sure what do to; I'm only sure that when these problems come to light, I'm going to be in trouble.

Typing This Post Is Distracting Me From Snacking

I finished Sock One of the variegated sock yarn.  Of course, true to my knitting prowess, it's a bit on the big side.  What makes this one special, to me, is that I learned a new heel technique called short row heel.  While I'm not sure that I applied it correctly to this sock, I'm going to knit the second of the pair and then do a search on the internet to see if I did make a mistake.  The wonderful thing for me is that I actually learned this strictly by reading!  I didn't cheat by watching a video, which is not technically cheating, but I feel smarter being able to read and understand knitting instructions.

I knit socks on double-pointed needles, top-down.  The generic heel pattern is one in which you knit a heel flap, and then knit back and forth on it with a short row technique that causes the flap to take a cupped shape, and then that gets connected back to the sock itself by you picking up stitches.  When this technique is done, there is a clear delineation between the heel and the sock itself.

This mitered heel, short row technique creates a heel that is, in my opinion, less obvious but more just a seamless part of the sock.  Now, where I think I screwed up is that I did not do any decreasing once the heel was finished.  As a result, my sock looks really wide and fits that way too.

Seamless Heel!

That's Macy's butt in the corner.

I started Weight Watchers, as I mentioned last time, and I have lost a few pounds.  I am eating so much better these days and making me accountable via the Points system is really the reason for my success (so far).  Some of the replacements, substitutions I've made:  turkey and veggie burgers for hamburger, whipped cream cheese for mayo, sandwich thins for regular bread; I've also added fresh vegetables to lunch and dinner.  I've learned the key is to get low-point but filling foods.  My next step is to increase my activity level so I can start maximizing the weight loss, which is currently due just to me cutting back.

I'm still looking for a house. I have two contracts on homes, but both are short sales.  Therefore, there is really no timetable but instead I have to just sit and wait for the seller's lender to determine if the price is acceptable. What could potentially be terribly frustrating is if after waiting for months, the bank comes back and rejects my purchase price.  However, I try not to dwell on that and instead there is a little part of me that is so excited to consider being a homeowner for the first time in almost ten years.

The latest cat news is that Delilah and Macy are still living separate but equal lives.  However, I haven't figured out if Delilah is trying to get closer to Macy for good or evil purposes.  Delilah does push the boundaries, sometimes, by getting as close to Macy as possible until Macy starts growling.  Macy will eventually slink away but Delilah stands her ground.  It could be a case of Delilah stalking Macy (I notice Delilah rubbing up on a lot of things lately - marking her stuff) but it could also be that Delilah wants to get close to Macy and is less afraid and more curious.  Macy's still too fearful to be receptive to Delilah, but Macy has been very good about always sitting near us, whether it be on the couch or under the table.

All that being said, what is more cute than a sleeping cat?

Delilah stole Steve's heart and now his favorite chair

I'll tell you what....a cat in a laundry basket.

Caught!

She's had it with all the pictures.

Living Up To The Grumpbump Name

I am so hungry.  I started Weight Watchers on Wednesday, September 22.  My plan is to use the Weight Watchers online tools to help monitor my weight and eating, not this blog.  However, I will make sure celebrate any success I have with the program here without getting too specific.

I never realized how poorly I ate and how I have developed the worst eating habits, regardless of my weight.  I know I should have made the connection but I am really good at justifying my behavior to myself.   No crisis of conscience for me when there is a brownie in my sights.   This past week I have really adhered to the program and recorded everything I've eaten.  I've also turned my food intake upside down - I now eat more vegetables than anything else (thanks to a visit to the Farmer's Market on Saturday).  I'm trying hard to incorporate more fruit as well.

One of my worst traits is my quick submission to my cravings and weekends bring out the worst in me.  I added as many vegetables as possible to my meals to fill me up but it was not easy.  My saving grace is that I'm not a very picky eater, so the options available to me are varied.  For example, I made a vegan burger for dinner, with red onion, tomatoes, cucumber slices, and bread and butter pickles.  I use sandwich thins for the bread and I splurged with a teaspoon of mayo on the bread.  Very filling meal and I still have a few points left to eat some yogurt and fruit or even to enjoy some Weight Watchers ice cream.

In order to keep myself busy, I started a new pair of socks - this time using a variegated yarn.  It is so hard to find a pattern for variegated yarns because the changing colors can overwhelm most stitch patterns.  I started the same sock at least four times, each time making it about 20 rounds before I decided I hated it.  My knitting tends to be tight, and on top of knitting with small needles, projects that require you to knit into stitches more than once really have me pulling my hair out.   I'm going to start again tonight.and this time I'm going with something very easy and simple and I'm going to jump up one needle size. Variegated is pretty but not as fun as a solid.

Macy knows what you are thinking!  Shame on you!

Hoping For A House

I finished the second sock!  It took me no time to get that one done, even though I realized my notes from the first one were not as complete as I needed them to be.  So I did a lot of holding up the first sock to compare it to the second one in progress.

From Steve's View

From My View

I am joining Weight Watchers starting Wednesday.  I am not looking forward to this, but when the commercials for Jenny Craig and NutriSystem actually start to look promising, I know it's time to do something about this problem.   I started exercising in the mornings - not of my own free will and not even because Steve has been on my case.  It is because the cats start screaming at me for food starting around 6:15 a.m.   After making sure that Delilah and Macy are eating (separately) and they have clean food and litter, I turn on the television and look up the OnDemand exercise channel.   The selection is varied but I've only been doing the cardio workout.  

I wish I had good news about my house purchase, but everything dealing with short sales is hurry up and wait.    I have a contract on a really nice house but I'm waiting for the seller's bank to approve the contract.  It is really hard not to put all my faith and hope into one house because the reality is that there are too many variables in short sales.  The key is to be patient and have lots of offers and options out in the market.  I was patient for, let's face it, about ten days.   I am going to start a new pair of socks to provide me with a distraction so I don't yell at my realtor (again).

Don't Mess With Me, Delilah!

I Actually Did Things This Weekend

I completed two projects this weekend.  The aforementioned patchwork cat blanket and now, Sock One of Two, which was started more than a month ago.  Here's hoping that I can get Sock Two on the needles tonight.  It always seems that the second sock of a pair goes quicker than the first.

I still have fit issues. I understand the mechanics of sock knitting but do not have the patience or the fortitude to adjust the pattern for my feet.  Instead, I just strictly knit the pattern as-is.  Although, this pattern calls for size 1 needles, but I just could not get those to work for me.   This sock was knitted on size 2 needles. (Hint:  If you click on the pictures, you can get a closer look.)

No cables, but the look is intricate

I'm not sure I like this heel

Macy said I did a good job.

I have a ton of sock yarn in this colorway (deep solid purples, blues, and pinks, with variegated versions too).   I'm leery to do a cable pattern because I have problems with knitting cables on such small needles and cable patterns are a lot of damn work!  Socks can be nice when they are a quick knit (comparatively speaking).   I'm the type of knitter that is okay with taking time on a project when the pattern is easily memorized.  My cat blanket took me longer than I normally like, but the pattern was so easy to do and also to put down and be able to pick back up at any time.  Cable patterns....not so much.

Sunday nights are my favorite at this time because it means Mad Men, even though Monday morning is right around the corner.   I'm going to get my Sock Two on the needles right now so I can feel I had an even more productive weekend.

Things That Distracted Me

I missed a whole month of posting due to my  preoccupation with (i) work; (ii) my favorite television show, Mad Men, and the newest season; (iii) knitting; and (iv) everything else that interferes with sitting in front of the laptop.

As you know, I adopted another cat.  I have promised myself  that I will stop at two.  No more pets; I haven't even told my mom about Macy yet (she's severely allergic and Delilah was not a welcome addition for her).  Macy is doing better these days - we've had her since July 30 and now, almost 7 weeks later, we see definite improvements with her.  She is much more relaxed around us and she frequently joins me on the couch.  Also, she is much more playful than Delilah Bug and I try to make a habit of engaging Macy with one of those cat teaser toys.  Macy also gets a kick out of messing with me while I'm knitting.  The movement of the yarn makes her jump at it and that's when the cat teaser comes out so I can distract her from my yarn.  

I knitted a mat to use underneath the litter box (using up my scraps of cotton yarn) and then got an idea to knit a blanket for Macy to use.  So I got more scrap yarn together and made a mismatched, patchwork blanket using a Quaker Rib Stitch.  I made a real effort to get it done quickly, and every day I would find Macy laying on top of the work-in-progress.  Today, I finished the blanket, snapped the obligatory pictures, and handed it off to Macy for her total use.  Of course, she wants nothing to do with it now.

Maybe I need to wash it in catnip

It's hard to see the stitch pattern in the picture and some of the yarn I had really shows it off nicely.  I ran out of the chunkier yarn so I started using two strand at a time of the thinner yarn.  I'm glad to be using up my stash because then I can buy more yarn - Steve will not let me buy new yarn unless I make a serious dent in what I have already amassed.

I need to figure out how to make my edges cleaner looking.  The cast-on and bind-off edges are fine, but the selvage is a mess of weird bumps.  Perhaps I need to just slip my stitches at the start of every other row (when knitting flat).  I am considering knitting a nice afghan for my mother for a homemade gift, so I want that to look as finished as possible.

Finished Product

My big news is that I finally decided to start looking into buying a house.  This process requires me to be secure in my job and to have a generally positive outlook on life.  Therefore, you know this will be a challenge for me.  However, I don't want to jinx my plans already in progress, so I will not be saying anything specific until I actually have closed on a home.   

Room Enough For Two

While I have been honest about my-less-than-satisfying relationship with Delilah (hereinafter "Delilah Bug"), I was usually just teasing about getting another cat (specifically one who likes me).  My tendency was towards a kitten, presuming that Delilah would tolerate the addition of a kitten without much threat.  But that is not what happened.

Macy Grey f/k/a Gypsy is what happened.

Macy Gray is a cute name, but could we do better?

The bedroom is her sanctuary from Delilah Bug

She was a stray hanging around a friend's house (because she was getting fed).  Macy is actually on Petfinder.com as Gypsy and you can read her short little bio there.  My friend suggested that Macy might be a suitable second cat for us.  I considered that Delilah would never be able to accept a full grown cat in her house, but I agreed to give Macy at least a two-week trial.

Today is Day Eight of Macy in our household.   Because our apartment is small, we have arranged the cats to limit their interaction unless we are in the house with them.   Macy is usually confided to the bedroom and bathroom behind closed doors and Delilah Bug gets the front room, dining room and kitchen, and, of course, outdoors.   The first few days were rough, with each cat giving her share of the hissing and posturing.  Now, however, things are slightly more mellow, especially for Macy.  

While Macy is still timid and skittish, she is much more relaxed when in Delilah Bug's presence.  She usually just sits still and watches Delilah Bug as she walks by.  Delilah Bug, on the other hand, ignores Macy for the most part.  However, when Macy is directly in her sight, Delilah Bug scrunches up her face and hisses and screams about how important she is in the household but she also usually walks off.  

Of course, we are still limiting them getting in close physical proximity to each other.  I am not sure at what time we will feel comfortable when they are in the same room together (and not constantly monitoring them and holding our breath until they both fall asleep). Delilah Bug was very angry with us for several days and she refused to be held or touched or petted by Steve, her favorite person.  She's coming around now and has started napping for a few minutes with him each day.  

By this time next week, we will make our final decision about Macy's future with us, but I am feeling good about it.

I'm going to end this post with one of my favorite pictures of Delilah Bug.

Washing Up Before Dinner

And This Is Only Part of My Friday Story

All kinds of drama in my house, but I'll write about that later.

For now, I will just share with you the randomness that was Friday.  Friday was payday and I headed to the bank at lunch to deposit my paycheck (side note: I have been procrastinating signing up for direct deposit).  I decide to get in the drive-through at the bank, and pull up behind a car in one of the lanes.  I notice that the vehicle next to me has not fully pulled forward to the speaker.  I am not sure of what they are doing until the car in front of me moves on and I see this:

It's 1:00 p.m. in Florida in July and it's hot as hell and there are cars circling her, idling while she breathes in the car exhaust and fumes.  And, I checked, this bank has handicap access to the lobby of the bank.  Why would she not just go inside?  It's so random.

After a long day at work, I head home, a bit anxious about things, and Steve greets me at the door.  He points to the outdoor table we have on the patio-area of our apartment.  This is what I see:

Six glasses.  Steve had seen someone walking around our apartment that morning when he got home from work, and I was getting ready to leave.  He went to the door but when he opened the door, there was no one there.  He surmised that the person who was walking around in the morning left the glasses there.  I have no idea why.  Steve thinks the guy was moving out and did not want to take his glasses.  I know, it's a ridiculous theory.  How could you not fit six glasses somewhere?  This is so more than random; it's freaky weird.

Before you ask, I did take the glasses inside and washed them and I plan to use them.  What?  They are nice glasses!

Suddenly, motorized wheelchair lady at the bank drive-through is looking pretty good next to me, right?