Birthday Perfection

Today (well I guess technically yesterday since it's after midnight) was my birthday. And it was a pretty good birthday - I'm still alive (which about 10 days ago was questionable!). I got to sleep in til almost noon. I woke up with a purring kitty on my arm. I visited with one of my best friends, Emily. I watched 2 movies on netflix while folding clothes and sewing. I enjoyed choc-iced-cream-filled Krispy Kreme dougnuts, Gold Peak Tea and Zaxby's chicken, and played my favorite car game, "The Muppets Sing Glee" with my wonderful hubby! My whole birthday cost less than $20 this year. I think we've hit a new record - the most fun birthday on a budget!

I was going to blog a lot more than this in November. I was going to share one of my favorite things with you each day of my birth month, but the universe had other plans. More about that later since I have to go to sleep soon so I can get up and help my Mama cook Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Seems like everyone in my family is kinda sickly in some way this year.

Anyway, I just couldn't let my birthday go by without recording it in some fashion this year. Thanks for reading!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rainbow Brite

see more Lol Celebs

I just saw this and loved it. I kinda hate what has happened to rainbows. That is all for now. Just remembering more innocent days...

We're Organized Wednesday

Sorry, peeps! I wrote this yesterday during a break at school, saved it to look at after I got home, and totally forgot to log back in and post it! Darn MS!


Wednesday's theme here with Queen Glimmering Moon will be Organization!

Why I chose organization:
~ One of my favorite blogs also has We're Organized Wednesday. Check out Leanne at Organize & Decorate Everything. I've always wanted to link an organization project to the linky party they have on Wednesdays, but I haven't gotten any organizing done recently. Soon though, very soon! Her current contest is for a beautiful RediShade - the giveaway is open through Saturday, October 2, 2010, if you'd like to enter!



~I really love the way that the first letters of "We're Organized Wednesdays" spells WOW! (Yes, I know I'm a nerd, but feel free to comment anyway.)

~Organization is something I love. It brings me joy. I need an organized environment to work in if you want my best work. Maybe its because my work is chaotic and makes a mess, so if things are cluttery in the first place, it's only gonna get worse as I work until I explode! I'm just a little OCD, but not enough to make me eccentric - just enough to make me odd, and according to my hubby, slightly frustrating :) Geez, it's not like I'm a Monica Gellar!

~If I link up to the WOW linky party every Wednesday, then you are not just benefiting from my organization but from many others more organized than I! If you click on the WOW party link, you will get pictures of so many other's projects that you won't be able to stay disorganized for long. You can't help being inspired by all the wonderful organization projects that Leanne does and those that link up with her. I can't wait to get my work studio organized so you can see it too!


In other news, I am still substitute teaching at East Lake. I think this is my last week. I think they finally found a music certified sub to hire as an interim teacher, since the regular teacher is going to be out so long. This makes me a little sad, because I've fallen in love with all my students. One of the dangers of long-term sub jobs - you are there just long enough to get to know everyone and, if you are half-decent at what you do, just long enough to care about the kids. I am going to miss them, but I am looking forward to having some time off from subbing. I really have to get some stuff completed for my next trip to Kingsport. I owe my brother a diaper bag and my sister-in-law 2 nursing tops. For once, I'm going to finish baby gifts from the kid is a year old (right now he's a month old). I don't think I've posted pics of the baby on my blog yet so here goes:

This is a collage I made of baby Kaedan. The others in the photos are my brother (proud papa) and my mom (first-time being Nana).

I also am starting my cleanse to help treat my gallstones naturally. Today I am having all liquid stuff & natural foods. Tomorrow will be all blended or juiced stuff. I have a bunch of frozen organic fruit in the freezer so I won't actually have to go grocery shopping for this until Friday. Friday will be all juice and Saturday morning will be the official start of my lemonade cleanse. Not really sure what I will do after this over. I know for sure that I don't want to go back to the way I was eating. But I also don't want to go without some of my favorite things for the rest of my life. I like the idea of a diet without anything processed. All natural, organic food. A friend of mine calls it "God" food. She only eats things that God created and Man has not tampered with. If it came from the ground or out of a tree, it's on her safe list. I have a cookbook that is all about eating according to the dietary laws in the Bible. While the restrictions are interesting and make a lot of good sense, the preparation and such seems like it would be very time consuming. I don't know how a modern family with two working adults could manage it. Every time I read a recipe from there, I always have in the back of my head, "Gee, I know why women were homemakers for centuries. Just the cooking took most of the day!" I wonder though if I went to an all-natural, slow food sort of diet, what would the effect on my body be of one cheat day of eating whatever I want? Which let's face it, would include fries, chicken tenders, buttery popcorn, fried mozzarella sticks, and loads of sugar. Things that make you go hmmmm....

Flashback Tuesday!!

Introducing Flashback Tuesday!!

How many of you had a pair of these????



Listing on Etsy

I had a pair of denim boots back in the day, but I can't tell you what brand they were. I've never been very particular about brands.

This particular pair was for sale on etsy, and if I had been a little quicker in catching this listing, I just might have bought them! I don't know if I would have worn them everyday, but they'd be great this week at school. It's spirit week and they would have been perfect for Decade Day! Aw, who am I kidding? I'd rock these as often as I could just because they are boots. I love boots! Tis the season again too -- I am so happy!! Almost time to bust out my scarves too! There was such a nice nip in the air this morning. I'm on cloud nine :)

So I want to start blogging for you guys more regularly. To help me with that, I am going to have themes to help me get started everyday. I'd been trying to decide what each day would be. This was a sure-fire sign of what Tuesday should be - "Flashback Tuesday". I hope you all enjoy! And stay tuned to see what each day will bring!!

Peace Love and Purple elephants,
DeAnna

ETSY BOOT CAMP PLEDGE

I, DeAnna-Marie Prather, pledge to participate in the Etsy Success Holiday Boot Camp to the best of my abilities. I vow to check in every week, do my homework and support my fellow Holiday Boot Campers. I will read the weekly newsletters and blog posts, check in on the weekly forum thread, read the weekly blog post, check off the checklists and salute the mascot. I promise to share what I've learned with those who need it, support my fellow Etsy indiepreneurs and, most of all, have a positive and persistent attitude. I understand that together we can spread the word about our handmade and vintage goods, making this holiday season a more unique and meaningful one to gift givers and give-ees everywhere!

To participate:: Post this pledge to your blog, Facebook, Twitter (make sure to use the hashtag #EtsyHolidayBootCamp) or even on your refrigerator!

So what can you do this week? Make sure you've signed up for the Etsy Success newsletter for directions. Follow the link provided above. Holiday Boot Camp instructions will be delivered every Thursday, so carve out a time in your week to sit down with a pen, note pad, and your crocheted camouflage uniform! We have work to do! Over and out.

Modern hex ed

I was writing my last blog post while I was at school. During related arts classes for the past 2 days, my classes have been to their sex ed classes for the year. So I've just had to sit and supervise while the ladies from On Point talk to them. They show them pictures of the sores of infected body parts, speak of the emotional damages of having sex before you're ready, and preach that condoms provide safer sex but the only safe sex is abstinence until marriage. One thing I have noticed that sex ed is a lot more graphic and disgusting than I remember from school. Maybe because I'm from a smaller town. Maybe because there are diseases around now. I don't know. But it has given me a new appreciation for how lucky I am. I am so glad I waited until (almost) marriage to be sexually active. I am so glad that I am married. I am so grateful I have a wonderful husband. I so hope that these girls make at least as good as the decisions that I made. I really hope they make better decisions than I made. I hope they are all as lucky as I have been and can achieve all their goals and dreams.

The last time I was in this school was when I was student teaching. Back then, one of my 7th-graders was pregnant. All the kids were wild and several were headed down bad roads. These days East Lake is a much different place. Their principal is amazing. The kids are so much better behaved. I am seeing more discipline, more respect, better work ethic & calmer atmosphere. I love the transformation that has happened in the East Lake community. Maybe this generation is the one that will turn it around. During sex ed, one girl was so embarrassed to be in this class that when she'd ask a question, she'd say "hex" instead of "sex" (hence, our title of this blog post). A total 180 from the 8th grade of 5 years ago that already had teen pregnancy drop-outs and would come into the classroom and walk down the hallway "dropping it like it's hot".

Some things that I am sure of:
~These ladies & gentlemen are capable of so much!
~If they stay on the road that they are on now, the youth of East Lake are going to rule the world (in a great and amazing way)!
~I am teaching the future doctors, lawyers, businesspersons, designers, professionals of Chattanooga.
~The youth of East Lake are going to teach us all some amazing things very soon.

They may be still be the East Lake Wildcats, but I am happy this time to see mighty panthers, glorious lions, graceful jaguars, instead a bunch of hyenas.

I do and don't wanna be a Biggest Loser

I have long been a fan of the reality show, The Biggest Loser. (Well, let's face it, I've been a sucker for reality TV in general since Real World first aired!) At first, I would watch Biggest Loser and feel so hopeful and glad for the contestants on the show.

I'm a big TV junkie, often munching while I watch, but I was careful to not eat junky snacks while the Biggest Loser. In the beginning. Then there was a season that the ladies group at church had a Biggest Loser contest as the show was airing. That season I lost 15 pounds because of the fellowship and support of that group and the fact that I gave up soda for Lent at the same time. But that was kinda all she wrote on weight loss.

After that initial 15 lbs loss, nothing. Granted, I don't work out and I wasn't really motivated to change my eating. I was a size 16-18, depending on the day of the month and I didn't really care much. Then there was kids, financial stress, job stress, family stress, depression, you name a type of stress, I was pretty much dealing with it. I gained the 15 lbs back plus more.

Then came the season that there was a contestant as big as me. One lovely lady weighed almost exactly the same as I did. I was devastated. How did I get to be "Biggest Loser size"? How did I get here, I asked myself as I sat there watching Biggest Loser and eating chocolate-covered popcorn... Oh, wait...

The new season's lineup of contestants has been announced. This time there are 5 ladies that are within 5-10 lbs of me or SMALLER! I'm bigger than THREE of the BIGGEST LOSERS!!!!!!

You all that have been reading know that I was already working on the weight issue at the behest of my doctors. Well, add this to the list of "kick in the pants" I've gotten lately. Doc told me this week that my latest round of bloodwork shows I'm anemic. I'm not eating right and I know it. I know what I need to do, so why can't I do it?

I still do not drink soda as a rule. Not even diet. I can't stand the taste, but mostly the aspartame freaks me out. I do not allow myself to eat from any restaurant with a drive-thru window. I'm trying not to eat processed crap. But it's not enough. I need more drastic changes. So next week, after I get paid and get to do a little grocery shopping, I am doing a cleanse. I'm a little nervous but it has been approved by my doctor. I heard from a friend that she knows someone that actually got rid of gall stones from doing the same cleanse. Although the things that are hurting my gallbladder are the same things that are making me large. It's the french fries, fried chicken, and buttery popcorn that make my gallbladder scream! I'm pretty sure that my belly is 75% forms of potato, 50% forms of fried chicken, 25% popcorn. Yes, I know that doesn't add up to 100%, but since I'm 60% bigger than ideal, I figure my math is still solid. After this cleanse, my friend Emily is putting me on a healthy diet and I know it's not gonna include fried food. I'm hoping that even when I'm off this diet, I won't really want this fried food anymore. I'm not gonna stop eating chicken, since it's my favorite form of dead animal. But it doesn't have to be fried. Grilled chuck is just as good. Just for the record, my favorite meat is some dead pig... bacon... sausage... country ham... But those are gonna be very limited too. I'm Irish, so I cannot survive without potatoes but I don't guess they have to be curly and fried!

So while I do not want to be as big as the Biggest Losers, I do want to lose like they do. I know it's not gonna be as fast as the Biggest Losers lose, because I can't quit my job and focus all my attention on my diet and exercise habits. But I do have high expectations of myself like they do. I do have similar motivators. I do have access to the knowledge of what I'm supposed to do. What I need is my Bob and my Jillian. I need someone to jump down my throat when I slack off like Jillian would. I need someone to give me a guilt trip when I don't eat right like Bob would. How do I get that without being on the show? I've had trainers in the Chattanooga area before and I've just not found my Bob or Jillian.

To My Gaming Friends: Please Read - I am very worried about husband

Ok, so . . . I am worried. I am worried about Hubby. I really need to hear from all my gamer friends or all my friends that live with gamers. I need to know if this is a guy thing or if just depends on the kind of gamer you are...

Hubby gets so mad at his video games. He screams. He curses. He usually doesn't throw things, but I'm afraid we're getting close. He even yelled at the eldest cat because she meowed too loudly while he was playing. This happens when he gets frustrated with a level and dies or has to redo the level. This is something I just don't understand. When I get frustrated with a video game, I might fuss, but I turn it off for a while and step away from it. I mean, games are supposed to be fun, right? When I made the mistake of mentioning this to Hubby tonight, I got a "Well, aren't you f#@%ing enlightened?"

So I know I probably shouldn't have said anything at all. (DON'T JUDGE ME! I know you are!) Hubby has blood pressure problems already so before I ground him from this stressful game, please let me know your tips for calming him down when he's like this!

I also wanna share my favorite geeky website at the moment. Hubby has ordered shirts from here before, but I'd never checked it out. I now have a wish list }:)

Unexpected visitors

So anyone that has visited our house recently knows that we have been having some draining problems. We've tried every remedy out there, from all the natural fixes to the nasty high powered chemical ones. We've treated just the bathroom line as well as the main line. We had given up with the self-treating and were saving up the cash to call in the professionals.

Today we were having a lazy Saturday. Me getting over my annual season changing bronchitis, watching hour after hour of McLeod's Daughters, my fav Aussie soap opera, on netflix; Hubby in computer room, also with the sniffles & congestion, blowing things up & fighting virtual foes. Then there's a knock at the door. The pizza man had already delivered and we were expecting anyone else. Just to make things more bizarre, it was a white man at our front door. In our neighborhood, that is a rarity! We had been hearing construction type equipment next door all day. The man explains he was a friend of the owner next door and with the guys working on the sewer lines. Apparently the neighbors were having drain issues, too. They'd found lots of all roots and such, but it still wasn't working quite right. With having done everything they could from their side of the property, they needed access to our land now and also wondered if we were having any issues lately. Hubby went out with them and they started snaking our drains too. It was fairly customary around here for neighboring houses to share a line to the main sewer line. So our clogged line was their clogged line. They pulled out more roots and the usual gunk. But then came the goldmine -- the biggest part of the clog was a squirrel. Apparently while the cap was off for one of our "fixes", a squirrel had crawled inside for some reason while the water was low. After they pulled out our dead furry friend, they put the snake back in the drain to make sure that was it. It wasn't. The snake hit what Hubby described as a solid wall! They pushed harder and finally broke through and all the water just flushed out of the lines. This little furry nuts-for-brains had actually pulled a bunch of nuts and food and was trying to store it in our sewer lines and set up a cozy little home.

Why would this crazy squirrel pick down in the sewer lines to set up home? Not anything like what I thought squirrels would look for in real estate. Whatever his reasons for choosing our sewer, I'm glad he picked us. We got our drain fixed for free. If it happens again, we now have the number of a plumber that is really nice and won't rip us off. Sometimes I just love the weird kooky luck that we have!

Big Beautiful Belly Dancing Show

Last night I attended The Big Bellydance Show at Barking Legs with my two best friends, Abigail & Emily. When the announcer said the title for the first time, I snickered and made a joke, wondering if we were only going to see "big bellies". But after watching the show, I had an epiphany. Bellies are amazing! We saw big bellies, small bellies, bellies with stretch marks, bellies without blemishes, pregnant bellies, and smooth bellies. Bellydancing is something I've often thought about taking classes in, being as how I have to trick myself into exercising by making it seem like I'm not exercising, but I've decided against, feeling that I was too fat or ugly and didn't want to bare those parts of my anatomy that I hate so much. I realized watching all these beautiful ladies of all shapes and sizes that in order to be a good bellydancer, you must first indeed have a belly. If you don't have a belly, you don't have anything to shimmy. You have to have something to push out and pull in or there is no dancing going on at all.

So in honor of these ladies' inspiration, I am declaring this week "Love Your Body Week". I am still on my weight loss journey this week, but not because I hate myself anymore, but just because my doctors say I need to because I am unhealthy. I just wanna be healthy. I am now treating my weight loss as I would any other doctor's prescription. I really feel like if I can become a healthier person, all the other things that are chaotic in my life will fall into their proper place.

Love to all my bloggies out there (and your beautiful bellies)!

SHOES!!!!! - Sweet Pea Patterns Guest Giveaway

Shoes is something in sewing that I have never ventured into, but with my first nephew arriving soon, I want to make all sorts of small cute things. I would love to win this giveaway because there are some cute little boy shoes in this pattern. To all the other seamstresses out there, we need to make more cute & handsome things for little boys!!

Sweet Pea Patterns Guest Giveaway

Adult movie vs. Kid movie

Why can people not understand the difference between a kid's movie and an adult movie any longer? Most of the people I personally know the difference and regulate things for their children's age level, but the general population does not. Today, while my house was heating up from the lack of air conditioning, I decided to partake of the local bargain theater's afternoon showing of "Date Night." Just from the title, without even looking at the rating, I know this is a movie for adults. The entire premise of the movie is also the reason to go watch the movie. Go on a date night with your spouse/longtime significant other and laugh at how things have changed from the beginning of your relationship. I greatly enjoyed this movie, but would have enjoyed it a heck of lot more if the lady in front of me hadn't come with her FOUR children. What it looked like to me is that Mom & College-age Daughter wanted to see this movie and since College-age Daughter is going, then there is no one to watch the other kids in the middle of the day. The next eldest child is a boy maybe 12 or 13 years old, and there's another boy who can't be more than 8 or so. The 8 y.o. boy has a twin sister. The twins come in fighting & picking on each other, so Mom sits in between them. The movie starts and it is very funny but let's remember this is a Steve Carell & Tina Fey show. About married people. And married people have sex... or at least, want to and therefore talk about it. Every time they mention sex, gender-specific body parts, or anything of the sort, the 8 y.o. girl twin shouts, "PENIS" and giggles. Instead of Mom getting upset, embarrassed or disciplining the child in any way, she giggles as well. Well at least the first few times, until people started getting upset at the disturbance, and then the lady took the hint and got the girl to pipe down.

I grew up without all this language and violence. I don't feel like I miss out on much. And if I did, I can watch it now as an adult. I am glad that my parents let me be a child. I was horrified one day while substitute teaching to overhear a GROUP OF FIRST GRADERS talking about watching Saw (rated R, then later NC-17) and The Grudge (rated PG-13). I remember when the scariest movie in my entire world was The Gremlins. I'm 30 years old and I know I don't want to watch Saw from the 10 minutes of goriness that I have seen, and the previews & people talking about The Grudge was enough to give me nightmares!

So, parents of the world, please for the sake of the rest of us: take your children to age-appropriate movies. It's okay for your children to just be children. They will be better-adjusted adults, and people around you will like you more. This world is becoming more and more a world I don't understand or recognize anymore...

Official Movie Website – Date Night - Starring Steve Carell & Tina Fey: Home

QGM Unplugged

So I've been without a phone since Friday, because I lost it somewhere at work. We also have no home phone because we didn't feel like we needed it. I knew it would bother me not having a phone, but I had no idea quite how much! I have realized how much I have come to depend on that small piece of plastic & metal. And then to further blow my whole reality away, we lost power today as well. My cousin Jason was visiting and we didn't know what to do! "Let's watch a movie." No, electricity required for vcr, dvd player or Netflix via PS3 or Wii. "Well my laptop has a charge; let's get on the internet." Nope, electricity powers the wifi hub so no internet either. Previously we had been cleaning and organizing the cluttermuck that is my house. (Anybody notice I totally made up a word back there? Trying not to curse, and it's funny to say so . . . hey, don't judge me!) After about 5 more minutes of cleaning, we decided that it was too hot for all that moving around since the house was heating up fast. So after opening some blinds and pulling back some sheers, we kinda had enough light to play cards. We played Munchkin, well Star Munchkin rather, there was much laughing and such, and Jason promptly kicked my booty. Beginners luck I say.

I digress from my original point. Are we all too plugged in our screens? Would my memory be better if I HAD to remember stuff instead of relying on a hunk of plastic? Would we have better relationships, better health, better a lot of things if we weren't so surrounded by plastic and electricity? While I still do want to find my phone, especially since we have no home phone, I would also like to not be so dependent on it when it (or a replacement) does show up.

Losing

Welcome to my new battle with weight. My primary care doctor has been telling me (and my husband) that weight must be lost or start preparing to deal with diabetes in the near future. My neurologist says that my MS will be more manageable with less pounds. Last week, I got completely knocked the freak out by a summer cold. I went to the doctor for my lovely Z-pack to knock this sinus infection back to heck and the nurse and I begin our traditional bit. Step on the scale. Numbers tip. Nurse coyly leaves the big slider on 150 and wiggles the small one all the way to the end. I sheepishly smile and mutter something like "Thanks" or "Nice try", and we move on to the 200's. I honestly don't know if I just don't look my weight or she's really bad at guessing.

This time was a little different. We moved to the 200 and she's wiggling the small slider and we get almost to the end again . . . blink, blink . . . WTF? I'm in total Whiskey Tango Foxtrot situation, Skip poking me to walk to exam room, keep looking back at the end of the hallway, bad place where the numbers 240 just flashed before my eyes . . .

And I can't even blame a recent large meal. I felt like crap and had barely kept down a very small orange poppy seed muffin so they could take a blood sample just before that. The point where we were talking about diabetes and my drugs working better was now 20 lbs ago.

So now I officially have 100 lbs to lose to be at my goal weight. I have 75 lbs to lose before my doctors are off my back. So far my brillant plan is attacking the wii fit and packing my lunch, cooking more for dinner. I know the drive-thrus are killing me. Other than that, I really don't know what to change . . .