Excursion!

I went to knit nite last night! It was good to see Becca and Janelle, and sit around listening to Janelle read to us from Wikipages on US military uniforms. I kind of fell down the wiki hole when I got home, and I made sure to share the love with Sean, knowning (a) his penchant for falling down the wiki hole and (b) the military. :)

Dunn Bros on W Lake St is, indeed, a most excellent location to sit and knit for a few hours. I got a few rows done on the Clapotis (need to remember to put another ball or 2 of that yarn in my bag for the trip!) and also started another mitered square for that blanket.

Had a lousy night's sleep due to how hot it was in our place when I fell asleep, which happened later than usual. It cooled off nicely overnight, but the wind was strong, and was blowing the blinds all over and making a racket, which woke me up every 5 min.

In a good mood today though - tomorrow's Friday and Sean might be home tonight! :)

Catching up is hard to do!

So, I haven't posted in a while. Things have been moving along. We have 3 days till we leave for Hawaii, and I've started packing, and need to get sunscreen tonight. Sean tans; I freckle, burn, peel, and still have White Legs of Doom. I'm in favor of skipping the "burn" portion of my usual equation.

I've been working on the Malablanket as I get a moment, and it's getting bigger. Soon, it will need new circular needles as a home, because it's knit in the round from the center out. I think I will get a bit done on the Clapotis on the plane on Saturday.

Sean left for Chicago for the next couple of days, but it's been nice to spend the evenings with him the last two nights. We just watched movies and he did some work stuff, but it's still nice to fall asleep next to him.

My working out and diet stuff is going pretty well. Workouts are going quite well, actually. I'm planning on doing workouts on the mornings that we're not likely to already be doing serious hiking/exploring activity - especially once we switch to the resort during the latter part of the week. I like how I feel mentally with the workouts happening in the morning. The elliptical and I are definitely good friends.

I'm still battling the fatigue, but I'm pushing through it, and hopefully my visit with the dr on June 15 will shed some light on my sleeping issues.

It's very windy out right now. It'll be nice to have it cooler here for the next few days.

So Glad It's Friday!

Good morning!

It's been a good week here, Chez Berry. Last night, I got 95% of the outstanding laundry done, with the only loads left being the mattress pad for the aerobed and the bathing suits/n00 clothing articles I got for Hawaii.

I got my workout in this morning - 35 min on the elliptical xtrainer. Next week, I'm shooting for 40 min. Onward and upward!

I get to see Sean tonight, which always makes me happy. It's been a while since he's been gone for a whole week! I figure he'll be a tired traveler tonight, between long days in meetings and busy nights telling stories with his comrades. Apparently, we may go to visit Philly in June - I might get to see my old stomping grounds for the first time since 2001!.

[The backstory: in early 2001, I was engaged, and my then-fiance found a contract gig working for a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson near Philly. We lived for 8 months in an extended stay america, planning our wedding, and becoming addicted to Indian food. We almost moved there, then ended up moving back to WI after the wedding so that I could go back and get my accounting degree at UWP w/ in-state tuition. I have wanted to go back there and see if my favorite Indian restaurant is still there. I think being out there was the happiest point of the 6 years that followed....]

We leave for Hawaii 2 weeks from tomorrow! I am sure the 5 people reading are sick of hearing the countdown. But I've never been there!

Finally, in knitting news - I have put the Totally Autumn blanket into hibernation. I just can't manage that pattern right now - it's sad, but it's the way it is, and struggling through it won't be any fun. I want to be able to enjoy making that one. I did find a nice blanket that I can handle, though. Technically, it's a baby blanket, but I'm just going to make it big enough for us. It starts in the center, on dpns, and works its way out, eventually landing on circular needles. I think it's going to suit the Malabrigo nicely. I'm calling it the Malablanket!

Hoping to make more progress on the Clapotis this weekend, as always. We'll see how that goes. :) HAve a great weekend! I need to get out my DSLR and get the photos off the card this weekend, so I can take an honest photo of the Malablanket and post it!

One Step Closer....

I had the sleep study done. I ended up sleeping for 12 hours from 11 Tuesday night till 11 am Wed morning! It was a dark, quiet room. And I slept. Not necessarily well, but for a long duration. The techs said I was up and down a lot in the night, and such. I don't meet the criteria for apnea, and don't need a cpap. However, I got a lot of sleep..... and still woke up feeling fatigued and like I'd been hit by a bus. They kept me through the afternoon for testing during naps, and I was out of there by 2:30 and stopped @ the grocery store on my way home.

I now have a follow-up appt scheduled on June 15, where they'll tell me the results of the study and the treatment options.

Got a little knitting done, a few rows on the 4th straight repeat on the Clapotis. I'm still struggling with the Malabrigo yarn. I just need to spend some time concentrating on the Totally Autumn pattern and I think I'll get it. I just didn't do so well at keeping track of where I was on the row the other night. Still half-tempted to make a Top-Down Raglan Sweater out of it. I'm undecided.

Got up at 5:45 this morning and hit the gym @ work, and did 30 good, solid, intense minutes on the elliptical xtrainer. I love this machine. It feels like running to me, without the impact of running. I'm going to try upping the time I spend on the machine next week by 5 min, going up 5 min/wk until I'm at 60 min.

16 days till we leave for Hawaii! So excited!

Yay it's Tuesday!

Still no knitting last night. I should get some in tonight though. I am planning to knit and read this evening after they hook me up to the monitors @ the sleep clinic. I have my pillow packed, and Yertle will accompany me for the evening.

Sewing class #3 last night. We cut out pattern pieces last night. And I got one seam sewed on the handles of my tote bag. :) Lots more actual sewing to come next week.

I seem to be in a rhythm with this exercise thing. I rode 2.25 miles on the bike Saturday, 4.6 miles Sunday, walked for 45 min @ lunch yesterday, and this morning, I came into work early and did 33 min on the elliptical xtrainer. Amazing how the prospect of eating better/exercising/losing weight comes into focus when the doctor finally makes clear to you that it's not just for your dress size anymore, but that if you don't make those healthier changes, you're losing time with your loved ones.

SparkPeople is a great site though... being able to track food and exercise and other things helps to keep me accountable to myself. It's great because you can just use it to track things, or you can get involved with the teams and discussion forums if that kind of support/motivation works for you. You can tailor it to what you need, and that's great. Also, Sean's such a wonderful source of support. He's willing to eat my experiments with fish, and is fine with cooking at home more (and healthier) and eating out less.

1st Weekend in May!

Despite my usual best intentions, I didn't knit much this weekend. I ended up frogging the first attempt on the Totally Autumn blanket, and I'm not yet sure where that's going. I'll figure it out. And I didn't even take my Clapotis out of the bag.

But I did finally acquire a bicycle. Yes, another one. But this one's different. I can ride this one. And I did. I rode it the 2.25 miles home from Freewheel, and then yesterday, we rode it from 4th St & Portland to 34th & Bloomington, and from there to the Lake/Midtown light rail stop. 4.6 miles. Not a lot, but it's more exercise than I've been able to handle in months. So, 30 min of exercise M-F it is. I figure I'll walk for 30 min @ lunchtime today.

I have sewing class tonight, where I'll be cutting out fabric pieces for my tote bag. Exciting! And tomorrow night's my sleep study.

Sean's heading to Boston for the yearly sales meeting, so I won't see him till the weekend. I'm sure he'll have fun in Boston. And Shepherd's Harvest is this weekend! Not sure what day we're going, but it'll be fun!

There's good news all around...

Kindle has been located. It was by the turntable in the living room, where I set it down the other morning, distracted by re-enveloping the netflix movies to go back. Yay!

Cast on for the Totally Autumn throw last night, with my lovely red-blue-purple Malabrigo Merino Worsted yarn. I think this is going to make me very happy.

I'm hoping to make good progress on the Totally Autumn throw and on the Clapotis this weekend. And to do my May square for the Mitered Square blanket.

I think Sean and I are going for sushi for dinner and then to see the Wolverine movie. Yay date night!

Also, results back from the doc - no blood sugar issues (which is what I was worried about), no mono or lyme disease. But I do have borderline high cholesterol, so I'm going to revamp my diet and try to exercise as I can until I can get back to serious exercise. Got a couple of good books last night on lowering cholesterol through diet, and Sean says "Bacon and eggs are out for breakfast; muesli and skim milk are in!" Actually, it's oatmeal that's in, with Cheerios a close second. :)

Looking forward to my sleep study next week. I get to sleep in a sleep # bed for the first time. :)

Also? Looking forward to the weekend!