Yay, my muse decided to come back from vacation!

I have been so not into creating for over a month...since before Christmas, really.  I have been kind of in the doldrums, maybe mildly depressed for a while now...wondering what the heck I was doing, wasting my time and money on jewelry supplies and tools...worrying about finances, my family, my jobs, etc, that the creative inspiration or muse as some call it, just seemed to have evaporated.  All the little coiling/woven wires I would see in my mind's eye before falling asleep, or doodled on my notepad at work, could just never make it out through my hands and to fruition.

Fortunately, this weekend, I woke up, messed around the house for a bit, and decided of all things to go work out.  After I came home, I heard the doorbell ring...there it was...my muse!  Carrying a suitcase full of dirty laundry and a sheepish grin, it waived it's magic wand over my head and said "get the lead out!" 

Since then, I have cranked out several new things (sorry, no photos yet...), started others, sketched even more.  I fired up my new little Ronson butane torch (yay, me!) and played with making balled headpins.  What a relief!  I think the work out had something to do with it, as well as making a pact with myself to take better care of me...exercising more, trying to eat better and drink more water, etc.  I'm still worried about all those other things, but I guess I'll won't sell all my jewelry supplies and tools this week! :)

The 4th, Blue Crabs, and Weekly Weigh-In #2

Well, it was a hard week with lots of holiday eating (and drinking :), but I managed to lose another .25 lb...not much you might say, but definitely better than the alternative and a quarter-pound is equivalent to a stick of butter!

Hope you had a fabulous 4th of July weekend...it rained all afternoon/evening on the 4th in Frederick, so our plans to go to Baker Park for the fireworks were thwarted...I guess we could have gone, but I am not much for sitting in the rain with a park full of people, so when the man nixed the idea I was happy. We improvised and it turned out that our Plan B was more enjoyable in the end. We called up the Crab House, ordered a dozen Maryland Blue crabs, stopped off for a six-pack of St. Pauli Girl, some white corn on the cob, and our own pack of fireworks for the driveway. We had a great time...the man and boy did tribal dances around the fireworks' showers of sparks!

Another positive for the weekend - I finished 3 necklaces! As soon as I get pictures I will post them here, on YOJ and 2 of them in my shop. The 3rd is a remake of one from private collection...I will have before and after pictures.

Happy Monday - hope you all have a fab week!

Weekly Weigh-In...

In an effort to motivate myself to stay "on program", I have decided to post my weekly "Fit-by-50" status here. Feel free to join me...we can motivate each other to stay true to our bodies!

Drumroll......this week's number is -3.5 lbs! Woohoo!

Fit-by-50

I have been in a huge slump, jewelry-wise, for the past few weeks.  Ever since I was sick several weeks ago, I just haven't had the gumption to get back in the groove.  I have several pieces started and I go and rummage through them, pick them up, look at them, and put them back down in the pile. 

I know what most of my problem is...I haven't been taking care of myself the way I should be.  This time last summer, my fam and I had just gotten back from a week at the beach - very relaxing and pleasant, but after seeing all the pictures and being horrifed at the way I looked, not only in a swimsuit, but regular summer clothes, I decided to really work to get in shape.  My mantra was "50 by 50" - lose 50 pounds by my 50th birthday (then a whole 15 months away)!  I joined weight-watchers and started walking/working-out regularly. By September, my 49th bd,  I had lost 20 lbs and felt really good about myself.  Then, as all mothers of 6 year olds know, the candy holidays came around...you know, October - Halloween, November - Thanksgiving (what, you don't celebrate Turkey Day by gorging on chocolate candy?), December - Christmas, yada, yada... For awhile I maintained, but around February my weight crept back up, and it seems that now I have gained every last bit back.

I made the decision over the weekend to get back on the wagon, as it were...went to my 1st WW meeting since Feb. and have been trying to track my food intake and move more.  At this point, my "50 by 50" seems impossible, but I guess "fit by 50" might be doable - I have less than 3 months to make a dent!

Now, if I can just get some jewelry made...

Walking...

So, my day job office has a committee that plans all this employee-moral boosting stuff.  Usually, it just makes most of us roll our eyes and plan to be conveniently "out of the office" when events are held - well, at least me!

This Spring, however, they have planned a fitness challenge that involves wearing a pedometer all day and counting your steps.  We are supposed to form 4-person teams and track our daily steps for 8 weeks, with prizes and frivolity ensuing...yeah, I know.   Anyway, as I have really been trying to improve my fitness and lose some weight by my 50th (Sept), I joined.  Yesterday was the 1st official day and I counted 3,040 steps...woohoo!  I thought, wow, that's a lot...great job!  Well, actually the daily goal is a minimum of 10,000 steps!  Okay, the 3K total was only my normal day of activity - it was rainy and my burned foot is still kind of touchy-feely, so I didn't go out and purposefully walk, but still...I didn't realize I was so sedentary.

My next door office cubicle neighbors are chatty girls that are fairly new to the workplace and range in age from mid-twenties to early-thirties.  They never shut up and I hear most of their endless conversations.  One girl proudly proclaimed this morning that she had walked over 14,000 steps yesterday, just with her normal daily activity.  Another chimed in, "oh, me too, 12,000 was really easy!", then a third piped in with more of the same!

I really need some encouragement not to just toss in the pedometer!