Why, yes.

One of the ROTC guys came into the office to ask some questions about something-or-other and started perusing the shelves above my desk. He pointed to my action figures and asked, "Who are those people?"


Me: "They're characters from Stargate Atlantis."

Him: "Wow, you really are a nerd, aren't you?"

Me: "In the words of TV's Frank: let your freak flag fly."

Hmmm...still need to get a Todd the Wraith figure.

Project 365: Week 38

Thank you to everyone who commented on the pictures or said it was nice to see me again :).  Getting comments in my inbox really helps alleviate the work/school mix I find myself in (I still say it's a circle of Hell that Dante didn't write about...). 

So, this week I have some more pictures:

Monday

The hallway I wish I was walking down since it leads to the parking lot and my car.  Alas, it was a school night.

Tuesday

Because what I need is a *new* knitting project.  This is a cowl being knitted in the round.  I think the yarn is something like Heritage Silk?  (Have to check my Ravelry account).

This, believe it or not, is my jury summons (first one I've ever gotten in my life).  It was so mangled and torn that I couldn't even tell when I was supposed to report - hence the multiple pictures I took in case I'd already missed my date!  The clerk at the court was most helpful...after she stopped laughing.

Wednesday

On this diet, I get no dairy so...*sniff*...no more lattes.  They did tell me, however, I can use a minimal amount of sugar-free syrups which is great since I'm not too much of a fan of just black coffee.  Note my new best friends :).

Thursday

The evening's vegetable selection waiting to be roasted in the oven:  mushroom, bell pepper, asparagus tips and Anaheim chile pepper.

Friday

OK...these are some before and after shots (well, during, since I'm not done yet).  I had taken some pictures of myself in the gym previously while at my heaviest and thought I would take more pics wearing the same clothes to see if I noticed a change.  As of this day, after a month on this diet, I weigh 17.5 pounds less than I did.

Before:

During:

And there you have it.  Please excuse the hair.  I just run a brush through it before I head down to the gym so the "Yeah, I slept on it" hills and valleys are still present :).

Project 365: Week 37

So, to recap:  not participating as much because...well, I work, I go to school at night to finish my Master's.  I work, I go to school at night to finish my Master's.  I work, I go to school at night to finish my Master's...ad nauseum.  I just can't really find many pictures that would be anything different other than the view from my desk or a page out of a textbook.  And believe you me, I don't want to inflict a tome on tax policy on anyone else!

(Bug, I have your book.  Life has been a little insane.  I will try to get it in the mail this week.  I think I still have the address...)

However, I have a few pics that I thought I would put up and share:

I finished a scarf I was working on and blocked it this week.  It's four colors of yarn and a combination of garter and stockinette stitch.  It was the first time I'd worked on circular needles with two balls of yarn at the same time.  Scarf is almost 6' long.

My youngest granddaughter, Emery.  Way too cute :).

 

I was on my way into Drug Emporium when I saw this license plate and had to take a picture.  I swear, the first voice in my head was Apu from The Simpsons:  "Mr. Simpson, please to not be feeding my god a peanut."

 

 

While waiting to check out in Drug Emporium, I saw this by the register.  The cashier looked at me a little oddly for putting down my purchases and grabbing my phone but, seriously, how could I resist?  It's LIP BALM, people!  Doesn't the name just make you want to grab up a couple?  (please note, they swear at the bottom that chicken poop is not an ingredient....uh huh.)

 

 

 

Otherwise, just trying to work my way through this semester.  The amount of weekly reading for this semester's courses is astonishing.  I'm studying again tomorrow so I can try to maintain being a week ahead.  That means I'm not cramming to finish the reading so I can write the homework memos on the weekend.  Really wanting some time to knit but not getting much.  I have in progress:

 

1.  Dress for Rylie

2.  Cowl

3.  Linen stitch scarf (I *swear* I am going to get that finished)

4.  Hat for Monkey

 

Maybe tomorrow.  I will go study for a few hours, go with the Spousal Unit to take his rental back to Hertz, and hopefully get some time to just sit without having to do anything after that except knit...read...maybe take a nap.  Ohhhhhhh, a nap.

 

The diet progresses.  I have lost 14 pounds in three weeks at last check-in.  And although I have been ordered to not let dairy cross my lips minus the one ounce of milk I can have in coffee (there went my lattes, too. Grrrrr...), I have been given permission to use - within reason (darn!) - sugar free DaVinci syrups.  Yay!  'Cause I hate black coffee. 

 

I'm really not missing much else, though.  The supplements are pretty decent tasting and I haven't had any desire to run screaming through a store and cramming carbs in my mouth like there was no tomorrow.  The only thing I really want is a nice, big bowl of buttered popcorn.  Oh well, maybe in three months or so...

 

Slideshow...boring. Losing...consciousness

(Quote from The Tick - see below)

Dear God,

Please make the last thirty pages of my text on tax policy disappear.  I'll be your best friend!

Love,
TCH

And thus and so...

So, week one of the diet is complete.  I lost five pounds which I am happy with for a first week result.  Below is a picture of the meal I actually get to chew each day:

That's eight ounces of protein (chicken in this case) and 2 cups of vegetables.  I also get two cups of vegetables for lunch along with whatever packet I've snagged before I left the house in the morning.  I'm having to look up more ways to cook vegetables or think of new ones to try because I don't want to get bored over the potential months I will be doing this.  I just don't want to buy a new vegetable, hate it, and then have to eat it because, you know, I spent money on the thing :P.

Also had to do all the medical stuff I couldn't do at my first appointment because there was someone else with me and HIPPA frowns on trading medical details like bubblegum cards :).  The last thing I had to do that day was...get measured (gasp!  oh, the horror!).  I still am proportional (47-42-49) but would like those measurements to go down just a wee bit.  Ah well, if this gets my pancreas to (a) stop giving me the middle finger and (b) start giving up insulin instead of hoarding it like it's preparing for a bomb shelter for World War Z, that will be worth it.  Plus, the need to no longer stab myself in the stomach every day with needles would be pretty awesome, too.

I am knitting, knitting, knitting.  I finished the first cable hat and sent it to my favorite girl-child-who-is-not-one-of-my-granddaughters, Beanie:

She was very happy with it per Mom.  What is on her shoulders is the shirt I also sent her:  Bambi (she's allllll into Disney right now).

I also started work on this dress (model picture):

I am about a third of the way through the back skirt portion of the dress and feeling rather ambitious since this is the first piece of clothing I am making so I'm learning about decreasing stitches for clothes as well as how to sew together the pieces (when I get there).

The linen stitch scarf got put to the side for the moment because I wanted to get the hat finished (check), get started on the dress (check) since I have hopes of finishing it in time for Christmas, and I am pretty close to getting this scarf done:

I've got about eight more sets of the thin stripes to complete and then around 100 more rows of solid block knitting using the gray color first and then the white (or I may use one of the blues again, who knows?).  BTW, please excuse the crappy picture - it was taken on my desk at work.

Still kind of writing off and on.  It's a relaxing thing like knitting.  I've been working on an SGA/Chuck crossover for a while and I have various scenes written but I think I need to start trying to stitch them together and really nail down my timeline between the shows.  There is some difference and if I go one way, I need to use the Legacy series SGA books as canon and the last one won't be out until November.  Not a problem one way since (a) I write at a glacial pace these days and (b) this will probably never see the light of day to an archive or anything like that.  But I can see another way I want to go and I'm not sure I can get the timelines to mesh as well as I would like.  Oh well, at least I'm writing!  Now if that SGA/X-Files plot bunny would leave me alone...(I'm skeered of Chris Carter's ever fraying grasp on his own series canon.  That's a migraine waiting to happen!).

BTW, if anyone has a good idea for a topic I can write about for Public Finance Administration, sing out!  I have my Public Policy topic but Finance eludes me.