Pretty Pretty Bang Bang

Happy birthday, Steve! Hope you have a good one despite the fact you have to drive to Arkansas. Remember, you’re not old, you’re 37.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with numbers. Mainly numbers that pertain to my weight or clothing size. I rejoined Weight Watchers about a month ago since I felt like I was sliding off the program and wanted to get back on track. Since then, my entire mental/emotional state has hinged on what I weigh, what clothing size I wear and how much I’ve gained/lost during a seven day period. Things have gotten so bad that I’m now constantly comparing myself to others and feeling very down on myself. So here’s how the numbers stack up as of today:

22 - The number of points I’m allowed to eat in a day according to Weight Watchers.

18 - The clothing size I wore when I was at my heaviest.

10 - The number of pounds I’d like to lose and the size clothing I’m currently wearing. Unless it’s a dress or white pants, then I automatically go up to a 12 and alter the parts that are too big.

5′8″ - My height.

8 - The clothing size I’d like to wear.

6 - The size I wore at my smallest (which lasted about 5 minutes).

4 - The number of times I eat a day. This includes my afternoon snack.

2.8 - The number of pounds I lost two weeks ago.

1 - The number of pounds I gained last week. Shit.

0 - The size my sister wears.

Infinite - The number of times per day I think about my weight.

I really think this whole mind set is very unhealthy and I’m not sure how to go about changing it. Last week I commented to the woman at WW that I was really discouraged about my inability to lose. I’d been logging my eating faithfully, working out 5x per week and drinking all my water. She said, “Well, these things take time.” Gee, thanks. Then she asked me where I would be without WW. Perhaps less obsessed? I don’t know. It’s a great program and it really does work, but I’m getting really tired of the numbers game. Good thing I’m not an accountant!

Cyberfriend Staci has tagged me and challenged me to list seven random things about myself. So I thought I’d play. Here goes…

• I own 16 (yes, sixteen) pairs of Birkenstocks alone. Of course, this is merely a drop in my shoe bucket, but still, a large amount of one brand of shoe. My favorite style is the Gizeh; I own 8 pair of those in various patterns and colors.

• Despite currently being a jewelry artist, I only took one art class in college. It was Drawing 101 and I’m terrible at drawing.

• If I didn’t make jewelry, I think I’d like to learn woodworking or glassblowing. Guess I have a thing for working with dangerous tools!

• I keep my toes properly pedicured even through the winter.

• After wearing nail polish on my fingernails continuously since 6th grade, I quit last fall and haven’t painted them since.

• At last count, I had over 80 bottles of nail polish. All were OPI.

• I have a fascination with abandoned buildings. I always want to explore them.

I’m tagging Anne, Cindy, Steve, Zarah, Greg, Suzanne, and Miriam. Hope they all decide to play!

Despite my whining earlier in the week, things did get better. First, I did my weekly weigh-in at Weight Watchers and finally lost some significant poundage - 2.8 to be exact. I found out that I wasn’t eating enough points during the day so my body was getting cranky and refusing to lose any weight. I recalculated my points allowance and discovered I needed two extra ones a day. That’s quite a bit. So that made me feel better. I also received my final grade for my metals class. Drumroll please…yep, I got an A. Anyone who thinks I receive perfect grades because I’m friends with the professor is really wrong. Being friends with Sarah actually means I need to work harder because she knows what I’m capable of. Truth is, I worked my butt off to get that grade.

So the week ends on a high note. It’s cooler here which means we can turn off the air and open the windows, it’s Friday (which everyone loves) and school’s out. Now it’s time for me to start working on my show pieces for October. Believe it or not, it’ll be here before I know it!

I’m feeling cranky today. I also feel fat and worthless. Chalk it up to PMS, but it still makes for a crabby day. I was puttering around the house after my workout wondering how I was going to get out of my funk and it occurred to me that what I really needed was a girlfriend who could understand my feelings. Since everyone works, I wasn’t sure who I could call, but Mary answered her phone and had time for me. Mary and I have known each other since we were nine and can understand each other’s feelings. I knew I could just spew out all my emotions without any judgement. We chatted and laughed and I felt much better when I hung up the phone.

Men come and go, but great girlfriends are forever. Here’s to all the wonderful women in my life. Thank you for being there when I need you.

As they saying goes, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” That became very true on Saturday morning when Valerie called us to say she was going to an auction that had a Heywood-Wakefield dining room set we might be interested in. I was getting ready to work the MAC counter again as hostess during their event so I couldn’t stay for the auction, but had time to stop and look at it on my way to work. Steve was game so we met Valerie shortly before the auction began. The table and chairs were gorgeous and in pristine condition. Knowing how much H-W furniture goes for at auctions, I didn’t hold out much hope for the set (which had six matching chairs!) but Steve was willing to try. Thanks to our tax return, we had some cash for the occasion. Steve, being a terrific sport and husband, stayed almost the entire day, broiling in the sun, to wait for the chance to bid on it. Luck was on our side and we scored the deal of the century. I don’t want to say what we paid, but some research on similar pieces led us to believe we’d paid about 1/10 of what the set is worth. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the china cabinet, but it was the table and chairs we really wanted. So here’s our gorgeous dining room set!

Here’s a side view. It’s the Wishbone style table and has three sets of the arched legs. It also has two leaves (which are in it) and can seat 8 very comfortably.

Well, my final project for school is done. And only one week ahead of schedule! Hey Greg, I bet you wished I turned in my stories that early. In typical over achiever mode, I made not one, but two brooches for the project. The assignment was to create a brooch that paid attention to the front and back, had a clasp that worked perfectly and was aesthetically pleasing. I do think I achieved all that. The reason I have two pieces is not that I’m an over achiever (which I am) but that I had some silver I attempted to fold form that cracked and split due to overheating. Since I didn’t want to waste a big chunk of silver, I managed to be inspired by the cracks and turn it into something beautiful. I’ll let all of you be the judges.

First, the granulated brooch. This is created with my new style of granulation on fine silver. The piece is about 1 1/2″ tall.

Here’s a view of the back. I also granulated the back of the overlapped pieces and the catch.

Here’s a view of the side. You can see the different layers of the piece. I love this!

Here’s the fold formed piece. I was working on a cuff bracelet design when I cracked the silver. I put the top piece in the hydraulic press to form the dome and bring out the folds. I deliberately opened more cracks to enhance the effect. You can see straight through to the other side near the bottom corner!

Here’s the back.

This little game is compliments of Suzanne. Have some fun!

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next three sentences in your journal along with these instructions.

Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

From “Girlfriends on the Go: A Guide to Great Shoppes and Cafes in St. Louis” (from Suzanne, actually!)

“lotions, you can find all kinds of gift items. Be sure to watch for their holiday preview to kick off your winter holiday season.”

This is a description of a shop called Botanicals on the Park.

Yesterday Sephora opened in our mall. Yes, little ol’ Springfield, MO is now home to Sephora. And, you know what? It’s actually bigger and better than the one at Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, KS! Of course I was there yesterday to bask in all it’s cosmetic glory. I decided I’d treat myself to one item and try not to overdo it on the first day. I mean, there will be more shopping opportunities ahead. After wandering around for an hour or so and trying on all the glosses and lipsticks I could find, I settled on one of the new Plant Love lipsticks by Cargo in Nahinni. I also picked up a new lip balm while I was waiting in line since I’d recently finished some and was looking for something new. I chose Smith’s Minted Rose Lip Balm since it can also be used on cracked skin. I like to rub it into my cuticles at night.

So I wasn’t able to buy just one product, but I did limit myself. I declare the new Sephora a smash and a terrific addition to our mall. Now, if I could just get The Gap back, all would be well.

High School Survey

Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be.

1. Who was your best friend? Cindy

2. What sports did you play? Technically tennis, but I wasn’t very good at it.

3. What kind of car did you drive? My mom’s crappy 1967 (or maybe it was a ‘65) pale blue Dodge Coronet.

4. It’s Friday night, where were you? On a date with Don Weber.

5. Were you a party animal? No, more of a social butterfly.

6. Were you considered a flirt? I don’t think so. However, I did have a big mouth that got me into trouble a lot. Still happens.

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Choir and drum and bugle corps. I was bugle captain - yippee.

8. Were you a nerd? Somewhat.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Not my senior year. That’s another story.

10. Can you sing the fight song? We didn’t have one. I did play charge on my bugle at football games!

11. Who was your favorite teacher? Mrs. Stinson

12. Favorite class? English, Home Ec, Art

13. What was your school’s full name? Greenwood Labratory School

14. School mascot? Bluejay

15. Did you go to the Prom? Oh yeah. Of course, it was held in our cafeteria. Not anything exceptional.

16. If you could go back and do it over, would you? I doubt it.

17. What do you remember most about graduation? It was the day I got my first car. Plus, the all night graduation party after was a blast.

18. Did you have any boyfriends/girlfriends? Several. All younger men.

19. Where were you on senior skip day? At Timm Smith’s parents’ cabin playing Strip Bingo. We didn’t know how to play Poker.

20. Did you have a job your senior year? No, I started my first part-time job right after graduation. Until then, I did seasonal work.

21. Where did you go most often for lunch? The lunchroom. Sometimes we ate outside when it was nice, but I think administration ended that.

22. Have you gained weight since then? Gained and lost, but still weigh more than I did then.

23. What did you do after graduation? College

24. When did you graduate? 1984

25. Who was your Senior prom date? Don Weber, boyfriend extraordinnaire.

26. Are you going to your 10-year reunion? Did that already.

27. Who was your home room teacher? We didn’t have homeroom. I was at school early every day for bell choir, choir, student council or drum corps. I did love me some extracurricular activities.

28. Who will repost this after you? Maybe Suzanne?

29. Do you miss anyone you graduated with? Yeah. I like to keep up with people.

30. Are you friends with the person who posted this? Yep, since 4th grade!