Back again

Hmmm perhaps this time! I do find it entertaining the last time I posted about sorting I had just finished sorting though my craft cabinet. Ha, here I am several years later about to post about sorting my Craft Cabinet.
  We are hopefully, 18 months to 2 years away from heading out and it's time to get serious. So back to sorting through and getting rid of stuff. I look around and just shake my head. As many times as I have done this there is always so much more to get rid of. Made a dent in my sewing room today and empty my crazy craft cabinet as well as sorting through more books. I have piles going to different people (I sure wish they wanted more of this stuff, LOL)  Now just have to figure out how to get rid of the stuff family doesn't want. Being it's the end of October and living where we do, I can't just put the stuff out on the lawn and call it a yard sale. Has anyone ever done an indoor by appointment only sale? I wonder if that could work and how one would advertise it. Maybe I'll have to look into that.
  So much to do, so much to research, so much to decide. BUT how so very exciting.

I am thinking of starting a new blog with a different name but then again why? I don't post  anyway LOL

Quick and Easy

And this is what I love about having a Sewing Machine that works!
We were to spend the day visiting with our friends Kathy and Jerry. I decided in the morning to make a couple loaves of Pumpkin Bread and bring one to them. Looking around trying to decided what to carry it in, sighing, as a plastic ziplock just didn't making it, I had an Aha moment. Fifteen minutes before it is time to go, I am throwing around my stash of fabrics and found the perfect one. Quickly cut it to shape and proceeded to make a Fabric Bag. Came out rather well for a 10 minute project! Oh and the Pumpkin Bread was really good as well! hahaha
 Perfect fabric for the Autumn and Jerry is an avid birdwatcher so again perfect!

I Have A New Play Toy!!!

So I now have a new play toy! Meet my new sewing machine. Considering my old one was about 35 years old I think I was due. I haven't done much sewing the past couple of years because it was just to frustrating. And as Paul and I are revising our future, I decided it was time. Can't wait to really sink my teeth into using it. Have already done mending including replacing the zipper on my Alaska coat. So didn't want to throw it away and figure I had nothing to lose. It came out quite well if I do say so myself. There are so many things I want to make now but have told myself only Christmas items until after the holidays. Have several things planned including poppets for the grandchildren and grand nieces/nephews, a blanket for my brother in law, though that won't be sewn, pillows for my daughter in law, perhaps a infinity scarf for my son's lady and maybe just maybe I'll play with making photo wristlets for several of the ladies on my list. I do plan on posting as I finish things so stay tuned!


Doing well with my weight loss: fluctuating between 142-144. I'm happy with that for now. I now know if I tried a bit harder I could lose more but if I can maintain this I'm good. Weight Watchers really helped me get my portions under control and learn what works for me as far as food choices.

Still walking 1 1/2 to 2 miles most days. I can hold both a forearm plank and straight arm plank for 2 minutes each which is good enough for me. Trying to fit yoga into my morning routine but well I have a bit of trouble getting out of bed. All good.

Mixing it up

So tried something a little different this morning after my 30 minute power walk. Instead of doing the two different planks for the Plank Challenge, I decided to see how long I could hold a Forearm Plank.

Held it for 2 minutes!!! could possible squeaked in a couple of more seconds but hey I am quite happy with that. Followed it up with several Child Pose to Upward Dog combos.

Interesting note: I may not be losing weight but looks like it's shifting. I took my Ab and Waist measurements and they seem to be a bit smaller. Hmmm that definitely works for me!!!

WooHoo A Nice New Car

Well after driving my little gray truck for the past 7 years (twas my dad's before that) it finally happened!! I go me a new car, well, a newer car anyway. Little Gray Truck was a 2003, had 114,000 miles on her and well, was starting to show her age. AC went about two years ago and the front end was developing a wiggle and rust, and she started making a weird clunking noise. Wasn't going to put any more money into it, so it was time. And I am now the proud owner (me and the bank that is) of a 2015 Dodge Dart with only 12847 miles on her! She's a pretty silver thing and the best part: in that certain light she's purple!!! Love it Love it Love it!!! Long live my little darling!!

Weight thing is tough, basically have to give up all starchy stuff and most snacking. Vegis, Fruit and protein which in itself isn't to bad but I do tend to get hungry and that's what makes thing tough.
Didn't lose anything last week which is disappointing, hopefully at least a pound this week or even 1/2 pound!


Plank Challenge: Held both Planks 35 seconds and did 5 vinyasa's (Plank to Chaturanga To Downward Dog)

I DID IT!!!

Yay I did it!! I did my two mile speed walk this morning and it felt good!! Hopefully the ole knee won't start acting up again.  I love walking in the morning. I can walk from here into the park and just enjoy it all. I started speed walking last spring. Finally found an exercise type program I love doing. Was thrilled when I could do the two miles in 30 minutes. Wow go me. Then my knee started a hurting. I wasn't only do that, I was literally running up and down the stairs 4-5 times at least twice a day, all in the name of getting this body into better shape. Well that didn't go as planned, doctor told me STOP, no anything for several weeks then SLOWLY build back up to things. but No running up and down the stairs. Okay, okay. of course then I got bronchitis/all but pneumonia and that had me down for a spell. Jeesh. Anyway, I started walking regularly a bit back and yes slowly have been building my strength and endurance, watching the knee carefully. AND today I did it. Back up to Two Miles in 30 minutes!! will take it easier tomorrow and see how I feel. If it goes well I do it twice a week for a couple of weeks and then try for three days.

I have also started a Plank Challenge but of course doing it my way. The challenge calls for doing a Forearm Plank and working up to a four minute hold. In Yoga one does a Straight Arm Plank so I was curious as to the benefits of each. As it turns out both are valuable to strengthening the body. The Forearm Plank engages more of the core section, getting in there to help tone the abs and whittle the waist (okay definitely something I need) where as the Straight Arm Plank does engage this area but more of the focus is on the upper body: shoulders, triceps, upper back (oh yeah need this as well!). What I have decided to do ( did today) is both as follows:
  Day One: Straight Arm Plank holding for 30 seconds, then to a Forearm Plank also holding for 30 seconds. I will follow this with pushups, with five knees to the floor. Hopefully, eventually working up to five straight leg pushups and 2 minute plank holds.
I'll update my progress as I go along (providing I actually continue this for more than a week, LOL)


I think it is important to slowly but surely increase my physical abilities to better be able to not only lose the weight I want but to maintain the loss and more important improve my overall health and well being.

Why Do We Do That?

I mentioned in my previous post how others so often react to my weight. Ridicule, Sneers, Passive Aggressive Putdowns. Why we do that to each other. Shouldn't we try and build each other up? So okay yes my weight issue isn't as bad as yours, I get it, but hey hello maybe I see how people treat and react to you being overweight and I don't want that for me. Or perhaps I see how your weight issues are causing health issues and I certainly don't want to go there. Or perhaps I just am uncomfortable with me, not you but with how I feel in my skin. What does it matter and why does it matter to you??? This is my journey, my life adventure, not yours. I don't understand why so often in so many different areas of my life people feel the need to change what I do. If I get into crafting Oh you should sell that, Oh you should buy this, Oh you should do it this way. If I talk about what I want to do OH that's ridiculous, why would you want that. You should you shouldn't you need to you don't need to don't this don't that. STOP already Let me live my life my way, I am not hurting you, so just stop. I truly get to the point I don't want to discuss any aspect of my life because I just don't want to hear your opinion unless I ask for it.
  And no not every does this but there are a select few that do and you know I get so very tired of it. And no these aren't people I can easily just turn my back on, they are a big part of my life.

Gee this turned into more of a rant then I planned on. I guess that's what I needed just now.

Let's try to be good to each, and let each of us live our journey.

Let's try again, and again, and again

Well, I'm back so let's see how long I can maintain this this time! I love the idea of blogging, journaling, keeping a diary but the reality of it seems to allude me. Once again I truly truly want to do this but again we shall see.

As no one actually reads this I feel I can put a bit more of me into it. Life has changed again and again since I last posted. We have moved, we bought a townhouse in an Adult Community and love it! I think I will explore that more at another time. We probably won't go fulltiming, just not the thing we want right now, that can always change. We have joined the Old Bridge CERT team, more on that later. And I have joined Weight Watchers, this will probably be my writing focus for now.

Why did I join? well over the past couple of years the ole scale has been going in the wrong direction slowly but surely creeping upwards. Not good. I pretended to do something about it but it was half hearted. There was a big part of me that didn't care, Yes I did care and it bothered me but I didn't care. I will grant you I am not heavily overweight, and this in itself was a problem which I shall try and go into more as I go along, but enough that I became uncomfortable in my own skin and well my clothes! I refuse to buy a bigger size. I hemmed and hawed for quite a while and then several things made the choice easier. Life has a way of steering me in a certain direction when it's time. I started caring more, I started exploring more and I decided hmm let's look into WW more. Working in a library I have access to many different magazines, WW being one of them. I thumbed through one of the editions and there was a member who I could truly relate to. She had about 18 pounds to lose but saw the scale creeping up and needed it to stop. Yep that's me. My mom who is grossly obese started having yet more health issues and I know her weight is so much to blame. I went online to check WW out more and they were having a half price sale. Really, well gee, if those signs didn't add up I don't know what would.  I joined online and a couple of days later it to my first meeting.
 Let me tell you I was so nervous walking into to that meeting. Because I have "only" about 15 pounds to lose and because I hide my weight well I have so often met with sneers, ridicule, the ole "What are you talking about you don't need to lose weight,", "Oh big deal, I wish I only had 15 pounds to lose", etc etc I truly felt I was going to get the same treatment there. BUT no, no one that I noticed batted an eye because there we are all on our own journey, and judgement is not a part of it. I was more then welcome by the leader and the others there. Wow okay I like this, Have been to my second meeting last night and again felt good about being there and about doing what I need to do for me!

So start weight: 150.2
second weigh in: 148.2   YES that's encouraging.

The Craft Cabinet

So I did it! I went through and actually got rid of some stuff from the "Craft Cabinet". A bag of garbage (no I don't need that bit of yarn, old old zippers, packing confetti, and other I don't even no where they came from type items) Two boxes of Yard Sale, and a half a box let my daughter figure out what to do with it! Actually quite freeing. I hope to do this again every six months or so until the BIG PURGE is needed. By then I will know just what I can and want to bring along. If it were today I could easily get rid of so much more, but as long as I have time I will hold on to some of those "Well maybe I will do this again." 
Next step is my sewing machine desk with all it's drawers that seem to collect odd things in them! 
I am hoping I can get my sister over here one day soon to go through my Fabrics (4 Bins of IT!!) It occurred to me recently this is actually becoming a burden to me. I know I am not going to do the sewing I use to and up until recently thought I would do again. It is a ghost I need to rid myself of. She is a quilter so I know she can use a lot of it. What's left I will offer around, try to sell at Yard Sale and then give to GoodWill.

Some things are so easy to get rid of, some things are so hard. Living in this time of Betwixt and Between can make it even more difficult

Sorting

So I started the next round of sorting through and getting rid of. This has actually been a long time venture, something I have done from time to time throughout. Now though I have started doing it with a different eye. One of the criteria that has enter the picture when deciding yes no maybe is will it work in my new life. I am not at the point of scaling down to just want I think I will take with us but it is helping with the maybes. Funny there is a big part of me that just wants to get rid of it all and be done, but I know that isn't practical at this point. I still am 3 plus years away from heading out, (unless of course that winning ticket comes along!) I still have to live this life for now. I think it actually makes it harder for me to sort. I figure if I do a major sort though every six months or so by the time we are ready there won't be so much to get rid of. It also serves as a way of knowing what is truly important.
 In the process of sorting I am also looking at my hobbies or pretend hobbies, I have a whole big cabinet filled with craft supplies that needs a major overhaul. This is hard, I am that person that looks at something and sees potential, "Ooh I could use this for that, Ooh I may want this for something someday." I have to really examine what will work in the future. Fine tuning.  I went through a bunch of my books and am actually ready to move many along. That in itself is difficult but looking at the space is cleansing.
I know the more I can immerse myself into learning about this lifestyle and training myself to think in terms of living it the easy it will become. I problem: I truly dislike Betwixt and Between.

What a relief!

Well sat down and did some investigating as to what our approximate income will be on retirement. Big hardy sigh of relief. Should life continue as we know it we should be okay pursuing our dream of volunteering at National Parks. Man that feels good! Now if we could just win the lottery and move things along quicker!! Oh Yes that would be fine!

But Wait My Cookware!

Entertaining thoughts go through ones mind when contemplating moving into an RV. I was thinking about what I would want/need in the Kitchen. Now keep in mind space is limited in an RV and weight is an issue. It occurred to me, Huh, I have a number of All Clad pots and pans that I love. (I worked in a William-Sonoma store at one time and as a top selling store of All Clad we often won free pieces.) Well if you have never used All Clad let me tell you it is wonderful to cook with but it is HEAVY!! Almost as heavy as Cast Iron (Oh Jeesh, My Cast IRON?!?!?!?!) Seems I like heavy cookware which really isn't a good thing. I just may have to get rid of it and find something lighter!
Well I will have to keep at least one of my cast iron fry pans. I can probably justify that with the argument I can use it on the grill!!

I know my daughter will be happy to hear this! She covets my All Clad!! LOL

Wow It's been two years since I started this and well posted anything. I would like to get back to my planning. We are still looking to the future of FullTime or at least extended time RVing. My Financial plans are still in order. I would love to say we are gaining on things but the best I can say is we aren't further in a hole. Had almost 10,000 in vehicle repairs in 2015 and yeah that hurts. The good news is because my pay down plans we should come out even for the year or maybe even a bit better. Jeesh sometimes!!!

We went out to Hershey again this year and once again had a great time. Hubby is more on board this time and I think if we were in a different place financially He would have us getting ready to head out. It's like something really clicked for him. This has been my dream forever and Paul has played along (there was a period he wasn't interested anymore) But something about this trip and some heartfelt conversations between us has giving him the "bug."  We talked over a weekend about just what FullTime RVing meant to me. What I imagined our lives would be like and that I think helped him. He had gotten the idea that when I said Rving it would mean travel travel travel. But no that is not at all what I want to do. To me ideally we will be in a financial position to be able to live on our pensions and SS and volunteer at the many National Parks. And with this I mean get a position with one for several months, a season or heck even a year. Explore to our hearts content the surrounding area and then Find the next destination and do it again. If we cannot secure a position at a park then do Workamping at a Campground for a period of time. I want to stay put in each place for at least a couple of months.

So with Paul on board, we have started to play with the information on Workamper News (http://www.workamper.com/) Great site by the way if this is the lifestyle you are looking into. They have exercises, questions and courses geared to help you make the right decisions and learn what you need to know before you start as well as an avenue to find positions once you are on the road. 

So on with the planning!!!

Ideas and list

Okay so here is the beginngings of the many lists I will develop for our 5year plan.

A Couple of things I thought would be good ideas:

  I love my photos but let's face it just won't have the room for them and the weight of photo albums is a factor. SO I have decided to take all my photos (Well a large number of them!!) and put them on memory cards that can be used with the Digital Photo Frame we have. I have to figure out which memory cards/sticks are compatible with the frame and my computer, time to drag out the documentation on this thing!! LOL 

I have many cookbooks and no tain't taking them along, again weight factors, and let's face it how many of the recipes do I actually use from each one! Couple by the availability of online recipes there is really no need to carry them around. Going to go through them and copy the recipes I actually use and put them in a binder. I know I can just save them to the computer or Cloud Service (Something I will be looking into more) but for now I like them in front of me.

Beginnings of a list of toys:
  Kindle type device
  GPS
  Camera with longer range lens
  Some type of watercraft
  lighter weight sewing machine (you never know!)
 Light weight handheld mixer/blender stick

Hershey RV Show

What a fun time this weekend! Paul and I went to the RV Show in Hershey, PA.  Quite the education we had. Was fun going through the many different styles of trailers and RVs. Interesting how when your reasons change what you look for in something changes as well. While it will be a while before we can seriously consider buying something, we went through them with a critical eye geared to fulltiming. That discounted many immediately. IF we where to purchase something today we would probably go for the Coleman CTU297RE or the Autumn Ridge 315RKS or there was a Puma We saw that I don't have the number for. Anyway it would definitely be a one bedroom, probably rear lounge. As we get closer to that possibility we would have to look into construction a bit more. It's so much fun to dream!!!!

Also went to to seminars, one on FullTiming and one on working on the road. Both very well done and informative. For me as I have been researching this for a long time most of it was reinforcement of what I have learned, for Paul I think it gave him a better understanding of it all. At least it didn't discourage him anyway!!

Interesting tidbit we learned from Bob Marx: FullTiming, was each person should carry a different credit card from the other. This was should something happen to compromise one of the cards and the account needs to be changed you still have one to work with!! Certainly makes a lot of sense.

Also finally got to Cabelas . What a store!!! it's more of a destination. If you are into hunting, fishing, camping, cabining, etc. you could go crazy! Not cheap but must be good stuff because it's one of the biggest names. Rather proud of us, spent two hours wondering around and bought nothing but lunch!

Again really fun weekend!

Well moving along with the financial end of things. I wish I was more patient though! I want everything in order NOW! LOL Oh well,Took this long to get here, going to take awhile to get out. Keep looking ahead.
  Going to Hershey, PA this weekend. They have a giant RV Show there but our interest is in the seminar on FullTiming. Fact gathering information hopefully as well as giving Paul a better understanding of what to expect. I love that he has become more open with his feelings on this which has led to him being more open about other feelings and concerns as well. Our lines of communication have gotten even better. That is a wonderful thing no matter where our future takes us!

Credit Report

So to continue my plan to closed a number of my credit cards I thought it prudent to first get a copy of my Credit Report, so I could see just what I had opened. Wow does everyone have a credit report 37 pages long???? The good thing is all accounts are in good standing, no negative reports at all; I knew that but it's good to see on paper. Now I have to go though this and cross off those already closed, then I can start closing others that I don't use.  I will again request a copy some time the beginning of next year to be sure those that I close are indeed closed, and  will continue to close accounts and requests reports. You can get one free each year from the big three Credit Report Companies. annualcreditreport.com will get you access. Since I can get one from each each year, this will give me hopefully an accurate standing.

I also have been taking advantage of a couple of offers for No Interest For A Year. Switching around my balances to get the best bang for my buck. Have decided which to get paid off first and hopefully this all will work out.  With all we all ready have scheduled I will have to wait until next year to stop spending so much! LOL

Fun day at the Stich's

Had such a lovely day yesterday! Mourning and early afternoon just easy breezy, a bit a grocery shopping and preparing salads to take with us to Jeff and Amanda's. We rather invited ourselves down but did offer to bring dinner with us! LOL
  Lovely dinner, Karen and Ralph joined us. Rousting game a baseball with Anderson! Love that kid so!! Fun, Family, laughs, good food! What more can you ask for!

Credit Cards

Another part Financial Planning will involve the getting rid of Credit Cards. I plan on slowly closing accounts until I am down to one or two, probably two. I will concentrate first on the store cards, I only use them occasionally and absolutely refuse to keep a balance on them as their Interest Rate is ridiculous!  Which to keep and which to delete of the major cards will depend again on Interest Rates and also perks. None of my cards have Annual Fees because that has never made sense to me. Feel I at least did something right!

So now to make a list of all my cards!

What's in a name

I’m thinking of changing the name of the blog. Any idea’s or do you like this one? Maybe just start a new one?Start a new one somewhere else?  Hmmm decisions decisions

 

This And That

The Road To The Road  (This is probably my choice)

Getting There

Gaining On My Dream

5 Years and Counting