What was I thinking?

Ok, I was reading an article a while ago in my Oprah magazine. You know how she always has the section of "things we just love"? Well it was the something or other anniversary of converse tennis shoes and they had several that had been designed by artists. They were really cute and actually affordable. So I got on the Converse web page to check them all out. There were so many to choose from. Who knew?

So after looking at them all, I thought the pair with the polka dots were the coolest and ordered them. But..Now that I have them in person and on, one, they make my feet look huge and they look like gigantic clown shoes. Oi vey. Anyway here is a photo of them on my feet.

I'm hoping I just get used to them and decide they are just fun and funky!

Crochet: Works in Progress

I am always working on something and wanted to show my latest projects. I am trying a couple of new fleece techniques. One use a new rotary "skip stitch" cutter and fleece blocks so it kind of looks like a quilt. I just finished it tonight. Here are a few shots of my first attempt, a fall theme print with a lime green solid.

Here is a close up of the new border I tried. I finally found my booklet that has a bunch of different borders (50 actually) and will try to make my borders a little more interesting and pretty. I like this one. It actually called for one more round around, but I thought it was big enough already.

I am in the midst of one other project. I put it on hold for a minute to do this one because it's a bit more labor intensive. It is going to be so pretty though. It's a baby afghan with a silhouette of an angel on each block. Here is a photo of one of the blocks. The blocks are pretty good sized and it takes about 4 and 1/2 hours to do each block, so it's time consuming, although not difficult. The original pattern called for 12 blocks, but I think that would be too huge. I think I may stop at 9. I've got 7 done so far and I'll see how it looks before I decide if I'll stop at 9 or not.

My New Sculpture

I participated in a silent auction at the West Valley Art Museum and this new gourd sculpture is the result. It's kind of cool I think. The top comes off and so I guess it's a container, althought I don't know that I will put anything in it. So what does everyone think of my new sculpture?

Flagstaff Trip and the Almost New Me

Penny and I went to Moenkopi to see the Hopi Butterfly Dance on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. The Dancing was fabulous, but we weren't able to take any photos. It is for the girls who have reached puberty but are still virginal. The costumes were amazing.

After wards we went to Flagstaff and went to the arboretum. It was ok, not as much gardens as a walk in the fields with some rain. The air sure smelled good though.

My camera battery was failing, but we got a couple of photos before it died. Finally a photo of me, minus 114 lbs. Still got some to go, but not doing bad at all. I am also wearing th fabulous neclace I got in Canyon De Chelly.

This is Penny in the rain. Not wanting her picture taken.

Penny said this tree had a "butt". It's actually called a gall, which is caused by a virus, but it does look like a tree with a butt!

The Perfect Storm?

I live in central Phoenix and we got slammed in a way that I have never seen in all the years I have lived here. Hurricane force winds last night, 77 mph. My back fence was whipping back and forth and I seriously was afraid it would take flight. It did break a fence post. Constant lightening, thunder, hail, over an inch and a half of rain. It was truly like Armegeddon. I have never really been afraid during a storm when I was inside the house, but I kinda was this time. I opened the back door to see what was going on with the back fence and immeadiately thought, I should close the door. And then I was afraid my sliding glass doors were going to implode or something.
The storm did something to my air conditioner. I was lucky in that my power didn't go out, but something happened with the wires on the roof and the thermostat was no longer able to let it cycle on and off, it was just on. I didn't realize what was going on until early this morning when I woke up freezing. I wondered why all the dogs wanted under the covers during the night. That is probably what helped me make it to morning, I was having a 3 dog night! When I looked at the thermostat it was 57 degrees inside my house. My canary was puffed up so he wouldn't be a canary popsicle.
Thank goodness I had arranged to work from home this morning and so was able to be home when I got a repairman here. They were able to get my air conditioner all fixed up. I called someone from church who was able to at least temporarily fix my fence and will hopefully be able to fix it for good later. A post broke off at ground level.
I left at lunch and there are trees down everywhere and street lights out. A lot of people are still without power. I guess I would rather have the freezing cold this morning than no power all night.
And my home teachers home that he was remodeling was flooded. I was thinking at lunch, that we are lucky if no one was killed last night between falling trees, lightening, and hazardous rain and road conditions.
So now I'm feeling lucky a my house!

Canyon De Chelly

The last few days I was in Chinle. I have been to Chinle many times but have only been inside Canyon De Chelly once before. Penny and I went a few years ago. It was raining and November. It was freezing. We were in the open back of a tour truck. It was beautiful and miserable at the same time. Several of us from work were in Chinle to do a class for the hospital there. The guy who was over the IT there volunteered to take us into the canyon after class. His family have farmed inside the canyon for generations. You can only go inside the canyon with a native "guide". We had two four wheel drive vehicles that 13 of us were in. You needed to have pretty good clearance, even so folks get stuck all the time or even lose their vehicle to floods etc.
Mike and his wife, Yulinda were very kind. We started off at 5:30pm and didn't come out until 9 PM. It was cool to see it through their eyes, as the place where their ancestors had lived, where his grandmother had herded sheep as a child, etc. There were amazing Anasazi trails and ruins. They took us to their land where they have fruit trees. They told us about the White Monster that lives in the canyon. They very much believe in it, it sounds just like Big Foot. They said it was real and Mike's grandmother saw it.
When we left the full moon had risen over the canyon. I don't think I would want to be in there by myself in the dark. It was very dark and there had been so many massacres , etc. I think it would just be a bit scary to be there. But a cool thing to have done!

100!!!!!!

Okay it's finally official, I've lost 100 lbs !!!! It has slowed down some and it seemed like I was never going to get there, but lo and behold I have! It is almost unbelievable to grasp when I think about it and the amount of time it has been and that no surgery was involved!
I have spent way to much on new clothes lately, celebrating, but I have told myself that has to stop. I am going to get somebody to take some photos of me so I can post those for people who are out of state or haven't seen me lately. I actually feel thin, which is also amazing. (I'm not really thin, I still have quite a few pounds to go, but comparatively speaking, I feel like I am!)
It's pretty funny, how many people are surprized that I have a waist. I knew I had one, from back in the olden days. And I amazed at the smallness of clothes I fit into, especially on the top. I sure am glad I had that breast reduction a few years ago. It all helps. When I fold my laundry now, I look at the size of the clothes and I still can't believe that they are mine and I fit into them. I am looking forward to it being cooler outside. I am feeling like going bike riding, walking or hiking. Our pool has been out of order for a month now, so there really hasn't been anyway for me to do much. I sweat like crazy and am really not feeling like being a glutton and getting out there at the crack of dawn and a little scary at night. So soon.....
Yeah for me!