Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Stacy's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
9:47 pm	Making Room - The First Three Months Progress happens slowly. Everything, it seems, happens slowly these days. But at least it happens. I've been whittling away at shedding stuff. Every bag of clutter that goes out the door, every item mailed off, every purchase resisted is a small triumph. I wish I weren't so attached to things. For example, I took a bag of books to our neighborhood book store. It took me almost two hours to pick out fifteen books to send away, and I had to compromise by taking a bag of magazines to donate to the library store rather than shed one more book. When I got to the book store, the owner (who is a good friend) looked at the selection and asked me if I was absolutely sure that I wanted to get rid of them. I begged her never to ask me that question again. For a moment, I wanted nothing more than to keep them all, but in the end, I know that letting them go was the right thing to do. Out of the bag, I can only remember one specific title. Obviously, they didn't mean that much to me in the end, but oh, getting to the point where I could let them go was HARD. There's been less progress on my goal to make room in my life for better health and fitness. I'm to the point, though, where I am finally doing small things: going on a walk, stretching, working with my hand weights. I am tired tired TIRED of feeling weak and out of shape all the time. I have got to find a way to talk myself into going to the gym again. Big changes are on the horizon. It's the small changes I make now that will make the big ones easier. Current Mood: tired (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012
9:57 pm	Making Room - Mid-January So far, so good. Progress is slow but I'm staring down several mountains, so that's to be expected. Here's what I've done so far to make room: Listed a bunch of stuff on eBay Tackled some long-overdue cleaning projects.  Drank more water and ate more salads. Started taking vitamins. Noticed when a stranger needed a jump for his car. Bought a homeless guy some poop bags for his dog. Got rid of some of my virtual clutter. Was honest with someone about the state of our friendship. That was the hardest one. I think for the rest of January I'm going to focus on cleaning and decluttering, and then February will be working on my health month. (Comment on this)
Monday, January 9th, 2012
8:52 pm	Week One - 2012 It was a deliberate choice to make small gradual changes, but I've started to make room. This last week, I listed a bunch of stuff on eBay, did some cleaning and tidying that I've been putting off, ate a number of salads, walked a bit more, and thought long and hard about people in my life who don't make positive contributions. This next week, I want to list more things on eBay, make an appointment at the consignment store to get rid of more stuff, continue to make healthier eating choices, do more cleaning, do more walking, and stretch every morning. The week after that, I'm going to make it back to the gym. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
8:52 am	Making Room - Early Days So, here's what I have done so far to make more room in my life: Parked farther away from the door at the store Had a healthy lunch with greens and a veggie tart Listed a handful of things on eBay Took out the recycling Further plans for this week include getting back to the gym and taking a bag or two of stuff to Goodwill, plus more of the above. Especially the eBay listings, which give me room in two dimensions - financially and spatially. Current Mood: pleased (Comment on this)
Monday, January 2nd, 2012
8:25 pm	New Year's Resolutions Last year, I made two resolutions: to journal a line every day (which I completely fell down around March) and to explore my relationship with food, make healthier choices, etc, on which I did better. I'm still not where I want to be, though. My life is cluttered, claustrophobic even. Therefore, for 2012, I resolve to make room. Rather than focus on having less, I want to focus on having more: more room in my schedule for the people I care about, more room in my home for peace and serenity, more room in my clothes, more room for health, happiness, fitness, joy. To accomplish this, I'm going to declutter pretty much every area of my life. Get rid of the stuff that I don't need. Create distance with people who occupy a very negative space in my head and heart. Work hard to be healthier -going to the gym, eating right- so I can live comfortably in my body and feel good every day. But the end result is not going to be less, but more. I'm looking forward to it. Current Mood: determined (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 11th, 2011
3:40 pm	Steampunk Picnic I'm having a steampunk potluck picnic on Sunday, September 25th (weather permitting). Activities will include croquet, bocci, and a steampunk trade blanket. If you'd like an invite, send me a message and I'll email you with details and directions. It will be steamtastic! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, May 13th, 2011
8:45 pm	What I Eat One of the things I like about the diet is that, apart from the occasional cravings, I don't feel deprived. I wrote a lot about what I can't eat. Here's what I can and do enjoy during the six diet days: Eggs for breakfast, usually boiled. Scrambled eggs with bacon. Omelettes. Lots of veggies. Celery stalks with peanut butter. Carrots. Nuts and seeds in moderation. Burrito bowls - refried beans, lettuce, bell pepper, salsa, guacamole and a little cheese and sour cream. Sometimes beef or chicken. Broiled chicken or other broiled meats/fish with mixed vegetables. Ground beef mixed with boiling bag Indian lentils (no potatoes). Curried chicken with peas over tofu noodles. Tofu noodle spaghetti. Chil and bunless chili dogs. The chili is homemade. Chicken caesar salad, salad with steak strips, other meaty salads.  If it sounds monotonous, it really isn't. I'm finding it to be healthy, energy-giving way to eat. Once I hit my target weight, I'll experiment with adding back some grains and fruit to the daily routine (and I sorely miss milk and sugar in tea in the morning), but for now, this is great. And there's always the go-crazy day where all things are allowed, nay, encouraged. Tomorrow, I'm planning on coffee, croissants, Indian buffet for lunch, a cheeseburger and tots at the pub for dinner, and all kinds of madness in-between. Chocolate malt balls! Kettle chips! Cats and dogs living together in a state of unweddedness! Bliss. I've lost seven pounds in three and a half weeks. Life is good. Current Mood: cheerful (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
2:26 pm	Revisiting an Old, Old Topic Who wants in on my diet filter? I'm doing something new. Leave a comment, s'il vous plait. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 28th, 2011
9:48 am	Waiting for Spring: 3.21 – 3.27 3.21 Accidentally overslept. Mr B had a job interview. 3.22 Another sleepless night. Talked with R about how much mental real estate I allow "the bad guys" in my head. Churned out some good work despite being exhausted. 3.23 Working on getting myself back on a regular sleep schedule. Did a lot of work today and entered my first two Spoonflower contests. 3.24 Kind of a frustrating day, workwise. Ran some errands out in Bvtn, was very good about not making unnecessary purchases. Started new health regimen. 3.25 Had a very weird dream involving a hotel turned funhouse with zombies, demons, and circus denizens. Colorful and dark and costumed. Spent some time with A. I need to start drawing more. 3.26 A really nice day of doing absolutely nothing and going nowhere. 3.27 Slept in (I've been sleeping much better) Went to see "The Illusionist" at the pub with A and Mr B. It made me very sad, no matter how beautifully done it was. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
2:13 pm	I Dreamed I Entered A Design Competition In My Maidenform Bra Not really. But I did enter a design contest. Would you please vote for my entry, Bird and Wheel? It's super-easy to vote, no registration required as far as I can tell. Spread the word! Your help is greatly appreciated. Danke! (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 21st, 2011
5:02 pm	Massive Update: 2.28-3.20 Thank goodness for hard copy. 2.28 Long, slow start to the day. Work day at the Waypost. I felt a deep quiet happiness to be warm and full of good coffee and cheese croissant, safe and dry, looking out at the cold, gray, wet world. 3.1 Snow on the ground in St. Johns! Had a bit of a work project that went really smoothly. 3.2 I had the weirdest dream. Post-apoc Hawaii! A home built into the rocks just above teh water, trying to talk about organization with the Hawaiin leader, and an unpleasant encounter with a pig-hunting party. ZOMG, Patrick Rothfuss! Mr B and I went to Beaverton Powell's for PR's new book signing and talk. PR is funny, personable, and a major geek. Mr B brought cookies which lots of people got to try. When it was our turn to meet P, I took a picture of him and Mr B. "1..2..3..ORAL SEX!" I got a GREAT picture. 3.3 Went to see HP:TDHpt1 at St Johns. I <3 HP and the pub and Ruby. 3.4 Quiet day on all fronts. I'm hella tired of cold and rain. Books to read, tea to drink, spring to wait for. 3.5 Actually quiet, lazy day at home. Still a bit gobsmacked by a convo with Mum earlier this week in which she revealed the existence of cousins that had been lost through adoption long before I was born. How did it go this long without me knowing? My family is bizarre. 3.6 Great day! Slept in shockingly late. Off to Crafternoon at A's, then to sushi, then to Powells. Great convos about the zombie apocalypse and how to prepare effectively. One plan: teaching/sharing weekends, with canning, cheesemaking, etc. ( Two more weeks... ) (Comment on this)
12:04 pm	Two hoards of Roman coins and Iron Age gold jewellery found The largest collection of Roman coins ever unearthed in one container, the Frome hoard, will remain in the public domain, thanks to a grant from England's National Heritage Memorial Fund. The Museum of Somerset will be its new home. Read more at The Telegraph. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
3:16 pm	For Friends Having a Tough Time This goes for me too. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
4:38 pm	Week in Review 2.21-2.27 2.21 Happy-making work day at the Waypost. Lots of work to do plus a call from a client. Marvelous trip to Beaverton Powells, found two used books I've wanted for ages, plus a great book about land restoration that I would have wanted had I known about it. 2.22 Talked with R today about anger, comfort zones, age. Bought a Bi-Mart membership, which should result in less money going out of state/region to Kroger. Finally found a jacket and skirt for Baltimore, both on sale. Watched "The Warriors" for the first time and found it to be a deeply, deeply fabulous movie. 2.23 Politics have me angry and scared. We had a bit of snow and hail today. Nothing much sticking. Felt kind of off towards the end of the day - abruptly tired and achy. 2.24 Woke up to snow! Trying to get lots of rest after yesterday, so didn't go out in it. Had a conference call, otherwise it was a quiet day. 2.25 Forgot A's chickens until 9am, at which point I shot out of bed like I was fired from a cannon. Fortunately, no one was frozen or eaten. Had a bit of work, felt incredibly unmotivated. Cold, clear, sunny day. 2.26 A very full day. Went to the Fix-It Fair, picked up all kinds of cool sustainability swag and went to a gardening class. Learned all about layered mulching. Then, Mr B and I drove to Salem and caught the tail end of the pro-union rally. Drove home on 99W through the beauty of rolling hills spotted with snow. 2.27 Great chat with A about the future. Mr B helped me find a pitcher to replace one that A had broken. Later, a trip to the ReBuilding Center to acquire reused materials for a couple of gardening projects. I'm going to build a tiny greenhouse/cold frame. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011
12:48 am	February 20: Two-fer Week in Review 2.7 Felt better about food issues today. Went for a little morning walk in the sunshine. Had some work. 2.8 Talked about fears in therapy. Grocery shopping. Weird dreams last night: post-apoc hiding out in the rocks of a desert canyon. Went to project night at Vandy's, enjoyed watching glassblowing. 2.9 Particularly enjoyed hanging out with friends in the virtual 'verse. 2.10 Long work day for me. Mr B made chili and cornbread from scratch - SO GOOD! 2.11 Thought about Barak today. I miss him. 2.12 Didn't do much today. Had a bit of work. 2.13 A day of sloth. Slept in til almost 1pm. Went for a great evening walk, though. Saw the moon through the clouds and water drops sparkling on the trees like jewels in the dark.   • • • ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011
4:28 pm	Slightly Belated Week in Review 2.6 1.31 Not bad for a Monday. Had a few hours of work. Went to tea and projects with her neighbor, M. Very pleasant! 2.1 Great two-fer-one brekkie at Bob's Red Mill. Work news: taking a trip to Baltimore in March! 2.2 Gorgeous sunny day! Ran some errands, drove back over Skyline to enjoy the view. I felt vibrant. 2.3 Another rare sunny day. I procrastinated on a work project, among other things. Paid phone bill, did a bit of shopping at Full Circle and came home with nothing (need work clothes for Baltimore). I didn't find what I needed and avoided buying stuff I didn't. Hooray for self-control. 2.4 Out to dinner at Russell St. BBQ, followed by a trip to Powells. I still love the way Powells smells, even after all these years 2.5 Took Mr B. out to Frye's so he could replace his geriatric laptop. Had an upset tummy. Bleh. 2.6 Crafternoon tea and cookies with A and friends. Mr B made awesome sugar cookies. We took some to the St Johns Books crew. I watched Dune while noodling around online. (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
11:36 pm	January 30 - The Week in Review 1.24 Worried about getting paid for all the hours I've worked this month. Mr B took a train up to Seattle overnight. Watched season 2 of Skins while messing about with the Wtmn template. Did a ton of dishes. 1.25 Mr B home from Seattle. More work on Whtmn email. Went to Savvy to look for additions to my professional wardrobe and struck out. 1.26 About five hours of work today. Had great dinner out with A and Mr B. Mr B bought me the Nikki McClure seasonal journal. And I will be getting paid for all my hours this month, woot! 1.27 Work day at the Waypost. The day totally went to hell after we left. Nothing went right. 1.28 One of those wait and wait and wait and wait and wait days at work. Found two cute-as-the-dickens dresses while thrifting, $7 each. Checked out the Sustainable Store on Alberta, had a great convo about local sourcing. Had a great long convo with Mum for her birthday (83!) about politics, the SOTU, and (for the first time) end of life issues. Felt sad afterward. 1.29 Nice quiet day, mostly at home. Re-organized one of my shelves. Watched "9" with Mr B. Thought it was quite cool. Found an amazing middy-moddy coffee set at the Estate Store, will probably resell. 1.30 Really quiet day. Slept in late, dreamed about a place in Oregon I've never been before, not a real place. Did a bit of digital asset organizing, Found a blog by the Urban Homestead book folks. Current Mood: blah (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 23rd, 2011
6:13 pm	January 23 - The Week in Review 1.17 Quiet Monday. I had a weird dream about falling in love with a math teacher. Took a two hour nap in the afternoon. 1.18 Talked with R about forgiving myself for past mistakes. Still a lot of work for me to do there. Another weird dream. Talked myself into going to the gym at 9pm. 1.19 Went to the gym in the a.m. Had about five hours of work in my in-box. Sushi for lunch. I'm grateful for my curiosity. 1.20 Woke up at 6am and couldn't go back to sleep. Work day at the Waypost. Figured out something important in the stylesheet of an HTML project all by myself and fixed it. Bought flowers for A to come home to. 1.21 I have a cold, ugh. Had a talk w/my boss about a raise. While they can't swing a raise at this time, they will be giving me a bonus in April to buy a new laptop! He said that they love me and want to invest in me. I work for the best team in the world. 1.22 An absolutely beautiful rare day. Woke to blue sky and sunshine. With a cold. :-/ 1.23 Back to gray skies. Had a few hours of work. Talked w/Mr B. about our February project I love conversations about sustainability issues. Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
11:28 pm	January 16 - The week in review 1.10 I asked myself an interesting question today: "How long am I going to let the depression be a crutch?" 1.11 The usual Tuesday and a little bit of work. I created a poster today, and a campaign, and I'm very proud of both. Save Cycling in Toronto is having a contest. My entry: "Go Local, Grow Local, Bike Local." 1.12 Had a video conference with the Agile team. Grumbled at the cat all day for waking me up at 7am. 1.13 Had a work day at the Waypost (I take my computer and work from the coffee shop). I was feeling really down when we were there earlier in the week. Michael had a hidden cheese croissant and he told me about it when he saw me looking disappointed. And then he toasted it and served it to me on my favorite plate – a nice touch! (They have a variety of vintage plates.) 1.14 Today felt so real and productive! I went to the gym. Then there was lots of work in my inbox, so I worked almost a full day. We cleared out a lot of my storage space and I know it's all going to fit in the new space. At the end of the day, I felt good. 1.15 Gymmed it up in the morning again. Had a weird dream about an old friend – lots of vivid dreams lately. Mr B and I finished emptying and cleaning my old storage space. It feels like closing a chapter. 1.16 Talked myself into going to the gym again today. Hit a few of the high points in St Johns (Crow, the bookstore, Tres Bone) and managed to not come home with anything new. Another weird dream, but I don't remember anything about this one. Two weeks of journalling down, 50 to go. Current Mood: tired (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
5:31 pm	Fifteen fictional characters From jillwheezul  Fifteen fictional characters (television, films, plays, books, comics) who've influenced you and that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Captain Malcolm Reynolds Tiffany Aching Cutter, Blood of Ten Chiefs Beatrice (Much Ado about Nothing, not Kill Bill) Buffy Weetzie Bat Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce Sangamon Taylor Tevye Satine  Aerin Sol Woman-Always-Coming-Home Maya Greenwood Bilbo Baggins Lucy Pevensie This was HARD. I kept wanting to list real, historical figures. (3 Comments |Comment on this)