An observation on weight loss, body changes, and clothes.

Today was the first day I wore a pair of button fly jeans since the late 1990's.  First I thought: "No, that can't be right..."  But after going over it in my mind for a minute, I realized that it was absolutely right. For more than a decade, I only ever wore dresses, soft knit leggings, elastic waist stretchy jeans, and elastic waist skirts.

Between my having gotten so big, and the abdominal surgery I had leaving me with a very tender scar running down the entire length of the middle of my belly, comfort was my top priority and limited my choices quite a bit. But, at the size I am now, the skin on my abdomen isn't stretched out like it was, and my scar isn't tender at all anymore. I had one pair of "almost fitting" button fly jeans hanging in the back of my closet since last Summer and decided to try them on today. They fit perfectly, the front seam didn't dig in, and I was able to wear them all afternoon without any problems.

So, I ordered myself two more pair in the same size tonight.

Guest bedroom to sewing & craft room transformation - complete!

This is the end result from transforming my guest bedroom into a sewing and crafts room.  There are only a few minor things left to do, but it's fully functional and mostly decorated. I have a wall-mounted magazine rack coming in the mail that I will use to hold patterns and such. I also want to make a curtain for the window because I really don't like the dark navy blue miniblinds so much. And also a skirted table cover for my work table that will match the curtain. With a skirted table cover, I can stash baskets or bins of stuff under there for easy access without it looking cluttery. Here are photos of the room so far:

Worktable:  It's actually bigger than it looks in the photo, plenty of room to work on. Eventually I'll replace it with a more sturdy wood table, but for now this heavy-duty folding table works just fine.



Storage Closets:  Behind the curtains, are where I store my sewing and some of my craft supplies. The one on the left has my fabric stash, all my sewing machines, patterns, thread boxes, notions, etc... The one on the right has my scrapbooking and papercraft tools and supplies, along with all my knitting and needlecraft stuff. The little chest between the closets is a jewelry armoire with all my bead and costume jewelry.

Armoire and corner rack:  My dad got me this big old armoire back when I was a teenager, and it works perfectly for storing projects waiting to be worked on. It's got a couple of rods going from front to back to hang things that need mending or altering. And space below for things I'm just starting on. Also a nice big mirror to try things on and check the fit. The corner rack holds decorative stuff, a clock, an aromatherapy diffuser, and a little radio so I can have music while I work.

Comfy chair:  I moved one of the chairs from the living room into the sewing room so I have a nice comfortable place to sit and work on hand sewing, knitting, crocheting, and browsing through books and magazines. The old nightstand became an end table, and I found an old framed poster in the closet that I had way back when I lived in my first apartment that went with the other colors in the room.

All in all, the room came together really fast once I got the bed out of there. I sold the headboard, gave the mattress away, and donated the linens. The only things I bought were the corner rack, the radio, and the fabric for the closet curtains and window valance. And the money from the headboard more than paid for those things. So, it didn't cost anything really, and only took a little bit of work to complete the transformation.

I wind up going in there to work on something most every day, so the only regret I have about doing this is not having done it a lot sooner.

Life with cats.

I see what you're doing out there....

Gizmo is turning into the feline version of a Curtain Twitcher!  Whenever he hears a noise out in the side yard, he has to run and use the pet steps to peek out the window and see what's going on. He's more curious than is good for him sometimes. The other cats will run from a strange noise, he'll run towards it. Brave? Or just more curious than is good for him?

Things to do on Superbowl Sunday when you're not a sports fan.

Neither of us are sports fans, so we always find something to do on Superbowl Sunday that doesn't involve a game watching party or a sports bar. Most years we manage to get to a movie and dinner out while the game is going on. This year we decided to spend the afternoon at Moody Gardens in Galveston. We figured that with both the game being televised and the weather being cold and dreary, that it wouldn't be crowded at all. Which turned out to be exactly the case. The place wasn't completely deserted, there were about the same number of people there as on an off-season weekday. Which was perfect, because I wanted to spend a good bit of time in the aquarium, and it's more enjoyable without big noisy crowds. They have benches in front of some of the big glass walls where you can sit and watch the fish and other sea life swim around. It's very peaceful and relaxing. Also I was able to watch the keepers feed the penguins without having to look over a wall of kids pressed up against the glass. Same with the seals, the trainers were working with them at one point while we were there, and without a huge crowd, I was able to get right up to the railing to see what was going on.

We also went through the rainforest habitat, which felt great since it was so cold and windy outside.  I didn't bring my camera, because I didn't know how long we'd be there. But I managed to get a few photos with my phone. Here's my favorite:

That's about all we did there, visited the aquarium and rainforest pyramids. There weren't any films we wanted to see, and nothing in the Discovery (science/educational) pyramid that we wanted to see. It was a bit too cold to spend much time outside on the actual grounds but we did go outside for a little bit to one of the courtyards. I wanted to ride on the paddlewheel boat (big riverboat type boat, not a boat you sit in and paddle) but it wasn't at the dock, so it was probably out on a tour. Probably could have asked about the schedule, but we decided to put that off until we can go back on a sunny day.