It's Time To Sign Up

It's official. I'm signed up for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Time to get serious and quit playing around. I only have two months to get ready now. And I don't mean just write the stories and do the embroideries. That also includes my blog reader. It's such a mess. So I'm going through it and clearing out any blogs that haven't updated in a while. And I'm unsuscribing from blogs that just don't touch me anymore. I always feel bad unfollowing an active blog but I keep reminding myself that if I'm not feeling engaged and connected by their posts, then I'm not their target audience. If I'm not their target audience, what's the point of following?

I'm also putting everything in folders. Weight loss, crafts, fashion, etc. And of course an A to Z folder. I'm hoping that this will help me in so many ways. First in time management. When I don't have time to be reading the A to Z posts but I'm looking for my news blogs, I can go to that folder specifically. Last year I didn't have my blogs sorts so it was extremely overwhelming trying to find the blogs I was looking for when time was short.

I'm also hoping that it will help with my commenting. I openly admit that my commenting on other blogs is close to nonexistent and that's not gonna fly in the challenge. Last year I started out leaving comments on every blog that I stopped at but within a week I ran myself out of all desire to be social(that's rather easy to do when you're a hermit). So I have a number in my head of how many comments a day I want to leave and will track that. When I start feeling antisocial, I'll close the A to Z folder and move on until I'm ready to comment again.

I'm also toying with the idea of using a timer and breaking the A to Z'ing up into segments, like a half hour or 45 minutes a few times a day rather than doing it in one go. I think that will help with the time management and commenting also.

I know it sounds ranty but it's not. I'm more prepared for the challenge this year. I know what to expect and am trying to take the steps to make this easier on myself. I had a lot of fun last year and am already having fun writing this year's stories and making the embroideries for my craft blog.

Back to Weight Loss

Okay so. A week ago yesterday, I weighed myself and started again at weight loss.

January 21
Weight: 258.8 lbs
Pounds to Goal: 33.8
BMI: 40.62

I set my goal at 225 pounds. I still ultimately want to get to 145 pounds but decided to break it up into four segments: 225, 200, 175, 145. Smaller more manageable chunks without being so small I blow it off.

My method for weight loss this time is to set an exercise goal each week and a diet goal each week. For the first week, I decided to set my exercise goal as doing yoga each day and my diet goal was to just take a multivitamin each day. I did yoga four days. I took one day as a rest day and just skipped the other two. And I did remember to take my vitamin each day. I take it when I fix my first cup of coffee. Yeah. I know. You're supposed to take them with food but I forget. And I usually have breakfast within about 20 minutes of my first cup of coffee so... whatever.

And I weighed myself yesterday.

January 28
Weight: 257.5 lbs
Week Change: 1.3 loss
Total Change: 1.3 loss
Pounds to Goal: 32.5
BMI: 40.42

I'm happy with that as a first week.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

It's been a while since I wrote a list of what I've been watching from Netflix so this is going to be a long one. Sorry...

Singin' in the Rain - I'm not sure how I managed to go this long without ever seeing this movie. But it was cute. I really liked Debbie Reynolds and some of the outfits were just amazing. I even pinned some of them to my outfit inspiration board on Pinterest. I loved this movie.

Notorious - I ended up with a boat-load of Ingrid Bergman films in my queue. I think most of them are there because they're either Alfred Hitchcock or have Cary Grant in them (I see the name Cary Grant that movie is queued instantly). I'm not hot on her. I don't want to be her like I do Doris Day, Audrey Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn. This movie was good though. Not the best Cary Grant or Alfred Hitchcock film but good. And Cary Grant carrying a woman down the stairs? Totally swoon-worthy.

Veronica Mars season 1 - I love Weevil. I want to have his adorable, little motorcycle-riding, law-breaking babies. This is one of many shows that I was interested in when it was current but didn't get to see either because of my work schedule or because I didn't get the channel that it showed on so when Netflix suggested it, I added it. I'm glad that I did. I really like the characters. Especially Weevil (have I mentioned that I love him?), Keith, Wallace, and of course Veronica. And while I don't love Logan like I do Weevil, I did end up liking him by the end of the season. Duncan I could do without.

Jane Austen's Persuasion - Watched the Sally Hawkins/Rupert Penry-Jones version. Somehow I missed a conversation near the beginning and got so confused. I had to go back and rewatch the whole thing. It's a lot better when you understand what's going on. I really liked it on the second watching. Will have to get the book and read it.

Casino Royale - My first Bond. James Bond. Yeah, I have no idea how I've made it this long without seeing any Bond films either. I liked it though and want to watch the other Bond movies. Does anyone know if I need to watch them in the order they were made or can I just watch them in whatever order?

Enchanted - This movie is so weird. Part of me hates it and part of me loves it. It's just so damned cheesy. And I know they mocked themselves but still. I dunno. I'm torn about this one.

Masterpiece Classic: The 39 Steps - Another Rupert Penry-Jones movie. I didn't even realize it when I queued them. It just sounded good so I added it. And wow. It was great. I loved the story and the characters. I thought they were going to end the movie without an unhappy ending but they pulled through. So good. If you like mysteries you have to see this.

Bedknobs & Broomsticks - I hated this movie. It was horrible. It's like a cheap, wanna-be Mary Poppins and it's a very poor imitation. The characters didn't interest me. The songs weren't charming and memorable. It was just lame.

Laura - Oh wow. I loved this movie. So rivoting. And is Gene Tierney a beauty or what?

Casablanca - I had never seen this either. I added it to my list because it was suggested and I knew that it was a classic. And then I saw it had Ingrid Bergman and I actually considered taking it out of my queue. But I'm glad I didn't. It's really good.

Covert Affairs season 1 - I've seen an episode here and there on tv but never two episodes in a row. So I added it to the queue. I love it. Auggie is amazing. I can't believe the actor is not blind. He is so good.

Yours, Mine and Ours - The original, with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda. I have a confession: I can't stand I Love Lucy. I really dislike slapstick comedy and the show is just stupid and idiotic to me. So I was a little apprehensive about this movie. But I loved it. She was so funny in it. I think there are times that it's not good for a person to play the same character for so long because that's all they're remembered for. The tv show is the legacy that lives on and my generation knows her by, and this movie was so much better than that. It's a shame that my generation and those after me aren't familiar with her movie work. And by the way, this movie is so much better than the remake, it's ridiculous. Skip the remake if you haven't seen it and check out this one.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir - So romantic. Who'd have thought that a love story about a living woman and a ghost would be romantic and heart-warming? But it totally is. And it's got Gene Tierney in it. She's gorgeous.

Vertigo - What the hell kind of ending what that? Freaking Alfred Hitchcock. Giving me a horrible ending and making me love every minute of it. The man was a master.

Nero Wolfe season 2 - Have I ever told you how much I love Timothy Hutton and Kari Matchett? By the way, she's on Covert Affairs. They're both such amazing actors. Her absolute finest (and funniest) moment is in the episode "Death of a Doxy" (episode 1 of season 2). Seriously, just watch the one episode if you like her. You can't miss that part.

Hamish Macbeth season 3 - I'm so sad. It's the last season of Hamish. Oh I love him and his townspeople. So funny. And I love Frankie. He's so cute and I'm so happy that Lachie Jr. is with Jean. The three of them are the cutest little family. This show makes me want a Westie. But instead of naming him Wee Jock, I'd name him Hamish. Or Lachie. Or maybe TV John. Cause they're all just that awesome.

I'm Back!

I'm back! I know that you missed me.

The reason for my break was that I managed to stress myself out. I had the brilliant idea that instead of resolutions, I would set myself some goals each week. Small, easy to achieve goals. And I started out with goals for dehoarding, weight loss, crafting, fashion, writing, reading, music, etc. all at once. And I overwhelmed myself.

So I backed off and decided to set a goal for one category, then in a few days set a goal for another category and so on. And that's what I've been doing. So far I've set small goals in crafting, fashion, taking care of my hands, organization and weight loss. I'm back to blogging on my craft blog, Oh Frog It and I've been blogging about fashion and beauty (which includes my hands) at Out of This Rut.

And now it's time to turn my attention to this blog. Gave it a new look and am going to screw with the organization to prepare for the A to Z Challenge. Sign ups start in just a few days (the 30th I think... but don't quote me on that). I'm not concerned about finishing the stories for this blog but I am worried that I might not be able to get the embroideries for my craft blog done. But I'll keep going till there's no time left or my fingers fall off, whichever comes first.

Alright, that's it. I'm off to put away laundry. I managed to get it all washed, dried, and folded in one day. I hate folding clothes so I end up restarting each load in the dryer several times just to put off folding. So if the earth gets sucked into a black hole tonight, it's my fault for completing my laundry in one day. That NEVER happens.

In the process of trying to organize and set myself some goals, I have managed to overwhelm and frustrate myself. So I need a week or so to get my head straight and less stressed then I'll be back to blogging.