Interesting Stuff in BlogLand

I've been wanting to redo my kitchen for years now but haven't quite figured out what I want so living with what I've got. I found this backsplash that I thought was interesting/different:















And, oh how I love these adorable silhouettes!


















And a book to add to the reading list:


Nobody Said Not To Go - Biography of Emily Hahn. What an amazing story, first woman to get a degree in mining engineering in the 20's, traveled the Congo alone, became an opium addict, lived in Japanese occupied Hong Kong, married a top English spy & wrote for the New Yorker into her 80's.

And I thought these jeans were cool: Curvy Fit
My daughter is always complaining about fitting the hips vs fitting the waist. Guess I don't care because I've never noticed. I'm just happy in my jeans no matter the fit.

Weather update:

Weather for Austin, TX - Add to iGoogle

72°F Current: Overcast Wind: S at 2 mph Humidity: 81% Tue 79°F | 63°F Wed 65°F | 43°F Thu 45°F | 43°F Fri 50°F | 41°F

45 on Thursday? Guess I was premature in swapping summer for winter clothing. Luckily they're only one room over.

This embroidery bunny reminded me of my cousin....and then it reminded me that I need to pull out my St. Patrick's Day Goodies and have the Easter stuff ready to put out.

An expanding file folder made from placemats? I'm not a placemat kind of girl. Well, I could be but living with two slobs men - there is not enough room for them in my life. An expanding file folder is cool - and maybe it'd be cool made from placemats. Uh, just maybe. I can imagine the look on people's faces when they open these on Christmas day! Did you make these for me? Oh...cool.

And if you just gotta make something:


which offers a tutorial.


















To my home, I added a blue/white and green/yellow budgie:



and a beautiful cockatiel:

Mr. Cockatiel has quite a vocabulary already. He wolf whistles, says "Uh Oh" when you move his cage, imitates a siren and squacks when you have CNN on too early in the morning. Will is playing the Andy Griffith theme song for him on iTube so maybe he'll learn that! The budgies came from a home with 6 children and there used to be 3 in the cage. The family has taken in a cat for a friend and the cat chased them until one bird ran into the wall killing himself. I was the lucky recipient of the remaining two and then someone offered me the cockatiel and I jumped at the chance. The budgies are very skiddish but have relaxed a little around us. I hope to get them to trust me at some point. Mr. Cockatiel is not timid but he's not hand friendly either. We'll be working on that soon. My brothers will be here in June and they're both bird friends so stuck in the cage won't be an option at that point. I hope to have them a little more used to me by then.

Oh, and look what I bought yesterday! I have been pining after a digital camcorder for a while now and the price was right yesterday!

Just for the record, fatgirl has been working out! At work I have been doing yoga and pilates with a coworker who twisted my arm. I love it! I didn't think either would be my style nor do any good. At the same time, I joined the new/improved Georgetown Rec Center because they added a bunch of machines and an indoor pool. I adore anything water related and an indoor pool....heaven on earth since I can use it year round. I tried going in once when it was still cold out ~ didn't work. Once the temps outside are hotter than hades I will enjoy the water and ease into the winter swimming. Right now I'm lifting some weights and using the Precor eliptical machine. First time I was dying at 5 minutes. Second time I was thrilled with 10 minutes. Then I was talking with another coworker who said the first 10 are killer but get passed that and you're home free. So I got to 20 minutes and she was right. I tried pushing for more after that to no affect. Here's the blonde moment: I'm at the gym yesterday and I'm looking around at the other girl's machines and I see that they have the crossramp set at 4. Uh, mine is on 10. If this helps make me look any smarter, I did have resistance at 1 (only because it won't go into the negatives). I knocked that baby down to 4 and went for 40 minutes! It is amazing what you can do with a little grey matter. Will tells me that once I add swimming into the mix then I'll really trim down. I am also tracking what I eat and how much I exercise through the Lose It! iPhone Application. I didn't realize (as I'm sure most people don't) how many calories I was consuming in a day. Exactly why can't I eat three big meals and a bag of those "mini" Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs and still lose weight? Oink! It really makes you stop and think because you plug in your weight (gasp!) and your weight goal (dream world) and then how much you want to lose each week. I went for the measly 2 pounds per week. When you add in exercise it subtracts from your calorie intake. When I was on the eliptical machine yesterday all I could think about was how hard I was having to work off those two (honest!) mini eggs. I have a gift from a coworker staring at me - thou shalt not eat the chocolate/almond bar! I won't even break up the bar and finger lick the slivers off the wrapper. Two hundred more leg strokes for that - no thanks! BTW - I'm already down a pants size and 1.5 pounds. No food celebrations, sorry.

I guess that is enough for today. I didn't realize I'd have that much to post!