The Finish Line is in Sight

As of right now, I am as far with my thesis as I can be.  The formatting is corrected per my meeting yesterday.  The revisions and edits are applied per my committee chair's comments.  I have yet to hear from my 2nd reader, but I understand all of us writing theses in the program turned them in to him within a couple days.

But I'm almost done.  Barring any major further edits from my 2nd reader, my thesis is ready for my defense.  Then I defend.  Then I do any last edits.  Then I turn in a boatload of paperwork to the graduate school.  Then I'm done.  Then I graduate.  Then we move.

Ahhhh!!! So close!

This has been my major focus the last couple of weeks.  My weight loss has suffered thanks to cookies and milk while working, but it could be worse.

Chris is officially lighter than me.  It got a bit worse.  I mean, I don't begrudge him.  I'm glad he's kept to it better than I have lately, but I started it.  I'm supposed to be just a bit ahead of him at all times.  :(

Oh, well.  I'll catch up.

Challenge accepted.

After my defense on March 4.

If Balance is the Key, I'm Locked Out

I've never had great balance, but this is ridiculous.

You know that feeling when you spin around with your forehead on a baseball bat to do that silly relay race?  Yeah, I know what that feels like.  All day.

Early Sunday morning I sat up in my sleep to roll over, then promptly fell back to my pillow like a stone.  It was like my body was already back down and just needed to catch up with itself.  I could do nothing.

I lay there thinking, "Well, that's different."

I waited a few moments, then tried to roll over without sitting up.  Activity not available.  I was stuck.  The room spun.

Okay, back to sleep where I was.

I dreamed that the reason I couldn't move was because some magical items needed to be finished being made on a magical loom.  When they were done, I could move.

I woke up before they were done, thanks to my silly alarm.  So therefore I've been cursed with vertigo ever since, and I don't mean the Hitchcock movie.

I was able to sit up, but the room started whirling a little.  I stood up, and it whirled a bit more. I needed to get ready for church, but Chris was still asleep.  I was afraid of falling in the shower and getting hurt, so I nudged him awake.

"I'm experiencing the weirdest dizziness of my life.  If you hear a thump in the bathroom, please don't ignore it."  He sleepily said okay.

I made it, barely.  While bending over the sink to brush my teeth I realized I'd fall head-first into the faucet.  That could be a major problem with how heavy I'd felt every time I'd fallen so far.  Luckily I didn't fall again.

We made it to church, and I only had to sit once during a hymn and stuck it out for the rest.  Turning my head to the right was a very bad idea indeed, so I kept my head slightly to the left.

We went to lunch as usual, and when I signed the check I slowly leaned further to the right, but I was determined to finish my signature before the room spun and I fell to the table.  I finished it and caught myself in time, although Chase (our regular server) was rather confused as to why I was falling over.

At home I spent the afternoon on the couch, lying down at first.  I did help Chris sort the laundry into the proper piles by telling him "lights, colors, darks" as needed while I rested my head on the left side.  Then I did some work on my thesis before my head began to spin again.  Then I helped Chris through more Lego Lord of the Rings on the Wii since I'd gotten farther than him lately.

When I did get up to move our roast from the freezer to the fridge so it could thaw, I was waiting for Chris to get his stuff moved in the fridge and nearly dropped the 3.5 lb frozen roast onto the floor.  (I don't know if you've ever held a 3.5 lb frozen roast before, but it is rather a bad idea to drop it anywhere.  Setting it down is preferable.)  I said, "I'm going to put this on the counter and put myself on the couch so I don't drop it."  I slowly went to the couch and slid into it to lie down for a while.

After that the vertigo seemed to subside mostly.  We tried a few exercises before bed to help my balance-bones or whatever stabilize properly.  I did a half-somersault exercise that's suppose to rattle the balance stuff back into place.  I can do it on my own, which is nice, but it only helped a little.  Then Chris tried to move my head and stretch my neck to get things back in place.  It seemed to help until right before laying down.  I sat up and promptly fell to my pillow.

Then we did our normal routine of reading before sleep, and I lay on my left side.  My neck was sore, so I started to slowly move to my back and slightly to the right.  Since the vertigo had lessened again, I thought it would be okay.  Then the page spun.  Bad idea.  Back to the left.

Through the night I was able to lie on my right sometimes without swimming.  Now I can sit and stand with only a bit of wooziness.  I haven't fallen again, but thankfully every time I have (so far) has been in bed or on the couch and not to the floor.

I hope it goes away fully by tomorrow morning, otherwise Chris will have to drive me to work.  That means he'll have to get up (*gasp*) a whole hour before normal!  8:00!  Sometimes I envy his evening work hours and therefore quiet, lazy mornings.  Then I remember he's a server at a restaurant and I get to scan things, and I no longer envy him.  I much prefer my job for myself.

On the upside, I've been having pretty good hair days lately.  Here's some evidence:

Here's to holding on and finding the key to staying upright!

Ups and Downs in the Snow

I've never been much of one with balance and coordination.  I did ballet as a child, but after about 3 years I gave it up for soccer.  I was a decent full-back, especially after I stopped crying when I got hit with the ball.  (Such a revelation the day I got hit, it hurt, but I chalked it up as a war wound.  No crying after that!  No fear!)

A little over a week ago we went to Montana to see my in-laws and ski at Bridger Bowl.  Chris's brother moved to Missoula a while ago.  He loves it there!  He skis and mountain climbs and all sorts of outdoorsy stuff that I find fascinating and enchanting, but I'm not terribly interested in doing it myself.  I'd rather sit in a beautiful library looking at perfectly old books.  Still, nature is beautiful and old and new all at the same time, so I enjoy his love for it.

It started snowing our first day, which was warm in the upper 20s to low 30s compared the the next two days of anywhere from 10 to -7 or so where I was at the base.  The farther up, the colder it got.  Chris go beardcicles from breathing under his gear.

Chris and Stephen all bundled up

The moisture from breathing caused beardcicles!  (Just breathing, no runny nose.)

This is after coming inside from a couple runs up and down the mountain 

while I sipped hot chocolate and bonded with the parent-in-laws.

When we first arrived, I wondered what this white stuff was that was cold and sparkly and powdery.  I felt like I'd seen it before a few years ago, but I wasn't sure.  Was this snow?  Was it real snow?  Our area of Texas had a white Christmas with a few tiny flakes falling for 5 minutes, flakes that melted after it hit the car driving home from seeing Les Mis.  These flakes in Montana did not melt.  At all.  They collected and built up quite a presence.

This was taken the second morning of our rental.  All this was just overnight.

Before I mentioned that I went skiing once before when I was 13 and cried.  Two things about that: 1) It was my goal this trip not to cry, and 2) a hill in IL covered in snow is not the same thing as a mountain in Montana.  That youth group trip doesn't count anymore.

One of the lodges with a mountain in the background.

So, in the spirit of being candid, as I try to always be on this blog, I will tell you the main reason why I nearly cried during the Montana trip. The first was the worst and was what started the crying at 13.

Ski boots.

They are horrible, terrible, and cruel devices of torture.  Especially for someone with relatively small feet compared to the size of her calves.  I have wide legs for sure, which is a problem when most people don't and the boots are meant to fit all female size 8.5 shoe wearers.  Even moving the clamps to the biggest size still cut off some circulation, and even to get to that point both Stephen (my brother-in-law) and Chris had to force down the clamps with quite a bit of strength.

The second morning, after wearing the extremely tight boots all day the day before, I asked my ski-wise brother-in-law an important question.  "I know that bruises on the shins are normal, but should one have bruising all the way around the legs?"  He looked at me with raised brows.  "No."

Great.  Back to the ski shop for new boots.  Trying about four different pairs.  The last went up a shoe size and felt much better.  They were a bit looser in the foot than desired, but at least I could feel my legs despite the previous day's bruising.

I'm in the periwinkle coat and Chris is the dark coat behind me.

I enjoyed this bunny hill, but it was just too short.

So, I have very little balance as stated above.  So I stuck to the bunny hill most of the time.  Except twice.  Once the second day I went on the next step up from the bunny hill and most of it ended up fine.  Chris, who took to skiing quite well, helped lead me down the easiest path bit by bit.  Stephen and my father-in-law stuck close as well.  (Father-in-law was also new to skiing, got frustrated, but ended up being braver than I and did much more on the real runs than I even dreamed of doing myself.)

That hill is when I had my epic fall.  Snow flung all around me, skis popped off, poles spread about, and me several feet farther down the hill than my gear.  It was spectacular.  As soon as I fell and the skis popped off, I knew I'd be fine.  The hill was steep, but not terribly so.  I went with it and enjoyed the ride.  As soon as I stopped, I shouted that I was okay, especially since husband and in-laws were coming up behind me and I didn't want them to worry.  No bruising from that or sprains or anything.  I lifted my arms in triumph of my epicness, and someone on a nearby ski lift raised his and shouted, "Awesome!"  It made my day.

Me and Stephen

What wasn't so fun, but rather epic itself, was the end of the first day.  Stephen, bless his heart, had way more confidence in me than was warranted.  He took us to a hill that was far too steep for me to keep control, my legs were exhausted from their first day of use, and I ended up falling several times at the beginning of the run.  I walked down part of it, carrying skis and poles, sat down several times, walked some more, and finally gave up.  Stephen skied to the bottom and got ski patrol.  I had my first ride on a snowmobile!  It was fun, and the guy was very nice about it.  I could hardly get on the snowmobile because my legs were so tired, but Chris helped swing me up and I made it to the bottom.  The ski patrol guy said it was the right decision with how tired and inexperienced I was.  I was glad he didn't think I was dumb or something.  I decided to stick mostly to the fun of the bunny hill after that.

So that was most of the interesting stuff for me.

Some might be wondering, "But didn't you go with your in-laws?  Was your mother-in-law there?  You haven't mentioned her."

First off, almost all of the photos are from her.  Secondly, she had a grand time doing her thing, which I found pretty cool.

She needed adapted skiing because of a health issue she's been dealing with for years that makes walking extremely difficult.  Often while on trips, I've seen her use her wheelchair.  At home she uses a walker.

Getting gear out of the rental.

So, you'd think skiing would be impossible for her. Wrong!  Bridger Bowl also has an adapted skiing group called Eagle Mount that helps people who need them to be able to ski.

They put her in a bi-ski, they controlled the speed and she controlled the direction.

The guys helping her get strapped into the bi-ski.  The bottom of it 

has two skis and the sides have "training skis" to help keep her upright.

She had guys with her the whole time making sure she could ski properly.  She went down a blue run even (one step higher than I would've even attempted) and had a blast.  Stephen spent some time with her taking photos and video.

She earned the nickname "daredevil mama" from a friend.  It's pretty accurate.

The cool thing was that most of these guys, from my understanding, are volunteers!  They volunteer to take people out to experience skiing when they wouldn't be able to otherwise.  That's fantastic, and it surely lifts my hopes for humanity.  She had a blast, even with one crash.  Stephen says you're not a real skier until you've fallen.

So that's our ski trip.  It was fun, and tiring, and exhausting, and exhilarating, and challenging, and exhausting.

Chris and me thawing out in the lodge with hot chocolate

See the ear warmer I'm wearing?  I made it the day before we left.  

Worked fairly well, even if it stretched slightly too big by the end.  

Goggles helped keep it on.

The day I made the ear warmer, trying it on.

Stephen, Father-in-Law, Chris, Me

Getting Down to Business... with Hope

So it's been an eventful, encouraging day.  But I'll get to that.

The last month has been quite busy.  Thanksgiving was good (both in spirit and delicious food), a bit of extra time with the husband was quite lovely, and the semester ended quickly.  We had our MSSA Christmas party the same day as my last (and only sit-down) final.  Luckily, I've maintained my grad school 4.0 this semester.  One more semester to graduate with a 4.0!  Hopefully I shall accomplish such.

Christmas was very nice.  We weren't able to travel anywhere to be with family due to busy restaurant patrons keeping Chris serving every day but Christmas Day that week.  It's really okay, though, as this was our first Christmas married.  We were able to combine our favorite family traditions and establish a few new ones.  We even Skyped with both sets of parents (with quite the eventful hour with my parents due to technical misunderstandings that led to us seeing a wall instead of my brother and then not able to hear him except the last 5 minutes since my dad's earphones were accidentally left plugged in).  We kept the gifts between us as few and useful.  Well, he got more items from me but most were things he needed anyway (like chapstick) that just got wrapped.

My favorite gift was a new iPhone cover.  He was very thoughtful about it and asked opinions from friends to make sure he got the best one.  I think he did.

My beautiful Van Gogh and Doctor Who cover.  

Just the right amount of pretentiousness and geek.

So in the midst of all the holiday craziness, we got some spectacular news.  Chris was accepted at the University of Aberdeen!  PhD, here we come!  So excited to live in Scotland for three years.

Chris and I with his acceptance letter.

So since Chris was unable to ask off work at the holidays, we are going with his family to Montana for a ski trip right before the semester starts!  I haven't been skiing since one time in middle school.  I admit I cried.  I was a very emotional 13-year-old.  I also have a tendency to associate ski lodges with Cory sort of cheating on Topanga with Lauren, so it wasn't my favorite winter activity ever anyway.  (Snow men, of course.)  Regardless, the closer the trip gets, the more excited I am.  I miss snow.  Texas is estranged from snow, at least where we live.

Me in my new warm ski shirt and waterproof pants.  

Ignore the polka-dots.  I was trying these on while wearing other clothes.

Now for the most exciting thing from today.  We went shopping to use some Kohl's cash that expire soon, and I decided to try to find a pair of pants since almost all of my pants are too big.  I have one pair of jeans and one black pair that fit pretty well.  Everything else fits like big sweat pants.  Comfortable, but bulky.

So for the last four years or more, I've had to skip pants shopping at regular stores and go to the "full-figured women" stores that only carry larger sizes.  My jeans that fit best are the smallest size they carry, so I thought maybe I could start looking at size 18 (the largest in most regular stores) to get some cheap pants that fit better, even if they need stretched out a bit before going in public.

So I tried on some 18 pants, and they were baggy.  I tried on 16 pants and they were exactly right in stretchy material, which means they would stretch more with wear.  So I tried on 14, and they were barely too tight.  Just barely.

I bought two pairs of size 14 pants that were on sale, one khaki and one blue.  

Size 14 hasn't been in my vocabulary for years.

So much good going on!  We've also been stocking up on good-quality sweaters for Scotland, I have a growing collection of warm and pretty scarves, and now we have good warm clothes for skiing (and walking on a chilly beach on the North Sea).

Since this blog is more about my life in general and particularly, lately at least, about my journey of weight-loss, I decided to start a new blog.  "That's How We Roll in the Shire" will track our adventures in Aberdeen, both now as we get ready and while we are there.  Please check it out!  I already have a few posts to explain more about Chris's acceptance, the city, and the university.

That's How We Roll in the Shire

http://adventuresinaberdeenshire.blogspot.com/ 

TIme for a Good Clear Out

I decided it's time to have a clear out of my closet and dresser.  On Sunday I was trying to find my black leggings to wear under my dress for church, and while rummaging through my dresser, I found clothes I didn't even remember having!  This is a problem, especially since I just moved a few months ago and redid my whole dresser organization.

That and the fact a lot of clothes no longer fit mean I need to weed down my closet.

So how does one do that?

I'm on the hunt for tips.  I've done it before, but I feel a little extra guidance wouldn't hurt.

This is what I've found:

10 Steps

1. Enlist a friend or sister to help. Even a teenage daughter could help.

2. Put on some energizing music.

3. Have a few boxes or garbage bags handy.

4. Make sure the rest of your room is relatively neat, and make your bed. (it will just make it easier!)

5. Take EVERYTHING out of your closet.

6. Lay it all on your bed.

7. Pull your shoes all out as well and put in a pile over to the side.

NOTE: With everything out of the closet, it is a great time to vacuum REALLY well!

8. Start picking up one item at a time, trying on if needed, and ask yourself these questions:

• Have I worn this in the past month?          
• Do I like it? Do I feel good in it? Does it fit me well?
• Do I have to tug or pull at it the whole time I am wearing it?
• Is it a seasonal item that needs to be stored elsewhere?
• If I love it, do I have anything I can wear with it? If not, make a note that you need something to go with your_______________.
• If you don’t love and you haven’t worn it, get rid of it!

9. Continue ruthlessly through the pile of clothes, asking for your friend’s help as you go. Allow her to be brutally honest about how something looks.

Do the same process with your shoes, and with belts and scarves.

10. After you have weeded down the pile to keep, start hanging items back in your closet (you could do this as you are sorting).

Source: http://thestressedmom.com/2012/01/the-best-way-to-clean-out-your-closet/

Think about the items you have and if they represent who you are now (as well as fit and appropriateness for work/play, etc.) ... Source: http://www.fox11online.com/dpps/entertainment/fashion/wardrobe-march-27-nt12-tvw_4118575

Wardrobe Rehab

Step 1| Cull - Go through all your clothes and sell/swap/throw out/DIY anything that doesn't fit well, make you feel good or suit you.

Step 2| Define Your Style - Look at what you have left over - what styles look good on you and what would you like to change?

Step 3| Gather Essentials - Make a list of essential wardrobe items to be the foundation of your closet, and a (long term) strategy for how you will get these in your wardrobe. These are my essentials.

Step 4| Organise Your Closet - Sort and organise your closet so it's easy to find the things you need.

Step 5| Choose Colour Palette - Decide what colours suit you and stick with neutral colours for basics and essentials - navy, black, white, camel (and if you're like me, red!).

Step 6| Focus Your Shopping - Stick to the list of your required essentials, focusing on quality over quantity.

Source: http://apair-andaspare.blogspot.com/p/wardrobe-rehab.html (The blog links to the specific step details, too.)

Right size but wrong style?  Toss it.  Source: http://penelopesoasis.com/2011/clean-out-closet-how-to-organize-closet.html

These are all great ideas.  So let's get started.

Here is my half of the closet.  It doesn't look like much, but you'd be surprised how much I have actually have crammed in there.

I made the bed to give a clean work space.  

I put out two laundry baskets, one for clothes to keep and one for clothes to donate.

Clothes to toss out ended up on the floor.

I pulled out all of my clothes from the closet and laid them on my bed.  Clothes that I've worn the last few weeks went pretty much directly into the keep pile.  Clothes I hadn't worn in a while, especially since losing weight, I tried on to see how they fit now.

Look at these enormous pants with all that extra fabric.  

They fit perfectly last year.

They do not fit at all anymore. 

They're still in decent shape, so they went straight into the donate pile.

Speaking of the donate pile, this is what I ended up with.  A whole laundry 

basket that toppled over a bit.  It ended up being three bagfuls.

I had also gone through all my dresser drawers checking everything and trying 

on several things.  I ended up with almost 1.5 empty drawers!

My closet looks much neater now (sorry it's sideways), 

and it's organized by clothing type.  

Dresses, skirts, blazers, sweaters, nice shirts, t-shirts, and sleeveless shirts will 

all be much more accessible.

Life is much better with it simplified.  I know I have a long way to go in so many areas, but this was a good start.  And the clothes can be better used by people who need it, so it won't all sit in my closet and dresser with no use.

I'll probably do this again come spring when I've lost more weight and have another bout of wanting to prune everything.

Until then, I'll just enjoy having a bit more space to find what I already own in my wardrobe.

Almost the holidays!

It's becoming more and more obvious that almost half of my clothes no longer fit acceptably enough to wear in public.  Perhaps I'll go on a clearing out spree over Thanksgiving break and create some room for new items.

And by "new" I mean two things: new items perhaps from sales coming up (although I am not going early in the morning at all) and items new to me from thrift stores.  It's been a long time since I've shopped thrift stores, so I'll be a bit rusty, but I might find one or two pairs of pants that can hold me over until the spring when we can pack for Scotland and purchase really good quality clothes good enough for professional work.  For now a predominantly student wardrobe is still somewhat acceptable.

So this is our first Thanksgiving as our little family of two.  We are unable to travel for either major holiday, so we've decided to make the best of it just at home, just the two of us.  We've talked about various family traditions and what we'd like to continue and add to our own version of holidays.  Talking about such things when people get married (or even before) is very important.  Family traditions and expectations are so grounded in our psyche that problems and loyalties can arise and possibly rear an ugly head if they're not handled with consideration.

So this Thursday, we are staying home and getting up early enough for a real breakfast and watching the parade.  Then we will cook the traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, potatoes and gravy, corn, green beans, and rolls.  Then we will probably enjoy that meal twice!  Lunch and dinner.  And we will play some game like Munchkin or Big Bang Theory trivia.  (My family always played Bingo on Thanksgiving.)

Thursday evening the tree will go up, warm-scented candles will burn, Christmas carols will be blasting from the speakers, and everything will be covered in tinsel.  The Christmas season may officially begin (finally)!

For Christmas we will get up for presents, biscuits and gravy, and then probably a movie (Chris's family does this every year, and I'm voting for "Les Mis" since it opens that day), then a full dinner of ham and the trimmings.  We will watch Christmas movies like "Muppet Christmas Carol", "Charlie Brown Christmas", and others.

I will also be making homemade cinnamon rolls from my mom's recipe.  I'm going to try them in the next two days, so it will be interesting.