is Sleeping Beauty. Makes perfect sense to me, since I sleep so much. Except when I'm supposed to be sleeping. Like now, for instance.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Scrapping and Cooking
Today I actually completed two more layouts. I also worked on decorative elements for my scrappy room. I love being in there!
This evening I cooked vegan shepherd's pie for tomorrow's dinner. I also made blackberry and apple crumble (vegan), and vegan spring rolls. The spring rolls were delicious! Very simple. Just filled the ready-made wrappers with cabbage, carrots, onions, mushrooms and bok choy. I cooked the onions and mushrooms first, but not the other veggies. I also put faux meat (Yves brand crumbles) in some of them. The weird thing is, I don't like cabbage or carrots - so this is a great way for me to eat those vegetables!
I'm still trying really hard to eat vegan, though I cheat more than I would like. Mostly for a cookie, or some candy. But the big things I don't cheat on. No milk, no cheese, no eggs (other than what's in the cheats), no meat. I'm still trying to decide if I actually feel better.
This evening I cooked vegan shepherd's pie for tomorrow's dinner. I also made blackberry and apple crumble (vegan), and vegan spring rolls. The spring rolls were delicious! Very simple. Just filled the ready-made wrappers with cabbage, carrots, onions, mushrooms and bok choy. I cooked the onions and mushrooms first, but not the other veggies. I also put faux meat (Yves brand crumbles) in some of them. The weird thing is, I don't like cabbage or carrots - so this is a great way for me to eat those vegetables!
I'm still trying really hard to eat vegan, though I cheat more than I would like. Mostly for a cookie, or some candy. But the big things I don't cheat on. No milk, no cheese, no eggs (other than what's in the cheats), no meat. I'm still trying to decide if I actually feel better.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
My Sweet Blooms
Another layout from this weekend. I'm very, very pleased with how this one turned out. Each flower that forms the frame is actually four punched flowers stuck together to give the effect of one, full bloom. The letters were cut using my Cricut machine (speaking of which, I really need more cartridges for it; I still only have the George one that it comes with). This challenge was to create a layout using only paper, and it was way more difficult than you would think!
The Funky Toilet
The most "out there" of the layouts I did this weekend is this one: "The Funky Toilet." The photos are of a toilet on an island called Hornby, which is off of the west coast of Vancouver Island, in Canada. This toilet is built and maintained by the community, and it is very quirky, and very clean too, I might add. The challenge I did this layout for was to make a layout using at least one circle, at least one decorative edge, and photo turns if possible.
Here is one of the layouts I did this weekend. I'm real pleased with how they turned out.
This first one is "Tia: All Girl." It was for a challenge to do a brown and pink layout, and those are the only colors here (other than a few tiny bits of white on the papers and embellies). I added some sugar coating (glitter) to the tag and paper.
This first one is "Tia: All Girl." It was for a challenge to do a brown and pink layout, and those are the only colors here (other than a few tiny bits of white on the papers and embellies). I added some sugar coating (glitter) to the tag and paper.
What I've been up to
Oh, I've been so bad, not keeping up with this blog. I go in spurts.
I recently finished appearing in the play "Anton In Show Business." I played the character Casey, a New York actress, very serious about her craft, unattractive yet with a very active
sex life, battling breast cancer. It was a GREAT part, one I had wanted to play for a while, and
I loved the entire experience. We performed for three weekends, and last weekend was my first free one in a while, between performing and rehearsals. But oh, I miss it! It was just a wonderful time for me, and I had so many moments when I thought to myself: "THIS is why I love acting!"
My sister came to visit for a week while I was in the show, and she got to see it twice. It was so lovely having her here. Rebecca is her name. She lives in Tucson, and I live outside of Seattle, so we definitely don't get to see very much of each other. While she was here, we painted my "office." It was a dreadful blue mess. Now it has a pale yellow ceiling, and these amazing bright
green walls. And it is now my scrapbook room! I'm so glad we did it. I never would have got it done without Rebecca. She did tons of work. She was the foreman, and I was the laborer; I just did what she told me to do! Tia, my 16 year old daughter helped out a lot, too.
Anyway, I will post photos of my lovely new room soon. I still have some things to do. I want to put a fabric "skirt" around the tables. And I need curtains for the window. I also have artwork to
hang. But all my scrappy supplies are organized and in containers. And I LOVE creating in there!
In fact, this weekend I did FOUR layouts and a card!!
In other news: I was unable to continue my prednisone taper, as my pain was getting worse with
each drop in dose. I saw my MD last week, and he has started me on methotrexate (which is a scary sounding drug, most known as part of chemo). I also have to be on folic acid to prevent anemia, and starting next month I'll have to take an antibiotic also, as the methotrexate can cause a certain type of pneumonia! All of this just to see if, with this drug added, I'll be able then to either get off of the prednisone, or at least get under 10mg a day. You know, this disease really sucks!!
So the new drug is only once a week. I took my first dose on Friday, and so far so good. I got real nauseous Friday evening, but I think it was psychological. A couple of days of major fatigue, but I have a lot of that anyway. We will see.
Since my sister's visit, I have been eating vegan almost all the time. I have had no meat at all, and no dairy, and no eggs. Okay, other than the tiny bit of dairy in M&Ms, which have been my one cheat! I have had fish four times, but that is all. I'm eating loads of veggies (who, me?), making lots of stir fry dishes with sobe noodles, just a little fake meat (Yves brand, really good),
and a variety of veggies. Yum! I've found this really satisfying. My coffees are all soy lattes, now.
And desert is mostly soy yogurt with some vegan animal crackers. I should point out that my diet until now has mostly been fair to poor, and veggies were not a common food for me. So I'm
pretty pleased about this. And it's been almost four weeks. I haven't had any cake in that time. Wow! Othere than the VEGAN cupcakes I made, of which I only had three or four over several
days. Amazing. Over the last week I have actually purchased the following veggies: squash, zucchini, onions, Japanese eggplant, bok choy, mushrooms, asparagus, bamboo shoots and water chesnuts! I think someone else has taken over my body. . . this is not me at all!! My dh laughed
today when I came home from Wally Mart with three different types of noodles!!
So, why am I doing this? To see if I feel better. And to lose weight. So far, I do feel somewhat
better. I certainly feel virtuous! I HAD lost 7 pounds, but I was up 3 lbs today. However, I think most of that is fluids, as my face was very swollen today. In fact, when I smile big or laugh, my eyes almost disappear between my fat cheeks and my swollen eyelids. Maybe I'll take a diuretic tomorrow. I took one last week and lost FOUR POUNDS in a couple of hours! Can you believe that?
Going back to the performing. . . I will be in a show again next month. It is called "What Is This Thing Called Love?" and it is a cabaret type perfomance. Yes, I will be singing. In fact, this will be the most solo/duet singing I've ever done. I'm excited about it. I'll post more when I know more.
Well, that's a pretty long post, and enough for now.
I recently finished appearing in the play "Anton In Show Business." I played the character Casey, a New York actress, very serious about her craft, unattractive yet with a very active
sex life, battling breast cancer. It was a GREAT part, one I had wanted to play for a while, and
I loved the entire experience. We performed for three weekends, and last weekend was my first free one in a while, between performing and rehearsals. But oh, I miss it! It was just a wonderful time for me, and I had so many moments when I thought to myself: "THIS is why I love acting!"
My sister came to visit for a week while I was in the show, and she got to see it twice. It was so lovely having her here. Rebecca is her name. She lives in Tucson, and I live outside of Seattle, so we definitely don't get to see very much of each other. While she was here, we painted my "office." It was a dreadful blue mess. Now it has a pale yellow ceiling, and these amazing bright
green walls. And it is now my scrapbook room! I'm so glad we did it. I never would have got it done without Rebecca. She did tons of work. She was the foreman, and I was the laborer; I just did what she told me to do! Tia, my 16 year old daughter helped out a lot, too.
Anyway, I will post photos of my lovely new room soon. I still have some things to do. I want to put a fabric "skirt" around the tables. And I need curtains for the window. I also have artwork to
hang. But all my scrappy supplies are organized and in containers. And I LOVE creating in there!
In fact, this weekend I did FOUR layouts and a card!!
In other news: I was unable to continue my prednisone taper, as my pain was getting worse with
each drop in dose. I saw my MD last week, and he has started me on methotrexate (which is a scary sounding drug, most known as part of chemo). I also have to be on folic acid to prevent anemia, and starting next month I'll have to take an antibiotic also, as the methotrexate can cause a certain type of pneumonia! All of this just to see if, with this drug added, I'll be able then to either get off of the prednisone, or at least get under 10mg a day. You know, this disease really sucks!!
So the new drug is only once a week. I took my first dose on Friday, and so far so good. I got real nauseous Friday evening, but I think it was psychological. A couple of days of major fatigue, but I have a lot of that anyway. We will see.
Since my sister's visit, I have been eating vegan almost all the time. I have had no meat at all, and no dairy, and no eggs. Okay, other than the tiny bit of dairy in M&Ms, which have been my one cheat! I have had fish four times, but that is all. I'm eating loads of veggies (who, me?), making lots of stir fry dishes with sobe noodles, just a little fake meat (Yves brand, really good),
and a variety of veggies. Yum! I've found this really satisfying. My coffees are all soy lattes, now.
And desert is mostly soy yogurt with some vegan animal crackers. I should point out that my diet until now has mostly been fair to poor, and veggies were not a common food for me. So I'm
pretty pleased about this. And it's been almost four weeks. I haven't had any cake in that time. Wow! Othere than the VEGAN cupcakes I made, of which I only had three or four over several
days. Amazing. Over the last week I have actually purchased the following veggies: squash, zucchini, onions, Japanese eggplant, bok choy, mushrooms, asparagus, bamboo shoots and water chesnuts! I think someone else has taken over my body. . . this is not me at all!! My dh laughed
today when I came home from Wally Mart with three different types of noodles!!
So, why am I doing this? To see if I feel better. And to lose weight. So far, I do feel somewhat
better. I certainly feel virtuous! I HAD lost 7 pounds, but I was up 3 lbs today. However, I think most of that is fluids, as my face was very swollen today. In fact, when I smile big or laugh, my eyes almost disappear between my fat cheeks and my swollen eyelids. Maybe I'll take a diuretic tomorrow. I took one last week and lost FOUR POUNDS in a couple of hours! Can you believe that?
Going back to the performing. . . I will be in a show again next month. It is called "What Is This Thing Called Love?" and it is a cabaret type perfomance. Yes, I will be singing. In fact, this will be the most solo/duet singing I've ever done. I'm excited about it. I'll post more when I know more.
Well, that's a pretty long post, and enough for now.
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