Keeping Myself in Stitches!

The Ten Second Tidy!

Wow!  I haven't posted in almost a month!  Ready for the update of almost everything Cheryl-related?

Car: Truck is gone... brought it in to fix headlights, was told it was being condemned due to rusty frame (Google "toyota tacoma frame"... I'm sure you'll see).  Was given a rental free for a few weeks.  Found new Yaris to buy.  No more truck, but tons better gas mileage (about 40 mpg).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knitting: Ok probably the easiest thing to do here is update "the list" and add the things I've added.

• Oblique (Mom)  Totally finished in time for Mother's Day.  She loved it!
• Felted Stained Glass Bag (sis)(need to finish by 9/3/08) - stalled, but will be finished on time
• Felted Mitred Square Bag (SIL)(need to finish by 9/24/08)
• Muir (me) - started... but not getting very far
• Red Herring socks
• False Flame socks
• "Coffee" socks
• Primavera socks - finished first sock, started second
• ??? socks - ???
• Footies - half-way through first sock
• Ballet T - OMG AWESOME! quick knit... great fit... LOVE IT!
• Odessa - about half-way done... the beads sucked, but at least those are on now :)

Marathon: Well... the marathon was last weekend.  We raised over $9500 as a family (thanks to all who donated!).  It was a gorgeous day for a nice long walk.  Unfortunately, the course was not conducive to walkers :(  My brother decided to run it though and finished under the 6hr time limit!  GO BRIAN!  We were so proud of him.  The three of us have decided to do the marathon again next year (minus all the fundraising).  Now I'm on to training for my 5k in August (running!)

Weight Loss: heh... yeah... about that.  My weight has gone neither up nor down since I've been training for the marathon... but I'm so much more fit!  In much better shape, but no smaller.  Darn it.  I am starting to eat a hell of a lot better though and will be doing a lot of running over the next few months... so time will tell.

ok.. caught you all up... now back to your regularly scheduled programming :)

Summing up

So I'm going to sum up the past days in one blog... here it goes.

Truck: Two Thursdays ago = headlights stop working.  Last Monday = I'm told by the dealership that they aren't fixing the lights because my frame has rusted from the inside out. Toyota is paying me good money to buy back the truck and now I have to get a new car (they gave me a rental in the meantime).  I should have my check in a week or so... *sigh*  I miss my truck :(  Not sure what I'll get to replace it.

Marathon: Going well... we will be going 21 miles this coming Saturday in our last really long training walk.  We seem to only have just under $400 to go to hit our required $8700 fundraising goal.  It's getting close!

Weight Loss: Not going well... not trying hard... need to find my motivation.

Knitting: yay...

Finished my sis-in-law's socks... I love them!  I'll post the pattern when I get some time (I fear I won't write it up well, but I'll do my best)

I'm about half-way done the sleeves on my Mom's Oblique sweater... want it done for Mother's Day, so I need to get going. :-/

I couldn't help but start my sis's Stained Glass Bag for her birthday (really far away... should be done in plenty of time... it's super easy).

I also started a pair of "Primavera" socks in a gorgeous Skinny Sock colorway by Spunky Eclectic.  I'm almost done the first sock. Most of it was done on the way to....

YARN HARLOT!!!

A bunch of us went down to WEBS in North Hampton, MA to see Stephanie.  It was awesome.  All my pictures of her were blurry... so I won't post them.  I had a great time and bought some yarn at WEBS. :)

 

I feel like so much more has happened, but the past 2 weeks have been weird and somewhat stressful... so this is it :)

Back to the "rat race"...

holy crap...

So... 18-mile training walk today.  Yes siree... I walked 18 miles in a row today.  Took about 5 hours.  I was really super-proud of myself this time because on our 15-mile walk I actually baled around mile 13... so I had to push myself through 5 more miles than that today.  At least the weather was beautiful. 

Around mile 15 or so I was explaining to my brother that from about mile 12 on, it's not that I started hurting more... it's just that I still hurt the same.  And then he pointed out that at that point we're also to tired to ignore the pain as well.  But I did it.  And I was so incredibly happy with myself.

I do have a couple badges of honor... you should see the blisters... holy shit.  I'm going to look into some different socks.  The shoes seem fine.

I was going to reward myself by allowing myself to cast on some Spunky socks tonight, but I'm too tired to wind the yarn into balls... hahaha So Oblique it is :)

Fundraising Happy Day!

This is a screen shot from our fundraising website as of around 2:30pm this afternoon... #3 is my sister, #4 is me :) (my brother's not being on the list is really no fault of his own... haha)

The three of us have an official total of $5429.00 raised as of now (unofficially, that total is about $1400 higher).  We still have a ways to go, but things are looking good!

If you'd like to donate... here's my site:

http://ttes.vermont2008.kintera.org/boisvert01

We go for our 15-mile training walk on Sunday!  Wish us luck!

THESE boots are made for walking!

Finally got my new sneakers today.  I've been training in a pair of old, crappy, too-big-for-me sneakers because I didn't have any others.  But now I have nice snazzy new sneakers that fit me!  WUHOO!

Looking forward to starting some more intense training this week.  I plan on walking 3 miles every morning and then doing my "long walks" on the weekends.  Bro, sis, and I have come to the conclusion that we will have to jog some if we are going to finish the marathon and get medals (it only counts 6 hours... not very long...).  I'm probably going to stick with the walking for a month or so before I start to try to add jogging in.  But we'll see...

I'm also starting a diet.  Now normally I don't do any sort of "fad diet" thing... just try to eat better, but my sister sold me on what she's doing and I started today.  The basic idea is PROTEIN!  And lots of fruits and veggies (well... not so many fruits that you get too much sugar, but enough to keep you going).  The plan is actually healthy (which surprised me a little) and also amazingly filling (which I was highly skeptical about). 

I'll start keeping track of my weight loss here if I actually have any.  I'd be sooooooooo happy if I could drop 20 pounds... even happier if I could drop 35-40 :)  But one-day-at-a-time.

These boots were made for walking...

Well... I'm doing it again.  I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the American Stroke Association.  The picture is of me walking the Kona Marathon in 2002.  This year, it's the Vermont City Marathon (Burlington, VT) and I'll be doing it with my sister and brother.

We are doing this because 20 years ago this May, my father had a massive stroke that change my family's lives forever.  Stroke continues to be a top killer in the US and the funds we raise go to research.

If you've been touched by stroke in your life and wish to donate, please visit my donation site: www.ttes.vermont2008.kintera.org/boisvert01

You don't have to donate $25... print off the donation form and donate what you can (every dollar helps!)

I will have a running count of money raised as well as miles walked in my training on this blog.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help.  :)