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Trauma, Drama, and challenges this week… …wish me success!
Morning Trauma
I can’t find my Omron Pedometer. It is gone. And I’ve gotten used to wearing it every day.
In fact is now part of my “morning routine” to put it on. Which is a problem. What I’m doing in this “Journey to Health & Fitness” is one, by one, setting up good habits, rituals, routines, replacing old patterns of behavior with new, better ones.
And to do that requires repetition. Lots of repetition. And until the “new” becomes “habit” and the “habit” becomes ironclad rock solid do-it-without-thinking-about-what-you-are-doing type behavior, any deviation can be deadly and devastating.
And it bugs me. A lot. — I’m actually AMAZED at how much it is bugging me. I’ve rouned up all the usual suspects and put them in the line-up: under the edge of the bed, under the edge of the desk, under the edge of the kitchen cabinets, inside the pocket(s) of the clothes I wore yesterday.
I’ve even canvased the neighborhood (literally) — I went out on my balcony and the bridge that crosses the court yard and looked at the sidewalk and the stairs to see if I could see it lying there.
2014.05.03 4.50 AM — My Come to Jesus moment
In a bit I’ll put on shoes and go look in my truck to see if it fell out of my pocket yesterday when I went on an errand. And I’ll check the laundry room to see if it fell out there while I was doing clothes.
BUT IT bugs the crap out me that I am not wearing it!
Recording that little number into the spreadsheet each morning from the day before was an act of validation. It is/was actual numerical quantifiable proof that I was indeed MOVING my body!
siiiiiiiggggghhhh
I hope I find it. I don’t want to have to buy a new one. Buying a new one isn’t in the budget.
Doctor Drama
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Let’s hear it for the boy! It’s a miracle!
I’m making progress..
I promise that this is going to be the shortest post I’ve ever made… My version of a “Tweet” LOL
I just realized something for the SECOND day in a row that needs to be shared.
Yesterday I did a bit of housework which a month ago would have left me gasping, and I did it with no problems. Sailed right through it as a matter of fact.
Woot! Yeeeeeeeee Haw! I actually tweeted about it and put it on my Facebook page.
Why I’m doing this post as well is because:
Just moments ago, I finished up 45 minutes of activity around the house concluding with rotating my mattress on my bed.
I will confess that the mattress did me in. I had to sit down and I was breathing heavy. BUT… when I went to update my activity log (more about that log in a future post) I saw that it had been 45 minutes from the last time stamp!
OMG!!! 45 FRIGGIN MINUTES!
Now it ain’t as if I had run a marathon or anything but we’re talking 45 minutes of non-stop activity
- making some phone calls
- sorting laundry
- spraying it with pre-wash
- pouring some enzyme cleaning drain-maintenance stuff into the drains in the bathroom
- pulling sheets off the bed
- stripping all the pillow cases
- spraying THAT with pre-wash
- finding the clean sheets and bringing them to the bedroom
- and then…. rotating the mattress
which pushed me over the proverbial edge. I needed to sit down.
So… I do believe a round of applause is in order!
All kidding aside, this “revelation” proves to me that the approach I’m taking this time is working, and will continue to work.
See ya on the dance floor!
(with clean sheets — LOL)
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Coffee Kitty is NOT a Morning Cat… Uhmmm… Person
Given how sleep deprived I am this morning…
c2013 TxCowboyDancer Designs
…this design is somehow very appropriate.
Since this is only the second in this new series, here is a reminder about the format. Each post will have three parts:
- A large image of the new design (like the one to the right)
- A bit of background on how the design came about (just below)
- A few of my favorite products with the new design (just below that)
I hope you are enjoying the “back story” on the designs as I create them.
Even if you don’t visit the store and do some shopping, please hit the share and like buttons so that others can find out about my designs. Thanks!
Background on my latest design:
I don’t remember where I first saw this cat. I think it was either on Facebook or maybe it popped up in a Google search. I’ve slept since then… 😉
Following the trail back to the source of the image lead me to a website called Deviant Art; a site I had never visited before. Wow, talk about a different part of the Interwebz! LOL
This was the image that I first saw… I Need Coffee Original sketch by (by YTCyberPunk)
If you’ve never heard of Deviant Art, check it out. It is a lot of fun, but a lot of, well, deviant, in a good “artistic” way. Basically it is a place for artists and photographers to hang out and share their work, comment and critique, and take a peek at what other artists and photographers are doing.
Some of the work on the site is jaw dropping amazing. Some of it is amusing. Some of it, quite frankly, is awful. Not awful in the sense of lack of inspiration or effort but in execution—sorta baby works by artists who still have “training wheels” on their paint brushes or mouses. Mice? Miceses?
Whatever you call more than one computer mouse. But hey, art is in the eye of the beholder, and all of it is fun. Think “coffee house” in Soho with local artists works on the wall, and you get the idea… only without the coffee and it is on the Internet instead of in New York… but anyhoo…
Hmmm… coffee must be on my brain this morning… Slllllluuuuuurrrrrrrrpppppp…. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh….
You know you are truly hooked when you are only a third of the way through your first cup of coffee and there is NO WAY the caffeine can actually be hitting your system yet, but your body reacts physiologically to the mere promise of more caffeine hitting the blood stream soon. *SIGH*
I Need Coffee (by YTCyberPunk) Cleaned up Ink Version
But I digress.. I do that you know…
So… on the Deviant Art website, has a way for visitors to purchase a digital copy of the artwork for their personal non-commercial use like putting it on a computer desktop as the background. Or printing it off and framing it and hanging it on the wall.
But I didn’t want the image for personal use. I wanted to edit the design and I wanted to sell the design on products like t-shirts and coffee mugs. So, having never done this before, I said “what the hey” and took a chance. I emailed the artist and asked her if she’d consider selling me the commercial rights to her drawing, including the right to edit the drawing and add captions.
It turns out that the “drawing” was just a doodle she had done during class and that she’d never actually ever sold one of her works before and was very flattered that I liked her drawing.
Since we were both “babes in the woods” so to speak, we talked it through, making the contract up as we went. We eventually agreed that she retain copyright on the original drawing and that I would have copyright on any modifications based on her drawing.
I sent her a payment and in exchange I got a cleaned up copy of the drawing from her and the commercial rights to print the modified versions on t-shirts etc. Coolness! My first official bizness KNEE-go-she-Ayh-SHUN! Woot!
Storyline showing development of the design as I edited it
When I got the cleaned up “pen and ink” version, I decided that actually liked the original “messy” pencil version better.
So working with both the original “messy” file and the ink “clean” version, I took a bit of this and a bit of that and did a lot of clean up and editing of the “messy” version.
I added color to it a little at a time. I did some MORE clean up, adjusted proportions, shortened the height of the steam, and eventually after several hours of work with a graphics program…
Tah-Dah. I had a design I liked and that was ready to go onto products.
My favorite version is the cream colored cat. But I am playing around with the colors and will at some point in the future have a black and white version and a grey scale version as well. Watch for those. 🙂
Or I might change the color of the coffee cup or I might use the ink version. Who knows. But I’ll have to have more coffee first. LOL
I just LOVE the expression on this cat’s face. Especially since it is so close and contrasts so nicely with the big “smiley” face on the mug! Woot!
My favorite products with the new design…
I had a LOT of fun coming up with captions for the bumper stickers and mugs, etc for this design. I’m a coffee drinker and NOT a morning person AT ALL so this is a topic near and dear to my caffeinated heart. Read the rest of this entry
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Thoughts on blogging, noses, unmentionables, wallowing and starting over…
What to write?
One of the problems with writing a blog is that people actually do read it.
In my case, not a lot of people, about six of you including my mom. Ok, ok, there’s more than six but my little blog reaches only a few hundred folks, not a few hundred thousand. But that’s enough to count. LOL
And it is enough so that I, like any blogger, have to decide just how much detail to include from my personal life.
Ok… I’ll give you a moment to process that.
Give it a bit… think about ALL of the things you do on a daily basis. Now think about all the things which you do that you DON’T talk about in polite company.
Just for the sake of being obvious, and to indulge in a moment of juvenile regression, here are some examples of normal routine ordinary things which we all do, but usually don’t talk about or in this case, things we usually don’t blog about…
- …how many times we go potty in a day. The nature and quality of the products eliminated from the system during the potty process.
- …whether or not we really wash our hands after going potty.
- …how many times we insert our fingers into our noses. The nature and quality of the *ahem* product of finger insertion.
- …how many times we scratch *ahem* unmentionables located in places usually covered by clothing while in public.
- …and other such random acts of physiological grossness and impoliteness
Ask yourself:
- Do you Read the rest of this entry
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My Progress So Far and “Focusing on the Positive”
Setting the stage…
On June 1st, I kicked off a renewed effort to get in shape and loose weight because my body was (and is) literally hurting when I do simple routine things around the house.
And let me tell you friends, neighbors and the two people who are actually reading this blog, that when shaving, showering, and putting on your clothes and shoes makes you grunt and wheeze and get out of breath, then it is time to do something.
Another indicator is all the drivers for your local Domino Pizza joint have your gate code memorized and the counter staff know you by first name when you drop in to get a Pick Up order. *sigh*
We won’t even talk about the weight induced knee injury back in Jan which still bugs me from time to time. *SIGH*
Let’s Hear it for the Boy! / Week in Review
Last Monday I set out my goals for the week. Let’s see how I did:
Weigh in daily
- — Yeppers, I mostly got this one. I missed one day, but the rest I did.
….
- — Yeppers, I mostly got this one. I missed one day, but the rest I did.
- No diet coke. None. Zip. Nada.
- — Yeppers!! I want a BIG round of applause please!!!!!! I did not HAVE A SINGLE SOLITARY DIET COKE ALL WEEK!!!!!!!! Not a single diet coke.
….
- — Yeppers!! I want a BIG round of applause please!!!!!! I did not HAVE A SINGLE SOLITARY DIET COKE ALL WEEK!!!!!!!! Not a single diet coke.
Switch to green tea in the evenings / limit of 3 cups coffee in the AM
- — Yeppers, I did this. I actually bought some lemon and ginseng Lipton Tea bags, intending to brew my own and sweeten it with Stevia, but… the Arizona Diet Ginseng Green Tea jugs were on sale and I grabbed four of them at the same time. I’ve not gone through all the Arizona Tea yet. When I do, then I’ll try my hand at brewing my own tea at home, which will be cheaper than buying it pre-made and I’ll feel better about doing my bit for the planet by not throwing away those big plastic jugs the tea comes in. It should also be noted that Read the rest of this entry
5-6-7-8 Dancing My Way to a Healthy Me! 