Fun with my sewing machine

I had a really great run yesterday. It was just me and my ipod (only one earbud in so I can hear what's going on around me).The ipod made a huge difference. My sister shared her workout playlist with me awhile (thanks!), but I don't use my ipod when LMS is with me. I've started running more without her, so I'm starting to use it again. I ran a mile and a half in 15 minutes, which is a 10 minute per mile pace, which I haven't managed in quite awhile. I walked the mile and a half back, and expected to take 30 minutes to do it. I managed to walk the mile and a half in 19 minutes! I credit my pace to the upbeat playlist- apparently a faster beat really does help you keep your pace up.

I got the duffel bags all finished last week, now I just need to go to the dollar store and get toothbrushes, toothpaste, and combs, and 5 Christmas presents will be done!

What they started out looking like

The finished products

As I was working on the duffel bags, LMS brought her backpack and lunchbag out and said 'sew e, mommy'. She calls all letters 'E', and wanted me to sew her name on her backpack and lunchbag. Since she might use them for preschool or kindergarten, I did her initials instead of her name. I even got adventurous and tried out some flowers, which didn't turn out too bad. It was fun experimenting and seeing what my sewing machine can do.

Not professional results, but I am learning

I decided not to make felt food for LMS. They're cute and all, but she has some play food that I found on ebay awhile ago. We had these when we were little, and they're great. I decided she didn't really need more play food, and we don't have space for more, so there will be no felt food at this point.

Cautiously optimistic...

about running.

I've been increasing my mileage and working on running longer distances without stopping, and I've been feeling good. I feel like my asthma is under control, so I can breathe (no more gasping for oxygen); I bought new running shoes to replace my old, worn-out pair; I'm icing my shins after I run and my orthotics really seem to make a difference. I can run without my shins killing me, and my shins aren't hurting after I run, either. Such an improvement!

I had ten minutes to run today (LMS was asleep, but mom had to leave in ten minutes) so I tried to run a mile in ten minutes. Not a challenge for lots of people, I know, but given my current fitness level and the pace I've been running (12 minute miles when pushing LMS in the stroller), it was a challenge for me. The unfortunate thing is that the half mile out from our house is hilly, which means that the half mile back is also hilly- almost a full mile of up and down, up and down. Not the best for trying to do some speedwork for the first time in who-knows-how-long, but it did add to the challenge.

The results? I'm seriously out of shape. The faster speed really took it out of me. While I managed to run the first half mile in 4 minutes, I did not have the juice left to keep my pace up for the second half mile. So, I need to do more speedwork to get my body used to faster speeds, and I need to work on my endurance. I used to (many years ago) be able to run for miles without problems. I wasn't fast, but I could keep going for quite awhile. I need to get my body used to running more miles and going faster. I want to get my pace at least down to 10 minutes per mile.

I've been trying to decide on a major race or two to work towards, but there's a lot of variables to consider. I'd like to run the half marathon that I did last year, but it's in the middle of August and I don't have the mileage base for it yet. This also means I don't have the mileage base for the marathon I did last year, which is run in September. I do want to run it again, but I want to be properly trained for it so I can get a really good time. In order to have the time to build up my mileage base, I need to be looking at a half marathon in October or November. Unfortunately, we don't know where we'll be living at that point, so it's hard to choose a race. I don't want to have to spend a lot of money traveling to and from the race, so it needs to be fairly close. I think I'll pick one in each of the areas that I think we might end up, and then wait and see what happens. In the meantime, I'll start running some 5Ks and maybe a 10K or two.

I've lost some weight!!

I weighed myself yesterday morning, and lo and behold, I've lost 7 pounds! Woohoo!!!

I haven't lost weight since giving birth to LMS (the baby weight came off quickly, but nothing else), and the 10 pounds I lost (doing Atkins) just before getting pregnant with her. I've been gradually gaining weight for the last 5 or 6 years without being able to lose it, no matter what I tried.

So whether the weight loss is a result of the meds I'm on or the GF diet or a combination of the two, I don't know. However, it happened, and I have great hopes that I will be able to continue to lose weight in the coming months.

7 down, 53 more to go...

Job hunt update

Just thought I'd update everyone on what the job plans are at this point. We ultimately decided not to go with the state patrol, but it did open us up to other options that we hadn't been considering.

Because the jobs hubby wants to apply for are dependent on an active security clearance, we have to wait for it to get renewed. It lapsed while he was deployed and he was told it would be good for 6 months after he got back. However, if anyone checked to see if it was active, it would only show up as lapsed. So no point in applying for those jobs yet. We finally got the paperwork (we weren't first in line), got it all filled in and sent back in (this week), and now we just have to wait for the investigation/verification process to be completed. Once that happens, we can start looking for a real job.

In the meantime, hubby is going to school full time (3 classes) and working part time. He's started his master's degree in Intelligence Operations, which will be very beneficial to his career. Once he gets a real job he'll drop down to one class at a time, but for now he's getting a good start. He's working for a guy that he worked for before his mission- then he did construction work, now he's doing inspections and installation of residential fire sprinklers in assisted living homes. The pay's not great, but it's somewhat flexible, which allows him to work on his schoolwork while still bringing in some money.

As for me, well, I'm still resisting going out and getting a job. We've been able to pay the bills so far, and I really feel that LMS benefits from the stability of having one parent around all the time. And, for all the schooling I've done, I'm not actually very employable. I haven't done anything with my Animal Science degree since I graduated; I've really struggled to keep a little Japanese in my head, but there's not much demand for people who know a little Japanese. I could do more with my massage therapy- I am current on my certification, though a bit out of practice. But it still goes back to spending time away from LMS.

I feel like I need to get a masters degree, but I'm still not sure in what. It has to be an online program- I can't go back to school full time in a traditional classroom setting without putting LMS in daycare or something, which I won't do- which limits my options. I've found a professional writing program that looks good, but I would need to confirm that they'll participate in the MyCAA program before I commit to anything there. I know hubby's school participates in the MyCAA program, but I'm not sure any of there programs would be really useful to me- I need to look into that some more. Realistically, now is not the right time for it, so I still have time to consider my options. Hopefully I'll be able to get started in a year or so, though.

Road trip pictures part 1

I finally got the pictures from hubby's camera from our road trip. The rest are on his brother's camera, and he's sending them to us, so when they get here, I'll post some more. The battery in hubby's camera died during the second day at Disneyland, and we left the charger several hours away at his brother's house. So we had to use his brother's camera the rest of the time.

Pointing at a statue in Lover's Point Park
















Digging her toes into the sand at Lover's Point Beach
















Hugging Winnie the Pooh





















Being silly with Tigger
















Riding the Dumbo ride with Mommy
















Sniffing the 'flowers' while waiting in line to see Tinkerbell (where hubby's camera died)

A tornado?

What a day!

After taking hubby in to work this morning, Little Miss Sunshine and I went for a nice run/walk (1 mile of each), where I decided I just could not keep running in my shoes. I've rubbed through the heels of both shoes, and they're just too uncomfortable now. And old and worn out.

So after showering and getting dressed, LMS and I drove to town and I bought new running shoes, some Father's Day gifts, and then we went to WalMart. While we were shopping, we could hear the rain coming down hard on the roof, and at one point it turned into hail. As we went to the checkouts at the front, the hail started coming down harder, and the noise got louder and louder. I stopped and looked towards the doors, and it was dark and very, very windy out there. Everyone else was stopped and looking out the doors, too. The noise got louder and louder and sounded like a train overhead. At that point the employees shooed everyone to the back wall (shoe section, apparently the safest place in the store) to wait out whatever storm was passing over us. We spent about a half hour back there, waiting, but the noise lessened and didn't get worse again, so they let us go about our business. After paying for our things, we walked out and saw that the ground was carpeted with hail and leaves that had been stripped from the trees. The hail wasn't big enough to damage the car, but it was bigger than any I've seen before. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so no pictures.

When we got home, I got online to see if I could find anything about a tornado. There were tornado watches all over the area, and I heard people talking about tornadoes in the area, but I haven't yet found anything to back up my thought that a tornado went over the WalMart. All I've found so far just mention thunder and lightening storms and hail. I'll keep looking though.

LMS did fine through out it all. She didn't really like the noise, but it didn't bother her too much. She got a little upset when she saw other people getting upset, but she calmed down pretty quick.

Book review and pieces coming together

I just finished reading the book 'Healthier without Wheat' by Dr. Stephen Wangen. It was informative and got me thinking about the symptoms and experiences I've had throughout my life. He does talk about celiac disease, but makes the point that not everyone with a gluten intolerance has celiac disease. On the other hand, celiac disease is a type of gluten intolerance.

Some of the symptoms he mentions:
*Short stature due to malabsorption of nutrients (maybe that's why I'm so much shorter than all my siblings)
*Mental fogginess (have had this for years)
*Infertility (check)
*Miscarriage (double check)
*Gas, bloating, etc (check)
*Fatigue (for a period of time it was so bad I couldn't do much of anything)
*Weight gain/inability to lose weight (check)
*Abdominal pain and nausea (had this off and on for years, currently being treated with Nexium, but we're just treating the symptoms, not the cause)

There's others as well, a lot of which I've experienced in one way or another, these are just the major ones that caught my attention.

With gluten intolerance, the body doesn't absorb nutrients properly and/or causes immune reactions (inflammations of the various body systems), both of which end up causing systemic problems. One thing gets damaged, which stresses other parts of the body, which causes more problems, and it just keeps going and going, getting worse and worse.

It's all about balance
Because the gut is out of whack, bacteria, parasites and yeast can all proliferate and get out of balance. When I saw that he mentioned yeast, I was so happy! So many doctors just don't believe that yeast can cause systemic problems, so anytime I find one who does it's almost a cause for celebration. A lot of the symptoms of yeast overgrowth parallel those of gluten intolerance, which causes further confusion. I've known for years that I have yeast problems, but have been unsuccessful in treating it on a long term basis. I can do it for short periods, but not for very long.

I need to read the other book by this author- it sounded like he talked more about bacteria, yeast and parasite overgrowths in his other book.

My symptoms
In any case, I feel validated about my yeast problems. I've been thinking about it all, and I think I may have come up with a timeline for it all.

*As a child, I didn't have intestinal problems or anything, though I did have ear problems and sinus problems and I am a good 4 or 5 inches shorter than my next shortest sibling. Not sure if I got the short end of the genetic stick, or if it's due to nutrition issues caused by gluten intolerance.

* 10 years ago, on my mission, I had two bouts of food poisoning fairly close together, and I think that's what compromised my system. The gluten intolerance became more active and started causing debilitating symptoms (horrible fatigue, muscle aches, gas and bloating, mental fogginess, etc).

*After my mission my body was able to rest, and, I think, gradually was able to cope with everything better. The fatigue became bearable, the muscle aches went away, the gas lessened, etc. The mental fogginess has always followed me, unfortunately (it's why I barely passed my intro to organic chem class my last semester of college- I had a really hard time understanding an already difficult subject because my brain was so fuzzy).

The pieces come together
I got used to dealing with the symptoms and got on with life. I had problems getting pregnant, and had my first miscarriage 5 years ago. A year later, I was on the Atkins diet to lose weight (finally managed to lose 10 pounds), and managed to get pregnant with our daughter. Two years ago I had another miscarriage. In thinking about it, I think the reason I was able to stay pregnant with our daughter was because I'd been doing Atkins, which means I wasn't eating any grains, gluten-containing or otherwise.

Another thing I read that stuck out was that gluten itself is addicting. When I thought about it, this too made sense. I've always considered myself a 'carb addict', but it was usually cookies, crackers, and bread that I wanted to eat (and chocolate, but we won't get into that...), not potato chips or corn chips. Except Doritos- I love Doritos. I was eating some this weekend, and after the 3rd handful stopped to read the ingredients list. There's wheat in Doritos. Now I know why I have such a hard time eating just a couple of them.

Lessening of cravings
As I've made an effort to stay away from gluten, my cravings for carbs have lessened, and so have my cravings for chocolate. In the past, I could eat a bag of Ghiradelli peanut butter chocolate squares (super yummy!) in one afternoon. Now, if I eat 2 Hershey's Kisses (inferior chocolate, I know), I'm good. I don't have that urge to keep eating more and more. My brother's birthday was Sunday, so I had a piece of German chocolate cake. It was good in the moment, but not in the long run. I felt blah on Monday, and noticed more cravings to eat food (even though I wasn't really hungry).

Now that we're home from Disneyland (where I did eat some gluten-containing food), I've gone back to eating gluten free, and have also eliminated yeast, so no bread. It's so much easier this time- in the past when I tried to eliminate yeast and sugar it was very hard. I still need to lower my sugar intake, but it's going so much better. LMS's annual check up is in a week and a half and I'm going to have them do a full panel to test for food allergies. I'd like to know for sure if she has any problems we need to be aware of. If not, I don't need to worry so much about what she is/isn't eating. If she does, then we'll have to adjust our diet accordingly. She's had problems with milk in the past. Hopefully she doesn't actually have an allergy to it. It will be difficult to eliminate dairy- we do love our cheese and yogurt.

I didn't take the time and effort to plan GF meals for our Disney trip, but I will have to plan out our meals for our family reunion in July. We'll probably be gone for at least a week and a half: traveling, staying with family, and camping. When it comes to eating bread or jeopardizing a possible pregnancy, I'll skip the bread. Put in that context, it's a lot easier to resist the foods I shouldn't be eating. And it's nice not to have the cravings that have plagued me for years.

Some progress made

Exercise Report:

I went running on Friday- another mile straight, followed by walking the mile back. This time I was pushing Little Miss Sunshine in her stroller. Saturday I did some walking around our little town for the town rodeo parade. I haven't done any running yesterday or today (though I almost went for a run this evening after getting LMS into bed- good thing I didn't since it's now raining and lightening out there), mostly because I've been feeling quite blah. I really hate this time of the month...

1. Still haven't done the thank you's.

2. Still haven't hung the pictures yet.

3. Still need to sew the dress and fabric food- did find several pictures of food others have made, so I have some good ideas now.

4. Credit reports taken care of.

5. Sorted and organized most of the papers and put them away. Still have a few more things to sort through and find places for.

6. Still need to take care of LMS's clothes.

7. Did look into MyCAA- I am eligible till the end of September, which isn't enough time to get going on my degree, and since hubby doesn't have a good job yet, there's no way to continue paying for the classes once my eligibility is over. I'll wait till the next deployment to use it- MyCAA will pay for 6 classes, which would give me a good start. Once we get settled in a good job and the rest of our debt paid off, I may start on classes, one at a time.

8. Haven't taken care of the duffle bags yet.

9. Did set up shelves and sorted about half our food storage. Donated gluten-containing items. Once dad finishes with the plumbing in the bathroom (which is right over where my shelves need to go), I can finish sorting our food storage.

Project progress report

So far this week I've made pretty good progress on my current projects.

I didn't exercise till Wednesday because of my chiropractic appt on Monday (they always leave me sore, and I like to give my legs a day or two to recover). On Wednesday I ran a mile without stopping. Woohoo! It's been a really long time since I've done that. Usually I run some, walk some, run some more, etc. Ok, so I usually am pushing Little Miss Sunshine in her stroller, too, which I didn't do yesterday. It was just me, which was very freeing. It felt pretty good, and I only had a few twinges in my shins. After finishing running the mile, I walked the mile back home for a total of two miles. I think I'll make that a regular thing once a week- running longer distances without stopping. I used to have really good endurance, but that is definitely a thing of the past. Now's the time to start building it up again. I went for a bike ride with LMS this morning. It felt good also, but I can tell how out of shape I am. It's so pathetic.

1. Haven't done the thank you's yet. Hopefully on Friday...

2. Haven't hung the pictures yet, though I did unwrap them and set them on the back of the futon.

3. Mended the coat and sewed the dress for my friend. Also sewed the apron for LMS, which she loves. Still need to sew a dress for her and make some fabric food. Yes, it is wrinkly from her toy box, but I hate ironing. I meant to take a picture right after I finished, but LMS wanted to wear it immediately.
4. Ordered our credit scores and reports today. It wasn't nearly as traumatizing as I thought it would be, which is why I've never done it before. It helps that we've paid a lot of debt off, but we still need to pay off some more before we buy a house. I did find a problem dating from July of 2004. Apparently, when I went to the doctor after my first miscarriage, the doctor's office submitted the claim to my insurance company three times, but was denied each time. I never received any notification of this, and they never contacted me for payment. The following summer it went to a collections agency, but I've never heard from them either. I talked to the doctor's office (they couldn't figure out why I hadn't been contacted) and my insurance company (who couldn't find any record of the claim, let alone it being submitted and denied three times). So the doctor's office is sending me the paperwork and I'll submit it. However, I think I'll have to pay the collections company and then get reimbursed by my insurance company. Unfortunately, I think it'll still be on my credit report, which really stinks since I never even knew about it till now. Don't put off checking your credit reports! Get things taken care of as soon as possible so they don't negatively impact you. Luckily, I don't think we'll be in a position to buy a house for another year, and by then our scores should be higher, which will be helpful when it comes to mortgage rates.

5. Haven't sorted and organized papers yet. I've been putting this one off because it'll be a bit of a hassle and take up space while I sort everything into different piles.

6. Haven't packed away winter things, though I did find LMS's summer clothes.

7. Haven't found out more about MyCAA yet.

8. Haven't taken care of the duffle bags, though I did buy some canvas to sew new monograms onto, which I will then sew on the duffle bags.

9. Haven't set up shelves or done anything with food storage yet.

Current projects

My most pressing project is to exercise every day and be really diligent about what I eat (and how much). That way if I'm still not losing weight in a couple weeks I can go to my doctor and ask to get my thyroid checked.

That's an ongoing project and the rest of my current ones are pretty much a one-time deal. They should keep me pretty busy during the next week or two.

1. We (Little Miss Sunshine and I) need to make thank you notes for her birthday presents.

2. I need to hang some pictures on the wall. There's a nice open expanse on one wall now that I've rearranged the furniture.

3. Do some sewing- mend a coat and sew a simple dress for a friend, sew an apron for LMS, and whatever else I find that needs to be done, like maybe some fabric food for LMS.

4. Order our credit reports and credit scores so we can find out what they are and make sure they're correct. If not, do whatever needs to be done to fix them, so that they can be as high as possible when we're ready to buy a house.

5. Sort and organize the papers that go in the file cabinets. I now have two in the house and they're both easily accessible so I need to get my filing system in order.

6. Sort LMS's clothes: pack away winter things and dig out her summer clothes.

7. Find out more about MyCAA, which is financial aid for military spouses. Not sure if I'm currently eligible or have to wait for the next deployment.

8. Pick out monograms and make new name tapes for duffel bags (like the suitcases and blankets I've bought before) for hubby's nieces and nephews (Christmas presents for one family- check!)

9. Set up shelves, organize food storage, and make a list of items still needed.

Back from vacation

We went to hubby's post-deployment thing (lots of fun sitting in meetings all day) while Little Miss Sunshine stayed with my sister and had lots of fun playing with her cousins.

After the meetings were all done we hit IKEA, picking up a desktop for hubby (it's on two short filing cabinets) and a child-size table and chair for LMS. I realized awhile ago that she didn't have a table for coloring, doing puzzles, putting dishes out, etc. They were super quick and easy to put together and she loves having a table and chair just her size. We also picked up some miniature cooking utensils and some dishes. The colors of the dishes coordinate quite nicely with her tea set. Not sure if you can see them, but there's also some miniature silverware on the table. They're another IKEA find that she received for her birthday, and I think they are just so cute!

Since we were on a road trip, we decided to do it properly. This meant going through Monterey on the way to Disneyland. We stopped to see my aunt and uncle that live in the area. It was good to see them and talk for a little while. We wanted to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but ran out of time unfortunately. We then headed south and picked up hubby's brother before stopping to see another aunt and uncle.
We ended up with 3-day park-hopper passes (free for the guys and greatly discounted for LMS and me!), and rather than trying to cram everything into one day (which we've done on 3 previous occasions), we took our time. We spent 2 days at Disneyland and 1 at California Adventure. Soo much nicer! We went to Disney on Friday and Saturday and CA on Monday- definitely a good thing to take a breather in the middle. LMS was in overload on Saturday, but after resting on Sunday she was good to go Monday.

LMS is old enough to appreciate things now, and really enjoyed seeing the various characters and riding the rides. She's too small for a lot of them, but there was a good number she could ride. Some of them were scary in parts, but she hid her face in my chest and was fine.

The rider switch passes are such a time-saver! Hubby and his brother would wait in line (using fast passes where available), while LMS and I waited outside. Before they got in line, we got a rider switch pass from the worker, and when they were done with the ride, one of the guys and I would then be able to ride the ride (while the other watched LMS), using the fast pass entrance or going through the exit. The guys liked it because they got to ride some of the rides twice in a row.

We had lots of fun at the parks, and a good time visiting with family, then headed back home. When we got back I unpacked and put everything away and then got down to re-arranging our room again. I got everything in, and I think I like it, so hopefully we won't have to change it again.
LMS and I went for a 4 mile run/walk yesterday. We did a lot of walking at Disneyland, but that was at sea level. I could definitely feel the difference here. That and it's been awhile since I did any running. I have got to be more regular about it from here on out.

I didn't run today, but I did spend several hours in the hot sun raking wood chips from around a large wood pile so we could burn them. Yes, it was as fun as it sounds. But the area looks better and we were able to get rid of unusable (can't be burned in a wood-burning stove) wood that was cluttering up the yard. We have a lot of log splitting to do, and then the rest of the wood can get stacked and we won't have an unsightly pile in the back pasture area anymore.

Thoughts on PCOS

I've been reading about PCOS lately, and it's been quite enlightening. 5 years ago, when I was first diagnosed, I did a little research, but I was busy learning Japanese at language school and didn't have a lot of time for extra things. Later, I pushed it to the back of my mind and tried not to think about it.

In facing it head on and being more proactive, I've learned that a lot of things I've thought were just weird genetic quirks are, in fact, symptoms of PCOS.

1. Excess body hair (yes, it is as bad as it sounds). My dad is a hairy beast, I thought he had passed it on to me. Apparently not. I've noticed over the last few months that this has gotten worse, and it's quite icky. All that extra testosterone in my body is not good.

2. Dark patches on knees, elbows, and stomach. I have them on my knees, and I thought they were callouses from kneeling down while working (sanding, cutting out fabric, whatever). Not so.

3. Weight gain and difficulty losing weight. I got the short end of the gene pool when it comes to height, so I figured I got the shaft in the weight area as well. Unfortunately, this looks like something I will struggle with all my life, along with the other symptoms.

4. Infertility. My hormones are imbalanced, so I don't ovulate on a regular basis.

5. Miscarriage. Because of the hormone imbalance, it is much more difficult to maintain a pregnancy. The more I read, the more I realize that Little Miss Sunshine really is our miracle baby (I've said this along)- I have no idea why we were able to get pregnant and stay pregnant with her, and not the other two.

6. Insulin resistance. Intertwined with the hormone imbalance. The metformin is supposed to help correct the insulin resistance, which in turn should help balance out my hormones.

7. There's others, but I can't think of them right off (must not be too big of an issue for me).

There's no cure for PCOS- you manage it through drugs such as metformin, and through diet and exercise. Eating a low glycemic index diet is also supposed to help with the insulin resistance, and of course exercise is always good for the body.

My goal right now is to lose weight with the metformin, the gf diet, and exercise. If I can get to a healthy weight, I really feel that I'll be able to get pregnant and stay pregnant. I think I've lost a pound or two (improvement over the slow but steady gain that I have been experiencing), which is encouraging, but I have a long way to go- I need to lose 50-60 pounds altogether.

Gluten-free progress report

I've been eating gluten-free for about two and a half weeks now, with some purposeful slip ups on the weekends. I don't notice a huge difference during the week, but I have noticed that on Mondays I'm feeling more blah and tired than the rest of the week. Since I don't have celiac disease, I don't have a definite reaction telling me I ate something I shouldn't have.

I'm definitely eating wheat-free, and I think for the most part I'm managing gluten-free as well. There have been a couple things I haven't been completely sure about, but I'm learning more about which ingredients are gluten-free and which aren't. It's a process. So far I've been pretty happy with the gluten-free products I've used. The pastas taste basically the same to me, and I found some really good rice bread made by a local bakery. I wasn't too impressed with the rice tortillas we tried, but I've found quite a few gf snacks that taste pretty good. So I don't feel deprived, except on Thursdays, when hubby wants to go to Pizza Hut with his family. We did find a good gf pizza crust mix, but it's not the same as Pizza Hut. Oh well.

I'm considering going yeast free when we get back from our trip. It would mean no bread or pizza dough and no aged cheeses. This wouldn't be too bad. I think I could still eat the really yummy gf frozen waffles I found (I need to make a list of the brands I like), but I need to check on that. Technically I think I'm not supposed to eat very much sugar either. I need to check on that as well. I think I'm closer to a yeast-free diet than I have in the past, so hopefully it'll be a lot more doable this time around. And I'm really hoping it will help me finally lose weight.

More de-cluttering

Yesterday we finally got hubby's clothes sorted. We tossed a few, gave some to my dad for rags, gave some that are too small to his brother, and added a bunch to the big box to be donated. Hubby went and dropped those off (I forgot to take a picture first, though) while I rearranged our room. I'm using two short file cabinets as the base for a desk for hubby. This will serve the dual purpose of desk space for him and easy accessibility to storage space for the mountains of papers that always threaten to take over my desk.

We need to get a desk top still, then it will be useable. We'll be near an IKEA next week, so we'll stop in and get a desk top, some wood shelving units for our food storage (so we can see what we have and what we still need), and a small table and chairs for Little Miss Sunshine. I love that place. It's a good thing we don't live closer to an IKEA, because I would spend way too much time and money there.

I've got the room rearranged so everything fits, but I'm not completely happy with the layout. You can't see the computer screen from the couch anymore- it's next to the couch now- which is making me wonder if we should keep the couch in here or not. I'll keep it like this for a while, but once we get the desk top on I may move things around again.

I still need to sort through bags of clothes from LMS's cousin- pull out what I like, leave the rest- and I need to put away her winter things. After I've done that, I think I'm pretty much done with the sorting and tossing till we move into our own place. The next thing I'll do is sell the items that are actually worth something on ebay and craigslist.

However, we're off for a road trip for a week and a half, so I'm done with projects for now. I have to pack today because hubby's grandma is coming for a week-long visit tomorrow and tomorrow is the only day we'll be able to see her. We'll take off early Friday morning and do some more post-deployment stuff this weekend (feels like we just finished the last round), and then head out to CA to visit relatives and go to Disneyland. Hubby gets in free and LMS and I get discounted tickets, but only for another week or two, so we're going to take advantage of it while we can.