Hobbit-ish Potpurri: This & That

Hey Humble Readers...

How are you all tonight?  Having a good weekend?  What are you and yours getting up to?  Things are pretty mellow around the hobbit hole.  My Beloved has an exam in his CGA course next week, so he should be studying like mad.  But hockey is on.  Not sure how much he's actually studying. 

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I went to donate blood today and once again my iron was too low.  Not terribly low, but enough that I wasn't able to donate.  Grrrr.  Back to taking the iron pills.  It's funny, I have IBS-D (yes, the D stands for what you think it stands for) and while the side effects of the metformin have tapered off, they still flare up from time to time, so you'd think that I wouldn't mind the iron.  But I just really don't like taking it every day. It gives me a bad taste in my mouth, and makes me feel bloated.  Maybe I'll try taking it every other day and see how that goes. 

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I'm seriously considering cutting my hair.  Not just a trim, but a real cut.  I refused to cut it right after the wee-lings were born, partly because my sister said that she was certain I would.  "All new mommies do."  Right now my hair is down to the middle of my back, past my bra band, and my bangs are finally grown out so that I can pull them back in my ponytail.  I'm just so sick of finding my hair everywhere... it's so annoying.  Part of my hesitation is that I don't have a regular hairdresser.  I haven't had one since I moved to the Shire when my Beloved and I got married.  I've tried a lot of different salons, but I've never found one that I'm overly comfortable with. 

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You may (or may not) have noticed the new weight loss ticker over there to the right.  The one labelled "the big picture".  I blasted through another plateau this week, and I'm now less than half a pound away from being 50 pounds down.  Woohoo!  Once I hit the 50 pound mark, my next target will be to weigh less than my Beloved.  That will be another 15 pounds (he's lighter than either of us thought), so I'm hoping I can get there by the end of July.  And after that, I want to be 75 pounds total down by my birthday in September.  I'm really feeling confident that I can do it. 

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I decided to get together with my bio-aunt.  She came to the hobbit hole yesterday and we had a nice visit.  She thought that the wee-lings were adorable (which they are of course).  We talked a bit about why I'm not in contact with my bio-family, and how as much as I'd like to be in touch with my aunts, uncles and cousins, it's impossible to do so and not be harassed by my bio-parents and siblings.  It was nice to see her, and she certainly hasn't changed. 

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Well, I think that's about it for tonight.  I'll be back tomorrow with the Sunday Night Chit-Chat and I have a post percolating that ties in with Jjiraffe's Project Dreamcatcher. 

Welcome 2013!

Happy New Year Humble Readers!

Image credit

I hope that you enjoyed your New Year's Eve celebrations, whether they were raucous or serene.  We had a quiet evening here in the hobbit hole... both wee-lings were snuggled under their blankets by 8:30, and my Beloved and I passed the evening playing video games (me - SuperMario Paper on the Wii) and fiddling with the new computer (my Beloved - the new laptop is for his course work as the software he needs won't run on his ancient desktop.  Can we say tax write-off?). 

My Beloved asked me a few days ago if I thought that 2012 had been a good year.  Without hesitation I said yes.  2012 brought us Pip.  None of the ugliness in my family or our financial struggles can overshadow the joy that our wee little mister has brought to our lives.  And Ginny just keeps on surprising us every day with her capacity to learn and to laugh.  In 2012 we ended our journey to build our family, and as I look ahead I can't help but wonder what this new year will bring us.  Undoubtedly, there will be new joys and new challenges that come our way, but today, as the sun shines and a warm chinook wind blows, I feel optimistic about 2013.

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions.  At least not in the usual sense.  I've never liked the vague "be better to myself" or "lose some weight" types of resolutions.  Being the to do list addict that I am, I need to have things that I can measure, things that I can cross off my list.  So instead of resolutions, I find setting specific goals tends to work better for me.  Some of my goals end up taking longer than a year to accomplish, but I like to be able to see measurable progress being made.  The tough part is always making the list achievable.   

So here's the list for 2013:

1. Health - Continue the good habits that I developed in 2012 (drinking 2-3 liters of water a day, not drinking my calories, cinnamon tea every morning and evening), only step on the scale twice a week (rather than every day), gradually add in physical activity (twice a week in January and February, then increase it for March and April and so on)
2. Self-care - Colour my hair every 8-10 weeks, get a haircut 4 times throughout the year (build it into the budget), buy new capris for the summer (build it into the budget),
3. Household - Strive for at least one meat-free dinner each week (was about 60% in 2012), keeping up with my weekly/daily to do lists, purge cds, re-work household budget (January), do mending weekly (as needed)
4. Learning - Read an average of 3 books a month with at least one of them being a new to me title, build up repertoire of meat-free recipes, learn a new crafting skill (very vague, but I don't know what I want to learn yet.)
5. Family - Attempt potty-training again with Ginny in January, Transition Ginny to her toddler bed by end of February, send out extended family birthday cards ON TIME, come up with a better way of sharing photos with far-away family.
6. Creative Endeavours - write in my "One Line A Day" journal every day, creative writing (using prompts or working on 'the story') for at least 15 minutes every day, maintain a regular blogging schedule

I know that seems like a lot.  Much of it will simply require being added to my daily to-do list.  Other than that, I think I can manage this list this year.  And it's always a given that some things simply won't happen.  Life gets in the way of the best of intentions, but every journey needs a map to point the general direction. 

What are some of your goals for the new year?

Confession Time: Health & Beauty Edition

Hey Humble Readers...

Another post squeaking in under the wire... Dang NaBloPoMo!  I am in need of some input from my bloggy sisters. 

Here's the thing, this hobbit has never really been one for a lot of make up.  Special occasions call for a bit of mascara, maybe a little blush (I'm pale), and some lipgloss.  Most days the extent of my beauty regimen is pulling my hair back in a clip, do something with my bangs, and slap on some chapstick (an addiction). 

I've never really figured out the lotions and potions stuff.  Up until the last year or so, I haven't needed much in the way of lotion.  I have always had relatively oily skin, so I have avoided most moisturizers because the ones I tried always felt too heavy. 

But now, or at least ever since Ginny was born, my skin has gotten drier and drier.  Not just my face, but all over.  The thing is, for the majority of my skin, I can stick with Av.een.o and that does the trick.  I've even found a lotion for my feet that seems to be working (thank you, Gly.so.med).  But when it comes to figuring out what I need for my face, I'm at a loss.  I go into the drug store or the HBA section of Wally World, and I am totally overwhelmed.  And the advertisments on tv and in magazines are no help.

I know I need to start using something, but I just don't know what (I have some 'fine lines' that appear to be getting more substantial).  My mom has always been an advocate of a department store brand of skin care stuff, but it's way out of my budget.  That's why I'm thinking maybe a higher end drug store brand might be the way to go. 

I'm 37 years old, and I don't know this kind of stuff.  What kind of a woman am I?   

My question for all of you... what products do you like?  Is there something that I should avoid?  (I know I need to avoid vitamin A/retinol because it would be harmful to the Halfling)  I need some serious help here!