Spring Lace Socks Finished!

I don't include a picture because my gauge changed drastically--lengthwise--between starting them last April and finishing them this month. They both have 7 diamonds down the front and the feet are exactly the same length, but I barely had room to finish the last diamond on this 2nd sock before shaping the toe, with the result that (a) it doesn't match the first sock visually and (b) it looks pretty awful. So I guess I can't make socks after all... Ah well. This will definitely not be a pair of sandal socks, but they'll look pretty sticking up out of a pair of shoes. :)

I had intended to sit outside with the dogs yesterday and today, but it was COLD out and very windy, so we weren't out too much. They're bored, poor babies. I wish we had a big yard! However, I'm happily reading my newly-arrived biography of Vanessa Bell (Virginia Woolf's sister) and wondering what to knit next.

I started to read a book a friend loaned me, The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber, which is a very very neat title, but I'm at page 80 and I still don't like any of the people introduced so far, nor am I terribly intrigued, so I think I'll just pass.

One of my sisters-in-law has been laid off her job. She's a counselor, so she and my brother are talking about setting her up in private practice. That should work if she can bring her clients with her, although dealing with all the different insurances would be a nightmare. Maybe she could set up a sliding fee scale and cash only. I hope it works out for them. I'm anxious about my brother, and my sister and her husband, too.

Even though I think my job is fairly secure, the general economic news is giving me insomnia and great big anxiety attacks; I may have to go back onto my anti-anxiety meds. However, with interest rates going so low, I'm thinking about seeing about refinancing my house, with a $10K loan against the equity rolled into it. I could pay off one of my credit cards with that and have something left over to do a little cosmetic work on the house (like replace the crumbling linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom). I just have to get up the courage--going to banks for loans always freaks me out. I guess I'm never going to be strong, confident, and independent.

I tried some Greek yogurt the other day, and it tastes exactly like Philly cream cheese. Only better for you, I guess--more protein, less fat. I'll have to try it on a bagel one of these days.

My diet is doing pretty well. I keep track on http://caloriecount.about.com --it has a lot of gizmos you can use to track your weight, the calories you eat, the calories you exercise off, and various aspects of your diet. I'm trying to do 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fats, less than 2000 mg sodium, and more than 35 grams of fiber and 100 grams of protein--while staying around 1200 calories. It's hard to do, and I usually come up a little higher on the carbs and lower on the protein than I want, but I'm doing okay with everything else. I'm also allowing myself a free day every Saturday. Last Saturday I ate cinnamon-sugar cake donuts and mushroom pizza. That's to surprise my body and keep it out of conservation mode.

Now if I can just incorporate some exercise into this program. Problem is that I HATE to exercise. They always say to find something you enjoy doing--problem is, there *isn't* anything physical I enjoy doing, except riding and working with horses, and that's out. But I'm trying to coax myself into doing weights, which is not too objectionable, and which would enable me to continue hauling large bags of dogfood around, and to mix it with some regular, methodical stretching.

I'm also trying to get myself to take the dogs walking. We'd all be happier. Maybe. It is so not relaxing or fun to take them out together, but I keep telling myself that if I took them out regularly, they'd get better at it and it would become easier.

Well, you know what Master Yoda says: "Do or do not. There is no 'try.'"