My Weight Loss Journey check in...I've lost how much?

There is a show on TLC currently called “My 600lb Life” that has struck a note with me. It follows around 4 different people that had gastric bypass surgery for almost a decade to see what happened after the surgery. It isn’t a before and after shot, but an in depth view of the struggles and the triumphs that they face.  This show inevitably makes me cry every time I watch it.  I had it on my DVR for weeks before I could.  This show is hard to watch.  The journey of being 600 pounds isn’t easy, and the weight loss isn’t easy either. People develop addictions to food for a reason, and it’s a hard hard job to face those addictions, admit to them, and then struggle to stay on top of them. 

The reason that that show is hard to watch, is the same reason that I started this blog.  It resounds so closely to my own battle, and my own constant fear of uncontrolled weight gain.  I started this blog after a discussion with my college friend Benita.  I had been thinking seriously about getting some sort of bariatric surgery to help me lose weight.  At 300 pounds, getting to anything with a 1 in the front of it seemed like an impossible task.  This was about the same time I had an aunt that I’m close to (and resemble in body type) have gastric bypass and lose an amazing amount of weight,  feeling like she had energy and the ability to live for the first time in a long time.  Maybe it was laziness, maybe fear, or maybe damn stubborn persistence that I could lose this weight, that I never went through with the surgery. I'm still not sure, and commend those that were able to make that decision and have lost huge amounts of weight.

You sell what? *gasp*

It has been far too long. It’s been far too long since I sat at a screen, wrote down my feelings and shared them with the world.  I take pictures, I script out blogs in my head, but my lazy distracted self has failed in blogging lately.  One of the reasons is that it’s really hard to just shoot off fast posts. I have to sit, and ponder and then percolate, and eventually genius ends up on the screen. Just kidding about the genius, but I don’t want you to read anything stream of conscious from me. If you think I get distracted by sparklies in conversations, my writing is worse. I write in paragraphs and then somehow make things sort of fit together. Sort of…see, I’m trying.  Plus, if I don’t at least make a cursory attempt a editing, my husband…judges.  

So my life has been taken up by sex toys, and it’s been difficult for me to figure out exactly what level of hilarious but not necessarily ‘safe for work’ detail I should go into on here.  For example, should I tell the story of how my husband managed to hurt is back ‘lifting a crate of dildos,’ or how I almost shot a ‘sleeve’ across a room while practicing for my demo, or how I fed a parrot a wiener. Actually that last one has nothing to do with sex toys, but it was fun!  So my life, if I thought it was reality TV worthy before, only got better when mixed with gratuitous amounts of lubrication, laughter and my own…lets go with unique, sense of humor. 

I guess I should write here more because someone other than me, and my husband should be in on these adventures.  For example, yesterday I was having lunch with some new women from one of my meetup groups, and they asked what I did.  They were intrigued and we were discussing my company, toys, sexuality and the whole gauntlet of topics.  After awhile one of my friends had to leave, so I turned on the seat to talk to the remaining person at the booth and glanced at the computer the guys in the booth behind us had.  On the screen was a picture of a bloody thorned ‘crown’ as I hear this guy passionately discuss how the thorns in the crown they forced Jesus to wear were 3 inches long.  Apparently I missed the Bibles the dudes were carrying when they sat behind us and began attempting to convert a fellow hipster.  Funny, the guy they were trying to convert was sitting with his back to me, and I’m almost certain he heard…everything that I said. And for the record, I wasn’t at all embarrassed. 

I love to study religion, and spend a huge amount of my time and energy learning about my faith.  I however am sick of ‘religious’ people that  straight out judged me and my character because of what they presume I do.  Yes, I sell sex toys… and lingerie…and lotions… and massage oils…and great products and great opportunities. What I don’t sell are the poor life choices, infidelity and immorality that their judgement charges me with.  What I do isn’t dirty. What is dirty is societies perception of people that use my products.  I say this now, and I will say it again—there is NOTHING wrong with have a fulfilling sexual relationship with your spouse (or partner because I’m not discriminating).  There is nothing in the Bible against finding your spouse attractive, and trying to be attractive for them.  There is an entire book in the Bible extolling the virtues of finding your spouse beautiful, and desirous.  There is nothing in the Qu’ran against having a healthy sex life. Heck, the hadith actually had requirements on how often men were required to ‘visit’ their wives based on their jobs, and advised lots of foreplay.  No, I’m not digging out quotes.  If you don’t believe me, I will thought.  Please just believe me. I’m lazy.

Starting a business has glaringly brought back into the forefront of my life, my inability to deal with stress.  I have serious difficulty filing things in order of necessity, or priority without first freaking out about feeling like I have a million things to do and no time.  I had a really really hard time in the beginning, feeling like I needed to shove as much knowledge into my head as could possibly fit. When I started having dreams about sending out invitations, and organizing and learning my demo, I realized that I realllllly needed to take a step back.  The crying and fighting with my husband weren’t worth it at all.  It wasn’t until I told myself that it was okay not to be the best immediately that I sort of allowed myself to relax a little. I still am freaked out…I’m worried that I’m having an open house this weekend and no one will come, but then I have to remind myself that I can only do what is in my control. 

That in mind, I’ll clean my house, I’ll make cookies, I’ll ENJOY myself, and I’ll let something be out of my control, because I’ve had an iron grip on that control for so long that my hands have cramps. It’s time to let them relax.  

Okay..brain dump here readers—answer these questions and get a prize.  Okay you won’t get a prize but I’ll write more;).

Who has read 50 Shades of Grey? Am I the only person that didn’t like it? Well…me and the 400 ppl on Amazon that said that they didn’t like it. 

Anyone else feel an incessant need to move their furniture at least once a month? I move my living room furniture constantly. 

Recipes—any new ones?  I just threw some quinoa, veggies and chicken together for lunch and it was tolerable…I may even go so far as saying it was good. 

Time management…what is that? 

Sleepy? I am, so I’m going to bed now.  

DIY Nasal Saline Rinse Solution

I hab a cold (said in most pitiful of voices). I always seem to have colds or some sort of congestion between being around kids, and having sinuses that are chronically swollen. People have been telling me for years about how much I need to do nasal rinses, and while I did them sporadically, I've only recently started to do them regularly.  I'm sick of being sick, and  if they help keep me from getting horrible sinus infections that are having to be treated monthly with antibiotics, I'm willing to shoot pressurized water up my nose.

For the record they AREN'T sinus rinses. You do NOT rinse your sinuses, but rather your nasal passages. If we could rinse our sinuses we would get mondo infections because anything we inhaled could get in them.  This little disclaimer was brought to you by my old ENT who got verrry annoyed when people talked about how wonderful sinus rinses were.  

Not ignoring you!

Or rather...I'm sort of ignoring everything right now. I have my debut Slumber Party on Tuesday and then two other parties already booked, and I'm ... going a little crazy trying to get everything planned. It would help if I would just sit down and write my notes instead of reading all the books, cleaning my house, getting distracted with anything and everything and being worried that I'd wing it.  Four years of Speech Team taught me that I'm an excellent improv speaker, but those were 5 minute speeches, not 90 minute presentations.  must...get...this...done!

I'm not entirely sure what my husband thinks of our kitchen table being covered in demo 'toys' but he hasn't complained yet.  I think he is intrigued.  I am hoping to book more parties off of the three I have coming up and then work from there.  I swear I have non-toy related recipes, and updates to make when life is a little calmer!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
back to work.

My grocery dilemma...

My husband and I have a grocery budget. Or at least we are supposed to. Sadly, the hundreds of dollars that we blow at Costco every month on God knows what, don't seem to be a part of that budget, and yet we were still spending them.  So after realizing that we were pretty low in cash this pay period (thank you medical bills!) I decided we didn't really need to go shopping for two weeks.  I made smoothies out of old fruit, we ate pasta, the sauce my dad canned this summer, all our veggies, meat from the freezer, and more stuff from the freezer, and ate at our friend's houses, and tonight I might have picked up dinner. Okay, so no, we didn't not buy food for two weeks, we just didn't use our shopping budget, we had to use our own fundage if we wanted anything extra.  It seemed to work except that I've been trying to make a meal plan for the last 4 days and I'm stuck.  I'm not really sure why.  My brain is sort of in a muddle as I contemplate what foods I should buy. We desperately need  fresh veggies and fruits. At this point all we've got are some leeks I bought for soup that we ate the potatoes for a week ago. The husband cleared us out of smoothies, any milk products, anything with the word juice in it, and any snacks I shoved his direction.  Tonight he was dying to open our last bottle of Martinelli's Apple cider (that I wisely hid in the pantry and forgot about), and I offered to make him lemonade instead. I heated up some water, poured a bunch of True Lemon in it, and squirted some honey in. He said, "I don't like it, but I can deal." Eh, I'll take it.  I wasn't trying very hard to impress him.

Please note that we still have food in the house, and if it weren't for my need for ketchup (still can't find mine--whoever stole it is going to hell because taking my ketchup is a sick sick joke!) and nail polish remover (they won't be used together!) I would probably attempt to avoid going to the store this week either. I find though that I'm doing a craptastic job of being all domestic like and cooking lately and my other half isn't really a fan of dinner duty. 

Instead of that shopping list which is still avoiding being written, I'll just post some recipes that I'm excited to make. Maybe I'll feel motivated, or maybe I'll spend 5 hours on pinterest and get nothing done.  

1. Paleo Pumpkin Walnut Muffins

http://pinterest.com/pin/56154326573776047/

Yumm...these look good. I've got all of the ingredients, even after not grocery shopping in weeks. Once again, if it weren't for that damn ketchup, I just wouldn't go! I'm leaving the walnuts out though since neither of us can eat them. 

2. Spinach Bites

http://pinterest.com/pin/56154326573776997/

This is from my friend's blog and they are amazing. How do I know this? Because the perk of babysitting for her daughter was getting to taste test these puppies. I detest boiled, steamed, cooked spinach.  The first time my grandmother gave it to me, I spit it back out on her.  No joke -- sorry grandma! These things are nothing like that boiled mess though.  The spices and potato give them great texture and flavor, while baking them gives them an awesome crunch. There is no overwhelming spinach flavor unless (I think) you make them super thick.  Think of them as a healthy green french fry thingy.  Just do it, and you'll thank me me later.  Spinach is our friend! Popeye had it right, even if I thought he was lying for most of my life. 

3. Sweet Butternut Squash mash yumminess (yes, my super professional chef name!)

Please for the love of God, just buy it pre-peeled and cut! Save your fingers...or in this case mine. Actually the real issue is that butternut squash, while I love it, lasts for-ever. So I just let it sit and think about how I want to eat it...for months.  If I buy it already cut, it's got a pretty clear expiration date, and I actually will EAT it.  Is that cheating?  You can judge me while I'm eating my butternut squash mash with a teeny bit of brown sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg. Judge away, but I'm not sharing.

4. Anything on this page

It just looks delish...http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/category/dinner/

specifically these: http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2012/02/moroccan-meatballs-with-citrus-glazed-carrots/ which will be gracing my kitchen after I do a spice inventory tomorrow morning. 

This website isn't strictly paleo but she's got a paleo section that looks amazing.  

I would love to do the paleo diet and give up all (or most) grains, legumes, and dairy. I already know dairy and I had a love affair that needed to end.  My bronchial tubes thanked me for that, and I figured out the cause of my decade long headaches.  Grains are a hard one though. I don't doubt that cutting them out would make a difference in my health and weight loss. It's just hard, and I don't need people who are already drinking the kool-aid to harass me unless they want to get slapped. 

I like the idea of the paleo diet except for a few sticking points-I don't eat pork and can't make myself eat most fish.  This means that I'm missing out on the, seemingly vital food group: Bacon. Ugh...sorry guys, I can't do it.  I can't even stand turkey bacon anymore. It just grosses me out.  I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to walnuts (hence leaving them out of the above recipe) and raw almonds and I may have a tenuous relationship. My husband can't have any soy or walnuts (thyroid issues), just to complicate matters.  I'm figuring out how my stomach and mouth react and deal with raw food and meats. Most of my life, I stayed away from meat because it gave me stomachaches.  I'm not sure I really have a problem with incorporating more beans into my diet either. I know that more veggies is basically the answer though. I'm figuring out the root causes of my dietary issues, and experimenting with different foods. Please...give me some time. If you don't, I've already warned you about smacking potential.  

On another note, I've decided to torture Newton by tying his stick toy (hot pink b/c that's how my man rolls) so it hangs, feather down, into the cat house that my dad made him.  Now, instead of just perching on the top most perch and sleeping like the prince he is, he's getting into the house, balancing on the back scratching post and go crazzzzzzzy playing with it. It's...hilarious fun to watch and I'm pretty sure he's enjoying himself. If you guys need more pictures of Newton...just ask. Since everyone knows that I anthropomorphize my cats since I don't have kids, I have pictures a plenty. It's not my fault he so freaking fluffy you want to squish him to death, and that Henry has the most amazing anime eyes ever.  

Anywho, off to attempt to sleep next to a freight train that call himself my husband.  If he knew how often I kicked him in his sleep, he'd probably stop talking to me for awhile.  And since he's going to read this, I might add in looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove you baby :)

Why is there a man with a gun in my living room??

Anyone that follows me on facebook knows that my GPS was stolen out of my car back at the end of January.  My car was opened, riffled through, all parts of the GPS taken and then the door was closed again. This was all done without setting off my car alarm.  I posted what happened on our neighborhood board, and found out that there were quite a few cars that had been broken into--also without setting the alarms off, taking any electronics that could be found.  

So like most people would, I bought a new GPS.  This time I was much more careful about taking it down every night and dropping it in my purse.  Apparently not careful enough two nights ago when, hands full, I left my GPS in my car (in the center console).  I was so distracted that I didn't even realize that I had forgotten it.  Yesterday I came out to my car to go to the gym and realized that I didn't see my GPS cord.   With a plunging heart I quickly realized that I had been robbed...AGAIN.  35 days after the first theft, the bastards had managed to get into my car again (cause the first time wasn't difficult enough apparently) and took my GPS again.  

If you feel stupid reporting that something got stolen out of you car because you left it in plain site, let me tell you that feeling increases ten fold when you have to call the police AGAIN because your car has been broken into twice in one month.  At first, I have to admit I was almost amused that it happened again.  That quickly turned to fury that I projected at anything I could find.  

Now readers, I don't live in the ghetto, or the projects. I live in an upper middle class townhouse community with million dollar homes down the road. We are getting targeted.  Since I posted on our neighborhood board that people need to file police reports when these thefts happen, the police now are required to come out and take a statement in person.  I mean, it's great and all to meet my neighborhood county cop, but it my GPS is still gone and I'm pretty sure they aren't perusing pawn shops for it. My neighbors have a camera pointing at their cars, and another over their door. I hoped that perhaps they recorded that night, but no luck.  The police talked to them this morning and found out that their camera's don't record.  

Now comes in the guy with a gun....

I was sort of sneakily getting a shot of him while my husband talked to him. All of the stuff on the floor was donations I was taking after our swap. 

When this nice officer came calling we learned how incredibly short staffed they were, to the point that there was one officer for half our county.  That must be close to half a million people (if not more!) and one officer is in charge. No wonder they can't patrol!  

So morals learned

1. Screw GPS's, I'm using my phone.  Ironically I hated the new GPS I'd gotten anyways.  

2. Depending on the police might not be the best idea. as they are understaffed, over stretched and under funded.

3. Get a house with a garage...no seriously, I'm willing to give up a basement to keep my car safe.

4. Living in a nice area means that your car is MORE likely to be broken into. 

5. Learned to be grateful that they didn't break a window.  

6. VOTE! This is a RICH county with a LOT of people that make a LOT of money. It's unacceptable that our police are so radically underfunded, and that the police are expected to have to sacrifice an officer to be solely responsible for the mall near my house.  

7. I did mention that we are looking to move, right?  I think that this event might have thrown me over the line from 'eh' to 'I'll pack tomorrow!' I love our house, but the petty crime in this neighborhood is getting scary. 

8. This is really sad, but one of my first thoughts was "damn, this is going to make a great blog post!" I'm sort of pitiful like that. 

Oh ... what a week! Sorry I didn't mange to make this post funny.  I'm just sort of emotionally drained after this week.  

What's Cooking? Peanut butter Banana Oatmeal Squares

You know that Veggie Tales song, "Oh where is my hairbrush?"  Well, the version I've been singing is, "Oh where the hell is my ketchup!?"  No, seriously, my ketchup is missing.  I made eggs the other day, and went to the fridge, tasting the tomatoey goodness on my tongue, and...I couldn't find it. I physically touched everything in the fridge to make sure that no one cast a spell of invisibility on it, but nope. It's gone.  So now...I am out of ketchup around the same time I discovered that I love eggs with ketchup, and only have eggs in the house to eat for breakfast, and refuse to go grocery shopping for the next week. What a conundrum!  Now moving on to unrelated food issues, I recently made another recipe from Pinterest.

I was pursuing Pinterest, and found and immediately made this recipe. I actually forgot to pin it when I made it, and had to go back through my internet history to be able to find it again! I loved the wholesome ingredients (no butter or added oil!), and the fact that I had them all on hand!  With a few easy ingredients you can make a breakfast bar, serve it with a little peanut butter, and have a ready made breakfast for your whole family.  I even put these out at my swap-a-thon as a 'cookie' and most of them were eaten.  Since these have a super moist consistency, I would suggest you eating them pretty quickly.


If you are looking for something super sweet, this isn't it. However, it's a great bread-like base for things like nut butters, honey, or just something quick to grab. I plan on using different spices next time. I think it would do well being spicier with nutmeg and a tiny bit of cloves. I'd also love to try it with a hardier oatmeal that maintains it's texture after it's been cooked.  Quick cooking oats tend to lose all of it's texture when they're cooked. If you want it to be a bread like texture without making you think of oatmeal though, currently, this is it.

Variations:

• Use rice milk, like I did to make it dairy free
• Use gluten free oats to make this celiac friendly. 
• Use Egg substitute and rice milk to make it vegan
• Experiment with some honey/agave nectar to take out the sugar. 
• Make them in muffin tins...I think these would make great muffins.
• Allergic to peanuts, or don't like them? Almond butter would work! As would any other nut/seed that ends in butter!
• Hate bananas? Use unsweetened applesauce or pumpkin puree instead. I'm not sure on the measurements, so check online and tell me how it tastes!

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Squares
From Here!

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk *(I used rice milk)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large mashed banana *(I keep my old bananas in the freezer, so I just pulled one out)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
*my comments on the recipe. The links are to the actual product that I used!

Mix together the quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, kosher salt and ground cinnamon.

Add in the vanilla extract, milk and egg. Mix the ingredients together.

Then add in the mashed banana and peanut butter. Combine all of the ingredients.

Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Cut into squares and enjoy!

Pressed into Pan

All Done!

Yes, I can see my reflection too.

Jan-March Goal update and life changes

February Update on Goals:

So ... I did mention in my original post that I had some issues with procrastination right? I didn't procrastinate in my attempts to do my goals, just to update you on them!

I'll go through each goal that I set here, and update you on my progress. I should probably set new goals for myself too. Once again, these aren't all of my goals that I'm working towards.


This blog:

January goal:
Write in blog 2 times a week.  Start writing a design document to lay out how I want my blog to look after it's redesigned. Discuss the design document with the hubs.
Update:
I've been much better about updating and have been averaging about 2x a week.
I haven't really discussed a redesign of my blog with my husband, but I have spent a lot of time playing around with different layouts on my own. I discovered different tabs, and have enjoyed creating new ones. (hint...please check them out!) I could be doing a lot more with the background and I know this, which is why I keep changing it!

March Goal:
Continue to blog, 2-3 times a week. I like the game series I am doing, and playing more games with my husband has helped us get closer too!
I want to publish more meal plans, and recipe posts.
What other posts do people find interesting? I can only put up so many pictures of my cat...

Health:

January goal:
Go to Yoga class on Sunday morning.  Try a Zumba class.  Doesn't matter when or if I only do it for 20 minutes--just get over my fear of the new and unknown.  Also, get on elliptical in my room at least 1x a week.  First thing in the morning? It would be awesome. Sweat is our friend. Work on anxiety issues. Find a cognitive therapist.  Make an appointment.
Update:
Umm...can I skip this section? I was doing great for about a week, even started to lose some weight and then I got sick and used it as an excuse to backslide. I found that when I ate crap, and didn't exercise, I craved more crap and less exercise.
I didn't go to yoga. I didn't try a Zumba class either. In fact, I went to the gym 2 times.  This is really depressing. I have however been using my elliptical and going for walks more. Now If I could get myself to do that daily, I wouldn't feel guilty about not exercising enough.

March goal:
Go to the gym 2x/week. Walk at least 10 minutes a day, be it outside or on the elliptical.  I'm baby stepping on this one. I'd rather outshine my goals then feel like crap in a month when I realize that Ive once again not done what I hoped.

Food:

January goal:
meal plan meeting 1x week with husband.  Personally plan small meals/snacks for myself. Make sure to have these foods on hand so that I can eat every 3 hours.
Update:
We have been better at meal planning but I'm still having trouble with finding quick and easy food to eat.  It's a never ending battle lately. I have been better about meals in general, and not eating out as much though but it doesn't seem that it's saved us money.

March Goal:
Less eating out, more meal planning. Oh, and stop going to Costco--my spending there is ridiculous.  Always have hard boiled eggs in the fridge, and create a list of quick snacks that we can have. Why? Because you can't think when you are too hungry. Also, taking a nap when you are hungry and waking up starving is a bad life choice.


Books:

January goal: Read the first Hunger Games book. Yes, I've been told that I'll be immediately HOOKED but it's all about the starting.
Update:
Oh I read the entire series. Big thanks to my friend who lent me the electronic copy.  My husband is reading to me almost every night and it puts me right to sleep! I love it, and the series that we are reading (series name).  I also went into the physical library and got a book and a couple of audiobooks that I can listen to in the car. The library is right next to where I babysit, so it's a great stop on my way home.

March Goal:
Less TV more reading.  Find a way to play more audiobooks in the house so that you'll get more done instead of being attached to the computer.

Entertainment:

January goal: Make decision on future of group, and volunteer. Significantly cut down on TV and Internet time by downloading audio books to listen to, with my new handy dandy library card (that I have yet to use:( ).

Update:
I've covered the library issues above.  We are volunteering more, which is great, and I have significantly cut down on my TV watching.  As far as my group goes, I'm still not entirely sure what is going to happen. I'm keeping really busy though so it's becoming less of an issue.

March Goal:
Continue!

Going forward:

I am pretty excited about what has been happening in my life. I have going to more events, meeting more people and making more friends. I'm spending lots of time playing board games, organizing events, babysitting and most recently, I decided to start my own business.  Starting next month, I am going to become a Slumber Parties consultant!

If you haven't hard of Slumber Parties and you are still thinking of middle school girls having pillow fights, I'm sorry to disillusion you.  This Slumber Parties is a home based party company that sells lotions, potions, romance aids and lingerie.   I first went to a party in while in college, and another recently, was once again realized how much I love the company, and their products. I was really struck by their goals to help women create a safe and fun environment to discuss relationships, romance and sex. It's empowering to not feel constrained by society in your abilities to ask questions about sexual health and to realize you aren't alone. It's something that many women never have a chance to have.

I'm sure I'll continue to regularly write about my Slumber Parties adventure, and I hope that I can make a success out of this venture. So...let's see what adventures March brings!

Swap-O-Thon 2012

About six months ago I was invited to my first swap.  The rules were simple. You bring anything you want, you swap with other people for their stuff that they brought, and whatever is left is given to charity.  I love the idea and scored some great stuff. Since, back in December, we mistakenly assumed that February would be too cold to have the event outside, we decided to have it at my place.  After I told some of my friends about this event they all got really excited about participating and apparently starting squirreling away all of their stuff that day.  

The day before the event, I was expecting around 15 people, and even borrowed a couple of long tables so we wouldn't only have piles on the floor. In the past, we had five people...not 15 and I wasn't entirely sure if this was going to be fun, or utter catastrophe. It was certainly chaotic, but oh so fun.     

This is the before picture with Newton investigating the tables that have my meager offers on them

The day before, I put out all of the items that I had assembled from around my house.  All those toiletries that were hanging out in the rarely used guest bathroom could go, along with a bunch of old purses, some clothing that didn't fit, jewelry that I would never wear, drinking glasses we were not longer using, some pots, towels, stinky candle and shoes were among the things I had no qualms about giving away.  The great thing about the swap is that you can give people stuff that has been used. It allows me to get rid of all of those bottles of body wash that I'll never finish using, and hair products that I bought on a whim.  It's a great excuse to clean out your closets and bathroom cabinets.  

We have a pretty big house. Actually, it's too big for the two of us, and we rarely use the front room As people flooded into my house, bringing bags and boxes, and donations oh my, that room size shrunk.  We ended up having at least 12 people, almost all of them had been to my house before and knew each other.  Everyone pitched in, helping haul boxes in,  making quick work of  the pre-swap organizing.  We had boxes of books, Christmas decorations, handbags, shoes, so much clothing, kitchen appliances and more. It was overwhelming how much stuff was in my living room, and wow it was loud.  My friends are just as animated as I am,  I don't think that my husband regretted hiding in the basement with the cats. Newton, being the most sociable cat alive, apparently cried as the cats were blocked off in the basement. He wanted to join the party! I just didn't want him to run out the front door that was being frequently opened and closed.  When we did let him out, he came and rubbed on everything and flirted with everyone.  

Lots of people in my living room...

with lots of stuff

This is the same table as the first picture...only now it's really full (as was the floor in front of it)

Kitchen appliance table

Happy Hostess taking a quick break
I LOVED this hat, but didn't need another one. I did demand a picture be taken of me though .

After everyone had assembled I explained how we would deal with those 'most wanted' items. You know, that thing that makes your eyes light up as you imagine it in your living room? Well my husband came up with a silent auction idea, where cards would be assigned to each person with a symbol one side, and a number value on that back so that you could 'bid' up to 15 points on any item or number of items. It worked really well and the one time there was a 'tie,' one of the women just said the other could have it.  It was a great way to keep people from immediately attempting to claim things before people had a chance to look at everything.  I admit that I did grab a Vera Bradley cooler bag as I was helping to unpack but my friend said that I deserved to take 'taxes.' I laughed at then, but afterwards, I realized that I really did have much time at all to go through and look at individual items, so I'm glad I was able to do that.  In the end I only kept a few items, but no regrets at all!

After all of the high 'bid' items were spoken for, people found areas to claim for their piles, and went to look through all of the rest of the items that they might want.  My kitchen turned into a impromptu changing area as people tried on clothing.  Modesty apparently wasn't really in high demand, and it was all women anyways.  Nudity will not be the selling point for the next swap, but it was amusing.  

I assumed that I would have to haul everything that was left to charity and there was  LOT of stuff left. Since I offered to have the swap, I figured it was my responsibility, and I wasn't going to complain about it, but I really wasn't looking forward to it.   I really have some amazing friends though.  I was blown away when first one friend offered to take some stuff to Goodwill because she was heading there, and then another friend said she could take as much as we could fit in her car. It was...glorious. Everyone else pitched into pack up everything and take it out to cars.  Quickly my living room started looking like a living room again.  I had asked that people try to bring a donation for a local charity, and now have a huge stack of stuff to take to them, and that's pretty much it.  

A small amount of the food, before 12 ladies descended and made short work of it!

After our swaps, we were understandably exhausted (haha) and needed proper nourishment, so we assembled in the kitchen were everyone brought something to share.  It was a last second idea, asking people to bring food but  without me having to buy anything extra, we had enough food for 15 people to have a decent lunch. One friend even brought some bean enchiladas from another event she had recently attended. We sat around and ate, chatted, and caught up.  Two of my friends stuck around all afternoon and we put a puzzle together from the box of puzzles that Mariette brought to give away:

Finished Puzzle! It glows in the dark! 

And then when the noise dropped down, my husband ventured back upstairs to help make a delicious chicken dinner. Actually the husband was ONLY interested in making the chicken.  The women decided we needed more than just meat, and my friends quickly made some sides of butternut squash and potatoes that were delicious.  After dinner Julia had requested that play Munchkin, so of course we obliged.  Oh yeah, she won too....

Our exhausted WINNER! 

After all this, I was dead tired, and slept so well.  It was a wonderful day, full of wonderful people and equally wonderful memories.  I'm looking forward to having another swap in a a couple of months, and doing a deep purge of my house for that swap.  A HUGE Thank you to everyone that came!! 

Have you ever been to a swap? How did you manage ties?

Winning is fun! Thanks Sara

There is nothing like going to your mailbox and finding a box addressed to you.  Oh, you don't get mail that isn't a bill? I don't get that too frequently either.  After I came inside and had a lovely conversation with USAA (no seriously, I had a conversation with a bank that put me in a GOOD mood!) I was finally able to sit down and open my box.

A couple of weeks ago I won this blog giveaway over on Sara's Organized Chaos blog.  I'm not sure how I came across Sara's blog, but she's awesome. She's witty, sarcastic, hilarious and has the cutest Wisconsin accent (that she claims no responsibility for), and adoooorable kids.  I wish she lived closer because I want to be her real life friend, not just cyber stalker!

I had been expecting a box, but I was still excited to see it. When I opened this box I expected a decent smutty romance novel to fall into my lap. What I didn't expect was all of this:

A book, a heart shaped ring pop, a pez dispenser, and this beautiful card.  The card says "Owl always Love You." The computer was a prop, not a prize, sorry guys.  Did I mention how all this awesome made my day?

Thanks Sara! I love it all, but I'll admit right now that my husband will be stealing all that pez.  I will not relinquish control of the ring pop though!

Like her beautiful card? Check out Sara's blog for all her awesome crafty shiz (her word, not mine!).  Also check out her blog for frequent giveaways, and great reading.