Tag: long time

Weight Gain This Week

On By Michel McDonaldIn Exercise, HealthLeave a comment

I was very disappointed in myself this morning when I stepped on the scale because instead of losing weight, I gained weight.

The problem is I started getting bored with my meal plans, 4oz chicken with 1/2 cup brown rice and 1 cup of any vegetable. I was doing so good with that meal plan, I had lost 31lbs with it. When I got bored with it I started eating other things and this week I broke my one cardinal rule and bought bread. Not just bread but also bagels.

On Tuesday when I bought the package of bagels which were on sale for .99¢, I had 3 bagels that day. See what happens when you deny yourself food for such a long time, you end up bingeing on it. I could buy 1 single bagel every few weeks or maybe once a month and that will satisfy my hunger for it instead of buying them all the time. When I deny myself for such a long time I end up eating more than I should in 1 day.

The store also had Yoplait on sale @ 20 for $10 so I bought 5 for myself and 5 for Darrin. I ate 3 that same day then 2 the next day.

Then I also had a craving for some turkey sliders so I bought some ground turkey meat on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I bought a package of Hawaiian sweet rolls for the slider buns. Those rolls are about 100 calories per roll. You’d never think that they were that many considering they are so small but they are. I cooked 5 for myself and 5 for Darrin. I didn’t like them as much as I thought I would and so I only ate 3 and put the other 2 in the fridge but ended up eating them as a snack later that night.

The amount of weight that I gained back isn’t too horrible, only about 3lbs I think. I have been eating salads this week which is ok for me because it’s very low cal but the amount of dressing I put on it is probably not good. So… I think it’s time to go back to my original meal plans and stop straying away from that no matter how boring it might become.

I have to get back on the ball because I really want to lose this weight, I can’t keep going back, I need to go forward. I haven’t lost so much weight that I’m back in stage 1 yet but 1lb more and I will be.

So, hopefully next week I will not only have lost weight but I will be below what I weighed in at last week… hopefully.

Hemp Jewelry Supplies

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, Jewelry1 Comment

While I was suffering with my website, Darrin came in my room to tell me that he had to go to Geico to make his first payment.  Yes, he just saved a bunch of money on his car insurance by switching to Geico.  There, I said it.

He said it was over on California Ave. and Stockdale Hwy so I decided to get away from my blog problems and go with him to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

While we were out I wanted to go to Michael’s so I could buy some hemp cord and some wood beads for making my necklace.  I don’t care anymore about making it my “reward” for when I drop down to 200lbs.  Mainly because I’m in a plateau which is frustrating and a necklace will make me feel better lol.

They didn’t exactly have the beads that I wanted like the ones that are sold at Acajou Games and Crafts but the ones that I did find will do just fine.  The ones I found at Michael’s were cheaper and came with a variety of colors and sizes at only $1.99 with 80 pieces.  I also got a package of wood pony beads for $3.99 with 90 pieces.  I’m pretty sure I have enough wooden beads to last me a long time.

I got my bracelet pattern which will teach me how to make the same pattern for a necklace and since I’ve never made one of these before, the bracelet will be my teacher so I can make the necklace without wasting too much hemp cord.

This macramé project will keep me busy for a while and I will take a picture if it turns out ok and post it lol.

Well I’m just about finished with the bracelet and the pony beads are way too big so I’m gonna have to do something that will hurt me, I’m gonna have to cut the entire bracelet up to remove the beads and put them back in their bag and start all over.  That’s ok because it’s all a learning process, you can’t learn if you don’t make mistakes.

The other bag that I got for $1.99 has beads of many different sizes so I think the little beads will work for the bracelet and necklace.  I don’t know what I’m going to do with all the big beads, I’m sure I’ll find something.

It’s going to be awhile now before I can supply a picture so until then…

PSP eBook Creator

On By Michel McDonaldIn eBook, PSPLeave a comment

I’ve finally figured out how to turn my PSP into an eBook reader. I’ve googled the term “PSP e-book reader” before with bad results. You know, those homebrew programs. Yeah, that’s a bad result. I refuse to brick up my PSP just so I can see if I can read an ebook on it.

In my google search I did find a message board where they talked about a PSP e-book reader so I checked out a couple of ideas, this is one of them.

“ PSP eBook Creator ” which is actually not a bad program. What you do is click File then open a “.txt” file, you can change it from portrait to landscape, change the background color or give it an image, change the text color, change the font, font size and make it bold or regular then create an output folder then build your e-book files. Once all the images are made all you need to do is upload the folder to your PSP Picture folder, turn it on and start reading.

What it does though is it creates an image for every page of the e-book . If this is a long e-book, this process will take a long time and the size of the entire book might be huge especially if you are running low on space. Not to mention that you won’t have a book cover image to look at since all the files were taken from a text file.

Since it only uses text files you will have to figure out a way to convert your e-book to text format with Calibre.

Here is a sample of what one of the pages will look like in text format as a .jpg file.

It’s not a bad image to look at although you will see some boxes here and there (as seen before Cover Photo Credit…). I read this book from beginning to end last night on my PSP just to see if it would hurt my eyes at all and even though it’s not that long of a book my eyes were ok for a while. But if it were a 400 page novel I’m sure that reading on a PSP would start to hurt your eyes after an hour unlike e-Ink.

If I were to make some changes to make it easier on the eyes I would probably put in a dark background image, make the text white, bold and bigger. For this test I made the font Comic Sans regular size 12. Default is regular (non bold), size 10 but I don’t know what the default font is.

You don’t have to worry about a bookmark since all you have to do is leave the image part of the PSP. Once you go back into it you will be right back on the last page (or image) you were on. That is unless you turned the PSP all the way off, then you would have to find where you were again.

If I were to give this a rating I would give it a 3 out of 5.

Girlfriend Doesn’t Realize Boyfriend Is In Europe

On By Michel McDonaldIn HumorLeave a comment

Have you seen or heard about this?

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2AV3cmEWX4

I had something similar happen.  I got a call from my aunt telling me that my grandmother was dying and she asked for me so I took the Amtrak bus down to Palmdale, CA and spent a week with my family until my grandmother passed away.  After she passed away I checked my email and this friend of mine had sent me a few emails just yelling at me for ignoring her.

I emailed her before I left telling her that I was going to be gone for a week and she thought I would have internet access where I was going.  My aunt had dial-up and it’s not cool to go to someones house and tie their phone line up so I just didn’t read email at all.  I had my cell phone on the whole time and I would talk to Darrin which was the most important person I needed to talk to, nobody else.

So I told her that I was visiting my aunts and that my grandmother had just died.  I think she sent me 2-4 emails and was basically very cross with me in all of them for ignoring her lol.  She ended the friendship but when I finally emailed her and told her what happened she was sorry for saying all of those things.  We’re still friends but it took a long time for her to realize that I wasn’t going away and she would have to just deal with it lol.

My Spirit Board

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

I’ve been wanting to make a spirit board for a very long time.  I don’t want to buy one because I want it to be personal, something that I made.  Perhaps when I die I might be attached to it some how lol.

I just haven’t had the money to go out and buy all the stuff for it.  A friend of mine, Alyce, bought me the wood burning kit which I am totally grateful to her for because it’s a $30 kit and even though I can afford to buy that I just would’ve never been able to because there is always something that is going to take precedence over a hobby.

All I need now is to buy the piece of wood to burn the letters and numbers.  I’ve mainly been waiting all this time because I wanted to practice wood burning to make sure I’m good at it before I even try to attempt it for fear of screwing it up.

So when Alyce first sent me the wood burning kit we went to Wal-Mart looking for cheap wood to burn on and I found these little pieces of wood in the craft/hobby section for .99¢ but the wood is so difficult to burn on so I just figured that since it’s so cheap I will do my best to try but no guarantees on it.  Well one of the pieces I ended up using to cut the Planchette with yesterday and I burned the Charmed triquatra on it.

my-planchette

It’s not perfect by any means but it’s mine.  Of course I’m going to stain it a little and put lacquer on it to keep it clean.  Then I’ve got to put the bottom pieces on it to make it slide easily on the board.  Here is what the board is going to look like:

55125012

I like this wood, I like that it has the bark on it and I think it’s about $20 or $30 at Michael’s.  I don’t remember.  Of course I want a very big piece.  I think the piece that is probably the better size because it is paper size is about $15 or $20.  I want it to be bigger than paper to give the planchette a lot of room to work with.  Also I don’t want the letters/numbers to take up the whole board because eventually I’m going to add a pattern around the whole thing to give it character.

Ok I know what people are going to say about spirit boards.  They are dangerous and they open up a portal that you cannot close blah blah blah exorcist yadda yadda yadda.  Whatever.  I don’t believe in all that.  Personally I don’t think this is going to work with just 1 person anyway and I can’t ask Darrin because he doesn’t believe in the spirit world.  He is taught as a born again that the only spirit he is supposed to acknowledge is the “holy spirit” despite the fact that he has had an encounter with a ghost cat in my bedroom.  He knows they exist but he’s not allowed to acknowledge that because of his religious beliefs.

Well, I don’t go to church, I don’t believe in organized religion.  I don’t believe that if “God” does exist that he would want us to sink all of our money into a church to worship him/her/it when we can do that at home.  But that’s a debate for another time or never lol.  My point is, I do believe in ghosts and no church is going to tell me that I can’t believe.

Well, in July I’m going to buy the board to make this because I want to.  I’ve already made a commitment to buy some other things like a new seat for my bike which is about $30 – $50.  I’m thinking of just buying the cheap $30 one even though it’s probably hard as a rock but then in August I can buy the sheepskin cover for it.  And I’ve also made a commitment to buy a cigarette kit for Chips cousin for her birthday on July 4th.  It’s the injector for around $5 plus a cartons worth of tubes and a can of tobacco which should only be about $25 total.  So I’m pretty sure that after all that I can still afford to buy this wood to burn on.  Plus I want to buy some other wood burning accessories to go with it all lol.

Of course when I make this I will post the board picture.

Andrew Lawrence

On By Michel McDonaldIn CelebritiesLeave a comment

Wow I was just at IMDB and was looking at Andrew Lawrence (affectionately known as Andy) and see that he will be 21 this year.  He is currently in The United States of Tara (2 appearances so far as Jason).

I remember watching Joey Lawrence when he was in Gimme’ A Break, he was such a cute little kid and I knew from that show that he would make it big.  Now he’s bald and the last thing he did was Dancing with the Stars.

I haven’t seen Matthew in anything in a long time.  The last time I saw him he was on Boy Meets World.

I haven’t seen the youngest brother in years, the last time I saw him he was in Brotherly Love with his 2 brothers.  I do remember him in Jack Frost but that was the last thing I saw him in.  According to IMDB he has a huge credit of 37 titles of movies and tv series.  Good for him.  He’s been working since the age of 3.

Let’s just hope that he continues to work so I can see him really grow up.  I’m just hoping that his character on US of Tara is not that of a homophobe.  Please Andy, don’t be that guy in this show.

Chatty Kathy

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

It may appear that I like to talk a lot.  I mean because I have 460 blogs over the last year and half (including this one).  At the beginning of this blog I only blogged once a day, sometimes only a few times per month.  But then when I started using Word Press all of a sudden I’m blogging sometimes 4 or 5 times a day or more.  I just have a lot to say.

But my online personality is so not the way I am in real life.  I mean, if I have a story to tell then I’m chatting and sometimes wont shut up but there are times that I just don’t talk at all.  It’s not because I have nothing to say but like when I go visit family it seems like my brain freezes, and not the good way like when you drink a Slurpee.  It’s like all the information in my head drained during the flight or bus or car trip.  You know when you are on the freeway for a long time and because you have gone to a higher elevation than you are used to your ears are plugged up?  Well, I think that’s what happens, my ears plug up to keep all the information in but there is a leak somewhere and all the words just leak out.  Maybe it’s when I fall asleep during the trip.  That’s when the defenses are down.

I’ve visited my aunt’s Betty, Louise and Joyce’s house and it seems every time I go there, I can’t talk.  I just have nothing to say.  My brain just clears.  It reboots if you will but windows just doesn’t load properly, it goes into safe mode.

But, you give me a keyboard and I can’t shut up.  All the information needs to be released and it comes out here.

Broken Rocker

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Health, WeightLeave a comment

Well it finally happened.  I broke a chair.  Actually it has happened before.  It’s an old chair so leave me alone lol.  This chair that was in Chips moms room that she’s had for a long time, when she passed away we put it in the living room.  It’s not a rocking chair, it’s a regular chair that rocks.  A rocking chair would be all wood, this has fabric and springs etc.

What makes the chair rock are these 2 giant springs that are attached to 2 pieces of wood at the bottom of the chair and the springs are also attached to the chair.  Well, a year ago the springs broke where it’s welded, 1 spring broke and we asked our neighbor Dan who worked in a shop if he would re-weld it for us because that’s what he does.  So he did and then the other spring broke in the same way and so he fixed that too.  Well, it didn’t take long before one of them broke again but we never had him fix it a 2nd time.  The other spring just broke at the weld again so we’re retiring that chair lol.

I’m just too heavy to be able to sit in an old chair and rock it.  If it were a new(ish) chair like a recliner chair then I’m sure it would be a lot better.  This one made so many noises when I would rock in it, like squeaking sounds, you know because the springs needed oil or something.  I’ve sprayed WD-40 on them and they didn’t stop squeaking.  But I’ve sat in recliner chairs at the furniture stores and they never squeaked.

I would love to get a new chair but I just can’t afford it, even a used one.  So, I moved the rocking chair and put a regular chair in its place so now no more rocking hehe.  Oh well.

Naughty Words on TV

On By Michel McDonaldIn TVLeave a comment

I’ve been watching TV for a very long time.  At least 36 of my 38 years that I can remember.  I remember when I Love Lucy couldn’t say 1 bad word.  It actually wasn’t until the 80’s when the Golden Girls started saying Bitch.  Then before you know it, cop dramas started saying Shit.  Hey, if they can say it on TV, then I can say it in here.

The cartoon South Park says a lot of bad words like God Damn.  They say it all the time.  That’s like the ultimate bad word because it has God in it.  You can’t say that on tv.  Well, apparently they can because they do and they’ve carried it over to every other show on tv.

Now, this word I know isn’t a bad word, in fact it’s just silly.  Douche Nozzle.  I’ve been calling people a douche bag for years since I was in junior high school, even though I had no clue what it was until high school.  But you know, people have been saying that as long as douche’s have been around I’m sure.

Last night, on Knight Rider, the female lead Sarah called Michael a douche nozzle lol.  I was like OMG I can’t believe she just said that.  Yeah I’ve heard it in the movies but I’ve never heard it on TV coming from a woman.  And I don’t mean that to sound like a double standard so I don’t want to get emails or bad comments but you know, I was shocked to hear it from HER.  LOL

Tom Cruise on The View

On By Michel McDonaldIn Celebrities, TVLeave a comment

This morning I wake up (late) and go into the living room and the view is on the tv set.  Now normally I’d go back in my room and get on the computer or something because I don’t normally sit and watch this show.  Rosie ruined it for me frankly.  And it’s a chick show.

But I sat there and they announced Tom Cruise.  Now normally I would get up and go into the other room if I heard his name but I sat there and watched.  This is the Tom Cruise that I like and have missed for such a long time.  He wasn’t outrageous, he didn’t jump on a couch or call Barbara Walters Glib.  He did the interview the way he should have by answering questions.

If he keeps this good behavior up he just might get back into the good graces of people and they might start paying to see his movies again.

They asked him about Jett Travolta about medication and seeing a doctor and he said that it simply isn’t true, in fact it’s the opposite, yes the scientologists take their kids to the doctor and get them medication for whatever illness they have.  His whole thing with Brooke Shields and Matt Lauer was that “he” doesn’t believe in psychiatry or something.  But that was probably his belief and not Scientology.  He was basically speechless about Jett’s death.

He finished the show and he was just perfect in this interview, just perfect.  Good for him and I hope things work out for him.