For Want of a Nail
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.
For want of a horse, the rider was lost.
For want of a rider, the message was lost.
For want of a message, the battle was lost.
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
In this old proverb, one negative event caused a butterfly
effect of cascading effects that lost the kingdom.
I remember a story about a Duke and how one beautiful day he
pricked his finger with his tie pin.
After that he yells at his wife and then she yells at a servant and so
the circle goes around until the stable boy hits a cat with a rock. The offense is brought back to the Duke and
all the people involved in a backward chain of blame are brought in until most
of his staff is in the room. And then
his wife turns to him and says you were the one that yelled at me, to begin
with. Then he apologizes, and each person apologizes
to the one they wronged and the cat gets some overdo lovin’. The castle is happy again and everyone is
smiling and laughing and going about their day as if nothing had happened.
This magical life
changing element of butterfly affected fate can go either way. Some things in our life are just partners
that we take for granted until they have a problem: like say…alarm clocks. An alarm clock just does its job when it has
been asked to do so. Yet, we curse at it
and hit it and beg it each morning. Instead, we could be blessed that this is our herald to a new day: we should be happy
that we live to see another day on this beautiful Earth.
When I wanted to find a new path to help me stay in shape
and make lasting daily routines, I bought a Jawbone UP. This little blue bracelet that sits on my wrist
is a constant reminder that I am committed to a new and healthier lifestyle. It is my partner in this endeavor. It tells me if I have sat for an hour with a
gentle reminder. It is my alarm clock
that goes off slowly bringing me to a new and beautiful day. It counts my steps and reminds me when I
still have a way to my daily goal.
I love my UP.
Together we have found out that I’m a good sleeper who can do really
well with 7 hours of sleep but 8 hours is better. So it came up with a bedtime for me based on
the time I wake up that is perfect for me. It reminds me a half-hour before
I have to be in bed so I can make sure I actually get there on time.
I wanted to walk at least 3000 steps a day, which I know isn't
really much, but for me, it is perfect. I
was only logging in 1500 when I started the UP program and now I am consistently
getting 3000. My UP started making the
goal of 3500 for me this weekend and I met it each day. My UP motivates me and hitting those goals
makes me feel better about my self. It
is my nail story in reverse: my butterfly effect creating good health.
Once the sleep and the steps had been figured out I wanted
to start tracking what I eat. I wanted
something that was easy to use and that would work with my UP. I found Lose It. Lose It and the UP started talking right
away. If I have burned a certain
percentage of calories then the UP will tell Lose It and give me a few extra
calories to eat that day.
Lose It is easy to use and it is on my tablet, phone or
computer. I can set motivating goals
there too. What’s great is that it gives
me the number of calories based on my lifestyle, which the UP was happy to
share the deets on. I can plan my meals
ahead for the day so I know exactly what I am eating and stick to it.
The next thing to change is our scale. It is a bit old and I thank it for all it has
done but it keeps fluctuating between five-pound differences when I weigh three
times in a row, which can be a little frustrating.
Our new scale will talk Lose It through WI
Fi. Both applications will know exactly
where I am at. The new scale has the BMI
stuff too so I can start measuring all that again. I look at BMI as a guideline. When you don’t seem to be losing any weight,
yet your BMI numbers are changing it shows me that somewhere things are moving
around and getting tighter.
Lastly, during our stay-cay this year we have planned to
figure out a way to work out. Things
will have to be shifted around so all three of us can have time to work out but
it will happen. We are going to fold up
the cat cages that aren't used anymore and re-hook up our Total Gym. I just bought a Nordic Track elliptical
machine as well since it works both the upper and lower body in a low impact
way. I got a good deal on it with the holiday discount and an extra 10% off that price. :)
All for the want of my UP.
:)
We batiked cotton shirts last week. It was a fun process full of learning curves
and hot wax. To make this shirt I blew
up an image and pinned it under the cotton.
Next time I will get a wash away pencil and draw the image on. Next, came the careful drawing of the wax onto
the cotton with a tjianting tool. This
was not as easy as I had thought and I wished that I had taken the time to test
it first. But c’est le vie.
Lines? What
lines? Yep, the wax ran all over the
place before I could stop it. Next, I
filled in the lines with chakra colors.
I had wanted to ROGVIB but yellow was the first I used. Again, c’est le vie. I blended each of the new colors into the old
for a cool effect. Then I wrapped my
shirt in saran and let it sit over night.
In the morning I waxed the entire flower on both sides with
a brush. The brushed wax didn't penetrate to
the other side the way the tjianting tool had.
I let that dry.
I got a wash basin and poured pink in it a little at a
time. I rubbed the pink into the white
to get gradient effects and kept rubbing until all the dye was gone. As you can see some spots were still white
and that was okay. I really am happy
with the way the pink blended in.
Next is the really long step, getting the wax out of the cotton. One of the ways to do that is to boil it
out. I still have to do this step as you can see the shirt is totally covered in wax. It takes a really long time and you have to make sure the water is boiling when you put the shirt in. We tried it with my husband's shirt and it took most of the day before the water even began to boil. So I will finish this next week when I can put the water on at 6 and then boil my shirt for half of the day and then let it cool and scoop the wax off the top. But I do really love the way it is coming out and I can't wait to proudly wear it.
I helped out my sister's friend by helping her discover the pattern for a project she had misplaced. It took a bit of time to unknit it and write down the chart as I went. I was actually quite proud of my self to be able to figure it all out and get it recharted for her. So I will have to catch up on squares next week. I should be able to double them up since I will be on my stay-cay and there will be plenty of chill time. :) Sorry there is no picture. My camera and computer are fighting at the moment. lol
Here is my progress on the Awesome Trellis! I am so thrilled with this stitch. I love the gentle change in color between the
skeins. I am very happy with the way
this is knitting up. Yay!
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