Me, myself, the guinea pig... Days 1 and 2

I'm running a little experiment on myself. Do you ever do that? My latest is to test the effects of water on my system. I don't usually drink enough water. I drink coffee instead. They're both liquid, I drink them, so what's the difference, right?

There is a big difference. Logically, I'm aware of the many differences that water vs. coffee can have on my body, but I thought it was time to put my body to the test.

Two days ago I started drinking more water. A lot more. I went from 8-16 oz a day to 64oz a day. Amazing! The first day that I drank all that water I also had coffee, but only one small coffee mug, and I didn't even finish it. Here's what happened:

1. I peed a ton!
2. I peed some more!
3. I ate less and felt hungry less often.
4. I felt less tired and irritable the next day
5. I slept better that night.

Those are all really good things. I've read about these effects on the body and many others as well, but it's been a really long time since I last made any effort at all to keep track of how much water I am drinking.

I like this.

Yesterday, day 2, I also drank 64 oz of water. It was a little more difficult because of my work schedule, but I managed to get it all in. I also made a bigger effort to choose healthier foods - fresh fruits and veggies, oatmeal for breakfast, etc...Overall I felt really good.

I still had my cup of coffee though. I held out until almost 11am before I caved! I really want to kick the coffee habit, but I think I may have to go off it gradually rather than cold turkey. One thing I've noticed is that the idea of drinking coffee is much more appealing to me than the actual taste of coffee. My prayer is that eventually my brain will catch up with my tastebuds!

If you have any suggestions, thoughts, motivating stories or general comments for me about this or any other topic, or you just want to say hi and let me know that you're out there and that I'm not sitting here typing to myself. I'd LOVE to hear from you! I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who has ever tried to drink more water or kick the coffee habit, so please share your experiences here and bless me and others who might be trying to do the same thing. You'll be glad you did:-)

Have a wonderful day!

Kim (Kanga-Mom)

Another crafty project for the not-so-crafty wanna be Kanga-Mom

Oh my goodness, what was I thinking?










Every year around this time I get the idea to knit or sew or just make something from scratch. Usually, that's as far as it gets. The idea is enough to give me hives!

Last year, I went so far as to go to Michaels and purchase yarn and needles, but that was as far as it went.

This year, I went upstairs and dug the store bag out of my closet and sat it on the counter. There it sat for three days.

Today, I took the yarn out and asked Eeyore if she could show me how to cast on (that's knitting talk for "get started", see how much I've learned!) again because it had been so long since I had tried to knit that I had forgotten. Eeyore knits on a fairly regular basis and took an after school knitting class a couple of years ago. She rocks!

Anywho...

Attempt #1: After several attempts I finally got going. Only to discover that I had made it too tight... so I had to pull it all out.

Attempt #2: I actually got three rows done and was having trouble keeping it all on the needles because I had made it too long...and had to pull it all out.

Attempt #3: After getting another few rows done I decided that the yarn I had chosen was too advanced and that maybe I should start with a more basic yarn. I'm trying to use this really cute, fancy-pants, hairy blue yarn. For this beginner it's really difficult to see what I'm doing because the yarn is so irregular. So, I decided that perhaps I had better switch to a more straightforward yarn...even though it's not nearly as cute! ...so I had to pull it all out again.

That is where we're at right now. After over an hour of effort, I'm back to a ball of yarn!