Rooted in Mississippi

I want to show pictures of my booty!  No, not my arse, my treasures from Atlanta. The backdrop for the belts are two beautiful veils (one silk, one poly) I found at a thift store in Roswell.

First up, antique tribal coin belt, with a close up.

Next, a more modern kuchi belt and a copper colored faux coin belt. 

Lastly, a couple of hip scarves. 

Now, we will see if I buy anything else at the Gulf Coast International Bellydance Festival! 

On the subject of bellydance, I have discovered the Zar Ritual and think it is beyond cool! Here is a video of Maiada of Argentina performing the zar on YouTube.  I talked to Kristina about it tonight and played with it after class, showing it to my husband.  I think I will have to really learn this move.

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My mom is doing fabulous and I am back home, at least for a day!  I am so behind in reading blogs, but I decided to go ahead and do the Getting to Know You: Be Random quiz from Create a Connection. 

What did YOU eat last? A bowl of Uncle Sam cereal.

What about YOUR love life? Anyone special? Tell us about him/her! I am married to a great guy. Just when I thought my chances of getting married again were abysmal, I met just the right person, at just the right time.  Life is funny that way.

What is it like where you live? First off, there are lots of trees! So many, that it is easy to forget how close my neighbors really are, until the bird starts to squawk.  Most of my neighbors are associated with the University Medical Center in one way or another.  The longer I live here, the more I like it. 

What are YOUR favorite features about yourself? I suppose my eyes, although I have been getting heaps of compliments on my hair lately. Chris Thomas rocks!  He has been my hair dresser for over a decade and I am an idiot for not going as often as I should. 

What deep thoughts have YOU been pondering upon? Nothing really deep of late, it is hard to ponder deep thoughts when you are running about like a headless chicken.

List 2 random things you love about life:

This morning I discovered that I am fit nicely into a size 16 dress, which is important since most of my outfits from just a few weeks ago were 14W!

I finally had the chance to help my mom out when she really needed it, even though I live six hours away.

How did YOU find out about CAC? From Deb Richardson’s Red Shoe Ramblings blog.

What do YOU love most about spring? Watching things grow!  I love the tender green color of new growth on plants.  I love seeing seeds germinate.  I love watching plants develop and flower. 

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I had a wonderful time at the Mardi Love workshop.  I feel much more confident about my dancing, which is a little bit of a surprise.  I also met a bunch of really nice people and bought three hip belts: a copper coin with heart drop in front, an antique kuchi, and a modern kuchi.  Several people told me that they were too expensive and I could get a better deal on eBay.  But I really fell in love with the antique one, then that lead to a couple of impulse buys. Needless to say, I spent all of my cash.  Plus, I need to save a little of my mad money for the vendors at the Gulf Coast Bellydance Festival.

I took my mom to the eye doctor today and they want to do a procedure on Wednesday, so I am staying for a few more days.  She needs me to put in her eye drops and take her to the outpatient surgical center.  I miss my husband and the dogs, but I also miss my regular yoga classes which also sort of surprises me. I really am enjoying yoga, even though I feel like a complete doofus on the mat. 

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Tomorrow I am headed out for the big Mardi Love weekend belly dance workshop and performance in Atlanta.  My husband will stay home to take care of the tiny dog children and I will go make myself feel my age.  I plan to take ice packs and a heating pad, in case my knees get sore like they did at the Kami Liddle workshop. 

Today, I treated myself to a manicure and my first ever pedicure.  It was my reward for having lost the first twenty pounds.  So at least my feet will look pretty for the workshop.  As usual, I have overpacked.  I figure I might change my mind about what I will wear to class or to the show; better safe than sorry and all of that. 

Since it was my last night in town, we went out to Olga’s Fine Dining for Russian night.  The food was fantastic, but I ate to much, then went to cabaret class.  It was the most I have ever sweat in a regular class!  I was feeling a little miserable from the over-indulging, but I made it through the whole thing.   Woo hoo! It is important to find satisfaction in even the smallest of things.

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Another Getting to Know You Wednesday quiz from Create a Connection.

YOU choose what to tell me:

List 3 random facts about you, that we will be entertained by:

1. My whole body vibrates when I shimmy.
2. I am allergic to cats, even though we have two.
3. I used chives, rosemary, sweet basil, and oregano from my own greenhouse last night in pasta sauce last night.

List 2 things about you, that are important for us to know:

1. I am a terrible house keeper.
2. I can toss a 2 cubic foot bag of organic potting soil over my shoulder and walk around with it through the store, check-out and to the car without a problem.

ME! My turn to ask questions!

Do you like board games? What are some favorites?

I used to! I was all about the word games, like Boggle and Scrabble.

What are your non-artistic hobbies?

Bellydance, orchids, reading, and herb gardening.

Do you collect anything?

I collect clutter, does that count? Okay, I like rabbits, eggs, tea cups, tea pots, anything dachshund related, but I don’t actively collect any of those things.

And now, our Creativity:

What types of art do you enjoy creating the most?

I like to paint and draw, but I am more likely to write, spin wool, stitch, knit, crochet, or bead.

Do you have a type of art that you’ve always wanted to try, but never done? What is it?

I pretty much have dipped my big toe into everything that interests me in art, but I always like taking classes.

Do you have any art “how to” sites that you would recommend to us? What are they?

No, mostly, I learn by doing…and the occasional book. The website I like are the ones I use for motivation, like Everyday Matters and Illustration Friday, which are listed in my links, under websites.

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Okay, yesterday I put on the beaded top I wore in Louisville (left) and had my husband take another picture (right).  Keep in mind that I am not wearing makeup in the recent photo, but you can clearly see that the top does not fit the same.   The twenty pounds I have lost since June 2006 is more obvious in this comparison photo.  I also decided that this is just not a particularly flattering top on me, even though it is beautiful.

Thanks to all of you for your positive comments.  The slow progress was starting to get me down and I needed to see some changes.  I measure my throat (the thyroid thing doncha’ know), my waist, and my hips regularly, but I should have been measuring my muffin top.  For those of you who don’t know what that is, the muffin top is the part between the waist and hips that protrudes over the pants.  I would call them love handles, but mine extend all the way around the front.   I can tell mine has gotten a little bit smaller, which is why the yoga pants that I needed to hem a month ago are just fine now.  It is also why my jeans fit differently.

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Okay, I have been frustrated by the lack of movement on the scale.  So today I woke up and decided to take some photos and see if I could tell a difference.  The first photo is me in my St. Patty’s Day green yoga pants.  The photo of the tattoo shows marked improvement, even though I am holding my love handles, because I was holding my love handles in the photo on the blog header too.

I dressed in the same outfits as from some previous photos to see if I could really tell anything when comparing them side by side.  The first thing was my jeans naturally covered my tattoo this time.  This shows six weeks progress and even though it is only a few pounds, I can see a real difference.

This is roughly the same outfit I wore to the black hearts ball six weeks ago.  Of course, my makeup is not all dramatic and my hair is not as styled, but I can see a difference here too.  I also realized I have not cleaned off that bench in six weeks!  I needed a little encouragement and believe it or not this actually gave it to me.

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The sweet:

I had another break through in yoga class yesterday; I did a back-bend!  The first one was with the help of my yoga instructor, but the second was completely on my own.  It was a good feeling to do something I honestly thought I could not do. 

The sour:

My knees still ache, so I feel a real twinge when I walk or belly dance, not that it stops me. I have been practicing my 3/4 shimmy all week.

The bitter:

The Suhaila DVD set I ordered last month never arrived and has been declared lost in the mail. 

The pungent:

Watching my dogs excitement level when we go for a walk. It is almost always tail up, nose down, and ears perked. They have no idea how small they are and they run up to the big dogs, tail straight up, and do their sniffing.  Well, okay, Oscar mostly sniffs their pee, but Louie likes going paw to paw with all of the dogs on our walk. 

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Yet another list of questions from Create A Connection!

List your favorite(s):

Flower to look at:  Orchids, Spider Mums, Roses…holy cow, if I really listed all my favorites, it would go on forever!

Feature of your favorite animal: Louie’s eye spots!  They just crack me up, they make him seem so human when they act like little expressive eyebrows.

Item in your kitchen:  Instant Hot Water Dispenser!  I just don’t know how I got along without it. 

Item of comfy clothing: (or outfit, if you feel the need!)  A pair of black Mossimo yoga pants from Target.  I could kick myself for not getting at least two pair!

Thing to receive through the mail: Absolutely any Random Act of Kindness (RAoK).

Color on your favorite animal: Dachshunds come in a bunch of colors, but Black Dachshunds rock!

Food to cook: (be forewarned, we may be asking you for the recipe if it sounds good! lol) Matzo Ball Soup & Chicken Salad.  Sounds funny, but I usually make them on the same day. 

Ringtone style: 80s Hits

Wild animal (or fantasy creature, if you’re so inclined): Sea turtles and dolphins.  I was lucky enough to see lots of sea turtles while snorkeling in Hawaii.  On the same trip, a bottle nosed dolphin buzzed the window of the submarine when we submerged.

Outfit to dress a little girl in: I don’t have kids, but I bought a little leotard and tutu to dress up a teddy bear a while ago.  I have since passed the outfit onto a friend with a six month old.

Thing to do with snow: Look at it in pictures.  I am just such a southerner at heart and when you add my cold intolerance post thyroid disease. 

Weather: Those mystical ten days a year in Mississippi when you don’t feel the need to turn on the heat or the air conditioning.  

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While I was at the Kami Liddle workshop, the neighbor fixed the fence.  I would have been happier if the wood matched a little better, or if maybe he would have given it a good pressure washing after he was done, but that would be expecting too much.  He denied all culpability and blamed his current paramour. 

The photo on the right is of my dilapidated greenhouse.  That one side is the only one still in tact.  Most of the roof and half of the panes on the side are missing, broken, or ruined.  I am still waiting for the cost estimate on the repairs.  In the mean time, the herbs I picked up are doing well, but I really need to go get some potting soil and set them in larger pots.  I also have a small batch of onion sets that I need to put out, but I need topsoil for that too.  Maybe by the weekend I will have managed to get by the gardening center for supplies.

Things are getting back to normal at Chez Root.  The workmen are gone and things have begun to settle down.  My front porch is sporting a little catnip in the formerly empty urn and the windchimes are happily floating on the promise of a little rain.  

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