Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Onederland!! Yippe!!! :)

Hey Ya'll,

I guess it was the extra long walk last night that pushed me lower.  I am now officially below 200 lbs!!  And this was with my pj's on & after I had eaten!!  I am sooo happy!!  Please don't let me screw it up & go back above 200!  I have officially lost 30% of my weight loss goal!!!

As I said in last nights post, my DH & I took an extra long walk that turned out to be exactly 2 miles according to Goggle Maps.  During the walk, the only problem I had was my feet kept cramping up on me.  This is a problem I have had for some time, which makes it not very fun to walk.  Luckily, my DH has been walking as slow as I needed since I am still recuperating from the Surgery.  Normally, he walks much faster, or rather, he takes much longer strides (he is 6'4") making me have to walk much faster than I prefer which causes my feet & legs to cramp up!!

Anyways, I just assumed I was having the normal cramping up of the feet.  But later last night after I had been sitting for awhile at the computer.  When I got up, my left foot hurt like hell!  I am not sure what I did.  I don't remember twisting it in anyway.  But it hurts all across the bones on top of the foot & the pain radiates down into the ball of the foot as well.  So we are not going to walk tonight to see how it does tomorrow.

TMI ALERT, TMI ALERT!!

Last night I was in bed by 2:30 am (or so I thought).  Before I could go to sleep, I realized I needed to go to the bathroom (BM-Bowel movement).  Well, I don't know about you guys, but since Surgery, if I don't go when I need to, it usually builds up to the big C (constipation).  And I don't know about you, but I do not like the big C!!  So of course, I got up & went to the bathroom.  Once I was finished, I went back to bed & started my Bi Pap machine AGAIN, only to realize that I still wasn't finished!  So again, I got up & went in to do my duty!  Finally, the third time was the charm, & I was able to start the downward spiral to sleep.  Unfortunately, it was 3 am by then & I didn't go to sleep until after 4 am!!

I say unfortunately because I was meeting both of my Daughter's for a movie today.  So I set my alarm for 9:30 am.  We went to see "Old Dogs".  We all enjoyed it.  It was exactly what we expected it to be.  A cute fluff of a feel good movie.  It had plenty of laughs as well.  I definitely think it was worth the $5.50 matinee price.  But then again, I am a sucker for feel good & cutesy movies.

I didn't intend for this to happen, but Kat paid for our tickets & Christa paid for our snacks.  They both refused to let me pay!!  Eating wise, I did pretty well at the movies too.  I did have a Diet Coke as they wouldn't let us bring in our own food or drink.  And I had about 2 cups of Popcorn lightly buttered & 5 Red Vines.  I let them eat the rest of the large box of Popcorn & the rest of the Red Vines.  All in all, I did very well.  I usually would eat at least 1/2 of the Popcorn & could eat the whole box of Red Vines!

Well, I retook the pictures of my Mom's Rose Vase Painting & they turned out a bit better.  At least they are the best I can get them.  So I am going to post it.  Please remember that I am a beginner & I only began painting about 1-1.5 yrs ago & this is only my 7th Painting & I would like to think that I get a bit better with each one (with the exception of one).  I will post a photo of each for your critique.

This is my first painting, which my Mother & Father-In-law wanted.  I loosely based it on a photo from a Calendar.

My second painting that I gave to my Step-Daughter Kat.  This was loosely based on a painting I saw in Aaron Bros.

My third painting.  It was based on several photographs of Lake Tahoe taken by my Mother-In-Law & seamlessly pieced together by my Father-In-Law.  This photo took 2nd place in Nevada Magazine.
My fourth painting that I loosely based on Kat's painting, with some changes.  This painting was for one of my BFF's Kelly.  I placed cardboard on each side & wrapped it with a ton of bubble wrap.  Then I placed it in one of our large suitcases as we took it back with us to Cape Cod & New Hampshire where we gave it to her in person!!

My fifth painting.  Also based on the Lake Tahoe photo.  I like the mountains & rock in the foreground better, but I didn't do as well on the reflection in the lake, & I think the colors in the original painting matches the photograph better.  I am still trying to learn how to do reflections!!  This painting was for our friend Jerone, but he moved to Paris, France & we decided to give it to someone else (maybe).

Here is a photo showing the actual Framed Photograph of Lake Tahoe on top, then the two paintings based on it.  Christa's in the middle, & Jerone's on the bottom.  Here you can really see the difference in the colors between the two paintings.

My sixth painting that I painted for my other BFF Nadene.  She requested a Butterfly, so this was my first attempt at something other than water & sand!!  I wanted to test paint a Rose that I placed in the right hand corner for Mom's painting.

And of course the painting that I have been talking about for a while, my Mom's Rose Vase.  It is my seventh painting.  This one I used photographs of different Roses & pieced them all together.  I know the leaves aren't correct, but what the hell, I am not very good at leaves yet.
This shows some of the sketches I did of a few Roses & the actual sketch of the Rose Vase taped to the wall.

This is the photo of the next painting I will be starting shortly & the sketches I have made off of it.  This painting of the Plumeria Blossoms is for a good friend of ours that my DH works with.  She requested something to do with flowers.  I hope she likes it.  And I hope it turns out at least half as well as it could be.

And this is a painting in progress.  It will be for my Daughter Christa.  It is based on her photograph that she took of the California Coastline, North of Monterey.  The photo is of course on the left & my painting is on the right.  I still have many hours left on it.  But someday it will be finished!!

Well, I guess I will go for now, hope everyone had a great day.  Till next time.

Aloha My Friends

Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas)
Happy Holidays

13 comments:

Robyn said...

Debi - You need to quit selling yourself short...your paintings are amazing! I am so impressed. I really like the first water painting based on your father-in-law's photo, it actually looks like it is a picture rather than a painting. Your mom will love the painting of the roses too, it looks great!

TJ said...

I agree with Robyn. The first Tahoe painting I thought was the photo at first! I love it - especially the boat. Even your drawings are great! You should include some of them with the paintings when you give them as gifts - maybe on the back. Years from now someone will take and look and get a kick out of it. I know I would!

Debi said...

Thanks guys!! It feels great that someone other than my family & friends like my paintings. It's funny, but a lot of people that saw the first painting of Lake Tahoe thought it was the photo as well!! And it is still one of our favorites. I'm really hopeful that I can do justice to Christa's photo too.

Tina said...

the pictures look great! I love the lake tahoe, the one you are working on for your daughter and the plumeria sketches the best but they are all awesome! I envy you the focus and time to paint! I have one up in my living room that I painted but need to take the time to do more and practice like you have been doing.

The C problem will continue. When you eat less you eat less roughage and that is a consequence. I have battled it since last Christmas and continue to do so. The tighter my band is the more I struggle with it. If you read my prune post---that was an attempt to assist with the problem.

Finally..your feed. Do you perhaps have plantars factitious? It usually starts because of tight Achilles tendons (women are especially susceptible). I had it bad for a few years with bone spurs and everything. The condition hurts a lot. The best cure is really good arches in your walking shoes (I traded off from good tennis shoes and Birkenstocks when home) and stretching before and after walking.

Happy painting, congrats on onerland and good luck with those other issues!!

Tina

Tina said...

crap...change that feed to feeT...typos..They give me so much grief!

Debi said...

Thanks Tina, I have been wondering if I have a problem something like this. I have never gone into the Doctor for it though. I just suffer & limp until it goes away. So long as I don't walk too much, or wear ill fitting shoes, I can get by. But now that I am starting to walk a lot, if it doesn't go away, or continues to be a problem, I will go have to go into the Doctor to be sure.

Thanks on the input for the paintings. Our favorite so far is the Tahoe one as well.

But I am really starting to enjoy sketching more. I am finally getting the hang of it & I like the Plumeria Blossoms I drew. As for your painting, just get back into it!! I really enjoy it, but it is hard on me physically. Because I spend so many hours at a time when I do paint.

uh said...

You are very talented! I have been to Tahoe and I love that painting the most! You could make a nice incoming selling your paints, Thank you sharing them!

Amy W. said...

OMG! All of those are so good you crazy girl! I wouldnt know you were a "beginner". Really amazing.

Also congrats on being under 200!

ToomuchRN said...

Congrats on your Success I hope to be in Onederland before 2010. Your painting are Beautiful Awesome job. Keep up the good work on your weight loss progress and your paintings

Anonymous said...

Hi Mom! My absolute favorite is my painting of Lake Tahoe...everyone that sees it thinks it's a photo until they get really close then they see it's a paiting and WOW, everyone loves it.

My picture of the coast line was taken at Santa Cruz near the lighthouse. It won several fairs in our area and I can't wait to see it finished one day!

Grandma's picture is beautiful. She will love it and better go ahead and give Papa a tissue box this year, the tears are going to roll!

Love, Christa

Debi said...

Thanks everyone! It's always nice when you get a good review! My Son-In-Law & DH tells me that I should try to sell my paintings, but I do not believe they are of that quality yet! Except MAYBE the 1st Tahoe painting.

Trust me, if you saw some of the paintings of others, in comparison to mine, you would agree. Mine is ok for a beginner, but not nearly good enough to sell. Besides that, every time I paint something, it is already going to someone. I am painting by request, so I don't have anything that I can sell! We haven't even been able to keep anything for myself yet!!! :)

I'm sooo glad to be in Onederland! Now I would like to make it to the 180's someday soon!

Christa, we love your painting the best so far as well. And I have had a lot of people that saw all three together, like in the photo above, say that they thought your painting was "the photo"!

As for your second painting. I knew it was taken near Santa Cruz,which is a bit North of Monterey, but for the life of me, I couldn't think of the City, so I said North of Monterey!!

And I forgot that it won several Ribbons in the different Fairs that you had entered it in! I will have to remember that for when I finish it. And YES, I do intend to finish it!

Girl Bandit said...

Wow your painting are awesome!!!! Congrats on the fabulous weight loss too!!!

Debi said...

Thanks Girl Bandit. I really appreciate it. I keep trying & all I can hope for is that I improve with each one.