Number Crunching 107

Hopefully, this is the beginning of only sticking to this subject once a week. The way I had originally intended. *rolls eyes* Yeah, I think we have established if I was any good at guessing I wouldn't be in a financial mess, haven't we?

Cash Flow Total = -75.49

At this point, I think I have accounted for everything in NetWorthIQ. I'm crossing my fingers that the budget for January comes close to working. What I'm afraid will throw it off is taking care of leftover mess from December. To a certain degree, it can't be helped. The biggest issue is some how almost all my auto bills are due in the first half of the month.

Financial Projects to do

• Finish setting up Financial Notebook
• Call Liberty Mutual about moving bill date
• Call First Access and see if they have a copy of house appraisal.
• Research date for school money and add to calendar.
• Set date to start Ebay garage sales.
• Set date to start using online surveys for money.
• Set a date to start using Project Wonderful ads
• Sell Aluminum cans
• Do paperwork to get Citizens refund
• Fix Dfrd. Comp. entries in Quicken.
• Research into selling writing online
• See Capital One about hold on account - Saturday

Read Free!
The BookWorm



There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Philosophical thought of the day

To be human means the inability to constantly do what is best for oneself.

Not that I can share what caused that poignant observation, but trust me when I say it's amusing in a karmic way. I don't mean to be cruel or laugh at anyone or lord over with superiority (Lord and Lady KNOWS I've been guilty of the same thing in the past), but it's still amusing to see people not stick to the one sentence that would allow them to walk away with dignity. Hence the observation and the resolve to learn from someone else's mistakes.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Holiday Catch-Up

So I slacked off the diet and the Iron Experiment, but I totally made up for it by gutting and reorganizing the back bedroom. I know why I felt compelled to work on it; that's the money point of my house according to Feng Shui. Stuff to sell is all one location. And bonus, I cleared out one of the closet that when in use prevented me from tearing out an ugly drywall partition.

Trying out an idea for size: research to see if Ikea has a bathroom storage unit that will fit in the closet space. Buy and knockout shelves of closet to put unit inside. Then I have unit when ready to remodel bathroom.

Cleaning house isn't what I had planned to do, but house and me is happier for it. Now if only I could settle into a happy routine. I was going to move chores to when after I got home. I keep accidentally doing them in the morning. Which would work if I came home and wrote, but I come home and play computer games. And tonight I'm exhausted, I think I over did carbs between lunch and supper. So hopefully everything will make better sense in the morning.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Best Superhero girlfriend EVER!

Super Stupor: Dec. 27, 2007

How I cackled.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

So totally called this one

Mark's Daily Apple: Medieval Serfs Ate Better Than We Eat

and my post from way back when: August 31st Thoughts on Food

I love being right! Especially when going with gut instincts for most of the data.

I'll have to do catch-up posts later though. We are swamped at work.

Week 27 = 182.7
Week 26 = 185.3
Week 25 = 188.2
Week 24 = 188
Week 23 = 186.7
Week 22 = 187.4
Week 21 = 186.9
Week 20 = 186.2
Week 19 = 186.4
Week 18 = 186.3
Week 17 = 186.5
Week 16 = 187.2
Week 15 = 188.6
Week 14 = 188.8
Week 13 = 189
Week 12 = 187.6
Week 11 = 187.8
Week 10 = 189.6
Week 9 = 188.9
Week 8 = 193.4
Week 7 = 194.5
Week 6 = 194.5
Week 5 = 195.5
Week 2 = 199
Week 1 = 205

What really makes me feel skinny? My choker Tiger Eye no longer chokes me. :D

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Iron Experiment: Slack off

No excuses for it, but luckily change in eating habits seem to be helping. I'm going to ramp up the exercise frequency during the holidays, because I agree with Crabby. Holidays are supposed to be a different kind of eating than the other days of the year. In other words, indulge in pie and bread but don't gorge.

Week 26 = 185.3
Week 25 = 188.2
Week 24 = 188
Week 23 = 186.7
Week 22 = 187.4
Week 21 = 186.9
Week 20 = 186.2
Week 19 = 186.4
Week 18 = 186.3
Week 17 = 186.5
Week 16 = 187.2
Week 15 = 188.6
Week 14 = 188.8
Week 13 = 189
Week 12 = 187.6
Week 11 = 187.8
Week 10 = 189.6
Week 9 = 188.9
Week 8 = 193.4
Week 7 = 194.5
Week 6 = 194.5
Week 5 = 195.5
Week 2 = 199
Week 1 = 205

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Number Crunching 106

I didn't really expect to have a whole week of nothing but numbers. But if I was any good at guesstimating, would I be in the financial trouble I'm in?

Showing net worth, why do I hate the idea?

Because there is no other fault besides my own stupid incompetence and I hate looking incompetent. At the same time, there is no improvements without being brutally honest. Women in Red post their financial standings. But I'm not going to lie and say it doesn't feel easier without saying numbers. I pull band-aids off me slowly too; try it if you don't see the connection.

After fighting with Quicken most of the night, I decided to take the plunge at NetWorthIQ. It's still not completely right; I didn't pack all my records (and I think I found more stuff to add to Quicken tracking). But that's been every day dealing with this money stuff. I may actually understand Quicken by the time I can buy a new version.

Dec. 23rd: I put in guesses for student loans and the mortgage and corrected those today. So my net worth went up, but not out of negative category.

Read Free!
The BookWorm



There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Number Crunching 105

So I have budget, I have resolve, I have this series on blogs to keep me on the straight and narrow, and feeling mentally the equivalent of too-tight-but-still-zip up jeans. And I haven't even made it to January yet.

Since I don't see a way to reduce the bills, which is where the eat-up of money is stemming from, I have to get more income. The first method of that is to get a second job.

Though honestly it would be a third job for me, since I already have Faire and school/writing on the plate. And I am feeling better about my chances of getting paid back for Faire but it'll be years before I can count on that money. I could fit one in that is part time and with just weekend hours for a couple of months (pizza delivery maybe, hospital phone bank), but I'd prefer to try everything else first.

Next option that popped up is hocking something at a pawnbrokers. I'm already leery of this option due to my past financial history. I see me very easily losing something I didn't want to lose. And what I wouldn't consider a big loss if lost, pawnbrokers don't want any more of.

Next option is selling stuff. I had already weeded out some unused decorations and comics I didn't want to keep any more with the object to put them up for bid on Ebay. To this list I'm going to read through my book collection and sell what I don't use. I usually give that stuff to Mom to sell at her shop, but she doesn't get much for little items. It's better to let her have furniture, kitchen gadgets, or clothes. I also have artwork I saved in college. Most of it is decades old and the literary magazine was going to throw it away. I don't know what I can do with it that earns money. I just have to set up the Ebay storefront and figure out how to advertise for the sells.

Final option is setting up the websites to at least earn their keep. It only costs $9.00 a month each for the Library and Alt. BM Site, but it's paid out in two year increments and that's a lot of dough at once. If I could earn that much in ad revenue, I wouldn't have to worry about them. At least, this idea is a little more thought out than the "sell your fiction through your website" idea. Money and fanfiction can lead to legal issues, which I'd rather avoid. But my own stuff...

Maybe that's the way to bring back writing tutorials. People actually paying me to write them. Still needs thinking.

Oh, I forgot I signed up for some online survey stuff that's supposed to pay. I haven't had time to check into that more.

Displaying net worth? Some personal finance sites do it. And while I didn't have any pangs posting my weight numbers and progress pictures, I just had my brain go to a skidding halt over posting numbers dealing with money.

Spock says, "Fascinating." I'm going to have to think about this some more.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Number Crunching 104

Yesterday while I was tracking down insurance premiums, I ran across this blog: Getting Finances Done. Some days it feels like I've tried every financial plan under the sun and they all have one result: I forget about following them either out of anger or tiredness and ka-boom go the finances.

The more I read of sjpeer's system and ideas, the more I think I can do this. First off, he is using GTD principles. Overall, GTD is working for me (though I'm bad about emptying the InBasket) but I haven't applied the thought processes to money yet. I'm already trying to get to a zero-based budget and didn't even know it.

Suze Orman is good for getting to the roots of financial problems and the emotional ties. The Women in Red are good at making me not feel alone with financial goof-ups. But I think this is a system I can actually use instead of always being in the theoretical category over a budget.

First step is to set-up the zero-based budget and accounting.

Well, that took forever. But I have it. Retirement ends up at 10%, emergency savings at 2.5%, fun money at 0.4%, and everything else is 87.1%. BUT... everything else isn't as big as it should be. I took the garbage bill off the table. I'm ticked with them over 2007's service and I don't think it's my fault so they can damn well waiting for their money. I can buy some groceries and eat supper in Baton Rouge some days, can buy gasoline to get to work.

Not adding school money was deliberate. I have specific plans for it that will hopefully free money for other monthly purchases.

1. Fully fund the STEF. The hard part will be making sure I don’t spend it because I have it available. What I eventually want to do is be able to start buying the 6-month CDs and create a ladder of out-of-reach-but-still-available emergency funds.
2. Pay off what I owe my parents.
3. Buy a dishwasher. Yes, there are smarter uses for the money, like decreasing my debt load or saving it, so just call it my “snap” purchase. I’ve been promising myself a dishwasher every year for going on nine years now and let the money fritter away and this year I just snapped.
4. Pay garbage for the whole year. I’m still trying to back track what went wrong in 2007, but I think the safest way to make sure it doesn’t happen again with this company is to pay ahead. I have the same theory about the electric company, but I will wait to see if they reestablish levelizied billing and automatic payments onto my account before making it a plan.
5. Whatever is left is allocated to long-term savings for a new laptop or a trip.

I have very simple goal for the month of January: get through it without letting the checking account go negative.

The second goal is to follow the principle of weekly review. Only with finances and the state I’m in now, I need to start with a daily review of everything I’ve spent. That way I keep Quicken updated and nothing broadsides me.

It has to work. I have other options, but getting a second job isn’t something I really want to do.

Projects: Change Deferred Compensation.
Get the house appraised.
Clean out the InBasket.
Find the rest of Waste Management invoices.
Review the home insurance policy.
See when I can expect school money to be in.
Set-up Ebay/Half.com store.


Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Number Crunching 103

Sumofabitch. This can be depressing. i asked Mustard if he was willing to give up eating if I gave up groceries. He buried his head in his food dish.

My parents won't let me starve, but they will make me stray from weight loss. So buying groceries is still a necessity.

I got the Quicken breakdown onto three versions of the 2008 monthly budget breakdown--trying to snag where the money goes. The macro breakdown is now at 10% retirement, 5% emergency, 5% fun, and 80% everything else. Then I ranked my categories into monthly expenses I have to pay, what I should pay, debt, and stuff I can pay cash for (i.e. the stuff I can control spending on but usually don't).

Spreadsheet #1 Breakdown with current bills: I run out of money at line 22 the car note.

Spreadsheet #2 Breakdown with house refinanced: The refinance deal I was given to think about means I would have to add home insurance out of pocket instead of lumped into the mortgage note. While trying to find a quote for premiums, I realized I'm probably underinsured and wouldn't be able to rebuild in worst case scenario. My numbers on the spreadsheet are woefully inadequate according to the quotes I got later and I still run out of money at line 22 which is now the mortgage.

Spreadsheet #3 Breakdown with no debt: Just for anyone who claims the problem is what I owe. i still have a ridiculous estimate for home insurance premiums and run out of money at line 37--entertainment. And I cut back on all the what I can control spending categories already.

So while owing money for the house, car, personal loans, borrowed from parents, and medical bills my insurance didn't cover is not great and not helping the financial picture, I can't blame the non-balancing numbers on it alone. And yes, I have deliberately left off school loans because I figure at best I have another year and a half before having to start dealing with them.

Going back to Spreadsheet #1. What are the biggest monthly payouts? Fuel, mortgage, car note, federal taxes, car insurance, household = all over $200.00.

Nope, not going that route. I have 22 months of Quicken number crunching to back me on these amounts. I need to look at it a different way.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Number Crunching 102

Okay, Richard Jenkins said his percentages might not work for everybody. Plus I didn't organize my list very well. Mortgage and car note belong under the debt column.

Retirement funds I don't have a choice about. 7.5% of my gross paycheck goes to LASERs, which will hopefully pay me a damn good percentage of my final salary when I retire. Every state worker pays into that. 2.0% is already going into Deferred Compensation to buy stocks, so I'm already not depending on it. I might as well add the .5% to make those amounts an even 10%. I don't want to freeze payments because I'm 30 and I already can't afford inflation. And I come from a line of long-lived with lots of health problems people. I need the compound interest.

I can't do anything about taxes or my insurance premiums, and not paying them isn't an option. I can use the Flexible Spending Account to at least pay for medical expenses with pre-tax dollars, but that is also unchangeable until May.

In fact, every category I feel I have control over what I spend I don't have any money to spend in it.

Maybe I should go for the accounting degree. Because the numbers just aren't making sense with the math skills I've got. On one level they do, expenses exceed income, equals me living paycheck to paycheck. It's when I ask "how do I make the numbers meet?" that my brain can only answer "Gee, George, I don't know. Math is hard."

Things start to go wonky at the mortgage. By changing the percentages to 10%, 5%, 5%, and 80%, I can pay all reoccurring monthly expenses, the mortgage and the car note before running out of cash. But that only leaves the 5% fun money to buy groceries and run the house on.

I've tried deprivation. I resent it and to rebel against the resentment, I blow a wad of cash on stuff exactly when I don't need to blow a wad of cash. I work hard for this money that doesn't go very far and I want to do fun things with it. I have to budget it in or I have another budget explosion.

I need savings because I have nothing to fall back on in an emergency, except making a loan and that never helps financial matters.

So let me get the latest expenses breakdown out of Quicken, because I doubt that part of my figures is even close to reality.

And I have options. I just haven't wrapped my head enough around the figures to figure out which option is the best.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Topsy-turvy world

Chad and his mother resigned from the board of Acadiana Medieval Faire.

Wade has stepped in as President. I'm still on the board, and we'll be adding more in.

Either, we have been given the bestest Christmas gift in the world or the gift from Hell. But all I know is somewhere in the world, the Irony Fairy is laughing his ass off while pointing at me.

I heartened by the rally of people we have. Having been on the side of "we're all grown-ups here, treat everybody like that," I'm glad to see the group stepping up to the plate.

It's still a bit overwhelming. Plus I'm going to have to work on website updates sooner than anticipated since I've just been handed a new one.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Number Crunching 101

It's Friday, time for a financial check-up. Despite having an InBasket full of items to enter into Quicken, I know I'm broke until payday. What I don't know is if I'm broke after I get paid and I think the answer is probably yes.

It's been six months and nothing has improved. My laptop is dying and I'll need a new one, gasoline will soon be $4 a gallon, emergencies have nothing, I want a dishwasher and a bathroom shower, and pretty soon I will have to start paying off the student loans and get myself out of debt. I'd love to be like the couple having a difference of opinion on the money show I found on the radio last night: she wants to pay off their house, he doesn't but they do have the money to do it. I want to be in a fantastic position to buy the rest of the family land. Hell, sometimes I pass a property for sale around SLU or closer to me and I would love to invest in it. There's a gorgeous Victorian farmhouse on Hwy. 22 surrounded by live oak trees. It'll probably be bought and torn down by a subdivision developer asshole. Hell, I want to have money in the checking account between paychecks.

So it's time for a new approach. I'm not throwing out Quicken and micromanaging receipts into what I spend money on. It's too damn useful to get the yearly estimates for the bills. But it doesn't work for day-to-day.

So when the article 5 steps to fix a broken budget showed up Wednesday, I could SO relate.

Step 1: Understand your motivation. I want to control my overspending so all my bills are paid, but I don't want to feel deprived. I want to having savings I can access for big sorta planned things and emergencies. I want to know that I have a good start on retirement. Have enough money to not worry about running out of gas.

Bills, gasoline, and savings are the biggies. I am buying a dishwasher no matter what in January, so I'm not counting it in the equation. I can buy a laptop by the month, but I don't want to do that until I get the gasoline and savings squared away. I don't want to get my school money in January and be barely living from paycheck to paycheck in March.

There's a good summation: I don't want to live paycheck to paycheck. That means having savings and everything else covered.

Step 2: Know your numbers. Alright, have nearly 18 months worth of that data. But you need to have what you can spend right in front of you. In other words, balancing the checkbook. *Shudder* I suck at it! I never write stuff down, hence moving to the enter everything into Quicken once a week. But that doesn't do me any good when I'm in the store and have no idea what to spend.

New solution: cash in hand. All purchases that are not a bill or otherwise automatic will be made with cash. Now I just have to remember to get the cash budget out before going to the store.

Step 3: Get real. "Your budget is more likely to implode if you tighten your belt to quickly." I feel like I spend too much on groceries for one adult. And I probably spend way too much on luxuries.

Damn, now I hear back from Centennial and I'll have to change my phone in order to use the TomTom. Double-damn.

That's two places to start trimming back in 2008.

Step 4: Find a system that works for you. This is where I fall down. I keep flopping on micro versions of budgeting; I'm going to try a macro system: The 60% solution.

60% of gross income should be spent on committed expenses.
10% of gross income should be spent on retirement savings.
10% of gross income should be spent on long-term savings/emergency fund.
10% of gross income should be spent on anything you like.

I'm ignoring the school money in the calculations right now, and I already know I spend over 60% on committed expenses. 10% in retirement is only off by 1.12 a month, and that can be easily fixed for next month.

Now what I'm worried about is the 10% for long-term savings/emergency fund. First, where do I save that much money? Second, where can I put it so I can't touch it BUT it's not tied up in rules and regulations when an emergency happens? I made that mistake with the Roth IRA. Everybody says how good they are and you need one, but I didn't need to start one yet. In fact, the summer I opened it, I had to go withdraw most of it with a penalty.

Long-term savings/emergency fund needs to be able to be direct deposited. If it depends on me remembering to do it, I won't save. *Starts researching* Okay, all the options seem to tie the money up for too long or take too much money to start with. I'm going to have to stick it in the second savings account until it builds up.

CRAP! Made a really stupid decimal mistake. Let me fix before I get boggled. The math is mostly right, I think. Math is right, *whew* I just forgot to move decimal over when going back to percentages.

Now to figure up the 60%. *TWITCH* Okay, even adding together the 60% and 10% fun money, I need almost $1000 a month to get to the monthly trimmed amounts I worked out in August."That's okay, you have the school money." But I left it off for a reason, namely, I need to have a working budget without counting on it completely.

Well, that was a fun number crunching. The imaginary Fun Money is still sitting on the table, but the 60% ran out in the Debt Bills categories (loans to pay back), not even reaching Discretionary Commitments like groceries. And Debt Bills doesn't even contain school loans payback yet. Hell, left off the car loan too.

Okay, fixed it in Excel and... run out of money in Gasoline. So not only do I not have any food or home maintenance stuff or luxuries, I'm also unable to pay off any debt, nor go to work for a full month.

Well, now I feel like a big fraud. A lying sack of shit. No wonder I hate dealing with a budget, if I feel this way.

MONEY PROJECTS

1. January: Change Deferred Compensation to 2.5% of every paycheck
2. Research switching to the managed accounts under Deferred Compensation. Would like to start in January, afraid I will have to wait until April.
3. Set up direct deposit second savings account for 10% of paycheck.
4. Get my refund on Citizens Fair Plan bail out. I need that money

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

What's Wrong With Me

It occurred to me that I have neglected to say what I'm seeing the chiro other than pain and neck stuff. Neck stuff will be lifelong, I'm afraid, from all the whiplashes I have had.

The shoulder was messed up by trying to shake a cat off my arm in the middle of a bench press. It's better now.

Thoracic spine problems can be traced to bad posture at the computer desk. Need to air up the ab ball this weekend.

I don't know what causes the issues with the lumbar spine, but my hip flexor muscles have shortened due to too much sitting. Right leg really hurts when I drive, but it's getting better.

End of progress report, back to the regularly schedule blog.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Posted here for any stragglers

This is a copy of a message posted at the KLCtheBookWorm's Readers yahoo Group, but I'm cross posting so not to miss anyone who may have changed email address and don't get those messages anymore.

The Yahoo Group for KLCtheBookWorm's Readers hasn't done what I wanted
it to do.

The fault is mine. I don't have the time or energy to manage an email
group and make it a lively, happening, thriving place. It's too far
removed from the homesite. So it's time to change tactics. Just in
time for 2008.

But what to replace it with? I've come up with a few ideas and I'm
open to suggestions, so please respond to the poll and suggest away in
response.

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/KLCtheBookWorm_Readers/surveys?id=2310006

I'm not going away and I'm still writing but it's so long between
updates, I want to keep my readers in the loop. So here's a further
explanation of the choices I came up with.

Forum: Our very own virtual clubhouse (which is what I saw this place
as at first)! Pros: I host it and I shouldn't forget about it quite
as badly. Cons: Potentially redundant since a lot of us hang out at
the same forums already.

Email Newsletter: I'm subscribed to a few for website updates, and I
like that it only goes out when I have an update. It still give
Readers (those who take the extra step and subscribe) first crack at
new stories.

Announcement Blog: I'm good with updating blogs. People can comment
and get a conversation going on blogs. And new stories could be
posted to it first. Cons: I already have lots of blogs, probably too
many.

So what would you like to see happen?

Responses are welcome in the comment section.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Holding my breath

Course, the very fact I come to my blog to do the happy dance means they'll stop production forever and a day again. Been burned before.

Gaming Guardians is returning in January!

Elf Life has started after the wedding that I think sent the artist to padded-room-ville. I hope it sticks around this time.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Iron Experiment Day 24

Back again!

With almost zero weight. *Sigh* I'm still not full released from the chiro so I don't want to push the healing to the point of hurting, but I have to do something. So I started over with the routine Mistress Krista listed in her article "No Fat Chicks" (And she's not my sister, but the only one I've found that spells the name the same way.) just using the bars. That's 15 and 5 pounds and insanely light, but I'm reestablishing my routine.

Week 25 = 188.2
Week 24 = 188
Week 23 = 186.7
Week 22 = 187.4
Week 21 = 186.9
Week 20 = 186.2
Week 19 = 186.4
Week 18 = 186.3
Week 17 = 186.5
Week 16 = 187.2
Week 15 = 188.6
Week 14 = 188.8
Week 13 = 189
Week 12 = 187.6
Week 11 = 187.8
Week 10 = 189.6
Week 9 = 188.9
Week 8 = 193.4
Week 7 = 194.5
Week 6 = 194.5
Week 5 = 195.5
Week 2 = 199
Week 1 = 205

In other health news, I think my period and pills are now in sync. Hooray, I'm back to a normal period and no more worrying if the PCOS is flaring up. At the same time, Boo! I'm back to a normal period.

South Beach Diet has morphed into following Phase 1 mostly while allowing some Phase 2 stuff. Namely, there are more Phase 2 & 3 frozen dinners than Phases 1, 2 & 3. I did flub up with the onset of the period and had too much sugar, but since I didn't finish off the entire bag of chocolate chips I think I did pretty good.

Today is much better than yesterday. I think I slept off the rest of the melatonin. And I can still do downward dog, even though I haven't been able to go to yoga in a couple of months.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Wheel of Time second author announced

GalleyCat: The Wheel of Time Will Have Its Ending. I wish Brandon Sanderson lots of luck. He's got some pretty big shoes to fill.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Revenue or selling-out?

Ever so often, ad revenue ideas float around my brain, usually revolving around the websites. J.A. Konrath has some interesting idea with his ebooks. I would like to support Project Wonderful. I really like the idea of never having to worry about renewals on the websites, that much is covered at least. It's not about making a profit.

So this is here for research purposes. I have other projects to finish up before starting on websites tweaking.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Traffic woes

I think my writing time just got longer. After taking thirty minutes to leave Baton Rouge from College Drive last night, I decided to do some searching today to see just how long the night commute is taking. Currently: 3pm to 7pm.

*headdesk*

Now, I'm worried about my budget. And my blood sugar. I have food for supper, at home. I should eat around 5pm. 9pm after travel and cooking time is pushing it. So either I eat out those days and I'm trying to cut back on the spending or I pack breakfast, lunch, and supper and hope Starbucks lets me pack in food and just buy a drink. Somehow I doubt it.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

DONE with the semester!

Turned in my last final last night. Now I need to get the thesis question settled, but I am aware it may not get settled until the beginning of next semester. :p

Of course as soon as I have gotten the major deadline stressor over and done with, I start brainstorming website changes. Right now I'm blaming that on commuting fog. I want to get some other projects around the house finished off the projects list before starting that.

I haven't been sticking to the diet as well as I should, though I can say that my stress-induced sugar cravings were limited to one piece of chocolate cake Tuesday and one candy bar Wednesday. And I'm only officially on Day 3 and sick of salads already. While making the grocery list, I found a couple of soup recipes for Phase One in the SBD Quick & Easy Cookbook. So my plan is to get the stuff for the next couple of days, plus soup makings, and frozen dinners and breakfasts. That way when I'm packing my lunch and snacks and can't face salad again, I have some other choices. I'm also going to see about substituting the suppers for lunches. Recipe wise, almost everything is for serving four people. I'm following the portion controls and freezing the rest, but the meal plan doesn't really cover leftovers.

I also missed my eye exam last Saturday, so I need to reschedule that. What makes me feel so stupid is I spent that whole Saturday going "I'm forgetting something." And it was my own fault since I mis-filed the note to remind me about it.

That's about it. I have some writing stuff but that will go up at DUF.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Doctor Who: The Ten Doctors

About the only way you could do this storyline without massive CGI editing work on footage that I'm not sure even exists any more for the first two Doctors is a webcomic.

Fan-TAS-tic!

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Let it not be said I was inflexible

First, I read the chapter "The Ticking Clock--Fitting It In" from Jerry Cleaver's Immediate Fiction. His time management is to start off with 5 minutes carved out of the day for just writing. How that works is a post by itself, but I started it today.

Also decided to follow the principle with the workout morning time. It will probably be Saturday before I get to the actual workout, but I'm preparing myself by carving out the time and working on fitness stuff.

Then I had to fix lunch. Since a lot of the South Beach Diet is salads, I can't prepare food ahead five days and expect it to stay good. I'm going to have to fix it practically daily. I only hope supper isn't going to be as bad as it would be while in classes.

Then it was time to get ready for work. So it looks like I'm going to have to shove chores to after I come home from work time. I just worry about that I won't actually get it done. The problem is I never feel like doing anything by the time I get home. :p

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Iron Experiment: End of 24 Weeks

Despite slacking off for the last few weeks, I have made it to the end of 24 weeks since starting the weight loss quest. So it's time to tally the progress and see what I need to do in the next 12 weeks.

Week 24 = 188
Week 23 = 186.7
Week 22 = 187.4
Week 21 = 186.9
Week 20 = 186.2
Week 19 = 186.4
Week 18 = 186.3
Week 17 = 186.5
Week 16 = 187.2
Week 15 = 188.6
Week 14 = 188.8
Week 13 = 189
Week 12 = 187.6
Week 11 = 187.8
Week 10 = 189.6
Week 9 = 188.9
Week 8 = 193.4
Week 7 = 194.5
Week 6 = 194.5
Week 5 = 195.5
Week 2 = 199
Week 1 = 205

So I have lost a total of 17 pounds over 24 weeks.

Starting set of tape measurements
height: 62.25 in/158.1 cm
weight: 194.5 lb/88.2 kg
neck: 37.5 cm
bust: 119.2 cm
waist: 102.2 cm
hips: 118.3 cm
thigh: 55.1 cm
calf: 40.6 cm
upper arm: 30.3 cm
lower arm: 25 cm

End of 12 Weeks Measurements
height: 62.25 in/158.1 cm
weight: 187.6 lb/85.1 kg
neck: 37.5 cm
bust: 115.1 cm
waist: 102.3 cm
hips: 118.5 cm
thigh: 63.2 cm
calf: 40.5 cm
upper arm: 32.1 cm
lower arm: 26 cm

End of 24 Weeks Measurements
height: 62.25 in/158.1 cm
weight: 188 lb/85.3 kg
neck: 37.5 cm
bust: 115.4 cm
waist: 102.5 cm
hips: 117.2 cm
thigh: 63.6 cm
calf: 40.3 cm
upper arm: 30.5 cm
lower arm: 26.2 cm

Starting BMI Measurements

Height is 62.25 inches/158.1 cm.
Weight is 194.5 pounds/88.4 kg.
Body Mass Index is 35.3 kg/m2.

According to Better Ideal Weight Body Calculators, I should be:
between 105 - 138 pounds/47 - 62 kg
with a BMI between 19 and 25.

I want to weigh 120 lb/54.4 kg with a BMI of 20 kg/m2.

End of 12 Weeks BMI Measurements

Height is 62.25 inches/158.1 cm.
Weight is 187.6 pounds/85.1 kg.
Body Mass Index is 34 kg/m2.

End of 24 Weeks BMI Measurements
Height is 62.25 inches/158.1 cm.
Weight is 188 lb/85.3 kg
Body Mass Index is 34.1 kg/m2.

How far to go:
Weight: 188 - 120 = 68 lb/30.84 kg
BMI: 34.1 - 20 = 14.1 kg/m2.

Picture comparison time.



Now the first two Biggest Loser poses I did were on August 11 weighing 193 lbs. during Week 8.




There is only a five pound difference between the two sets. The short change is because the spandex died in the bike shorts after the 12 week progress pictures. But just a five pound difference and minuscule measurement changes didn't cause any dramatic weight loss could be seen by overlaying the pictures.

So what improvements do I see for the next twelve weeks?

• Getting back into my routine of medicine taking. I got off-schedule a bit with the holiday week and the week after.
• Starting South Beach Diet on Monday. I've gone over my reasoning why South Beach Diet. I just hope my supplies bought pre-Thanksgiving trip are still good because I can't buy groceries until the weekend coming up.
• Restart the exercise routines even though I can't use my max weights.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/