Here’s a picture of Bell modeling her new Jennifer Paganelli Sis Boom skirt that I made. Visit Jennifer’s blog to see her beautiful creativity, as well as get a glimpse at what a lovely person she is. Tell her I said “Hi!”

The fabrics are delicious and are Jennifer’s creation. The dancing, twirling Beauty is my creation!

The last pic is of a headless Stepherz. It’s out of focus and you can’t see my face, but there’s a good reason for that. I had Jeremy take the pic on a morning when I still had a towel on my head and zero makeup. There may be children who stumble upon this blog, so no need to scare the kiddies…

You wouldn’t believe the compliments we get when we wear our matching skirts. At the park the other day, I had 2 mom’s inquire about me making skirts for them and their daughters. I had 1 mom with all boys tell me how special it was that I made matching skirts because “… little girls just love to be like their mommy…” And I had another woman, possibly a grandma, ask me who the designer of the fabric was because she wanted to make a handbag with the fabric.

My only regret? That Bella will soon outgrow dressing like momma and I wish I would have learned to sew a year or two sooner…

Jennifer? If you ever need models, drop me a line. Bella and I will work for Fabric!

Ok, today was Day 5 of this here Chicken Cabbage Soup Diet. I must admit. I did “cheat” yesterday, since it was Father’s Day weekend and we went out to eat. But, my idea of really cheating would be a huge slice of Grasshopper Pie and a big glass of ice cold whole milk. Alas, cheating for me yesterday was not really cheating: I ordered a salad with smoked salmon when we went out and I ate a few bites of cous cous on the side. Yesterday was supposed to be my “banana day”.

But I did decide that this diet is probably the most healthy and non-diet diet that I’ve ever tried. I mean, yes, there are restrictions and there is a plan. But, it’s a healthy plan and it’s one that can make you feel better if you can get over your cravings. And that’s hard to do if you can’t figure out a way to alter it a bit so that you are not  restricted “too much”. For instance, I woke this morning and made a huge breakfast for Jeremy– German Crepes, eggs, bacon, sausage gravy & biscuits, etc. I was hungry after smelling all of that good food and i didn’t want cabbage soup, or beef and tomatoes. Geesh, who would want that for breakfast? But I could stomach a fruit salad. So, on a day that fruits weren’t “permitted”, I allowed myself some fruit, and ALOT of it, for breakfast. Yummm. Humbug Beef & Tomatoes! Humbug German Crepes!

So I think this diet, if nothing else, has just made me really aware of what I eat. I quit eating cereal before bed, I quit eating greasy empty carbs, I eat lean meat & tuna, I eat lots of fruit and veggies, and I eat cabbage soup. No beans, no fried crap, no white sauces, no noodles, no sweets.

I’ve now lost 6 pounds. I’m going to keep it up too because I feel really good about it. I’m not feeling deprived or hungry or sickly.

And now that I’ve bored the snot out of you by talking about blah diet stuff, I’m not going to talk about it again until Day 14 or so. It’s never fun to be a part of someone else’s preoccupation.

More to come on Father’s Day & FINALLY maybe I’ll get around to that Love Story this week!

Day 2 on the Chicken & Cabbage soup diet is down. It’s terribly easy! I have lost 2 pounds, but am happy with that result since I have altered the recipe by adding chicken breast. I did a fantastic job of seasoning, so I think that is what helps. I actually look forward to getting hungry so that I can eat some more!

I got to have a baked potato with a bit of butter tonight, which was wonderful. Tomorrow I can have fruits again, so I’m happy about that. I got some cherries, apples, and grapes– yumm. I’m not hungry at all and haven’t had a bit of weakness, stomach troubles, or anything. And have I mentioned how much I LOVE CABBAGE!?

I’m thinking I might not quit the diet after 1 week. I think I’d gain all the weight back if I did. The diet recommends only doing it for 1 week and then breaking for a week. But I think that adding the chicken diminishes any nutritional concerns about doing the diet for longer than a week. We’ll see though. I might have to change the recipe quite a bit to stomach eating soup for another week. And it’s all easy to speculate about since I’m only on day 2. After another 5 days of cabbage soup (even with chicken) I may want to puke at the thought of eating cabbage ever again.

It all boils down to one thing: Diets are impossible. You have to change your habits. Diets can be unhealthy if you aren’t mindful. And eating the same thing for longer than a few days is tough. But I try to remember that there are hungry people all over the world who would LOVE to eat my cabbage chicken soup for a few weeks. People less fortunate than I are eating much less agreeable things. Being a spoiled American might make this type of diet hard– goodness knows I love me some Twinkies and Raspberry filled Donuts. But this diet is certainly not going to be the challenge of my lifetime.

And lastly, it’s kind of fun knowing there’s someone out there that I know that’s doing the diet (or lifestyle change) too. My friend Sophia is going to give it a go starting next week. Maybe we can encourage one another along! Good luck, Sophia! I forgot to mention that adding 1 package of dried onion soup mix, a cup of salsa, a tad bit of red peps (for the spicey taste), rosemary, and 2 bay leaves made the soup the BOMB DIGGITY!

I let out a few cabbage poots today. It’s inevitable when you eat cabbage. Farts are funny. At least my farts are funny, I don’t know about yours.
Jeremy’s reaction when he walked into the room I passed gas in?

“Dang! Women aren’t supposed to smell like that! You smell like the ass end of a cabbage monster.”

Funny! I guess next time I’ll aim for smelling more feminine when I toot.

So today I went to the post office. In a small town such as this, you are given a free post office box because there are no rural deliveries of mail. The town is so small that you can smell your neighbor’s farts. It’s so small and country that I sometimes can’t go to sleep at night because the dang cows won’t quit their damn mooing. There are no street lights, no grocery store, and “fashion” consists of either wrangler jeans or the type of hip hop clothes from 90’s videos. The only things to do in this town are to go to Pow Wows or Rodeos. Which is OK. There is very little crime. The police blotter is mostly people calling the police to complain about a neighbor’s dog barking or teens spray painting a barn. Right outside of this tiny town is a bigger tiny town that has a Wal Mart, tourist shops, and some cute boutiques (that I can’t afford to shop at). But, as much as I love my home… Sometimes I miss the malls, Outback Steakhouse, and things to do!

Back to the post office… Today I finally asked the clerk what I’ve been wondering for 3 years… “Why doesn’t the post office deliver to houses here?” She told me that the town was too small and that I should be thankful that we don’t have to pay for a PO Box. Exxxxxcuuuuuuse me for asking! Last time I checked, I pay the same federal taxes as anyone in LA or other big cities and not only do you not deliver my mail to my door but you expect me to be grateful that you don’t charge me for a fucking box!? I wanted to tell her that where I come from, post office employees have to walk from door to door delivering mail instead of living in the STONE AGES and drooling over moonpies and coca cola all day! These people suck so bad that if you get a package, you have to come in during business hours to get the package, despite that they have those big lockers that they could put the key to in your PO Box so you could get the package on weekends or after hours. Bunch-a-dang-slackers!

So, with all that gripin’ I thought I’d leave you with a funny little snippet I saw today on youtube. I’m feeling the pain that is a country ass town! Be warned, there’s some nasty language…