Clearly I suck at drawings.

I won't be doing one again any time soon. However! 50sgal has won the vintage dress giveaway! I know where to find her and I'll send her a message on her forum, but no it wasn't rigged! It was a legit random drawing!

Tune back in, I'll try to have a new post up sometime this week. Lots rolling around in my head lately.

Diana

Fitness Challenge

Here's what I've been doing for the last month, among other things.

http://wsav.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=A&c=20892&s=4941823&i=1#SD

Time has gotten away from me.

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted anything here. Life has been very hectic. I've been participating in a fitness challenge that requires me to participate in a fitness bootcamp 3 mornings a week and that leaves me exhausted for the rest of the day. One of our chickens was mauled by a possum about a month ago, and we've been trying to nurse her back to health. She's stopped putting weight on one of her legs and she can't live in the coop with the rest of the chickens and so has been living in my husband's study. She went to the vet today and we're to keep doing what we've been doing and also give her some antibiotics and see if she doesn't start to perk up some. The goodnews is that she doesn't have so much nerve damage that she can't come back from it.

We're also still hoping to get our house on the market, so any spare time we have we are trying to get the house cleaned up, packed up, and a few cosmetic things fixed up. And on top of that we have to work our jobs.

I have not heard back from the winner of my drawing so I think I will draw again and announce a new winner. Stay tuned!

Diana

And the winner is . . . .

Lady Montgomery! Congratulations. You have won my vintage dress giveaway! I do apologize in the delay in the drawing. Life has become hectic. We nearly lost a chicken to a possum attack and then I've entered a local fitness challenge and have been doing fitness boot camp three days a week!

So Lady Montgomery, send me an email with your shipping infoto dhorel@hotmail.com, and I'll send your dress to you. I wanted to post the photo again, but am having trouble uploading tonight.

Fannie.

I have not forgotten!

Drawing for the vintage dress tonight. A little late, but life got in the way. Also, vintage carshow pictures to come. Lots of 50's cars and some 40's! Check back with me tonight. You could be a winner!

Fannie!

Hobbies better than therapy, better than drugs.

As I've struggled with stress related mental and physical health problems over the last several years, I've been told repeatedly and known at least intellectually that there was more to life than work. The problem was I didn't know what else to do with myself. I liked to read and walk and watch television but was not passionate about anything (here antidepressants may have been responsible, lifesaving though they often are). I'd look around and see other people engaged in activities they loved, kayaking, playing music, making stained glass, cooking, and I didn't know what I was interested in, so I'd escape into books, or tv, or endless hours on the internet.

Several months ago, disillusioned with our world, our culture, etc., I googled something to the effect of "living in another era" and became introduced to the world of vintage collecting, dressing, decorating, even living as if in another decade.

Well, this has become a hobby of mine. Perhaps I spend a little too much time on the internet trolling ebay for bargains in vintage clothing and accessories or looking at vintage decor, but at least it's done with some sort of focus.

Unfortunately, I can't indulge the new hobby too much since most of my spare time now has to go toward getting my house on the market. But once we find a new place, I can start figuring out how to decorate it in vintage style.

But the new hobby together with the task of getting the house ready have given me something to do other than to obsess about work and to actually begin to enjoy it for a change. Because of some side effects that I found most intolerable--the inability to make ideas come out of my mouth in an intelligible fashion--I've cut back significantly on my dosage, and so far I'm doing ok with it. I'm getting better at articulating ideas--the inability to do so is incredibly frustrating to this holder of a Masters in English language and literature.

I've also entered a fitness challenge that will not only challenge me physically, but will challenge my social anxieties--I will be on television with the other participants and be in other promotional materials. So I guess as my life outside of work expands, the hyper focus and anxiety related to work, diminishes. I hope anyway.

Only a couple days left in the giveaway!

Don't forget to enter to win a vintage dress. Follow my blog and leave a comment telling me you're following. Post to Facebook about the giveaway and leave another comment for another chance to win. Tweat this giveaway, and so on. One name will be picked on August 31 and the winner announced. Good luck!

Fannie