Bob (it's as good a title as any)

Monday night I weighed in for Weight Watchers. Tuesday is my normal weigh-in night, but Steve (Boss #1) wanted me to attend some seminar at the clerk's office from 4:45-5:45 and I couldn't do both, so I choose Monday night. And for the results... (drum roll please) ... I'd lost 6 lbs! Ok, I know this is just the first week, and yeah a big part of it was probably water loss, but I was very happy. VERY happy! :)

It wasn't an easy first week, either. I started it, as planned, but without having anything even remotely healthly in my cupboard/fridge, which wasn't planned. So it's 6pm, I get home from work, tired, and I have to figure out what to eat. Frankly, by Friday, I was ready to quit and I ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut. Albeit, it was a Veggie Lover's, but still. One slice of a large Veggie Lover's is 5 pts. Not bad, and I could have 2 slices. By the end of the night, I'd eaten the whole thing and blown my entire week's allowance of points to blow! But I still lost weight!

Saturday morning, I woke up with a new attitude. I went to the grocery store and Sams, bought a bunch of fresh veggies, decided I couldn't wait for the farmer's market over on St. Joseph Avenue to open up for the season and made a mental note to call and find out when they open. (Note: at this point, I'm reminded that I've never called. sigh.. being 40 is a bitch!)

Also, I bought me an ipod - a cute bright purple one and I've been working on converting my considerable music library over onto it. (Still not finished, but we're on the homestretch.) The idea is that since I had to cancel my membership to Curves, I need to get out walking. Which I did twice (Friday and Sunday).

And did I mention that Wednesday was "Administrative Professionals" day and the firm catered in lunch? And the attorneys brought in desserts? Yeah, technically, my blow away points were probably wasted on the turtle ice cream pie and the apple pie. Sigh. But the point is I still lost weight.

It is the Big One?

Yesterday morning, as I was waking up and getting ready for work, I listened to a local radio station and the DJ’s were discussing the fact that their respective pets had been acting crazy for the past couple days and how studies show that animals can sense major events, such as earthquakes, and act oddly for up to a week prior to the events. Not a major concern except that we’re on the New Madrid Fault and they’ve been predicting the “Big One” for many years now. People were calling in from all over Southern Indiana and Southern Illinois saying that their pets were acting oddly too.

I went to work, though, not giving it another thought. But then last night, as I’m settling down for the evening, Sophie and Gizmo are acting like someone gave them a big ol’dose of wacky pills. They chased each other up and down the hallway, one would jump up on the dresser and then pounce on the other from the height, one would run up to the top of their kitty condo (6 ft high) and then jump down on the bed and bound after the other one. Truly, nothing more than they usually do, only this was to a factor of 10! Even after Sophie got tired and crawled on my chest for a nap, while I was catching up on the Daily Show and Colbert Report from the previous night, Gizmo still was at it. In fact, at one point, he was on the top of the condo and jumped right on her (right on me). Her claws dug in and she ran, then his claws dug in and he ran after her. My chest and tum area look like they’ve been run through a cheese grater!

Of course the conversation from the radio that morning came to my mind and as I’m lying there in the dark trying to go to sleep all I can think of is if the Big One comes during the middle of the night, is it going to knock that big heavy picture hanging above my bed off and bean my noggin. Long time readers of my life will remember that we had an earthquake about a year or so ago in the middle of the morning, and it woke me up. We had aftershocks for months afterward.

I don’t know if we can expect one in the next week or so, but I’m keeping my feelers on alert in case we do. And what with the way Soph and Giz are acting, I just wonder what the fish would be doing if my brother-in-law hadn’t sent them all on a ride on the giant porcelain wave the other week. Hmm..

Weight Watchers - 2009

There are several reasons why I fell "off the wagon," so to speak, last time. I'd lost 50 pounds, I was getting cocky and complacent, I stopped tracking my points like I know is necessary, my co-hort in weight loss, Kathy, got pregnant and couldn't attend meetings with me anymore, I got a part-time job wherein I worked 2 nights a week and weekends which made it difficult to go to regular meetings, and it was the holiday season. All together it made it easy to let things slide.

But I currently have very little in my closets and dressers that actually fits me. And really, it'll be cheaper to lose the weight than to buy a whole new wardrobe! My friend Royale is in the process of getting ready for either lap-band or gastric bypass surgery. And I think my health insurance would pay most of the expense for me to have the surgery. But I'm just not ready to admit defeat yet. And as I think I've already pointed out, being with my dad in the hospital pushed me over.

So tonight was my first weigh-in/meeting. Of course, I've done this before, so I know how the points and everything work. But you know, the actual weighing in makes it OFFICIAL! I was happy to learn that I actually weigh 1.8 pounds less than I guessed I weighed when I signed up online! So that was good news! The meetings are at 5:30 on Tuesday nights (there are tons of other meetings, but Becky tells me that the leader of this meeting is really good), so I arranged with Bosses 1 & 2 to come in/leave work early on Tuesdays to go to this meeting. Despite drinking a bunch of water and tea today, I didn't go wee before I left... after all, you wanna weigh as much as you can on your initial weigh-in, right? :)

The whole system seems to be the same, based on points, as it was before. However, now they allow most all liquids to count for the water drinking, instead of just water, AND they changed the way they calculate how many points you get each day, but otherwise, it's the same. I signed up online yesterday and filled in the points for the food I ate yesterday on the online tracker. Pretty cool, actually. More high-tech than it was last time I did this. Or, well, I don't honestly know how high-tech the website was before because it wasn't free with my monthly membership then like it is now.

Where was I? Oh, I logged in my points yesterday. And I did pretty good. But then I had a horrible migraine last night and, to put it politely, ended up losing my dinner along with the medicine I took. So I wondered if I got to eat those points twice? Of course I was in so much pain as I took my medicine again that eating was the last thing on my mind. I refrained from asking the woman at the meeting tonight about that, as I figured she'd think I was weird and I decided I'd let her find out naturally, rather than all at once!

Tomorrow is my first "official" day, and wouldn't you know it, it's the firm's "Administrative Professionals Day Luncheon" :) But that's ok, since it's the same menu every year, I can plan ahead and know what I'll be eating. The desserts will be what is tempting - after all, I'm not my Uncle Doug's "cookie-mooching bear" for nothing!

Guess nows the time to close. I've rambled long enough, and I need to go skirmish some and try to take over Mozambique in World Domination on Facebook!
Later!

I'm Still Here

I have heard from a large percentage of my fan base (well, one of the sibs) and have been chastised for not blogging since February. So what follows is a quick and perspicacious summary of the sub-plots from March and April.

• Dad was in the hospital for a week, but after much stress on everyone’s part, he’s doing much better. Turns out all the Big D was a result of the antibiotics they were pumping into him killing off the “good” bacteria in his tum, which allowed the “bad” bacteria to run amok.


• Mom was running herself ragged taking care of dad, and consequently forgetting to take care of mom, but the sibs came down and that allowed her to rest some while he was in the hospital, and I’ve been told the plan is for them to come down more often to help her out some.


• Sophie and Gizmo turned the Big Three yesterday, and we spent a good portion of the day cuddling and napping together. Winifred is one hyperactive adolescent, and either Merle or Blackie pee’d in my car. Oh, and Tom helped me get rid of the fish tank, so Charlie’s Angels and their subsequent progeny are no more.

Now, as for the main character, in no particular order of importance:
Late February, I got a new tattoo – I was on the cheezburger website (one of my favs!) and found this pic, and I knew immediately that that was what my next tat would have to be. ‘Specially since it would go so well with the paws. I talked to Shawna at work and she told me about this place in Oakland City, run by a Christian couple, where she and her hubs get their tattoos. So one weekend I was all ready to go there. I had plenty of OT in that week’s paycheck and I was going to do it! Only, when I called to find out their hours, I discover the phone number is disconnected – they’re out of business. So much for Shawna’s connections. Sigh… I was bummed. So, the next weekend, I’m having dinner with Royale, we hadn’t gotten together in quite a while and had tons of stuff to catch up on. She’d never even seen the paws! So, I flashed them at her and she asked for all the details. Then I inquired of her where she would go for a tattoo in Evansville. She said one of two places. I said, do you wanna go with me now? :) She did, we went, I got the tattoo and was very happy! A couple of girls at work are jealous, though, so we might have to go and get them copy cats! Hahaha (Get it? Copy? cats?? Hahaha)

I continue to use my CPAP sleep machine and my mental alertness is much better, although Steve (Boss #1) might argue that point occasionally. I don't feel like my physical pep is improving though, but let's face it, at my weight what could I expect?

So, between how I actually feel and watching them taking care of dad in the hospital this past month, I decided I needed to yield to the inevitable and rejoin Weight Watchers. My fiend Becky (BK for short) goes, and I know from experience that it works, so I decided now was the time. Of course, I can't afford both Weight Watchers and Curves, so since I haven't actually been GOING to Curves much, it was an obvious decision. I cancelled that membership and started the WW membership. Tuesday night is my first weigh in.

What else? Well, late March I took a long weekend (well-deserved, considering all the over time I've been working since October!) and went up to Indy, stopping by Bloomington to pick up Niece #1, Hollian (or Ho2.0, as I like to call her) first, and then the sibs and Nieces #1 and #3 (Brynn) drove up to Lafayette to visit Niece #2 (Natalie) at Purdue. Well, that was one reason to go, the other was to eat at the Triple XXX - a goal ever since seeing it on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on Food Network. (The goals I set for myself, eh?) Anyway, we got to tour the campus, eat lunch, and meet the skanky roommate.

Ok, so has that been it? Yup, I guess those are the major items for the past month.