Friday, May 14, 2010

I'm still hip, I'm still with it!

Our hipster neighbors up the street are moving out.
I have to admit, I'm kind of envious of their Pabst Blue Ribbon-drinking, skinny-jeans wearing ways. So young, so thin, so...hip. You just know they never spend their nights curled up on the couch watching COPS in an unironic manner. Was I ever that cool?
Probably not.
Well, at least I can amuse myself with Look At This Fucking Hipster.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Black Barbie!

I'm a wannabe Barbie collector but I can't afford the ridiculously expensive dolls like new Louboutin Barbie for $150.00. I just can't justify that. But I have been trying to collect some of the African-American dolls that I can afford. I have the Alvin Ailey American Theater anniversary doll

And now, I have the authentic reproduction of Black Barbie:

Note the stylin' Afro (she comes with a pick!) and the gorgeous red outfit. She also comes with a sleek white outfit and reproductions of the insert that showed all the other fashions you could buy.

I love the fact that she's 'Black' Barbie. Not Christie (even though most of the Black/African-American versions were named 'Christie'). She's still Barbie but she's Black. Just as stylish, just as sleek. But she has brown skin and an Afro. Other than that, there isn't really a whole lot of difference between her and the White Barbies but, she was groundbreaking Up until then, fashion dolls came in one variety: White. Sure the hair might be different and maybe they were younger (Skipper) or had freckles (Midge) but they were still White. The Julia doll were based on the Dihann Carroll television show, was a first. Gorgeous and well-made, a reproduction was released last summer. But, this wasn't a "Barbie". She didn't have the dream house or the car or the sparkling bathing suits. But Black Barbie could have all of that and was no relegated to being Barbie's Black friend.

Now, it's not such a big deal. There are almost always African-American versions of the 'play', non-collectable dolls as well as multi-ethnic friends. But nothing beats the first time I saw my Black Barbie when I was all of 5 or 6. Too bad she suffered the fate of most of my dolls: a bad hair cut, nakedness, and eventually getting lost in a move.

Making Money

I'm always amazed when people make money off of their blogs. Maybe I'm just not trying hard enough or something. Then again, I don't really have a specific focus. I don't review nail polish ala Lacquerized or show gross, disgusting food like This is Why You're Fat. I just talk about me. Very narcissistic, thinking that anyone would care what I think and, even more so, would go to sites and buy things talked about in these posts. But, hey, if I make a whole dollar, that's one whole dollar that I didn't have before.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Wow

What happened?
Seriously, wasn't I supposed to be posting here about all kinds of fun stuff? Well, looks like that went right out the window and down the street. Maybe I need to schedule this on my phone or something

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Long Time, No Post

It's been a minute since I've been here. I kind of miss those carefree days in undergrad when I spent hours sitting in the computer lab working on my first webpage. Then, later, I would post on Livejournal several times a day. Now, if I'm online, I'm reading various slash fanfic and checking out the Princess Boards, Gawker, etc...

Anyway, we survived Snowpocaplypse though there are still piles of manky, grungy snow around. Things are back to normal which means I'm back in the gym. I never did make it to the bariatric program my doctor recommended because I could never get my schedule to work out right. Anyway, I've already paid for my trainer and I don't want to lose those visits. But I do think I need to try something new because the strictness of the diet just makes me crazy. It's not like I want to go crazy with a bag of chips or block of cheese but, what can I say, I have a certain weakness for naan and soba noodles. Not to mention edamame. Delicious edemame.

So now I'm achy from working out yesterday and I had a relatively healthy lunch with fruit for snacks. I also ate a couple of those Special K Fruit Crisps. Those things are so deliciously fake and chemically. I don't even know how they classify as food. But they hit the spot. Or at least gave me something to do with my mouth. I really need to invest in some gum.

I know I'm not going to be slipping into a bikini come summer but maybe I'll at least manage to drop another pants size.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Snowpocalypse 2010!

I've spent the majority of the week at home, snowed in. The Baltimore/DC area has been slammed with record snowfall and has basically shut down. Buses stopped running, stores closed, schools and government closed.
Saturday was bad and we did our usual store run on Friday. Snow panic had set in and people were stocking up on white stuff (milk, toilet paper, bread). I didn't really think it was going to be that bad but we have about 18" of snow. The street was blocked, the car was a snow-covered lump.

No work on Monday or Tuesday since we couldn't dig out. Then more snow on Tuesday into Wednesday. Another 12" on top of what was already there. Phase 3 of the snow emergency plan went into effect and all cars other than snow plows/emergency vehicles were ordered off the road. The city was silent. It was amazing. Just the falling snow and the wind. No cars, no one walking, not even anyone out with their dog.

We're just now starting to really dig out. I'm being optimistic about this since we live on a tiny side street that hasn't seen a plow yet. Any digging out has been done by individuals and the construction workers across the street. Our shovel suffered a grievous injury so we've been making due. The husband and I walked over to Safeway, which didn't open until noon because the staff couldn't get in. The shelves were looking bare, particularly with meat and bread.

And our wall has sprung a leak due to a leaky pipe so now we have a big gaping hole in the wall.
But we have survived Snowpocalypse 2010. Hopefully things will be getting back to normal now.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

7 Day Diet Day 5

Skipped a couple of days. Not on the diet but on posting here like I should have been. Of course the diet basically left me with no energy to do anything more than lay around and daydream about what I wasn't eating.

Actually, this diet sucks. Cabbage sucks. Bananas suck. No coffee sucks. This diet makes everything suck because the cabbage soup diet sucks the life out of everything including me.

The folks I work out with are all raving about this diet. I don't know how they're doing it. I nearly passed out trying to work out on a mostly empty stomach. Not a good idea. But I couldn't suck down any of the food.

My co-workers are actually taking pity on me and offering me food. Which is why me and the diet are having a falling out. My falling out came in the form of a chicken breast and some forbidden fries on Monday and a turkey, bean sprout, and rye sandwich on Tuesday. Today hasn't been so bad since it's steak and tomatoes.

I did chuck the soup though. Actually I gave it to my mom who actually likes it. Blech. I'll be glad when Saturday rolls around.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

7-Day Diet, Day 1

This diet freakin' sucks.

I had to get that off my chest.

This is the first day of this diet: fruit day.

I love fruit. All kinds of fruit: apples, oranges, pineapple, pomegranates, tangerines, pears, grapes, kiwi, mangoes, etc...The only things I can't eat are raspberries, blue berries, and black berries, which I'm allergic to.

To supplement the fruits, I can have this cabbage soup concoction. I loathe cabbage. I hate it even more than spinach. At least spinach has some redeeming value when combined with cheese in quiche or spanikopeta or lasagna. Cabbage is just disgusting. But here I am choking down cabbage, onion, tomato and pepper soup with a healthy dose of herbs to cut that nasty, sweaty-sock cabbage taste.

In theory, I will lose 10-17 pounds doing this. Per my trainer, this is way to shock my system back into weight loss mode. All of her clients are on it.

Also, no coffee. No caffeine of any kind. So now I'm hungry and going through caffeine withdrawal. So much fun. Hopefully I won't be divorced by the end of the week.

Too Cute!

How can you not love this!
Kitty City

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My Own Private Idaho

I tend to go into a sort of hibernation period at times, mentally if not physically. Actually, I'm like that a lot in that, once I'm home, I don't want to deal with too many other people. I just want to vegetate and decompress and, usually, I just want to shut out the world.

So I rarely read non-fiction or, if I do, it tends to be relatively innocuous stuff. I least I consider it innocuous since a lot of it is true crime or conspiracy stuff. Most of my entertainment is not based in reality. Or, rather, I usually don't read about things that I experience every day.

Which is why I'm not inclined to see Precious. It's just too intense. I read the book that it's based on, Push, a few years ago and that was intense enough. The movie...I know I can't do it. But I will buy it when it comes out on DVD since I want to contribute in some way to its success. And I love the fact that Mo'Nique and Gaborney Sibide are getting so much positive attention. Even though it's pretty clear that there are a lot of movie critics that are not comfortable with seeing a large, dark-skinned Black woman on screen. It's very Other to them, something alien and frightening and I think that some critics are even struggling with how to describe what they're seeing. Especially since the roles are 'Sassy Black Friend #1' or "Big Mama'. But it's a good thing that this is so challenging, especially if it makes people question their views/reactions to large women and Black women.

But, to be fairly egocentric, let's bring it back to me, a large Black woman who spends a lot of time online or reading or doing crossword puzzles. Sometimes I feel like I should write something more profound. Something about the devastation in Haiti and about the disgust at watching people politicize the suffering. Let's not even talk about Pat Robertson and his ultimate blaming of the victims.

Or maybe I should write more about my disappointment in President Obama even though I knew that he was not the second coming. I just expected more. Not total revolution but more than just the usual political gladhanding and spinelessness. Then again, he is a politician and politicians don't get re-elected by upsetting the apple cart too much. I just wanted more.

But I don't want to dwell on the negative right now. I want to sit and read celebrity gossip, watch some BBC America, and generally be a couch potato. I just don't want to think so hard. That is so very Barbie sounding but it's true. Maybe I'll ruminate on the deeper meaning of things later.


Monday, January 25, 2010

Didn't My Mom Do This In The 70's

My trainer is having all of her clients do the T-J Miracle Soup diet which, to me, looks like a retread of the cabbage soup diet my mom did in the 70's. Along with the onion diet, the grapefruit diet, and assorted other crash diets that offered quick results through ridiculous eating plans.

Actually, it seems like a good chunk of the ladies at my job are on some type of fast or cleansing program. I've never seen so many people subsisting on fruits, vegetables, and water. And none of them look particularly happy about it either.

So, if I do this, I'm looking at 7 days of unpleasantness. I hate cabbage and this soup sounds gross. As does the day of nothing but bananas and skim milk and steak and tomatoes. In fact, that's four things right there that I never eat.

Of course, I could choose not to do this. Or I could look at this as a week-long experience to see how long it takes me to go absolutely crazy

Friday, January 22, 2010

Happy Anniversary!

To Roe vs. Wade

Of course, we can't get too comfortable since there are always those groups and individuals who seek to deny women the right to choose, we cannot be complacent. Check out these sites to see what you can do to support reproductive choice, access to contraceptives, and comprehensive sexual education.



NARAL

Planned Parenthood

Trust Women

What does the phrase: Trust Women mean to me?

Simple

Trust me as a thinking, breathing, informed individual to make the right choice for me.

Trust me to weigh all of the options. All of the options, not just the ones that you (be you an individual, the state, anyone) feel are right or appropriate.

Trust me to understand the implications of my choice

Do not speak down to me, assume that I need your dubious protection or assume that I a victim who is unable to make the difficult decisions.

I do not need your permission or your blessings.

Trust me as a fully-functioning member of society to make decisions not just with my heart but with my mind and my gut

Trust me to know see the world as it is, not as you or I want it to be

Most importantly, trust me. Trust me as an adult who knows what she is doing, who does not need to have the most intimate aspect of her life dictated to be individuals and ideologies whose only interest in the concept, not the reality.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

By My Body Betrayed

I just cannot shake this illness. I thought I was over the bronchitis then, this weekend, I got hit by a nasty stomach flu. I spent pretty much all of Sunday in the bathroom. I also discovered that I can projectile vomit like in the Exorcist. The cats were appalled.

I also discovered that hardcore throwing up results in massive abdominal pain. It's like I've done about 500 crunches. My entire upper abdominal area is so sore it's hard to draw in a deep breath.

I was still pretty sick yesterday but went to work a half day since the icky purging part of the illness was over. But I hurt. All over. And the coughing and congestion came back. So I went home, took some ibuprofen, and went to sleep.

The only 'good' think I can say is that I've lost weight. I know that's a horrible thing to say and is indicative of a disordered way of looking at food but I couldn't eat anything on Sunday except for some soup I had that night. Monday I had some toast, some apple, and some chicken and rice. Very light eating.

Today, I'm home. I hate taking off from work but I really feel the need to rest and it's hard to rest when I'm running around at work. I've eaten some turkey bacon and an apple. I tried to eat some Cream of Wheat but couldn't stomach it. Instead, I'm now eating some deliciously hot and salty soup. Then I'm going to sleep for awhile.

Hopefully I'll be back in gym by Thursday and see if I lost a little weight.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

The Agony Of Defeat

I've been sick with bronchitis which I'm just now getting over and, factoring in the holidays, I missed about a month of working out consistently and was haphazard with the diet. Holiday treats are hard to resist. And I've been living on soup (high in carbs and salt) for the past two weeks. So it's not all that surprising that I've gained weight. I'm at 283lbs right now. I had dropped down to 276lbs about two months ago or so. Still large but considering that before I started working out with Sheritha, I was well over 300lbs, it's something.

But it's not enough. And to top it all off, I just found out that I have high cholesterol.

Now, I've been following the diet for about 2 years. I've fallen off the wagon now and again but, considering how strict the plan is, that isn't surprising. But I don't eat high cholesterol foods. I don't eat fried foods often or even much fast food. I don't even eat eggs consistently because I don't like them. I exercise. But my cholesterol is up and my doctor put me on Lipitor.

I feel very much like a failure. I'm working very hard. I know I could work harder but I'm trying. This just feels like a huge kick in the gut.

I'm signing up for a weight loss program through my doctor's office. Basically the goal is to get the same results as bariatric surgery without the surgery. The woman at the front desk is participating and says the focus is on making lifestyle changes but without the drastic dieting. Maybe this will work.

Or maybe I need to look into surgery.

I'm consoling myself with a salad and hot wings since hot wings make everything better.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Punctuation

Nothing says fun like getting over bronchitis and having your period. Actually, having my period is even worse for my diet than the bronchitis. At least soup is relatively low calorie or can be low calorie. There's nothing low calorie about shoveling my way through the majority of a bag of Reese's Pieces. Of course now my stomach is doing flips but the cheap candied chocolate was so delicious.

At least dinner itself was fairly healthy. A grilled turkey burger, wax beans, and lo mein noodles w/ vegetables. With a side of Diet Pepsi. Lunch was Madras lentils with brown rice and a Fit and Active southwest veggie Hot Pocket analog. Okay, not the healthiest choice but it could have been worse. At least I resisted the lure or McDonalds and Wendys.

Breakfast was whole wheat toast and apple butter (I'm on a toast and apple butter kick), turkey bacon, and apples. Plus two cups of coffee.

So, yeah, not perfect but not horrible.

Now to top it all off with some Midol.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Back To The Grind

Went back to work today. I was starting to feel a little stir crazy since I hadn't been to work since last Wednesday. Work was...appropriately work like meaning lots of walking around, lots of typing, and some idle chatter with co-workers.

While home, I got semi-hooked on House Hunters on HGTV. Particularly the international version. It's amazing the difference between what's considered a typical American home (2+ bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, lawn, deck, granite counter tops) and what's typical in other countries. Particularly the episode that took place in Rome with a young man looking at his first apartment. Not a house, but an apartment. All of which would have been considered painfully tiny by most of the folks I know.

Actually, the apartment we live in now is considered tiny and, quite frankly, immature. The husband and I live like college students. We even have a futon. Of course, we're not totally carefree. Rent isn't cheap and, as we are frequently reminded, we're just giving our money to someone else. Not to mention all of the other non-collegiate expenses (student loans, car payment, utilities). On the upside, we won't be foreclosed on.

Right now, we're kicking around the idea of buying a house especially now that the home prices are falling. No way were we considering $300,000 for a tiny rowhome,

Too much rambling. I think it's time for me to head to bed.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Couch Bound

In an effort to force myself to rest, I am devoting today to reading both physical books and online comics. For physical books I have: A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore and Vampire Hunter D: Twin Shadowed Knight by Hideyuki Kikuchi.

For online comics, I reading through the archives of: Anders Loves Maria , DAR(which just ended), and Lulu Eightball.

I hate forced laying around. It's one thing if I want to sprawl on the couch and watch terrible tv and fiddle about online but it's another when I just don't feel well enough to do anything but lay around. Then I notice all of the things that I need to do like mopping the floor, sweeping out the corners, cleaning out the fridge, wiping down the tub, and finding homes for a variety of books. But I don't even feel like trying to sit up let alone do housework.

I hate to think what Kim and Aggie would think.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Bronchitis vs The Diet

I'd like to say that I'm keeping up with the diet but, like I said before, being sick is not always conducive to maintaining a strict diet. Especially since I can't stand eating salads when I'm sick. On the upside, I don't have much of an appetite at all and what I am eating is mostly soup. Delicious, salty soup.

In fact, I just picked up some of the most devastatingly salty soup ever: Mrs. Grass chicken noodle soup with flavor ball technology.

So I have salty soup, good books, lots of disasters on the History Channel. And, of course, my wonderful husband.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Healthy At Any Size

Over at Jezebel, there's a link to an article how fat acceptance is dangerous because it can lead to embracing unhealthy lifestyle choices. Like running on the never ending diet hamster wheel is healthy? Like having zero self-esteem is healthy?

I hate the fact that many doctors and weight-loss professionals don't seem to understand that not everyone is going to be or even should be a size 8 or smaller. I count my current trainer in there because she is very focused on getting smaller. Getting healthy is good but she emphasizes shrinking thighs and bellies and fitting into a smaller dress size. But these same professionals often don't seem to acknowledge that for some people, the only way they're going to reach an 'acceptable' weight or appearance is by engaging in eating-disorder like behavior (obsessively counting calories, cutting out entire food groups, trying to drop to 1000 or less calories a day).

Self-esteem and a positive attitude have a lot to do with both getting healthy and losing weight. If I feel depressed because my weight, because my belly is too big and my thighs jiggle too much, I'm not going to be inclined to go to the gym. Especially after I've watched a couple of Bally's commercials which makes it look like the club is full of nothing but toned, slender fitness professionals. I don't want to be the sweat pants-clad elephant in that weight room. So I sit at home, wallow in my depression, gain more weight, and generally do nothing. I feel bad about myself.
It's a vicious circle that only gets worse when if I find short-term success with a particular diet only to gain the weight back when I can't maintain the diet.

But Fat Acceptance or the movement to be Healthy At Any Size focuses on the fact that not every one is going to be a size 8 or a size 2. Not everyone is going to have toned abs and no back fat. Some of us are going to be fleshy and there's nothing wrong with that as long as we're able to live our lives to the fullest. We, meaning those with more fat and flesh than 'normal' can exercise, wear nice clothes, and have sex. We can, in fact, do pretty much everything anyone else can do.

The problem is that we live in a society that equates thin with being healthy, intelligent, and all around better than those who are not thin. To be fat, especially very fat, is to be seen as lazy, unhealthy, less-than. A freak and an object of subtle and sometimes not so subtle scorn. Which crushes the self-esteem. Which can lead to depression, over-eating, and a repeat of the vicious circle that is yo-yo dieting, poor body image, and self hatred.

Fat Acceptance movements, which focus on getting away from relying only on measurements like BMI, focus on improving the overall perception of fat people, and on encouraging fat people to get out and Move! are sometimes viewed as dangerous, as encouraging people to engage in unhealthy behaviors.

I can't say that it isn't sometimes tempting to say, fuck it, I'm just going to eat what I want and lay around. And of course the husband says he'll love me even if I balloon to 900lbs, but the truth is, I'm going to try my hardest not to get to that point because 1) I don't want to be a burden on him and 2) I like being able to move under my own power.

At my fittest, when I played sports, walked all the time, and lifted weights, I was never very small. Actually, I haven't been below a size 22 since middle school. And I've struggled not to feel like a massive blob. I'm conscious of what and how I eat in public because I don't want to feed into (haha) the stereotype of a fat person who hoovers up food. I find myself silently measuring myself against other women in Fashion Bug or Lane Bryant and saying 'well, at least I'm not that big'. It's hard to shake off the feeling that I'm less than, that I am 'other', especially when the depression is re-asserting itself.

I know that doesn't sound very fat accepting but I think that's why Fat Acceptance is so important. It's a way to combat and reframe this way of thinking, a way to encourage myself and to keep going because, in the end, it's about being healthy, not trying to squeeze into a smaller size pants.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

This is going to be fun

I'm now wheezing. Joy.

I did manage to make it through a full day of work but it took two doses of Theraflu to keep me from just curling up in a corner and going to sleep.

Illness is so not conducive to weight loss. Everything tastes awful and phlegmy so I tend to want salty or extremely flavorful. I also don't want to chew a lot or have anything that scratches my throat. Except for the deliciously salty pretzels. I couldn't resist those.

Had the usual breakfast of cereal, turkey bacon, and apples. Lunch was brown rice and lentils. Specifically, microwavable brown rice and delicious Madras Lentils from Tasty Bite. Wholly vegetarian and very deliciously. Luckily, I didn't let the husband's hatred of lentil soup stop me from trying these.

Snacks were a cup of pineapple and the aforementioned pretzels. Plus a nibble or two of left over candy canes.

Dinner is Progresso chicken and rotini soup and more turkey sloppy joe. No bread since it has succumbed to mold. Sheritha would at least applaud that.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Theraflu & Angel Soft

The cold that has been lurking around the edges for the past couple weeks is kicking things up a notch. Now I have congestion, a sore throat, achiness, and overall lethargy. Way to start the new year.

Of course, being cold-riddled is now conducive to dieting since the last thing I want to eat is a salad. I want carbs. Sweet, delicious, stomach-calming carbs.

Right now I'm eating chicken noodle soup and crackers. For lunch I had some of the spaghetti from last night and a salad. Which is good. But I also sampled my co-workers peppered steak and rice, sweet potato salad, and come birthday cake left over from the weekend. And a sinfully yummy jalepeno and cheese bagel. I ate small portions of things but I did eat them.

And I didn't work out since there's a strict policy about coming in sick. I did come in to finish writing out my checks for payment and to drop off some Avon. Yes, Avon. I'm very proud of being probably the most laid back Avon lady ever. If you want something, buy it. If not, hey, no problem.

But, that's neither here nor there. In short, I'm eating because they make me feel better when I'm sick. I'm also eating fruit. And did have a fairly healthy breakfast: Special K w/ soy milk, 4 strips of turkey bacon, and two apples. Plus coffee and cold medicine. So I'm least putting in a little effort and I'm forcing myself to ignore the Ritter Sport bar in the fridge.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

What Were We Talking About Again?

In my previous book-phoria, I neglected the originial purpose of this thing: the diet.
Today has been so-so diet wise. Breakfast was 3 pieces of turkey bacon, cereal with soy milk, and some pineapple and coffee. Lunch was a big bowl of peas and brown rice and some of my mom's turkey sloppy joe. My mom is a benign diet-killer. She doesn't mean it and she always has food to share because she still hasn't quite mastered cooking for one. But at least this was turkey rather than beef.

Dinner is whole wheat spaghetti with ground turkey and peppers. Not Sheritha approved but delicious. I'm going to be optimistic and say no desert.

MMmmmm...Books

Thanks to my generous co-worker, I now have a several new books to find homes for. The Borders at Marley Station is closing so I really got to put the gift card to work. I got:

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
The Man's Book (for the husband)
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves
Vampire Hunter D Volume 13
The Devil In The White City
Black is The New White by Paul Mooney
Cranioklepty by Colin Dickey
Spicy But Sweet
Love Machine
The last two are yaoi cause sometimes you just need some prettily-drawn man on man action.
Go Books!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Back To Basics

I am now the proud owner of Barbie Basics Model #4. I have a thing about getting Black Barbie dolls, particularly ones with very ethnic features. I particularly love the short hair cut and dark skin. I'm considering keeping her mint in the box but I think I'll dress her up.

I had considered keeping my Flavas dolls MIB but it's a bear dragging all of the boxes around every time we move. And, honestly, it's not like I'm going to finance my retirement on some ill-conceived, insulting dolls.

Sunnydale vs London

Is Demons going to be like Buffy but with different accents?

Gift Card-Apalooza

Along with the aforementioned cake and ice cream, I received some gift cards as part of my last day celebration. Very unexpected and quite generous gift cards, no less. So of course I had to go use them today since, like most things, if I didn't do it right away, I'd forget and only find the gift cards about two years later while cleaning out a drawer.

So that was the plan for the day.

We got up a little late and had a rushed breakfast of coffee and Cream of Wheat for me and coffee and oatmeal for the husband. Since we stayed in yesterday, we had to run errands like doing the recycling and going to the store for my mom. Except my mom overslept and didn't call to tell me her store list and our local recycling center wasn't taking anything in because they didn't have anymore dumpsters and were short staffed. So we ended up heading out to scenic Marley Station to make the best use of the gift cards.

Of course by the time we got there, our breakfasts were in our respective knees. So the first stop was food. We by passed most of the food court and settled on Ruby Tuesday, innocuous but with enough non-greasy options to not threaten my gallbladder.

The meal would not have been approved by my trainer, Sheritha, from Bodies on Line. She's very much a purist about the diet. Minimal carbs, no cheese, certainly no Southwestern Eggrolls. I did have a salad though. The Sante Fe chicken salad and unsweetened iced tea and no desert. And we then walked around the mall. So hopefully that counts for something.

Dinner, once we finally got home, turkey sloppy joes (on bread, sadly) and salad. Of course, I'm now munching some low cal popcorn.

I'm trying to get back on the diet stick but I have a love-hate-extra hate relationships with Sheritha's strict, no frills, no international foods, diet. Afterall, what is life without naan, vindaloo, and udon noodles?

Friday, January 1, 2010

Welcome To Squishy Land

Tis the day of resolutions. I want to say that I'm not going to give in to free-floating pressure and make a bunch of promises that I won't keep but I do want 2010 to be a better year. I want to do better with my diet/exercise plan. I want to save more money and maybe go on a cruise or something this summer. I want to look into buying a house now that a rowhome won't set us back $400,000.

So, I guess. in the most general way, those are my 'resolutions'. Or goals.

Of course, I'm getting off to a wonderful start with the diet part since my breakfast consisted of a big cup of tea with cold medicine, a bowl of boxed soup (mmmm....salty deliciousness), and an orange.

In my defense, I woke up achy and with a sore throat and the salt helps that. The bad thing is that I still have a piece of cake left over from my Last Day party at work. And when I don't feel well, it's harder to resist the siren call of sugar. Maybe the husband will eat it.

On the upside, if I keep seeing commercials for Newsmax featuring Sarah Palin, I'll lose my appetite