Saturday

Yesterday MHM and I were sitting in a little restaurant that we went to primarily because they had free Wi-Fi, but also because the food is good. He looked over at me and said, "You know, if you had told me when I was 8 years old that one day I'd be sitting in a bistro eating a mushroom sandwich, my first response would have been, well, that doesn't matter because I didn't know what a bistro was. But my second would have been, 'Mushroom sandwich? EEEUUUUUWWWWW!'"

We made a steak dinner that featured gorgonzola butter, garlic seasoned fries, and fruit bowls of honeydew melons, grapes, and pineapple. It was very green. Later I drove 30 miles to find a Dunkin Doughnuts, and got there 5 minutes to close. Damn we're good.

I think I may owe Tony Robbins my relationship. MHM has started to pull himself out of a depression, revealing the man I first fell in love with. And I am very grateful for that.

COMPUTER! WORK!

So last night I had to re-install my entire operating system AGAIN because I cannot for the life of me figure out where the recurring error message is coming from (and neither can the Tech Support people). I figure if I install it and then leave the thing alone for a few days, and I don't get that error message, I can move on to step two: a whole batch of updates. Step 3: anti-virus software. Step 18,000: the internet.

Needless to say, this may be a long process. Therefore, posting might be more sporadic than usual. I'm not going to flatter myself into thinking that the masses will be heartbroken at my absence or anything, but if anyone was wondering... that's the explanation. :)

Thursday? How? Already?

This week has been insanity week at the zoo. Or work, you have your words and I have mine. My boss has been put on a special project for the next few MONTHS, which means that my team is, well, taking one for all of us. On top of my already crazy workload, I got another project handed to me with very little explanation. I really don't mind because it is all adding up to good things in the future. But I've been so stressed out this week that Co-worker Heather called me up on speaker phone so she could blast NKOTB's "The Right Stuff" into my skull. Which did make me laugh. Also makes me laugh that I typed NKOTB instead of typing the whole thing out because didn't they try some lame comeback with that name? I don't know much about it, I was in third grade when they were, like, totally cool. Couldn't even tell you their names.

Let's see, my time has been spent well, other than work. This weekend Handsome Man and I got exercise balls and they are SO MUCH FUN. At first I was like, "Damn, is that thing going to hold me?" But then I got to rolling around on the floor like a toddler and that made me giggle and now the ball and I are best friends. Everyone should have one. I watch TV on mine. We also made Maple Leaf shaped pancakes (complete with Vermont Maple Syrup, YUM) from a kit my mom got for us for Christmas. And we roamed around Hobby Lobby for what might have been hours, looking for fun stuff. I got more of the boxes MHM gave me for Christmas and now my office is organized, complete with labels. Neeeeeeerrrrrrd!

Not much more to say. I've been walking every weekday. Doing at least 100 crunches a night. Feeling good, eating fairly healthy. I HATE walking inside on the treadmill but suddenly my fair southern city has been blasted with cold, so outside walking is out of the question. So I've been watching DIY channel home makeovers to try to distract myself from the distance walked on that boring little monitor. Lap 1..... Lap 1..... Lap 2.... SIGH. 4 laps are okay, but 6 are better. If I can stave off the boredom.

Tonight I am wearing Pear Blossom body splash from Bath and Body Works and I have to tell you this stuff ROCKS. I get a whiff of it every now and then and I think Hmmm, what is that? OH! It's ME! Lovely! Like there's anyone else around here that it could be? Yeesh.

This post is long and disjointed enough, I better quit while I'm ahead. :)

A Weighty Issue (Ah HAHAHAHA! I am so witty I kill me)

So, I feel like talking to somebody about this, but I can't. So, any lucky person reading this (all two or three of you) can pretend that I'm having a very one-sided conversation instead. My weight has finally morphed from my feeling a little heavy at times but generally good about myself to something much... darker and sadder. I don't know if it was the constant talk from another Heather out there, a tiny body-obsessed one who was driving me nuts with the egg-whites and oatmeal and steamed salmon talk, or the fact that my jeans weren't fitting right, or the fact that I was tired all the time. On a completely more depressing level it was the fact that I cannot bring myself to tell MHM how much I weigh. And then realizing that I was saying I didn't want a nice pretty wedding because I don't think I can stand in front of people at this size in a big white dress.

I know, the saddest thing ever. Let's talk about my plummeting self-esteem later.

But I have finally decided to get off my butt and do something about this problem that I have FULL CONTROL over but seem to be too lazy to do anything about. This has been a big epiphany for me. I know I've heard about 10,000 times that the only person who can change you is YOU, but now I finally get it. No one will get me off my ass but me. Duh.

I wouldn't call it dieting, just eating more consciously. For instance, stopping when I'm full and not snacking incessantly. Trading better foods for foods I might have eaten before. And being good to myself about my food choices, because ultimately it IS my choice.

The second part is excerise. I have belonged to 2 gyms in the past but my going was sporadic at best and not very fun. Once I got there the noble feeling I had got me through my workout, but dragging myself there just sucked. So I'm not really a gym girl. But a woman at work just had gastric bypass surgery and has to walk every day. So I'm walking with her every afternoon and it's been really fun. Having a partner helps so much. At first it was hard and we did smaller walks, but we're up to a mile and a half in 1/2 an hour now, not too shabby! Since we starting walking, maybe 3 or 4 weeks ago, I've lost five lbs. Not anything excessive, but something is working, especially when you consider that Christmas was right in the middle of that. (I don't even want to mention that in the past 7 weeks my walking buddy has lost 40 lbs. But that's an entirely different thing.) This is the point where I get scared that something is happening and freak out and stop. I'm not doing that this time.

I've also been doing 100+ sit ups every night. Just because I want to. Soon I'll work in some arm weights, but not quite yet. My Dad got a Wii, on which I was bowling on Saturday and my shoulders are KILLING me.

So there, my weight-loss talk is over. That wasn't so bad, was it? On to less difficult subjects!

Another one has found me!

Sooooo, after the downright TRAUMA of My Handsome Man finding and reading (the horror!) my blog, I actually just flat-out TOLD my little sister where to find it. On the condition that she never ever tell my parents. I think I'm coming along rather well here.

I wonder what she'll think about this- after all it is mostly me bitching about my car or teeth or computer or whatever other hassle comes up. Or it is me going on about vapid crap. I'm getting better at writing about that because my secret dream is to be a bombshell a la Dita Von Teese. Don't know her? Google it. She's the image of high-maintenance upkeep. She's fabulous. She's into corsets. We should do lunch.

Today's installment of the computer woes: I called because of this random spontaneous reboot my computer seems to be into lately. I say "random" and "spontaneous" because it happens every single day and the only way I know is from the error message waiting for me when I sit down to do something important, like check my email. So I called, and the guy had me do a System Restore (totally dumb and useless seeing as my system has been doing this ever since it was installed last month) and then re-start my computer. "Did you get the error message?" "No, of course not." "So this problem is resolved!?" GAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! Why did I just extend that warranty? You might be seeing me on the news....

On a more positive note, yesterday I organized my office into boxes and shelves and while it is stil not QUITE where I want it, it's a hell of a lot better than it was. I can't believe how much better things look without clutter. Pack it into a box and it's like an island of instant calm in here. Not to mention all of the crap I got rid of. Why am I keeping boxes for computer parts to my old computer? Why am I keeping icky wool that I will never in a million years want to spin? Or yarn made out of such cheap acrylic that I can actually feel it squeaking between my fingers? Or pens that don't work? And why exactly did I have 7 (that's right, SEVEN) boxes of 20 crayons? And don't even get me started on the big box of books I've been trying to get rid of for about 4 months now. Maybe I can donate them to the library book sale.

My New Year's purge cycle is in full swing!

Phones!

In more exciting news, my cellphone suffered a major injury. I had to get a new phone. I'm really more excited about it than I should be.

I've been driving MHM nuts doing my fantastic impression of Drunk Girl from Saturday Night Live. It was on last night, and now I can't stop. "Do you wanna know what you are? Do you wannanowhat you are? Do you wannanowhatcheware? Doyawannanochar?" It might be getting a little old....

Happy New Year

Two years ago I hung out with my dad at a pseudo New Year's Eve "gathering" and every guest was gone by 9:00 pm, his girlfriend and her son were in bed asleep, and dad and I sat in the basement drinking beer and watching South Park. It was not good. That night I vowed never to have such a terrible New Year's. Don't get me wrong, it was fine, but I was expecting more.

Last year MHM and I were in a cloud of luuuurv and went to bed early to read books and snuggle. It was a very good New Year's Eve. Low key, but happy.

This year MHM and I went to his uncle's house and hung out with his family and I had so much fun. Between the old army stories and the "discussion" about business ethics vs. your boring everyday ethics, the food, the drinks, and the general loudness, I had a good time. And I got to kiss my sweetie at midnight, then listen while people made obnoxious phone calls to relatives. This is why I really like his family- they're a touch insane.

Party blowers sound like moose in heat.


Happy New Year. :)

I don't believe in resolutions. They induce guilt, and they're forgotten by March. I believe in lifestyle changes.