*sigh*

Caught a glimpse of myself on a restaurant security camera. Hair looked great, body didn't. Granted, my outfit is NOT flattering today - I couldn't pick anything to wear so ended up with unflattering khaki pants and a white shirt that hits right at the waist of the pants so its choppy and chunky!

In other news, I got approved for a line of credit with John Deere. My hairdresser, Mindy, her hubby works for them and is going to help me get one that suits my needs. I figure paying $30 a month for a really good lawnmower is better than paying $120 a month for half-assed lawn care. I can always sell it, but I figure its a good investment.

My nieces, who love wearing the John Deere t-shirts, hats and purses, will be very happy I'm sure....

Post-Vacation Letdown

I can already tell today is going to suck. First of all, I'm so relaxed and mellow from my fun weekend that I'm in slow-motion. I usually need stress and aggravation to get me going. And naturally everyone is bringing me stuff to do first thing...

But I had a GREAT four-day weekend. First of all, it was four days. Second of all, I got a kick-ass haircut and highlights. Thirdly, my house got pretty cleaned up, for the party. Fourth, my cookout went over very well - everyone loved my house, and the food was good - Todd and Arlette and Matt and Traci brought me the biggest, most beautiful bouquet of flowers I've ever seen! The night ended with a good bonfire, and all of us on blankets sitting around it talking and drinking. The next morning I had to get up at 6:30 to be at church by 8 - and I didn't think I'd feel like singing at all, but I recovered in time. My friend Chad came to NHF for the first time and he loved it - he'd met everyone at the party and definitely wanted to give it a try. I'm sure as an ex-Catholic it was quite an experience... a full band, and the worship team ("choir") in hawaiian shirts and jeans... it was a powerful sermon, too, on handling loss and the anger and questioning that comes when it feels like God is silent during that time.
Sunday afternoon I snoozed with the kitty cats, then went and had pizza and watched MST3K at a friend's house.
Monday I slept late, then headed over to Matt & Traci's - aka The Johnson Inn, which has officially opened for the summer - to sit by the pool and drink, and talk, while the boys made us beer-butt chicken (very, extremely tasty) and then we ate. Good times.

But today I'm so tired......and don't want to be here at work!

Logic in All Its Forms

So, at my job I sit near the window where citizens come and pay their water bill. I hate when they cut people's water off for not paying, but one thing I do love is to hear some of the comebacks they get - not when their water is cut off, mind you, but just when they come in to pay their bill as normally.

There's a guy in here who came in to pay and he owes $178 in water bill charges. He says "That is too much. Its too high a bill." Says this like three times. And Janice is trying to help him, showing him that he needs to see his apartment complex people and find out if something is wrong, but that he will still have to pay it (we buy our water from a neighboring municipality, so people do have to pay for the water they use, but the Town is always willing to work out a payment system if you're struggling). "No. It's too much."

He eventually paid and left.

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be public servants...

Thursday is Friday!

Today is my Friday, hooray! I took the day off tomorrow, and I have Monday off too for Memorial Day. So, not only a four day weekend but two four-day weeks in a row. So today will be a bit busy - I need to go by Curves and get a traveling pass so I can use the one in Durham where I live, tomorrow; after work I am treating myself to a massage (mmmmmmmmm) at Moonshadow Massage, with the lovely and talented Sami Clark. Sami used to work at Iatria and I loved her massages; it was by desperate accident that I stumbled upon Moonshadow and found her working there now! I like this business - their hour-long massages are really an hour, all 60 minutes instead of 50 like most spas. If you live in the Triangle Area of NC, I recommend checking it out and tell her Natalie sent you so I will get 10% off! After that I'll return my library books, then I have to head to Apex for Worship Team practice.

Tomorrow is sleeping in a bit, then heading to see my pal Mindy who lives in the beautiful little town of Pittsboro. She goes to my church and she does my hair. She always looks gorgeous, and she was great with my hair when it was really short, and thanks to her the growing out process has been surprisingly less painful than usual. We are going to color it, to auburn. Red, I guess, which I love. I"ve decided to go ahead and go red so I don't have to worry about being tan. Then I've got to clean, clean, clean for the cookout-party I'm having Saturday night and go workout. Saturday is more party preparations - any last minute cleaning, food shopping and preparation, decorating. I also need to buy some hanging flower plants for my porch and maybe cut the grass a little bit since my lawn guy dumped me the other day. Wanker.

Sunday morning is church, from 8:00 to about 12:15 since I'm singing - have to be there for both services. Then the rest of the weekend I can chill!

Sorry, sorry, sorry!

I know I haven't posted in several days. My internet connection at home is slow and irritating, and I spent much of the weekend catching up on cleaning and sleeping. The past two days at work have been so unbelievably crazy - yesterday was horrible and I don't even remember why. I looked forward to my workout all afternoon (can you believe it?) and when I got there I practically went into another dimension I worked out so hard. It felt great. Unfortunately I had no energy left by the time I got home! I wanted to do some cleaning, but didn't feel like it. So I made homemade pizza instead (honey wheat crust, made in the bread machine, tomato sauce, basil, oregano and LOTS of mozzerella) and spent quality time with the cats. I also ate some carrots and watched some of the first season of Gilmore Girls on DVD. I reeeeeeally wanted to change my sheets but hadn't the energy. Changing the sheets on my bed (king size pillow top) is like a half hour ordeal.

I do have to clean though - the dog and I are both coughing and sneezing, despite some light dusting and sweeping. And I'm hosting a small cookout on Saturday evening, and many people coming haven't seen the house. Speaking of which, I need to post some pictures of that on here...
Fortunately I took Friday off, so I have that day and Saturday to prepare in addition to the rest of the week. Then we have Monday off, too, so two four-day weeks in a row.. hurrah!

I need to find a different camisole to wear under this shirt. Old married men have been flirting with me and looking at my boobs all day. Young, hot ones? No. Old creepy married ones.

In other news, my lawn guy dumped me. Apparently my lawn is just too rough for his mower with the leaves, and sticks, and he mentioned stones but I'm not sure where those are. Oddly enough, my $150 push mower can handle sticks and leaves fine. But his (rather old) riding mower can't? I always pick up the big sticks before he comes (he's come twice). And if you ask me, if your fan belt keeps breaking, then buy a new one. Or a new mower. If you want to make your living mowing lawns you need to invest in good equipment. I'm not being mean, its a simple fact. My feelings were hurt as I felt the lawn is fine - and I've been cutting grass since I was 11. The only reason I hired someone is because I can't afford a riding mower and I don't have enough time/energy to mow an acre with a push mower. So I thanked him for his time. The first day he came out there I took his wife all over Durham to find houses for rent since they want to move there. Also that first time, I paid him in full - $100 (since the grass was tall) when he only did 1/4 of the yard as it was about to rain, and then he didn't come back for four days. So its really for the best.

Maybe I can hire a gorgeous young college man to cut it, shirtless.

The Beautiful Lady

There are usually several women working out at Curves when I go, but the last two times one lady really captured my attention. She introduced herself to me after the instructor recognized me as being new and her name is Fay. She has to be one of the most captivating ladies I've ever seen.

She is probably in her mid-sixties; but she has few wrinkles, and beautiful silver-white hair, that is in a stylish short pixie cut. Her skin is beautiful and glowing, and her makeup is tasteful and immaculate. Her body, I am not joking, was that of an 18-year-old. Just looking at her motivates you to work out there!! You could tell that she was also smart and educated; hardworking, and just probably a very interesting person.

I want to look that good when I'm her age.

Hell, I want to look that good now!! I bet she gets hit on by lots of men, probably much younger than her, and I can't get one to talk to me to save my life. Oh well... in a few months...

Yay Me!

Today was my third workout at Curves and it was great! I found out on Wednesday that you are actually supposed to do 2 1/2 times around for the full 30 minute workout. So today I get to the 2 1/2 part and I was like "I could just do the rest of the circuit" and I did! I was quite happy that my stamina has increased that much and that I enjoy it that much. And today rather than being sleepy or tired, I still feel quite alert.

To celebrate, I let myself go to Wendy's and I got a grilled chicken sandwich (why is the lettuce piece so big?), a fruit cup and some unsweetened tea. I just had a snack of a piece of cake that was only about 3 inches wide and a glass of milk.

I have another story from today's workout, but I want to put it in a separate post.

I can't remember the last time I worked out three times in a week. High school?

Motivation

I thought that having my measurements taken and written down, for me to see in someone else's writing, was a great motivator. That was nothing compared to trying on bathing suits I'd ordered. I guess I'll be wearing my trusty slimming halter with support cups from Target (yay Target!) again this summer, but that's ok... summer comes around again. The problem is the weird bump on my back from spina bofida (lack of vertebrae completion by birth) - it just makes this curve coming out my back like another stomach, and throws it all out of proportion. And then there's the boobs. Except for the halter suit I have, every suit I put on either pushes them up to my chin or has some major J.Lo cleavage going on. That would not be so bad if I had the JLo stomach, arms and legs to go with it. Please, booby fairy, you have blessed me so well, come and take back some of what you have given me and pass it on to someone who wishes for more.

The Starting Point

I realized I hadn't really officially started a record of my weight-loss efforts, so here we go.
I already mentioned joining Curves and tomorrow will be my third workout. So far I am very happy with their program - its easy and effective but not killer. I plan to do the required 2 1/2 times around the circuit for one month, then get my measurements again, and increase to 3 times around. I'm also discovering that I eat much healthier on the days I work out, so I want to try to walk or swim on the days in between - something light that won't fatigue me and get me discouraged.
I don't remember all my exact measurements, but I know this:
Height - 5'2"
Weight - 157 (my goal is to lose 25-30 pounds - I plan to play it by ear and just say "Ok, I like this")
Size - 12/14, which I knew. They asked me what size I wanted to be, which I thought was a great change from "This is the size you should be". I said a 7/8, so we took my measurements and calculated the number of inches I would need to lose to be that size, which came to 29 inches total (arms, bust, abdomen, waist, hips, thighs) to lose. They will weigh and measure me again once a month, so I'll post the results for you to see. I won't bore you with my food journal though : )

P.S. I will put links to other blogs on here soon...

The Giggles

So I'm at work, and these two nice, sweet men (obviously together) come in and pay their water bill near where my desk is. I'm not paying much attention till my friend Stacie next to me emails me: "wow. double fanny packs'

So I look up and sure enough, they have their matching black fanny packs on and I just exploded into giggles.

Why did that make me laugh?? I promise I'm not high, or drunk! Oh well.. I needed a laugh..and they were pleasant folk, which is all that matters to me.

Fanny packs. So useful, yet so amusing.

*Snrk* I keep saying "fanny pack" to myself and it makes me giggle.

Obviously, I am in need of a vacation.

Svelteness Approacheth

Just got back from my second workout at Curves and I feel good. I love that calm-rush you get after working out, and that slight throb in the muscles. I'm going to try not to sit at my desk without moving all afternoon since I'd probably freeze into a sitting position. It really does feel good to finally DO something about losing this last amount of weight. I don't want to be skinny - i like have curves. But I do weigh too much for my height and I want to be slender, toned and have some stamina. I know its going to take a while, but maybe it won't take TOO long. I'm hoping to see some real results by midsummer, and possibly reach my goal weight by autumn. In the meantime I can already tell a difference in my stress levels, energy and ability to resist junk, although if I REALLY want something I do have it.

Speaking of which, I've eaten no lunch yet. Ta ta...

A Need Exists!

I'm almost ashamed to admit this, but I don't own a digital camera. I don't have much extra money and I tend to waste what I have on silly things like, I don't know, new underwear, or pizza or dinner out... My goal is to build up some savings though, because I really don't have anything to fall back on in an emergency and that's no bueno. So for awhile, any pictures on here will be ones that my lovely friends who DO have digital cameras have taken for me.... pictures of my house, my doggie, and of me... I think I'll just completely embarrass myself and post a pictoral and journaled documentation of my weight loss. I have 25-30 lbs to lose and a total of 29 inches. I just joined Curves for Women and I love it - its so un-gymish, and its easy. I like to exercise, I just always get bored and feel like a hamster on a treadmill, while the thin, tan girl with perfect swingy shiny hair is next to me, effortlessly working a Stairmaster for 55 minutes.

Now I need to get some work done... stay tuned!

Ta-Da!

Well, here I am - my pro-blogging cousin Sarah has been pester, um I mean encouraging me to start my own blog. I don't really know yet what I'll put on here - maybe some of my writings, or I'll tell you when I find cool stuff, and probably document my weight loss and growing-my-hair out struggles. Scintillating stuff, huh?

You will also hear quite a bit about my dog, Tigger.

Hokay, let me see what this thang looks like and then I'll do some more...