Not the Best Week

I had my Weight Watchers meeting this morning, where the Evil Scale of Doom revealed that I had gained .4 pounds this week.

Usually I can schedule things so that I only have to deal with high calorie events once a week. This week, however, I had the Smart Man's birthday, my trip to Phoenix and my monthly family get-together.

So this result, while disappointing, isn't exactly a surprise.

One of the reasons I chose to use Weight Watchers as my weight control mechanism this time is that I understand I need to fundamentally change my relationship with food. In the past, I've never really had trouble losing weight once I made the decision to do so - my trouble has always been maintaining a healthy weight. I understand that yo-yo dieting is not good for my health, and quite frankly, I'm getting tired of thinking about it. I'm tired of wondering if a suit, dress or pair of jeans will fit from week to week. I'm tired of wondering what my weight is doing to my joints and cardiovascular health. It's boring, and I want to spend my time and energy on things that don't make me sick of being around myself, so to speak.

So I chose Weight Watchers, and I chose to actually attend meetings and develop a relationship with my Weight Watchers leader in an effort to change the way I think of and look at food. (Ironically, I met my leader for the first time today, because she's been on vacation since I joined the program.) I'm hoping the accountability of going to meetings, weighing in and providing status reports here on my sidebar will help me make a fundamental shift in my attitude about food.

Part of that attitude change needs to include the fact that food is a crucial aspect of my life. In my family and circle of friends, food has always been a focal point in terms of our social life and celebrations. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but I need to learn to enjoy the social and celebratory aspects of food without losing my mind and eating a bunch of crap that doesn't lead to a healthy weight.

I also need to accept the idea that I occasionally will have setbacks in my journey towards achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. It doesn't make me a bad person, but it does mean I need to make sure I redouble my efforts to manage my plan in a way that allows me to enjoy a high calorie event without losing any progress.

So I'm trying to look at today's small setback in a healthy way. I'll be back on track for next week's weigh-in, and I'm still ahead of pace to achieve my goal of losing 60 pounds in one year.

Of course, I still have to manage my own birthday next week, as well as a UCF meat-up at the end of the month. Progress not perfection, right?

Boogie Blogging Friday

Here is the Incomparable Boogie™ enjoying his daily rawhide bone in the basement.

He's kind of a cranky dog today, as the roofers are here replacing our hail-ravaged shingles, and he finds the noise bothersome. Not even begging strawberries from his soft, soft Grandma has settled his nerves, but the entire job is taking less than 6 hours, so he really doesn't have much to bitch about.

Boogie, however, does not agree. I've been getting the hairy eyeball since they arrived, and I expect it will continue until his peace and quiet is restored.

Jesus Was the First Zombie, You Know

He was. Just ask my buddy Jim over at Stonekettle Station.

Just don't try to drink anything while you're reading.

Loot! Loot! LOOT for ME! (And SmartMan)

Turns out the Incomparable Anne has an equally Incomparable Cousin named Susan, whom I've met on a couple of occasions over at Anne's.

Aside from being an all-around nice gal, Susan also owns an establishment called The Black Cup Coffee Roaster, where they roast their own blends.

Susan very kindly sent the Smart Man and I a bag of "Uganda Bugisu AA, a wonderful African coffee. Thick and syrupy with hints of figs and dried apple."

We will now pause so you can turn green with envy. GREEN, I say.*

I can't wait to try it. I'm sure it will spoil my Navy blunted taste in coffee forevermore. Thanks, Susan!


*You can purchase your very own The Black Cup Coffee Roaster coffee by following the link. So you really don't have to be envious unless you enjoy that sort of thing.

This Just In - Phoenix is HOT

Phoenix is hot in July. Please send my "Captain Obvious" certificate to the e:mail address at right.

I left for the airport yesterday morning at 5:00 a.m., and I got home yesterday evening at about 9:45 p.m.. Why, yes, I was quite tired, thank you for asking.

My meeting went reasonably well given the circumstances, but in keeping with my policy of keeping my business life out of my personal blog, that's all I'm going to say about that.

One thing I am going to talk about is the topic of women's shoes.

When I was getting dressed yesterday morning, I initially put on the 3 inch heels that matched the suit I had selected. After about 2 minutes in those, I made a command decision to put the pumps in my backpack and wear my Danskos for the trip.



I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY WITH A DECISION IN MY LIFE.

By the time I got home, my feet were a bit swollen, and just imagining wearing those pumps for eighteen hours made me want to cry, although that might have been exhaustion. The three hours I did actually wear them was more than sufficient, thank you very much.

I really like high heels, actually. I like the way they look, I like the way they extend the line of my leg, and if I'm wearing a skirt, I like the way they make my legs look. But for traveling? I'm sticking my high heels in my backpack and going with the frump shoes from now on. And there's a bonus - they're perfect for airport security.

Thanks, Dansko.

Off to Phoenix

Yes, I'm actually leaving my house and wearing something other than shorts and flip-flops to work. Shut up, it does happen.

I'm off to Phoenix this morning for a business day trip. I'm leaving at oh-dark-thirty, and won't be returning until later this evening, so it's going to be a long, long day.* It's a good thing, though, as I'm doing the work for which I'm paid, and it may lead to better opportunities. Go, me.


*I'll be leaving the 95 lb Boogie-Dog on duty, though, so don't even think about paying an unscheduled visit to the Yellow House. He's not necessarily friendly to strangers, which means he should be just delighted when the roofers arrive to load the new shingles on the roof.

What the Fuck is Wrong With These People? - Margery Tannenbaum

Margery Tannenbaum is a Long Island social worker. When her young daughter had an argument with a classmate, Ms. Tannenbaum is alleged to have decided she knew just the thing to fix that girl's wagon - she placed a personal ad on Craigslist with contact information for the 9 year old, publishing the line, "I need a little affection... I'm blond, I'm cute and I'll be waiting."

Christ on a crutch. Who does this?

While I know from personal experience that girls can be mean as hell, that doesn't excuse this kind of bullshit. What kind of person places a sexually suggestive ad for a 9 year old, regardless of their behavior? A disturbed douche bag, that's who.

What the fuck is wrong with these people?

Adventures in Parenting

The Smart Boy is technically an adult. He's had his 18th birthday and he's graduated from High School. But he still lives here at the Yellow House, and he's still a full time student, and thus covered under my benefit plan. We split some of his expenses (like car insurance and vehicle maintenance), I pay for some by myself (health care) and he pays for some by himself (gasoline and cell phone). He doesn't have a curfew, although he is required to let me know if he's not going to be home for dinner (or home at all). He's digging his new-found freedom, and has basically been adhering to our agreement regarding adult children who still live at home due to full time student status.

And yet, when his vehicle wouldn't start yesterday while he was working, his first call was to me, with the expectation that I get a tow truck out there so we could "take care of it right away." In this case, I think "we" can safely be assumed to mean "Mom."

Um, not so much.

I explained that I would not be paying for a premium tow on a Sunday when the soonest a mechanic could look at it was this morning. I'd make sure he got to and from work so he wouldn't lose his job, but his social life was not my concern, and I was not going to drop my Sunday plans so I could spend yet more money his second Hooptie car.*

I think he was actually shocked.

What both of us are learning is that having your mommy swoop in to solve your problems is not typically a characteristic of young adulthood, even if you do still live at home and go to school. I don't know how he's adjusting to this new fact of life, but I can say that it's a bit strange for me. I'm so used to "fixing" things, not only for my kids but in every aspect of my life, that learning to wait and see how he's going to fix things is hard for me. I know it's the right thing to do - I want him to be a self-sufficient, contributing member of society, and this is the way to achieve that goal. I know this. Yet I'm in the habit of putting on my Mom Cape and saving the day. It's my first impulse, even though I know I'm not doing him any favors by doing so.

So both of us are learning this lesson, and it's hard. The latest? He's managed to infect his PC yet again, and neither the Smart Man nor I are taking any action. We've told him there's something going on with it, and that he needs to investigate. Then we disconnected it from the network, and we'll wait to see what he does. I'm itching to see what's going on, but I will resist. Because my duty to him as my child is to let him learn how to be an adult in an environment that is safe, not to protect him from all of life's unpleasantness.


*The Hooptie ended up starting at the end of his work day, but was 4 quarts low on oil. Yes, we had explained that older cars go through oil more quickly. No, he had not been checking his oil. Yes, we explained that if the engine seizes up due to his negligence, he'll be walking. Sometimes that boy stands on my last damn nerve.

2009 Flower Pr0n, Part VIII

These are the only flowers that are left after the hailstorms of the last month. The rose was protected by the house, and the blue flowers were protected by the fence.

I guess I'm going to have to find something else to blog about on Sundays...