Today was shoe shopping day. But it took me a lot longer than I thought. I went to Academy Sports & Outdoors (I would provide a link, but I'm mad at them, so I'm not going to) and went to the womens section. I found a cool pair of running shorts for the gym and then toodled on over to the shoes to find myself a new pair. (I've had my old pair since oh, about 1998.)
So I found one I liked and marched up to the totally unhelpful sales guy. He looked like he was daydreaming. I asked him to fetch a pair of Adidas from the 10-foot-high shelf. They didn't have any in my size, 9. Okay, fine. What about these other Adidas? Nope, none in my size there either. I asked the guy to look for size 9 in FOUR different shoe styles and they didn't have them. I was looking for the darker-colored shoes, since white ones are a real pain and they get dirty so quickly.
As I'm marching out of the store, I contemplated buying the running shorts, but I figured, Why should I patronize this place when they're not competent enough to stock shoes in all sizes?
I promptly went across the street to Famous Footwear and got a pair of New Balance running shoes. You can see them here. They're pretty cool and they feel like they have lots of support. I've had my Adidas for so long that I forgot how cushioned they were supposed to feel.
I also got a pair of plain white canvas Keds sneakers on sale for $15. I haven't had a pair of these since I was in about ninth grade. I forgot how incredibly comfortable they are. And they were just my size - even a AAA width, just like I need (but can never find). It's like they were meant for me.
Anyway, enough about shopping. Last night Mark and I watched The Alamo on DVD. Or rather, he watched it while I sat in the next room and half-listened. I'm really not into Westerns. We also rented The Mexican, and we'll probably watch that tonight. We're supposed to go out to dinner somewhere and stop by Central Market to pick up some gourmet beers.
Last night I kinda indulged and had 2 slices of frozen pepperoni pizza. I had another for lunch today. But I think I'll definitely get something light when I'm at dinner later.
Aren't they cute? Dude on the left is the ornery one. He comes to you to be petted; don't approach him. Oscar is the lazier and easygoing one. Mark likes him better (don't tell Dude...).
Wow, can't believe it's noon already. I've been revising other people's writing all morning and didn't even realize it was lunchtime till I got up to go to the restroom and realized that I'm the only one in the whole office right now. It's kinda fun, though.
I had a moment of weakness last night at HEB. We were in the frozen foods and Mark was piling Eggos into the cart, so I reached for a box of Hot Pockets - the kind you eat for breakfast with sausage, egg and cheese. And I ate one this morning - all 350 cals of it. I'm feeling kinda bad now, because it really didn't even taste that good and I could have been eating my normal toast and fruit or yogurt, for a lot less calories. Oh well. I've learned lately that you can't beat yourself up over every little slip, because it doesn't do any good. You just have to pick yourself up, get over it, and get on with your life.
I did overcome a really bad temptation last night, though, so I'm proud of myself. We were looking at chicken, which is RIGHT next to the bakery, and I could smell the little doughnut cabinet right next to me, filled with muffins, croissants, eclairs, cookies and everything else. I almost died. I haven't had anything like that in a while, and I got a really bad craving. Mark did, too. We were both standing there salivating over it till he said, "Get some," and I suddenly came to my senses and hurried us both away. The craving didn't go away, though, so I told myself if I wanted one this badly tomorrow morning, I'd stop by Randalls on the way to work and get a pastry.
But guess what? I didn't. And I feel much better.
Don't know what we're going to do tonight. We bought this monster ready-to-bake pizza last night (it's HUGE, let me tell you, we had trouble fitting it in the fridge), so I guess we'll eat that and rent a movie. Don't know what to rent, though. I usually have some idea but I'm out right now. Perhaps Best in Show? I've always wanted to get that, but it was out last time. Perhaps...
Well, time to go eat that veggie and mozzarella hot pocket type thing from Weight Watchers. More later....
Been busy since I got home. I had to run to the grocery store and get something for tonight's dinner, then home to change into gym clothes, and back in the car again to the gym, one step ahead of rush hour traffic.
I did 35 minutes of running and walking today, no weightlifting. I read somewhere that you need to wait at least a day between weightlifting sessions - that way, the microtears in the muscles have time to heal (and thus, enlarge the muscle).
Sigh. Another day, another dollar. I finally watched State and Main tonight. It was okay. It's a comedy about a big Hollywood film production crew that basically takes over this Vermont town while filming. I don't know - I'm really not into that ensemble-cast, Robert-Altman type of movie where 10 different storylines are going on at once. Some parts were funny, though, especially the part about the love affair between Alec Baldwin and Julia Stiles. Philip Seymour Hoffman was also really good as the playwright. But I guess I'm biased.
Eats:
Snack - cherry popsicle; Dinner - Steak Voila stir fry with veggies, corn on the cob with dollop of margarine, salad with romaine, tomato, green pepper, red onion, broccoli and light raspberry vinaigrette; Snack - 1/2 cup yogurt and slice toast with butter, skim milk.
I must be doing something right. The boss invited me to lunch today. We went to Thundercloud Subs. It was actually pretty good, as far as deli sandwiches go. I had the small California Club on wheat - it would have probably been pretty healthy, if the guy hadn't caked on the avocado like it was going out of style. I also had Sun Chips, which wasn't so healthy either. But I did drink a Diet Coke. Not nutritious, but not bad either.
I've been looking at my other blog, Help Jen Write Her Novel, and I've concluded that it sucks. No two ways about it. I need some cool stuff to add to it. More than that, I need a good template to make it LOOK interesting. It looks about as interesting as a cardboard box right now. But if you have a minute, take a look at it - any suggestions would be helpful.
The Enetation comment system hasn't been working, so I'm putting my guestbook back up. The link is at the bottom of the page. Not as snazzy, but it works. Or you can e-mail me if you don't feel like expressing your sentiments in public.
What to eat for lunch? Oh right, the veggie & mozzarella diet-type Hot Pockets I brought with me. Hmm. Doesn't quite sound as good as a philly cheesesteak, which I could get about five steps from this building...
No, gotta be strong. STRONG, I SAY!
Hands hurt. At least I'm using my comp time today and blowing this place at 3 p.m. Yay!
Not sure what this means, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Last night was boring. Meant to watch State and Main but didn't have time. I came home and was working on my newer blog till Mark got there, then we went and worked out at Gold's. It was OK. We each did 30 minutes of cardio on the bike, followed by 15 minutes of weightlifting before we decided we were hungry and tired, and left. I'm trying to do bike more than treadmill these days because I think running is what's making my knees and ankles hurt. (Note to self: Buy new running shoes this weekend. You've had yours since you were a junior in college.)
Eats:
(8/21): Snack - 2 cherry popsicles, 70 cals total; Dinner - boiled green beans, crock pot chicken with cream of mushroom soup on them, small amt. of farfalle pasta.
(8/22): Breakfast - 2 slices yummy buttermilk toast with butter, one with butter and jelly
WHEN will 5 p.m. get here??!?? Me want to go home and eat cherry popsicle...Seriously, that's one of the best diet foods I know out there. The ones we have are like 35 calories, they're cold (good in the TX heat) and pretty damn satisfying. I highly recommend them. They're Safeway Select, if you care.
My office is weird. I share a wall with both the men's and ladies' room, so all day long I hear toilets flushing and the tinkle of ... um, relief. I've learned to block it out, but every once in a while I hear something really gross and I feel like I should leave the office to give them some privacy.
Know what I mean?
Getting ready to jet out of here and beat rush hour traffic...
Congratulate me. I went to Wendy's for lunch today with some coworkers. I could have gone the pig route and gotten the jr. bacon cheeseburger, which I LOVE...but no, I got the Mandarin Chicken Salad! It wasn't really low fat by any means - the dressing did me in - but it's GOT to be better than greasy meat, cheese and fries, right?
I also had 2 bites of a breaded chicken fillet sandwich. One of the people I ate with got it by mistake and they just let her have the wrong one AND the right one, since they were going to throw it away.
Paying off a credit card - it's a joy that you can never fully understand, unless you've been caught in the tangled web of debt yourself. I almost had this one maxed out last year, but today the balance reads $0.00 - and it's WONDERFUL. Now I just have to pay off my Citibank account and my student loan, and I'm home free.
Okay, everything's back to normal now. I did some funky things to the HTML code on my template when I set up this blog and it wasn't archiving anything. The page was like a mile long. So I re-applied my blogskin (it's a cool site, check it out) and it seems to be working now. Whew. My apologies to the tons of people that read this page. :-)
Last night we went to the gym again. I did about 35 mins of cardio on the bike and so did Mark, then we left. He wants to do weight training on Wednesdays and Sundays. Fine by me. I usually run on the treadmill, but I was surprised to find that the bike gives you just as good a workout - it just works different muscles and doesn't stress your joints as much. Tomorrow I'll have to go by myself, though, because Mark is bound and determined that he's only going to work out 4 days a week, and I want to do five. Oh well, when I lose the weight and he's still pudgy then he'll be sorry. He eats like such a pig. We had pork chops and sweet potatoes last night - he ate 2 chops, I ate one. After we finish, he goes to the kitchen and, without missing a beat, fixes himself a PB&J! Such a pig, I say. I ate a small piece of toast about an hour later, but come ON - have a little self control!
Eats:
(8/20): Snack - 1 Granny Smith apple, 4 peanut butter crackers, 1/2 cup yogurt; Dinner - 1 pork chop with Shake n' Bake and 1 small sweet potato with margarine; Snack - 1 piece toast with butter & jelly
(8/21): Breakfast - 1 bowl Grainfield's Crunchy Cranberry Cereal, glass of skim milk, 1 cup Yoplait White Chocolate Raspberry Yogurt (not the fat free kind - *sigh*)
I just sent a query to a magazine editor. I'm thinking that maybe I should be doing some freelance stuff. About a year ago, I had this vision of being a travel writer - go all sorts of places, eat at fabulous restaurants and stay at great hotels, and not pay a dime for any of it. But it's a little harder than most people think. You have to start by writing little pieces for crappy travel mags and then work your way up to Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast and all of those big dogs. Then you've got it made, because T+L will pay like $4,000 for a full-length story. If I did a couple of those ... I could pay to buy a newer car ... no car payment necessary! How cool would that be?
So, point being, I sent a query to this guy at this smallish magazine via e-mail. I worked on it for SO long last night ... and now I'm just waiting. Waiting for his rejection, more than likely. What is it about editors? It's like they're programmed to say no. But it HAS been about 3-4 hours since I sent it, which means one of two things:
1. He got the e-mail and he's seriously thinking about accepting the idea.
2. (Most likely) He's busy and he'll reject the query when he gets a minute, or he's out today and he'll reject it when he gets back.
I'm so pessimistic. But being a freelancer IS hard, especially if you're full-time. You have to send a bazillion queries and for every 30 you send, you might get 2 of them accepted. Tough, especially when you count on that money to live. I don't think I could work that way - a job with a guaranteed check - that's my style.
What a shock. I was just sitting here minding my own business today when my boss comes in and asks me if I still want to go to Fort Worth for the conference. Do I ever?!?!!! Great. So I'm going to drive up there in a rental car on a Thursday and stay till a Sunday. Yay!!! It's always a lot of fun to hang out with other journalists, esp. since there aren't any others in this office ... boy, do they know how to drink. Plus, I get my own hotel room this time. Last time, I had to pay for it myself, so I had to find a roommate. I shared with two girls from the University of Arkansas. They were nice, but they were strangers, so it was weird.
Whew. I just got off the phone with my old neurologist's office in Alabama, trying to wheedle some more Tegretol out of them before my prescription runs out. I thought I had another refill left, but lo and behold when I go to refill it I find out that the prescription has EXPIRED. So it was kinda looking like I wasn't going to have any Tegretol and I might have a seizure, but they agreed to give me a 30-day supply. Let's hope it lasts till my appt. with my new neurologist, which is on Sept. 23.
Mark and I went to the gym last night and we each did 40 minutes of cardio. That's a record for me. I think my previous record was 30 minutes running and walking. I just get so BORED on that treadmill ... it's not the exertion at all. They never have any good magazines and the TVs are always turned to some lame show, like it was on Dog Eat Dog last night. And you can't hear them, anyway. We didn't do any weight training but I did some on Monday so I figure I'm OK.
Also, today I didn't eat as much breakfast as I normally do. I usually have 2 slices of toast and then 1 cup of fat-free yogurt at work, but I didn't eat the yogurt today. There was all kinds of stuff going on - honing the rave story, my boss asking about the conference, the photos for next month's issue, blah blah blah - I didn't have TIME to be hungry. Maybe I just need to be busier.
Eats:
(8/19): Lunch, Weight Watchers Veggie Pizza; Dinner, Kung Pao chicken. Not too bad.
(8/20): Breakfast, 2 slices toast and skim milk; Lunch, Kung Pao chicken. Kiwi Strawberry Crystal Light to drink. Not bad tasting, actually.
Heavy stuff. I obviously missed that retarded "rave" or whatever on the outskirts of town Saturday, because it was cancelled, but I opened my paper today and saw that someone in town died of an Ecstasy overdose anyway. Apparently the party had quickly been moved to somewhere else and a guy OD'd on MDMA there. Wow. Makes you realize just how dangerous these raves are. The entire time I was doing this magazine story about them, I truly believed they were fairly safe for smart young adults. I figured it was just the teenagers ODing. Not so - this guy was 22.
Other than that, Mark and I went to see "Signs" Saturday night at the movie theater. It was OK - my mom had been singing its praises, so we decided to go. I wasn't aware that it was about aliens. There were a lot of funny parts and some jolting jump-out-of-your seat parts. It got a lot more enjoyable once Mark and I started digging into our bucket of longnecks (5 for the price of 4, baby - don't worry, it's legal, they sell it there).
Then on Sunday we went to my aunt's house for grilled hamburgers. My younger cousins have to start school today - boy, did they look bummed last night. I guess I was a nerd when I was in grade school - I really looked forward to school starting again, mostly because I would get to see people who I didn't see much of during the summer.
Eats: (8/17): Dinner - One Sonic No. 1 hamburger, 3/4 order fries (oh, the shame)
(8/18): Breakfast - Grainfield's Crunchy Cranberry Cereal, 1 slice toast with margarine; Lunch - ham sandwich, Cheetos; Dinner - grilled hamburger, potato chips, baked beans, 1/2 slice chocolate silk pie
(8/19): Breakfast - 2 slices toast with butter, 1 Yoplait Fat Free yogurt, 1/2 chocolate chip-oatmeal cookie (throwing the rest away RIGHT NOW)
I think my worst eating problems crop up on the weekends. I'm always going places and eating out, so of course I always want to get the fat-laden, pack-on-the-pounds stuff. Monday through Friday, I'm fine, I'll eat fat free yogurt, fruit and salads - but my biggest downfall is the weekend. I took a test on weightwatchers.com once and it said I was a "hedonist" - that is, I eat in celebration of certain events, even if they're not that special. I guess on Saturday and Sunday, I'm just celebrating not having to work.
Mark and I DID go work out on Sunday afternoon, but we had to leave after about 25 minutes because Mark got sick from overexertion. I was upstairs using the treadmill and he was downstairs using the weights. He comes up to me and says, "I don't feel good. I think I need to throw up." So I give him my water bottle and tell him to go over there to the chairs and sit down for a few minutes till he recovers. After a few minutes, I see him get up from the chairs and walk into the men's locker room. That pretty much tells me that he's going to go barf. And sure enough, five minutes later he walks up to me and his face is white as a ghost. So we left.
Why do men do that kind of thing? I don't increase the weight on my workouts till I'm sure I can handle it, and even then it's only by about 5 pounds or so. I think he went from 70 pounds of resistance to 80 pounds and did a lot more reps.
Oh well. Gotta go revise my rave story to include stuff about the death of this kid...
Name: Jen Location: DFW, TX Occupation: Journalist WHY this stupid blog?: To lose the 20 pounds I've packed on since high school and to entertain you with stories about my fabulous life. Current Weight: 138 My Goal Weight: 115 Pounds to Go: 23
