Went to Thundercloud Subs today for lunch with Mark. I had the California Club - wheat bread with turkey, provolone, a smear of mayo/mustard, lettuce/tomato and avocado. It might have actually been healthy had it not been for the avocado.
I think my boss is PO'ed. I don't know why. I sure hope it's not anything I did. Yeah, I'm supposed to have all the newsletter crap in by today and haven't sent him anything, but I was planning on sending it all at once today ... Maybe I should send him part of it just to make him happy.
Jen's Calorie Saver of the Day: Today at the sub place I bought Sun Chips with my sandwich. But the sandwich was so filling that I didn't need the chips. So instead of eating them anyway, I saved 'em. They're in the backseat of my car right now. I figure that's about 200 calories saved. Maybe I'll eat some for a snack later.
Friday, woohoo. Not that anything really great is going on. We have a Halloween party to go to on Saturday, but I'm not excited about it anymore. It just doesn't seem right to put on a costume and party down on Nov. 2. It's like opening your Christmas presents on New Year's or something. Mark wants to dress up like Hank Hill from that TV show, King of the Hill. I, however, will be going as myself, unless I can find a cool costume for 50 percent off at Target today.
No kids came to the door last night, which was great. I ate a caramel apple that I made earlier this week and watched TV. I also logged onto the Internet a couple of times to check on this political argument I've been having with some idiots from God knows where. They think good ol' Dubya is the greatest man who ever ran the country and they refuse to listen to any arguments to the contrary. Now, I'm not one of those liberals who just think the president is evil incarnate and that Gore was the true winner. That's something we'll never know. And Bush has done a good job of leading the nation in the so-called "war against terror," though I wholeheartedly disagree with all the secrecy policies that he has forced through Congress, as well as his insistence that we attack Iraq for some high moral purpose. Bullshit. Iraq has oil, and it also has Dubya's father's sworn enemy -- good old S.H. These are totally the wrong reasons to attack a country. One day, the Republicans will have their comeuppance - a Pentagon Papers No. 2, a repeat of the Nixon crap - and then we'll see who's sorry.
But anyway, I'm getting off on a tangent. Tonight I will be going to the gym to do some weights and a little cardio. Then I'm going home to make spaghetti and crash on the couch. How exciting.
If you want a frozen meal that tastes good and has relatively few calories - check out Lean Cuisine's Chicken Enchiladas Suiza. Seriously. It's two small enchiladas with a really good cheesy green chile sauce and some Mexican rice. Doesn't taste like diet food at all. Only 270 calories. Go buy it.
Today I went walking again with some friends from work. We did 3 miles in 45 minutes, walking at a pretty brisk pace and up some hills too. It's really nice because at several points on the path they have these tables set up with a few big cooler things full of Gatorade and water, and they have those paper cone things to drink it out of. But I didn't do any weights - again - so I've got to sit in front of the TV while watching Friends and do some ab work, at least, since I've been ignoring my hamstrings and quads.
Today I overate in a major way. This morning I had just polished off my two-granola-bar breakfast when this guy from the print shop that we work with brought us some breakfast tacos from Taco Cabana. So I ate two of them (they were small). Then I had a Hot Pocket for lunch and in the afternoon went to a Halloween party, where I ate seven-layer dip, some chips, an egg roll, some of that "dirt cake" they always make with Oreos ... it was not pretty. Tonight we are supposed to be having Hamburger Helper and salad, so I'll probably just eat the salad. I had a cup of 7-11 coffee on the way home so I'm not starving right now.
We're not doing anything for Halloween. I was going to buy some candy just in case some kids came by, but I've decided not to, because I know none will and I'd just eat it myself. If it's not around then it's not a problem for me.
I really don't have anything to say. Today is boring. They are having a little lame office Halloween party in about an hour. Yawn.
Mark and I didn't buy any candy so of course that means at least one little kid will knock on our door tonight. I hope they like apples. No, not caramel apples either.
Tonight I tried a new gym. It was still good old Gold's, but I thought it would be worthwhile to try the one downtown, about a mile from my office. Usually, I come home, dress for the gym, and then drive like 10 miles to the south location. I figured this would save me time and gas.
It really didn't do either. Sure, physically I was about a mile from work. But when you consider how many minutes and miles I expended toodling around downtown, looking desperately for street parking that was reasonably close to the gym, the difference really isn't all that great. Plus, I had to contend with the mishmash of weirdos and misfits that have staked out downtown as their personal territory. On the way inside, a scruffy guy with trash bags asked for money. On the way out, while I was waiting to cross the street, a guy with a carpet rolled under his arm asked for 70 cents. I hate being asked for money. Not because I'm cheap or because I don't like homeless people. It's because these people make me feel guilty if I don't give them some pocket change. They (most of them, anyway) try to make it seem like it's my personal duty to give them money, and they get this offended look on their face when I don't comply. Sorry, but the fact that I am employed and have a home does not obligate me to share my money with anyone else. That's the great thing about America. Plus, I usually never even have any change or bills with me anyway, so asking is a waste of time.
It's not that I don't want to help these people. I do. I so do. Lately I've been toying with the idea of volunteering at a local soup kitchen, even. I think something definitely needs to be done about the homeless problem. But me giving 50 cents to a street person isn't going to solve anything. I'd rather buy them a $5 hot meal, or give them a ride to the shelter, or give them some information about a work program, than put change in their cup. I'd rather give them $100 for a day's worth of odd-job work (not that I need that many odd jobs done around here). I'm all about being proactive.
Enetation is acting up. The comment links at the end of every entry disappear and then magically reappear without warning. I have no idea what the problem is. I'm guessing that their services are overextended - they've been asking for donations recently. So if you're feeling charitable, go to their Web site and pitch in a few dollars.
Last night I went running with a coworker. Originally we were supposed to go to the gym downtown, three of us, and sweat it out. But then the other two, who work out together like every day, thought it would be nice to run in the park and enjoy the fall-ish weather we're having. At the last minute one of them couldn't go, so I went with the girl down the hall, who does all the creative graphic stuff here. The run-walk, as it were, kicked my butt. It is SO much harder going up and down hills and around curves, dodging other runners, than it is to trudge in a straight flat line on the gym's treadmills.
And we even had a scary adventure. About three-quarters of the way through, it got dark. Not pink-sky-sunset dark, but DARK. And not all parts of the trail were lit. So we were basically walking through these pitch-dark, cavelike stretches, unsure if there were muggers in the bushes waiting to rob us of our jewelry. Eventually we came up on these hoodlums, who were obviously NOT walking down the trail for exercise. They were wearing hip-hop gear, had long hair, and were whooping it up with each other. I didn't think anything of it until my walking partner said something. THEN I got nervous. We were right behind them, so it would have been easy for them to wait till no one else was around, grab us and do God knows what. After about 10 minutes of trailing them at an uncomfortably slow pace, we decided to sprint ahead of them. I was SO nervous running around them. I was sure that one of them was going to pull my hair or shirt and drag me away into Rape Land. But they didn't do anything. After about 3 minutes of solid Flo-Jo running, we had lost them.
So word to the wise here: Don't run after dark, unless you have a big burly man with you. Even if tons of people are around. It's just not a good idea. The feminists will probably castigate me for saying this, but women are just not safe on running trails, even if they're in pairs. A group of men can easily overpower a group of women, unless the women just happen to be ex-American Gladiators. Better to depend on a man than to get knifed.
Eats:
1 granola bar, 240 cals; 1 small glass milk, 75 cals; 1 12-oz coffee, 10 cals (it had cream in it).
Good news. The folks at the garage said that all Mark needed were some new battery cables. I really do like these guys at this place (it's called Groovy Automotive, for all you Austinites). We had no idea what was wrong with the car. They could have told us anything from a new starter to a new transmission. But they were honest. It's going to cost about $100 total, with the parts, labor and $45 tow to the garage. Good thing. We're on a big-time money-saving plan, so as to prepare for the life-changing event that may soon arise. (As I said before, I can't say anything about it right now. I'll reveal it all either after it's complete, or after the possibility of its occurrence has faded away. But progress has been made on it - within the last 5 minutes, even - and the outlook is good.)
I need to start Christmas shopping. My mom told me last night what she wanted for her present but damn if I can't remember it now. I was thinking of buying one of those French-style message boards (like these) and putting a bunch of photos and stuff on it - of Mark, me, Dude and Oscar, and my aunt ... nice and personalized. But that's the cheap way to go. For work acquaintances, I'm thinking about homemade gourmet apples - I can do those caramel- and chocolate-covered ones dipped in nuts and drizzled with white chocolate, right in my own kitchen. It would probably cost about $20 to make 10 of them, and I don't know a soul on earth that doesn't like them. Either that, or chocolate-covered pretzels. Mmm.
Nope, didn't post Monday. I was too busy being at home sick. Yeah, sick. That's what I was ... actually, it was more like the aftereffects of a bad case of insomnia. I get like this every once in a while. I'll lay down to sleep and within 10 minutes I'll get this feeling, like my body clock telling me, "No, you will not be sleeping tonight. You might as well turn on the light and get to reading, because it will be several hours until I allow you even a 30-minute catnap." So I stayed up most of the night. Even a healthy dose of my emergency Butalbital, a pretty significant narcotic, didn't put me out. (I am not a drug addict. I stockpile these things for surprise migraines and sleepless nights.)
So I stayed home. I actually got up at 7 and took Mark to school (his car's broken down), then I came home and did some pressing work stuff, and e-mailed it to my boss. Then I took a luxurious nap from 9 a.m. to noon. It was great. Then I picked Mark up and we went to the gym and to HEB for groceries. I swear, sometimes I wish that I worked nights. It is SO nice going to the grocery store in the middle of the day. Usually we're there on Saturday or Sunday mornings, when the cereal aisle is gridlocked with squeaky carts and a rather large housewife is standing right in front of the granola bars that you need. But Monday afternoon was easy. Yes, there were traffic jams here and there, but we actually were able to get out of there in under an hour.
But once we got home and started to make dinner trouble arose. You see, I was going to make this rice-chicken casserole last night. It seemed pretty easy and I picked it because we needed to use the umpteen bags of rice that had just been sitting in the pantry. But once we got around to getting them out of the little closet, we saw something odd. It looked as if little white worms were living inside the unopened packages. We could see them crawling around and we saw little bits of fuzzy stuff. We thought they were maggots; you see, Mark had found two of them in his sandwich bag last week - after he ate the sandwich. Gross to say the least.
But after some thought I realized they weren't maggots - they were moth larvae. Yep, little infant moths. We had had some problems a few weeks ago with moths in the pantry. One or two would fly out every time I opened the door, and while it was fun for the cats, it wasn't much fun for me. So I took everything off the shelves and then looked in each box and bag to figure out where they were nesting. Then I squashed all the living moths I saw and hoped that would be it. (I didn't use Raid or anything because we didn't have any.) But obviously it's not. Before my moth holocaust, they apparently laid some eggs in various packages around the pantry, so as to continue their scourge. So until I can find the time to empty the pantry, throw most things out and then douse the shelves with Raid, they will continue to be a part of our household.
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
