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Secret Shame

January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Ok so I normally wouldn’t post this but I felt like I needed to expunge my soul of this heinous crime.

This evening, we were all getting ready to head out for the day when my coworker Bruce turned to me and said, “My wife would be very happy to know we weren’t the only ones who had our Christmas trees still up.”

Pam and Gonzo, two of my other coworkers, turned to me and said in disbelief, “You still have your Christmas tree up?”

By the look on their faces, one would’ve thought I admitted to biting the heads off puppies.

“Yes…” I said reluctantly. “But I took it off the automatic timer last Friday. I just liked coming home to a lit apartment.”

[Read more...]

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It Takes a Village

January 30, 2012 By 2 Comments

You know that saying, “It takes a village to raise a child?”

Well, it takes a village to lose weight and change your life.

Recently I had a follow up appointment with my doctor. I see him every couple months to check my progress and get refills on medication. This most recent visit was a particularly uplifting one. I had not only maintained my weight loss over the holidays, but I also managed to lose a little more. “You are doing excellent,” my doctor said. “Most people gain 3 or 4 pounds over the holidays, but you lost it. And your blood pressure is 118 over 80! I don’t think we’ve seen numbers that low since you’ve been coming here. I’m so proud of you.”

I never really thought I would actually find satisfaction in hearing those words come from my doctor, a man who I’ve really only been seeing for less than a year, but it was a huge boost. I’ve had doctors in the past all tell me the same thing: lose weight, exercise, eat right, blah, blah, blah. I don’t know why that message decided to stick this time around, but I’m glad it has.

It helps to have a physician you feel comfortable with. And it helps to have a support group of people to give you boosts of confidence here and there when you share good news like losing another pound or getting a workout in, which that LoseIt app and my MMEW12 group has given me. Now this little bit of encouragement has left me wanting more so that when I come back in March for my next checkup, I’ll have made even more progress.

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Volume 11

January 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Volume 11

Volume 11, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

I decided to start the year with a new journal. The previous one was ok and in fact I still had pages left in it, but I thought it was an appropriate time to start fresh in a new book.

Like most of my journals, I bought this one at Barnes & Noble. I don’t buy journals exclusively from B&N. I mostly buy them there out of convenience. I like to spend time and effort picking out a journal in person–opening and closing them, laying them flat to test their flexibility, examining the spines and covers for durability, running my thumbs over the pages, and examining the weight of the paper. It’s almost a ritual.

When I choose a journal, I browse the available stock and ask myself, “What am I feeling like today?”

Am I feeling formal and self-indulgent (embossed leather bound)? Am I feeling whimsical (pretty pictures on cover pages)? Am I feeling modern (simple book with a design on the front)?

Yesterday I guess I was just feeling pretty. I almost bought a different book. It had a soft cover with a coated, linen texture to it. The pages were a mixture of lined, unlined, and graphed with whimsical designs on each. I ended up putting that one back solely on the thin pages. I write with a heavy black pen so I need something more heavy weight.

One of these days, I’m going to make my own journal by hand. Bookbinding is one of those hobbies I’ve always researched, but haven’t gotten into due to lack of time and the expense. Nevertheless, it’s on my list.

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She Loves Me, She’s Just Too Stubborn to Show it

January 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment


She Loves Me, She’s Just Too Stubborn to Show it, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Izzie hates it when I leave for work in the mornings. How does she show it? Usually by ignoring me. She will stay in the bedroom as I’m getting ready to leave and not even bother to come out and say bye when I open the door. Except this morning, I kept talking to her from the living room, calling her name and telling her I was leaving. She quietly crept out of her bed and peeked her head out of the room. I didn’t notice it until I was almost out the door.

So I took a picture to remind myself that even when she doesn’t show it, she still cares.

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How Pinterest is Trashing My Diet

January 16, 2012 By 2 Comments

Ok, so I’m somewhat surprised about the recent explosive growth of Pinterest, a new social network that has been around for a while now (in social network terms). However, that being said, I’ve been spending a lot of time on it lately. I like to say it’s mostly for work, but we all know it’s mostly just a harmless distraction.

Unfortunately though, it’s putting a strain on my new healthy lifestyle. How, you ask?

The food pins!

If anything sabotages my diet, it’s going to be the food pins on Pinterest (and surprisingly not the fact that I work above a pizza place). So far though, I’m being extremely good. I’m still drooling over the photos, but that’s all.

Drool, repin for later, and move on.

On another note, I watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo last week with my book club. I thoroughly enjoyed it, probably more so than the Swedish movie. First of all, Daniel Craig. Second of all, Trent Reznor. Third, the changes they made in this movie were a little more tolerable than the changes they made in the Swedish movie.

I still haven’t read the second or third books in the series, although now that I still have the first book fresh in my mind, I’m thinking of reading it while I have a lull (I’m a month ahead on my reading for my book club so I have a few weeks to fit in another book.

I did start reading a book The Queen’s Fool: A Novel (Boleyn) (affiliate link) by Philippa Gregory. I’ve never read any of her books before, but I tend to like period novels like this one plus I’ve heard a lot of good things about her.

Today is just going to be a quick update. I’ll probably post a video update on Wednesdays o stay tuned!

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