The part I always struggle with when I attempt to improve my health is my diet. I have a serious sweet tooth, and thus far I’ve been a chronic yo-yo dieter. I’m having an ‘up’ moment right now, but I’ve had my share of ‘downs’ as well. The main problem with this is that I’ve grown to loathe it when people comment on my weight loss. I know the likelihood that I’ll keep the weight off is slim, so when people make congratulatory comments I end up feeling like a huge fraud.

Last time a lost a sizable chunk of weight, a couple of years ago, I had a coworker who kept telling me how much she noticed my weight loss and how much confidence I seemed to have acquired due to said loss. It was really annoying. The ‘confidence’ I was displaying was NOT from the weight loss, it was pure joy and an improved posture from learning to belly dance! (I need to start dancing again – I’ve been slouching a lot!) But, it’s really hard to figure out how to get someone to stop complimenting you without it seeming like you’re fishing for more.

So, I guess, if you’re reading this and know me in person, just let me do my thing and don’t make a big deal out of it. I don’t plan to make a big deal out of it either, but I do plan to get things done. If in a few months I’m looking smaller and you ask me about my weight loss, there’s a good chance I’ll try to shrug it off and ignore the question, so it’d be better if you just don’t ask. *nod*

My bestie, Mara, has the most amazing gold, super-hero snow boots. I snapped this photo of them when she came over on New Years for an old school sleep-over! It was a great night!

There were lots of leftover Christmas goodies, and board games, and movie watching, and plenty of girl talk. The only thing we didn’t find time for was giving each other makeovers, but there’s always next time! *grin*

It’s time to end the guilt and inaction thing. I’ve been making strides, even if they seem a little off target, but I do feel less stagnant and that’s a good thing.

Anyway, what have I been up to? I experimented with roasted brussel sprouts a couple of days ago! (That was my New Year’s Resolution!) I also went to see the frozen waterfall yesterday! And I started knitting something (relatively) successfully for the first time recently!

Alright, so none of that is super exciting, but fighting the post-Christmas/winter blues is always a little rough for me. It’s nice to be able to see  the end of winter off in the distance! It’s even been in the 30’s for a few days now… (though there is more snow due on Saturday, I think. Boo!) Better days are coming!

I wish I could organize my personal life as easily as I can my work and school lives. I rarely fall behind when I am accountable to someone other than myself, when I have a manager or teacher to please. Why can’t I award myself the same respect and discipline? Why can’t I do the same for friends or family?

*sigh* Maybe admitting this will make me feel accountable. Maybe I’ll actually complete those commitments someday. It’d surely be better than wallowing in this guilt.

I think I need to figure out when I can take some vacation time so I can work on some things. I still have a ton of photos to edit from December. I took them over a month ago, and I just keep running out of time for editing. And my spring class started, it’s an online class, so I’ll be needing to devote time to that as well. And I haven’t been to the gym for a while, though that’s partially because I had a nasty cold or something at the beginning of the year. But, I’m basically well now so I shouldn’t make excuses any more. Obviously I haven’t been blogging either.

I wish the world would stop for a day or six so I could get caught up!

If you’re not feeling quite prepared either, may I offer a link to a secret weapon? Keri Smith offered this gem on her blog last year and I just may have to use it to get me through the end of the season.

I’m Millicent Thrash, lead singer of the epic trio, Chartreuse Midget! We rock! *giggle*

Merry early Christmas to Jon (and me)!!

I’ve been doing something similar to this for years for my entertainment purchases. I weigh the total time I’ll enjoy it vs. the price. For example, spending $9 on a CD/MP3s has the potential to entertain me for many many hours, while seeing a movie in the theater will only entertain me for 2-3 hours. The music is usually a better value, thus I generally only go see movies I’m really excited about in the theater.

I do wonder if perhaps this is why video games have grown so popular. The price is often high, but the total hours of entertainment potential are also high, quite possibly less than a dollar an hour if it’s a good game with replay possibilities.

Anyway, to further play with this concept, if Jon and I wanted to fly down to Texas for the Renaissance Fair, we’d be looking at over 3 complete Rock Band 2 sets just for airfare. That could also be translated to about 8 weeks worth of groceries. Or, roughly 250 20oz. bottles of Mountain Dew.

If I build a computer, it’ll probably cost about the same as 45 belly dance lessons at The Cassandra School. Or more than 200 pints of Ben & Jerry’s. Fascinating! *grin*

I’m also participating in a ‘Secret Santa’ exchange at work and am struggling with what to buy. My first idea didn’t work out because it was out of stock. I haven’t come up with a good enough second idea yet. But there’s still time! Oh yes! Maybe I’ll have time to pull off idea number one if I can just wait a week or so! I’ll have to do some more snooping about the person on Facebook and get a backup plan ready, just in case. *smirk*

The other thing I need to do is go Birthday shopping for my Mom! She’ll be 57 in ten days! Whoo! I haven’t decided what to get for her, but she’s not too hard to shop for. She generally likes practical things. And every-day jewelry. I’m not too worried.

I think the best thing I’ve purchased so far is the present for the in-laws’ fetus! Our future niece or nephew will be getting a very cute little gift. Hopefully it will be put to use once the tater tot is born!