YIPPEE!
These pictures were taken at 8:30 this morning, when the snow had just started.
These pictures were taken about 10am, when the snow started coming in heavier.
Well, that’s about as good as it got. It was exciting, tho, and I can’t wait till we have the next snow “event.” Hope next time it sticks to the ground a little more.
Okay, here is a perfect example of why I love Russ.
Yesterday, a co-worker was having an issue that caused us to go to Dear Abby on-line to see what the Advise Guru might say about her situation. While there, I read a letter from a woman who saw her son get in a car with a “strange woman” and she was asking Abby if she should tell her daughter-in-law about it. (For the record, Abby said don’t talk to your daughter-in-law, talk to your SON. Duh.)
Anyway, all this really has nothing to do with Russ, except that I told him about it over dinner, and I happened to mention that I agreed with Abby, and that the son should have a chance to explain what he was doing with the strange woman, because there could be a good explanation. I noted that whenever something like this happens in movies or TV, everybody goes into a tizzy, only to discover later that the potential louse was actually meeting with a jeweler because he wanted to buy his beloved some incredible, expensive piece of jewelry as a birthday or anniversary gift. You’ve seen this plotline a half dozen times already at least…right?
Now. Later that night, we’re watching Veronica Mars. At the end of the show, Logan says it was wrong that a friend of his got arrested, because he knows the friend didn’t do it, because he was WITH that friend at the time of the crime. Veronica asks, “Where were you? Why were you with him? What were you doing?” And Logan says, “I can’t tell you.”
Mystery. What was Logan doing that he cannot tell his most beloved girlfriend? Well, Russ suggested…you got it….”Maybe he was meeting with a jeweler because he wanted to buy something for Veronica.”
Mildly amusing. Completely ridiculous as far as the show goes, but mildly amusing. More importantly, it shows me that Russ actually LISTENS to me. Not only does he listen, but he actually REMEMBERS what I say. He thinks what I say is important enough to listen to AND remember.
And I also love his wit, that he can take these little gems and bring them out and dust them off at precisely the right time.
He’s a keeper.
So Mary calls tonight asking me (the Grammar Nazi) a question about the English language, in an attempt to solve a disagreement she was having with friends. Does “bi-weekly” mean once every two weeks…or does it mean two times in one week? I know what I think, and tell her, but I look it up on-line, where I find that I am right…and also wrong! Or rather, to think of it the other way is *also* right. Basically, “bi-weekly,” according to on-line dictionaries, as well as the HUGE Webster’s Russ and I took off the bookshelf, means BOTH once every two weeks AND two times in one week.
Now, here’s my question: when you have a word where the definition means one thing and ALSO means something that is basically completely opposite, what in the world is the use of that word? You can’t use it to *communicate.* Using it will only *confuse.* So why have this word at all?
In fact, Russ has a book, New Fowler’s Modern English Usage, which is “The acknowledged authority on English usage” which basically advises you not to use the word “bi-weekly” at all, since the meaning will not be clear.
I repeat: why even have a word like that?
In other news: what is “inflammable”? Does it mean something is “flammable,” easy to catch on fire? Or does it mean something will NOT easily catch on fire? After all, “incorrect” means something that is NOT correct and “inconvenient” means something is NOT convenient. Well, as a matter of fact, inflammable is the exact SAME as flammable.
Problem is, when people used to see the word “inflammable” they used logic to make an assumption that it would follow the existing meaning of the pre-fix “in,” and therefore something INflammable would be NOT flammable. And therefore, when they saw the word INflammable, they did not take caution, since they thought it meant fire was not possible or likely (though, in fact, it meant fire WAS most possible and likely). So, somewhere along the line, people who were concerned about safety just started shortening inflammable to flammable, in order to be sure that this very important message was getting through properly.
One morething: contrary to the little ditty we used to sing as children, “ain’t” IS in the dictionary.
I see a photo of Russ, several years ago, when he and the Little League team he was coaching went to some big meet. There’s the whole team of boys in front, and Russ standing behind them, with this big, winning grin on his face, looking so cute. I really love this picture because Russ looks so good in it, but moreso because it reminds me of how family and community-minded he is. None of the boys are his son, but one is his nephew. He got involved in coaching because of his nephews, and stays involved with umpiring now because he enjoys working with the kids. He says that he wants to be so strongly identified with the field that the 5 and 6 year olds play on that it will be known as *his* field. I think this shows a real desire to be part of the community. And I love that about him.
Happy New Year! So. New Year’s Resolutions. Yep. That’s why I’m here. Best to put it down in writing, get it out there in the universe, otherwise it’s not really real. Here we go:
1. Get healthy. Part of that will be losing weight, of course, but I want the scope to be so much more than just numbers on a scale. I want to eat right, and exercise, and take vitamins, and wear sunscreen, and in general just take care of myself. The word for 2008 is HEALTH.
2. Save money for a house. Russ and I have already started this. We just have to keep moving in the right direction.
3. Go back to church.
4. Update my wardrobe. After I’ve lost some weight. More on this later.
5. Type up my novel. My “Beatrice” novel, which I wrote in 2005, and has been sitting idly while I’ve been advancing in my real life, meeting and getting to know Russ, moving, getting a new job, getting married, etc. Yes, it’s been an exciting year for me! But now it’s time for Beatrice to have another exciting year. I want to get back into a routine, and that routine should include getting Beatrice into a format that I can begin to think about editing.
6. Put away all laundry as soon as it comes out of the dryer. The Laundry Monster has long plagued me, giant growing piles of clothes and towels, overpowering the couches, chairs and beds. NO MORE!
7. And this one is for Russ: Put away all discs in their proper place, immediately. I’ve been very, very bad about that. Russ is very, very good about that. He takes care of his stuff, and it stays in good shape, whereas my stuff….well, let’s not talk about that. It’s a new day.
And finally…
8. Keep up my LJ! I enjoy writing here, even if I’m not widely read. If you read, I thank you. And I promise to be more diligent from now on.
Wow. So much for getting back in the habit. Almost a whole month has passed since I last posted. The good news is that in that time I have actually gone down a little bit on my weight: 189.6 this morning. The bad news is that it is only a *little* bit. Of course, this is the holiday season, so any move in the right direction is good, I suppose.
Well, I hope to do better. I hope to come here more often to post. Just haven’t been going on-line so much lately. I recently attempted a NaNo, and it was too much for me, I think, too much time sitting at my computer. I’m not used to that, anymore, and I think I overdid it, and now I’m going too much the other way, NOT sitting at my computer very much at all.
Right now my mind is focused on doing some work around the house. More on that later.
192
Yes, that’s bad. Somehow, I got out of the habit of coming here to post my weight, and also somehow I got out of the habit of paying attention to what I was eating. My mind just went elsewhere, and I really don’t know what to say about that. Sure, I’ve started writing my NaNo, so that’s been a bit of a distraction, but not enough to send me so offtrack in my weight loss efforts. Yes, we’ve been busy at work…but so what? I really can’t explain why I just stopped paying attention.
But that time is over, and it’s time to begin again. I think if I can just get started, I’ll be fine. It’s the getting started, getting over that first day or two that’s tough. Getting the sugar out of the system. Re-developing the old habits.
This is all really not much more than a matter of HABITS, but of course the great mystery of life: why is it so easy to develop bad habits and abandon good habits, while it is so difficult to develop good habits and abandon bad habits? The playing field is NOT level, when it comes to habits.
Anyway, I’m thinking one or two days of drinking a lot of water, and once I get over my period, I should be back in the ballpark of where I was before I stopped paying attention (around 187). Quickly on, quickly off. I hope.
I have a little time this morning, so I’ll just address one more issue. To me, food is celebration. I know this about myself, and I know I need to readjust myself psychologically, but that, my friend, is most difficult. Food is social, so when I want to be social, I eat. Every night Russ and I are sitting down and having nice big dinners together. It’s a fun, social time, but it’s wreaking havoc on the scale, and on my body. Where is it written that I have to eat the SAME food he is eating? Yeah, it might be a little more difficult in the kitchen, but there’s no reason why I have to eat the same foods. Just the act of eating together should be enough of a celebration.
Today I’m going to make a list of the foods that are good for me to eat. I can start right now, I know what they are: the fruits, the vegetables, rice, salmon, oatmeal, yoguart, and of course water, water, water. I know also the things to avoid: processed foods, canned foods, deep fried, diet sodas (pure poison), and mashed potatoes loaded with salt and butter. See? I know these things. I know them, and yet I do not do them. Where is the logic in that?
Wow, I’m on a roll, I could go on and on with this topic, but alas, the clock says I have two minutes until I have to start getting ready for work. Sometimes I think the problem might be nothing more than feeling RUSHED, simply not having the time to take the time to do what should be done, rather than doing the easy thing. Why is life so busy all the time? Well, now I have my NaNo, but even before that…so many things to do! Why is nothing simple?
I’ll ponder this some more later.
189
Okay, so it’s been a while since I’ve been here. I’ve been distracted by other things in RL, and have not been able to stay focused on weight loss as a goal. I’ve also been discouraged by the weight that has come back on, but this morning I am back down to 189, which is only about 2.5 lbs more than the best weight I had gotten to, so it doesn’t sound THAT intimidating to be able to get back there. I’d like to try to get back there, like to try to get focused on this again. The question is, however, CAN I stay focused?
A lot of weight came back on. Yesterday morning I was 191. This morning, tho, I am back down to 190, and that was without really trying much yesterday, so I’m sure I will be able to get back to where I was. A visit to BOTH a Chinese restaurant AND a Mexican restaurant no doubt have something to do with this sudden poundage. Not to mention a bag of Target popcorn. What was I thinking? Remember the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Well, did I really think I could eat this way and not have it show on the scale?
I know what I have to do. Now I just have to do it.
Yes, I am still here, and I will discuss what is going on with my weight when I have some time.
