Work has been going well, too.  I don't really talk about work too much on here for a variety of reasons.  The first reason is that when I'm not at work I don't like to think about work, so it's usually the furthest thing from my mind.  The second reason is that I don't have any way of knowing, 100%, who reads this, and I would never want to say something that could be misconstrued and cause problems.  I just don't need that kind of drama in my life.  I have a cat - that's enough drama for me.  So the only thing work-wise I will say is actually potentially bad: there is a bill going through the House and Senate that could decrease our budget by 20% or so.  When it's all said and done it would be the equivalent of 18 positions at our clerk's office.  Yikes!  So there are some that are for it, some against it... they didn't listen last year when they cut our budget so I don't have high hopes for this year.  But we'll see what happens.

Had a blast last night over at Scott and Autumn's place.  Kim and I played Rock Band while the others D&D'd it.  Autumn killed Scott's character over an argument about religion, essentially.  It was kind of funny.  Good thing Scott's a good guy, though, and he didn't take it personally.  Seems like he's pretty excited to make a new character.  Autumn's character ended up redeeming herself (Scott's character was a good-aligned zealous cleric) by taking out a big bad guy, although her character died in the process.  All the while Kim and I are jamming out.  It was entertaining.

I'm looking forward to today.  I've got plans to plant some stuff in the backyard as well as in little pots; we're going to have a tiny herb garden.  Eventually I'd like to have a real garden so I can grow my own cucumbers, cauliflower, spinach, green beans, etc.  But that will be a year or so before I get some decent skill in gardening to be able to do that.  Sometimes I wish I could be a Sim and learn the skill in a day or two.  XD  Also tonight we should be going over to Umatilla to hang out with friends; that is always fun, too.

Well, Casper is going to die if I don't pay attention to him so I better go find a catnip mousie (there's probably one under the couch) for him to play with. 

For now, though, I'm waiting for dinner to finish cooking (Cheesey Turkey Broccoli Casserole) and for Shaun to get home so we can eat it.  Then we'll be going over to a friend's house for some hanging out and roleplaying fun.

On a side note, Shaun and I went to the Chapman wedding reception yesterday and had a blast.  Had a "Fun Day" of sorts with regards to what we ate; the consequence for me was that I gained 0.7 lbs.  Not the worst, but not the greatest.  The way it's been going on Induction, though, I'll be able to lose that in a day; two days at the most.  Huzzah!

Anyway, just a quick entry before I finish getting ready for work.  I hit the 10lb mark today on weight loss!!!  YAY!!  I've lost 10lbs since March 8, which is just a couple days shy of 4 weeks.  I'm super-excited about this.  This means I should reach my goal of losing 20lbs by my birthday around the end of April. <3 Which means at that time I can set a new weight-loss goal for my birthday. <3 <3 This makes me very, very happy.  Also, I didn't cheat on party day yesterday!  *happy dance*

Yep, this so totally definitely rocks!

Sometimes I get a bit too focused on the numbers, which is why I weigh myself every morning.  I'm just so excited and I really want to see results right away because I'm impatient!  But just in case that goes awry for some reason (mostly because I've been building muscle), I've also started taking weekly measurements of myself (chest, waist, hips, thighs and upper arms) to get a better feel for my weight loss.  Those numbers are not looking so great right now, but I know that that will change as time goes by.  I've got 3 months to be down to 180lbs.  I'll be super-excited if I can reach that goal early, though, so I'm working hard.  Hopefully sticking to things "by the book" will accomplish that! <3

All this working out is how I justify the occasional brownie I eat at work, or the occasional cheating at meals (like the chicken tetrazini, pistachio cake and cheddar bay biscuits I had on Saturday and the stuffing, mashed potatoes, roll, and slice of coconut pie I had on Sunday).  Yeesh I had a lot of carbs this past weekend.  Needless to say I did not weigh myself this morning - I was too much of a chicken to do so.  BUT, I don't feel too horribly about eating poorly because I worked out both on Saturday and on Sunday.  I've found, so far, that if I do that then I still manage to lose some weight, just not as much as I would have if I'd worked out and not eaten too many carbs.  I do still work out when I don't cheat, so that helps counter-act it as well, I'm hoping.

I set a goal for Shaun and I that we would both lose 20lbs by our birthdays, which is 4 months away.  That means 5lbs a month, 1.25lbs a week.  I think that is definitely do-able, considering I tend to lose 0.7-0.9 per day when I'm behaving.  The trick, of course, is to lose it and keep it off.  Tricky indeed.

Well hello there!  The experiment with updating the blog from my Blackberry worked, obviously, however my follow-through with that is a bit lacking (as usual, I know).  If you're tired of hearing the same old excuses let me say: so am I! It's been brought to my attention that I should update more... on Facebook, on here... to keep people up-to-date on things.  Perhaps I will do like my friend and post my blog entries as notes on Facebook... that might work.  We'll see.


So let's see... not a whole lot has changed (there I go saying the same things again!).  I lost all that weight and put the stupid weight back on again AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH.  If it were easier to lose it I wouldn't be having this issue, but I have issues with my willpower when it comes to party days at work and my boss's random sweets that she brings in (hot brownies fresh from the oven are FANTASTIC on a Friday morning!!!!).  My cubicle isn't right in front of where we keep the food anymore, so that helps, except for when I need to walk by it and it just looks so good and what if I just have one bite........ and then I'm gone.  I'm very proud of myself though because on Thursday my boss brought in this delicious pineapple coconut cake and I only had one piece.  I drank a lot of water to keep down the effects of the sugar/carbs on my system (cause it makes my head feel funny if I have too much), and I worked out that evening when I got home.  The next day I still had managed to lose 0.7 pounds - hoorah!  I can eat sweets and not go crazy and eat 20 pieces and still lose weight!  I just have to have that strong willpower to resist it.... *le sigh* Oh, and not do that every day either. ho hum.


Oh hey I forgot that we got a cat! <3 His name is Casper and he is a white/ginger colored cat. According to a friend who works at the animal shelter and an old couple who used to breed cats for show, Casper has some siamese in him based on the shape of his face and the fact that he talks a lot.  It also might explain why he has such a sweet temperment.  He doesn't bite or claw.... the worst he's done is hiss at us but that was because he was feeling cornered.  He was neutered when we got him, and he is very friendly.  He wandered into the library and we adopted him, initially just until the owner(s) claimed him, but since that never happened he has become part of our family.  I have pictures posted on Facebook... I may add some here at some point.


It's just ocurred to me that I talk about my weight a lot.  I feel slightly annoyed with myself by this.  I guess it's because I've always been annoyed with those people at work who go on and on and ON about Weight Watcher's points during the lunch hour.  GAH they annoy me.  No one cares how many points you had for dinner last night or how many points your salad today is or how many points blah blah yak yak.  Or maybe the problem is that I don't really like the person who is saying all of that stuff... so it's not that I am annoyed with the subject but rather that I'm annoyed with hearing her talk.  If you're annoyed by me, at least you can stop reading.  In the break room, I can't just stop listening.

(more in the next entry)

Well I was going to have to stop but since I've gone and created a second entry and I have a little more than 2000 characters left, let's just keep going!

I think this year will be great.  I have high hopes at least.  I mean, sure we're on one-per-payperiod mandatory furlough days until at least September, but if the new budget propsal passes those will be able to stop.  It sucks that I had my review last week and they love me and I'm doing great but I can't get a raise.  But there are worse things, like not having a job at all, so of course I am grateful that I have an employer who truly cares for his employees.  They do everything they can to keep our health insurance costs down and to keep as many of us employed as they can. 

I turn 30 this year.  Yeah.  30.  I'm actually pretty excited about this.  It feels like reaching a monumental milestone, or a high-point in a career.  I didn't really care when I turned 21 because I don't much care for alcohol, but for some reason to be turning 30 is something I'm looking forward to.  Maybe I'm hoping that I will be taken more seriously by my family once I hit 30.   But I hightly doubt that... I am and always will be helpless little baby of the family.  Yay.

Oh but I hate to end an entry on a sour note!  Kim and Declan are singing the ABC song in the kitchen and it's adorable, and the others are in the living room rolling many dice and killing things viciously.  It's an entertaining sight, and for once I don't feel alone amidst the chaos.  I can smile in it and be glad.