The most perfect day...

Yesterday was, as the title already pointed out, the most perfect day. I woke up to a steady rain and fairly cool temperature; quite relaxing. Then I managed to get out of bed and got dressed semi-unfashionably, then went to Tim Horton's for coffee and Tim Bits. French cruller Tim Bits are the best! Then, as it was still raining and most people were still at home in bed, I stopped at Pete and Franks for fruit. Sale on plums! Yay! Then I returned home, did some dishes, watched portions of the Olympic Marathon, made a bowl of chicken noodle soup, finished watching The Young Ones, took a hot bath, then put on my pajamas and got in bed...and didn't leave until I woke up this morning. Okay, sure I left a few times, but mostly, I just sat propped up in total comfort with a good book and a cup of coffee at my side. Absolute heaven! Not to mention the veal parmesan I heated up for dinner! Delish!

I read from 3:00 until 7:30, starting and finishing Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere." If only more people were able to escape from everything and read--the world would be a much quieter, more intellectual place. Anna Karennina will be started tonight!

Woohoo!

This week I lost another two pounds bringing my total weight loss to NINE POUNDS!! Okay, once I lose all the surplus tonnage, I'll never look like a swimsuit model or even turn a single head, but I'll be healthy and have a lower risk of developing type II diabetes, which is truthfully right around the corner, hereditarilly (sp?) speaking.

I can't believe I've become so damn superficial, but I cannot get enough of my hipbones! And my ribs! Oh Joy!!

I feel like sharing again!

I have returned after a week-long absence. I haven't been on vacation or anything fun like that. I've just been in a crappy mood and nothing (well, almost nothing) seems to be working out for me lately. On the up side: school will be starting soon, so I'll be closer to an actual well-paying career. I've also been reading like a crazed, very literate beast! Just last night I finished Neil Gaiman's "Stardust." It was so nice, it made me happy! That sentence is just one reason why I'm not a book reviewer :) Actually it made me consider being a fairy (or faerie) for Halloween. Now if only someone will be having a party...

Now the down side: I have had zillions of dinner dates with guys who never talk to me again. I know I'm not doing anything wrong. Why won't guys just say "It's been nice, but you're not my type. See ya" instead of disappearing for good and leaving me questioning myself and my manners (which are top shelf.) On the up side of this situation, I have no one hanging around throwing off my routine of getting home at 5:45, watching Friends, eating dinner, talking with the turtle, taking a hot bath, reading, watching a spot of TV and falling asleep by 10:00.

One the up side again, after watching fencing on the Olympics last week, I'm joining Renaissance Fencing Club! It's been a few years since I've fenced, but when I did, I lost sooo much weight really quickly. It just dropped off. I'm officially down seven pounds. Eighteen more to lose by Thanksgiving. I'm talking my mom into serving White Castle stuffing at our family party!

Along with fencing, I really need to learn how to knit soon if I'm going to be competent enough to make scarves for everyone by Christmas. I've got soooo much on my plate right now--who need a boyfriend?!? I'm going to try to keep this attitude going for as long as possible. I'm actually in a good mood for once.

Back to work!

Don't try this at home...

Just a word of warning: NEVER ever combine a leftover lemon pepper catfish (discounted to $.65 at Farmer Jack) with a generous helping of yogurt. Eaten separately at the same meal.

'Scuse me while I vomit.

Yet another first date...

Last night's date with C. was very interesting. First and foremost--he is extremely intelligent and very good looking. We met at Apple Annie's on Gratiot for soup, which was a nice change of pace. I haven't had a good bowl of soup in ages! I met him at 8:00 and we talked and talked until 9:30, when we were kicked out at closing time (well, actually he did most of the talking. I just listened, enraptured.) I'm not going to elaborate any further, for fear of the jinx again. He mentioned something about going to the movies or renting something this weekend...but I'm not holding my breath. I'll probably never hear from his again. Damn pessimism.

Here we go again...

I have yet another first meeting/date tonight. I'll call him C. The previous C. ended up being a gross lump, so he doesn't count, even as an initial. This C. Definitely has a brain and very strong opinions. We've already had arguments, but nothing has been dull, so I'm slightly optimistic. Maybe I need to find an opposite; spice things up.

We're meeting tonight for soup and/or coffee. I'm at the point in this online dating escapade where I really don't care anymore. I have no more nervousness and butterflies anymore, since I've seen everything and met all kinds of oddballs and freaks, with a few positive prospects mixed in the pack. I'm definitely getting jaded. My match.com subscription runs out at the end of October. At that time, I will have been actively searching for Mr. Right online for 13 months. If nothing pans out by then, I'll take a major break and recharge. Maybe I'll concentrate on my paralegal studies, learn how to knit, adopt a few cats, gain forty pounds, and then I'll be totally in Spinsterville. Yeah!

On a happier note, I picked up "Slim in 6" yet again, so hopefully by September 12th, with proper diet and daily ass-burning exercises, I'll be microscopically tiny. I can barely breathe right now thanks to the oblique crunches. The incredible pain I'm experiencing right now better be paying off in the long run. Sure, "no pain no gain" or loss in my case, but I feel like I did in high school--the day after the first track practice of the year. Ben Gay will probably be visiting tonight.

I also hit Costco this past weekend and loaded up on the good, healthy stuff--a 15 pack of Dannon Light & Fit (2 Points each,) Sun-Maid raisin and dried fruit individual assortment packs, frozen stir-fry veggies, salmon, tequila-lime marinated turkey tenderloin, YUM! Good stuff. Mysteriously, certain items also appeared in my cart--Sea salt seasoned pita chips and a log of French goat cheese. Who put those in the cart?!? :) I shall now attempt to have three servings of yogurt every day, lactose intolerance be dammed!!!!! I still have 19 pounds to go before Thanksgiving!!!!!

Under the weather...

I am not feeling very well right now. I've been eating three balanced meals a day, drinking tons of water and tea, plus I take a multi-vitamin every morning. Despite all the precautions I've been taking, I think I'm coming down with a cold. I'm definitely feeling run down. Not good. I feel like going back to my apartment, putting on my "sick pyjamas" and jumping straight into bed. I'm not feeling too tired, but slightly feverish. Maybe before changing and getting into bed, I'd stop at Wong's Garden for a bowl of wonton soup. That's usually my "coping-with-cramps" meal, but it sure sounds good right now. Maybe a grilled cheese sandwich as well.

My energy feels sapped, but that might also be due to the diet. On Sunday I made a tray of Prego's Pasta Bake (8 servings, 6.5 points each) and have been steadily plowing through the servings for lunch, but I'm getting kind of sick of it. Only three more meals left. I should be exercising more, but by the time I get off the bus at 5:45, I'm dragging myself around. Putting on running shoes is a completely foreign concept. I hope to lose another pound by Saturday's weigh-in!

I've also got no plans, dates, or other interesting endeavors for this weekend. This really sucks. Oh boy, I've got a whole weekend to dedicate to cleaning my apartment. yippee.

How does this happen???

It looks like things between myself and T. are not going to happen. Not a peep from him since Thursday night, not even a response to my "I had a great time" email. Dammit!!!

On the up side, I lost 1 pound this week, bringing my total up to 6 pounds!!!!! I'm on my way to skinniness! :)

Date!

I had a date last night withT. Yes, a Thursday night date and it was really great! We met at Ferlito's, a cute family-style Italian place on Mack, at 6:30 and talked nonstop until 10:30. We did find time to eat a bit (I had an antipasto salad, he had eggplant parmesan) but we talked and talked about everything. There were no lulls in the conversation. Yet, I am not sure if he is interested in me. I dressed cute, wore lots of eye makeup, and was completely myself, no pretending.

T. is really sweet and he actually mentioned wanting to someday take a cruise on a ship/tanker/barge traveling down the Detroit River. That almost knocked me out of my seat. I've been saying that for years! We have so much in common but chances are, I'll hear from him once or twice more and then he'll disappear like all the rest. I've got to think positive but everything in the past has fallen to pieces when I get my hopes up.

It's about time I catch a break...maybe I'm being tested; maybe my patience is at some super-human level and this is all a mind-control experiment, something like in the Matrix...hmmm, maybe doctors in a lab somewhere are reading the test results and saying something like "Wow, most others in her situation would've given up by now and accepted their spinster destiny. Deliver the stray cat and sensible shoes to her doorstep immediately, we must find her breaking point." Okay, that's a bit weird. I'm hardly paranoid, but I'm also getting discouraged. After years of horrible, terrible, unreliable, emotionally abusive, unfaithful, thieving and otherwise stinking turds of supposed "boyfriends" I've had in the past, I think I deserve something nice for a change.

All better now...

Mike's email has rolled off me like water on a duck (whatever that expression is.) Last night I had a nice conversation with a new EYF (Eligible Young Fella) who I shall refer to as T. We have so much in common so far! He called me around 9:00 and we talked nonstop until around 11:00, when I had to cut the conversation short because I had to get to sleep and was starting to lose my voice. He seems like a nice guy (well, they all start out that way,) and I'm going to call him tonight to carry on the chat. Yay!

Three weeks late...

After three weeks of silence, I was formally dumped by Mike. He must think I'm really vacant. I've been given the silent treatment zillions of times; I'm not stupid, I know what that means. What a turd...and to think, I was having a great day until now.

Smitten sigh...

Last night I saw "The Manchurian Candidate." Now I'm infatuated with Liev Schreiber. Damn, he could be doing a recitation of the phone book and I'd be riveted. Great movie, by the way. Now I'll have to see the original.

I gotta go!

About an hour ago, a major watermain broke somewhere downtown and now a nice chunk of Detroit is without water...and without air conditioning...and without flushable toilets!!!!!  The Powers That Be will be making the decision to close the building at noon.  I really hope they do.  Just imagine--the main is repaired and in a minute every toilet in a several block radius flushes 
simultaneously!

I wish I had passed on that second cup of tea.

Popularity, thy name is Jen...

Since Friday I have received 13 winks on my Match.com profile.  Damn!  Not to mention all the emails I've been getting.  Granted, most of the guys have been in their 40's with kids and a definite lack of education, but there have been some winners in the mix as well.

It's official--I WILL be 25 pounds lighter by Thanksgiving.  I WILL be thin and trim and awesome looking and everyone will be saying "Is that Jen?  She's been working really hard.  Gee, I wonder if she's single?  Where's she been hiding my whole life?"  Of course, in reality the comments will be something like "Eeww, she looks sick.  She lost all that weight and she's actually boy shaped!  No hips!  Ha ha ha ha."  Hell, having no hips is much better than the alternative.

Also, I have a new love: Buca di Beppo!!!!!  Oh my gawd.  The BEST Italian food on the whole planet.  Maybe the whole galaxy or solar system.  Maybe in the entire whole of existance!!!!!  YUMMMMM!!!

Agony of Defeat...

Well, after years of laughing off the suggestion and aggressively resisting the idea, I will be moving back with my parents.  Back to the wonderful world of Sterling Heights.  Gone will be the days of sitting around on MY couch, watching MY TV, in MY perfect world of solitude.  Of course, I will be looking forward to the days of living rent-free and relatively bill-free.  So, I guess it slightly balances out.  I'll be able to afford full-time grad school and gas in the tank!  I'll miss St. Clair Shores, but mostly just the water.  Now my priority is finding a reasonable self-storage facility to share with Kate.  Her new apartment's balcony isn't big enough for her patio set.

A Legally Blonde Moment...

Wonderful, just wonderful.  The law school idea has been implanted in my brain yet again.  Here's the current scenario: I could finish the paralegal degree in 1.5 years, secure a paralegal position (hopefully in the firm I've been working at for 3+ years,) then find a night program at one of the local law schools, where I would plow through the program in the standard 3 years.  I'd be in my early thirties and would hopefully be successful. 

Of course, this whole plan doesn't include where I'd be living, who'd be paying for the excessive educational costs, where I'd be institutionalized after melting down, etc...  And imagine everyone's surprise when, after I finally graduate, I decide to join the Peace Corps or decide to go back to art school for metalsmithing or something.

Maybe I should get back to the damn novel that's malingering in my mind.  I need some direction.  At least my plans are taking into account my vast, expansive, useless liberal arts background.  I wish I could go back in time, to high school and smack myself around.  I'd beg and plead with my younger self to study harder in science and math.  Spend less time reading Stephen King novels and more time on biology and chemistry.  Then I'd haunt my 18-year-old college self with the same advice, only tagging on the suggestion to drop political science and enroll in more science, math, anatomy and other practical courses that could result in a nursing degree, maybe.  And to party more...make more friends!!!  And not to waste my time on useless, going nowhere guys.  Oh well, too late for all that, I guess.

Fallen Angel Cake

I baked a cake last night for the American Heart Association bake sale, in conjunction with the Butzel summer outing.  The recipe from Weight Watchers  is "Cappuchino Angel Food Cake" but after it baked, and drooped, and ended up with a squishy, spongy, rubbery consistency, I shall refeer to it as "Fallen Angel Cake."
 
Speaking of fallen angels, I'm reading "Good Omens" again.  Does anyone know of a similar type novel with the same awesome humor and extremely engaging characters?  I really should read something else...I just love this book!!!  I just checked: almost 260 people have visited this page--how about a little input!?!?!

This is getting really old...

Well, C. called me on Saturday night, proposing to stop by with drinks.  I was also being spontaneous earlier that night as well by, in lieu of cleaning my apartment, deciding to take a sleeping pill.  I had to turn down his suggestion and he sounded disappointed.  I called him yesterday afternoon (left a message) suggesting that we meet for drinks or something later in the day...I'm still waiting for a response.  I'm trying not to let this bother me.
 
I'll be spending my time tonight baking a cappuchino angel food cake.  MMMmmm!  It's 2 Points per serving and I'm looking forward to using my electric mixer for the very first time!  Yay.  It's for the American Heart Association bake sale we're having at work tomorrow.  Maybe I'll take a walk around the block while it's baking, instead of torturing myself with the smell of baking cake wafting through my apartment.  
  
In other news, a perky, chipper, blonde attorney who left the firm in order to go into practice with her husband has returned to use some of our library materials.  She is sooooo nice and always remembers my name!  Heather is what I am working at becoming someday: thin, with a positive attitude, a child, a successful career and spouse.  I better keep on dreaming.  I'm currently slightly highlighted, 20 lbs. away from being bony thin, 2 years away from the paralegal degree and light years away from the husband and/or child.  *Insert heavy sighhhh here.* 

Grrr...

Okay, I've got guys calling me out of obligation, not of their own free will, others who aren't calling me at all when they said they would, perhaps because my number has been lost or set aside, perhaps because they JUST DON'T CARE, AND to top all things off, I haven't lost a single pound in two weeks. If I plateaued after only six or seven weeks, I will be supremely pissed!

I've gotta start eating more greens, less Goldfish crackers, and maybe running or at least walking once a day. I wonder how many Points the cheeseburger I have planned for dinner tonight will add up to? Maybe I'll have prunes as a side dish...that should balance everything out!!! :)

I'm back in the saddle again...

I'm not wasting any time anymore.  Last night I had a date with a very nice EYF (Eligible Young Fella--Mom saying, our acronym) at Fishbones on Jefferson.  He's a very nice, successful attorney with the same messed-up sense of humour as I have.  We shall now refer to him as C.  I'm forcing myself out of the quagmire of moodiness, surlyness and mild depression.  I'm almost back to "normal."