Back to life

216.0 (at home this morning)
218.8 (at JC WI this evening)

I lost 3.0 lbs at this week's weigh-in, but that is hardly to my credit or due to my healthy choices. Up until this morning, I have barely been able to eat since Friday night. I'll take a loss any way I can get it, but feeling ill for three days stinks!

I flew to Houston last Friday to visit my friend D and her family. Aside from getting a bit of a late start from the local airport, the trip was uneventful. It was great to see D and her children, who have obviously grown quite a bit in the 19 months since I saw them last (they are 7, 9, and almost 11). The boys and I were looking forward to spending a fun Saturday together.

About an hour after I went to bed, I woke up with diarrhea and was up about every other hour the rest of the night. I also had awful nausea. Instead of playing with the boys, I ended up laying around most of Saturday--aside from a trip to Target to buy PeptoBismol. Not exactly the fun visit with "Miss S" that they had anticipated.

I only tried to eat more than dry toast twice during the whole trip, both times with undesirable consequences: one time I vomited, the other time I didn't, but felt nauseous and bloated for about 6 hours after the meal. Ugh.

Still and all, I did get to spend time with D and chat with her face-to-face. Despite my illness, we also went to a BBQ that my friend H--who lives in a different part of the Houston metro area--hosted in honor of her younger daughter's baptism. It was good to see H and her family again. I couldn't believe how much her older daughter had grown, and I had never seen her younger daughter (aged nearly 8 months) except in photos.

I have finally started feeling back to normal this afternoon. I have had no more nausea/vomiting/diarrhea since yesterday, but felt weak, bloated, and tired until after lunch. . . . despite getting nearly 13 hours of sleep upon returning home. I think I am gradually getting rehydrated.

I am a lousy patient, as I seldom get sick and usually shake things off quickly when I do. I hope this will be the last illness I will have to deal with for a while.

I am going to be seeing D & H in New Mexico in a few weeks. (We all have an event we are attending there.) So I'm happy about that.

In addition to my loss of 3 lbs this week, one other desirable side effect of my illness is that my stomach has shrunk. That should make it easier for me to stay on track with my JC plan this week.

I have a job interview on Friday! To make a long story short, a former co-worker of mine called and told me about an opportunity at the firm she will be leaving shortly for a new position. I emailed them my resume right after lunch and by two o'clock, I had a call to schedule an interview. I don't want to say too much more about the position, for fear of jinxing myself. I am hopeful, though.

Funny how these things happen. The colleague who called is not someone who knows me well, and didn't know that I was looking for a job; she just happened to think of me as someone who would be a good fit to fill her shoes once she leaves the job. I am choosing to view this as a positive harbinger of good karma. Perhaps the universe has decided that, after the difficult past two months or so that I've had, it's time for some positive change in my life.

The position is in Tucson and would mean at least $12,000 more a year, with the hope of making more $$ in the future. It might be just what the doctor ordered, if I get it. We'll see.

Not much else going on here. I won last week's trial, a home burglary. It was a brief, but fun trial; the jury returned a guilty verdict in about 20 minutes: a record for me. Even the judge's bailiff, who is notoriously pro-defense, said she would've convicted on these facts. LOL ;-)

Next trial is 6/12. . . a lovely possession of crack cocaine charge.

Ten reasons why I love living in Arizona

(Idea stolen from Hilly's blog. . . she borrowed it from someone else ;-) )

1. No cold weather or snow (at least here in the south). I have not owned a real coat in years, and I love it.

2. On a related note. . . I can drive a few hours, never leave the state, and see snow in winter if I want. I can go from the desert to the mountains in a short drive. Very cool.

3. It cracks me up how we are known nationally as a "red" state. Aside from the Phoenix metro area, which just happens to be the major population center, most of the rest of AZ is quite liberal and Democrat.

4. Saguaro cactuses. No other state's got 'em. . . at least not naturally occurring.

5. Even though it's predictable, I have to include the Grand Canyon. It's frickin' AMAZING! There is absolutely no substitute for seeing it firsthand; pictures do NOT do it justice.

6. The best mexican food this side of New Mexico. (In the interest of full disclosure, I must say that NM is my home state, though AZ is now my home.)

7. It's a dry heat. Seriously, it gets very, very hot here. . . . but at least it's not humid. My curly hair is thankful to avoid the frizz factor.

8. The summer monsoon. The rainstorms in the desert are something very unique and awesome. The sights, sounds, smells are incredible.

9. Casual is (almost) always appropriate. Try going to court or a wedding in denim in NYC. . . not gonna happen. Here, it's usually A-OK.

10. Wildcats basketball.

Brilliant!

221.8 (at home this morning and at JC WI this evening--odd)

I lost 1.2 lbs this week, despite putting forth minimal effort. I'm not complaining! I was a bit surprised, though pleasantly so.

Though I am still not as enthusiastic as I was when I started Jenny Craig, I am definitely not in the funk I felt a week ago. I'm going to continue making the best effort I can each day and not be too hard on myself when (not "if") I falter. I have been walking less at lunchtimes due to my workload, and I'm still not faithfully walking Sebastian each morning. But tomorrow's a new day.

I start a home burglary trial tomorrow. I'm both excited and apprehensive about it. I have a good case: both the defendant's fingerprint and his DNA (from a blood smear on blinds near the point of entry, a broken window) were found in the home (where he had no legitimate reason to be). Having a really good case, though, sometimes makes me more nervous. . . like "if I screw *this* up, I must really suck." LOL Plus, despite almost a year-and-a-half of prosecuting property crimes, this will be the first trial in which I have presented either fingerprint & DNA evidence. I hope all goes smoothly.

I also hope things go timely. I am planning on leaving the office at noon on Friday to fly out to visit my friend D & her family in Houston. I anticipate my trial will be finished on Wednesday afternoon, but unexpected things can come up from time to time. It will really stink if something comes up with the trial that makes me miss my trip.

On my way to morning court this morning, shortly before 9 a.m., I ran into SL, who was apparently just arriving to work. (We work across the street from one another; despite that fact, this is the first time I have run into him in the area since our break-up.) We had a brief but friendly conversation about his work (busy), his cat (needy), and how my mom is coping with the loss of her husband (fairly well).

In an odd way, I enjoyed seeing him. I do wonder about him and how he is doing a lot. I was a little sad after our encounter for a while. . . . but covering the busy morning calendar at court quickly distracted me from dwelling on the interaction. My feelings for him are still there, but I am still sure 95% of the time that ending our relationship was the right thing to do. As I am seldom 100% sure of anything, that'll have to do. Seeing him like that gives me hope that some day in the future we can be friends. I'm not quite ready for that yet, though.

I am, for the millionth time, getting back on track with being more organized. I cleaned off my desk today and did quite a bit of filing; my office looks neat. Work is always the easier part for me. I also re-subscribed to the FlyLady's emails. Even if I only do half of what she recommends, it'll still be more than I am doing currently.

I can hardly believe that Memorial Day is a week from today! I am very much looking forward to seeing my friend D, and to getting out of town for the long weekend. I haven't gone anywhere for fun for a while. . . not since I went to visit baby Rowan before Christmas. :-)

Forced to shop

221.0

I am still not totally gung ho about the whole weight loss thing like I was back in early April when I started on Jenny Craig. . . but I have been in less of a funk the past couple of days. I did get up this morning and take Sebastian for a 35-minute walk, and I've been making OK food choices. I feel less inclined to go totally overboard with food, too; probably because I am not as bummed out.

The house seems really quiet at the moment because Sebastian is at the groomer. (He was getting quite shaggy & smelling doggy.) It's strange how someone who doesn't talk can be such a good companion and how much I notice when he's not here.

I got a few errands done this morning after dropping off the dog. The pants I wore to work yesterday were literally falling down. It felt good to have that proof that I am losing some weight, but that means two pairs of pants are out of my work wardrobe rotation (I have the same style/size pants in another color, too). Last night I went through my clothes and discovered that I am still a little too fat for any of my size 14 pants: they fit, but tightly. I must have gone around in denial wearing ill-fitting clothes between size 14 and 18 because I have only one or two pairs of pants that fit my current size.

I stopped by Kohl's and bought three new pairs of work pants and a couple of cute spring blouses for work. Then I ran to the Walmart for miscellaneous stuff and bought a pair of jeans while I was there. (Same deal with jeans: I have a pair of size 18/20 that are now too big, and three pairs of size 14 that don't yet fit.)

I know it's not very womanly to say this, but I really hate to shop. Part of the reason, no doubt, is because I am so overweight; the selection in the plus-size section of most stores leaves much to be desired. (So many of the things look like something a grandma would wear.) Another reason I hate shopping is that I hate spending money on clothes. Also, I never seem to find exactly what I want. Unlike most women, I shop only when it is necessary. . . it is definitely NOT a recreational activity to me. If I were rich, even if I were thin & rich, I would have a personal shopper and never set foot in another clothing store.

The rest of the day will be pretty much more of the same. I'm reading a good book, and I hope I can exercise the self-discipline to get a few things done around the house. I was going to go to the post office today, too, but I am not in the mood to deal with the long line I am sure to find there. The things I have to mail to my mom & my sister can wait until some day this coming week.

I might even stop and pick up my wedding dress from the seamstress on my way to the groomer; I never picked it up once SL & I called off the wedding. The dress has been ready and waiting there since the end of March. At first, I just didn't want to deal with it--it was due to be picked up two days after we broke up. Later, I moved; between the chaos of the move and the fact that I know live quite far from the shop, I just haven't gotten around to doing anything about the dress. I might as well pick it up, though: it cost nearly $350, not to mention $225 for the alterations. I may try to resell it at a consignment shop or on ebay; worst case scenario, I will donate it to charity.

I'm going out to a few bars with some friends from work tonight. I hope it's fun. I haven't done the bar scene since law school. We'll see. :-)

I've lost my mojo

221.4 (unofficial at home)
223.0 (JC weigh-in--big 0.2 lb loss)

I have no idea why, but I seem to have mostly lost my motivation to work on the whole weight loss thing. I have been in a general funk for the past few days, brought on by a variety of things. I think that, combined with an "off the wagon" weekend, is the primary reason I seem to have lost my weight loss mojo. . . . but who knows, there may be others. For me, motivation is a mysterious thing.

I actually felt bad for my Jenny Craig consultant tonight. She is a spunky, happy woman in her mid-to-late forties who retired after a career as a court reporter and now does this as her part-time job. She has been very enthusiastic and encouraging at each week's visit, and she was quite dismayed and taken aback by my attitude today. I sensed that she was also quite baffled at my somewhat sudden volte face.

Well, I went ahead and bought the food for the week, in hopes that my drive will return. In any event, I have to eat something. . . I might as well eat something healthier than I'll pick up on the drive home from work.

I haven't exercised much in the past week either. For a few weeks, I was doing quite well: getting up in the mornings to take the dog for a 15-minute walk before work, and going for a walk on my lunch hour 2-3 times a week for at least 30 minutes. I think I went on two lunchtime walks in the past week, and I have reverted to laziness and multiple "snoozes" in the mornings and have been skipping the poor dog's morning walks all together.

I can't precisely pinpoint why I feel the way I do about the whole weight loss thing. In my current frame of mind, it just seems pointless to be working so hard to lose weight. My feeling about the whole endeavor is "for what?" Being thinner won't make me happier; it won't change my life in any way, except for giving me more clothing options and perhaps making more attractive to men.

And even once the weight is lost, the battle isn't won. In order to maintain an "ideal weight," I'd have to continue to be vigilant about what I eat every day for the rest of my life. I just feel that I am not really up for all this, and that there are better things for me to be focusing on. . . . things that might actually affect a positive change on my life as a whole, inside of just primarily my appearance.

Though I didn't really think of it in those terms at the time, I broke things off with SL with the understanding that I was making a choice between him and being alone. At no time did I think "I need to get out of this relationship so that I can make room in my life for something/someone better." No; my only thought was "living alone would be preferable to living with his drinking for the rest of my life."

Because of that decision, I think that I am more resigned to the idea of being single for the rest of my life than I have ever been after a break-up. It's as if I approached the edge of a precipice, looked over to see what lay below, and realized I'd rather not make the jump because what was at the bottom didn't seem worth the risk to me. Because of this state of mind, one of my primary motivators for weight loss--the hope of attracting a man--is basically gone.

I will freely admit that I have always been inclined to get a bit fatalistic (& pessimistic) after a break-up. I've often uttered the words "I'm never going to get married." This time, though, I believe that this possibility is a distinct possibility. This is not me feeling sorry for myself; this is me accepting what is and bearing the consequences of my choices.

One change in my life that I believe would bring me greater happiness than weight loss would be a job change. Don't get me wrong: I love being a lawyer; I love being a prosecutor. What I *do* not love is the low pay and the constant worry about money that goes along with that low pay. My tastes are quite simple, and I am not at all a greedy person. Having said that, though, it would be nice to earn enough $$ to not empty my checking account before every paycheck, have some savings for retirement and for emergencies, and be able to pursue at least one or two hobbies.

I've put the word out among my lawyer friends that I am looking in earnest for a new job. I have had a couple of leads from friends so far, though neither was precisely what I'm looking for. Several other friends have offered to keep their eyes & ears open and let me know when/if opportunities are available. I am resigned to the fact that finding the right position--something that will be interesting enough not to bore me, but not so intensive that I'll be stressed out--at the right salary (no less than $15-20K more a year than I make currently) may take several months. My current hope is to be in a new job by the end of the year.

Reading back on this entry and the more I think about it, I should at least get back to walking Sebastian in the mornings. There's no reason why the best Golden Retriever in the world should be short-changed just because his owner is a lazy sack. ;-)

Every choice has consequences

220.4 (unofficial this morning)

I'm glad it's Friday! I have had a busy week without really getting much accomplished. For one thing, I was in court every morning this week, as opposed to usually only 2-3 mornings in a week. For reasons that are not clear to me, I have not been very focused at work this week, either. Hmph.

My house is a mess. Despite my initial good intentions & plans to unpack a box a day. . . . I have not touched the remaining boxes from my move since before my parents' visit two weekends ago. (sigh) I finally vacuumed the common areas of the house last night; that is basically the only housework I have done all week. I don't know why I seem to have such a mental block against keeping things neat & organized. If I had a therapist, that is definitely an issue we would discuss.

At work, I am quite organized. My desk may fall into chaos for a few days when things are hectic (& they often are), but I always know where to find things, and the mess never lasts for more than those few days. When I was a hospital nurse, before law school, it was the same: I was very organized at work. I'm not sure what the disconnect is that prevents me from imposing the same order on my home that I do at my job. One would think being organized at home--particularly when I'm living alone--would be easier. . . .

I've been thinking a lot lately about a change in jobs. Despite the fact that I genuinely enjoy what I do at work, I am underpaid and have no real hope of financial advancement: my workplace does not even have a "ladder" system or merit raises. We get a nominal "cost of living adjustment" (which doesn't keep pace with the actual increase in the cost of living) *if* the local government officials approve it.

I do love being a prosecutor. I find criminal law very interesting, and I like having a job as a lawyer that benefits the public, rather than just being a "gun for hire." At the same time, I am cognizant of the fact that my choice in job is limiting the other choices I can make in the rest of my life. . . . for example, I will never be able to afford to buy my own home at my current job & salary. Single parenthood, which is something I might otherwise consider, would be fiscally irresponsible at best. Even if I didn't care about owning a home or being a mom, my salary barely allows me to meet my financial obligations every month; I have no emergency fund, no way to save, and no extra $$ to spend on anything fun.

Something's gotta give. When I'd planned to marry SL, we had often discussed the fact of my low salary and that I could be making more $$ elsewhere. SL always said he would focus on getting increasingly higher-paying jobs so that I could continue to do the job I enjoy, and he was making good on that promise. Even if he'd only stayed at the same salary as me, that was still double the money to run a household, so things would not have been out of reach for us.

Now there is no "us"--just me--and that may be the case for the foreseeable future, and I have to plan accordingly.

There are three primary things that hold me back from looking for a better-paid position: first, the fact that I really enjoy what I do; second, my (natural) fear of changing to a new area of law; and third, that a new job might mean that I have to relocate. I really like the city in which I live, and I have been here for over six years. . . . the longest I have lived in any one place since college.

Oh well. Reality often dictates that we make choices which might not always be our preferred course of action, were circumstances different.

Looking forward to seeing some friends and having a fun weekend. . . .

Successful weigh-in

223.2 (official Jenny Craig weight)
220.8 (on my home scale this morning)

Woo Hoo! Just had to share that I had an official loss this week of 3.0 lbs. That puts me at a total of 11.4 lbs down after 4 weeks on Jenny Craig.

I am pretty satisfied with the program. Aside from the one-on-one weekly consultations and their pre-packaged foods, it's really much like any other weight loss program I've tried. The "secrets" to success are portion control, eating more vegetables & less fat, drinking water, eating at a regular intervals, and getting in at least a little exercise. Not rocket science. :-)

As I told my consultant this evening. . . the real question for me is not "can I lose weight?" I know I can lose a certain amount of weight following any diet plan. Just off the top of my head, I can recall four separate occasions in my adult life when I have lost a significant amount of weight (i.e., at least 30 lbs) through dieting & exercise: twice on Weight Watchers, once on Jenny Craig, and once following the Body for Life plan.

No, my real questions are: "Can I continue to lose weight and get to a goal weight?" and "Can I maintain the weight I've lost long-term once I've lost it?" Those are MY real challenges, no matter what program I use to get the weight off. Each time I have lost weight, I have stopped short of reaching a weight within the healthy range for me; each time, I have regained the lost weight within 1-2 years, usually packing on extra pounds besides.

I think the real psychological issues I have related to my weight start to really surface and thwart my progress the closer I get to my goal. Once I get into the 170's and 160's (and below), that's when I'm really going to have to do the hard work; the mental work that it takes for lasting weight loss and maintenance.

For now, I am content to be making progress toward my goal. 11.4 lbs lost in 4 weeks is not too shabby. :-)

All dressed up and no place to go

222.2 (unofficial)

Today I was wondering--and not for the first time--why it is so easy and quick to gain weight and so slow and difficult to lose weight. Evolution & genetics, I guess. It sure stinks, though.

Looking back over the past six days as I start thinking about my weekly weigh-in tomorrow evening, I think I've had a fairly good week. I haven't gotten in quite as much exercise as the three previous weeks, and there have been a couple of times I have probably eaten a little bit more when dining out than I should've. Over all, though, I feel confident I will see a loss at tomorrow night's weigh-in. We'll see.

I was slated to start a two-week homicide trial tomorrow (second-chairing with a more experienced prosecutor in our office), but late this afternoon, the trial was delayed. The judge ruled in our favor on a novel question of law, then granted the defendant's attorneys' request to stay the proceedings so that they can appeal to the court of appeals on that issue.

I feel kind-of let down! All last week, I was working on a lot of stuff in my office, trying to clear all my pressing matters so that I could focus on this trial for the next two weeks. Now the case will not be proceeding to trial for at least another 3-4 months; it'll take that long at least for the appeals court to decide the issue. Ah well. One thing I can say about my job: there is never a shortage of work I can be doing.

An odd thought briefly crossed my mind when I realized the trial was going to be delayed for a few months: God willing, by the time this case goes forward, I will be wearing different suits than I'm wearing now because I will have gone down a dress size or two! :-)

I had a happy moment at work today. I am prosecuting two defendants as accomplices in auto theft case. It is clear to me that one of the defendants is more culpable than the other; unfortunately, I have more evidence (& therefore a stronger case) against the less culpable defendant. Because the worse defendant also has a long criminal history, I have been trying for months to get the other defendant to testify against him. (The two used to be girlfriend/boyfriend.)

Previously when I have approached defendant #2 through her attorney about testifying, she has declined, citing fear of the defendant and no incentive for her. . . though I offered to allow her to plead to a greatly reduced charge in exchange for her truthful testimony. This morning I got a call from defendant #2's attorney letting me know that she has decided now that she will testify against her (ex-)boyfriend!

I'm psyched because I know he is the real "player" in their scheme, though he has been careful to cover his tracks and lay blame on her. He is a "deserving defendant," and it is satisfying to know that now I'll be able to find out the real story behind this crime and present that to a jury at his trial. Just knowing the jurors got to hear all about his involvement will be satisfying, regardless of the verdict. . . . but obviously I am optimistic that her testimony will improve my case against him.

In addition to allowing me to get more stuff done in the office this week, the fact that the trial went away (for the moment) means that I will be less stressed in the evenings and able to go out to lunch, too. Today I had lunch with M, a co-worker with whom I am becoming friends, and that was fun; her husband is going to be out of town starting Thursday, so she suggested we hang out on Thursday or Friday night. Another friend, M from law school, suggested dinner one night this week, as his wife is away on a business trip. Other friends are planning an outing to a baseball game on Friday night, and Saturday I am going to visit my friend K about 100 miles away to go to a party a mutual friend is hosting. So it should be a social week.

I gotta love my best friend K. I was telling her last night on the phone about how I had set a new goal for myself to be more social, and to that end, had gone to happy hour on Friday and to that party on Saturday. It came up that I'd gone to happy hour straight from work, dressed down (casual Friday), with no makeup and hair pulled back in a low ponytail. She kindly pointed out that if I am hoping for men to notice and perhaps approach me, maybe giving a little more care to my appearance would further that cause. LOL I know she's right. It just makes me laugh because she has been trying to get me to wear makeup all the years we've known each other; this just gives her another incentive to offer me.

Not much else to tell. I am aiming for a picture-perfect Jenny Craig day tomorrow to finish off my good week.

Out and about

221.4 (unofficial)

I am trying to be more social and spend more time with groups of people, rather than just sitting at home or hanging out with only my friends. To that end, I went out the last two nights. Friday night I went to happy hour after work; last night I went to a local charity event with a couple of women I know from work (people I like, but am not yet "friends" with).

It was fun to get out and around. It made me think about how little of this type of socializing I've been doing since living with SL. He never felt very comfortable being in groups of people, so most of the things we did were either alone or just with a few close friends.

I actually drank a little each night, too; I had 3 beers on Friday night and 3 rum & diet Cokes last night, I don't know how good that is for my weight loss goals--probably not very--but that's another thing I had stopped doing while with SL: drinking alcohol. I guess seeing him under the influence all the time had pretty much turned me off the idea of drinking.

It may be a little soon for me to be feeling this way, but I have developed a romantic interest in someone. This man is someone I have known professionally and socially since shortly before I passed the bar and became a lawyer (roughly 2 1/2 years). I had never thought of him in a "would I want to date him?" way until recently. . . . probably because I have been in a relationship with SL almost the entire time I've known him.

Anyway, we had lunch the last week of April at my suggestion because I wanted to talk to him about two cases. We ended up talking about the cases for about 10 minutes during an hour-and-a-half long lunch. I can honestly say that I had the best time on that lunch that I've had talking with a man in a long time. . . . though even then, I had not really had romantic thoughts about him, just thinking of him as a fun friend.

Friday night he came to happy hour, and we hung out together for a little over two hours. More good conversation. *That* is when my crush started developing. . . .

Well, even if my interest is shared. . . . which is by no means a given. . . . I still don't know if anything will come of this, for a variety of reasons. It's fun, though, to have a crush on someone! And it's reassuring because I wasn't sure if I'd ever be interested in any man in that way again. (I should've known that life would go on in every area. LOL)

I'm off to take Sebastian to the dog park; we are meeting friends there for a dog play date. LOL He has just nosed the door handle to indicate that he is ready for a walk, so I'm sure he'll enjoy it!

"Sabotage" is such a strong word

224.8 (unofficial this morning)

226.0 (last night's Jenny Craig weigh-in)

By some miracle, I'd actually lost 0.2 lbs at last night's weigh-in. I say "by some miracle" because my weekend was definitely not JC compliant. My dad and stepmom were visiting and in full vacation mode eating-wise.

My JC consultant said sabotage by family & friends is actually quite common, and that they often don't even realize they're doing it. I remember hearing this at Weight Watchers as well.

It's funny: ever since I was an adolescent, my father has harped on my weight. He actually said to me once when I was about 13 "do you want to grow up to be a fat slob like your mother?" During my first year of law school, he sat me down and told me, in all seriousness, that I would find more men attracted to me if I lost about 50 lbs. I politely responded that this was something I, too, had considered, but that I found it difficult to motivate myself to lose weight solely on the proposition that I'd have more dates if I did.

I mentioned to him when they arrived Friday that I had started on Jenny Craig and that I have been focusing on eating better and exercising since my break-up with SL. He told me he was proud and to "keep it up". . . . and then proceeded to shove food at me all weekend.

A few examples: we had dinner at Chili's the evening they arrived. Shouldn't have been a problem; there are plenty of healthful options at Chili's. BUT they had ordered a deep-fried appetizer before I arrived and insisted I "share" it with them. . . even going so far as to put items on a plate and push it in front of me. They also ordered desserts at Chili's and tried to make me feel bad when I declined to share with them.

On Sunday, my father was determined to get dessert at Coldstone Creamery. When I said I would be happy to take them there, but didn't plan to have any ice cream myself, my stepmom said "Well, we can't go if you aren't going to have ice cream, too." My dad then criticized me for ordering the small-sized ice cream--"the large is only 60 cents more, you should've gotten that." They both insisted on pizza for dinner and were quite put-out when I said I'd just eat something else--"we won't order a pizza if you're not going to it eat, too."

Oy vey. I love my parents, and it was very good to see them. On the weight loss front, though, it is a good thing they live out of town and don't visit often.

My poor dog has been sick the past couple of days. His first symptom was loss of appetite; then yesterday and early this morning he vomited a few times. He's also been very subdued and seems really tired. I called the vet this morning, and the tech with whom I spoke seemed to think there wasn't anything to worry about and that this should run its course in 24 hours or so. I've been worried about my boy! Aside from two eye infections and one nasty ear infection--the most recent of these being almost three years ago--he has never been sick a day in the nearly five years I've had him.

He is sleeping soundly on the armchair right now, and it's not even 6:30 pm! Normally he would be demanding petting or a walk, or at least be chewing one his Nylabones. He ate a little bit of plain pasta & cottage cheese this evening (vet-recommended) and has kept that done for over an hour. . . so I hope this means he is getting better.

I had lunch today with my friend L from law school. It was really good to talk with her; we hadn't seen each other since my bridal shower. Of course, she knew about my break-up with SL, and she was very kind and didn't ask any questions about it, except "are you doing OK?" She is one of those people that I have always really liked since the first time we've met; we've never been super-close, but I'm glad that I still get to hang out with her from time to time, now that we no longer work together (as we did for three years).

Not much else to report. Work has been busy this week. I have 19 cases set for trial between now and the end of August. I'd like to actually try only about 10 of those, so we'll see what'll happen to the other 9. :)