Almost August already. . .

I have been remiss, once again, in keeping my blog updated. Tsk, tsk.

I had a fun weekend with D's son J. It was good to see my friend D, too: hadn't seen her since last October. She & her husband have parted ways & filed for divorce since then, so quite a lot is going on in her life. J was reluctant to leave on Sunday, so I guess he had a pretty good time with me. :)

My friend KK offered to make my wedding dress today! Pretty amazing. When I was describing the simple style that I want, she said she'd sew it. I know sewing is her hobby--she made me a beautiful quilt for my law school graduation & quilts regularly--but I would never have thought to ask her to make the dress. . . that just sounds difficult & time-consuming to me. I'm psyched! KK is going to make a sample dress first (in a less expensive material) so I can see how the style suits me and she can practice the pattern. She says she can do the final alterations needed after she & her husband arrive in Vegas for the wedding.

Our save-the-date cards arrived on Thursday; they turned out pretty cute. The only bummer was that I made a wee typographical error. OOPS! I'm hoping that not too many people notice (& that those who do don't say anything!).

SL & I also sent in the 50% deposit for our chapel reservation today. So it looks we really ARE getting married on April 7, 2007, at the MGM Grand! :)

I also sent out the evite today for our engagement party on August 19th. Fun!

Nothing else wedding-related going on. I have pretty much decided which bridesmaid dresses I want and am still looking around for cake toppers & favor ideas. But nothing urgent.

I am going to Weight Watchers tonight. (I missed last week because I was so busy getting ready for J's visit.) I'm pretty sure I will have a gain or a maintain: I didn't eat that well over the weekend, and I had nachos for lunch today. Going to get back on track, though.

Now that I know what the plan is for The Dress, I should be more motivated to start working out harder and more often and eating better. I want to lose as much weight as possible before committing myself to a size. I have asked SL to help. . . but we'll see. He always says he will, but then doesn't follow through.

BTW. . . SL bought me dozen long-stemmed roses in various colors last night. How sweet! (He just arrived home from Alaska yesterday morning.) The roses are on my desk right now, and they smell great!

It is good to have SL home. I missed him.

Starting over from square one

I am at my friend K's this morning because D and her son are flying in from Houston this morning. I may be weird, but I am looking forward to spending the weekend with D's 10-year-old son: he is a good kid, I've known him since he was a baby, and I have a lot of fun things planned. I hope all goes well.

I had my job interview yesterday afternoon at Other County. Let me just say that I didn't think it went very well. The panel's first question was "why do you want to become a criminal prosecutor." Hello?! I already AM a criminal prosecutor! Seems that they didn't even bother to look at my resume or the 20-page(!) supplemental application I had to fill out! They also seemed to take exception with the fact that I do not want to work in the juvenile division and only want to prosecute adults. They also indicated that it was their intention to assign me to the misdemeanors/preliminary hearings unit. No thanks. I told them plainly but politely that if their job offer was going to be do that, I would decline. Ihave been on a felony trial team for seven months; I have done more trials than one of Other County's attorneys would do in five years; I'm not going back to square one.

I didn't like prosecuting misdemeanors: I was MISERABLE 90% of the year I spent doing that at my current job. I literally went home crying 1-2 days a week in that position, it was so horrible. The only reasons I stuck it out were that it was my first job out of law school, I was gaining valuable trial experience, and there was hope that I could someday move on and try felonies (and I did).

On the other hand, I've really liked being a felony prosecutor. I fail to see what useful purpose would be served by making me start all over from square one. I would not be averse to a month or two of misd/prelims to learn how this particular office works. . . . but more than that would be a waste of time, in my opinion. For f#%^s sake, I practice law in the same state in a neighboring county: how different can this job from my current one?! All the laws and rules of procedure are the same. Only the names and faces of the judges, defense attorneys, and defendants will be different. . . and maybe some office policies.

Anyway. . . I am not optimistic about my chances of getting an offer. My law school friend M, who has worked there for nearly two years, said she had an equally "bad" interview there, as did her husband (who also works there). She thinks that they just act antagonistic to everyone to see how you will react. Whatever. Unless they were not serious about sticking me down on the first rung of the ladder, I won't take the job even if it's offered. And I don't think it will be.

The way this interview went makes me wonder how this office manages to recruit any experienced prosecutors from other jurisdictions. I'd venture to say that few attorneys with trial experience would want to go back to doing what they most likely started out doing.

M's take on my interview was totally different from mine. She thinks they will make me an offer and let me basically skip the lower level in the office (or at least be there for only a few weeks). She doesn't understand why they made such a big deal about my not wanting to work in juvenile because she says there are people lined up to work in that division in the office at the moment, and it does not have a high turnover rate. Also, as to misd/prelims, she said that the office has hired 29 "conditional hires": people waiting on July bar results. The bar exam isn't even until next week, and those people will not be admitted to the bar, even if they pass, until late October. Every single one of them will have to start from square one since they have never been attorneys. So M says they don't really need people for that area of the office either. These facts are the reason that M believes the panel was just testing me by bringing these assignments up. You know, was I going to say "I'll go wherever I'm needed" or stick to what I'd written on my paperwork.

Anyway, I'm over it. I can stay in my current position, where I am not unhappy and have some very interesting trials coming up, and avoid the inconvenience of moving one hundred miles away. SL will not have to hurry up and look for another job. Sure, I'm doing my current job for about $5000/year less than I could be in Other County. But oh well. It is certainly not worth the money to me to go back to doing what I've already done for another year or two! I wouldn't go back to square one for $10,000 more a year!

On to happier topics. . . I had dinner last night with M & our friend V. It was very fun to see them and to catch up! And we had a great meal: I went a little overboard with the eating. (Part of the reason was that I had felt icky all day due to nerves over the interview, so I'd not eaten much.) I even had a raspberry margarita--yum!

I also got to spend some time with K. (I am at her house right now.) We didn't get to hang out as much as I would have liked because she worked 12 hours yesterday and 12 hours today. . . but we did get to chat for a couple of hours. And she looked at my bridesmaid dress swatches. :)

I am looking forward to getting home later today. I miss Sebastian (who is staying with Dickens at K&J's). Also, we had our carpets cleaned yesterday and I want to see how they turned out. :)

SL is coming home on Monday. Yea! I have actually missed him more than I thought I would. It'll be nice to have him back. . . though he's joked that he wants to stay in Alaska until September: the daytime highs in Anchorage haven't even been above 65 since he's been there, and he is really enjoying being out of the heat. I know he misses me, though, and he's not REALLY going to stay in Alaska two more months.

I can't tell you why

216.4(nice)

Not sure why I'm seeing a lower number on the scale this morning. My eating hasn't been bad--I've been staying within my points--it just hasn't been particularly healthy: the only veggies that passed my lips yesterday were the trimmings on my turkey sandwich from Subway. Ah well. I'll take it.

I still have a lot of cleaning to do before I leave town tomorrow. I've pretty much accepted that the common areas are not going to be spotless. However, I am going to tidy up some tonight and clean the guest bathroom. Last night was spent cleaning the kitchen & doing eight loads of laundry.

I know my house will not be as neat as my friend's son is accustomed to at home. . . but he'll live. :)

Getting a little nervous about my interview tomorrow. I hope it goes well.

Quick post

217.8 (weird)

I have a TON of work I need to get through today, so this will be short.

I ate out at Oregano's last night with R, a friend from days in El Paso. I hadn't seen R in almost 4 years, even though she only lives about 100 miles away. It was good to see her & to catch up.

I went way overboard with my eating, though: I had a HUGE salad (the "Pablo Picasso"--delicioso!). Then R gave me her leftover baked ziti to take home for today's lunch. . . and I ended up eating it, too, at around 10 last night. Bad, bad, bad.

Yet despite this food frenzy, my weight is about the same as it has been for the past few days. Hmmm. I am finishing up my period, so maybe I was about to let go of some weight anyway and that evened things out. Who knows??

Unfortunately, I am going to have to skip my Weight Watchers meeting tonight. After meeting R for dinner last night, I now only have 2 nights to get my apartment ready for J's arrival on Friday. I still need to: clean SL's bathroom (including removing the porn & condoms); do laundry; tidy & vacuum living room; pick up all the general clutter in the place; make at least on trip to the storage room to drop off stuff. I estimate all this will take 3-4 hours of work. I sure hope I have a surge of motivation this evening. . .

I'm out!

Naughty blogger

(haven't weighed myself the past two days--I weighed 217.6 on Thursday & Friday)

I kinda fell off the blogging wagon. SL left Friday morning for a 10-day trip to Anchorage to visit his parents. Without him here, I've been a little bit out of my usual routine.

I believe I have mentioned before that I have been needing to clean out and de-clutter our guest room about, oh, since we moved in last October. (It had one week of cleanliness back in December, when SL's sister visited and slept there. But all I did then was move the boxes of clutter into our bedroom instead for the duration of her visit.)

Well, I am proud to say that some real progress was made in this room today! I still need to pick up some more of SL's stuff that has somehow made its way under the bed (darn cat), and I need to wash the (cat-hair-covered) sheets and put them back on the bed. Otherwise the room is company ready! It's not decorated, and it's nothing fancy. . . but it'll do for a 10-year-old. :)

There are also two boxes of my stuff in the living room waiting for me to sort through and toss or store. I've got to get all this done before my friend's son arrives on Friday. Actually, I have to get it all done before I leave town on Thursday, because I will not be returning home again after that until he arrives & comes home with me.

I also need to clean SL's bathroom (which is the guest bathroom) before Thursday. Not only is there some weird musty smell in there. . . he also kindly left two copies of Hustler and some condoms out in the open. Nice. I'm sure my friend D would appreciate her son learning about the female anatomy from Hustler. . . NOT!

Aside from my de-cluttering session, I had a pretty good weekend. (Not that the de-cluttering was bad, but it was work!) I covered bond recommendations at the morning initial appearances at the jail yesterday for a friend from work. Then I read and relaxed mostly, after running various errands.

This morning I picked M up for our bi-weekly outing. She did not want to go to the children's museum as suggested, and she is just getting over a sunburn, so she could not go swimming. What she really wanted to do was come to my house and visit Homer, SL's cat. (She loves cats and she is Homer's biggest fan: she even keeps a framed photo of him in her bedroom.) So that's what we did. She also played some games on the Disney website (her foster family does not have a computer in their home, so this is a novelty to her).

This afternoon I met my friend A for a movie. We saw You, Me, & Dupree, which I enjoyed. I laughed aloud several times. I like Owen Wilson, and I think Kate Hudson is so cute! I was also dog-sitting for my old roommate/friend K this weekend, so I was over at her house several times Friday, Saturday, & Sunday.

It's been an OK weekend eating-wise. I should have eaten more fruits and vegetables, but that is a recurring theme for me. I am on a kick that I need to clean out the cupboards and freezer, so I've been cooking most of the weekend and am planning to cook more this week while SL is gone. Tomorrow morning I am going to throw some frozen chicken & frozen veggies in the crockpot with some seasoning. That plus some brown rice will be tomorrow night's dinner (and probably Tuesday's lunch also).

Thursday is my job interview at the Other County Attorney's Office. I'm a little nervous. . . but in that healthy, on-your-game way. I have my outfit planned (black suit with pearls, no surprises there), and I even bought new pantyhose this weekend. It seems weird to admit this, but I wish SL were not away; I'd feel more confident about my interview if he were here to encourage me. I don't know why that is, as I have interviewed for many, many jobs in my time (and actually gotten offers from some of them), and I have never felt the need for any other person's feedback ahead of time. Hmmmm.

SL is enjoying his trip to Anchorage. He finally told his parents we are getting married--he'd wanted to wait and tell them face-to-face. Aside from his sister (and extended family), his parents are literally the last ones to know: all my family & friends know, and I believe all (or at least most) of SL's friends already know. He said they seemed happy, but they are not exactly jump-for-joy kind of people.

It's a bit of a weird family dynamic there. I try not to get in the middle of it. His parents have always been kind and polite to me; I have no personal beef with them. They are quiet and keep themselves to themselves, but SL is pretty much that way, too, at least until he gets to know someone well.

I am way ahead of the game with my wedding planning! I have reserved the restaurant for our reception, blocked hotel rooms for our guests at the hotel where we are getting married, reserved the chapel (though we still need to sign the contract & give them a 50% deposit once SL returns from Alaska), and ordered save-the-date cards. I have also made out the guest list (waiting on a few names and addresses from SL, but it's 90% done), reserved my hair/makeup artist, narrowed my bridesmaid dress choices down to four styles, and picked a date for our engagement party, plus drafted the engagement party guest list and designed an e-vite to send out. Whew!

I feel a lot more at peace about the whole wedding planning thing. I am still looking around at some things (like invitations and favor ideas), but I have months before I really have to decide anything else of substance. And I don't even have my engagement ring yet! I'm a "cart before the horse" kind of girl, though, so that's OK. Everything substantial I've done in my life has been ass-backwards.

It's been God-awful hot here. I believe the news said that the daytime high today was 103. Ick. It felt hotter, and my car's temperature gauge said it was 108 at one point. The temperature dropped 15 degrees while I was in the movie, and on the drive home I saw lightning, a darkening sky, and lots of wind. I hope this means we will get some rain; we could use it.

I've been a bad, bad girl

217.4

I am really surprised that my weight isn't up more after the way I ate yesterday.

We had a going-away breakfast at work for my legal assistant. It was pot-luck, so everyone brought something. There was fruit (2 kinds of melon mixed with grapes and raisins), lowfat yogurt, and granola; otherwise it was all baked goods. Muffins, zucchini bread, cinnamon rolls, bagels, and Krispy Kreme donuts.

I knew this breakfast was happening, so I started out with a plan: I ate a Luna bar on the way to work. I was supposed to be in court all morning, but it turned out the judge whose courtroom I was covering was not on the bench. So instead of being away from all the food, it was right next door to me. I then compounded my error by forgetting lunch.

I had: 2 bagels (1 w/cream cheese), a strawberry-filled powdered KK donut, two bowls of fruit, about 1/2 cup of yogurt with an equal amount of granola. Actually, as I type this out, that doesn't really sound all that bad compared to how I could have done. Hmmm. I also drank a TON of water: over 3 liters.

I ended up feeling tired all day, especially in the afternoon. I seriously could barely stay awake & concentrate, even after a diet Coke (that perked me about for about 30 minutes, but that's it). It's hard to work at a job that requires sitting at your desk reading for 90% of the day when you eat crap all day.

I actually got back on track last night; I had an oriental salad and a turkey wrap on a whole wheat tortilla for dinner. Yum! Today will be an on-plan day as well.

I hate to write another post. . .

216.8 (cool)

I noticed when I logged in today that I have 69 posts before writing this one. Makes me want to just stop there. (insert Beavis & Butthead laughter here)

I went to my W.W. meeting last night and weighed 220.0 there, for a total of 4.8 lbs lost. Not too bad, considering my misdeeds since my last weight on 6/27, but I'd hoped for a larger loss based on what I saw on my scale at home. As you can see above, I weighed 3.2 lbs less than that this morning. But whatever, I'll take it. Everyone knows you weigh more in the evening than in the morning; plus, I weigh nearly naked at home & can assure you I do NOT do that at the meetings! lol

As I was about to leave work last night, I got a call back from Lori White, the Vegas makeup artist I want for the wedding. Lori did the hair & makeup for my sister & her bridal party back in April 2003 and did an awesome job; I still think I look fabulous when I look at pictures of myself from that day. (My dad didn't even recognize me when I came down to brunch with hair & makeup done by Lori!)

Lori is available for the day of our wedding! Yea! She is a little pricy ($200 for my hair & makeup, $150 for each bridesmaid's hair & makeup), but I think it will be well worth it. I rarely wear makeup. . . usually only when I have a jury trial. . . and I only do something special to my hair once or twice a year. . . otherwise it just gets a little gel & a 2-minute shot with the blow dryer or gets put up or pulled back in a ponytail. Both my sister and my friend K (who is my maid of honor) strongly encouraged me to get hair & makeup professionally done for the wedding.

I've been looking more at bridesmaid dresses, too. I have come up with several styles I like in the colors I like (all various darker shades of blue). At this point, I think I've decided to stop looking and just wait a few months to make a final decision. It's a little difficult to order right now because my sister is pregnant. . . who knows what size she will be in April?

Obsession

217.6 (nice)

Tonight will be my second official Weight Watchers weigh-in (it should be my 3rd, but last Tuesday was July 4th). I hope I post a loss. . . I was 220.4 at my last weigh-in. Judging by this morning's weight on my bathroom scale, I should. I have recovered nicely from my couple of over-points days over the holiday weekend.

I talked yesterday to my oldest friend, C. C is the only friend from high school with whom I still keep in touch. Last time we talked a few weeks ago she told me that her husband of 16 years has asked for a divorce. Very sad news; she's my longest-married friend, and I really like her husband.

C seems to be handling the impending divorce pretty well. She told me she has been exercising at least 2 hours a day for the past 2 weeks. She has about 50 lbs she wants to lose and apparently doesn't want to waste much time doing it!

After hearing THAT, I would've been ashamed of myself if I couldn't manage to get in at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise! Right after getting off the phone with her, I went and did 30 minutes (combined) on the elliptical trainer & the treadmill. I worked up a good sweat and felt better for it afterwards.

Despite hearing C's workout schedule, I still didn't manage to get up early this morning and walk the dog. And I won't be able to work out this evening because of my WW meeting. But I hope her motivation will continue to motivate me! My goal is only to work out 3-4 days a week for 30 minutes each day, though, not 2 hours a day, 7 days a week. I know I couldn't sustain that pace for long!

On the way to work this morning, I had a nice chat with W, a friend from law school who is now in the JAG and lives in Virginia. He is getting married in October and was very excited to hear about our wedding plans. He assured me that SL means it when he says he doesn't want to be involved in the planning! Apparently W's fiancee has insisted on consulting him on every wedding-related decision, large & small, throughout their engagement. W has definitely not enjoyed this and encouraged me to leave SL out when I can. He's like "trust me, the man will not mind." hee hee

By the way, I have to share that I told SL about this exchange and he wholeheartedly agreed with W's advice. lol

I am feeling less obsessive about the wedding. I'm still excited, and I'm having a hard time keeping it to myself at work, but I have a good schedule laid out for when I need to accomplish various tasks. I am actually way ahead of the game on most of the planning aspects, so I'm pretty proud of myself.

I'm still thinking about bridesmaids' dresses, hairstyles for me and for the bridesmaids, and a few other things. But for the most part, I'm just getting back to my normal life. :)

10 things you will never hear me say

218.0 (ok)

Once again I am shamelessly ripping off an idea from someone else's blog. Here's the list:

1) Do you have that in a size 2?
2) Wow, that chocolate is way too rich for me.
3) Can we please go see Larry the Cable Guy?
4) Oh goody! A long wait in line at Sam's Club: my favorite!
5) I voted for George W. Bush.
6) I hate to see parents disciplining their children.
7) I think I'll name my daughter Muh-kay-luh.
8) No, I couldn't possibly accept more money to do this job.
9) I wish I still worked in the hospital.
10) Extra mayo, please.

I love this tiara

Not sure if I want to wear my hair up, though. . . I really think I'd prefer it down & curly.

Absentmindedness

219.8 (better)

I nearly forgot a court appearance this morning! I made it there just in the nick of time. I hate starting my day by rushing around. No one to blame but myself, though.

I think SL & I have decided on April 7, 2007, for our wedding date. It is the Saturday before Easter, but I don't think that will be a problem. Plus it makes the room rates & airfare to Vegas cheaper. SL's family is not religious, and he says they won't care. My sis considered Easter weekend for her wedding back in 2003; she ultimately went with the weekend before, but said that our parents had no objection to an Easter weekend wedding.

I need to get back in touch with the coordinator for the chapel and the coordinator for the restaurant where we are having our post-wedding dinner (instead of an actual reception) and let them know the new date. Then the planning can begin in earnest.

Ended up with a good WW day yesterday. Here's what I ate:
Luna bar (3 pts)
nonfat cafe con chocolate (4 pts)
TJ's black bean & corn enchiladas (5 pts)
94% fat-free popcorn bag (2 pts)
Babybel light cheese (2 pts)
1 serving high fiber bean/corn chips w/salsa (2 pts)
chicken & veggie stir-fry (4 pts)
1/2 c brown rice w/Tbsp soy sauce (2 pts)

Actually only 24 pts total! Not too shabby. Funny how even one day of eating light & drinking a lot of water can affect your weight; the scale showed me down 2.2 lbs this morning from Wednesday morning's weight.

Back to work: ugh!

222.0 (bad girl)

Is it just me, or is it harder to come back to work after a 4-day weekend than after the regular 2-day variety? I am not into being at work today.

I've been slightly "off the wagon" with WW over the weekend. While at home, I ate healthy foods and healthy portions of them. . . but we went out to dinner with friends on Friday night and I ate WAY too much garlic cheese bread. Then we went to a friend's for Independence Day last night and I sinned again: I had two servings of potato salad, two brats, and two pieces of cake, among other things.

Back on track today. I had a Luna bar for breakfast, a nonfat chocolate milk & coffee mid-morning (needed the caffeine to wake me up; it worked), a healthy Trader Joe's black bean & corn enchiladas for lunch, and 2 pts worth of popcorn this afternoon. I'm also drinking lots of water; I'm nearly finished with my 5th 500 ml bottle of the day.

I had good intentions of getting up and walking the dog this morning, but it didn't happen. As it turned out, I hit snooze so many times that I was almost late for work. . . let alone did I have enough time to exercise. Maybe after work tonight; we'll see.

Exciting news: SL & I have been seriously discussing getting married. . . as in, we have looked at dates, locations, etc., and are committed to doing this. We picked one date in March, but are likely going to reschedule (long story, multiple conflicts for people close to us). We have contacted a friend of mine who does professional photography to talk about setting up a date & time for our engagement photos. (We want to wait until he buys "the ring," so it probably won't be until after Labor Day.) I've previewed "save the date" cards and gotten SL's input re which style he likes.

By the way. . . here is the ring I want:

http://www.bluenile.com/product_details.asp?oid=5603&catid=112&filter_id=0&nav1=band_channel.asp&page=1&col=1&row=1&pos=1&set_shape=

Not cheap, but not nearly as expensive as a diamond engagement ring of the same size would cost. I love sapphires, and I've thought about getting a sapphire engagement ring ever since Lady Di did back in 1981. I'm not a big diamonds girl; never have been.

SL is well aware of my ring preference. I saved it to my bluenile.com wish list months ago, and he has the link to that in his browser's favorites. No chance he'll get it wrong. :)

That's all the news here!

Halfway through 2006

219.0

As my title notes, today marks the halfway point for this year. I set three personal goals on January 1st:

1) Play fewer computer games
2) Organize home
3) Resume exercise & healthy eating to lose weight

What steps have I taken toward achieving these goals? What have I accomplished so far?

• I do definitely play on the computer less. I am averaging only 1-2 a week for less than 30 minutes each time. I have accomplished this through setting a timer when I play 90% of the time and reading more.
• I subscribe to flylady.net and get daily email reminders from them. My kitchen is cleaned before bed probably 5 nights out of 7, on average. I make the bed 2-3 days out of the week (up from zero on January 1st). I have begun s-l-o-w-l-y decluttering our guest room.
• On January 1st, I weighed 197 lbs. While on Zoloft, I gained a lot of weight; when I rejoined Weight Watchers last Tuesday (after stopping the Zoloft), I weighed in at 224.8. (That's 27.8 lbs gained in six months)
• On the positive side, I did rejoin WW last Tuesday. I have been following the program faithfully since then and lost 4.4 lbs my first week back.
• I have been exercising sporadically since January: I'm gung-ho for a week or two, then let the exercise slide. In the past 2 weeks, I have worked out 5 times (walking or elliptical trainer). I hope to continue to increase the frequency of my workouts.

Being on Zoloft has set me back tremendously on my third goal: rather than losing weight the first half of 2006, I gained almost 30 lbs! It is frustrating, but I am putting it behind me and focusing on the present & the future.

I still need to do more on getting organized, too. I have a couple of incentives now, too: I have mentioned my 10-year-old friend's visit 3 weeks from today, and that is one incentive. As of yesterday, there is another as well. . . .

About a month ago, on a whim, I noticed that one could apply on-line for a job in a neighboring municipality's prosecutor's office. I have been pretty content at work since December and not actively seeking other employment. When I saw how simple the application process was for "Other County," I sent in a resume.

I received a call yesterday from Other County's HR department asking me to set up an interview. I now have an interview on Thursday, July 20th at 2:00.

Before I write more about this, let me first clarify: I am NOT "counting my chickens before they're hatched" by thinking ahead. It's my nature to plan things and think them to death before they happen.

Having said that, if I get a job offer from Other County, I will probably take it, provided it is doing what I want to do (more on that in a minute). Which will mean a move of approximately 100 miles from my current home. By all accounts, Other County is a better office in which to work than the office in which I currently work; in any event, it is definitely a much larger office in a much larger city. Additionally, Other County's base salary is $4500/year more than my current salary. . . and I know I would make more than their base salary because I have been practicing law for a year-and-a-half and have done 19 jury trials and almost 100 bench trials. Because of the differing cultures & policies between the two agencies, it takes most lawyers in Other County 5-6 years to do that many trials.

I have several close friends in the county seat of Other County, too, including my best friend K. All would be thrilled for me to move there. I also lived there for a year when I was still a nurse, and I liked it. Where I currently live, I have several friends at work, but only 2 non-work friends. Most of my social life here consists of doing things with SL.

So we'll see what happens. SL & I have talked about it, and if I get an offer from Other County, he will seek employment there, too. But we will probably have to live apart for at least a couple of months if I get an offer and take the job. It'll take him time to find a position somewhere, and he will have to give a 30-day notice to his current employer.

Even though the salary in Other County is more than I currently make, I am not going to take a job there unless I can immediately handle felony trial cases, as I am already doing here. I spent a year of hell trying misdemeanor cases in the worst-possibly-imaginable work environment. I have no intention of returning to that, even for more money. I hope they won't want me to do that, but we'll see. If they do, I'll be declining any offer made.

Who knows? I may not even get an offer, but I think the odds are better than even that they will want to hire me: many of the attorneys Other County hires are straight out of law school, and compared to them, I am an experienced prosecutor. I also interview well. BUT I am just thinking ahead, not getting my hopes up. If I don't get the job, I will very contentedly stay in my current position and won't have all the hassle of relocating.

Ms. Cranky Pants

220.4

For some reason I woke up "on the wrong side of the bed" today. It could be because I didn't get home from the jail until after 11:00 p.m. and was too keyed up to go to sleep until after midnight. Last night was the fourth consecutive night I had to go to the jail in the evening to make bond recommendations at initial appearances; I think all those (relatively) late nights have caught up to me.

I sallied forth to a nearby coffee shop for a pick-me-up. In addition to a yummy iced cafe mocha (non-fat milk), I bought my favorite pastry there: a chocolate espresso scone. 10 points for the whole outing, but well worth it in my view, because I felt perkier since the sugar & caffeine have kicked in. :)

I've hardly seen SL this week because of having to drive down to the jail at 8:30 each evening. Monday I saw him for about 10 minutes before going to sleep; Tuesday the same (& when I got home, he had been drinking beer, which annoyed me: I hate for him to drink during the week!); and last night, too. He is going to cook us a yummy chicken & veggie stir-fry for dinner, and we may watch a movie we Netflixed (I'm voting for Proof). On the other hand, SL may want to watch the Mariners game; they've been playing the Diamondbacks. It'll be nice to relax.

Follow up on Tuesday night's weigh in

218.8

I weighed 220.4 at my first week weigh in for a loss of 4.4 lbs. I was pretty psyched.

As is typical, my successful first week has lead to increased motivation. I have had no trouble staying within my points the past two days, and I have been getting up early to walk.

Not too much else new going on here. I am exploring the possibility of getting a job at another prosecutorial agency in an adjacent county. It's early yet, though: I don't even know whether they are going to call me for an interview, although I think there is a high likelihood. . . since at least on paper I am quite qualified.

Looking forward to my 4-day weekend coming up!

End of first week back

219.2

I have my end-of-first-week weigh-in tonight at WW. I am optimistic that I will see a loss, though I doubt my weight at 7 pm will be what it was this morning. Aside from not eating enough fruits/veggies, I had a good week. I stayed within points (in other words, I didn't use more than my 35 flex points for the week); I walked 2 days for 30 minutes each and worked out on the elliptical 2 days, so a total of 4 days of exercise out of the 7; I ate very little chocolate (or, really, any empty calories); and I always drink lots & lots of water. I'm pretty happy with my performance so far. . . but I know it's early days yet. :)

Got up early today & walked Sebastian. He was SO happy. He saw several lizards & 2 bunnies, plus a yellow lab running the other way on the path. I certainly wish I had his zest for life. SL has said that if someone could discover the brain chemical that makes Sebastian so happy and bottle that chemical, he'd make millions of dollars.

Not that I am down or anything. In fact, I am feeling very good. Since stopping the Zoloft, I have a lot more energy. I'm sure it also helps that I have been exercising and eating better.

I stayed late at work last night and cleaned off my desk (which looked like a file cabinet had exploded on it). It was such a good feeling to walk in from court this morning and see an orderly desk! I have a to-do list written out and high hopes for getting lots accomplished.

Off now to pick up a big healthy salad for lunch. I will check in later with my weigh-in results.

Monday, Monday

219.0 (yes!)

I was happy to see my weight this morning. . . lowest number I've seen in a while! I'm sure my "official" weigh-in tomorrow evening will be higher (since it won't be first-thing-in-the-morning or naked), but I'm hoping I will post a loss. Keep that motivation going.

I am having no trouble staying within my points today, but I am not doing so well on the fruit/veggie front: I've had exactly zero servings of both. I have a healthy dinner working in the crockpot at home that will give me at least one serving of veg, but I am going to have to start making more of an effort on that part of the plan.

It would help if I had money! I checked my bank balance on-line this morning (as I do every morning because I am paranoid about fraud, prosecuting property crimes as I do) and realized I miscalculated and overdrew my account. Oops! So in addition to having less money than I thought until next payday (this Friday, June 30th), I also now owe overdraft fees. (sigh) You'd think at age 35 this would no longer be an issue.

I know lots of people in the world have it way worse than me, but it is more than a little frustrating to be my age, have 3 degrees, and still struggle financially. (SL is in the same boat; in fact, he has a lot more debt than I do & earns about the same salary, so he is worse off.) I know that money isn't everything, but the stress of worrying about how you are going to make it from paycheck to paycheck is not fun. Plus my relative poverty holds me back from doing things I really want to do, like buy a house & have a child. Anyway. . .

I debate looking for another job (because God knows I could be making more money somewhere else), but I like what I do & don't want to quit. SL wants to change jobs; he is just waiting for the end of a full year with his current employer because then he will get profit sharing. He's brought in plenty of money for his boss, so he ought to get something out of that.

SL suggested going to a movie tonight, so we are going to see Nacho Libre or Click (probably the former, if the timing works out). And that's my life.

17th anniversary

221.0

I had another pretty good WW day yesterday. I dipped into flex points again, but I also went and exercised on the elliptical trainer for 30 minutes & worked up a good sweat. I also managed to get in 4 servings of fruits/veggies, which is really good for me. (I know WW recommends a minimum of 5 servings of fruits/veggies daily, but I can rarely get to that. . . even back in 2003 when I successfully lost 35 lbs on WW.)

Today I slept in, but also went and worked out this afternoon (just got back). Yea me! I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, and another 6 minutes on the treadmill. . . plus about 5-6 minutes round trip walking to and from the workout room.

It's a hot one again today here, and it's partly cloudy & a little humid. Not to the level of humidity in, say, Houston or Virginia, but humid for here. (Humidity here is usually <20% all the time: it's a desert.)

I received an invitation to a baby shower for our friend A today. I hope I can attend. I'm also invited to a bridal shower the same day, but I am hoping to coordinate my schedule so that I can go to both.

I finished a couple of books this week: The Sinister Pig by Tony Hillerman, and The Nanny Diaries. I liked them both. The Nanny Diaries was a good fast read, but I couldn't relate at all to the Mrs. X character. . . I guess because I don't know any super-rich people like that. My reading plan for the weekend is to finish Guns, Germs, & Steel so that SL can read it; I've got about 50 pages to go.

Oh, the title of this post. Today marks seventeen years since I was installed as Grand Worthy Advisor of New Mexico Rainbow. (For those not familiar, Rainbow is a youth organization sponsored by the Masons; being G.W.A. is like being state president, but with more pomp & circumstance.) It's hard to believe this much time has passed! I was 18 then. Wow.

I totally ripped this off from someone else's blog, but decided to include it to keep today's post from being so b-o-r-i-n-g.

1) How old do you wish you were?
28, but only if I could still know everything I know now.

2) Where were you when 9/11 happened?
I had just gotten out of the shower--getting ready to go to Torts at 9:00 a.m.--when a friend called to tell me what was going on. My first thought as I was standing buck-naked was "who the hell is calling me at 8 am?"

3) What do you do when vending machines steal your money?
Get pi$$ed, but then forget about it.

4) Do you consider yourself kind?
Um, most of the time. Especially to friends & family

5) If you had to get a tattoo, where and what would it be?
I'd only get a tattoo if it were a question of life or death. And then I'd get a really small one where no one would ever see it.

6) If you could be fluent in any other language what would it be?
Spanish

7) Do you know your neighbors?
We know a few of them to say hi to, but I wouldn't say I know them.

8)What do you consider a vacation?
Traveling away from home and not having to work.

9) Do you follow your horoscope?
Nope. I do read it daily for amusement, though.

10) Would you move for the person you loved?
Hmmm, that's a tough one. Probably, but there would definitely be limits; for instance, I have already told SL that I will never move to Alaska (his home state).

11) Are you touchy feely?
No. I'm affectionate with SL & Sebastian, but I have a pretty large "personal space" and have actually been given some sh1t by friends for being stand-off-ish.

12) Do you believe that opposites attract?
I believe they attract; I don't know if I believe that it will lead to a lasting relationship.

13) Dream job?
U.S. Supreme Court Justice

14) Favorite channel(s)
I don't watch a lot of TV. Discovery Health, I guess.

15) Favorite place to go on a weekend?
If I could go anywhere, I'd go to the beach. It's a little far from home, though.

16) Showers or Bath.
Shower. I don't like baths.

17) Do you paint your nails?
Rarely. And even when I do, it's clear or a very pale pink for the fingernails. I've been known to slap some red on my toenails.

18) Do you trust people easily?
I'd say I'm middle-of-the-road on that.

19) What are your phobias?
Bees

20) Do you want kids?
YES!

21) Do you keep a handwritten journal?
I used to, but now I just blog.

22) Where would you rather be right now?
On a tropical beach somewhere.

23) Heavy or light sleep?
Very heavy. Once I'm out, you could drive a semi through my bedroom & it wouldn't wake me.

24) Are you paranoid?
Nah

25) Are you impatient?
Yep

26) How do you feel about interracial couples?
I have no problem with them.

27) Have you been burned by love?
Yes

28) What's your life motto?
I don't know that I have one. I had a counselor once tell me it was "Be all that you can be," like the U.S. Army commercials.

29) What's your main ring tone on your cell?
I like to change it up, but right now it's a Mozart piano sonata.

30) What were you doing at midnight last night?
Sleeping!

31) Who was your last text message from?
SL

32) Whose bed did you sleep in last night?
My own.

33) What color shirt are you wearing?
Light blue

34) Most recent movie you watched?
Not sure. . . The DaVinci Code(?)

35) Name five things you have on you at all times?
Cell phone, Imitrex, ibuprofen, pen, wallet

36) What color are your bed sheets?
A light sage green

37) How much cash do you have on you right now?
About $33

38) What is your favorite part of chicken?
Breast

39) What's your favorite town/city?
To visit, or to live (cost no object)?
Visit: London
Live: San Diego

40) I can't wait till...
I lose some frickin' weight.

41) What did you have for dinner last night?
Healthmex Chicken Burrito from Rubio's

42) How tall are you barefoot?
Five foot four & three-quarters

43) Have you ever smoked crack?
God, no. I've never even smoked pot!

44) Do you own a gun?
No, and I never will.

45) What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Water

46) What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
I don't have one!

47) What time did you wake up today?
SL woke me around 7; I went back to sleep until 9:45.

48) Current worry?
Weight

49) Current hate?
Kreatyv baby names

50) Favorite place to be?
In bed

51) Where would you like to travel?
England, Italy, Ireland again

52) Where do you think you'll be in 10 yrs?
I hope to still be in this same basic area, but have at least one child.

53) last thing you ate?
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat.

54) What songs do you sing in the shower?
Anything! I especially like to sing "On My Own" from Les Miserables.

55) Last person that made you laugh?
SL

56) Worst injury you've ever had?
I broke a toe in college.

57) Does someone have a crush on you?
I don't think so.

58) What is your favorite candy?
Godiva or Ghirardelli chocolate

Boring, mundane post

220.4

I fell back asleep this morning after turning off the alarm, so I missed my morning walk with Sebastian (poor boy). I may go & use the elliptical trainer at our complex's workout room after work. (I say "may" because it gets hot in there; the air conditioning does not work well.)

WW is going OK. I ate more than my allotted points yesterday, but I had many flex points to cover, so all is well. Today I have been kind-of hungry, but have done well so far: Kashi Go Lean Crunch & milk for breakfast, a salad & some baked Lays for lunch. So far, so good.

Not too much planned for the weekend, but I'm glad it's Friday (as always). My morning of presenting cases to the grand jury went fine; I was glad to learn it was only a morning and not all day. Woohoo!

I am going to try & be as productive as I can for the next 3+ hours before leaving work.

2nd On Program Day

Today is my 2nd day back on WW, and so far, so good. I was a bit hungry today, but I drank lots of water and had a couple of low-point snacks and was fine. SL is on his way home with a points-friendly dinner right now.

Uneventful day at work. I spent most of the morning in court, and the afternoon catching up on what I missed yesterday (though there wasn't much).

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday! This hot weather just does not put me in the mood for work. SL & I have no plans for the weekend. I am going to take M out on Sunday; I haven't seen her for about 3 weeks. I think I am going to take her swimming if she is in the mood for that; otherwise, maybe to go see a movie (I'm thinking either Over the Hedge or Cars).

I decided today that I am going to take off July 3rd so that I can have a 4-day weekend. SL has to work; too bad! At least I will be to relax, chill by the pool, and maybe get a project or two done around the house. We bought tickets to see Ron White on July 1st, too; that should be fun.