Wine & Whiskey

SL & I have spent most of the day napping. Our engagement party was last night, and we were up until after 1 am (which is VERY late for me!).

We had over 20 friends there. It was fun! Basically, it was a BBQ with the added occasion of celebrating our engagement. Everyone complimented the food, which was all made by SL: he grilled brats & burgers and made his homemade potato & macaroni salads.

I think the guests had fun, too. Lots of our friends already knew each other, but some did not. I hope the fact that everyone had a chance to get to know each other a little at this party will add to their enjoyment of our wedding in April.

Two of the friends at our party were pregnant, both due mid-January. One of the dads is SL's friend from law school; the other dad is a friend of ours from my office (who is also SL's best man). The moms didn't even really look pregnant to me yet, though SL said he thought they were "showing." One of the couples is telling people about the baby, while the other is keeping it under wraps for a little while longer.

We received 8(!) bottles of wine as gifts! Funniest part of that is they were all different brands & varieties. My friend M brought a 1.75-liter bottle of Bushmill's Irish Whiskey, and SL and 3-4 of our male guests polished it off. That's a LOT of frickin' whiskey for 4-5 people!

Oddly, on some level, I feel more "officially" engaged now that we had the party. (Having my engagement ring helps, too.) I know that we have a wedding date set and ceremony & reception sites reserved. . . but somehow having the party makes it seem more real to me. Strange.

Not much else going on. I should probably do some stuff around the house and some laundry, but I'm in a lazy mood. That stuff can wait until sometime during the week.

I didn't weigh myself the last two mornings; just forgot. My eating wasn't TOO bad at last night's party, and I only had 2 glasses of white wine to drink.

Last week's exercise: we went to the gym once to lift weights, and I walked about 2 miles 3 out of 5 mornings. I hope this coming week we will make it to the gym 3 nights, and I plan to walk 5 days this week. That's the plan!

Mixed result

My jury came back guilty on 4 of 9 counts, not guilty on 4, and hung on 1. Even though it's technically a "win" for me, I am pretty bummed: they acquitted & hung on the most serious 3 charges!

Side note: my "jailhouse snitch," who was the defendant's cellmate and to whom the defendant confessed all the offenses in my case, was missing with a felony warrant for his arrest. I'd asked a detective from our office to find him and he was unable to do so. The witness was arrested at noon today while my jury was still deliberating! If only he'd been picked up the day before, I'm almost certain the jury would have convicted on all counts.

Anyway. . . water under the bridge. Moving on. I learned A TON.

Looking forward to our engagement party on Saturday night! We'll have about 20 guests for a pool party/BBQ. SL is the grillmaster, after all. . . at least that's what he'll tell you.

I'll probably spend the whole day tomorrow at work trying to catch up on all the things I've been neglecting while preparing for and trying this most recent case. Oh joy! I also have to write my quarterly court report for my CASA duties, and I have a full-day (8-hr) training on Saturday.

Busy, busy, busy! :)

Waiting

217.8 (woo-hoo!)

My trial is nearly over: we finished closing arguments a little after 3:00 yesterday, and the jury is coming back to resume deliberations at 8:00 this morning. It's such a relief to have my part finished!

Don't get me wrong: I love being in trial. There are so many challenges to it: managing witnesses & witness scheduling; formulating your questions in such a way that the witness gives the information you need--and doesn't give out information that would not be admissible; relating to 12 strangers on your jury and attempting to persuade them that the defendant is guilty; and being on constant watch for defense strategies and shenanigans. I really love the mental challenge of it.

At the same time, it is stressful, for all the reasons I also love it. So much work goes into preparing a case for trial that there is a big build-up. . . then my stress level is up throughout the presentation of the case. . . and then the waiting starts.

Some prosecutors say that waiting for a verdict is the hardest part. On some levels, I'd agree: when the trial gets to this stage, the outcome is now out of your hands. Many lawyers are control freaks. . . probably not surpising, considering what we all have to go through to get to this point.

I will confess to being a big of a control freak myself (though mild compared to most of my colleagues). I will also say that, while waiting on a verdict is hard, it's also a relief. At least I have gotten to this point without royally f#$&ing something up! lol

Happy to see the scale down this morning, especially in light of the fact that I've indulged in some stress eating over the past 3 days. I've been keeping consistent with my workouts (walking in the mornings and lifting weights in the evenings 3 nights a week), so maybe that's what's made the difference.

Drive-by post

219.0 (I'll take it)

Just a really quick note. I've gotta hit the showers and head to work. My big trial starts this morning! I really hope I don't do anything to f$%^ it up and that our evidence is enough to convince 12 citizens that this scumbag, er, defendant is guilty.

I went to bed at 9:30 last night! How lame am I?! Stress does that to me.

I came up with a rockin' opening statement on my 2-mile walk this morning. (Funny how exercise clears your mind, isn't it?) So I am feeling more confident and I know I am prepared.

There could be some tricky twists and turns, but I think the trial will be fun. I just hope I don't do anything (major) wrong.

SL & I are going to join the gym tonight after work! Yea!

P.S. Weight is still up slightly, but after eating out last night at Chili's, I'll take it. Stayed within points, but usually just the sodium in restaurant food is enought to cause at least a temporary gain for me.

I got the ring!!

Such a naughty blogger! I should've written an entry sooner. I'll try to bring things up to date.

SL gave me my engagement ring on Friday!! It is exactly what I wanted (& what I posted on here a few weeks ago: http://lovesseabass.blogspot.com/2006/07/back-to-work-ugh_05.html ). It was kind-of a surprise because he had told me that it wouldn't arrive until next week. He had come to work to pick me up (he had car trouble, so he was driving mine) and snuck it onto my desk while I wasn't looking. He said later that he'd planned to wait until dinner that night, but couldn't wait any longer. Cute. A few of my friends at work were still at the office, so I got to show the ring off a little bit.

I tried to take some digital pics to post and show how it looks on my hand, but none of them turned out right, no matter how I set the flash. Ah well.

SL & I went to stay at the resort as planned yesterday for his birthday. To put it in a nutshell: the evening was not what we had hoped. He didn't like the hotel's restaurant where we had his birthday dinner; didn't care for any of the entrees on the menu, so his birthday dinner was soup & salad. (The restaurant was quite over-priced for the portion size & the mediocre food.) I felt nauseous during dinner and left the table once because I thought I might hurl. SL & I ended up having a fight later in the evening, so I went home and he stayed in the room by himself. Not exactly a great birthday memory.

Well, things are OK today. We talked and both apologized for our respective roles in the fiasco. And I told him that for his 32nd birthday next year, he is going to pick where he wants to go to avoid a repeat of this experience. :)

I hadn't done laundry (but for one necessary load) in almost 2 weeks, so I did 6 loads today. Whew. We both have clothes to wear now. (Except that one of my trial suits needs to go to the cleaners in the morning, or I will have nothing to wear for the 3rd day of my trial!)

Really, not too much else going on. Eating this weekend was just so-so: I didn't count points, but didn't really eat that badly. And I don't generally exercise on the weekends, and didn't this weekend.

SL's "birthday resolution" (his words, not mine) is to go back to the gym. He really enjoys working out: he played football & wrestled in high school--and was recruited for colleges in both sports, but didn't play--and used to power lift competitively in college. Ever since he started his current job last October(!), he gets out of work later and had quit going to the gym with our friend F as he used to.

I have seen a difference in SL since he has not been working out. Not only has he gained weight, his stress level is really high. We both have equally stressful jobs--we're both lawyers--but he doesn't have as many outlets for his stress: like many men, he doesn't talk about his feelings to anyone (he will to me, but only with prodding). Frankly, I worry about him; he is only 31, about 60-70 lbs overweight, uses smokeless tobacco, drinks more than he probably should, and has already been diagnosed with high blood pressure & put on medication for it.

I am 100% in support of his decision to get back to the gym. He needs it on so many levels. He has asked me to go with him for support and encouragement (as we all know, just getting your a$$ there is more than half the battle), and I'm on board. I've been doing the Buff Brides workouts in the evenings 3 nights a week anyway; I can just do my strength training at the gym instead of at home. If he ends up wanting to go more than 3 evenings a week, I will just do an extra workout on the elliptical trainer.

I'm back on track full steam tomorrow! Wish me luck. :)

Finally figured out how to use Ticker Factory

I shoulda smoked that fool

220.4 (sigh)

The scale was up this morning. Probably because I ate a somewhat heavy meal at 9:00 last night, and I am about to start my period. I'm not stressing about it.

Though I will probably continue to weigh daily--it's just become a part of my morning routine now--I am really focusing more on my size and how I look, i.e. how toned I am/am not. No one but me (& my doctor) knows my weight!

This morning marked my 4th consecutive morning exercising. I REALLY didn't want to do it this morning--was very lazy for some reason--but I made myself do it anyway. (Hell, I don't want to come to work some days, but I make myself do THAT.)

Because I have been developing shin splints, I thought it might be a good idea to take a day's break from walking. So I did 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer instead. I had a really good workout! My shins didn't bother me at all. The only negative was that I felt bad for Sebastian: he saw me get dressed and got all excited to go out, then didn't get to go. :(

Eating has been OK. SL made a dinner last night (one of his specialties) that was more points than I had to spend. But he was so excited to cook it for me that I didn't have the heart to turn him down. I have been totally avoiding sweets: no chocolate in over a week! I have a protein shake in the mornings (5 pts), a frozen entree for lunch (4-6 pts), and a reasonable dinner. I've had pistachios for a snack two afternoons and peanuts on another.

I am actually starting to see some muscle tone in my upper arms! I'm enjoying the Buff Brides workouts, but am thinking that I will probably need to do some heavier weights to really define my upper body. I am going to stick with this for now and see where it takes me. . . but I'm already thinking of getting a trainer & joining a nearby gym in early October. That'd give me 6 months until the wedding to tone up.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. I've spent this week reviewing a big case that I'm taking to trial next week. The defendant is a very bad guy (also charged with 1st degree murder in another case). There are 10 separate felony counts in the case, and the events happened on two different dates, so there are a lot of witnesses and it's a bit cumbersome. In addition to trying to wrap my own mind around the facts, I am trying to puzzle out the best way to present them to 12 citizens of the community to prove his guilt. I am excited, though, because this will be the biggest & most serious case I've done to date.

As I believe I mentioned, SL & I are spending Saturday night at a local resort. We are also going to have a nice dinner at the hotel. It will be nice to "get away," even briefly. :)

P.S. Today's post's title is courtesy of next week's defendant: a direct quote of what he told his jailmate about what he should've done to the victim at whom he pointed a loaded .38 revolver.

Interesting website names

219.4 (yesterday: didn't weigh today)

Can I start out by saying that SL visits websites with some of the most interesting names? I realize he finds most of them by following links from some of his regular sites, but damn! The things that pop up on auto-complete when I type in a URL. . . .

My weekend has been good so far. I haven't exercised at all, but I may still do the elliptical trainer this afternoon. (Note: exercising on the weekends really isn't part of my plan for myself anyway, but if I can get it in, it's a bonus.) Eating has been OK: went to a tea party yesterday afternoon, then to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Yesterday I:

*attended initial appearances for work to make bond recommendations (I get paid $100 for doing them)

*took my CASA child M to a local "fun park" (I thought it was lame, but she enjoyed it)

*went to aforementioned tea party

*went to dinner

*read (I'm reading The Broker by John Grisham)

*tweaked our wedding website (added more photos and other stuff)

So far today, I have done basically nothing productive. As that was my plan, I'm happy about it. SL is making lunch; after we eat, I may clean up the nest a little. Otherwise, I just want to have a free, relaxing day.

My maid of honor K is such a wonderful friend! She is visiting her parents in El Paso and discovered that a new Alfred Angelo store just opened there. She called me to get the style numbers of the bridal and bridesmaid dresses I am considering from AA, then went with her mom for a try-on session so that she could photograph the dresses and report back to me about the colors and fabrics. All of her own accord! She rocks!!

I am feeling better about the wedding guest list. It looks like we are going to be able to get out of our contract at the MGM Grand (long story) and have the wedding at the Monte Carlo instead. Cost will be roughly the same, but the Monte Carlo's chapel can hold 100 guests, while the MGM's maximum was 65. Given that we have cut the guest list to bare bones (actually leaving off a lot of people we wanted to invite--especially mine!), I didn't see any way we could make it less than the 85 adults it is currently. You can never count on guests NOT attending, so we really needed a bigger space to accomodate our current guest list.

In my opinion, the two chapels are comparable in appearance and quality. The only reason I really went with the MGM in the first place is that it is a larger hotel with more things to do.

Not much else to tell. Here's to relaxation!

By the way. . . did ya notice the scale finally budged? Didja?? Because I did! Yee-ha!

About to give up

221.4 (sigh)

As I have mentioned in previous entries, I have been exercising regularly for the past two weeks. I have also been eating much better: less food, more fruits/veggies, and practically no "junk" (I have to say "practically" because I ate a piece of cake yesterday).

Yet, despite my significant efforts, I have lost no weight. None.

In a way, I guess I should just be glad that I haven't gained more. . . while on Zoloft, I went from around 197 to the 220s. But for f%^&'s sake! If I am putting forth this much effort, I expect to see some results!

My sis suggested that perhaps my difficulty is due to now being 35. Everyone knows that your metabolism slows in your late 30s/40s. However, I had never heard of such a RAPID change in metabolism. Back in 2003, I lost 35 lbs in 4 months by doing no more than following the WW points program and walking 45 minutes 3 times a week. I am exercising much more than that now. . . with no results. It seems crazy that there would be THAT big change in my metabolism between age 32 and age 35.

I intend to talk with my doctor about this at my annual app't on 8/21. But I am really at the point where I am about ready to just say forget it and accept that I will be buying plus sizes for the rest of my life. Why deprive myself of foods I enjoy & bust my ass if I'm just gonna be a fat biotch anyway?

Besides, if I gain about another 30 lbs, I'll be a candidate for gastric bypass. :)

On a roll. . .

220.4

I have been very proud of my exercising this week! I mentioned Monday night's Buff Brides workout in my last post. Here is a rundown of the other exercise I have done:

Tues AM: walked 2 miles (in 35 min) with dog
Tues lunch: took stairs up & down 9 flights (not formal exercise, but still)
Tues PM: did 30 min on the elliptical
Wed AM: skipped walk because of very sore leg muscles
Wed PM: did 2nd Buff Brides workout (but skipped lunges)
Thu AM: walked 2 miles (35 min) with dog
Thu PM: just walked 3 miles (1 hr) with dog

Not too shabby. I have been eating pretty well, too, though I did have a large piece of birthday cake this afternoon for my friend T's b-day. At least I have been eating lots of whole grains & fruits/veggies. I've also been drinking an Enzyme Diet Superfood protein shake each morning (recommended by my doctor).

I keep reminding myself to chill about the whole wedding dress thing. I have continued to look sporadically on the internet at dresses, despite my Monday vow to put the whole thing off for 6-8 weeks. I think, REALLY, I have looked enough now to have a good idea of what my options are, and I just need to put it out of my mind until I am ready to actually go into stores and try on more dresses. I tend to get obsessive about things, and it looks like shopping for my dress is going to be one of those things.

Not much else going on. SL is very busy at work this week: his boss is on vacation, and since he is with a two-man firm, he has to pick up boss's slack. He has also had closings to do in the evenings. . . nice for the extra $$, but it gets him home late (it's almost 8 pm here, and he's still not home yet).

Oh, and by the way. . . my sis found out that her baby is a BOY!

Nights in white satin. . .

221.2 (sigh)

I went to David's Bridal last night for a dress try-on app't. I've only seen a couple of styles there that are close to what I'm looking for, but it's not that easy to find bridal stores that have my size in stock. (18W fit "perfectly." Side note: my size-6 friend did not know what the "w" in 18W meant; I had to explain it to her. LOL

I will first say one positive thing about the try-on session: it inspired me to go home and do my Buff Brides workout and not to snack the rest of the evening! ;)

Let me just summarize the whole experience by saying there is nothing flattering about an ivory satin dress on a 220-lb woman. The dresses made me look even larger than I look in the clothes I usually wear. . . and that's saying something, because I by no means look thin.

Aside from the fact that I did not think the dresses were flattering, I also didn't really love any of the styles I tried on. I tried on 4 total: 2 had trains, which I do NOT want. Of the 2 with no trains, one had a big-ass fake flower on one hip which I did not like. The fourth was OK, but nothing I'd want to pay >$450 for.

Anyway. . . I did my weight-lifting last night and went for my 2-mile walk this morning. I ate a healthy breakfast and brought a healthy lunch. So if the try-on session served no other useful purpose. . . perhaps it provided an eye-opener to what I am going to like on my wedding day if I don't get my ass in gear.

No other news here. Lots of work to do today! Oh, and my sis should find out the gender of the baby today--yea!

Buff Bride-to-be

SL is snoring on the couch, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to update my blog.

I just got in from running a few errands. I went to Trader Joe's and picked up lots of healthy eats for the week. I also visited Play It Again Sports and bought an exercise ball and some 8# dumbbells. I stopped in to a Joann's and looked at the satins, too.

Buff Brides came in the mail today! (Side note: I had planned to buy the book, but someone on the Weight Watchers message boards was kind enough to mail me her--mostly unused--copy for free.) I plan to start the 24-week program on Monday; that's why I bought the exercise ball & dumbbells. It seems like a good basic, sensible weight-lifting program. Our wedding is exactly 36 weeks from today, so I would actually have time to do both programs outlined in the book: there is a 24-week program & a 12-week program.

I have been looking in bridal magazines and online at a lot of wedding dresses lately. I do NOT want to get married at my current size! And I am really leaning toward wearing a strapless dress. . . which means any toning of the upper body I can accomplish between now & the wedding will certainly be noticed. :) I have an appointment at David's Bridal on Monday evening to try on dresses and get an idea for what different styles look like on me.

My enthusiasm for WW has waned somewhat, but I am determined to keep at the weight loss thing. (I have forgotten to weigh myself the past several mornings, but suspect I am staying about the same, based on the way my clothes fit.) Exercise usually has a big impact on my weight loss, and I am hoping that starting this Buff Brides program will inspire me.

I did manage to get my lazy a$$ up to walk on Wed, Thu, & Fri this last week. The Buff Brides program has you lifting weights 3 days a week and working out aerobically for at least 25 minutes the other 4 days a week. I am going to modify this slightly: I am going to follow the weight-lifting schedule to the letter (in the evenings), but I am going to walk in the mornings, Mon to Fri, 5 days a week. The route Sebastian & I walk takes 35-40 minutes, depending on my pace. I don't think it will do any harm for me to add additional aerobic exercise: unlike many brides-to-be who buy the book, I am looking not only to tone up but to also lose weight.

If I end up taking my friend KK up on her offer to sew my dress, I actually have about 30 weeks to lose as much weight/inches as I can. I really think that if I make a constant and whole-hearted effort, I can go down 2-3 dress sizes between now and then.

In other wedding news. . . SL & I sent out the evite for our engagement party. It is going to be a small, BBQ/pool party at our complex's clubhouse. I hope people come! So far only 3 friends have RSVP'd yes, 2 maybes, and 4 no's. The majority of people invited have not yet RSVP'd. It is a ways off yet: August 19th.

SL & I are going to spend a night at a nearby resort for his 31st birthday! We made a reservation this week. We are fortunate to live in a city with many beautiful resorts; this particular one is less than 15 minutes from home. It'll be relaxing, and we got an AWESOME summertime rate.

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. :)