VACATION!

Man, this year fucking rules!!  NOLA,  Florida, Vegas, Atlantic City, Puerto Rico, and the sexiest of all, Rochester.  WOOT!

MDLL and I leave on Sunday!! YAAAAAYYYY!!  I'm so stoked!

Last night I met his mom and her boyfriend for the first time.  It went really well!  I'm waiting to see if we're having dinner again tonight.  They like me!

CONGRATULATIONS SOCKS AND DAVE!  Their wedding was super fun and super loving and I am SUPER happy for them.  Socks, you looked GAWGEOUS!

I didn't spend too much time at comic-con this year.  I just wasn't feeling it for some reason.  It's funny, I have acquaintances from around the world who it's always nice to see, but I actually love spending time with the NYC I rarely hang out with now.  Damn busy people!

I'm super nerd-cited about work right now.  Iron got a client who is looking for a supply chain system, which is totally my thang.  I'm also working with Stevie's firm on a project, too!!  I'm so looking forward to helping out!  Rem is leaving my current client, the one I've been at since I started, so I'm pretty bummed.  Another work-husband divorce. Boooo.  Now I DEFINITELY want to move on!!

What else what else what else...I don't know.  I read through a PR travel guide, but seriously I could give two shits about doing anything other than banging MDLL and drinking rum.

Oh, speaking of shits, apparently I ate or drank something my tummy didn't agree with.  For the past week my farts and dumps smell like something died in something dead's rotting carcass.  No bueno.

Interestingly enough, I always seem to have tummy issues before I go away.  I think it's my subconscious reminding me to be careful on vacation.  No gluten and no tap water for me!

Adios, amigos!

Three!

I lost three more pounds this morning. Yay!  Of course once I moved my scale and tried again, I was back up to 178.  Why didn't I just stop while I was ahead?  I should get a digital one...

I can't be bothered with work today. Too many exciting things on the horizon!  I'm seeing Iron tomorrow night for the first time since June.  Saturday is New York Comic-Con. Sunday is wedding time.  I just found out Janeypants will be in town, so I'll hopefully see her Monday or Tuesday.  I'm free the rest of the week until Friday WHEN MDLL'S MOM COMES TO VISIT. Gaaaahhhh!!  I know I'm going to freak out the whole time. I'm good with parents, but this is different.  This might be a mother-in-law one day. Weird.  Two days later we're off to Puerto Rico!! WOOT!

The days I'm home being a hermit will be filled with my Netflix queue. I have 100 movies and TV shows waiting to be watched.  It is my fall/winter project.  I finally got around to watching Firefly (which I own) then Serenity.  Excellent show and movie.  It's a shame it got cancelled - said everyone in 2003.  I'm always behind the times...

Is it 5:30pm yet?

The Other Dress

Five more days until Socks' wedding!! WOO HOOOOO!!  So excited!!

Since I've failed to lose the 5-8 pounds I was hoping to shed to wear The Dress, I have decided to wear The Other Dress.  It's the too-much-backfat-for-a-strapless-dress dress.  I've already worn it to a few other weddings, so while I am a little bored with it, it's comfy and cute.

That being said, the shopper in me might go out looking for another dress because a) I love spending money and b) I love the challenge of finding an outfit last minute.  I'm pretty sure I found The Other Dress the day before Megkefel's wedding.  It was crumpled up underneath a sales rack at Macy's.  I sure got my $50 worth!

I'm bummed I didn't lose enough weight, but I'll get over it.  After all of these years, I have finally admitted to myself I am not goal-oriented.  I used to fill journals with calculations of, "If I lose 2 pounds a week for the next 15 weeks, I will look great for the first day of school."  It never worked.  I'm too rebellious to be goal-oriented.

The truth is, it's not my fault I can't fit into The Dress.  I blame Socks* for not getting married last year when I was afraid to eat!  Damn you!




*No I don't.  Ha! SO EXCITED!

Nice Furball

I saved these IMs from Furball.  I have no idea when he wrote them.

Don't tell anyone he was nice. He doesn't like anyone to know...

Maybe Spring 2010?:

Furball: see, i think you should totally write something, not in the comic book vein, but take the voice you use on your blog and create a character around it. You have a great ability to form a consistent voice when writing, and if you built a narrative around it, whether it's autobiographical or not, I think it would make for a great read
I know you're all into the drawing and stuff, but I think writing is where it's at for you
Sent at 10:26 AM on Thursday

Furball:  see, I think if you wrote a novel around your character's (whether it's you or not) adventures in the city as the anti-glamour single woman in NYC in the style and voice you use on your blog, you'd have a good chance at getting interest in it
hell, even Joe freaking Q told you that you were a good writer
Sent at 10:28 AM on Thursday

me: Aw! Sorry I was in the bathroom...leg fell asleep. LOL! I think this is the nicest thing you ever wrote to me. Thanks!
 

Maybe 2011?:

Furball: couple of things I got from the training, one about you and one about Company
first of all, we had this big discussion about Business Analysts and their value to projects (as opposed to Solution Architects and Developers)
and how 1. BAs are crucial to projects and that projects often fail because of bad or incomplete BA work, and that the good places recognize this and compensate BAs accordingly
2. That good BAs are essentially Power Information Workers, meaning that they're Super Users in whatever systems they're good at, so that they can communicate with the techie and business folks
made me think of you, because you've been put in that position several times, but not at all compensated for it. One consultant said his company pays BAs almost at the same rate as Solution Architects (which is what I sort of am)
I say this BECAUSE I think you already have the skillset to be a good BA, especially in Oracle, but probably in anything, if that's what you want to do
and hearing other people in the industry say these things confirmed it
long story short, I'm trying to kick your ass to get out of what you're doing and do something where you can use your skills an be appreciated/compensated
Sent at 9:50 AM on Wednesday

Furball: the end

me: Awww...thanks Furbie!! I really appreciate you saying that.

Furball is typing...

Good lord, woman.

I dyed my hair again last night because the first color was a little dull for me.  This time I went for a dark burgundy.  It's got the old-lady-purple halo around it.  OOPS.

Despite the non-natural look, I do like it.  I'll like it more once it fades over the next couple of days.  I haven't had some fun with my hair in a long time, so I'm enjoying the change.

Apparently I am in an adventurous mood this week.  Adventurous and stupid?  What did I do?

I made a porno with MDLL.  AAAAAHHHHH!!! 

First off, I WILL NOT BE SHARING THEM (yes, there are multiple videos).  Second, neither of us have any idea who came up with the idea, but let's be honest, it was probably me.  Third, I made him delete the ones with our faces and identifying marks.  Fourth, I had some pictures of him on my phone but I immediately deleted them because THEY MADE ME BLUSH.  Last, since all of the videos were on his phone, I made him send me one.  I watched it last night and HOLY GOD it is a combination of hot, trashy, and dumbfounding, as in, "Did I really do this?" and "Is that really me?".

I'm shaking my head as I write this...good lord, woman.

Sugar High

I read three articles on sugar.  Now the word looks really weird.  Sugar.  Shuuuuuggeeeerrrr.

My online food diary says my daily sugar goal is 29 grams.  I love fruit, so I'm repeatedly blowing past this number every day.

It turns out I'm fine.  The problem comes in with the amount of added, unnaturally occuring sugar.

Did you know the recommended amount of sugar for a woman is only 20 grams a day?  Five teaspoons. That's it. 

To put this in perspective, here's the total sugar for one serving of my vices:

Peppermint Pattie = 25 grams
Peanut M&Ms = 25 grams
Milk Chocolate M&Ms = 31 grams
Magner's = 11 grams
Woodchuck Crisp Cider (my new favorite) = 9 grams

Perspective for some general ones:

One packet of Starbucks Brown Sugar = 12 grams
A can of Coke = 39 grams
A can of Red Bull = 27 grams
A 20 oz bottle of Mountain Dew = 77 GRAMS!

CRAZY.

Re-Re-Ro

I just found out Rem is a Republican and voting for Romney.

Why is accepting this so hard???

Instead of saying why I'm voting Obama, I decided to write him an email sharing my beliefs.

I believe we should:

- help those who can't help themselves. No American should starve because they can't afford food or be homeless.

- have universal healthcare and offer free wellness programs

- spend more money on education to allow kids to go to school who otherwise can't afford it and to give teachers and schools the resources (books, materials, computers etc) to do well

- give veterans unlimited resources to get back on their feet after serving, including free therapy sessions to help them adjust to becoming a civilian

- allow women should have the right to choose to have an abortion

- allow gay men and women the right to marry and adopt

- educate the masses on religion, race, and culture

- change the tax brackets on all personal taxes to fit the federal income tax model (ie raise capital gains tax to 35%) to start

- take environmental issues more seriously and do what we can to address climate change and reduce our carbon footprint

- use tax payers money to strengthen infrastructure - roads, buildings, bridges, create more mass transit

- reduce the deficit by cutting spending and raising taxes for the time being

- legalize and tax marijuana, although I understand concerns you can't tell when someone is stoned while driving

- legalize and tax prostitution with mandatory HIV/STD tests

- continue to support Israel, although I'm not sure what I think about going to war with Iran yet

- withdraw from Afghanistan

- cut military and defense spending

- stop using 9/11 and other terrorist acts as an excuse to take away civil liberties

- immigration is the biggest gray area for me. I don't think people should be here illegally, but I do think if a child is born here of illegal parents, the child should be a citizen. It's not their fault. It's also not an immigrants fault if they were brought here by a corporation.

- educate all Americans on how to eat right and exercise, and ensure communities have access to affordable and organic fruits and vegetables

- not give tax breaks and incentives to the beef or corn industry as it is contributing to our health problems

- gun control needs to be tighter - raise the tax and price, mandatory psychiatric evaluation, limits on the amount of firearms per household

OCDmail

Did I ever share my OCDness when it comes to email?

I absolutely hate having emails sitting in my inbox. If I read it and don't need it, delete. If I read it and need it, ie a work email to reference in the future or a personal email with a ticket or confirmation number attached, I immediately file it.

For my personal email, it has come to the point where I can't wait to use the ticket/confirmation just so I can delete the email when it's over.

I AM NUTS.

Octoberlovefest!

October is going to be the greatest month of all time.  I can feel it!!

Yesterday and today I worked from home. MY WORD is WingFH the greatest thing ever. I can't wait to have a non-local client, so I can do this more often.  Of course, then there will be a lot of travelling too...we shall see!

Last night MDLL and I went to see Jay-Z at the new Barclays Center.  AMAZING show, gorgeous arena.  I'm so happy for Brooklyn.  It's funny, I only lived there until I was 8, but I really do feel like Brooklyn is in my blood.  Bay Ridge especially of course.  I don't have any desire to move back there because the rents are outrageous and the commute to the city isn't as convenient as Western Queens, but it will always have a special place in my heart.

DUDE. I just took a sip of fresh kombucha, an organic and raw tea of some sort. It tastes like vinegar. BLECH.

I'm looking forward to chillin' out this week.  The only plans I have are to watch the debates tomorrow night, therapy on Thursday, a massage/facial on Friday, and then a 5K in Coney Island on Saturday morning.  I haven't run in a month, so this should be interesting!

My energy levels are super low lately.  It seems to be a combination of the weight gain and allergies.  My thyroid levels were low too, but I didn't want to up my dosage until I made an effort to lose some weight.  It's not going too well.

Truthfully I'm really bummed out about gaining weight although not enough to cut back as much as I need. I'm staying in my calorie range for the most part during the week, except when I have alcohol.  Weekends are a free for all.  I was hoping to wear The Dress to Socks' is wedding in two weeks. It fits, but is a little snug.  If I can lose five pounds I should be golden.  I did a workout video today and ate well yessterday, except for a Long Island Iced Tea which I really didn't need to drink. 

MDLL gained weight this summer, too. Typical for couples I guess.  Must break the habit...after Puerto Rico!!