The value of a shopping trip

It's hard to see progress when you're watching it unfold on a daily basis. Dieting has been a challenge with the upcoming move. I hesitate to grocery shop, since I have to toss anything I still have from the freezer and refrigerator when I leave. So my diet has consisted of Domino's, McDonald's, and oatmeal. On top of all that, I put on three pounds eating nothing but my grandma's chicken and dumplin's while I was in Florida.

The last week, I've felt stressed out, fat, and depressed. The weather was gray and cold, and it eventually snowed. I haven't wanted to move from the bed, but there were things to get finished. Yesterday I headed out with Ginger to her vet appointment. She got her rabies vaccine, and consequently feels like crap right now. She has to go in for some dental surgery next week as well. She's going to hate me.

I haven't been lifting weights because I've been lifting boxes. My poor body is covered in bruises, and every muscle aches. I was worried that my diet of pure junk was going straight to my thighs. I haven't been able to drop anymore weight, but I wasn't worried because I can now do enough pushups to max out an Army PT test. I am STRONG, and I'm more proud of that than the pounds I've lost.

But junk food makes you feel like a failure, even if you are burning all the nasty calories off and more. So I felt frumpy and awful when I went out for tea at The Beverley with A today. We had a fantastic tea, then hopped across the street to Design at Nine. If anyone local reads my blog, go there. It's the place in Staunton I will miss the most. A and I shopped for awhile, and I found a dress to try on that was 50% off. I headed off to the dressing room, and A said to me, "You know, your legs are looking FANTASTIC! Really, I mean it, you can tell you've been working out."

Of course, I was in a pair of fishnet tights, and felt like a cow because they're so much work to put on. But I got in the dressing room and took off my clothes, and stood there in bra, tights, and heels when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. And A was right. My legs rock! My whole body rocks! Head to toe, I looked long and lean, which is a miracle considering I'm short and stocky.

I put the dress on (another size 8!), zipped up, and walked back out into the shop, where A gasped and said, "Your waist is so tiny!" The girl in the shop looked over and called out, "Yeah, what do you have, an 18 inch waist???" I felt sleek and sexy, and the ladies were right. I looked amazing. Despite a diet of banana cream pie and chicken nuggets, weight training and box lifting have not only strengthened my body; they've strengthened my confidence as well.

My other cheer up came in the form of Sara calling me this evening. I told her I'd only packed one box today, and she laughed. But then I looked around and realized I had only packed one box because I'm almost finished with the things I can do ahead of time. Plus, Sara had a great tip for packing the kitchen stuff I'm still using. :-)

It's bedtime here. Ginger is laying in my lap, looking miserable, and I need to stop typing so she can sleep.

Today's lesson: When you feel like you're failing at a project, take a step back and look at it through someone else's eyes. The span of your accomplishments will often surprise you.

Blog fodder

I woke up early this morning and got right online. I am so glad did, as Feisty was on, and she convinced me that not only should I accomplish my pre-set goal for the day, but that it would make fantastic blog fodder.

For those of you who do not write blogs, let me explain the concept of "blog fodder". Everytime something interesting, embarassing, amusing, or just plain weird happens to me, the first thought in my mind is usually, "Oh, this would be wonderful in my blog!" Quite often, the blogs you read from me have been written through the day in my head, waiting patiently for me to sit down long enough at my computer and type it up. In fact, if you want a good example of everyday oddities becoming blog fodder, try this blog. It's one of my new favorites.

So this morning, when I told Feisty that today's goal was to pack the frightening hole in the wall that is my husband's junk closet, her immediate response was, "Blog fodder!" Jere, as many of you know, is a clutterbug and historian. Our home is filled with books and the relics of his travels. I, on the other hand, was raised as a minimalist. Knick knacks are just extra things you have to dust. I am a fan of white walls and clean lines. My husband loves to have everything he owns on display, and I am perfectly content to store the majority of my belongings in boxes out of sight.

Even though Jere wasn't going to be living here, I still needed a three bedroom apartment to fit all of his stuff. And when I moved in, there were so many boxes and so much extra furniture that the people who were hired to unpack couldn't actually do it. In his old place, before we were married, he had a whole bedroom dedicated to storing his things, floor to ceiling. I couldn't have that here. Through organization and compromise, we worked it out. And one result of this compromise? Jere's closet.

My problem today was not really the abundance of stuff. It was the weight of it. Awkward sizes, heavy boxes on the top shelf, all led to bruises, cuts, smashed fingernails, and one very painful squished little toe (the result of an old wireless router falling from the top shelf to my foot on the floor). By the time I was finished, I was sweaty and sore, but I felt the stress melt from my body. Outside of packing the kitchen, this closet was my biggest job. I felt so accomplished looking at the neatly stacked boxes where the mess used to be. One more area completely ready for the movers.

In fact, I felt so satisfied, I packed the office closet as well. Half the closet was my shoes and baking supplies, the other half was Jere's coat collection and old trunks. And now it's done as well. It's fantastic.

I can't wait to get to Florida, where there's not only plenty of room for my husband to enjoy all of his things, but there's also plenty of room for me as well.

Today's lesson: It's so much better to tackle a task you're dreading than to let it hang over your head. Unless that thing that's hanging over your head suddenly falls on your foot.

It's what's for breakfast.

At one point in time, my blogs were poignant. My writing was thought out, and meant something. But I'm starting to realize that when I sit down to write these, I'm tired and have usually had nothing but a mundane day filled with nothing anyone particularly wants to hear about. So I'm writing my blog in the morning. When I haven't had time for anything to happen in the first place.

I saw something this morning that has me torn. On one hand, it's a blaring example of what's wrong with America. On the other hand, I hope I'm as cool a parent. I think it proves moderation and occasional self-control are incredibly important.

When I woke up this morning, I wanted glazed donuts and a crappy latte, so I headed off to Dunkin' Donuts. Now, I don't know how everyone's Dunkin' is, but ours has a Baskin Robbins in it. While I stood at the counter waiting for my overhot, slightly burned latte the guy had to make with one hand while he held the instructions in the other, I noticed a little boy at the Baskin Robbins counter with crumpled dollars his parents had given him, ordering ice cream at 9:30 in the morning. And in that moment, I wanted to think I would be the mom who said, "Screw it. Ice cream for breakfast!"

And then I saw his parents, sitting with a week's worth of food on their little table, rear ends hanging over the chairs, necks rolling out of the collars of their shirts. And I had second thoughts about ice cream for breakfast. Especially when I saw that the kid had ordered a bigger ice cream than even my super calorie burning husband can put away on a hungry night. Self-control, people, and child-control.

Today's lesson: So what does this mean? It means we can splurge. We can go out and get what is quite possibly the worst breakfast ever on Saturday morning, drink ourselves under the table Saturday night, eat a Thanksgiving sized meal on Sunday afternoon, and as long as we can fit in our chairs on Monday morning, we should be alright. It means we can give our kids ice cream for breakfast, as long as we don't do it everyday.

Let the cat out of the........wait, where'd she go?

Come here. Closer! Come on, I don't bite. Closer!

Look at that. You see it? It's the GRAY HAIR my cat gave me when she pulled her fantastic disappearing act this evening.

I've been packing all day. Jere's room is floor to ceiling boxes, and I've been working on emptying bookshelves and drawers. I stopped just long enough to order some pizza. After dinner and checking my email, I realized I hadn't seen Ginger in a couple of hours. It was 7 and way past dinnertime for her, and she'd never come out to remind me to get her food. So I went out to the kitchen, put her food in the bowl, and clinked the spoon on the edge so she could hear me. But I got no response.

So I started looking in the usual places. Until I realized I'd packed up all the usual places. For half an hour I ran around, checking under beds, in closets, under dressers, and I heard nothing from her. At that point, I lost it. I started throwing blankets aside, screaming for her. I even looked in the dryer, in case she had someone got in there. Eventually, I called Andrea to help me. I was afraid Ginger had gotten outside when the pizza guy was here, but that's not really her style.

Of course, calling Andrea meant I found the cat after Andrea was already on her way here. I decided to take another look in Jere's room. And that's where she was. Hiding in one of Jerry's drawers. And not an empty one. She had climbed in through an empty drawer, then curled up to sleep in a bunch of Jerry's t-shirts the next drawer over. I had then closed the empty drawer and she'd gotten trapped. When I opened the drawer and found her, she was looking at me like I was an angel sent to rescue her. I have no clue how long she'd been stuck in the drawer. Poor baby!


And this is what a happy, relieved cat looks like. She's lying here with me in bed. She's had (cat safe) milk and a couple of treats, and I've had some (organic) milk and cookies. We've both calmed down from the ordeal.






Today's lesson: If you ever lose something, all you have to do is ask for help. Because the second that person is on their way, you'll find what you were looking for. That's how it works.

The odds and ends

Let the moving preparation begin! While I don't know the exact date I'll be leaving, I do know it's soon. And I've been trying to clean out random papers, wash curtains, organize my clothes, and just plain keep busy while I wait for my box order to come.

But I'm having the most fun cleaning out my refrigerator. I haven't grocery shopped in weeks because I know that the stuff from the fridge and freezer can't come with me. Last night I had soy sausage links, frozen corn, and chocolate cake with milk. And tonight, it's soy sausage links (I kind of stocked up on them and forgot they were there), a lean pocket, and a bottle of Corona. I was going to make frozen broccoli to go with it, but I took it out and it didn't look so good. I think it followed us from the LAST move.

It's amazing the things I'm finding and throwing away. I've found bottles of beer that have been in my fridge since June, a single sheet of matzo, really nasty veggie chips that made me smell like garlic for days, a million packets of soy sauce, two cans of corn beef hash complete with trans fats, and other crazy, random things that just haven't seemed appetizing over the past year.

This purging my cupboards thing is making me feel fantastic, to be honest. I have clothes to drop off at Goodwill, and today I slipped some books into the library drop box that I no longer needed. I am looking forward to upgrading to 2200 square feet of space and a rocking poolside lanai. After the last two years of moving from apartment to apartment to hotel to apartment, a house is just what I think we need. And in four more months, we'll finally be settled down enough to enjoy it.

Ginger has figured out we're moving, especially when the guest bed (aka - her bed) came down tonight. She's getting needy and clingy, but little does she realize she'll be headed to her happy home in the Sunshine State in just a few weeks. Hooray!

Today's lesson: Every once in awhile, you need to reach into the back of your freezer and discover what you were craving a year ago. You may learn something about yourself.

Diamonds, a hangover, a psychologist, and a wench

That's what my mental breakdown consisted of right there. Though not necessarily in that order. Or any order for that matter.

After a week in Florida trying to pull together this moving thing, I came home exhausted and raw. Nothing was working right. On top of everything, Jerry was being a grump (yes, honey, you were a grump). Our orders hadn't come. The property manager wasn't available the entire time I was down there. The pilot on my flight home had an odd sense of humor, informing us that he was having a blast playing in the turbulence. I know that was supposed to be comforting, but it's the first time I've had to even think about being sick on a plane. Luckily, I kept my cool.

I don't suppose I should go into details about this week. Except to say that sometimes academics can overanalyze their own friends. Someone said something a couple of days ago that had me sobbing on the phone to Jere. Not because it was particularly mean. But because I thought it was true.

Of course, my husband's grumpiness disappeared. And a pair of diamond earrings with a matching necklace showed up from him the next day, just to cheer me up. He really is the sweetest husband. And everytime I get discouraged, he always knows exactly what I need. Or, in this case, something completely fantastic and over the top that makes me feel like maybe I don't drive him nearly as crazy as I think I do.

I owe another thank you to some of my friends. Feisty, thank you for being my very own Catholic concordance and interpreter of completely freaky signs at 1:30 in the morning. "This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is only a test."

And a thank you to my other friend, who will go unnamed for PR purposes. Champagne, strawberries, cheese fries, carrot cake with kumquats, a gorgeous gift, and Walmart were the perfect ways to celebrate everything finally coming together all at once. Not to mention breakfast and the stuffed bunny singing out the car window.

I am now in the process of packing this disaster I call my apartment. I've figured out how everything is getting down there. I've figured out how to get everything into the truck. I'm just waiting to find out what the exact move date is. But I'm happy to wait for my fresh paint and new carpet now that everything looks like it's set.

So now goodnight. Ginger is already snoring. She can sense the move, I can tell. Hope she doesn't sense that I'm going to take her in for a teeth cleaning before we go...

Today's lesson: Well, look at that. We're grown-ups now. We have grown-up problems, have to make grown-up decisions, and, luckily, we have friends who are just amazed as we are that we're old enough to have to deal with this crap.

Idiot policies and some random things I love

See now, I'm sick and tired of this Army indecision crap. I'm a girl who likes a plan, and all the "up in the air" stuff drives me nuts. I can feel the stress in my shoulders and head. I want answers! I want finality! I want SANITY!

Of course, we still don't have our orders, though my poor husband is trying his best to hurry them along and keep me patient. In the meantime, I'm getting done what I can. This week, it's the house. I've been going back and forth with the property manager and finally nailed down some time to look at it. I wanted it to be this week, and it took him quite awhile to get back to me, so I went to book a last minute plane ticket to Florida.

I got on Mobissimo, looked up tickets, and booked them at a great rate. I didn't think twice about it until I looked in my email at the confirmation a couple of hours later. I had booked tickets for MARCH instead of FEBRUARY. Seeing as February only has 28 days, the days of the week are the same for the dates in both months, so I didn't notice it. I called my grandma and flipped out. I think she was laughing at me on the inside. *grin*

Lucky for me, Orbitz has an "idiot policy". I ran to go cancel the ticket, and they gave me all but the booking fee of $7 back. Apparently, I'm not the only idiot out there who makes stupid mistakes like that. The best part about it? I found a great non-stop flight instead. No layover. Same price.

I'm so excited! And after all that, I had a fabulous day. I was motivated to do some packing and laundry, and set out my outfits for my suitcase. So of course, I started once again thinking of the things that make me truly happy right now. So here goes!

1. Starbucks Caramel Macchiato ice cream (holy fantastic!)
2. Salt and Vinegar almonds

3. Chicken nuggets (because they're better for you than French fries)

4. Anthony Bourdain's new special on the Travel Channel: Food Porn. I can't decide if I want food or sex by the time I'm done watching it. Actually, I know exactly what I want. Really good sex, then to eat Peking duck with my fingers in bed, naked and happy.

5. Nintendo Wii: Endless Ocean. A Godsend for those of us who can't swim LOL.

6. All my friends who are volunteering themselves and their teenage children to help with my move. I am so grateful for all of you.

7. He's Just Not That Into You - The movie.

8. Yummy bottles of Prosecco

9. Bravo's Italian restaurant in Harrisonburg

10. And, of course, Orbitz for saving my ass.

Today's lesson: Don't be embarassed when you make a really stupid mistake. Chances are, someone has already made that same mistake way before you did (and they probably did it bigger and even more idiotic!).