beerwithastraw.com

I’m pretty much on Facebook these days, not here.  It’s nothing personal- but I am currently really digging the instant gratification/commiseration/response aspect of social networking right now.  But- for the 3 people on the planet NOT facebooking…

Still not smoking.

Still losing weight (5% of my start weight, roughly)

Getting the boy ready to go to Lilies and getting me ready to have a week of seclusion- which I am looking forward to just a bit.

Most days, I still like my job.

And… yeah.  That’s it.  Lame, I know.  Seriously though- feel free to add me on FB if you want to keep up with my universe, and maybe one of these days, I’ll have something to say here.

But I am really, really feeling *good*. I debated holding the post until after my meeting tonight (which is when I’ll find out that I lost another eleventydozen pounds), but I’m not.

I’m not, because really, 98% of what’s going on with me has nothing to do with weight at all. I’ve been eating well these past two weeks, and it’s making a difference. The not smoking is probably making some, too, but I’ve done both of those things before, and it didn’t make me feel this good. Seriously- we’re talking “not hitting the snooze button” kind of energy.

It’s creepy.

Good creepy, though.
I think I’ve come to the drastic conclusion that not drinking carbonated beverages, or caffeinated things while also drinking 3 liters or so of water a day might actually be good for you. And taking a 30 minute or so walk every day (or close to it) makes your knees stop hurting.

HOLY CRAP Fruit+water+exercise=energy.  Dude, why didn’t anybody tell me about this?
(and a funny note that’s not actually funny at all- according to my stop smoking tracker, I’ve saved $74 bucks. Would anybody like to guess how much money I just had to spend on a freaking tractor battery? That’s right… $74. And I didn’t even have the advantage of paying for it over two weeks $4-5 at a time….)

Week 1 on Weight Watchers
6.6 lbs. lost

Not starving to death by any means.  I hope the obsession with this sticks around- so far, I’m loving it.  There’s a more thoughtful post brewing, I swear… I just can’t find the time to sit down and write it.

All Knights are summoned to defend in single combat the claims of
their ladies to the title of “fairest”, signified by the crown which
will be awarded to him who the judges deem fights most bravely. And
for the increase of joy to both them who fight and they who watch,
there will be both singing, and dance.

(Please reply:)
2219 Oregon St
Berkeley, Calif.
845-4340

But I think I just finished the damned report, on the eve of the deadline, no less. Charlotte totally talked me through it.

I’ve really got nothing new to report. The no smoking is going ok. I think drinking nothing but water has improved the detox time. Now, I’m not saying there aren’t times when I’d stab somebody in the eye with a spork for a drag… but they’re fleeting moments. Nobody’s gotten hurt. Yet.

So, I don’t blog about my weight. I’m not going to tell you what I weigh, I’m not going to tell you what I eat, and chances are, I’m not going to tell you about what exercise I do when I actually do exercise. I’m just not that kind of an exhibitionist. However, I will say that I joined Weight Watchers yesterday (after The Committee nixed the liquid diet citing kidney health and rabid moods as cause), and my first meeting was not painful, and the first day of eating on the plan hasn’t killed me- I still have 2.5 points to kill and I’m not sure if they’re going to get killed or not. I may—-may—- post weekly pounds lost/gained, but I haven’t even decided about that yet. But- that’s the update. Please don’t offer me grilled cheesecake sandwiches (which we had last night as part of the “last supper” type thing, and OMG GOOD like woah). I’m being a good girl now. I have a dress I want to look hawt in for Squid’s wedding in October… which is plenty motivation and plenty of time. I can do this.

I am 30 years old. I’ve been a smoker for over half of my life (and no, I don’t count that 4 month stint last year as actually “quitting” since I did start back up).

I started smoking at 15. At the time, I didn’t plan on being a life-long smoker. It wasn’t a habit, it was a hobby. It was the Thing We Did to look bored and disinterested and immortal. And cool, don’t forget cool. Cigarettes are in most of the photos of my life from my teen years- in a mouth, in a hand, rolled up in a sleeve (but not mine- trust me).

I kept smoking in college. So did everyone else… that’s what the smart kids did on the steps in between classes, on the balcony of the dorm, in the bars, on walks down by the river… we smoked, and we were brilliant. The cigarette was that thing with which we gestured. A long thoughtful deep inhale often punctuated a long thoughtful deep thought. Some of the most profound conversations of my life happened in the wee hours of the morning in front of Boozeman dorm when we’d take breaks from all-nighters to roll around in nicotine and caffeine.

Every home I’ve ever lived in since then had a porch- perfect for smoking on. Smoking, and talking on the phone. The two have gone hand-in-hand for all of my adult life– sit on the porch, catch up with a friend, listen to the breeze/crickets/rain/traffic/etc, and smoke. Every major argument I’ve had has happened on one of those porches- because you can’t argue without smoking. Every real relationship I’ve ever had has been with a smoker. And don’t even get me started on booze and cigarettes… the only thing I love more than a good cider is a good cider with a good cigarette.

I could quit a “habit” easily, I think. I go off caffeine easily. Heck, my brief stint into vegetarianism wasn’t even that painful; meat may be part of life as I know it, but it’s exclusion wasn’t really that big of a deal. Cigarettes, though… it’s like giving up on a pet or a friend or my hair color or something else that has been part of who I am for over 15 years. I’m doing it, but it’s hard. First there’s the chemical process- aided greatly by Chantix, but still there. Then there’s the whole oral fixation/hand business thing. Knitting and mints help, but again… it’s still there. And then there’s the part of me that feels like I need to mourn the smoker that I was, to miss that filthy dirty stinky expensive habit, that selfish beast that would proclaim to the world “I don’t care if it kills me, I’m going to do what I wanna do, because that’s how I roll.” That’s the kicker, and that’s the part that’s the hardest, believe it or not. Maybe I need to find another selfish outlet. Maybe I should take up skydiving or pyrotechnics or some other dangerous sport. Maybe I just need to mourn it and get over it.

Either way, wish me luck.

QuitMeter Counter courtesy of www.quitmeter.com.

In all my years in the SCA, I have held just about every office you can at the local level, and a few at the Kingdom level.  I’ve autocratted.  I’ve trolled.  I’ve marshal-in-charged, and yes, once upon a time, I even feastcratted.  I CAN DO THIS.

Professionally, I’ve been a cashier, admin assistant, office manager, and now currently, I’m a bookkeeper, and a pretty damned good one at that.  I do things on time.  I have saved my company tens of thousands of dollars.  I do things right, the first time mostly.  I can spout off liability clauses and loopholes and I know when everything is due.  And everything always gets there at least a few days, but often a month or so, before it has to be.  Because that’s the way I roll.
I’ve now been in the local Reeve’s office for… 5 months?  And I want to rip my eyeballs out.  The first report I had to do (the end of year, or Doomsday), was a comedy of errors, but a dear friend figured out that the macros were broken on the spreadsheet… so it wasn’t my fault that it came out wrong, now, was it?  Of course not.  Dear Rory even set up my Q1 spreadsheet for me with the right starting figures and all, and made sure the file wasn’t corrupted…. and I’m still not getting it right.  I don’t mean that in the half-assed sort of way, either… it’s now officially eaten 8 hours of my time.  I don’t spend that kind of time working at my real job!

I’ve sent it off to brighter brains than me to analyze, and hopefully, it’s going to be a weird little thing and not a major problem, but in the meantime, I’m going to go drink a beer and not be mathy for a little while.

First off- Sorry, Amazon.com.  Apparently it wasn’t all your fault, and I have removed the offensive post about you.  I should have known never to doubt you…. and you have no idea how happy I am to know that you are, at least kind of, innocent.  I’ll go back to saving up for that Kindle now.  Please don’t suck in the future, k?  K.

Secondly- I’m now on round 2.5 of antibiotics, and have been dealing with sniffles, a killer cough, and plugged ears for a little over a week now.  So if you’re wondering where my enthusiasm for life is- it’s gone the way of my Eustachian tubes, and right now I’d much rather be bonding with the couch and the puppy and a hot toddie.  Not in that order.

Thirdly- Art Wars was LOTS of fun.  I am super thrilled with the project my team turned out, super-duper thrilled that none of us killed one another in the process, and I would work with those folks again in a heartbeat.  However- next year, I’ll be finding some other way to contribute to the War.  I’ll either set up a roving refreshments table to feed participants or I’ll help at troll or I’ll do…. something that doesn’t involve sleep deprivation + deadline + several other teams of sleep deprived and deadline wary folks surrounding me.  It isn’t anybody’s fault that I ended up miserable at the end of the competition… but I was, and it was bad, and I prefer to not go crazy in public, so we won’t be doing that again anytime soon.  THIS IS PROOF, ya’ll.  If you hear me start scheming about an Art Wars team next year, kindly reference me back to here, remind me that I made people I love cry, and kick me in the shins while directing me to the companionship of Team Mimosa, k?  I am hereby invoking the folding-chair clause if I resist.

Fourthly– WOW my ears hurt…oh, wait, been there.  Ah, yes- RealLife.  The job front is not horrible, despite the fact that I am having Issues with training the new girl.  It’s not her… it’s me.  Turns out, I’m a lousy teacher.  So I’m still doing more work than I should be doing and she’s still doing less because I can’t figure out how to properly teach her how to do what she needs to do… but we’re working on it, little by little.  I figure that by the end of the busy season, she’ll possibly have a clue.  I can hope.  And in other news… my father has now fully taken over the assets of the business we previously owned in Texas, and he is resuming business there, and no I am NOT moving to Texas.  I am, however, going to be spending one or two weekends a month there getting his books straight and working with the part-time office girl to make sure taxes are getting paid and all that fun stuff.

I promised myself I’d try to get myself back to blogging at least once a week.  It isn’t much, I know… but it’s a start.

Unfortunately, that promise came right about the time all hell broke loose, theoretically speaking.

Hell was accompanied by something fairly cute, though- meet Fylgir, our new pound puppy:

Hell was also followed by a very cool gift that I wasn’t expecting- a beautiful set of Harmony wood knitting needles from Knitpicks.  I’ve had my eye on those puppies for some time; unfortunately, they were sent anonymously and I have no idea where they came from.  If you’d like to enlighten me, please do.

Since returning from Gulf Wars…

• My father’s been here the entire time (well, he left yesterday, but more on that in a bit).
• My father and I have had to determine whether to file a lawsuit or foreclose on a business deal that was made in ‘07 and has now gone south.  Lots of time, lots of money, and 3 meetings requiring briefcases and corporate drag don’t make for a happy me.
• The office manager here at work tendered her resignation, leaving me as the Sr. office personnel (and figuring out how to do her job and piecemeal it amongst those of us left).
• A killdeer is still living in the middle of the driveway staring down all vehicles and humans with righteous indignation and very loud shrieks of rage.
• I got a haircut.
• 20 loads of laundry (give or take, most likely “give”) have been laundered.  I wish I could tell you that it was all put away… but I would be lying.  My house bothers me right now.

So, that’s where I’ve been.  For once, I’ve had plenty to blog about and no time, as opposed to plenty of time to blog but no inspiration.  Thus it goes, I suppose.  The storm seems to be dying down, so maybe I’ll check in soon.