Bad taste alert!

I'm sure it wasn't intended as a really bad-taste joke at the expense of the hapless train conductor involved in Friday's horrific Metrolink accident in Chatsworth, California.

However, it sure came out that way.

One of my coworkers is in the habit of sending out a "thought of the day" every day. I gather she gets them from our national office - and probably doesn't look at them too closely.

Well, today's thought of the day was:

"It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop."

Uh ... hmmm.

Isn't that kind of what the Metrolink conductor's being accused of - going slow but not stopping for that red light?

Unintentionally tacky, at best.

(And more seriously, if you want to help the victims, there's a whole lot of injured people who could use your blood, so if you have any to spare, why not call the Red Cross and set up an appointment today?)

(Oh, and I did lose weight this week - down to 201, which means I've pretty much lost all the weight I put on during my vacation. Curves and Weight Watchers are turning out to be a great combination! I'll write more in detail about both next week.)

Downtown Goats!

(I know it's not my usual posting day - or reason - usually I only post a day or two after my weigh-in. But this is just SO cool I had to tell you about it!)

"Have you seen the goats?" has become the catchphrase of the week in downtown Los Angeles - Bunker Hill, to be specific.

Check out this link at the LA Times which explains it.

What's going on is that the city has hired 100 goats to clear the brush on Angel's Knoll, a small park next to the historic (but tragically and annoyingly closed) Angel's Flight Railway.

It's a wonderful sight to see as you're coming up the escalator from the subway at Fourth and Hill (always assuming the escalator is working!) - and here's a wonderful photo from Flickr taken by a user named eitheror:



What a great way to start - and end - an otherwise dull and ordinary workday! So here's my question: instead of building yet another office building downtown, how about creating a nature preserve? I for one would rather see a bunch of goats every morning than some of my coworkers (nyuk nyuk!).

Birthday Blast(s)!

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of weeks. As you weight-loss veterans may have suspected - yes, I did gain a little weight! Not much, though - Saturday I was up to 202.8, so only about a pound and a half. ("Only" - nyuk nyuk!)

And that's not the reason I didn't post. To be honest, I just forgot! See, last Tuesday was my 50th birthday -

[pause, wait for applause - whoops, sorry! Forgot I don't have a Teleprompter!]

Anyway, I went to Phoenix, Arizona for a couple of days to celebrate with my parents; and then came home and celebrated again with my wonderful husband.

And somewhere in there - I just forgot to post! Oh well, no worries - I'm back now! Like your worst nightmare! (hee hee!)

Re: the weight gain - I really don't feel bad about it at all. And I'm not surprised by it either. Remember a few weeks ago, when I said that I was cutting back on my CURVES workouts during August? Well, I'm convinced the weight gain is the direct result of that.

But now I'm back to work, back on my regular schedule, and back to my 3-times-a-week CURVES workouts. So I fully expect a loss at my next weigh-in!

Oh, speaking of losses - I'm kind of in mourning for our old "Thinner" brand scale. Actually, it's still in the house. However, my wonderful and thoughtful husband decided to buy a new scale - specifically the Weight Watchers scale.

And it's really nice! Very pretty and functional. However, I've gotten used to the old one weighing me in at about two pounds less than the official WW scale (you know, the special digital ones they use to weigh you in at meetings). The new one, however, weighs me in at least one pound HIGHER than that official weight! So I have to kind of psych myself up to accept the new numbers.

The positive side is that from now on, whatever I weigh at home before leaving for the meeting, I'll know that I won't weigh any MORE than that at the meeting! So maybe it'll work out OK after all!

P.S. Wonderful/thoughtful hubby also gave me a brand new Cuisinart programmable coffeemaker for my morning commute! There are still a couple of bugs to work out, but I did leave home today with a commuter mug full of hot, delicious coffee. Perfect for these bitter cold Southern California mornings!

THANKS AGAIN, sweetie! I love you!

Another Monday morning ... but not too bad

I know, it's the biggest cliche in the world, right? "I hate Mondays!"

I really don't hate them all that much, though, especially today, since I'm taking the afternoon off work ALL WEEK LONG! Hurray!

So what am I going to do with all that free time, you ask? Well - not really that much. It takes me about an hour of commuting time to actually get home and by that time there's really not that many places I can go shopping, etc. without hitting the afternoon rush hour traffic which I took the time off to avoid.

Still - it's nice to know I'll only have to be here for a short time. Sort of like taking a realllyyy long lunch hour!

And since I am indulging myself during these last 3 weeks of August by taking a lot of short days, I've decided not to go to Curves on Monday-Wednesday-Friday as usual. Instead, I'm going to go on Tuesday & Thursday, then do something different on weekends. Like walking. Or perhaps half an hour on my "stationary bike" in the back yard.

I put the "quotes" around it because it's actually a real bike -- I bought it last year but was afraid to ride it because it was too high for me to stay balanced on. So there it sat in the garage, gathering dust and spiderwebs. When I went out one morning and saw the words "Some Pig" in one of the webs, I figured I'd better do something!

I found a neat device called a "bike trainer". It's basically a stand which attaches to the back wheel, holding it firmly in place. So you can ride it to your heart's content without actually moving an inch!

I set it up out back next to our Tuff Shed, where there's an electric outlet. I can put my ancient 13" TV/VCR combo with separate attached DVD player on a table in front of it, pop in a "Green Acres" or "Father Ted" DVD (or even "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", as I did yesterday), and pedal away! It's really a fun way to get in my every-other-day exercise.

Nothing against Curves, but as anyone who goes there regularly knows, once you get into the exercise habit, there does come a point where you want to do something different. So this is my "something different" - for now. In the fall, like the kids returning, grumbling, to school, I'll return, grumbling, to Curves 3 times a week.

(Oh, the weight loss thing? Down two more pounds, to 203!)