Curvy Catholic and the Mysterious Staircase!

Weigh-in first - down 0.6 pounds to 196.4.

Though I don't have a digital camera (yet - Christmas is coming!), I snagged one of those disposable Fujis at Ralphs the other day, and yesterday walked over and took several photos of the Mystery Staircase.

Actually, I think I have figured out what it is. According to this photo (from the L.A. Public Library's WAY cool photo database!), there used to be a parking lot at 5th and Flower. Look towards the bottom left, then up to the left of the sign that says "Parking" - see it? That staircase going uphill from the back of the parking lot?

Well, I think that's the one I found - at least, part of it! It's in a sort of alleyway between two buildings - the 444 S Flower Building and the parking lot underneath the Stuart Ketchum Downtown YMCA. It's almost completely covered with dirt and unused.

Actually, that's not quite true. I noticed a lot of beer cans and cigarettes scattered around, so it obviously IS being used - by people I probably wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley! So if I need to take any more photos, I'll make sure I'm not alone!

Oh, as for my depression? It seems to have lifted, at least somewhat. The exercise helped. Last Tuesday, it was so bad I spontaneously decided to take the rest of the week off. And you know what? That was the best decision I could have made! I stayed home, but I didn't just sit around on the couch eating bon-bons and watching soaps. No way, Jose - I WORKED!

Yes - I worked in our back yard, went to the Green Thumb Nursery, got some plants, chopped down a pesky bush and an annoying little tree, puttered around the house and just generally had a fine "housewifey" time. And yes, it was a little depressing coming back here to work yesterday, but not nearly as much as I'd feared it would be.

Now tomorrow may be another story. I've finally got my long-awaited meeting with my former boss, my current boss, and the HR person. Not something I'm looking forward to but I'll just have to wade through the muck as best I can.

At Long Last Loss!!!

OK, ready for the BIG NEWS of the week?

No - not about how much I lost in the stock market.

No - not about how my (ex) boss was so snotty to me that the stress got to me and made me ACTUALLY snotty (i.e., as in getting a cold).

And no, not about how "Desk Girl" from Curves Van Nuys apparently read my blog entry from last week, and called "Desk Girl" at Curves Bunker Hill to complain about my heretical 1-minute workout ways (to which D.G. C.B.H. replied with a polite but appropriate "phbbbbhhh").

Nope, the BIG NEWS of the week is - I LOST SIX POUNDS!!!

That's right, campers and loyal followers! I've finally dumped that six-week plateau and am now down to 195 - the FIRST time I've been below 200 pounds in AT LEAST 10 years!!! My total official weight loss since I started in April is - 29.4 pounds!

Hurray for me! And big "thank yous" to:

1. Flora and Christy and all the gang at at Weight Watchers - Sherman Oaks;
2. Curves Bunker Hill, especially owner Mickey, who understands that not every round exerciser can fit into the same square hole; and
3. last but not least, my sweet hubby Steve, for his excellent cooking and loving support!

This is a (relatively) short entry because I'm still feeling the effects of that cold. Thanks a bunch, THERESA ]:-( .

More next week, I promise!

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!).

WHERE'S THE REST OF ME??

So I weighed in at 201.4 yesterday, which means I have lost MORE THAN 10 PERCENT OF MY WEIGHT HURRAY FOR ME!!

I'm very proud of myself, although to be fair, it's my body that did most of the work. So hurray for my body! Thanks, body/buddy, and sorry about that bowling episode the other day.

See, I signed up to participate in this Bowl-A-Thon next Wednesday at work, so since I had some time off on Friday, and since I haven't actually bowled for at least ten years, I decided to go practice at a nearby alley. (Aptly named, since the one I went to kinda resembled an alley - dirty, trashy and kinda smelly.)

But I digress! Anyway, I bowled nonstop for a full hour and it felt really good - till about an hour after I got home, when my muscles started singing ("Ow-leluja - Ow-leluja!"). They're still sore, so I'm hoping I'll be able to bowl when I'm actually SUPPOSED to.

Though since my highest score, out of 5 games, was only 83, they might not care whether I do or not. I'll let you know how it went next week!

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!)

Another good Saturday morning!

I've been having a pretty good week (other than my boss -- or should I say "EX-boss who doesn't KNOW she's my ex-boss, or at least PRETENDS she doesn't know") -- being, well, bossy!).

I got Mickey, the franchise owner at my CURVES, to do my measurements on Friday. Everything looks really good - I'm down an average of one inch on all my vitals. CURVES shows me down 5 pounds but I don't really rely on their scales, which are the old-fashioned kind with the metal weights that slide from one end to the other. Frankly, those scales intimidate me - they have a "the doctor will see you now" vibe. I prefer the digital Post Office-quality scales at Weight Watchers -- much more accurate and you don't have to worry about which kind of thermometer they're using today. ;-)

Anyway, today I had my official weekly Weight Watchers weigh-in (say THAT three times fast!) and yay, I'm down another couple of pounds! Weight today, 214.8, which means I've lost 9.6 pounds since I started - yay!!!

See you next week! (Oh, by the way - L.A. Metro SUCKS - more next time!)

(P.S. I think our cat, Princess, has noticed I'm shrinking - she tried to help me by bringing me a nice, juicy nutritious sparrow last night. Dead, thank God. I appreciated the thought, my piercing screams and pleas to my husband to GET IT OUT OF HERE NOW!!! notwithstanding.)