Pilates

I'm on the comeback trail....FINALLY! "What was the breaking point?" you may ask. Well, it was seeing the love handles (i have anything but love for them) and seeing how some of my fitted shirts weren't laying as gracefully against my body as they did just a few months ago. There was this little bulge sticking out. GROSS. I felt gross. I know physical appearance isn't everything and you may read this and think i'm vain. I admit, since high school, I've been a little bit weight/body obsessed and possibly may have some issue with self esteem. WHAT FEMALE DOESN'T? I went to a high school where only thin girls got dates. I wasn't thin. I was athletic. Anyway.....I had been doing so well almost a year ago all the way up until summer (after July 4th I think). I don't know what happened, but the gradual slide became a vertical drop. So, last week while up in Chicago I told my love handly self, "enough is enough." I went to the Y after work this past Wednesday. I was all set to do a cardio workout and then a few weights afterward when I decided to glance at the class schedule. A Pilates class was going to start in 15 minutes!!! Wooo hooo. I then made a mad dash to my car, opened the trunk and grabbed my pilates mat that had been untouched for a very long time. The class was amazing. It was challenging. Since leaving Wilmington years ago, I hadn't taken a class that really got me excited and left me feeling challenged. I'm still feeling the pain from that class in my abs and arse and it's Saturday. All it takes is one class you enjoy to get you motivated! I've been to to the gym 3 times this week -- I'm feeling good. And really, feeling good and feeling good about yourself is what it's all about!

Music

Ever need some new music? Well, this site will help you. My friend Kurt blogged about it awhile back and I just heard another plug for it on NPR last night.

Check it out. It's pretty cool.

www.pandora.com

Lit

Hi friends. I have to share this with you before I forget (though I'm not likely to forget it). On Tuesday afternoon, I was leaving Fletcher, NC (home of Rog and Jan) and I needed to stop and fill up Plum for the ride back to Charlotte. First, I am about to pull in and this jerk comes in from the other side and takes the pump I am about 6 feet away from. Of course, he makes no eye contact (they never do). Then, as I'm approaching the very last "gas island", I see this old guy messing with the pump and he's got a cigarette hanging off his lips. I think to myself, "Gosh, this guy can't wait to light his ciggie! What an addict!" Well, I pull up, turn off my car, step out and folks, his cigarette is LIT." The guy is standing there and then starts to walk behind his vehicle. I responded by saying, "Sir, if you don't mind, just please stay over there. I do ot feel comfortable pumping gas with you over here." He kind of laughed to himself, but stayed over there. The whole time I'm thinking I'm going to die. I have never wanted the gas to flow as quickly into my car as I did that day! I didn't die, of course, I lived to tell.

Ironically, at this very moment I'm watching Thank Your For Smoking

Snuggly

Originally uploaded by Schmizzly.

So, I'm missing Steve....obviously.
I look at photos and they make me feel closer to him.

eyes for you

eyes for you
Originally uploaded by Schmizzly.

and this photo shows the contrast in our coloring. i like it. we're different, but we complement.

Steve and Steph

Steve and Steph
Originally uploaded by Schmizzly.

This photo was taken 2 months into our relationship. I love this photo.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Hard week

I always have expectations that Christmas will be this grand holiday where traditions will be in place and everyone will be happy, the house will be filled with laughter and the love will abound. It's never quite like that. Truth be told, it's usually a hard week with the occasional highlights.

A few of the highlights from this Christmas are: 1)getting this beautiful diamond necklace from my parents, 2) reading a book, 3) finding perfect fitting pants at BR, 4) seeing my nieces and nephew.

I miss Steve. He's in PA visiting his sister and her family. I just miss him. He's my boyfriend and my companion. I want him here.

I'm sad because my grandma just passed away and there's some scandal over what has happened to some of her stuff. We had a beatiful memorial service for her, but now it's being overshadowed by this crap. She had beautiful things that should have been passed on to her kids and grandkids, but it's gone apparently. There are no GOOD anwers about what happened to all of it.

Oh, and my alarm didn't go off this morning -- my first day back to work. Thank GOD my friend Holly called me at 7:20. I was snoozing hard. The fact that she called is providential. Thankfully, there's hardly anyone working today.

Holidays are romanticized. I'm over it. I'm over thinking that they'll be great. Maybe someday I'll be surprised. The fact of the matter is that holidays are often the hardest part of the year and I'm starting to realize that more and more.

Grandma

I can remember her singing to me when it was time for a nap. She would sing, "I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men if you follow me." It's a song about Jesus and how by entering into a relationship with him, we'll want to tell others about Him and "catch" them for Christ, per se. It's funny. As I type out those words, I'm thinking, "that doesn't sound that great." Who want to be caught up in a net? No thanks. Ha!

Anyway, Grandma Jeanne passed away last week. We'll be flying up to Chicago on Thursday morning for her Memorial Service. I have cousins, aunts,uncles and family friends that will gather to honor my Grandma. It's really a bittersweet thing. She was old, did not have a great quality of life, but she was my last grandparent. I was thinking about this last night. It's weird to think of a family tree getting shortened. Many times, grandparents are the roots, the stability of a family. The give us wisdom and strength. They give us a heritage.

I loved my grandma. Memories are coming to mind left and right and I'll have to make time soon to write them down so I can share something at the service.

Life has only now begun for her.

New phone

So, this is my new phone. It should arrive soon.

Xmen

This is interesting. I'm mildly offended at the "slacker" part.

You Are Iceman

You tried to live a normal life, but it just wasn't possible A bit of a slacker, you rather tell jokes than cultivate your powers Powers: turning self and others into ice, making ice weapons, becoming nearly invisible

Which of the X-Men Are You?

Depressing

So, my phone broke and my hard drive crashed on my laptop yesterday. This is really bumming me out. I still have 5 months left until I can get a new phone for free with the "New Every Two" plan through Verizon. The laptop, well, I just didn't budget to buy a new one. In the past, I've been extremely fortunate to get the hand me down laptops from my last 2 jobs. My boyfriend swears by Apple products, but they start at $1,100. I wanted to get a Treo 650 as a new phone/PDA and even bid on 2 or 3 but got outbid on ebay every time. This has left me feeling very sorry for myself. I know I shouldn't be depressed over these things when there's so much more to be depressed about in this world. Yes, I've been spoiled. Now, I realize how much. Lord, make me thankful for what I have.

Christmas wish and KEXP

So, on my way to KEXP.org to stream some indie goodness, I saw something fun. When you click on the page, you see this cd you can buy. I likey. I wanty. It's something I'd love for Christmas! Click the link, yo! You might want it too!

For those of you unfamiliar, this is a great station out of Seattle and they stream! Happy listening!

The 16 days or so of Christmas...errr food

So, in the legal department where I work, the other ladies came up with the fantastic idea of bringing food to the office in celebration of the holidays. Now, with most companies, this means bringing in food on a certain day. Well, not at my work. We are bringing food in EVERY SINGLE WORK DAY until the end of the year! Can we say holiday 15? 15 being the number of pounds I am bound to gain if i indulge in it all. Thank God for Christal who, yesterday, brought in a tray of strawberries, cantaloupe and honeydew (how she got fruit not in season and that tasted so good is beyond me)! She also brought in hummus and then some muffins to satisfy those who thought they might have been jipped by the fruit tray. oh, wait, she also brought VEGGIES. Yay!

Okay, so my turn is tomorrow. I made a hash brown casserole, home made chocolate chip scones and a veggie pizza appetizer thing. I am excited to see how they go over. I feel pretty darn good about my culinary skills that were displayed tonight. It's been FOREVER since I cooked or baked anything. I've been without my own kitchen for awhile now.

Sidenote: Someone at work told me the other day that usually everyone who comes to this company puts on 10 lbs! Oh no, not me honey!!!

So Merry Christmas and Happy Eating. Remember these tips for a holiday party:

1. Drink plenty of water beforehand (so instead of going back to the table of food, you're forced to go back and forth to the bathroom).
2. Eat a little sumpin' before the party (I think people say this so that when you go to the party you don't look like the cow that is eating EVERYTHING in sight because it's Christmas and you're supposed to eat this much!)
3. Stay with veggies and fruit (Oh please. Like we're really going to do this. It's Christmas and it's all about cookies, pastries, dips and doo-dahs).

Urgent care

Today is the fifth day of being sick. This is the second cold I've had since moving to C-town, NC. I hope this isn't a sign. Anyway, I pride myself on not getting sick. I'm usually quite the picture of health. This is what I get for being prideful. It's not the flu, but it's the sick where you feel all the pressure in your head and you're constantly blowing your nose and if you're not blowing your nose, you're coughing these awful coughs. It really IS amazing how the body can produce such amounts of phlegm in such a seeminly short period of time.

So today I decided to put my new insurance to use. I left on my lunch break thinking I'd be back around 3pm. You know what I'm talking about! You go to "urgent" care knowing that there's no URGENCY in the place. i suppose if i was dying or coughing up blood and not phleghm they'd sit up and stop playing solitaire. well, that's the attitude i used to have. today, i walked in, was greeted by a friendly nurse and proceeded to fill out the appropriate paper work. after about 10 minutes, i was called to the back. and at this point i'm thinking, "oh yeah, here's where the waiting begins." not so! i was just about to get to the nitty gritty of TomKat's wedding day highights in People when the doctor knocked on the door!

For the next 10 minutes or so, we chatted, he took my vitals, he listened to me, etc. dr. withrow was professional and (let me bold this part) did not just prescribe me an antibiotic to get me out the door!
he said i have a viral infection, but that it could turn into something more. so, he gave me a decongestant (which i need) and then also gave me an antibiotic to take only if i didn't see improvement in the next couple of days! he actually said, "doctors prescribe them too much." i was impressed.

so, i am sitting here blogging, waiting for my decongestant to take effect. my head feels like it's in some sort of a vice. ugghh.

be well. take airborne or emergen-C or whatever it is that you can take to PREVENT getting this virus.

HILarious

This is one of my favorite work out tunes...
And this makes me smile!