mouse_rants

...but right now, i'm not complaining.

i didn't want to risk my losing streak by having a bunch of candy in the house, so rather than cower in the back of the house with the lights out, i decided i would just work late, and come home after the trick-or-treaters had finished (it's pretty much all younger children where i am, so they are done by 8 or 9). then i discovered i had a coupon for $5 off on a pair of misses' levis, which (as it happens) expires today.

i've been trying not to buy clothes, because i'm determined to get down to my proper weight, and i don't to want to spend a lot of money on stuff i (hopefully) won't be wearing long, but there have been a couple of really chilly evenings lately, and my old jeans are loose enough they are rather irritating - and besides, i figured shopping would be more fun than hanging around the office. so after work, i headed over to the local mall, and managed to find a store that still sells levis (what is this thing every place has now about having only their own store brand?) took me a while to find a pair in what i figured would be my size; as i was looking, i grabbed a couple of pairs in the next smaller size - which happens to be the size i wore in high school. i figured they wouldn't fit, but i might as well see how much further i had to go.

so i took them all into the fitting room. i decided i might as well get the bad news over with first, and tried on one of the smaller pairs. and they fit. comfortably. both pairs. even had a little room in the waist.

well, i lost my head completely, and went out to get a pair of the next smaller size - a size i have never worn, and one i had figured i wouldn't get into until spring, at best. and i actually got into them.

now, mind, they are distinctly snug, so i won't be wearing them out in public for a while yet. but i got them on, and buttoned, and zipped, without having to lie on the floor or stop breathing or anything like that. so they are now hanging in my closet, and i am curled up on the couch in the high-school sized pair. and more than a little cheered. clearly, Progress is Being Made, and it's nice to have a positive sign of that.

just _that_ sort of day.  it has been lovely and sunny and warm, and today it is all grey and blah.  and the weight -loss thing is blah - lost 2.4 lb last week, gained 2.4 lb this week (despite living off cantaloupe smoothies and fat-free vegetable soup and salads).  one interesting thing - i broke down and bought a digital scale last week - and it's quite interesting to see how variable my weight is during the day.  yesterday, i was 7 lb heavier at the end of the day than at the beginning - this morning i was back down by 6.  i know, i know, you aren't supposed to weigh yourself that often - except i find it reassuring (in an odd sort of way) to see how variable it really is.  it's not the immediate weight, it's the trend.  ok, so the trend isn't so great lately....but long-term, it's going in the right direction.  the other thing is, i realized weight change is not an instantaneous thing.  so it may take a week for last  weeks light eating to show up.  i'll just keep working on it, and i'll get off this plateau eventually.

work is about to get hectic.  finally got The Big Data Set - only about 3 months later than originally planned for.  so, two months instead of four to get The Critical Report out (we did get an extra month)...fortunately, i'm only going to have to really work on 2 chapters, instead of all four (it's only part of the full report).  and the two i have are pretty routine - same things we've done before, so the programs are all together.  then a whole lot of generic things -doing the data dumps, and the public use data, and the standard tables....the upside is, all those programs are all together, so they won't take much thought from me.  the downside is, those programs are all together, so it's just slogging through running them, which is really boring.  hopefully, the remaining chapters will be more exciting, since there should be some different stuff there.

summer theatre season is starting - tonight is othello, last week was midsummer night's dream.  seems i should have named angelina kitten hermia - "though she be little, yet she is fierce"...that describes her pretty well.  she is determined to have her own "midsummer night dreams" these days - she doesn't want to come in at night, which has me in a panic, in fear that she will meet "some vile thing" (i started to type "meat", which tells you how my thoughts are running).  she has no fear, of course - although the local dogs occassionally send her running in with her tail all excited, her alarm never lasts for long...but the dogs are just interested in playing.  she doesn't get that there are things out there looking for a midnight snack.  so when i come out to get her, she skitters away, leaving me wishing for a net - or maybe a stun gun.

now listening to my newest acquisition, "rhinoceros tap", which includes that charming ode to mousal affection, "i love you more than cheese".

continuing to lose - i'm averaging about 1 lb/week, although it varies wildly. but! as of this week, i lost enough to have to drop 2 points daily. (i.e., i get to eat _less_). but i was actually rather looking forward to that, as it means serious progress.

as a preliminary celebration, i wore one of the shorts i bought last week - which are sort of a swimming-suit aqua, and quit short, but after all it _is_ may, and therefore IT IS SPRING AND WARM AND SUNNY AND BEAUTIFUL even if it does seem to want to hide all that under a thick black layer of clouds...BUT IT CAN'T FOOL ME!

and to celebrate after, they had a recipe for fat-free rice krispy treats (1 pt each):
4 c minimarshmellows
1/4 c low-fat buttermilk
5 c rice krispies

in a large saucepan over low heat, combine marshmellows and buttermilk, stirring occasionally. when totally melted, turn to medium and boil 3 minutes, stiring constantly. remove from heat and stir in rice krispies. spray a 9 X 13 in dish with no-stick spray. pour in mixture, smooth out and press down with spoon. allow to cool and cut in 2 inch squares. this should make 20 servings. i'm making a batch now, so i'll let you all know how it tastes.

now i need to pay bills, assuming fred will let me. (fred seems to feel "sitting at computer typing away"="desperately want to pet and cuddle cat, who must not under _any_ circumstances sit quietly in lap while being petted").

down another 1.6 lb.  i'm encouraged.

in other news:  angelina has caught her first lizard tail.

we are all very proud.

fred was so impressed he tried angling for one.


no success so far, but he's a persistant fellow.

(thanks to image shack, of course).

so i've been doing the weight watchers thing for about 3 months now. and i'm losing weight...but very slowly...haven't quite made 10 lb yet. there's a woman (jackie) in the meeting i go to who says she has also been going about 3 months - and she has lost 37 lb.

now, really, i'm happy for her; it's nice to know that it is possible for weight loss to be quick and easy. except the meeting has become sort of an all-jackie all the time lovefest. and oddly, hearing how easy it is for her is not helping me. today we heard (again) from the leader, congratulating jackie on finding a source of single-serving salad dressing packets, and marveled (again) about how brave she was, because when she first started using them, people made fun of her, but now even the waiters comment on what a good idea it is. she makes about every third comment in the meetingl, today she even bulldozed over a woman who was trying to ask a question - which never did get answered, because the leader is only too happy to focus on how brilliant jackie is.

maybe if she had some tips that would be useful to the rest of us - but it's all about what clever choices she made on her trip to las vegas and the like. today's tip was that she buys a new pair of tight jeans every two weeks, so she won't eat too much. now, not only do i not have the time or money to go jeans-shopping every other week, i don't wear jeans to work. nor is it appropriate for me to wear tight clothes. and in any event, one of the things weight watchers wants you to learn is to monitor your feelings of hunger and fullness - so depending on tight clothes really isn't that much of a life-skill, is it? the subject of the meeting was supposed to be brown-bagging - i was hoping for some tips here, since i always take my lunch - but jackie managed to sideline it to all the great fast-food choices she had found, thus turning it into a discussion on fast food. now, i never have been a fan of fast food, and i'm certainly not going to take it up when i'm trying to lose weight. but hey, since jackie loses with her fast food salads and handy-dandy salad dressings, guess i should give up on trying to prepare tasty healthy food for myself!

oh yeah - guess i should give you the source of the salad dressings - minimus.biz. (i knew you wanted to know).

...which is what i am trying to do.  it should all be perfectly straightforward:  calories in - calories out=weight loss/gain.  how can it possibly _not_ work this way?

i managed to lose a bit over 5 lb, then while continuing on the same diet, regain 1.5 lb.  so i redoubled my efforts:  i ate slightly less than my diet allowed me,  i increased the length of my walks, i added some additional morning exercises.  when i weighed myself monday evening, i was down about 4 lb.  much heartened, i continued on in this vein.  my reward?....when i weighted myself last night, i was up 1.4 lb.

of course, i responded to this in a completely mature and adult fashion:  i had a bag of lime and pepper chips, a bowl of guacamole and some feta cheese for dinner.  if i'm going to gain weight, at least i'll have a good reason!  *sigh*