Doctor gave me shot of some anti-inflammatory. I think it’s a steroid. He put me on the pills last time I went to him and they made me very buzzy and jittery. Right now I feel like I could run around the building a few times. It’s a big building, mind you. Thank goodness he didn’t give me the pills this time. I remember I never slept well while I was on them but I was never tired. It was a bit magical, but other than that, I didn’t like the jittery feeling. It reminds me of how I felt when I smoked and I wanted a cigarette. That “I desperately need a cigarette right now” feeling. All the time. Bad.

Want to go buy some Lancome mascara. I think the buzzy jitters are giving me shopping crazy mania. Woooo! Had lovely Chick-Fil-A, low pointy lunch. (Grilled chicken sammich, fruit cup. That fruit cup is good. I am not a fruit cup person, seeing as they usually consist of mushy pears, mushy peaches, those weird cherries, and maybe some strange grapes. But this! This was crisp apples…mandarin orange sections…firm, delicious grapes…tart pineapple…yum yum yum! And only 1 point for the small. Ya!)

Sniffle, sniffle, sniffle. Went to doctor this morning. Got a bagful of medicine. Yay! Love nice doctors who take pity on poor patients with insurance that barely pays for allergy medicine. As soon as I can get signed up with the mail-order pharmacy, though, I’ll be awash in Allegra-D. Can’t wait!

Went to Curves last night. Made a nice healthy dinner. I’m just a freakin’ model of healthiness. Except for the York Peppermint Pattie I scarfed down in the car on the way back from Curves. But as it happens, I did choose the lowest-point chocolate candy I could find at Walgreens. One of those big patties is only 3 points. Yum, and worth every bite. But on top of the oatmeal raisin cookie I had at lunch, it probably was unnecessary. Ah well. But now I’m on antibiotics for the next ten days and doesn’t that mean no drinking? Phooey.

Am planning on a nice, relaxing weekend. Going to the Quarter with George to find him some doc martens. May splurge on some Lancome mascara with my babysitting money. I would never buy $22 mascara otherwise. Plus, dammit, I’ve lost 25 lbs. I should buy myself a little beauty gift. And if I buy waterproof, it’ll come in handy for the wedding too. I’m good at justification, huh?

Also would like to see a movie this weekend. Have much catching up to do. Want to see Anchorman. And The Village, before whatever the (supposedly lame) twist ending becomes public knowledge. And the new Harry Potter is playing at the IMAX. (I always want to say the iMac.) Could end up being a busy weekend. Also must mow the lawn. It is getting very overgrown. But heat index is hovering around 105. Not nice. And I have mean things to say to people who insist I wear long pants while mowing and weedwhacking. I don’t care if I get rocks embedded in my shins. Otherwise I’ll pass out from heat.

Two weeks and I’ll be in DC! Shopping at H&M and IKEA. Can’t wait. Ooh, can get some new clothes for new job. V important. Woo!

Blech. Still feeling ill. Last night I couldn’t sleep from the snot! The snot! And we were all out of Breathe-Right strips, which I used to ridicule, but now I worship. But tomorrow I’m going back to the doctor, and hopefully he will shoot me full of drugs (in a good way, new job people, if you’re reading this) and make me better.

But last night, George took me to La Crepe Nanou, this wonderful cute French restaurant a few blocks from where Kristina and I lived Uptown. We never went there, though, which is a shame because it’s delicious and not too expensive. I’d been there once before with my mom a few years ago and I still remember the salad I had there. It was very simple, but the lettuce was so good…lettuce! It was Boston lettuce. Dang. So we had a salad. And then I had a crabmeat and creamed spinach crepe. It was stuffed with crabmeat. And topped. George had a swiss cheese and onion crepe. I don’t like onions, but I could’ve eaten the whole thing. Yum.

Then for dessert we split (uh, 25%/75% perhaps) a crepe filled with sliced almonds, sugar, and topped with coffee ice cream and whipped cream. Gaaaa! So good! I could eat that again yes indeedy. But I have hardly any flex points left after that dinner, so I guess not.

Went to Curves after work yesterday. I really do like it, even though I’m now wondering if I overexerted myself. What the heck. I’m going back tonight anyway. Usually exercise makes me feel better, not worse. Hmmm.

Oh yeah – I didn’t even mention that I lost two of the 2.2 pounds I gained on the cruise. Woo!

And now I can reveal my big secret…

I got a new job!

It’s at the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Yes, I am going to be a good Catholic girl! (Oh wait, I already am!) I will be the Coordinator of Internet Services and I’m going to make lots more money and I will be able to pay my bills without stress! And the hours are good (8-4) and I’ll get a window office (7th floor but probably overlooking the interstate) and I’ll get to do some design work. But I’ll really really miss the people I work with here. I love the people I work with now. But I’ll still see them. After all, Janice and I belong to Curves together and we’re going to take dance classes together. So it’ll be okay.

On another note, last night I babysat my cousin Max who is the cutest baby on earth. (Oops, in case any of my friends with new babies are reading this, I mean it about your baby too!) He was babbling and cooing and giggling and all the cute stuff that 13 month olds do. He walks but only if you give him a finger to hold. It’s heart-melting stuff, I gotta say.

Well, now I’ve got to write a training manual for my job. Gah!

Still a little sick today, but nothing major. Just the remnants of a cold. Blah.

Had a tiring weekend. Especially tiring because of illness. Saturday had sushi with my sister and some of her friends. Then drove to Baton Rouge. Got a manicure with mom and sister, went to uncle’s house, went to dinner.

Sunday was my sister’s shower. Got lots of compliments on my new dress. Love my new dress. It was the first time I’ve seen a bunch of my relatives since I started WW, so I got lots of compliments on how I looked, too. Always nice to hear.

Yesterday my sister took her bridal portraits. I went along. Then we went to lunch. Then I went back to New Orleans. Last night I went to a friend from work’s house and ate my weight in finger sandwiches, mini quiches and potato chips. I woke up full this morning. Bleeeggghhh. Nevertheless, I expect to see a loss this week. (Even after the orgy of food last night I weighed a bit less this morning. So keep fingers crossed.)

Tonight I babysit my cousin Max. He’s 13 months old and very cute. I saw him Saturday at my uncle’s house in Baton Rouge and tonight I’ll be babysitting him at my uncle’s condo on Bourbon Street. Yeah, babies and Bourbon Street! What a perfect match!

Bleeeggh. Today I’m at home, took a sick day. I’ve never taken a sick day at this job. And I’ve taken maybe one other sick day in my whole life. But I have to say, I am very glad I’m not at work today. See, I sneeze a lot (see yesterday’s post about not being able to afford $40 a month for Allegra-D) and everyone in my office gets annoyed by my sneezing. I know they’re just teasing me, but hello, it’s a reflex, there’s nothing I can do. Except hit them up for some of their Allegra-D. Ha ha. So anyway, on a normal day I sneeze a lot. Just now, I sneezed about 13 times in a row. Unfortunately, not even exaggerating about that.

But I am able to get some work done on my sister’s shower gift I have to give her on Sunday, so that’s a plus. And I’m off Monday (vacation day) so this is shaping up to be a looong weekend, even if today isn’t exactly fun. (Though I have been watching more episodes of “I love the 90s” on VH-1, which is awesome. I may be a child of the 80s, but the 90s was really the decade I grew up in, ya know?

Just call me Sneezy. I think I have another sinus infection. Blech. Wonder if I should go back to the ENT and give him my sob story about how I can’t afford to buy any more Allegra-D. Maybe he’d give me samples. Hmm.

Went back to Curves yesterday after work. I gotta tell you, it isn’t easy. When I signed up, I was all thinking that it was going to be so easy and I would be able to go every day, no problem. But today I definitely need a rest from it. That’s good, though. That means it will do me some good.

Nothing else exciting to report. My life is (blissfully) dull right now. Last night I watched the 1990, 1998, and 1999 shows of “I love the 90s” on VH-1. It’s hilarious.

Ugh. Gained 2.2 lbs this week because of cruise. But thinking back, would I give up the bread pudding? Twice? The lamb chops? The hot dog? The poboys? The fried green tomatoes?

No, no, no.

And I did run on the treadmill for thirty minutes on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Not that the four activity points I earned each of those days made even the tiniest dent in the 60+ points I ate every day. Ha! So I can’t complain.

The auditors are here from the corporate office. Scary, just like you’d expect auditors to be. Eep!

And I did my first Curves workout yesterday. I was surprised at how much I felt it! Am going again today. I like it. Time goes by so fast.

I joined Curves yesterday. Okay, perhaps I am not in the target demographic, but it’s not too expensive, it’s close to home, and it emphasizes strength training, which is what I need most right now. Regarding what has been said about Curves and the anti-abortion movement, I found this on snopes.com:

Gary Heavin is far from the first successful businessman to underwrite reproductive causes — Tom Monaghan of Domino’s Pizza and Carl Karcher, founder of the California-based hamburger chain Carl’s Jr., have been very open and public regarding their support of the pro-life philosophy, just as Warren Buffett, ranked by Forbes magazine as the second-richest man in the world, has been forthcoming about his backing of pro-choice programs. In each instance, these men are acting as private citizens who choose to bestow parts of their fortunes on the causes they believe in, not as officers of their corporations. The money is theirs to do with as they please, just as anyone’s paycheck belongs to the person who earns it and stops being the employer’s money at the moment it is paid out. That a spendthrift employee might choose to gamble away his earnings doesn’t mean the company he works for supports gambling; likewise, that a wealthy man financially supports particular causes doesn’t mean the corporation that paid him the money favors those movements.

All this is by way of saying that while it’s correct to identify Gary Heavin as a patron of pro-life endeavors, it would not be right to point to Curves as a supporter of those same causes.

Anyway, just so no one thinks I’m completely insensitive to the controversy surrounding Curves. I just wanna get buff, people!

I weighed myself this morning. I think I gained somewhere in the vicinity of 2-3 lbs over the weekend. Maybe. We’ll see tomorrow. Worth it, though. But am back on track as of today. Here are some pics from my cruise (not in the correct order but I will fix them and add more captions at some point.)

Holy cow.

This is good stuff.

Stonyfield Farms organic lowfat yogurt. Flavor: Luscious Lemon. I can’t wait to get to the bottom of this. Fruit on the bottom? Lemon on the bottom? Dang.