Went to the ear, nose, and throat doctor this morning regarding the disgusting post-nasal drip I’ve been experiencing for the past week or so. (Made even more disgusting by the fact that it smells like mildew – sign of infection, thankyouverymuch.) So after he sticks medicine-impregnated cotton up my nose (made me sneeze more while they were up there but then I blew my nose and the goo was gone! Magic.), the good doctor looked up in my nose and informed me that my deviated septum might require surgery because i have a (benign) bone tumor in my nose! Ew. Grody. I don’t think it’s anything that has to happen in the immediate future, but one day. Until then I will get to deal with worsening sinus infections (and smelly goo, I guess.) What a treat.

But the surgery would be under general anesthesia, which appeals to the drama queen in me. But then again, did anyone else see that show on “awareness” during surgery? I think that’s what it was called. Yes, it’s when your brain wakes up in the middle of surgery but your muscles are still paralyzed, so you can’t scream or move or anything. Gaaaa! I’ve had that happen while I was asleep, but while you’re on the operating table? Can you imagine anything more disturbing? One woman on the show was talking about how it happened when she was getting her eyeball removed for some reason. She could see them coming towards her eyeball and then, it went black. Oh my god. And you can feel everything too. Okay, so it’s probably pretty uncommon. But still.

Oh, and I got medicine for my sneezing. Yay.

Gawd, just call me sneezy. I have been sneezing about 20 times a day for the past 10 months or so, and it’s driving me insane. I like to think it started back when I was temping at a warehouse last june. I had to do data entry, and it was so friggin dusty that I could believe that it gave me allergies or something. This was the same temp job I quit because it was so disgusting and therefore had to pay back the Department of Labor almost $500. Blech.

Also, if I may be even more self-centered, can I say that it is a little upsetting to me that I have lost approximately 15-17 lbs and no one has mentioned that I look any smaller. Now, I’m not complaining that people don’t compliment me constantly, I’m complaining that I obviously don’t look any different and clearly losing 15-17 lbs has made no difference in my body. So where was that weight? Has all of my muscle turned back to fat, therefore causing me to lose weight but stay the same size? (And I do know that my hips have barely shrunk, maybe an inch, if that.) Maddening, I tell you. My luck would be this – I’ll lose 35 more pounds (and get to my goal weight) and look the same. Sigh. What I need to find are pictures of myself back in Feburary, before we started WW. Yes.

Oh, and did I really forget to mention that I got a raise yesterday? Yes indeedy. Although it is against company policy to tell anyone how much I got, I think I’m safe in mentioning it here. Yes indeedy, I am now making a whopping 17 cents an hour more! Yippee! That works out to nearly seven dollars a week, before taxes. Now, don’t think I’m being sarcastic – well, okay, I am, but the company isn’t doing terrifically yet (it emerged from bankruptcy two years ago) so we were told to expect bigger raises later. But still, seventeen cents? Why bother?

Holy cow! After a week where I ate at least 113 points over my flex points, I lost 2 pounds! Now, I realize this cannot be sustained for more than one week, but I am truly shocked. Believe me, I stepped on the scale about forty-two times to make sure it was real. Who am I to argue?

Last night, George and I ventured across the river (and through the thick, disgusting swarms of Formosan termites that are out at this time of year, which, by the way, force us to keep our lights off at our house at night. All of them.) so that I could buy the new Morrissey album. It’s good. What I can’t believe is that he’s headlining Lollapallooza. Oh yeah, NOW he headlines Lollapallooza. Not in 1994 or whenever, when I had to drive a bazillion miles to Austin to see a bunch of crap I hated, but now. Figures. It’s not coming anywhere near here, anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. But maybe if I come into a vast sum of money, I’ll go to Dallas to see him. I really want to see him live. I’ve been a (formerly obsessive) fan for over ten years, but I’ve never seen him live. Hmmph.

Rode my bike to work today. That was fun, next time I’ll remember to pack deodorant. Thankfully it was cool today, so I’m not sweaty and stinky and disgusting (at least I don’t think I am) but it would have been nice to have a refresh.

And let me say now that banks infuriate me. We nearly bounced our first mortgage payment, because our bank is a pain in the ass (not, for once, because the money wasn’t there – it was). But I won’t go into the dull details. At least I got it taken care of with no consequences. We get to keep our house. Hooray! Thanks to the lady at the bank with the smoker’s voice.

Last Friends tonight. Sad. Wish Kristina was here to watch it with me. Or wish I was up there to watch it with her. George just doesn’t appreciate it like Kristina and I do.

Oh yeah, last night, we watched Big Fish. (Or rather, I watched it, and George slept to it.) I really enjoyed it, not least because of, ahem, Ewan McGregor, but to balance it out for George, it had Helena Bonham-Carter, who he thinks is hot. I loathe her, but that’s another story. Anyway, there were tears rolling down my face at the end, always the sign of a good movie, unless they’re tears of boredom.

Easter dinner went well. Now I’m sick though. When I get pictures back from my mom’s friend, I will post them…

Woo! Lost 2.4 lbs this week. Yay! Lost almost all of what I gained last week. Sigh. I think the trick is not to drink too much water during the morning before the meeting. So I was dehydrated…who cares? Okay, only kidding. I just didn’t drink as much water as I usually do.

Then I blew it at a lunch with baked potato and a piece of fried fish. Whatever. Am running this afternoon with Polly. Still have 3 points left for the day.

I think I really have to make more of an effort at tracking what I eat. I’ve noticed that I gain when I don’t track. It’s like I think that if I don’t write it down, I didn’t really eat it. And then it won’t make me gain weight. But that’s just ridiculous and I’m sabotaging myself.

Well, enough of that. I think I have Easter dinner figured out now. I’m trying to keep it relatively low in points, and cheap, but we’ll see how it goes. I’m going to get a ham, then I’m going to make scallopped potatoes, roasted green beans, and maybe a trifle for dessert. It should be all somewhat low in points (if I can decide on a low-point scallopped potato recipe) but my boss gave me the idea for an Easter bunny cake (v. retro) which wouldn’t be low in points but would be v. cute. Hard to decide.

Oh yeah, I forgot to write about the funny Stinky (the cat) incident that happened this weekend.

At about 4 o’clock Sunday morning, George woke me up. He had been sleeping on the couch in the living room because he wasn’t feeling well and was woken up by a terrible scratching sound.

In our kitchen, we have a tall cabinet that is part of the built-in units that we use as a pantry. It doesn’t go all the way to the ceiling and the unit isn’t flush against the wall, either. There are about 6 inches between the back of the pantry and the wall, and about a foot between the ceiling and the top of the cabinet.

Stinky, being the curious cat that she is, managed to get behind the pantry, between the wall and the unit. And she couldn’t get out. So she was scratching and clawing and trying like hell to get out. George heard this, figured out what was going on, and woke me up in a bit of a panic.

I’m bleary but freaked out, so we remove the food from the top shelf of the pantry and realize that, short of busting out the back of the pantry, we won’t be able to get Stinky out. We are investigating other methods of removal, getting more and more frustrated, when above our heads, out pops Stinky.

George would have strangled her, I’m sure, had I not been around, but I was just glad she got out. (With no harm to herself or our lovely new house.) It was pretty funny, but I don’t think George has realized that yet.

Man, I am so tired. Ever since Friday, I have been working non-stop – moving, cleaning, unpacking, painting. My legs are as sore as they would be after a marathon. (Okay, I exaggerate. A half-marathon.) I’m going to be seriously buff after living in this house for a while. (I’ve never lived in a two-story house before.)

After this week, I will be seriously relieved. I still have to pack up the kitchen and bathroom in my apartment, and then clean it. And finish painting the kitchen (we got bad paint that will not dry) and then rearrange everything.

By Friday.

(Chris is visiting and we have the garage sale on Saturday morning.)

Blah, blah, blah! Love the house, though.

Three days! Three days! We looked at the house again yesterday. This time it was empty, so it was easier to envision our things in it. Also easier to see where things need to be done. Nothing big, though. Nothing I’m worried about. Cosmetic stuff.

After the house viewing (with Laurie and James and Mary and Stacy and Dexter) we all headed to the pub for the crawfish boil. Mmmm. Crawfish. And corn. And mushrooms. And garlic. And sausage. And potatoes. Yum, yum, yum! Almost certainly ate more than I should have. Definitely had more beer than I should have. But vowed to be good today. But then I heard from Annie, a long-lost friend (we were in her and Nick’s wedding last September, but haven’t seen them since October or November) and we had lunch. So I’ve probably already gone over points for today, but I had an insanely delicious banana pancake the size of a hubcap. Didn’t eat the whole thing, at least. But I would have eaten ten of them, just to see Annie. So it was worth it.

I called Ren this morning, she was upset because she and Gary didn’t get the house they put in an offer on. Nor did they get the second house they put an offer on. I am sad for her, I know how much it sucks. And I know how much it sucks when people say things that they think will make it better, like “it wasn’t meant to be.” But now that we found a more perfect house than the one we lost, I almost want to say it because in our case it was true. But I will resist.

I went and saw Terry today. I hope she has her baby soon. I’m sure she does too, she looks extremely uncomfortable. Yesterday I scared the bejeezus out of George when I was holding a friend’s baby and wearing Laurie’s engagement ring. (She lets me because it’s so pretty and sparkly.) I said to him, “this is your future, George” and he almost swallowed his pint glass. Ha ha, boys are so easy to scare. And fun.

Went around comparing paint prices today. I really need to stop procrastinating about packing. Stacy and Dexter (friends of George’s) are going to move me out of my house on Friday afternoon, so I really need to get more serious. And Stacy’s going to help me paint Friday morning. Oooh, I love them!