See the bar at the top that is partially obstructing my logo and stuff? Well, I know I should fix it so it isn’t blocked, or better yet, you say, remove it all together, but the “Next Blog” button is kinda fun. It just takes you to another random Blogger blog.

And so I just found this one. Where is this child’s mother? Gaaa!

Okay, so I had a bit of a gain this week. Not surprised, and not too disappointed as I was mentally prepared for it. Especially considering we ate at Port of Call last night. Ohh, the burgers. Ohhh, the baked potato. Ohh, then blue cheese dressing on the salad. (Did I also mention the sour cream, cheese, and butter on said potato?)

Anyhooooo, today is a fresh start. A new week. Going to go to Curves at least four times, plus tap-dancing starts next Tuesday, so I’ll get plenty of exercise. (Not to mention we’re going to paint the porch on Saturday and I have to mow the lawn this weekend too.) And next week, when I start my new job, I won’t be around so much temptation as I am here. (i.e., no more cookie day.)

And now I am going to tell (without leaving out details, but you still gotta go to the picture page to see photos) the story of…

My trip to Washington, DC

Thursday: George brought me to the airport, met my mom there. Direct flight to DC, supposed to arrive at 7:11 pm. However, we sat on the tarmac for an hour, and then when we finally got to National, our luggage took forever to arrive. So finally I got outside and waited for Kristina and Anne. Anne was driving, and they almost drove right past me when Kristina didn’t believe it was me standing there. Tee hee! She jumps out of the car and we just giggle at each other. Me at her tiny hips and waist, she at my supposedly tiny head.

So then we head to IHOP for dinner. We were going to go eat Ethiopian, but it was pretty late by the time I finally got there. I had pancakes and bacon. Yum. After that, Anne brought us back to Kristina’s house. When we got there, I gave Kristina the stuff I had brought for her (her tennis racket, some old X-rays, a bunch of popcorn) and then we made chocolate chip cookies (using her new Kitchenaid mixer) and fudge to bring to Ren the next day.

Friday: That morning, we baked more of the cookies. I was getting ready to take a shower when Kristina said my sister was on the phone. So I take the phone and my brother is there. Huh? My brother lives in Los Angeles. So I think Kristina must’ve thought my sister-in-law was my sister (and anyway, they have the same name.) Anyway, I am talking to my brother, not getting it. Then he gives the phone back to my sister and that’s when it really hits me, that he’s in town. Yay! Turns out he flew in at about 2 am that morning and no one knew. Not my sister, not my mom. Just Rob, my future brother-in-law. Very exciting.

Kristina and I leave for Richmond to see Ren. We stopped by the pawn shop her boyfriend Mike manages and he let me try on diamond rings. Yay! That is fun. I especially like trying on the really cheesy rings. (Hey, it may be a suburban pawn shop, but it’s still a pawn shop.) We got to Richmond about an hour late (sorry Renny!) and picked her up at her office. Holy cow! She’s all belly. One month and I’ll have another faux-niece. I can’t wait. I gave her the blanket I made for the baby. I hope that it becomes the blankie in the manner of Linus’s security blanket.

We went to an Indian buffet and stuffed ourselves (but not too badly, I wore a skirt that just fits so I wouldn’t be able to eat too much) on naan, jasmine rice, korma, and my favorite, vegetable pakoras. Yum, yum, yum. Took some pictures outside the restaurant (thank you Indian waiter and don’t tell George I let a stranger use the digital camera) and then brought Ren back to work.

Headed back towards Woodbridge to Potomac Mills and IKEA. Yay, IKEA! I got lots of stuff there – picture frames (for the bathroom), shelves (for wherever), a pot lid holder, etc, etc. Love IKEA. Then we headed over to Potomac Mills and went in lots of stores and tried on lots of clothes. Didn’t find anything I liked, but did get some cheap earrings at H&M. Kristina got lots of clothes.

Then we went to my sister’s house. Hung out with my sister, Jenny, my brother, Evan, my sister’s fiancé, Rob, his mom, Bernadette, my mom, Bernadette’s friend Sam, and Kristina. Ate yummy food (when did my sister learn to cook?) like grilled salmon, salad, snap peas, french bread. Yum. And Kristina and I raided the leftovers my sister had brought home from high tea at the Ritz. Yum. Tiny muffins and cheesecakes and other assorted pastries. Never put pastries in front of me. They will disappear. Watched some of the Olympic opening ceremonies, then went back to Kristina’s.

Saturday: Got up, got dressed, wore the dress Kristina wore to her graduation that fits me now yay! Walked to Georgetown for the bridal brunch that was the main reason we went to DC in the first place. 40 minute brisk walk – activity points! Got to the restaurant, saw my cousin Monica, her husband Tom, and their 14 month old son Max (they’re moving to New Orleans soon!) Also my aunt Mary, some of Jenny’s friends, ohhh, lots of people. Kristina and I were sitting waay down the table from each other, which I think she was upset about (and so was I), but what could I do? As it turned out, Monica sat her next to Jenny’s friend Shona, and they got along like proverbial houses on fire. I sat next to Tom and tried to catch Max’s eye and make him giggle. However, he was having none of it. No matter, I will have plenty of time to charm him when they move here and I babysit him. Yay!

When the brunch was over (I ate French toast and Kristina and I shared a lovely fruit tart) and I had met everyone and chatted, Kristina and I went to some shops. Went to another H&M, stood in a ridiculously long line for the dressing room (the attendant was leisurely hanging up rejected clothing while dressing rooms stood empty and the line grew longer) and tried on more clothes that fit poorly, if at all. We went in some more shops, the last of which was Dean & Deluca, which I’ve always wanted to visit. We bought some wine gums there (though the girl working the candy counter didn’t know that they were called that – “ummm they don’t have wine in them! They’re not gum!” and ate samples of yummy cheese and some other yummy candy. Then walked back to Kristina’s house. This time at a more leisurely pace. Took an hour. More activity points, but not nearly enough to offset what we had eaten (and would eat later.) Stopped at a cute corner store. Was all European and adorable. Wanted to put shop in pocket. But dress had no pockets.

When we got back to Kristina’s house, we put on Bring It On, our favorite movie of all time (I mean our favorite movie as a pair of friends, not necessarily each individually). We polished off a bottle of white wine and the wine gums while we played the Bring It On drinking game we invented when Kristina lived in New Orleans.

After a little while (and a bit of sobering up) we headed to my sister’s house and hung out some more. Chris came over (yay! Chris! I haven’t seen him since December!) and Monica and Max and Tom and we ate lots of food and got stuffed again and I drank lots of wine. Yum. Shona brought some assorted cheesecakes. Yum. Went back to Kristina’s, passed out on the couch.

Sunday: That morning, Kristina and I drove to Fairfax to meet everyone for lunch before heading to the airport. Annie came over and we got to hang out a bit, then I had to take a shower and get ready. On the way to Macaroni Grill, we went to Trader Joe’s. Yay! I have been dying to go there and I bought lots of fun things – simmering sauces, wasabi peas, some mini pitas, and a box of organic steel-cut oatmeal for George. Packed the unbreakable stuff into my big suitcase.

Ate yummy stuff at Macaroni Grill – a Portobello mushroom sandwich with the bread made of a pizza crust. Yum! Was very full afterwards, possibly due in part to bread we ate before as well.

Got to airport in plenty of time. Made it home with no debacles. Am picking up my luggage at baggage claim. My big suitcase comes along on the belt. Trailing behind it is some organic steel-cut oatmeal. Sigh. My suitcase was full of oatmeal. At least the cous-cous didn’t also break. That would’ve sucked.

The End!

This is a great entry from a great journal. It really makes you think. Ha, now you think it’s going to be really profound, huh?

OK OK DAMMIT! I also got to see Chris. Sheesh. (Sorry Chris, I love you, please forgive me, I’m a schmuck.)

Okay! I have posted links to all of my pictures from my trip. Nothing fancy, and there aren’t any descriptions yet. But at least I did it. Of course, now I’m almost out of space. Hmm. Oh yeah, here is the list.

I keep forgetting to watch the Olympics. Must remember tonight. Want to see gymnastics. (I’m not very original.) But watching gymnastics reminds me of when I was little and my dad used to take me to gymnastics meets at LSU. And it also reminds me of taking gymnastics when I was little. I was never very good, no surprise there. I can picture my little porky body doing front rolls. Awww.

Speaking of, um, well, classes and stuff, next Tuesday is my first tap/jazz dance class! I am very excited. Janice and I are going to buy our tap shoes this week. Fun!

And I can’t believe I forgot to say how much fun it was to see my big sister. Yes, my lovely big sister who can cook asparagus really well! The one I’m going to be Maid of Honor for! You know who I mean…

What’s fun?

Going to Washington DC, hanging out with Kristina, seeing her boyfriend Mike, trying on diamond rings in the pawnshop he manages, going to Richmond to see the hugely pregnant Ren, eating Indian food, going to IKEA, trying on clothes, seeing my big brother, eating a lot, seeing family, having brunch at a French restaurant, watching Bring It On with Kristina while drinking a bottle of wine, shopping at Trader Joe’s.

What’s not fun?

Vacuuming a whole canister of organic steel-cut oats from Trader Joe’s out of my suitcase.

Ah well.

Pictures from my trip will be up soon.

Got to DC last night.

This morning, while I was about to get in the shower, Kristina said “Jenny’s on the phone” and she handed me the phone, and then it was my brother. Was Kristina confused?

No, my brother flew into DC last night. As a surprise. Yay!

Leaving today, leaving today, leaving today! Yay, yay, yay!

And wouldn’t you know it, I weighed 1.2 lbs less today than yesterday. Gaaaa! Why can’t I have my weigh in on Thursday? Poo. Ah well. Just need to keep on track.

Last night I dyed my hair. Dark brown (coffee bean, I think?) And went to Terry’s house to play with Isabella. Ack! She’s all cheeks and eyes. I made her giggle again. Awww!

Can’t wait to leave work today and get on the airplane and land in DC and see Kristina and Anne! Yay yay yay!

Gaaa. Am having work-related stress. Can’t talk about it, but I want to thank my boss for stressing me out, a mere forty minutes into my ten hour workday. Thankyouverymuch.

But on the bright side, I’m leaving for DC tomorrow! Yay!

And I lost .6 lbs this week! Okay, it’s not much, and I do wish it had been more, but I suspect it has more to do with the massive turkey poboy I had for lunch yesterday than anything else. I think it’s still digesting. Also I bought Hot Tamales at Wal-Mart yesterday after I went to Curves and was so hungry I was stuffing my face with them on the way home. (That’d be the candy, not the Mexican food.) So who knows. But at least it’s a loss.

Two days! Two days! Of course, if the evil wench Bonnie comes to visit as is predicted, I will be very upset. So let’s all pray she goes somewhere else instead! (Or nowhere at all, that would be even better.) George says we have to take down the porch swing tomorrow, just in case.

Went to Curves last night. I like to watch the muscles in my arms and legs when I’m on the machines. If only they looked like that all the time, all, well, muscly and stuff. Unfortunately, my weight was up this morning (stop weighing yourself every morning, Pam) but I hope it’s back down tomorrow. This weekend it was waaay down. Seriously. I must avoid scale in DC.

My new favorite food addiction is sweet potatoes. Did I already say that? Well, lemme tell you what is very tasty. Bake it in the oven for the best fluffy texture. (Spray it with some cooking spray before you stick it in a 450 degree oven for about 30 minutes or so, depending on size.) Then split it open right out of the oven, put a teensy bit of butter in it (maybe a tsp) and sprinkle some fresh grated Parmesan (I am partial to Pecorino Romano) on and mush it all together. A generous sprinkling of kosher salt and then a healthy dollop of light sour cream and you’re good to go. Holy cow, deeeelicious! I like the sweet/saltiness of it. And the creaminess. And it’s very low in points. Say 2 for the potato, 1 for the butter (and it’s optional because I wonder how much flavor you get out of one tsp of butter but perhaps it’s psychological), .5 for the Parmesan, 1 for the sour cream – 4.5 points! And chock-full o’ vitamins. Maybe a bit of protein would be good, but I can’t think of what. Perhaps best if you serve it alongside something proteiny. Like a piece of grilled chicken or fish. Dang, now I’m really craving that and I finished off the sweet potatoes last night. But I do have to go to the store after work…

Yay, only three days till I leave for DC! Yay!

Also, I figured out something sort of interesting. I was looking at a chart of my weight loss since I started WW, and I calculated that I have lost an average of 1.125 lbs per week, and if I continue at that rate, I will get to my goal exactly 52 weeks after I began. Would be interesting to see if I could do that. I know I said I wanted my goal to be my birthday, but I think that might be a tad ambitious. I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment.

However, I did tell George that he had to buy me an outfit when I hit my goal weight. (Oh, sheesh, that makes me sound like an evil greedy girlfriend, huh? Okay, I’m sure I put it better than that.) I decided I want one from Anthropologie (hey, it’s hard work losing 57 lbs!) and wouldn’t it be nice to wear it for my 30th birthday (surprise) party? Ha ha!

Also, let me draw attention to this bit of wisdom I found on a great blog I read a lot, Callipygian:

…it’s OK if you still get those crazy cravings. That you’re not a failure if you don’t automatically order steamed fish and vegetables at a restaurant.

For some insane reason, I had fixated on the idea that I would be a success when all these habits were ‘broken’. Until then, I was weak. A failure. That I would never succeed.

Success is not obliterating these things. Success is being aware of them and making good choices as often as you can. Because we are human and if you offer me the choice between cheesecake and lettuce, well, I’m not going to be noble about this.

But I know that if I eat the cheesecake, I need to do x amount of exercise and watch what I eat for a couple of days afterward. And that I can enjoy the cheesecake and not beat myself up for it afterwards. I just need to make different choices after eating it to compensate.

Isn’t that good? I think, deep down, I was thinking that, yes, one day I will really crave grilled fish more than pizza. But I think it’s more about choosing that grilled fish, more often than not (but not always) over the pizza. Okay, enough italicizing for today.