Okay, I feel better today and am ready to write about my trip…

I left on Wednesday night after work on a non-stop flight to LA. Oooh, exciting! Had to sit by the window, though. Not exciting. My brother picked me up at the airport. Went to his new house, where my sister-in-law (Jennifer) was waiting for us. Stayed up for a bit chatting, but I was exhausted by this time and went to sleep shortly thereafter.

On Thursday morning, while Jennifer went to work, Evan and I dropped his car off at the dealership (don’t buy VWs!) and then went to get tickets for the Tonight Show. No line there, guess Christina Ricci and Mya didn’t inspire waiting hours for a ticket. Lucky for us, except neither of us knew who Mya was. (Still don’t, really.)

Went back to his house for a little while. I rested while he fertilized the lawn. Then we went to eat lunch (burrito) before heading to the Getty, a really cool museum on the side of a hill. Gorgeous views, as you might imagine. Great gift shop. (Sad, aren’t I? But I was looking for postcards to use in my master plan for the upstairs bathroom.)

On to the NBC studios for the Jay Leno taping. Met up with Jennifer’s dad there, waited in line for about an hour, then went in for the show. It was really fun. I like Jay Leno more now, though I still don’t think he’s that funny. But I laughed a lot, so it’s okay that some of his jokes weren’t that great.

What I learned at the Tonight Show:
1. Christina Ricci is either a drunk or just dumb.
2. There are songs on videogame soundtracks. And the artists get to sing them on the Tonight Show.

After the show, we went home and relaxed. Evan cooked the salmon – very yummy, must remember recipe (soy sauce and some other stuff, in foil, bake. Or something like that.)

Friday was my day with Jennifer and it was Evan’s turn to go to work. We got dressed up and went to the Ritz for tea. Fancy-schmancy! It was very yummy. Tiny sandwiches, tiny scones, tiny cakes. (Weight Watchers? What’s that?) Drank lots of tea. Yum.

That night, Jennifer and Evan hosted a dinner party. We made homemade pasta. Easy but time-consuming. Don’t know if I’ll be doing that in the future. I think I’m too lazy. But I might reconsider, it was fun. Their friends Karen and Ed and their two kids came, as well as my mom’s friend Mauro’s daughter and husband. (Okay, my mom’s boyfriend? How dumb does that sound?) You should have heard what Feza (Mauro’s son-in-law) said when Karen asked how we were all connected. “Um…family connections.” Dude, we could be stepsiblings in law one day! Ha ha.

Betsy, my old roommate from college came by later in the evening. As usual, was great to see her. We hung out for a bit, then she had to go to another party. I was about to pass out from exhaustion, I don’t know how she did it.

Saturday was Disneyland! Yay, yay, yay! Went with Jennifer’s brother, sister-in-law and nephew, and her father. It was lots of fun. Lucas, her nephew, is 11 months old and painfully adorable. After Disneyland (and California Adventure) we went to eat at an Italian restaurant. (I’m sure the chicken in butter sauce was only, oh, 4 points. Yeah, right. And the garlic bread and the eggplant parmesan.)

And on Sunday I came home. I’ll post pictures later.

Oooh, sorry I didn’t finish my “crappy day” entry yesterday. (Who wants to really revisit a crappy day, anyway?)

Yesterday sucked at work too, but at least I didn’t set off an alarm or drop my necklace. So things are getting better. Or they were until I went to the Weight Watchers place to get weighed (since I’m going on vacation and will miss the meeting at work tomorrow.) I gained 2.2 lbs! How in the *&#@? Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking…food at Polly and Colin’s and at Cindy’s and the chinese after the race. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I walked thirteen frigging miles on Sunday!

Hmmph. Well, going to California tonight. At least everyone there is healthy and maybe I won’t have a problem. But I’m eating the little petit fours at tea on Friday!

Where do I start today? I guess I should start with the update on Weight Watchers. We had our second weigh in today, which actually means the first that determines if we have lost any weight. And I did! Four pounds! Woo hoo! Yay! I’m very happy about that.

Today was also our first home inspection, which the house passed. Yay! Two more inspections, and it should be smooth sailing until the house closes. This really isn’t that hard. George is much more stressed about it than I am. We’ll get the papers from the loan officer tomorrow and then we just have to sign them and UPS them back.

One thing I’m nervous about is telling my landlord that I’m moving out. And then I have to keep my house clean for the next month while they show it. Great.

Wait, I said this was going to be a Weight Watchers blog, so let me talk about my food situation. I should start with

Day Five: I’ve been doing pretty well, I think. I’ve used about half of my Flex Points, but it’s Mardi Gras, for pete’s sake. (I’m using that as an excuse, I think. I only went to the French Quarter on Saturday, and we only watched two floats of a parade. And I’m not going to any tonight because I have to work tomorrow at 7:30 a.m.)

So I’ve eaten a lot of oatmeal. Not real oatmeal, but Quaker Oat Square cereal (yum as a snack and a cereal) and the new baked Quaker Oatmeal Squares, which are somewhat like crack to me, even though they make my jaw hurt. Also grapes and Subway. Now I see how Jared did it! I still need to come up with some more high-volume, low-point foods. I know that a cup of grapes will fill me up more than two Hershey’s kisses, but it’s hard, and that’s what is going to take some getting used to.

But the best part is, George and I are going to be so broke after buying this house, that I won’t be able to afford to eat anyway, so the pounds should just melt away…

Day One and I’m starving. Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic. Because of my current weight (which, as I’ve established, I am too insecure to reveal now) I am allotted 26 points per day. (Okay, Weight Watchers junkies, you can figure out what range I’m in, at least.) So far, I’ve had 8 points. 18 to go. Not counting flex points, but Mardi Gras is this week and I am saving up all of them for beer, beer, and more beer.

Last night I was really good and went to the grocery store and bought grapes and pretzels and baby carrots and other healthy snack foods that I actually enjoy eating. And then, (and this is the brilliant and uncharacteristic part) I put everything into one-serving baggies, so when I want a snack, I can grab a bag of grapes (1 point) or carrots (0 points!) or a bag of Oatmeal Oat Squares (2 points). Woo hoo!

Terry and I didn’t go to the gym this morning, so I tried to do yoga but the tapes I have aren’t quite beginner, I don’t care what they say. So I did it for maybe 12 minutes. Ahh, 12 minutes of stretching.

Think I’ll eat lunch soon. Ham on toast and some pretzels. And maybe some grapes.

So today’s the big day. Weight Watchers. Oh, also, the big boss of the company is going to be here. So I wore a skirt and put makeup on instead of looking like a slob. Go me! Fancy Pam.

We put in our back-up offer on Monday for the house-that-won’t-be-ours. We are supposed to hear back today if they accept the back-up offer, but what’s the point, really, unless the primary contract falls through. (please fall through, please fall through, oh god, i’m going to hell for wishing misfortune upon others. at the very least, the house will fall down if we get it. maybe this is all for the best.)

After Mardi Gras, there are supposed to be more houses on the market. And probably more buyers, too. I hate the whole cut-throat business of buying a house. I am just not that competitive. I get all nervous and anxiety-ridden. But must keep on, or we’ll never get a house.

Speaking of Mardi Gras, someone brought in a king cake today. Our last king cake. How much fun is this weekend going to be if I’m going to be counting points the whole time? Well, at least running for 30 minutes in the morning gets me five more points. Yay, incentive to go to the gym! Ooh, and I’m going to see what the half-marathon’s going to do. Ah, looks like 18-20 points. Hmm. Now I’m going to see what I would have gotten for running the marathon in October… Hmm, off the scale. Probably about 45. Daaang.

Must vent about work…have this person here who is constantly trying to make others take the blame for their mistakes. And guess who is the one who is first in line? Yep, yours truly. Can only hope for a firing in the future, and not my own. Grrr.

I know I’m getting tiresome, but only two days until we get to see the house again! This time I’ll be well prepared. Have even made a list of things to look for specifically. Must remember to get batteries for digital camera (not my own, sadly but one George borrowed from work) so we can take photos. Eeee!

We’re starting Weight Watchers at work next Wednesday. Did I mention that already? Although I wish I could be as honest and upfront as Monique is, but that’s just me. I figure if you really want to know how much I weigh, you can figure it out, with some detective work. (Now I’m deluding myself into thinking people think about me more than they do.)

But my ultimate goal is to lose 60 lbs. My more short-term goal (i.e., by this summer) is to lose 25 lbs or so. But I won’t make any real goals until we have the meeting and see what they say.

This weekend was not one I’d want to repeat anytime soon. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but Saturday morning was Teresa’s dad’s funeral in Baton Rouge, and it was so emotionally draining and so sad. Friday night George and I went to the pub for a little while, because we knew we’d have to get up early to drive to Baton Rouge.

So Saturday morning, we went to the funeral. It was of course, terribly sad, but also very nice. The eulogies were beautiful, and George said after the funeral that they made him wish that he had met Teresa’s dad. I agreed – I never met him, but he seemed like an amazing man.

The burial was not far from my dad’s grave, so I was able to stop by and say hi. Well, that and get rid of some dead flowers from Christmas, it looked like.

Anyway, after the funeral, we went back to New Orleans. Stopped at Whole Foods (hellish on a Saturday afternoon) for groceries, then met our realtor at the house we wanted to see. Ack! It was not good. It’s a massive house, and dirt cheap. For a reason. When you get to the third room back, the whole house is just sunken in. Almost as if on purpose. No cracks in the wall, the floors are still in great shape, just very wavy. Like a roller coaster. Interesting, if only we had an extra $100K.

Saturday night was back at the pub. Etc, etc.

Sunday I went to see a movie, Calendar Girls. It was set in England, which made me wish we could be buying a tiny stone cottage in the English countryside instead of Algiers Point. But I suppose AP is as close as we’re going to get in New Orleans.

Didn’t watch the Superbowl. Watched Le Divorce instead. Not bad.

Supposed to be starting Weight Watchers at work soon. Yay!

Also want to say now that I really wish I was a better writer. Thinking back on what I wrote on Friday makes me cringe, it is so cliche-ridden. But I meant what I said. I only wish I could have said it more eloquently.

Thirty minutes on the treadmill this morning. And thirty minutes on the elliptical trainer yesterday. Dang, I must be buff by now! Or not. There’s still a lot of chocolate at work. Wish we’d get the Weight Watchers at work thingy started so I can turn this blog into a blog with a purpose! I always liked it better when I had a specific goal to talk about in my blog. Like the London Marathon. Or the Marine Corps Marathon.

Anyway. Nothing much else going on. Work very busy. Which is good because yesterday, the day just flew!

Happy New Year!

We had a nice NYE. Went to a party at Ross & Raul’s, very nice, as usual. Lots of yummy food. Fortunately, the dress I wore was too big (originally bought for NYE 2000 when I weighed approximately 30 lbs more than I do now) so I could stuff my face with all manner of delicious food, especially Terry’s sausage balls. Oh yum. Must eat now, for I am joining Weight Watchers as soon as humanly possible. Probably not next week, because it is my birthday, and I will not count points or any such nonsense on my birthday, but the week after. Yay. Must be svelte for sister’s wedding. She’s been engaged four, maybe five days and is already giving me maid-of-honor duties to fulfill. Sheesh. But I’m excited for her.

Love the weekend! Love these holidays when you work a bit, have a break; work a bit, have a break, etc, etc. Unfortunately, that is about over. But my birthday is in one weeeeek!!!