Love some 'new' clothes! And I didn't even have to shop.

My friend the Photographer is on Weight Watchers and is doing a great job. She was wearing size 22 and is now a 14/16, depending on how the clothes fit her.

I've been really blessed because as she looses the weight, she gives me her clothes. She and I carry our weight completely differently. She has no butt and skinny legs and I have a BOOTY and have some weight in my thighs. We both have it in the belly. I have broad shoulders and large boobs and she had to have a breast reduction several years ago for medical reasons, one being that she has narrow shoulders.

Anyway, I can wear most of her tops. And almost all her skirts. It's wonderful- my wardrobe has grown exponentially.

So SHE has a friend who is also on Weight Watchers and that friend went from a 24 to a 12. This friend gave Photographer all her clothes- 8 trash bags of clothes! It was like Christmas came early tonight.

I went to Photographer's house and we went through all the bags and I took what I liked that fit me, and she took what she liked and fit her. I got a 30 gallon bag, overstuffed with clothes... all tops. Because not a single pair of jeans or trousers fit me. I have tons of sweaters, shirts, t-shirts, polos, sweatshirts, dressy, casual... tops of all kinds and not a single pair of pants. Photographer, on the other hand, found all pants that fit her.None of the tops. We decided her friend had my upper body and her lower body. Well.... had because she's now a 12. And we reaped the benefits of her weight loss.

It's pretty awesome, too, because all her clothes are nice! Now, I own nice clothes from a boutique but I do not have a problem with wearing stuff from Wally World or Big K or Meijer. All these clothes came from exclusive boutiques, nice department stores, and are all well known name brands. Nice stuff. Not kidding- I probably got about $1500 on clothes today, for free.

I love it! I hate that I'm overweight but it's really nice to have some "new" clothes! My friends and I always laugh that when one of us is losing weight another one gains- this time I'm gaining a wardrobe!

The clothes horse,
Mags

Weird Weight Watchers

Here's a strange thing:

Remember last week at weigh-in I gained .2 pounds and was really pissed off? Not only was I pissed off but I was also immature and decided during week that I was going to eat anything I wanted. And I did. I didn't use restraint.

I ate my favorite cupcake, I had Italian bread covered in cheese and olive oil, and a huge plate of pasta. I had breadsticks dipped in cheese and gooey pizza covered in meat and cheese on a thick crust. I drank pop and my very favorite Starbucks Peppermint Mocha- Venti size. I ate a candy bar when I felt like it, as well as an order of breaded mushrooms and a Spanish dog (or 2) from my favorite hot dog stand. I ate anything I wanted all week long and I didn't go hungry.

Nor did I go out of my way to exercise.

All that being said, I went ahead and weighed in Tuesday. I figured it would be like starting over. I figured if I was going to gain weight then at least I would not be hungry for a week.

Lo and behold, I lost weight. (I was going to be sarcastic and say I lost 240 pounds in the form of ITSam but that's way to obvious!!!). I weighed in on Tuesday and I lost 2.8 pounds. Ummm, okay.

So I diet like a maniac and gain and then go on a week long bender and lose more weight than before? Intellectually I realize that I can't do that again. I do KNOW that. But is sure is weird.

And I'm really glad I lost weight. So, I'm back on Weight Watchers. Even after my junket...

I've figured out a couple things that might help me:

• do not obsess about it. I'll try but I think if I don't discuss it every day, and just do it, look up my numbers and go about my business I'll be much better. When I fix dinner, I'll write it on a sticky note and analyze each bite we all take. I think I was driving them nuts with that and I want to stop that- sorry about that Daddy-O- I didn't mean to talk it to death, which leads me to feeling guilty.
• And I shouldn't feel guilty. I should try and do my best but if I slip or crack, I shouldn't feel guilty and beat myself up about it
• I will exercise even though I hate it.
• Small dishes help. For example, I can have 28 veggie straw chips and I should put them in a small dish rather than a regular cereal bowl. Then it won't seem like so few- it will appear heaping!
• I need to do creative snacking. For example, I could eat 30 Sea Salt Special K Crackers for 3 points. OR I could take 10 of them and use a wedge of Laughing Cow Cheese (1 point) and spread the cheese on the chips and top with a piece of mango, which is free. Then I could get some dairy and some fruit and it would be a more filling snack, for even less points than the 30 chips. And a nice blend of the sweet and salty! See, creative eating!
  

So even after being bad, I can still be good. So here I go again!
Maggie

Two issues

Issue 1:

During my second week of Weight Watchers, I gained .2 pounds. I did everything I was supposed to do, exercised, didn't cheat, ate the right foods, ate my veggies and fruit, cut back my sodium, drank tons of water and planned meals so I could spread my points out correctly and I still GAINED weight. That's bullshit and I hate it and feel crappy.

Issue 2:
My computer is still being operated upon but should be up and running tonight. I had to get a new hard drive and a new operating system. Then he cleaned the old hard drive and isolated the viruses/ Trojans/ malware and is slowly re-installing all of my pictures, documents and music. It took 4 hours to install my photos and about that long for the music. So, I should be up and ready to go again tonight and be able to blog from my own computer rather than doing it briefly on break here at work. Ugh!

Maggie

I fondled her purse, wanted to lick her salad, and then got my finger stuck in a hole

Lilith and I had a "girl's night out" on Wednesday. Lilith is to purses as I am to shoes. She had this BEAUTIFUL leather bag, buttery soft. It's a gorgeous brown color and the perfect size. It's a bag that I've looked for my entire life. And it was so soft! I kept touching her purse, almost petting it. She finally had to threaten to cut my fingers off if I didn't stop!

She and I are both doing Weight Watchers. She's been at this a lot longer and has the bugs figured out. She got croutons on her salad and I really wanted some; I got mine without because I indulged on a Starbucks coffee earlier in the day. Anyway, she said how good the croutons were. I wondered, aloud, if I licked the croutons how many points would I have to count for that?

Then as we were standing in the parking lot, chatting before we went home, I was spinning my keys around on my finger. The keyring has 2 holes in it and as I spun it on one finger, my pinkie got stuck in the other hole. I thought we were gonna have to cut my finger off to get it out!

Now, get your minds out of the gutter!

Maggie

Random stuff in my head on a Tuesday

During the first week of Weight Watchers (my weigh in was today), I lost 2 pounds. Feh. Daddy-O and Mac together lost weight equaling a newborn. GOOD for THEM!

XRay Girl still isn't talking to me. It's breaking my heart.

Today we finished inventory of all the fiction and all the new books. Since I had no idea what I was doing and had to start over last week, it wasn't bad that it only took 4 days for the fiction. Tomorrow, I start the non-fiction. I'm going to let kids start checking out books in fiction, since they're driving me crazy!

ITSam is working like hell to get me to take him back. It hasn't worked.

Mac still doesn't have a summer job, darn it!! He's applied about 10 places but no luck yet.

I showed Casablanca to my summer school film class (it's an all girl class) and they "didn't get it." WTF is there not to get? Ugh! The youth of today!!

I'm psyched about meeting Lilith in Northern Civilization tomorrow!!! Talking, dinner and book browsing are on the agenda. And I called Archiver's and she and I can work on our scrapbook projects if we want, even though it's a Wednesday!!

Why does Vanna White wear ballgowns to flip letters? And the letters don't even flip anymore, just touch and they light up.

I got some new shoes and they look awesome. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Mags

The day things went wrong

• ITSam and I split up over the weekend in a flurry of Sam-caused- drama and I'm exhausted from all the stupidity of it
• I started Weight Watchers today. My daily point total sucks.
  
• I started my period today... though I guess this is good news, considering the alternative!
  
• X-Ray Girl is pissed off and I got in the line of fire of that and she's mad at me now, too- which is ITSam's fault (Curley and Daddy-O, please don't say anything to her if you see her!!!)
  
• My sandal strap broke at school and the shoes had to be thrown away
• I'm doing inventory of all the library books and it's a huge, damn disaster! Hasn't anyone done this before?
  
• I mis-balanced my checkbook today and have $8 from now until pay day, which is a week from tomorrow- shit!

Random Monday musings

I have really big hair because of the humidity. I have no idea how to control it.

I agreed in a moment of weakness to watch The Hangover I with Mac tonight. Ugh!

I found out today that I'll get a raise of my summer school teaching pay- a dollar more an hour than last year, so I think I'll make about $14/ hour for teaching! (Hey Sam, I might just come down and see you after all!!!!!) I also agreed to teach an extra course so EXTRA money!!!!!!

OMG- Weight Watchers starts tomorrow.

OMG- Lilith and I are having a scrapbook night again tomorrow... this is a GOOD OMG. Not only are we scrapbooking together, we're seeing each other twice in 2 weeks. A new record!!! Pictures will be forthcoming.

Mac was helping move a piece of furniture of mine the other day. He said, "hey mom. The paint on this thing is all cracked and peeling and looks like shit. Why are we moving it? Can't we just throw it away?" I said, "It's supposed to look like that. It's called 'rustic'!" He said, "Oh so it's a cracked and peeling rustic looking piece of shit" and he hauled it to the garage, giggling to himself!

I love Fiji water. I would like to say it's because of the taste of the water, but in reality, if I'm completely honest, it's because of the square bottle.

ITSam and I had a fight so he wouldn't give me Netflix at work. Yeah, I know. So I revamped my entire lesson plans since my Classic Film History class started today. I was actually thrilled to be back at work and I have a really small class of all girls who LIKE to have discussion so it was a good day. We started talking about a classic movie is. Since it was the first day and I didn't want to scare them off, I showed part of Titanic and gave them the challenge to decide if it was a classic or not.

And that's all there is............
Maggie

New Year Resolutions in June- is that anything like Christmas in July?

I have decided two things that I'm going to do with my life, starting this month.

First, I'm giving myself permission to say "no". I'm gonna stop doing stuff I don't want to do. I find I end up doing a bunch of crap that I don't want to do. I often say yes out of guilt, because it's the "right thing" to do, or because it's expected. I'm not gonna do it any more. I'm only going to do things I want to do.

Secondly, the other thing I'm going to do is diet. I already wrote about that so i don't need to go into it again, though I really do appreciate all the thoughtful, encouraging and positively helpful comments from everyone already!

And there are 80 days until Mac leaves for college. Thank goodness.... I'm sure this has something to do with weight loss and saying no.

Mags

Thinner me, soon to be

Next week I'm going to start Weight Watchers. Before you laugh at the whole "next week" thing, I do have a real reason why I am making a week from today my start date. My friend Photographer is doing Weight Watchers and she has been very successful. Since she know I don't make much money and can't afford WW, she's going to copy all her materials for me and go to the meetings. Then she and I will have a mini- meeting and weigh-ins so I can "do" it as well. Due to her schedule and mine, we can't start until next week- something about a start date.

Another awesome thing is that I'll have all the paperwork for the points system. She and I can also exercise together. I got a discount for a Y membership and I'm giving some serious thought to signing up for it. (I also found that my school system will reimburse me $10 a month if I join so it makes it even lower.) She's a Y member so we could do classes and working and swimming at the Y. If I don't join, she can come to Alcatraz with me and do the walking and swimming at least- and she said she would be willing to do that- less crowded.

We also both like to cook so we can cook together as well as exercise and give encouragement. It's gonna be awesome! A weight loss partner! I might reach my 40 before 40 goal of losing 10 pounds. I could even lose more!!!!

Even more inspiration for me- dad is going to eat WW with me, and keep track of points. So is ITSam. And, get this, Mac is even going to give it a whirl. For a few weeks, Mac said he'd try it but if it interferes with his summer vacation he's stopping. He's already texting Photographer his favorite foods to see what the points are (chicken nuggets= 10 are 13 points).

I do feel a little need to eat junk this week. And not necessarily sweet stuff but crackers and cheeses. I want breads and olive oil to dip it in. I want chips and dip. I want pasta and shrimp and salmon. (that's probably limited, I bet.)

So I have a new adventure for next week that will, hopefully, make me skinny and make all my clothes fit. Please let that happen!!!

A skinnier me,
Mags

Oh, and let it be said here and now, I am not going to turn this into a weight lose blog, or go on and on about my points and stuff. I'll report on the weight loss but it's not going to take over my life and be all encompassing like it is for some people. Hopefully I'll have weight loss news to report!