Cool Jellyfish Picture

I don't really have any excitement to share, just this really cool picture that I took all by myself at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Hubby and I went to Monterey for my birthday. NOTE TO READERS...do NOT go to the Aquarium on a weekend during the summer, unless you enjoy chaos and loud children.

5 inches in 2 weeks!

Ta da! As promised, I measured today and I am officially 5-inchess less fat than I was two weeks ago. Did you catch that? 5 Inches!!!!! For the first week I did Chicometrics but honestly, that got pretty dull, so I switched it up in the second week to The Bar Method, which goes by lots lots faster. I measured after 4 of these workouts and have lost a total of 5 inches throughout the bod...a litle bit here and a little bit there...amazing!

So, stay tuned as I shrink back into all my adorable clothes. In case you care, which you probably don't.

Mermaid Hair

OK, last post for the day...I PROMISE! I have mentioned several times that I am attempting to achieve "Mermaid Hair." For those of you who need a visual...here it is (in wig form at a Halloween party and in a color totally different from my natural hair color...but you get the idea).

Get. Me. Out. Of. Here. NOW!

Today is a two-fer...mainly because I am so freakin' bored at work I could pull my hair out, scream, start a small fire...ANYTHING to releive the monotony of cube land. What the F*#%@! was I thinking when I said, "Sure, I'll ditch the freelance life and get a job in corporate America? Oh, and I'll also take on a 45 minute commute every day, uphill, in the snow, both ways."(OK, I'm kidding about the snow and the hill). I was lured in by the promise of a steady paycheck and 2-weeks vacation. Bah Humbug! (eeeek! I'm no doubt jinxing myself here and will lose my job and thus no longer have a paycheck but LOTS and LOTS of vacation time).

I was bored to tears working for this company as an independent contractor, and now that ALL of my big projects are on hold, I am experiencing entirely new levels of boredom. And frustration. And "The Blahs." And an occasional homicidal fantasy involving one unnamed co-worker (we'll call him Ned). Ned drives me crazy. Ned makes me want to take up kick boxing. Ned makes me hurl obscene hand gestures his direction from the safety of my cube.

Why does Ned make me crazy? Let me count thy ways...
1. He thinks he's my boss. He's not.
2. If he ever does geet promoted to VP (which I know he is totally gunning for) and becomes my boss, I will die instantly so it is safe to say that he will never actually be my supervisor.
3. He has an unavoidable compulsion to tell me how to manage my projects. (See #1)
4. He makes snide comments about my schedule (when I negotiated for the position, I told the guy who actually IS my boss that I needed a flexible schedule to accomodate working at home and teaching yoga)
5. He asks me stupid questions like, "How much will it cost to print a brochure we haven't written yet....ballpark". As if I can pull a number out of my ass even though... a) I'm not a print broker, b) we don't know how many pages the piece will be, and c) we don't know the quantity.
6. He made a comment about me taking a day off after 4 months of employment...it's called PAID VACATION, it's so you can take a VACATION...get it?
7. He comes in early and stays late...and always asks me if I got projects done at night or over the weekend. No, this is my job, not my LIFE!
8. He's very smart and wants to make sure no one ever forgets it.
9. He's a man. Men can be a pain.
10. I don't have ten...I am trying to be positive.

Actually, the ironic thing is that he is a nice guy...very smart, good at his job, etc... he just makes me nuts. And in an office of 9 people, one nut can make you effing crazy.

Call me "Grain Girl" or "Gluten-Free Girl"...your choice

Welcome to Science Experiment #3!

I have been reading about nutrition a lot lately, and one approach that appeals is macrobiotics. Essentially, it's a grain-based diet that includes lots of fresh, local veggies (and some fish, but I'm not too keen on the fish thing). I like it because I like brown rice a LOT and I'm now getting that box o' veggies from the community farm every week. So, for my third Science Experiment, I am "gaining the grain"...this is how one macrobiotic cookbook puts it. The idea is to incorporate more whole grains into the diet (brown rice, amaranth, quinoa, etc...). So there's that...and there's also the gluten thing. I was reading a book last night called "Ultrametabolism", and it has these nifty little check-off boxes so you can determine why, exactly, you are so fat. One of the lists indicated I may have a gluten intolerance so I am conducting part B of my Science Experiment as going gluten free...no wheat, no oats, no soy sauce (yes, soy sauce has wheat in it), no bread, no pasta...you get the idea.

As for other Science Experiments, I am a bit sore from doing my Chicometrics video...and surprisingly, it's in a spot I wasn't sure I was getting effectively. Guess I squeezed my buns juuuuuust right!

Still no word from the hospital....don't they know what a gem I am? And that I barely flinched????

Science Experiment #2

In accordance with my now honored tradition of conducting science experiments on myself, I am embarking on The Great Isometric Experiment!!!

Currently, I own three different exercise videos that are based on isometric exercise...Chicometrics (see my "Got Flab" link to the right), The Barr Method and Callanetics. I am going to cycle through all three (to prevent the major boredome that will ensue if I stick to just one for months on end), recording my measurements (not my weight, mind you!) along the way (yes, I will have to come to direct terms with my fatness).

I have heard really astonishing things about each of these programs...mainly Chicometrics and Callanetics...I think they may be a bit more intense. I will let you know!

Here is my schedule...I will do each video 2-3 times per week for two weeks and then switch to a different video to keep the Boredom Monster at bay:

June 11-23: Chicometrics
June 24-July 7: Bar Method
July 8-July 21: Callanetics
July 22-August 4: Chicometrics
August 5-August 18: Bar Method
August 19-Sept 1: Callanetics

I will take measurements after each two week period so stay tuned!

In other news...Science Experiment #1 is going OK...we had to go to the store last night because Tom refused to eat whole wheat pasta, and I went to the store today while at work because I had a hankering for miso soup. Plus we ate out a lot (at Whole Foods mostly) while we were in Vegas. The Whole Foods in Henderson Nevada is orgasmic...dessert bar, chocolate fountain, tapas bar, asian bar, grilling station, a taqueria...the list goes on and on. Did you catch that...A DESSERT BAR!!!! Of course, I didn't have any of the dessert, but it was comforting and exciting just to know it was there.

I barely flinched

So in light of my recent decision to again pursue my nursing career, I am happy to report that I saw my ickiest thing to date and barely flinched...I did feel slightly light-headed but only for a moment. A dear relative of mine had surgery last week and DH and I went to ensure his comfortable recovery for a few days. For reasons totally foreign to me there was a drain inserted in the pectoral area that pulled puss and blood out of the body and into a handy little plastic bottle. Fine.

Once we were ready to leave the hospital, though, things got a bit less fine. The drain came out, leaving behind a gaping wound hole, about the diameter of a pencil...maybe a weee bit smaller. Now, I don't know about most of ya'll, but I"m not used to seeing holes in people...especially people I love. Much much less, holes that are oozing puss and blood and who knows what all. But, I am proud to say that after the first few looks, it got a lot easier...proof that one of my biggest fears about nursing won't affect me too much (the fear of gaping wound holes that produce puss and blood in copius amounts). It was actually kind of interesting, and I had to resist the urge to fuss, fluff pillows or dress any and all available wounds.

While there we took one quick foray to the Las Vegas strip where I am pretty sure I saw a total of THREE prostitutes, scored about 4 free drinks and played with the same $25 for about 2 hours. But of course, by 8:00 we were tired and, rather than wait for them to offer us a high-roller suite (which they most assuredly would have!), we called it a night and went home to bed. We are such the party animals.

Is Anybody Watching???

I just learned that my super uber-blogging brother just posted MY blog on HIS blog, which is read by oodles and oodles of ubergeeks. Great...now I have to try to be entertaining, interesting, witty and adorable so that I don't embarass the King Geek of them all, my uber-entertaining, uber-interesting, uber-witty and (yes, it's true) uber-adorable big brother.

Hmmmm.....I'll get started on that straight away.

Since I'm not geekly enough to figure out how to do a hyperlink, here is the URL for his King Daddy Blog of Them All: http://www.geekweekonline.com.

Volunteer Mo!

I was just browsing around the website of Most Popular Hospital in Sacramento in an effort to find a job that I could do with absolutely no healthcare experience. I heard from a friend of a friend that all the big hospitals in town reserve space in the impacted nursing programs for their employees...if I can get a gig at one of the hospitals then I get into school on my first try. Bueno, no? My preference is to attend the accelerated program funded by Most Popular Hospital, so I would love to get a job there. The problem is...no jobs posted that even remotely match my education or experience. So, I am applying for the next best thing...a volunteer position! The great thing about a volunteer gig is that they have availability in all the really cool areas (ER, ICU, Med Surg, OR Recovery) and I wouldn't actually be responsible for saving or killing anyone. This is a wonderful solution for a life-long baby stepper like me! AND the best part is, the nurses will let you watch them do procedures...cool, huh? I am hoping that once they see how wonderful, caring, intelligent and all around fabulous I am, then I can secure a regular gig and then hopefully a spot in their program. We shall see.

In hopes that I will get a volunteer gig and have wildly fascinating stories to tell, I am keeping the name of the hospital a big secret...that way no one from HIPAA will come after me with a big ugly scowl and lots of forms to fill out.


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Good Kitty: Rode my bike for 2 hours (and 27.7 miles) all by myself on Sunday. Thank dog I did not get a flat :-)

Bad Kitty: Did not wear sunscreen...big X on my back marking the spot where I was stupid.

It's for Charity!

I have signed up to do a charity ride in Napa Valley for the American Lung Association...you know, clean air, global warming, asthma, lung cancer, etc... You can sponsor me (no amount is too little or too large) by going to www.sacbreathe.org and clicking on the link for the Bike Trek in the first paragraph and then "Sponsor an Individual" on the left side of the page, and then "Find a Participant." I am listed under Moore. It will be about 150 miles over three days, and it would be great to know that I am riding for a reason (other than the beautiful scenery, fun, friendship and CALORIES BURNED!)

Hugs all!