It Is What It Is

Extended Weekend

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:48:26 GMT

Holiday Party @ Dad & Ellie's, originally uploaded by chris_wass.

My extended weekend started on Wednesday night at Cherubini in Tempe for coffee. BrienBear, Brian, Marc, Travis, Josh, and I sat on the couches, which were comfy, but the splashy sounds from the fountain in the middle created a little challenge for easy conversation.

Thursday morning was for general slack, sleeping in, and playing with Timmy. In the afternoon, I did do some research for a new incorporation client and paperwork for that, then went out to Lonnie’s to sell my old stash of silver scrap, then got the oil changed in my car. Later, I went to the Duck & Decanter for the weekly knit night.

Friday started out slow, but became busy as the day went on. I headed out in the afternoon to stop by Lonnie’s to get a check, swing by Trails to get cartridges for my whipped cream canister (ironically, to actually make whipped cream, as last I checked, Trails was less expensive for them than Williams Sonoma), then to Switchblade Salon to get my big haircut. After the shearing, I went over to Jodie’s. We went to Harley’s for dinner, where I had some tasty gnocchi. We went back to her place for her to change and to wait for her husband, Ben, before schlepping to Laveen for her friend’s party. It was a pleasant time, we noshed, played Guitar Hero, and chatted with artsy folks. Jodie had to go to bed at a reasonable hour since she had to get up early to set up for a work event the next day. I decided to take a chance on stopping by at Tranzylvania to catch Dark Mark’s DJ set, but just missed it. He seemed happy that I dropped by to try to support his efforts.

Saturday, I had a hard time getting up and motivated to make pie. Finally, I broke it out and had some yummy results to share at the Winter Festival of Pie at happinesstogo and Al’s. I arrived there around 7pm, and the party was already in full swing. There was a higher percentage of sweet pies to savory this year, so I was afraid that my pie wouldn’t be finished by the time I wanted to leave to meet BrienBear for his birthday celebration at Dave & Busters, but it was pretty well decimated, so I consider that a success. The pie had a chocolate sugar cookie crust with a thin layer of dark chocolate, filled with caramelized plantain and banana and dark chocolate coffee custard, topped with honey vanilla whipped cream, fresh banana, and dark chocolate chips. I got to D&B just as Brien & co. were walking out the door. We lingered and chatted a while before everyone dispersed.

Sunday afternoon, I left the house early to stop by to see the incorporation client’s office before going to Dad and Ellie’s holiday open house. He wasn’t there, and just left his stuff for me to pick up. So, I ended up at Dad’s awkwardly early. Ellie is very particular about things and had a hired helper, so she wouldn’t let me help setting up anything and I kinda stood around until other people showed up. Luckily, that didn’t last too long. The party was actually not unpleasant for once. The yentas who usually give me the tsk tsk for not being married yet were completely distracted by my weight loss and new haircut. I had to send emails out this morning to some of the ladies that kept asking me for more info. Gregg is pissed at Dad for not helping him out last weekend when he had a kidney stone attack, and I really don’t blame him. Gregg was in enough pain that Dawn was going to take him to the hospital, but Dad didn’t want to take a break from doing their party planning tasks (for a party a week later) to go over there and watch the kids for a while. Dad said he could only do it if Gregg brought the kids to their place, 20 minutes away in each direction away from their closest hospital. So, they called a neighbor who helped them instead. Dad mentioned it to me while I was helping him open wine bottles, and I told him that I thought Gregg was totally justified in being mad. Gregg is doing better, and on medication now, so it was nice to see him and Dawn and the kids.

Wow, I forgot my hair is wavy.

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:44:14 GMT

Wow, I forgot my hair is wavy., originally uploaded by chris_wass.

My new haircut, when just washed and left to air dry.

Cut!

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:30:37 GMT

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by chris_wass.

Got my long tresses cut off yesterday!

Knitty

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:55:06 GMT

Ang, originally uploaded by chris_wass.

I've been working on knitting samples for the next set of classes at Knit Happens. I'm pretty excited about doing most of the projects, so I hope that those classes book out! On the schedule are two more sock classes, a fair isle pouch (photo in this posting), a cabled owl cardigan, felted ballet flat slippers, a felted bag with an intarsia flower motif, and a fair isle cardigan.

In the meanwhile, I still have projects that I haven't finished from fall, which really kinda bothers me. But my new class obligations make me have to work on other things. I hate having multiple unfinished projects. My mom was a chronic non-finisher, so I really have a compulsion to finish things.

Staycation

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:45:54 GMT

I decided on Tuesday that I would take today and tomorrow off from work. Since I have been dieting and teaching and such on and off the past few months, I haven't gone on any vacations since Comic-Con in July. I'll be dieting for the first 3 weeks of January, and don't have a break in scheduled classes until the end of February anyway. My boss will be on vacation for the last two weeks of this month, so I can't take any time off then (I'm the only other full-time employee in my unit). So, I decided to take a little break while I could. Weekends have been busy with holiday stuff, so I took some time today to run some errands. Nothing exciting, but needed to be done.

A Happy Hanukkah

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:49:12 GMT

Hanukkah with the Family, originally uploaded by chris_wass.

I had a pleasant first night of Hanukkah dinner at my brother's house on Friday. Dad & Ellie were also there, and Alex's therapist, Dominic. Gregg made some Dad-friendly (aka gluten-free) latkes which were very tasty. 6 adults nearly decimated 5lbs of potatoes worth of them. The kids are picky, and mostly ate the rotisserie chicken. They were really happy with their two big gifts, the new Super Mario Wii game from me, and a Fit Plus from Dad & Ellie.

After dinner, I stopped by Dave & Buster's at Desert Ridge to try to catch the tail end of the reunion gathering of former co-workers from RQA (worked from 2003-2005). I saw half of the attendees, just as they were leaving. When I walked up, one of the ladies exclaimed, "Oh my god, Chris! You look just the same! You haven't changed at ALL!" I replied with a chuckle, "Well, yeah, what am I supposed to look like?" "Well, older, at least!" I didn't bother to tell them that I had gained 40lbs over the 4 years since I'd left and lost 50 in the past 6 months. I just took the compliment with her hug.

Still feeling surprisingly energetic, I decided to meet some people at Tranzylvania for dancing and such. It was an entertaining night.

I wanted to get up and go to the farm market Saturday morning, but reset my alarm to sleep until 10, when I had to get up to meet for brunch at Chompies at 11. After brunch, I stopped by Tempe Yarn and Fiber. I had just responded to her text message when Jodie walked through the door of the shop. I hadn't planned on hanging out, but ended up staying and chatting with Jodie and Sam, and contributing a little to the Big Sock Project.

Saturday night, I met up with Jodie and her husband at their neighbor's Chrismukkah party. We socialized for a while, then went back to their house to play Rock Band for a while. Another fun but late night.

On the way to Wendy's house Sunday morning, I stopped at the Asian market for some supplies for alternate pierogi fillings; sweet potato, Japanese yam, and taro root. At Wendy's, I peeled and boiled, seasoning the sweet potato with cinnamon and fresh nutmeg, and the Japanese yam and taro mix with cardamom and sugar. Julie cranked out the dough while the rest of the crew filled the little pockets, starting with classic potato and cheese. I chopped up some prunes for some sweet filling. Wendy and I worked together to boil and fry the dumplings to yumminess. We all joined in on the tasty eats. After all was cleaned up, Sue and I stuck around and watched Julie & Julia, and I worked on a knit sample for class of cabled owls.

Team Meeting Haiku

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:52:58 GMT

Snap, snap, his fingers crack
Doesn't add meaning to speech
Just syncopation

Fight to stay awake
Room warmed, filled with dreamy words
Hot air from his mouth

The new Mii

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:49:27 GMT

The new Mii, originally uploaded by chris_wass.

I was mulling about ways to get myself to work on getting more fit with the weight loss, and on Black Friday I found a good enough deal on a Wii with Fit Plus combo that I ordered it. It arrived on Friday, but I didn't have time to set it up right away, so it sat, unboxed, until Saturday. I ended up staying in Saturday night and setting up and playing my new toy. I played it again last night, I set up custom routines. I played it so much that I have a sore right arm today! I may have to switch setting for lefty from time to time so I can use both arms more! My best rated game (based on my score) is Super Hula Hoop, which is not surprising to me, since I can use my old belly dance skillz for it! Just need to build up the stamina again!

Turkey Day & Weekend

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:52 GMT

smoked turkey on the grill, originally uploaded by chris_wass.

I spent Thanksgiving eve at my brother’s house again this year. Dad and Ellie went to her sister’s house. They didn’t have any other friends over, so it was just the 5 of us. Sort of like my regular dinners over there, but with a lot more food. Also, more labor-intensive foods! Gregg made a tasty smoked turkey on the grill, along with grilled asparagus. Dawn made the stuffing and mashed potatoes. I made mashed sweet potatoes, sweet potato pie with a plantain crust (a new experiment that was tasty), and German butter cake. We all have fond memories of the German butter cake that we’d get in PA, but have never seen since we moved to AZ. My office-mate, who is also from PA, had a recipe that her mother had cut out of a newspaper in 1966. She scanned it and sent it to me. It took a lot of time to make, boiling and mashing potatoes for the yeast dough, and letting it rise 3 times before baking. It was a taller cake than we remembered, but it was yummy.

I had to go to work on Friday, but I got little done. Well, little work for work done. I spent my time socializing, eating from the giant spread of leftovers that Myrna brought in, and shopping online for Hanukkah presents. I also ordered a present for myself – a Wii console with Fit Plus bundle and an extra controller. I was thinking about how I could increase my activity level to keep the weight I’ve lost off. I’ve had fun playing the Wii at other people’s houses, so I think that I will be more successful with this than going to the gym. Plus, I can have other people over to play. Friday night, I met Lissa and Tom, Sarah and Matt at Prankster’s Too for beverages and pool. They tried to go to Mickey’s Hangover in old town, but it was closed. The place is right around the corner from my house, and better then I remembered it being. They at least had a good selection of beer on tap.

Saturday morning, I met Helen and isoebella at Lo Lo’s in Scottsdale. Unlike when we went last Sunday, there was no wait. Mmm, chicken and waffles. Afterward, we went by the handbag speakeasy, but we didn’t like any of the bags. I bought a silver anchor pendant. Then we went over to TJ Maxx to look for tights. I’ve been on a big tights kick this season to freshen up my wardrobe while I wait on buying other clothes. Saturday night, I opted out of a big party to hang out with irena_seraphina and James. We had a nice soak in the hot tub, then watched Bruno.

Sunday morning, I finally experienced Matt’s Big Breakfast. I met Carl at 11, and he got there 10 minutes before me and put our name in. At 11:55, we were seated. We shared two plates, the salami scramble with Maytag bleu cheese with a side of yukon gold and caramelized onion homefries and sourdough toast with strawberry jam, and a Belgian waffle with pepper bacon. The food was delicious, and served speedily, and there is a wait at even the crappiest places on a Sunday morning, but I don’t know if I would be up for the hour wait very often. We finished in plenty of time to head to the Phoenix Art Museum for the showing of Trust us, this is all made up, a film about an improvisation team based in Chicago. We both enjoyed the film. Sunday night was spent watching episodes of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. A nice finish to the weekend.

Last Weekend

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:36:53 GMT

Having taken Friday off after the Magic Mountain jaunt, the week flowed right into the weekend. Friday afternoon, I baked a butternut squash pie for the monthly D&D n' potluck at Doyle's. I experimented with this concoction, making up a flax meal and buckwheat flour crust, altering my sweet potato pie recipe for the extra moisture in the freshly steamed squash, and making a dark chocolate cinnamon sauce to serve with. It was a success. I brought home an empty pan at the end of the night of gaming and eating fun.

Saturday morning, I had to get up at my regular work time to go to Knit Happens for a teacher's meeting. We're putting together a list of classes for winter session for happinesstogo to schedule. Of course, I’ll be doing sock classes again, but the owher has left my other selections pretty open. I know what I want to make, but I don’t know if other people like the same things! I'm having trouble deciding.

That night, I went to Darenna and Kristin's to play Wii and hang out. Darenna made these dates that were stuffed with gorgonzola wrapped in proscuitto then baked in the oven. Those things are delicious!

Sunday, I schlepped up to Carefree to meet Dad and Ellie for a free light jazz concert at El Pedregal. The band was pleasant enough, the weather was nice, and I brought some knitting to work on, so it was not a bad way to spend the afternoon.

Unfortunately, with all the tasty eats, I've gained 5lbs back. I'm back within 2lbs of my last injection weight, after eating better for a few days, and my recently recovered clothes still fit, so I'm not gonna freak out. Just need to make some better eating choices.

Six Flags for Veteran's Day

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:25:49 GMT

Terminated!, originally uploaded by chris_wass.

We met up at irena_seraphina Wendy's Tuesday morning and got on the road westward from there. Along the way, we stopped to check out the Robotic Dinosaur Museum advertised on the roadside, but when we figured out that it was a creationist front, we didn't want to financially support them by paying admission. Ride entertainment consisted of Brett's MP3 player and games of 20 questions that included our newly-created "mythical" category. We gained an hour going there, so it was still relatively early even after eating dinner, so we decided to see a movie. Wendy hadn't seen Zombieland, and the rest of us didn't mind seeing it again, so that's what we went for. I guess that it was appropriate, since the finale is set in a California theme park. Back at our budget motel, we braved the heavily chlorinated hot tub for a bit before showering and going to bed.

In the morning, we hit Denny's for a light breakfast before heading to Six Flags Magic Mountain. We got there about 20 minutes before the scheduled gate opening time. As soon as we were through the gates, we power-walked to the queue for X2, purportedly the most popular coaster in the park. Others had the same idea, but the wait wasn't very long. The ride was pretty nuts. It was a good thing that we did that ride first, because we could see that the line was FAR longer as we stumbled out of there. Next, we sailed pretty quickly to ride Viper, then a little longer to ride Tatsu. I thought that the other rides would pale after X2, but Tatsu was just as wild. I was feeling wonky and dehydrated so we grabbed some water on our way to wait in line for Terminator Salvation. That line sucked the life out of me. I really wanted to stab someone after being forced to listen to teen pop, country music, and corny announcers. NOTHING TO DO WITH THE TERMINATOR until you are shuttled in groups into the building for the ride. Could it have hurt them to get the licensing to show the movie on a loop on the end-of-maze video screens? Play the movie soundtrack? For f's sake! After that, I needed a break. We stopped for water and snacks. I wandered the park on my own while my pals went on Déjà Vu. They were rattled after that ride. We slowed it down with a little old school log flume action, then Brett and I did the Goldrusher, a mild but respectable old coaster. Brett was refreshed and wanted to go on Scream. Nate went along, but Wendy and I opted for a Ben & Jerry's treat. By this time, the sun started to go down. Our last big hurrah was to be the classic wooden coaster, Colossus. The line was faster than expected, Brett and Wendy ran off to cram in two more rides, Batman and Riddler's Revenge, getting on the last run of the night of the latter. Nate and I had a leisurely wander to the park exit. We closed out the park, leaving the gates some time after 6pm.

We were all pretty spent at this point, and decided to get a sit-down dinner instead of fast-food. We spotted a Red Lobster, and someone exclaimed "cheesy bread!", so Wendy veered the car into their parking lot. The wait was longer than anticipated, and the service was slow. We grew a bit restless as the tiredness set in. Brett and I conked out on our respective ends of the back seat during periods of the ride home, playing the name game with Wendy during periods of increased coherence. Nate managed to stay the course, driving the whole way home, with one break for gas and snacks. We lost an hour with the time change on the way home, getting to Wendy's a bit after 4am. After driving home from there, I got into bed at home around 5am. Timmy was demanding some attention, so I had to kick him out of my room at 7am. Thankfully, I took Thursday off so I could nap on and off for the rest of the day! I decided on Friday morning to take that day off as well.

Posted using TxtLJ

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:21:32 GMT

Realized that I am along for the ride today.

Weekend Fun Stuff

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:04:24 GMT

I checked out the new farm market at Skysong in Scottsdale on Thursday night before heading to class. Friday night, I went to Coach & Willie’s for happy hour with co-workers, then to Casey Moore’s for a “welcome back” dinner and drinks for anderale. Saturday morning, I got up fairly early, picked up anderale in Tempe, then drove out to Casa Grande to see some adorable alpacas. I dropped her off, then went to the Buy Local Festival at the Duck & Decanter. I met up with happinesstogo and Stepahie there, and enjoyed lots of tasty food samples from local restaurants and live music from local bands. After a micro-nap, I headed northward to Cave Creek to hang out with my friend, Alice, for her birthday. On Sunday, I stopped at the Sanrio store in the Mills mall to peruse the sale items before going to a crafternoon at Kat’s house. Our friend Jaime asked me to teach her how to crochet. She picked it up pretty quickly. I was at Kat’s until dinner time.

Tomorrow, I’ll be taking off for an overnight trip to Cali with irena_seraphina to go to Six Flags Magic Mountain on Wednesday! I’ve never been, so it should be fun.

Steak Day

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:49:51 GMT

Steak Day, originally uploaded by chris_wass.

I was a bad eater over the last few days, and ended up 2.5lbs over my Last Injection Weight. That meant a "steak day" for me yesterday. Last time, I lost 4lbs overnight, but this time I only lost 1, not even getting me back to my LIW. I left a message with the naturopath's office to see if they have any advice for me.

Let there be Pants

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:31:34 GMT

Before, After, After, originally uploaded by chris_wass.

It feels good to have my main closet filled with things formerly in the guest bedroom (a.k.a skinny) closet. I tried on a bunch of pants yesterday. I fit in all but 3. Of those three, two get on, but I have muffin top waist in them. They are both regular size 16 from the Gap and have no stretch in the fabric. The two pants that fit the nicest were plus size 14. I was extremely excited to fit into these men's size 36 pants. Women's sizes vary widely, but men's are a bit more accurate to the label. If you have a 36" waist, you expect to wear a 36 pant. It seemed like a truer indicator of where I am at now than the more arbitrary sizing of ladies clothing. I actually cried a few tears of joy when I put those size 36 pants on. When I started out, my waist measured 43". It's no wonder to me now why my size 34 corset easily laced edge to edge without a gap and didn't seem to bring my waist in much! Time to save up for a new one in a smaller size. Time to save up for a new wardrobe!

Though I ended up 5lbs short of my hopeful weight goal, with a final loss of 31lbs (53lbs total), I did make my clothing size goal, a +14. I started at a +20.

I took a round two "after" photo last night and collaged it with a photo taken of me at Kat's shower in June (left) and a photo taken after round 1 (center). The clothes are a bit bulky on me now, so I don't think it is the best representation of how much smaller I am in the middle, but you can really see the changes in my face and neck. More subtly, you can see that my arms are a bit smaller, the sweater seems longer because it no longer stretches width-wise to cover me, and the skirt hangs a little lower because the waistband is big.

Posted using TxtLJ

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:19:46 GMT

I fit back into my mens sz 36 pants! Squee!

Last Injection Day

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:57:19 GMT

As of today, I have lost 29 lbs this round and 51 lbs total. It is my last injection day. I'll be dieting for two more days, so I may still make it to my goal of 30 lbs, but I am ok with being this close. Going into this week, I didn't expect to lose any more weight as I have my period, and the last two times, I didn't lose weight for those few days. Surprisingly, I have. I still have two more days of the VLCD, and I'm really looking forward to Sunday when I have more eating options! When I talked to the naturopath last week, and to someone in her office today, they said that I should slowly ramp up the calories to a normal level over a week and not just start eating normal low-carb right away. They also said that I can start incorporating carbs like beans and whole grain breads one serving a day next week. I'll carefully see how that goes.

I must have worn some very flattering pants yesterday, because two of my female co-workers who I don't usually talk to approached me to ask me about my weight loss. That's pretty cool. I sent them both some info about it.

I actually missed a fit window on a couple of pants in my "skinny closet". By the time I tried them on, they were actually a bit loose! That's ok, they weren't too loose to wear. There are a few things that I haven't tried yet because they are too casual to wear to work. My old job had a much more casual dress code than my current. I'm thinking about making some time to sew some wrap skirts to tide me over until I make it through the next diet cycle, since I don't have anything another size down in the closet.

The Teaches of Peaches

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:06:21 GMT

I went to see the AWESOME Peaches show last night with irena_seraphina, Suzy, and Marc. The show started with her wearing this insane huge collar and essentially a burqa made from fake hair. It was all crazy and shaggy and braided in places. She kept stripping off her outfits to reveal increasingly skimpier outfits underneath. Peaches crowd-surfed all old-school-style, then got people to hold her standing straight up for a while, then kneeled on the crowd for the rest of the song. It was badass. Toward the end of the show, she pretended to fall, and acted all woozy and sick when she got up, then she spit fake blood all over the people in the front. I also ran into a dear friend who I haven't seen in quite a while that I wasn't sure if I had been ditched by, but it turns out that she has been checking in on my blog, which made me feel so much better.

I am surprisingly not exhausted today, even though I worked yesterday, then taught a knitting class from 7-9pm, then out at a concert past midnight. I had a 30 minute nap before class. I may just collapse when I get home tonight, but I hope I can get a little done around the house before I do.

1 Week Left

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:23:09 GMT

Lemon Butt, originally uploaded by chris_wass.

Whittled weight loss to 26.4 lbs lost this round. One week left. 4 injections left. I have been having mad cravings. It has been really tough not to cheat with more than tiny nibbles of things.

I went with Myrna to the State Fair on Friday after work to see an ABBA tribute band, and we decided to leave work early to get in on the 1/2 price admission deal. Myrna let me taste her fair food treats, a smoked turkey leg, buttered corn on the cob, and a caramel apple rolled in peanuts. It was nice to have little tastes of things. We walked around a lot, which was nice. The weather was perfect for it. The concert was pretty cheesy, and not in a good way, which was a bummer.

D minus 10 Days

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:03:16 GMT

Weight loss today was a respectable 1.2 lbs, which lifted my spirits, and brought my total up for this round so far to 25 lbs. At this point, it looks like I may at least make the average loss for the program of 30 lbs in the 6 weeks.

Someone brought bagels into the office yesterday, and they were in a cube across the hall and two down. When people used the toaster, there were some seriously yummy toasty bread smells going on. It was really hard to resist having some bagel, but I managed to stay away from them. This morning, while walking into the office, I could swear that I could smell popcorn, which gave me a sudden craving for buttered popcorn. I am not usually that into popcorn even when I can have it, but I really had a hankerin' for it today.

I've gotten really tired of cooking this week. For today, I threw together some pre-shredded cabbage with some fresh basil and chives as a salad topped with some firm tofu I marinated to eat for lunch today. I need to throw some foil packet cooking together tonight for meals for tomorrow, as I will have little time after work between a visit to the naturopath and getting to the sock knitting class I'm going to teach.

I <3 My Car

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:22:17 GMT

For some happier news, I got my car back Friday afternoon. It was nice to drive my pal, Suki, again. The front is all shiny, clean, and dent-free. I had a really good experience with the shop, Phoenix Auto Clinic, which is on 7th St just south of Indian School, so I would recommend them to anyone needing body work on their car. Even with the additional damage found under the hood, they still got the work done within the original 5-day estimate. Plus, they were nice, upfront about the process, and didn't talk down to me.

Last Two Weeks of Dieting

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:57:15 GMT

Today is the start of my last two weeks on the VLCD. I've only managed to shave down fractions of a pound this weekend to get to a total of 23lbs. Yet, I feel like I am smaller in size than last weekend, as I've been able to liberate a number of items from the "skinny closet" that didn't quite fit the weekend before. 2lbs doesn't usually make that much of a difference, and I haven't been doing any extra exercise. At the rate I'm going, it doesn't look like I'll reach my weight goal for this cycle. I seem to have so much more success in the first 3 weeks, so I am thinking about doing a 3-week protocol in January instead of 6, and possibly 3 weeks in March if I still feel that I want to. This will extend my weight loss plans for another two months, but if it is more effective, it may be worth taking my time.

Up to Day 24

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:51:03 GMT

This round's weight loss is up to 22.4 lbs. I'd really like to lose 14.6 more pounds but I only have 16 days left. I may get close.

I haven't been feeling too well for the past few days, and have made soup for some meals. My favorite so far was the mushroom soup with fresh sage that I made with slivers of firm tofu as noodle-like things in it. Myrna said that she's going to bring me some fresh lemongrass from her yard to work for me tomorrow. That will be a nice addition to my cooking efforts.

Internal Damage

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:33:39 GMT

Internal Damage, originally uploaded by chris_wass.

I took my car in to the body shop this morning. It took a bit to get the car, then I realized that I needed the parking permit for work from my car. When I got back to the body shop, they were already at work on my car. They had to cut a huge hole in the hood to unhook the latch to remove it. They found a lot more damage underneath. So, it looks like it's going to take longer than the original 5-day estimate.

Half-Way

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:20:00 GMT

As of day 20, I had lost 17.8 lbs. As of today, day 21, I'm at 19 lbs. At my half-way point I was nearly half-way to a weight milestone. I don't know if I'll make it to that milestone, but things are progressing pretty well.