Diaries I Read:
This will be another entry of scattered ideas, thoughts, and information I�m sure you�re dying to know. Hey, at least it�s an entry.
Our trip to San Francisco was �fun.� I use the quotation marks because the anticipation of the trip was better than the actual trip itself. Several times I found myself getting annoyed because it felt like we spent a lot more time and energy planning than we spent enjoying all the things we planned. Such is often the case when you go somewhere with a large group of people. But the fun (no quotation marks) included pigging out at really good restaurants, seeing my dear friend Andrea, and visiting Alcatraz. I do not recommend the San Francisco Super Tour � very few cities deserve four hours on a bus. B and I slept through half of it.
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My neighbor MJ had her baby last Monday. We saw her for the first time last Thursday and for the second time yesterday. She is so little and precious. I think this is the very first time I have been completely enamored of a baby and found myself removing its socks to examine its 10 perfect little toes. Her perfection was so complete that I found myself saying to B, out loud and in front of others, no less, �OK, we can have one of these.� Not yet, though. Not yet.
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My best friend at work has left. Last Thursday was her last day. And she�s leaving leaving, as in moving to another state, so it�s really goodbye. I�m sad. Work is not nearly as fun or interesting without her around. She really helped the time go by and made my days more enjoyable. I guess I�ll have to find a new friend. Boo.
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Between San Francisco and going-away events for my above-mentioned friend, I ate EVERYTHING in sight for a week and a half and gained an incredible 5.5 pounds. Really, I have to say I am quite amazed at my ability to put on weight. Since reverting back to my sensible WW eating habits for the past four days, I have lost an astounding 0.5 pounds. Woo. This is a real bummer because it just goes to show that I am going to have to count freaking WW points for THE REST OF MY LIFE! I guess there�s no half-assing it for me. I don�t know, maybe I�m trying to get down to/stay at a weight that�s too low for me. But I LIKE being at that weight. I like it when people tell me I�m skinny. I don�t want to be just �trim� (which is how most people would probably describe me.) I want to be SKINNY! Oh well, we�ll see what happens. I just can�t believe that it�s THAT easy to gain weight and SO much harder to lose it. It�s not fair.
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One of the fun things we did for my friend from work was go to an Angels game on Saturday. There were four of us girls from work plus my friend�s sister. I had called in a favor and got us awesome MVP seats, which is kind of funny since we didn�t watch more than two plays the whole game. We took the train to the game since then we wouldn�t have to deal with parking or driving after drinking. Plus that, it�s just FUN! So the five of us got on the train, and the ticket-checker guy took a liking to us and bumped us up to first class! Woo! We got fancy-schmancy seats AND eight little bottles of wine! So we drank up the whole trip to the stadium and were feeling good by the time we got there. During the game, we ate peanuts, hot dogs, cracker jacks, pizza, and ice cream and drank many many beers (5.5 pounds, anyone?). The people at the end of our row got really annoyed with us because one of us got up and squeezed by them to get more food or alcohol about every 10 minutes. (We offered to trade seats with them but they didn�t go for it, so too bad for them.) The Angels won and we got back on the train and found our ticket guy again. THIS time, he took us to the front of the train where the driver sits. I got to sit in the co-pilot seat and (get this!) blow the train whistle! It�s just a button you push, and push it I did! I�m sure all those who live along the train tracks really appreciated my 11:00-pm wake-up calls! Hee. It was so fun, especially after several drinks. We went back to my friend�s house and ate pasta then, because we just hadn�t had enough to eat. B had to come pick me up cuz I couldn�t drive. I love him. We went to bed at 2:00 am, which is by far the latest I�ve stayed up since getting married, I believe. Then we slept in til 10:00, which I think is another record for us.
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On another note, I�m beginning to really fear for the future of our country. This world has just become a really scary place. I just saw on the news last night that they�re pretty confident there�s a major terrorist attack in the works to hit us in the next couple of months. One of the suspected terrorists is a 25-year-old guy who used to live in my county. Two of them are women. I will say that I think the only thing that is going to save us from all of this mess is the grace of God. Yes, God, with a capital G. That�s one of the main reasons I will continue to support Bush despite all the bashing he gets most everywhere I look these days � he may not be the brightest guy and he may not make all the right decisions, but at least he is approaching his work prayerfully and trying to follow his beliefs in the God which, as I said before, is really our only hope among all of this insanity.
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B had his grip strength tested again last week, and the strength in his right hand has doubled from 30-something% four weeks ago to 70% now! His left hand is at 80%. I am so thrilled that he�s making such good progress. We saw the doctor again and he didn�t really have anything new to say. B just has to keep taking it easy and let the bones fuse in his neck. B did, however, express to me his fear that the tingling/burning in his hands and forearms may never go away. He had told me before that it was getting a little bit better every day, but now he says that it seems to have reached a plateau and isn�t getting much better. I believe that it is going to get better and that a year from now he won�t notice it at all. Of course, a year is a long time. But I believe he�ll get better. I believe that because I have to. What other choice do I have? He does seem to be in pretty good spirits these days and he�s been going to the gym to do some light workouts. Progress is good. I�ve learned to measure it in very tiny increments.
That�s all for now, folks.
Working at home - Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004
Toronto - Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004
On the way to Toronto... - Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2004
A Good Day - Monday, Nov. 08, 2004
Another letter - Thursday, Nov. 04, 2004