A Big Sigh & Some Good Stuff

I have planted myself on the sofa with the Mac on my lap every day for the past week to try and write this post.  I was going to just skip this week but with the bad stuff that overshadowed everything and hung around like a cloud, there actually was a lot of good stuff.

In the middle of last week I reached Onderland which I celebrated with that picture post.  I lost another pound by the weekend and was feeling a little more secure in Onderland the further I got away from the 200 mark.  Then I got some news last Sunday that sent me into a week long tailspin.  It's family news so I won't go into it just yet but it's not good. (nobody's dying, it just sucks for the selfish part of me) I'm sure I'll eventually be able to talk about it but I always feel the anxiety of someone accidentally coming across this blog.  Anyhow, I got the news Sunday morning, promptly jumped in the shower to cry, then got ready and went about my day.  However fast food, became a big part of that day and the rest of the week.  Ouch.  I could already see Onderland slipping away and I didn't really care.  I was relieve to wake up Monday morning and see 199.6 again.  I was so happy that I didn't go over 200 again.  However, this whole last week has been untracked and speckled with fast food and lunches out.  Enough with the sad stuff, let's get to the good stuff.

I heart my bike.  I think her name is Schwinnie. (so far)

First up, my lovely bike.  I LOVE IT!!  I took it for the first ride a week ago Thursday and I rode right to the bike shop that is about 3 km's away from my place.  I knew my tires were underinflated but I was too nervous to use the gas station pump for fear of blowing the tire right off the rim.  It's a pretty high-end bike shop so I was a little nervous pushing my way in there with my Target bike.  However, the guy that helped was AWESOME.  He pumped up my tires and showed me the pump by the back door that I can pop in and use anytime, he adjusted my front brake which wasn't assembled properly, fixed a gear, and  showed me the best way to lock the bike.  It was such a great experience that I went on their website and emailed them when I got home.  Speaking of home, when I walked out the back door and hopped on and started to ride, I was grinning like a fool!!!  With the inflated tires and the working front brake, the ride home was pure joy!  I have since decked it out with a blinking headlight, taillight, and side mirror.  I bought fenders but they didn't fit so I'll have to take them back and I will be taking the bike back to the shop and have them install the correct sized fenders.  We got more snow yesterday and the day before and it's been  colder than the norm for this time of year but I hope to be out for a ride most days than not in the next couple of weeks.

Not my car but exact model & color.

Next good thing, I got my car back!!  I am so happy to have it back.  I checked with Frank (mechanic) a week ago Thursday and he said it would be ready the next day.  I picked it up Friday after work.  The damage was $1491.61.  OUCH.  Although by that point, I was over the bill, I really just wanted a running car back.  I got a used transmission and an oxygen sensor.  Then I notice on the bill that it says alternator N/C and then he tells me that he replaced my alternator for no charge.  I love Frank.  Honestly, I think he totally felt bad for me.  He was really great earlier in the week when he gave me all of my options and even told me what he would do if it was his car etc.  Then I was on the way home and I notice out of the corner of my eye that my door lock is straight and down.  My door lock has been seized since November and to get it fixed would be $288 so I never did it and figured I would do it when I had extra money (bahahaha!  extra money!).  Anyhow, I pushed the lock/unlock button and the lock went up & down.  I was beyond thrilled.  Frank fixed my lock!!!  That guy is going on my Christmas list.

The final happy thing -- I had been thinking about getting another cat for George Catstanza aka Georgie Boy for a while now.  About a week and a half ago there was a couple of cats on the cover of our local newspaper with an article about how many pets the humane society had to euthanize over the past year.  All week, I was looking at online ads and answered a couple but didn't hear back.  So once I had my car back, I grabbed my kennel and headed to the humane society.  I wasn't sure I would come home with one but figured I'd take the kennel just in case.  I held and played with lots of cats and kept walking right past one cat named Sophie because she was 13.  She was so quiet and she looked like a kitten so I asked about her.  She was owner-surrendered to the humane society almost two months before and was likely going to be put down.  She was already marked down to $40.  I held her for a little and then took her into one of the little rooms to play by ourselves and I decided I must take her.  So meet Sophie!!

The first time she ventured out from her hiding spot behind the tv stand.

Posing nicely on her favorite ottoman.

The look Georgie Boy gave me when he saw her.  I think this expression says "WTF!!"

We had a rough first few days but we survived.  Then they actually seemed to be getting along enough to be in the same room and close proximity but over the last couple of days, George has started to get aggressive with her and start fights so I'm going to go back to separating them when I'm not here and paying extra attention to Georgie when I am.  I don't care if they aren't snuggle buddies but I really want them to be okay in the same room without scrapping.  I know it can take a long time and I just have to be patient but I really don't want this precious little old cat to be tortured!  It's kind of funny because they seem to call a nighttime truce and then each sleep on either side of me all night.  Hopefully this week, I will see more of this and way less fighting.  

So as far as the WW goes, tomorrow is tracking day one.  I'm desperately hoping that tomorrow's weigh-in keeps me in Onederland even though, I'm pretty sure my fast food week is going to make that impossible.  Gulp.  

Oh and water water water.  I have sucked at water for a couple weeks now and that has to change asap.

Picture Post!

ONEDERLAND!!!

'nuff said. :)

Soooo close!

I weighed in yesterday at 200.6.  A loss of 2.2 pounds which is awesome.  Onederland is so close!!

This week for sure, this week for sure!!!  I just have to lose 0.8 to see my weight start with a one again!


I do however get to update this little guy because I have passed 25 pounds now so that's kind of fun. I'll take it!  I never thought it would be thrilling updating the badge every 5 pounds but it really is :) This week was pretty good food-wise right up until the end.  More on that in a bit.  Almost all of our classes at the gym were cancelled due to Spring Break this past week so the only one going was boot camp on Tuesday night which I DID GO TO!  Then on Saturday morning I went for a brisk 7 km walk with one of my boot camp girls (Lindsay :).  It finally felt like spring, then promptly snowed the next day.



Now I'm going to whine a little bit.  It's not really weight-loss related but it did make me jump head first into a giant bag of chips and container of dip last night.  I ATE THE WHOLE THING.

For the most part, the older I get, the more okay I am with being single.  People that know me in real life will scoff.  But it's true.  The older I get, I'm getting better at it.  It's not something I would EVER choose but hey, that's the way it is.  That and hearing annoying stories about friends husbands sometimes makes me glad I don't have one. :) Keep them coming ladies!

However, there are times when the pangs strike and strike hard.  Jealousy gets the better of me.  I feel sour, old, and bitter.  Those times are usually brought on by babies, travel, and financial calamity.  Babies is self-explanatory.  Married couples who are having trouble conceiving aren't the only ones having trouble conceiving.  Travel - my issue here is that it's so expensive to plan a trip as a single.  Everything is based on double occupancy and honestly, most of my friends didn't start going through the trouble of traveling till they found their person, then they were all about the vacations and trips.

This brings me to the last one, financial calamity.  The one striking pain right now.  By this I mean the unexpected things.  The unexpected $$ expensive $$ things.  While I LOVE the condo I bought last year, sometimes I do feel the weight and the pressure of being a single income and would so love to split the mortgage and bills sometimes.  The pressure that would alleviate would be wonderful.  When I'm really into worrying, I start thinking about money for retirement and where that's going to come from and hope like crazy that I won't be an old lady eating cat food.  I mean, what would my cat eat??  Or when something breaks down, it would be so nice to say "hey, can you deal with this one?"  I've had one thing after another this past year and most recently, which has prompted this whole whiny thing, is my transmission.  Yes, sigh, my car.  I have a 97 Honda Civic with very low kilometers on it and right now, it's been at the garage since Thursday and my mechanic (I love him) is looking for a used transmission for me because my choice is scrapyard or transmission for around $1300 or $1500.  I can't afford a car payment of any kind at the moment so my choice is really transmission or no car at all.  No, I won't rob a bank!

Not my car but exactly my car.

No car wouldn't be the worst thing in the world however, for me, I would feel the loss of independence greatly.  I hate asking for rides or always needing to be picked up.  I like to go where I want to go and leave when I want to leave.  My car means freedom to me.  I worked hard for it and I distinctly remember the day I got to pick it up and it was so exciting.  I have loved this car for nearly 10 years and fingers crossed, with a transmission, I could love it for another couple years.  So for now, I'm hoping Frank (mechanic) calls soon saying he's got the perfect transmission for me.  I'm looking at where I can tighten up my budget further and keep an eye on the job postings at work.  Seriously, there's about three hens I would love to push into retirement with my foot.  One literally SLEEPS at her desk and the other surfs the net and talks to her retired friends all day.  I cannot believe those two make more money than I do for a job I can do better.  Hopefully, my car will live long enough for me to get into a higher paygrade.  :)  ENTER THE POTATO CHIPS.  All of this money stuff that's been plaguing me since Thursday finally cracked me last night and I walked to the convenience store on the corner and bought a bag of chips, container of dip, and a lottery ticket.  I'm so weak.  Not really, but in that moment I was.  I ate it all and then crawled into bed, cried a little and fell asleep with an upset stomach.  The one silver lining is that I haven't eaten chips & dip in so long (New Year's Eve) that my stomach actually didn't like it anymore.  That's gotta say something for all my healthy eating!!  :)

Better go start taste-testing cat food.  KIDDING!!!  I'm going to make a tuna melt, shower, get my pj's on and settle in for The Good Wife.  So happy it's a new episode tonight. :)

Can't believe I've got 99 followers that I know of.  That's crazy.  Crazy awesome but crazy all the same :)

Take Small Steps . . .

I saw this over on Things We Forget.  Love this blog.  I thought it applied to all of us on our journey.

Hopefully my small steps get me to "onederland" soon!!!