Last Post

Last post for 2008, that is. I can't believe I've been blogging since 2005. I definitely have not blogged as much or of anything of importance these days. But I like going back and re-reading what my thoughts were at a particular point in time. I've learned to not write negative things about people on my blog anymore so as result, there's been nothing exciting to write about :).

New Years Resolution for 2009 - lose weight, finish up the novels, and paint more. Sounds realistic enough. But somewhere in mid January, I get sidetracked and it won't be until mid October that I get back on track.

We are going to StateSide in Santa Barbara to ring in the New Year. I'm getting too old to "shake it like a polaroid picture". So this may be it this year. I'd like to settle for a quiet gathering of close friends next year.



HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

Man's Perfect Holiday Gift

A coworker forwarded this to me:

Weight Loss

I gained 12lbs (fat) within the last year. 12lbs may not look bad on someone who is 5'5" but on someone like me who is only 5'1", it's pretty noticeable. Of course it's never in the area that you want it to be (upper body). On me, it tends to gravitate to my hips and belly. I attributed this weight gain to moving in with my boyfriend. I cooked more at home and ate more often. In addition, the long commute from Arroyo Grande to Santa Barbara left me little time to work out.

When I started to notice that I had gone from a size 00 to a 5 (and counting), I started to get depressed. I weighed more than the 5'7 Spitzer chick!! In Arroyo Grande, I began running around the block for 10-15 minutes every other night. After several weeks, I noticed a yo-yo effect weight loss of 1-2 lbs.

We moved to Santa Barbara around the end of Daylight savings time and it was getting too dark to run outside. So I decided to run in place for 20 minutes each night. After several weeks, I noticed another 1-2lb drop but I still had the horrid belly fat to contend with.

While perusing weight loss articles on line, one article stated that body fat starts to burn when you are into cardio exercise at least 30 minutes. It was hard enough to run in place for 20 minutes and pushing it to 30-45 minutes was going to be a task for me. So, my co-worker and I decided to join a gym. We do spin and free weights 4 times a week. The Spin class average from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. In one of our 1.5 hour Spin class, students lost up to 900 calories.

After just two weeks of spin:



NOT!, I WISH!!!! I've never had abs like that!

It's going to take several more months of cardio, weights and a healthier diet (which I also have changed). It may be that I will never get back to my previous size and weight, because I'm no exercise junkee. I don't know if I am willing to exercise 4 days a week for the rest of my life. And I love IN & OUT burgers!!

Tianna - Update

When we moved to Santa Barbara, Tianna started up soccer again with a new team from Goleta, the Glo-Sticks.



Last weekend was Tianna's Winter Recital. She played "The May Song" and "Andantino" from the Suzuki book one. It's been a constant fight to get her to practice. I just know someone is going to call CPS on me. Sometimes I get so frustrated and wonder why I put us both through this! She doesn't want to play the violin. Nonetheless, she has the potential to be a good violin player, so I will keep at it. One day, maybe she will thank me.

Co-workers

I've worked with interesting co-workers throughout the years. When I was in college, I worked at the local UA Movie theatre. The number of personalities that worked there were endless:

• the door man with Tourettes syndrome. He would shout out profanities as he tore off the ticket stub
  
• the long haired musician in the box office who brought his guitar with him every night
  
• the candy girl who had an abusive boyfriend and showed up to work with bruises every day
  

The list goes on.... Going to work was great! There was always some drama waiting to unfold.

After I left college, I went to work for a Dental/Jewelry company in the OC. My boss was Human Resources' biggest nightmare. You never knew what he was going to pull (i.e Walking around with his finger poking out of his pant zipper).

What's always consistent in every place I have worked was the amount of fraternizing going around! At my next place of employment, fraternizing with a co-worker could be your demise.

Lately, I am contending with the lack of courtesy flush(es). Our two stall bathrooms are adjacent to our breakroom (where people converge). Any sort of bathroom activites other than #1, I will seek out stalls of other buildings. If they are locked, I will make the ten minute drive home. However at work, it's become clockwork between the hours of 10 and 11. Someone is leaving streaks and not doing the courtesy of a second flush. I see this and I just want to puke. It's bad enough she hasn't used the air freshner. And unless its a feminine product, it's okay to toss it into the toilet.