Since May 2007, I have lost 50 lbs. FIFTY. Excuse me for a moment while I...

.......EEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Ahem. Okay, I'm back.

I've been doing Weight Watchers for the last nine weeks, because Melissa inspired me to do so, and it's been SO good having someone to talk to about it along the way. And in that time, I've lost nearly 17 lbs. (That's my 10% goal, so I won't say I achieved it until I officially do, which will be another 0.2 lbs down, so should be next week, for sure!)

Amazing, exciting things!! ~

I was wearing a size 18 pair of jeans for the longest time, and when I went shopping, I discovered that I actually fit in size 12s now! (Apparently I need to go shopping more often; I missed the 16 and 14 stages completely!)

My dad came to see me a couple weeks ago to give me the truck, and after he left, he told my mom on the phone (who then told me), "Wow, Meghan looks great. She's really lost a lot of weight!"

One of my volunteers also told me, "You look like you've lost a lot of weight!" and I said, "Thanks, I have!"

I've lost 30 of the 50 lbs during this internship alone, which means that I actually needed a new uniform the other day. I've gone from a size large shirt to a small, and a size 38 waist pants to a size 34!

Many shirts that used to seem small are now almost too big, and the shirts that used to be comfortably baggy... I'm going to end up giving away a ton of my wardrobe, I think.

When I look in the mirror, I am extremely excited. I like the way I look. I'm not done yet. I'd love to lose about 30 more lbs; I'll see how it goes along the way. I may decide before then that I'm happy where I'm at. Right now I want to focus more on exercise and toning all my muscles. But still, I'm excited! And that's a fun feeling.

I weigh less now than I did at my wedding six years ago (when I was 164), and I haven't been under my wedding weight since my wedding day! And now I am! I've gone from 211 to 161!

I am SO excited!! I love getting healthy and fit and seeing the change on the scale and in the mirror and most of all, in my clothes. This is really cool.

= = =

And a big huge THANK YOU to Melissa for all the inspiration and support. I love that we are doing this together!! <3 <3 <3

= = =

( click for pics! )

Saw this on blondejgirl2006's LJ, and LOVED it, so wanted to share it with you all too, in case you hadn't seen it...

Joe: "I'm revered but not exalted. Crap. I want my exalted beer."

Me: "Exalted beer?"

Joe: "Exalted GEAR."

Me: "Ohhhh, I thought you said beer."

Joe: "No."

Me: "Mmmmm, exalted..."

I woke up just now and thought, hmm, it's mighty light out. What time is it??

I grabbed my phone and saw 7:50. SHIT. I have to be at work AT 8!! I looked over and saw my uniform sitting by my hamper, ready to go. Okay, it shouldn't take that long to get to work. Just grab socks and lunch, fly into my clothes, I won't be that late. But they need to know!

I dialed work as I tried to wake my brain up, visions of them being annoyed for having to do the volunteer schedule themselves swimming through my head, and my boss answered. "Meghan!" he said.

And I blurted out, "Hi! I just wanted to say I'm really sorry, but I overslept so I'm going to be late to work. I've just been feeling bad lately [I stayed home sick on Sunday], and so I guess that's why I must have slept through my alarm or something. But I will be there soon!"

"Um... Isn't it Tuesday?"

"Oh my god. Is it?"

"Yeah, YOU need to go take care of yourself and rest! You got me confused for a second there!" As I laughed, he said, "Usually I can't keep track the days of the week, myself."

And I said, "Well, clearly I can't!"

"You go rest. At least this is a great story of how dedicated Meghan is, waking up out of a deep sleep on her day off to come into work! But don't worry, I won't start spreading that around until the appropriate time. Hopefully you're not already here."

"No, no, I just woke up and started freaking out and gathering my work stuff..."

"Well take a deep breath. Relax. Enjoy your day."

"Thanks, you too."

"I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Thanks! Bye!"


OMG. I am SUCH a dork!

(From champers)

Book Meme
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next three sentences in your journal along with these instructions. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

I'm reading that as needing to post sentences 6, 7, and 8, on the page right? Anyway, here they are:

"Oh, how tedious."
"Can you, though?"
"I could..."

From The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

I got this link from collie_wing. We got the same result too!! So awesome. Anyway, seriously, how cute is this picture?? --

Find Out Which Disney Girl You Are! created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Pocahontas With the wind against your face, the sounds of the birds singing around you, you feel more alive than anything. Like Pocahontas, you feel most alive when you're in nature where you belong - man's beginnings were in nature, it just makes the most sense. As you find yourself in nature, remember that not everyone feels this way as well - try to ease them into your way of thinking, or just introducing them to your lifestyle! Everyone loves nature - just sometimes not as much as you! ( other possibilities )

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my sweet Joe!

Six years ago today, I married the most wonderful man ever, my very best friend, and I couldn't be happier to have him in my life. Here's to you, baby!

~*~
May the blessing of the rain be on you—
the soft sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit
so that all the little flowers may spring up,
and shed their sweetness on the air.
May the blessing of the great rains be on you,
may they beat upon your spirit
and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there many a shining pool
where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.

--Irish blessing
~*~

Everyone should read this article.

The only bad thing about that article is that I didn't write it myself. It is funny and truthful and just... awesome! You gotta read it!

Every workday, I come home tired and say, "On my weekend, I'll do such-and-such.." I put a whole list together in my head. Then on my day off, I am so excited to have some down time that I barely want to move. It's a weird mixture of, "Yay! I have the day off! I should go to that awesome store I've been meaning to go to!" and, "Oh my god, I don't have to do anything today. I think I'll take another nap!" haha!

Right now, I simultaneously want to go shopping at the Haight and snuggle in bed with a book. I also should go grocery shopping and get a haircut, but ... I don't feel like it. I do and I don't.

Weekends are always like this for me!

At the very least, I think I'll bake some bread (from a Trader Joe's mix I bought, not from scratch; I haven't gotten that fancy in my cooking skillz yet!). At least I don't have to go anywhere to do that!

I spent the weekend in L.A. Here is the weekend wrap up:

I love Joe!

Cloverfield was AMAZING!

Snuggling with my kitties rocks.

American Idol is only fun to watch with Joe, and I'm glad we watched an episode together!

This Garfield site is freaking brilliant.

Ow, my freakin' feet hurt a lot. Like, a LOT a lot. New orthotics soon, thank god!

My car made horrible sounds.

We spent lots of money.

Now it runs fine. Spark plugs staying put and oil staying IN the engine (as opposed to spewing all over it) are good things indeed.

Omg, Japanese cherry tea latte.

Omg, peppermint mocha coffee.

Howard Stern's show is awesome.

Artie Lange makes me laugh out loud.

Holy shit, Heath Ledger is DEAD?? That's crazy!

My apartment is very cold.

I have fun plans with the roomie tomorrow night, yay!

I can't believe I'm awake.

Work in the morning. Wish I had another day off! But I always say that.

Okay, I'm really going to sleep now, goodnight!

meme nabbed from razzle -

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Imperial Majesty Ellison the Festive of Molton St Anywhere Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I think I like it!

Omg, I think I might like this second one even better:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Countess Ellison the Wholesome of Giggleswich Lanken Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

This year:

I'm doing Embodiment again. Last year, I missed 146 days (I just added it all up). Which means I completed 219 days of the year! This year, I'm going for the full 366, baby! Yay, leap year!

I'm also doing Project 365! I'll be posting pics on my flickr site shortly!


And beyond:

From Jan 1, 2008 - Sept 28, 2010, I'll be doing 101 Things in 1001 Days. Woohoo! Wish me luck! My list is here.

I like this plan a lot. It's low pressure, because it's not just 2008. It's long term. I'm really excited about it!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I hope we all have a really great 2008! (hey that rhymes!)

Best wishes to all!

Last night I went out with my roommate and her friends. We saw live music, had yummy tacos and beer, had a brief encounter with a crazy karaoke place, and everything was really fun!

But.

Working a LONG day, eight hours on my feet, in brand new shoes, on very little sleep... well, it sucks.

You know what else sucks?

Waiting all evening to watch Pushing Daisies, only to realize moments after I snuggled into the chair, ready for an hour of awesomeness, that something was amiss. Why is it already on when it shouldn't be starting for five more minutes?, I wonder as I watch the beginning of the episode unfold, confusingly. And that's when I realize, it's the ENDING of the show! NOT the beginning. And of course every ending has a great new reveal, a cool cliffhanger. And now I've seen it. I HATE having endings ruined for me in any way shape and form and loathe people who ruin things for me, and now I just did it to myself! Bah!

:(

Why was it on at 8 this week? It was 9 last time. Why must the times change like that? I cannot keep track of these things! This is why I MISS having a DVR. How can one go from having a TiVo, then a DVR, and use them for *four* years and then suddenly not have them anymore? It is impossible! Or at least, really annoying!! (I am so, so spoiled - I know. Realizing that does not make me any less grumpy right now.)

...

I'm going to sleep.

Got this meme from collie_wing...

Go to the Wikipedia home page and click random article. That is your band's name.
Click random article again. That is your album name.
Click random article 15 more times. Those are the tracks on your album.


My band's name: 24 Boötis

album name: Paedophile Information Exchange

Track List:

1. Proto-Indo-European verb
2. Serie A 1976-77
3. Half-birthday
4. UDPCast
5. Platinum Tower (Dubai)
6. Aaron Jay Kernis
7. Athenian sacred ships
8. North American Nature Photography Association
9. Alexander Bonsor
10. Thufir Hawat
11. Oceania Club Championship 2006
12. Single Collection + Nikopachi
13. Dilbagh Singh (aviator)
14. Francisco Primo de Verdad y Ramos
15. One Wonderful Sunday


Woah. First of all, I think the band was a little hasty in making the call on the album title! That's a little risky right there. Though it is definitely eye-catching, I'll say that much. If you have a problem with it, blame the drummer!!

Secondly, what the hell kind of band is this? (Besides being some kind of Dutch or German band, that is.) The songs I'd most like to hear are Athenian Sacred Ships and Half-Birthday. Awesome.

Rock on, people! Rock on.

On Friday, January 4, 2013 at 9:12:40 AM, I will turn 1,000,000,000 seconds old!

Isn't that weird? A billion seconds. It sounds like something that would have already passed, because they are seconds, which are so tiny. But no, it's in the FUTURE! So weird. Well, now I know! (I'm only about eight hundred million seconds old right now...)

And if you want to know when you're turning a billion seconds old, or when you already did, you can too! As well as other useless but entertaining information about yourself. Good times!

In other news, what the hell, why is my apartment still cold? And why, why god why, has the shower decided to start being a fucktard? It was already insane before, what with the fire hydrant-esque blast coming out of that thing, but at least it was a solid blast. Now it sputters at you, which is awful. And the drain appears to be clogged, so the shower floor starts flooding. OMG. And when I get out of the shower, I have to wrap myself in a towel superfast, then dart into the warmth of my room lest the freezing cold overtake my whole body. What the frick!!

I asked my guy roommate about why it was so cold in the whole house and he was like, "It takes FOREVER to heat up and it really amps up the electric bill." Ugh. I'd rather pay more in utilities to have it comfortable here! I guess we can't all have the same philosophy, though. Bummer.

So now I'm wondering if it's worth it to look at other apartments. Right at this moment, I don't even want to, and am fine. But any time I take a shower or even have to go pee and I sit on the icy toilet seat (not literally, but it does feel quite chilly!), or revel in cooking something on the stove because at least I can be warm if I'm standing in front of the stove, I think about how nice it'd be to live in a nicer apartment and I start wanting to search the ads. I saw an actual nice place today that could work (and is even closer to the zoo!), and am debating on whether or not to contact them. Hmmm.

In other news, the cat here, Mr. Higgins, is thrilled that I'm letting him in my room now. I covered my bed with enough blankets so that his little paws won't pop my inflatable bed, so I deemed it safe to let him enter. And he wants nothing to do with my bed so far. He just wanted to sit on my lap or hang out on my carpet. He's such a good kitty. I love him. I feel really bad for him too because his person is in the hospital so he's getting zero attention unless I give him some. The dude here has a cat of his own that he barely pays attention to, and the other girl is horribly allergic to cats so has to stay away from Mr. Higgins. Poor cat. So I take care of him. He's really very sweet. He spent part of the evening sitting in my lap while I ate dinner and typed! He is part of what makes living here enjoyable. Other things I love - the size of my room (it's huge!), the rent, the proximity to the park and to the zoo, the bus line that runs right out front (that goes to downtown), the working stove, the size of the living room. There. I think so much about what I don't like, maybe it's time to concentrate on what I do.

I gotta go to bed. I need to get up at 8am to try to convince my dentist's office to let me reschedule AND not pay a $25 cancellation fee. It just seems like stuffy nose + dentist appt = bad idea, you know? Wish me luck! (oh and Mr. Higgins is totally on my bed now. I guess he did gain an interest in it after all!)

goodnight!

I'm feeling better than yesterday. I still called in sick today. But I managed to get some things for my room, clean my room, and make up my bed in the new bedding I got. So that probably means I'm well enough to go to work tomorrow, huh? Boo! Hee. All right, I'll GO! Gosh. Seriously I hope I make it through the day feeling fine and that this cold is BEATEN DOWN, YOU BASTARD COLD LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK! *ahem*

I also really hope my favorite teen volunteer didn't get sick from me. She hugged me before she went home last week. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Hey, speaking of which, should I cancel my dentist appointment for Monday? If I'm going to reschedule the appointment, I have to call them tomorrow (because of the weekend getting in the way of my 24 hr notice). But I don't really want to reschedule, I just want it over with. I should be better by Monday, right? Hmm...

Anyway, my room was ice cold this morning and fuck it - I refuse to be cold in my own damn house!! So I went shopping and I got a heated mattress pad, a down-alternative (allergic to real down) comforter, flannel sheets, a fleece blanket and two fleece windowsill thingies. I put one in my own window, another in the bathroom window. And the fleece blanket is currently paperclipped to my curtain rod under my curtains to help block out the air that leaks in from the middle of the window. Stupid window design! It looks pretty but is so not practical.

Anyway, god willing, I will actually be WARM tonight. Right now I've got the space heater under my desk. I'm not warm, per se, but I'm not as cold as I was. My fingers are cold though. But my coworker scared me with stories of crazy electric bills from space heaters and I dont want that, so am trying not to crank the damn thing, and trying not to run it all night anymore, hence the heated mattress pad. And in case you're wondering why I don't get in touch with the landlords - a) I have no idea how to, I do not have their number nor do I know their names or anything about them, and b) I already know they are complete bastards who don't get around to fixing stuff for months. If they haven't fixed the gross water stains on the WALL of the hallway from a pipe bursting 8 months ago, or the leak in the hallway (there is currently a pan collecting rainwater), they're not going to be interested in fixing a chilly apartment. Fuckers. The good news is that the bathroom is already considerably warmer. Thank god, because who wants to shiver while brushing one's teeth or taking a poo? NOT ME! All I have to hope for now is warmth in my own damn room, because seriously, I refuse to be miserably cold all winter long. If anyone has any more tips on how to warm up my room, let me know!

In other room news, I may not paint after all. I'm starting to get used to the white and blue and honestly, with other roommates talking about potentially leaving, I'm not feeling a huge desire to put money into this room just in case I end up moving too. Not that I want to move, oh GOD how I do *not* want to move, OMG for realz. But... the cold, the leaky roof... If there ends up being any serious problems here beyond those, I'm outta here. Anyway! So probably no painting, I guess (still not 100% sure...). But I DO want to decorate with art, so I'm going to see what I can find. Maybe some posters or something! I kinda want to decorate with my own photography too, so I'll see what I can do about putting that plan into action!

I'll hopefully be able to put some room pics up soon. Hope you guys are all doing well!

(meme from aemiis_zoo)

JAN: Okay, so maybe I shouldn't be annoyed, but I am.

FEB: I like this pic, and just wanted to share!

MARCH: Want to see Antonella Barba dirty pics?

APRIL: First of all - what was up with Sanjaya's hair?

MAY: That girl who stole part of my userinfo as her own was bugging me, so I wrote the following to her...

JUNE: God I love this animation.

JULY: Week 7 of biggestloser_lj just came to a close.

AUG: I was reading articles online and came across news of a new birth control pill that lets women stop their periods altogether.

SEPT: OMG it's September!

OCT: So, I just passed my one month mark working at the zoo.

NOV: I've been writing in my paper journal pretty faithfully, but am getting behind, and it's hard to catch up.

DEC: Yesterday I was actually feeling better.


And thus spawns my first 2008 Resolution - Learn the importance of good first sentences and write better ones! ha!