Life Is Good

I woke up this morning struck by how good things are going right now. Hopefully I can retain this fugue state for some time to come.

Blah Blah Blog

I am posting only because I feel compelled to post, not because I have anything of substance to relate.

Ever since we sprung forward, I have been feeling more on my game. I have been running and riding my bike and feel much more upbeat.

There is a lot of litter on the ground. It must have been buried in the snow. Yesterday I had an occassion to be outside in a lower-class neighborhood, and I saw the following in one yard: empty condom box, tampon applicator, dirty diaper…

I was inspired by an article about running for weight loss in this month’s issue of Runner’s World. This morning, I strapped my GPS onto my wrist, laced up my new running shoes and hit the pavement. I went one mile. I used to go six or seven miles without thinking about it. Hopefully I can build my endurance up to that level again. My current plan is to add 1/4 mile each day, until I reach three miles, and to run a 5k within the next month.

For the past two weeks, I have been sucessfully dieting, and have lost six pounds. Hopefully, this diet will stick.

When I am actively running, I automatically eat healthier. On our trip to the Big W today, I didn’t buy any snack items that I really like – such as Chex Mix, Skinny Cows or Baked Sour Cream and Cheddar Ruffles. They don’t last. I got Goldfish Pretzels and Yogurt instead, stocked up on the things that don’t trigger overeating.

Next weekend, we are going to The Fish House with some friends. We have never been there. Any suggestions as to what I should order?

Rush

I had a job interview today, and I nailed it.

I don’t have my heart set on this job, but I would be happy to get it. This could be the first in a long string of interviews, before I get my next job. Or, this could be the next job. This job could be my future.

What is meant to be is meant to be.

I love the anticipation, the excitement of knowing things could change in the near future, not knowing exactly what will happen.

Caffeine-free Day 1

Going from drinking gallons of diet soda to drinking only water is quite a shock on the system. Yesterday, I slept for 12 1/2 hours. It was good deep sleep, utterly decadent.

Today, I feel pretty good. I forgot how good Crystal Light is.

I am going to get on the treadmill and see if the exercise will help improve my quality of sleep.

The end-goal is that I will get a higher quality sleep, so that I can sleep less and therefore spend more time doing things that I like.

Exhaustion

It is 1:53 p.m. I have been home from work for a while, and I even worked a full 8 hour shift. I am going to put on my pajamas and veg out in front of the t.v. It doesn’t seem socially acceptable to put my pj’s on at 1:53 p.m., but I’m going to do it anyway.

Today was not the best day to pick to stop consuming caffiene. What was I thinking? It has been 10 1/2 hours and I am CRAVING Diet Dr. Pepper.

Yesterday I heard an interview with a sleep doctor on Broadminded. He said that patients wanting better sleep should exercise daily and consume less caffiene. I am committed to trying this. I worry so much about getting enough sleep. What if I could sleep less each day but have much better quality sleep? I would have so much more time to blog, dear reader.

My Worst Dates Ever

Reading this post made me start thinking about my own personal dating experiences, and what would constitute the worst date ever.

Two different situations come to mind.

About ten years ago, a guy I worked with named Barry asked me out on a date. Although I had no attraction to Barry and didn’t really find him to be a likable fellow, I said yes.

Barry arrived to pick me up over an hour late, in his car that had WWJD 25 (or some other number) on the license plates. He didn’t call to say he’d be late or even apologize. Although I wasn’t vocal about it at that point in my life, I am an Atheist.

He took me to Perkins for dinner and spent the entire time talking about his church. He didn’t like that I insisted on paying for my own meal, but I didn’t want to end up feeling like I owed him something.

Then Barry took me back to his parents house. We sat on the couch and talked some more about his church. I agreed to play chess with him. He set up the board. As the game got on, I noticed that he was jumping my chess pieces, like checkers. I kept waiting for him to say “King Me”.

Barry took me home and we parted ways. There was no kissing, no touching, no hugging, nothing. For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to talk to him after the fine evening we spent together, not even to be polite. He would occasionally see me at work, and put his hand up to his ear like he was talking on a phone and mouth “call me”. I never did.

The other situation was with the wonderful man that is now my husband. It was probably our second or third date; we didn’t know each other very well yet.

We went to the Maxam Grill for dinner. It was 6:00 on a Thursday evening and there was only one other party in the restaurant. The waiter spent the majority of his time at our table hitting on me. It was very unnerving and upset Craig very much. The waiter never looked at Craig, even during the order taking process, he was starting at me.

This was a thin time in my history. I was wearing a skirt and a peasant blouse, and thought I looked pretty darn cute, especially after all of the special attention I got from the waiter.

We had rented a movie and planned to watch it at my house. We stopped at Walgreen’s to pick up a few things, including a two liter of soda. After we made our purchase, I picked up the bag that had the soda in it. The cashier berated my date for making a pregnant woman carry such a heavy bag.

I was absolutely mortified. Mumbling something about babies, I stumbled to the car.

Since then I have learned that people who are 5′1″ don’t generally look good in peasant blouses.

Anticipation

Recently I applied for two different jobs within my company. Both of them would be promotions.

I have interviews for both jobs! It is so exciting just to have an interview. I am getting burnt out on my current position.

Even if nothing comes of either interview, I am flattered to be chosen to interview.

Hopefully some changes will be coming soon.

#19 Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

A wild young girl emerges from the woods after years of living in captivity. A psychiatrist flees after being part of the public trial of the century. These two people are brought together in Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah, and their relationship truly becomes magic.

I enjoyed reading this book and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. It isn’t chick lit by any means, but it is light reading, which is what I have needed lately.

My book club is reading Pride and Prejudice next. Hopefully I can get engulfed in Austen like her many fans…

No Soup For You!

I have a great love of baked potato soup from Panera Bread. It is available on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Let me rephrase that, it is supposed to be available every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

I have been successfully dieting for one full week now! Today, I really wanted to have baked potato soup in a sourdough bread bowl from Panera. I really watched what I ate, so could indulge in this 760 calorie delight. We went to the Panera on Bird Blvd, off of Knoxville, where I ordered my soup and paid for it. When our buzzer went off, indicating that the food was ready, I approached the counter to find only a bread bowl on my tray, no baked potato soup. The employee asked me what other kind of soup I wanted, because they were out of baked potato for the day. It was 4:00 p.m. I got a bacon turkey bravo sandwich instead. But it wasn’t the same.

This is the third time this same thing has happened to me at the Panera on Bird Blvd. The employees at the Westlake and East Peoria locations seem to have grasped the concept that you shouldn’t sell things that are not available. I can understand if something happens once, but three times!!?? And all three times, different employees have been working.

I have spent very little time in the food service industry, so I might be out of line on this. This is the stop-gap measure that I would love to see put into place. Perhaps it is too complex. When the food preparing guy notices that the soup tureen is getting low, a conversation like this should take place, “Hey, Bill, the baked potato soup is out. Is there any more left in the back?” “Oh, there’s not. Let’s take down the magnetic sign advertising that we have it.”

Obviously this is a popular item, so perhaps they should increase their stock.

I usually only order baked potato soup, so to me this is like if Arby’s didn’t have the roast beef sandwich or Steak and Shake was out of Steakburgers.

On the same note, my husband and I went to Corky’s in East Peoria a few months ago and they were out of ribs at noon on a Sunday. How’s that for planning?

Even though the Bird Blvd location is much closer to my house, I will only go to the Westlake and East Peoria locations of Panera Bread from now on.