Please Wash Your Frickin Hands!

The weekly swing from near 80 to lows near freezing means that everyone's immune system is challenged and nearly everyone has the sniffles. That said, we have a shared responsibility to mitigate the chances for spreading germs. Practicing good hygiene, for example, is one important way to not spread disease. So, why the hell aren't you washing your hands after you use the women's restroom? A thorough scrubbing of one's hands (tops, bottoms, in between fingers) in warm water with soap... that is all it takes. Really. For God's sake, just do it!

Respect the Dollar

I am faced with a bit of a dilemma. When looking for a contractor for all of the hurricane damage, I was thrilled to be able to hire a female-owned company (something that is fairly rare). I really like the contractor and the people at her office. They have been great to work with. What disturbs me are the attitudes of the current people in our house. The subcontractors are not respectful of each other. Unprofessional behavior is simply not acceptable. We don't want to hear people being disrespected in our house - certainly not by people working there. If they were guests, we would ask them to leave. Since they are subcontractors, we will wait for them to complete their work and then say something to the office. I will make it clear that while I have plenty of projects to be worked on (the bathroom is next!), I don't want some vocally xenophobic worker in our house. They can keep their thoughts to themselves.

This is Just Too Much

I have reached the point in my exercises where I cannot look at equipment without breaking out into a sweat. When I work out, I get gross. I have sweat dripping off of me. (I know... what an image, huh?) I am working out at the UREC yesterday. The classrooms are being used so I have my training in the main equipment room. I am on a mat. By the time my workout is over the mat and I are soaked. That is when I discovered the UREC was completely out of wipes as well as antibacterial spray. Completely. Out. The nice folks that worked there didn't seem to think it was a problem. All I could think of are the diseases I have just been exposed to. The list includes:
Hepatitis
Mono
Meningitis
Staph
Mersa
Scabies
Ringworm
Rhino virus

Ooh, and bacteria like e coli, salmonella, shingella.
Good times.

High Fructose Fun

Trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup is pretty difficult. Lots of yummy things are made with it. While most of them I had stripped from my diet earlier, I had two hold outs. One was the salad dressing as discussed yesterday. I switched to balsamic vinegar and olive oil. That way I have no worries about the additives and calories. Olive oil is a good fat. The other was Kleinpeter chocolate milk. Why? Please Kleinpeter, just use cane sugar to sweeten it. I had to switch to Promised Land. I would prefer to support my local industry. Of course, Kleinpeter isn't supporting our sugar cane growers since they use high fructose corn syrup (not something we grow here - I am guessing). I guess I will feel less bad then. Fuck em.

The Saga Continues

According to the scale at the grandparents' house, I have lost 5 pounds of the ten that I managed to find over the holiday. For those of you counting at home, this means I have only 40 pounds more to lose.
I have been floundering a bit on my diet and exercise regime. A trip to Shreveport, the need to catch up with friends over dinner/drinks, and the bottles of champagne left over from NYE have been conspiring to undermine my progress. Time to get back to being serious. No more Whole Foods cookies. Alcohol in moderation. Also, I decided to remove high fructose corn syrup from my diet. Man, it is in everything yummy! No kidding, including my delicious Asian sesame salad dressing from Kraft. I simply cannot eat anything with the label Kraft on it. Sigh. On the plus side, I can eat Altoids so my breath should be minty fresh as I suffer and become a thinner, mintier me. Yes, I can!

Obsession is Sexy

My craziness has taken on a new turn - one that I am embracing (well, actually doing that kind of awkward hug you do to a relative stranger who thinks of you as a soon-to-be BFF, but you are still not sure). I am queen of healthy living. I have been neurotic about what I am putting in my food hole for a whopping three days now (see my food blog for details)and I am already feeling better. I think I spotted one of my ribs this morning! That sucker has not been seen this century. After being good for so long and consistently exercising for the first time in my life (since August?), I now feel a smidgeon of hope that I will become leaner (but not meaner - that one's covered).

Stress Kills

So I am pretty pissed off at my body right now. I feel it is betraying me. Despite my watching what I eat and exercising regularly, I managed to gain another 10 lbs in the last month. Sure there were cookies at hand, and I ate my fair share... but come on! 10 fucking pounds from two and a half dozen cookies over the course of a month? Especially when I stopped drinking soda and decreased my alcohol consumption... except for the the parties. Too many parties! They must be making me fat. Anyway, my body is in some major trouble right now. I am off of juices (except my 4 -6 oz of orange juice in the morning), avoiding cookies and king cake, massively reducing the number of times I go out to eat, and exercising daily. I have my physical on April 3rd and I refuse to be fifteen pounds heavier than last year. Fuck you cookies. Fuck you yummy champagne.
Anyway, the control issues that logically go along with weight gain have resulted in some interesting dreams. Last night we were staying at a hotel and people kept walking through the room using it as a passage way. I was physically trying to stop them. It was very frustrating. I got another room, and there was room service. They wanted to charge 400 dollars for a bowl of ice cream. Then they only charged a dollar since I had such a bad time of it. The concierge had shopped for me - masses of clothes that I couldn't wear.
The night before I dreamed that I was back in high school, but hanging out in Europe with a very posh crowd. I was at an estate and I kept losing my shoes. I was going sailing , had to deal with some very snobby people and paperwork. Then I could not find the damn boat... the dock was a total maze. I had lost the group trying to find my shoes. Anyway, both dreams were full of wonderful detail and imagery. I learned a lot from them both....