Found an Awesome Blog

I love this blog!! It makes me really wish I had paid more attention in high school Home Economics. It's never too late to learn though. I love creativity and this girl's creativity is through the roof.

http://newdressaday.wordpress.com/

Waaaaaaaa!!!!!

Ughhhh, what an annoying day this has been.

As soon as I get to work, I walk into this from one of my coworkers.



Supposedly I don't speak to her enough. I stop and chat with everybody around her but not with her.

First of all, "Bitch please, we aren't in kindergarten. Who does this? We are coworkers, not friends. I am nice to you because we have to work together and because I don't want anything negativo on my evaluation. I am nothing if not professional, but again, that does not equate me wanting to be your friend."

She's really lucky she didn't catch me before my EC kicked in or I would have shared these thoughts with her; evaluation be damned, I have a whole year to recover from any minor slip-ups. Fortunately, I had already "eased" into my morning when I got this little confrontation and spiel.

Second, she's exactly right. I don't talk to her other than the customary greetings. I've tried the idle chit-chat, but 9 times out of 10, I'd get forced into having a 20 minute conversation about the constant streams of drama she has swirling around her at any given point. Trust me, it's better to have me ignore you than you have this look:



See, the thing is, in addition to constantly being involved in some kind of personal/work-related drama, she's one of those people who need constant reinforcement that they are liked and are doing a good job. A few years ago, I probably would have indulged her, but these days, I am sooooo not the one. I have been around a person in the past who constantly needed validation and proof that you were a good friend. Nothing was ever good enough. You could never show enough that you were a friend all the while you got nothing in return. These types of people suck the very lifeblood out of you and drain away any joy you might have. No thanks, been there, done that, don't need another T-shirt. Luckily for me and unfortunately for her, I can now see those familiar red flags a mile away and make it a point to distance myself. I guess she picked up on it, but I really don't care because until my job description says that I have to be everyone's friend, my treatment of her will not change. In fact she may get less since she made it an issue today.

Ok, rant over. Other than that and a few minor but correctable annoyances that actually were in my job description today was overall a pretty decent day. I give it a C+/B-. My boss has been on vacation so I've had a pretty laid back week. I also had a fantastic cheat meal today. I went to Chipotle's and had a



Now it's time to kick back, relax and watch the Braves play. Go Braves!!!!

Winding Down with Week 8

Week 8 is coming to a close and I have settled nicely into my routine. Earlier this week I was sick and missed training on Monday and Tuesday. Normally, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but I found myself in addition to feeling sick, feeling “off”, like something was missing. It then hit me that my “new” routine had officially become my “now” routine. I used to resent routines because I saw them as tedious and smothering, something that suburban soccer moms and middle aged men did. Remember the Dunkin Doughnuts commercials…”Time to Make the Doughnuts”. I enjoyed “living in the moment”, “flying by the seat of my pants” etc. What I’ve now learned is that anything negative can be changed to positive with a shift in mindset. I really think this key point is what has been missing in all of my other failed attempts. Well, that I wasn’t on a man-hunt all those other times. LOL. Anyway, I digress. Now, I view the time spent prepping food, packing my gym bag, going to the gym, etc. as the small daily goals that I need to meet in order to reach the big goal. I no longer have to worry that Facebook, Maximum Fitness Consulting (www.maximumfitnessconsulting.com), Ebay, and all of the other places I used to spend my nights hours with will crumble and implode if I’m not around. Most nights I don’t get home before 7pm and I’m perfectly OK with it. I remember a few months ago complaining in another blog post about how much crap I have to carry into and out of my home each day (purse, lunch tote, gym bag, water bottle, etc.) Now I’m like the momma duck with all of her baby duckies lined up at the front door. I know what goes where, (purse over left shoulder, lunch tote on left wrist, water bottle in left hand, gym bag on right wrist, keys in right hand). It actually feels weird on the weekends when I just have my purse). Funny the things we (I) find to bitch about. I have definitely been guilty of letting the small things get in the way of the bigger and better things. I’m actually still fine tuning my weekend routine. For me weekends = sleeping late/multiple naps, but after all of these years I’m finally coming to the conclusion that this is no longer working for me. I’ve really starting developing an interest in yardsaling, mainly in search of vintage items. FYI: Vintage items are HUGE sellers on Ebay. Although I don’t make it out every Saturday morning, I am increasing the number of times per month that I do get out.

Coming Up:
One of my closest girlfriends, Ana H. will be coming down for a visit at the end of the month. We haven’t seen each other since several of us made a trek up to Canada in 2007. My goal is to lose another 10lbs before she gets here. I’m really looking forward to her visit. I know we’re all going to have tons of laughs. We have so many old stories that no matter how many times they get retold are still sooooo funny. I know there will be lots of treats and cheats too. I can’t wait!!!

The ABC's of Me

A
- Available: Depends on who’s asking.
- Age: 41
- Annoyance: arrogance and liars
- Animal: Dogs are my favorite but I don’t own one yet.

B
- Birthday: July 1
- Body part on opposite sex: Chest and butt
- Best weather: 80 – 85 degrees, breezy and no humidity
- Burial or Cremation: Cremation

C
- Candy: Hershey’s Cookies and Creme
- Color: Pink (all shades)
- Chinese/Mexican: Mexican
- Cake or pie: Cake! I hate pie!
- Cheese: Cheddar, mozzarella, provolone, American – nothing too pungent

D
- Day or Night: Night
- Dance in the rain?: yes
- Dog/Cat – Dogs!! Love all of their little sweet faces.

E
- Eggs: scrambled and hard-boiled
- Ever failed a class?: oh yeah

F
- First crush: Erik Estrada and Mr. Smith – my 7th grade history teacher
- First thoughts waking up: I need more sleep
- Food: a love/hate relationship

G
- Greatest fear: stalkers, being buried alive, someone I care about being wrongly accused and then convicted of a crime.
- Goals: to be the best me possible and live the best life possible
- Gum: Bubble Gum, Cinnamon, Mint (in that order)
- Get along with your parents: Mother: Yes!! Father: It’s a work in progress
- Good luck charm: don't believe in them. I create my own luck.

H
- Hair color: Dark brown. I’m doing wigs as protective styling right now until I can grow and thicken up my own. Talk about a work in progress!! Whew, it’s never-ending.
- Height: 5’2
- Happy: most of the time
- Holiday: Christmas
- How do you want to die: I prefer not to.

I
- Ice cream: Ben and Jerry’s Strawberry Cheesecake, Chubby Hubby, and Chocolate Fudge Brownie (In that order)
- Instrument: Does the recorder in 2nd grade count? If not, then none
-Icing: Buttercream
-Iphone or Blackberry: Love my iphone!

J
- Jewelry: I’m really into making my own right now. I’m not very good at it, but getting better
- Job: Insurance (Vision) – Strategic Planning
-Juice: Tropicana Orange with Extra Pulp

K
- Kids: I’ll just enjoy a select few that belong to others. I don’t see them in my future.
- Keep a journal: I have 2 blogs, one public and one private. The private one is my journal

L
- Love at first sight?: I think it’s possible, but I’ve never experienced it.
- Laughed so hard you cried: many times

M
- Milk flavor: Chocolate
- Movie: Not a huge movie fan. I watch more TV
- Marriage: Some day
- Motion sickness: Nope

N
- Number of siblings: 1 younger brother: Marc
- Number of piercings: 2 holes in each ear

O
- Overused Phrases: too many clichés out there to even begin to mention
- Onions/Garlic: Love them both!

P
- Place you’d like to live: Anywhere near the beach or NYC
- Perfect Pizza: Lots of cheese, meat and veggies. No ham or pineapple
- Pepsi/Coke: Diet Pepsi
-Pedi or Mani: Mani

Q
- Questionnaires: don’t mind answering if I have the time

R
- Reason to cry: I don’t cry much, but hearing about animals and the elderly being mistreated will make me cry in a heartbeat
- Reality T.V.: hate it!
- Radio station: Prefer satellite radio
- Roll your tongue in a circle: no can do
- Ring Size: 8 – I have fat fingers

S
- Shoe size: 8.5
- Salad dressing: Ranch
- Sushi: Bleech!
- Shower daily?: Definitely
- Sing well?: Can’t carry a tune in a bucket
- Strawberries/Blueberries: Strawberries

T
- Time for bed: During the week, shoot for 11-ish, weekends: whenever I get sleepy
- Thunderstorms: indifferent as long as my power doesn’t go out
- TV: probably watch too much, but love CSI and Law and Order
- Touch your tongue to your nose: No can do

U
- Unpredictable: sometimes
- Umbrella: Always have one close. I’m not a fan of getting soaked

V
- Vegetable you hate: Cooked cabbage and squash
- Vacation spot: anywhere tropical

W
- Weakness: sleep
- Wanted to be a model: that dream ended when I stopped growing at 5’2
- Which one of your friends acts the most like you: None. I am an original
- Worst weather: Sleet and cold rain.

X
-Xtreme Sports: Not really interested in them.

Y
- Year it is now: 2010
- Yellow: like the darker variations like deep gold. Pastels are my favorite.
-Yelling or Whispering: I prefer quiet, but each one has it’s time and place.

Z
- Zoo animal: Lions and Gorillas
- Zodiac sign: Cancer

It only took one.....

I went to my first "real" professional baseball game last weekend and I am officially hooked AGAIN. I used to be a fan, but somehow I got disinterested in the game. Now I'm officially back. GO BRAVES!! It was a fun day. Things started off a little wet. When we all arrived, we were smack in the middle of a downpour. After a 35 minute rain delay, the game started and the temps cooled off considerably to make the majority of the game quite pleasant. The temps started rising again around the 7th inning but was still tolerable. We had great seats; 2 rows behind the right hand batter's box. I'm officially spoiled.







Braves Dugout



My man Martin Prado at bat!! Yummy!!



Catcher - Brian McCann - My quads would be on FIYAH if I had to squat for that long. Hmm..I wonder how much he squats in the gym.



Jason Heyward - what an amazing rookie season he's having. So young and so talented.



Loud,unattractive, obnoxious drunk lady who insisted on harassing one of the opposing team members.



Another of the loud, obnoxious drunk lady. Someone needs to tell her how to sit in a skirt. She was showing her goods "I use the term 'goods' lightly" to anyone unfortunate enough to walk by. Yes, a skirt, not a skort. Trust me when I say I posted the non-retina burning photos of how she was looking.

Week 7 coming to an end....

This was me yesterday










after I weighed and saw I had lost




Actually, this morning I was down 1 more pound but I'm only counting the 10 since it was my official weigh in day. I refuse to get into the habit of weighing myself every day and letting the number determine what type of day it will be; that's my yahoo co-workers' job. Hahaha!!

The Receipt, Part Deux

So anyway, picking up where I left off; that was 6 weeks ago and today I can happily say that I feel fantastic and I've lost almost 10 pounds and close to 3 inches off my waist. My other measurements have gone down as well. I'm still not able to look back and that day and laugh, but I know one day I will....one day when I'm sitting across the table staring into Mr. Hotness's baby blues..Hehehehe!!!

You know, that day did something else as well, it made me look back and evaluate what my dating pool has been like over the past year. These are people who approached me, not people that I actually went out with. Let me share:

Potential Date #1: The vending machine guy. Ok sorry, this will probably sound snotty but it's my blog so whatever. I am 41 yrs old. I'm not trying to date someone who's career is stocking pork rinds and Skittles throughout the metro Atlanta area. He may be the nicest guy in the world, but that's just not what I'm looking for. I've invested a lot in my education and my career so I'm looking for the same. Sorry, but that's the truth.

PD #2: Now this is someone who I went to high school with who now lives in the area and we connected on Facebook. Again, very nice from what I remember in school. He currently has 8 kids with 5 baby-mamas. These kids range from 22 yrs old to 8 months with the 22 year old having a child himself. So basically, I would have to deal with 5 baby mamas and potentially become a grandmother without ever having given birth myself. Ugh, no thanks. Again, I'll pass.

PD #3: Now this guy is the most recent and I actually considered meeting him for coffee, that is until he told me that he couldn't drive because his license was suspended, which means I'd have to do all of the driving. Geez, this is exhausting.

Anyway, I started thinking. Seriously, is this what my future holds as far as available men? Why am I not attracting "normal" men like my Mr. Hotness. Simple. The men that I'm interested in simply are not attracted to fat women. Harsh, but true. Hell, I'm not attracted to fat men, so why should my expectations be any different. If I want to improve my dating pool, I need to improve myself. You see, there are men out there who think that because you are fat and single, you should be happy to have anyone pay you some attention. Do you really think Mr. Vending would approach someone who looked like Halle Berry? Maybe, but probably not. Unlike Halle, I'm am non-threatening. Now this is just my perception of things. I could be way off, but I don't think so.

Regardless, here I am 6 weeks later, still going strong, with no intention of stopping. Actually, I have some new motivation (not male related) that I'll blog about separately.

I think when I reach my goal and if Mr. Hotness is still single, I'll take him to Captain D's for lunch to celebrate. LOL.

The Receipt That Launched a Thousand Workouts

I never in a million years thought a 2pc fish and fries and a sweet tea from Capt. D’s would be a defining moment in my life. Up until now, I really hadn’t had any of those type moments, but boy was that about to change. Ok, let me back up. See, there’s this man at work (yeah, it’s always about a man) that I’ve been admiring from afar for a few months now. You know, the typical stuff, making small talk in the breakroom/hallways, walking past his office a few times a day to smell is cologne, mentally undressing him in my head, blowing up my computer so he’ll have to send someone over to fix it…just kidding on the last one, mentally undressing him in my head…errr, sorry, I got sidetracked. Anyway, back to Capt. D’s. Well, for those of you that know me, you know that I’m a sporadic dieter at best. I never seem to keep my motivation going for over a week at a time. I’ve been like this for a while now and the June 1 (the date on the receipt) wasn’t any different. I left work to go grab something to eat since as usual I didn’t bring anything from home. I decided on Capt. D’s since it was close. I go trudging inside and low and behold, who do I see standing in line? Yep, Mr. Hotness himself!!! Normally, this would have been a good thing, but it was hot outside so of course I was sweating and that would be the one farking day I didn’t’ wear any makeup so I was looking pretty much like a hot mess. I really wanted to turn around and leave but before I could, Mr. Hotness saw me and struck up a conversation. Mmmm, he smelled soooo good. I swear I don’t remember too much of what he said up until the point that he said “So, do you want to join me for lunch or are you getting yours to go?” Errrr….what!?!?!? LUNCH!! JUST THE TWO OF US!!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!! MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED! THE UNIVERSE IS SMILING ON ME!! TODAY I AM THE WINDSHIELD AND NOT THE BUG!!!..or so you would think. The next seconds will be forever etched into my brain. My response was, “Oh, I’d love to, but I really need to get back to the office. I’m just getting mine to go” What in the Sam Hill just happened? Who said that? Why did you just let a golden opportunity to get to know him better pass you by? You.are.a.RETARD!! Well the reason I did was “simply-complex”. The first thing I thought was “What if I can’t fit in the booth?” Yep, sad but true. My life had come to this. What's even sadder is that if you look at the receipt, you'll noticed that clearly I wasn't too devastated and digusted with myself to walk out of there with a 2 pc fish and fries dinner and a SWEET tea.

To be continued……

Leaving work and heading to the gym for workout number 37/1000.

An Open Letter to S. Phillips

It has been recently brought to my attention that someone by the name of Sarah or Sariah Phillips has been sending "naughty" emails to my two favorite blog subjects. Now while I support anyone's efforts to make their lives a little more miserable, Boo, I'm going to have to ask you to stop this tomfoolery with a quickness. You see, the problem is that I'm being mistaken for you and basically your style of writing sucks monkey balls and I can't allow myself to be associated with it. Your writing style is choppy at best and your vocabulary is limited. You seem to have a love affair with incomplete thoughts and run on sentences. You see Boo, my literary shit flows. My sentences are complete thoughts with correct punctuation. My vocabulary and grammar exceeds far beyond the average seventh grader, while yours does not. Actually in my year of editing much of the female blog subject's correspondence with the male blog subject, I pretty much recognize this style of "writing" but that's neither here nor there. I'm actually pretty damn offended by this nonsense. I'm offended that after numerous years of correspondence and blog posts that this raggedly mess is being attributed to me. Surely I've presented myself as being more educated than this. Clearly the drunken yahoo is looking at content vs. quality on this one. I'm actually shocked that his deductive reasoning skills aren't sharper. I always prided him on that. Hahahaha, in all seriousness, if the quality was good, I'd probably shut up and take the credit for being a pest, but this is so bad that I just cannot be silent. Besides, when have I ever been anonymous and private in my thoughts on this subject? That alone should be a red flag. Clearly someone's reasoning skills are amiss. The bottom line to S. Phillips is this....STOP!.... Pump your brakes!!.....Stay in your lane!!...... Recognize that sharing your thoughts through the written word is not for you!!!.... Some of us are meant to be READERS and not WRITERS...Ask for some help next time!!


OKThanxbai!

Wow, it's been a while since I updated this thing. I took a little break from blogging. I just wasn't interested in doing it anymore. Now, I'm ready to start again. I guess it was just one of life's ebbs and flows. I love how things usually tend to work. One area ebbs while the other flows. Over the past month, I've had some really good opportunities come my way both in my work, financial and personal life, so I've really been focusing on those things. I've had some "defining/not.so.good" moments as well (ugh...Captain D's and the $7 accounting mistake that cost me almost $300) but as always, you can either learn from them or let them derail you. After a mini pity party, I chose the former and things are really on track right now in several areas of my life. Sometimes I guess when we get a little too comfy in one place, we need a little kick in the pants to get us moving again. Unfortunately, I got two, straight in the ass!!!! BooooHisssssBoooooo!!!! Anyway, I'm in the process of implementing some of those opportunities so I definitely want to document my progress in my blog.

My new favorite song...

I'm loving this song. I have it in a continuous loop as one of my Ipod playlists.

Homemade Apple Butter

Mmm..this is so good! I made a batch yesterday. It takes a little longer to cook than I'm used to but to me it was worth it. I'll post the recipe as I found it, but I added more spices to suit my own tastes. Next time I'm going to try it with one of the flavored unsweetened applesauces like maybe peach or pear. I had some on a bagel but I'm thinking it would be really good on some egg white french toast.

I was able to get 20 tbsps from my batch but this will probably vary depending on how thick you like your apple butter. I'll post the macros for the entire batch and then it can be divided by the number of tbsp you get.

Homemade Apple Butter

1 (14-oz) can unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup (2-oz) apple juice - I used juice boxes (Eden's Harvest) so I wouldn't have to buy a large bottle of apple juice

1/4 c. Splenda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 40-50 minutes or until thick and smooth, stirring occasionally.

After cooling, refrigerate in a closed container for up to 3 weeks.

Total calories: 198

Total carbs: 52

RuP.

His hair and makeup look better some women I know.

Yummy Apricot Chicken Recipe

I've been trying to get a little more creative with my cooking lately. I've been experimenting with different herbs/spices, just trying to add a little more variety to my diet. I made this last night and it was pretty tasty. I'm going to try it with raspberry next time.

Apricot Chicken

1/2 c. sugar free apricot preserves ( I used Pollaner's)
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. chopped fresh sage or thyme ( I used thyme)
1 clove garlic, minced
4 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Preheat the broiler. In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the apricot preserves, lemon juice, chopped sage/thyme, and garlic. Microwave for 15 seconds, and stir until well combined. Set aside half the sauce. Coat a baking dish with cooking spray. Place the chicken in the baking dish and brush with half of the remaining apricot sause. Broil for 6 minutes. Turn the chicken and brush with more apricot sauce. Return to the broiler and cook for another 6 minutes. Serve with remaining apricot sauce.

Yield: 4 servings

Each serving: 162 calories - 10 carbs - 3 g. fat - 27 g. protein

Next on my list is homemade apple butter. I love love love apple butter!!

Thought for the Day...

I saw this on another board I post on and thought it was awesome!!!







"I'm Great whether you agree or not. Instead of worrying about my Greatness, figure out why you're lacking in the Great department."

Just sitting here waiting for my pedi to dry. I painted the toesies lavender shimmer in honor of spring, and in hopes that spring will hang around for more than one day. The weather in Atlanta has been crazy this year. It was in the 70's last weekend, then it snowed on Monday and now back to the 70's.

I'm still keeping busy with work. It's hard going from a job that you know everything about into one where you know absolutely nothing, but I'm enjoying the process and learning new things. New things always help out the ol resume.

I trained HARD tonight at the gym. I'm sure I'll be paying tommorrow and Friday but it will be worth it. I feel fabulous right now.

Tonight's program was:

DB Split Squats
Close grip lat pull downs
Cable Pull throughs
Seated DB Press
Standing Calf Raises (one of my favs) I lurvs some shapely calves on women.
Pulldown Abs
DB Laterals (Ghey)
Planks (Double Ghey)

I've decided that for me personally, when it comes to diet and training, I can't have any days off because they tend to turn into weeks off. I'm like the typical alcoholic that just tries to drink one drink and then before you know it ends up sprawled out drunk in a carport clutching an empty Sprite bottle and calling out someone else's name. Well maybe not that bad, it you get the idea. Days off just don't really work for me, at least not now. So what to do, what to do???

Changing gears....
I've been wanting to volunteer in some capacity for quite a while now. Since I really don't like folk much, I've found the perfect solution...



Soon I will be volunteering at a pet foodbank. I'm on a waiting list for the one closest to my home. The one that has openings now is clear across the city, which means in Atlanta traffic, an hour one way easily. Hopefully the other one will need more volunteers soon. I'm so excited. I love love love dogs (cats are OK) and since my current lifestyle isn't really conducive to owning a pet right now, this is perfect. I get to spend time with animals and help make sure they have plenty to eat. Again, I'm so excited!!!!

Thanks Jennifer Lynn A......

....for finding and sharing this.

Me!!

This has been me this week. Even after a bout with food poisoning last weekend, this has been an awesome week!!

Big things a poppin~small things a droppin!!!

March Already ?!?!?

Woosa!! I can’t believe it’s March already. This year is going by so fast. I’m loving it though, here are a few high points:

January 2010: Actually the transition started in December, but January 2010 began with me in a new position at my place of employment. I.Love.It!! I still have the same boss and she is FANTASTIC. I love working for her. I have learned so much from her. She’s not only a great boss but a great mentor as well. She has really caused me to reevaluate some of my professional goals and to be objective about which areas need improvement. One of the most helpful tools in finding out which areas you are strong in is Tom Rath’s Strengths Finders 2.0. All employees here have to take the online course.

Below are my top 5 strengths and they TOTALLY fit who I am as a person. I was stunned by the accuracy of the assessment. The assessment is much much more in depth but here is a basic thumbnail sketch:

• Input: People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more (maybe this is why some people tend to think I’m nosy). Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

• Context: People who are especially talented in the Context them enjoy thinking about the past (anyone who knows me, knows I’m a HUGE history buff; I’m the dork who took ALL of the history classes offered in college just because I wanted to). They understand the present by researching its history.

• Intellection: People who are especially talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

• Futuristic: People who are especially talented in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. (I think this explains my strong beliefs in all of the Universal Laws, mainly the Law of Attraction as well as Quantum Physics and the power of the human mind). They inspire people with their visions of the future. (Inspire maybe, but I know I annoy a few people LOL)

• Learner: People who are especially talented in the Learner them have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them. The underlined portion says a lot about my non-competitive nature. I truly enjoy learning a process vs. the actual outcome which may explain why I 9/10 know tons about a subject but often struggle with applying the knowledge. Unfortunately, this is often characterized as being lazy or “ just not wanting something bad enough”.

February 2010: After 8 years of not having a car payment I threw in the towel and bought a new car. My 1993 Pontiac Bonneville is happily retired and is looking forward to becoming a donor to other less fortunate Pontiacs who might be in need of parts assistance. I bought a 2008 Hyundai Sonata which is very similar to probably a Toyota Camry in size and body style. Our new relationship kinda got off to a rocky start though. A bad body sensor was draining the battery and eventually fried my radio. I went through 3 batteries the first week I had the car (my radio is still on backorder. Grrr!!!) Luckily diagnostics and a 10 yr/100,000 mile warranty brought us back together and now we are happier than ever. :grin:

The first 3 days of March have been pretty uneventful, just work , work and more work but I’m not complaining. It’s challenging leaving a job that you knew everything about and moving into a new one in which you know NOTHING. I’m making it work though and am very excited about everything that is to come this year.

Yep, I’m changing the name of my blog yet again.

525,600 is the number of minutes in a year. If you've ever watched the movie or the play Rent, you've probably heard the song "Seasons of Love" and how it talks about how we spend those 525,600 minutes. Actually I remember hearing it for the first time as the background music for a then local NBC television station's annual look back at the top stories of the year. I hummed the chorus for at least a year before I discovered that Google was my friend and found the correct name of the song. I still find myself humming it on a daily basis.

Anyhoo, we’re 50 days into 2010 and I was reflecting back on when I first started my blog and what my goals and intentions were and how they are the same and yet in some ways different from the ones I have for today. One of the major things that I now think is important is to capture all 525,600 minutes in some way, shape or form. The little things are just as important as the big things. I think random pictures, quotes, videos, thoughts etc. in all areas of my life are just important as the “biggies” and should be equally celebrated. While my main focus definitely still needs to be on physique/diet improvements, I also have financial, spiritual, relationship and personal goals that need to be documented and given equal time as well. Creating balance is one of the things that I am continuing to focus on throughout this new year and beyond.


Below is my very first blog entry and my first comments received from last year. I love looking back and comparing where I was then to where I am now. Some things have changed and others have remained the same. The main thing I remember was that I was so excited to finally get a blog up and going and then actually receive comments of support right off bat. It was an awesome feeling.



Tuesday, January 27, 2009
I thought it be really interesting to document the step-by-step emancipation of the lean, chiseled, 5 inch heel, blinged out suit wearing figure diva that is now trapped under 200+ lbs of flubber that is currently me. This will be a long process but in the end, it will be something that will be truly amazing to look back on and see exactly where it all started.

My name is Lyn and I am fat..so fat that I have the beginning stages of a F.U.P.A. If you don't know what one of those is, well, then Google is your friend, look it up. Anyway, like I was saying, I am fat. I am not thick, big-boned, heavy-set or any of those nice words people like to use to describe the obese. I prefer to keep it real and call 'em like I see 'em. I am simply fat. I did not get this way due to a thyroid issue, or any type of medical issue. I got this way because I ate too much and exercised too little. I am a lover of all that is fried, buttered, greasy, sweet and fat-laden. I have never met a combo meal that I didn't like. But you know what? I am a lover of me too and I know this is not the me I want to go through life being. I am vain. I want to look good and I want others to think I look good. I admit it. I will enjoy the jealous and bitchy looks that I will one day receive. I will enjoy the attention I get from men. I will not care that the attention will piss off wives and girlfriends. That will be their issue, not mine. ...just keeping it real. I'm not by any means saying that I will go out of my way to dress or act inappropriately, but I will enjoy the fruits of my labor. Another reality is that one does not lug around 200+ lbs of fat for multiple years without some wear and tear on the body. When all is said and done and before I hit the NPC stage (or any stage) in my red crushed velvet suit and my 5 inch heels, I will need plastic surgery. I will definitely need a breast lift and a tummy tuck. I am saving for those now. It's quite possible that I will need some work done on my inner thighs as well. I plan on documenting all of that here as part of my process. I am also a very strong believer of the power of the human mind so my thoughts, feelings, frustrations etc will be documented as well. I want to remember everything, good and bad. Nothing is insignificant if the diva is to be freed.

During this process I am very lucky to have the support, knowledge and guidance of some very special friends, some of who's identity will be kept a secret for now, but when revealed will only make the end result that much sweeter. I know that not every day will be a victory, but I am ready for the battle. I am keeping in mind some famous words from Winston Churchill, "It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to to what's required."

Posted by Anissa.Lynette at 6:52 PM
4 comments:
The Urban Perspective said...
Love the premise of your blog :) It's always good when you can laugh at yourself. You got me curious as to what's underneath it all. Look forward to more from you .

January 28, 2009 8:27 PM
Lis said...
LYN!! I can't wait to follow this journey that you have chosen to take. You're right, it's going to be A LOT of work but the rewards are even greater. I'll be checking in on ya!

Always support,
LM

January 29, 2009 3:21 AM
Sportsgirl said...
I'll forgive you for dissing my Steak 'n Guinness pie.

Look forward to following your journey!!

Your blog is all pretty with these pink bows on the side!

February 1, 2009 2:01 AM
kevamykaikam said...
I love the intro! You are always so well with words, not to mention funny. I can't wait to see you debut your hot body!!

February 1, 2009 10:00 AM


Oh and here’s a link to the video of the song that inspired the name change of the blog. I love the message.