Nuthin in Particular

I keep feeling like I should post something up, but really not much new is going on. I'm currently in a holding pattern at Mala, waiting to see if I'm going to get a raise. I should know end of next week. It was hard asking especially in this economic climate, but I've really been feeling undervalued - I'm taking over a lot of the roles the GM is supposed to be filling, and I've gotten no increase in pay. The GM makes an unbelievable salary, and I'm here with a small hourly wage. Which was fine with the original job description - not my current one. Good thing is that the owners seem to understand and agree that something needs to be done, it's just a matter of figuring out what that will be.

On a positive note, financially I'm in a good place right now - I finish paying off my scooter this month, and I'm expecting a nice return on taxes, which will allow me to completely catch up on my medical bills, and still save a little. So I'm hoping this is a turning point for me financially....if I can get a little bump in my hourly, then I'll be able to regularly put away a little money every month while still paying all my bills....that's a situation I haven't been in for a lot of years. I'm still very skeptical, thinking something is going to eff it up - I don't want to get my hopes up too high. I've lived so long in financial squalor...to be in a place where I'm paying all my bills (including my school loan that is finally out of hardship), and where my credit is in good shape....it's a very odd feeling. It will be a long time before I'm able to save for something major, but it's just nice right now not being in red, and paying off credit cards and loans. Who knows, maybe in a year or so I can actually look at planning for the future....(what a novel concept).

Bradley and I are doing great - I'm amazed that in less than two months we'll be marking one year together. Things are very even keel with us right now - we have found a great rhythm together. Not much has changed since his brother came home - he spends a couple extra days out on the beach fishing now, which is great. Last weekend I joined him, Joe (his bro), and Ethan (his nephew) for an overnight fishing/camping trip at Polo beach. Camping is funny - I find it so interesting that we choose to go spend the night in a tent, totally uncomfortable for no real reason other than to enjoy nature. I wonder if it's something in our genetic makeup that tells us it's "fun". I did not sleep soundly, I hurt my back, I was cold, we got a bit wet, we wake up whenever a fishing bell goes off, it took me three days to recover, etc., etc...... And yet, I love it. I love camping, and I still look forward to it. So weird.

My hair is getting pretty long these days. I'm kind of liking it, and looking forward to another haircut to style it a little cuter - the length is good, but it's grown out from another style, and is looking a little frumpy.

I gave myself a pedicure last night - painted my toes purple with white polka dots. That was fun.

I've been working out pretty regularly - at least 3-4 times a week. So the evenings I've been feeling pretty useless. I've been crawling into bed around 9pm. Granted, I'm usually up by 5:30am, so it's not like I'm totally lazy or anything, but I htink also that my body really needs the extra sleep while I'm working out hard. The body needs to recover after all!

On that note, I've been in a much more relaxed place about my weight loss. For some reason something just clicked in me after joining the gym, and I'm not so aggro about my results. I still have goals - I would love to get down in the 165-170 range, but I'm seeing that as a much longer term goal, and I'm not obsessing over my calorie or points intake or how many calories I have to burn, etc., etc. My mentality has changed a bit, and I'm more laid back about my approach - still working hard at the gym, but I'm not freaking out about food or anything. I'm just trying to be "good". Ultimately, I would like to get rid of my buddha belly, and into a size 10-12 again, and that would make me happy. I'm thinking it would be cool to be in that place by Nicole's wedding so I can fit into this cute dress I have in a box back in Hollister, but if it doesn't happen, who cares?

That reminds me, I need to cancel my subscription to WeightWatchers Online. I've wasted a lot of money on that.

I hit up Costco on Sunday, spent $300 and bought food for the month (I hope). My goal is to not eat out for the next three weeks. I think I can make it happen!

All right, I should get back to work - this post ended up a lot longer than I expected!