The little things do make a difference

In addition to anxiously awaiting the removal of my fucktarded governor from office, I thought I'd share some of the little changes that have made a real difference:

I actually had to buy a pair of new jeans this week because my old ones were too big for me. I also dropped off a pair of dress pants to be taken in. In addition, I've had numerous people stop me at work or at gatherings of friends and say "are you losing weight"?

The little changes do make a difference. In addition to simply eating smaller portions, I don't think I've eaten a "boxed" meal since John moved out. We used to eat a lot of that crap because it was quick and, well, since I did all the cooking, I didn't want to spend so much time cooking after a full day of work. I still make quick dinners, but since my dietary limitations have been lifted (i.e. I can use a lot of ingredients John wouldn't eat), I've been eating mostly chicken, steamed vegetables, and a lot of salad and fruit. I also started bringing my lunches to work because 1) buying lunch in the loop is friggin costly and 2) I can better control my calorie intake when I make food myself.

I've also started doing the strength exercises in the Wii fit game on a regular basis to build muscle, and have started taking the stairs up to my office from the main floor of the building more often than the elevator, to get between floors 11 and 8. So 3 flights of stairs 3-4 times a day is pretty good. I also walk more, since I don't have a car anymore. Not that I mind since I always preferred walking and public transit to driving places when possible. The new apartment is a 3rd floor walk-up so that will definitely help too.

So I'm hoping to ditch my spare tire this year, and maybe strengthen my upper body a bit more. My arms are pretty weak, while my legs are strong - so I need to balance that out.

So... yay me.

Childish Catharsis

This is a George W. Bush Jack-in-the-box that I got as a gag gift a number of years ago. I had to figure out how best to dispose of some of my anti-Bush stuff. Some of it is being kept just for the hell of it - like my framed The Nation cover with Alfred E. Dubya from November 2000. That's a keeper. A lot of my t-shirts, printed political cartoons, and the like, can be taken down now. I'll have to find something else to fill my office door with.












Also, as I've mentioned before, I love Keith Olbermann. He's a good countervoice to Fox News and I love his rhetorical style. Here's yet another doozy:

"After a presidency marked by fear that exploited American patriotism to stifle American dissent, today the black son of an Atheist, socialist, African man raised by a single mother took the highest office in the land in a bloodless, peaceful transfer of power. Saluting both the faithful and the irreligious alike, and demonstrating for all the world to see after years of militaristic rhetoric to the contrary, that this is what the march of freedom and the spread of democracy truly looks like..."

Oh, and for those who were angry about Bush's domestic spying, here's one for the scrapbook:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Can you feel the change?

I removed the Bush Countdown Clock and the Impeach Bush banner from my sidebar. It felt good.

Just a friendly reminder to everyone clamoring for "change:" Today won't change anything unless YOU get involved. Period.

Neglect..

I know, I've been blog lazy lately. 2009 is looking up, for a few reasons that I don't want to get into prematurely. A few having to do with work & a few having to do with life. So keep your fingers crossed for me.

I have an appointment with an apartment finding agency today - they're a great service. Free to tenants (landlords pay their fees) and you give them your parameters and they take you to see places. Takes a lot of the pressure of finding a place away.

Just an FYI that yes, I am still alive.

Looking forward to Tuesday's inauguration and am taking suggestions of the best ways to dispose of my anti-Bush paraphernalia. So far, I have stuff it in an ICBM and have Cheney shoot Bush in the face with it - logistic impossibility. I have a sledgehammer and some M-150s. I have "put it in a shoe and throw it". Any others? I will hang onto a few mementos, but I need some cathartic destruction to mark the occasion.

Frazzled

That's kinda how I'm feeling right now. I really hate the whole apartment hunting process - it goes too quickly for my tastes. Places in Chicago don't usually get listed until 4-6 weeks before they're to be vacated, which means I'm in that strange limbo period where I want to see what's out there, but there's nothing available for March 1 yet. So I get to see the perfect apartments available now and worry that nothing will be available for me when I need it. 30 days isn't a whole lot of time to get everything in order when you think about it. At least I'm doing the one month overlap, where I pay two rents in one month so that I don't have to move out and in all in one day. That is too hard to do, especially with pets. This way, I'll have a month and prepare to move. Though I still plan to hire movers, since it's well worth the money. With the economy in the crapper, it's no longer a renters market, places go fast and the best places go first. Basically, as long as I can find a place that will take the critters, in a safe neighborhood, reasonably close to an el train stop, within my price range, somewhere on the North side, I'll be happy. Considering many of my friends now live along the Blue Line (Northwest line that goes out toward O'Hare), I'd like to live out that way a bit - and it's a bit cheaper than some of the more East lying 'hoods.

Annie and I are adjusting reasonably well I guess. It's a little strange to have a comment in my head about a TV show and have only a dog or cat to tell it to. I find I am talking to myself more, maybe just to hear the sound of my own voice. I think Annie figured out pretty quickly that John was gone. She usually waits and waits for him to come back when he's been out of town before. But I think this time she knows he's gone because there's nothing that really smells like him around anymore. I have wondered how she would react to "where's Daddy?" but would never be so cruel as to try that. She's adjusting bit by bit to being home alone all day. She mostly sleeps all day anyway, and now she has a buster cube to play with. That's a small plastic toy that looks like a 6-sided die and has a small hole in one side. You fill it with kibble or small treats and she rolls it around on the floor and bits of food spill out randomly. It keeps her busy, it keeps her moving around, and it ensures she gets a snack during the day.

It'll all come together eventually... it's the waiting game that drives me crazy. Once everything is settled, it'll be ok.