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10 pounds down 32 pounds to go!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

No quiero hablarte

At college one of the cutest, sweetest girls in the whole world lived across the hall from me. We called her Pooh, and she was cute and sweet and also had a weird fixation with the state of New Jersey but, you know, whatever...we loved her. She was up for anything and would do anything for you. She was a freshman when I was a junior and living in my big, fancy single room. We used to do pathetically lazy things like IM to each other across the hallway, or call each other from one side of the concrete wall to the other. On one very special occasion I called Pooh to come to my room, I told her I needed help with something. Dutifully she came over and when she got there I asked her to hand me the notebook by my door so I didn't have to get up. She did it before realizing that I was being an asshole and then we had a stuffed animal fight. It was awesome. So, of course, I had to do it again. That scenario played out a few times...Ring Ring "Pooh, I NEED you"..."can you find my remote?" enter pillow fight stage left.

I'm not particularly proud of being the upperclassman that makes freshmen do menial jobs even if they do happen to be in love with New Jersey. I feel I have grown in to a decidedly helpful and kind person. So, from a point of pure belief in my own perfection I tell you that I absolutely will not do anyone else's bitch work at my job. I am an assistant. ALL of my work is bitch work and I really don't need any more. Long story short, I had a grumpy gus of a day. Someone told me that they're putting me on the schedule for the register so someone can go home early a few days a week. No, no you're really not. If I wanted to work on a cash register I would work at walmart and not have to take my insane ass job home with me every night.

The very difficult part is that this someone is the same someone who asked her previous co-worker (the one who recently quit with no notice) to get her a tissue from across the room (no fucking wonder). I'm not going to be that person. I have worked very hard to be what I need to be for this job and not a. go insane or b. kill anyone, while actually impressing my post-it note counting boss. I'm not doing your job too, I'm just not.

This person has told me I need to work more hours to help her, no...you're not my boss. This person has asked me to empty buckets for her...yeah, I didn't go to college to empty buckets. This person actually gives me more trouble than my actual boss, which is impressive beyond words and has made me cranky. I just got to thinking this job was do-able. RATS!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

"You exercise!?"

How do you say "ouch" in spanish? Our trip to the grocery store went very well, except that my Mexican boyfriend thinks I'm a fat ass. He asked me what time I had gotten up that morning (amongst other weird questions, but whatever...there is the cultural divide) and I said "six, to run" only in spanish and he looked at me like I was lying. He was totally thinking "how could you be that fat and exercise?" only in spanish. I know he was. What he actually said wasn't so bad, no, really it kind of was and if he spoke better english I'd have called him on it but I'm desperate for them not to think I'm mean so I didn't. I guess he could have meant it in a "you're so trim and lovely, why do you need to exercise?" sort of way but the shock was rather too much for that sentiment.

I've learned that the boys buy pepsi and cornmeal and have now realized that I speak more spanish than I let on and are much more careful about what they say around me. The older guys did their own thing and bought real food, like fish, and vegetables. They all went to the dollar store and bought them out of galletas (cookies) which are probably made of sawdust and pig fat but affordable. It solves one problem because I wasn't sure what to do about one of their birthdays coming up and now I know all I have to do is bake cookies and I'll be even more of a goddess than I am now, and they'll all understand how I can run every day and still be fat. Heh.

What else, what else is new? I'm still learning how to use my phone and it's great fun and also I dropped it already. I expect Sugarcrook to be timing it's demise so I might as well come clean. The canvas tote I've been using as a bag lately feel pretty hard in the home depot bathroom and pretty much the iphone took the brunt. It still works but my heart died a little. This is exactly why I can't have nice things. I'm the "your mother told you" poster girl. And also, you can't pay too much for a good pair of shoes.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

"you look trim and lovely today"

Every chubby white girl should have a fan club of foreign laborers. Seriously. It's the best therapy ever. It's awesome. And also I'm so glad tomorrow is friday. All I have to do is everything I didn't get done this week and then take my spanish speakers to walmart...which will probably be very interesting and totally blogworthy. The gentleman who is the contact for the spanish speakers has taken to writing and calling me only in spanish...which is hilarious actually. I need to learn to say "tricky" in espanol. I did say I was practicing and now I'm being practiced upon. Funny, funny Guatemalans.

I played with my phone all day like a big geek and it was awesome. I love it, I'm a macbot now. I have apple on the brain, in the blood, and look I'm totally still being a geek. And baking brownies. I had to bribe my designer in to work tomorrow with chocolate. I need her that bad, I need her baking brownies bad. Our relationship is built on chocolate and there's nothing wrong with that. Love, sex, chocolate, apple...what more can one ask for?

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Oh, God

I'm activating the iphone right now. It tingles.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

That's how we roll.

I haven't hit the scale in a very long time but I have been hitting the trail with a vengeance and all those 12's I bought for the job in february are starting to get loose again. Which is great, I wish I had some ridiculously low number to go with it but too big pants is great. I haven't been feeling super diety which is probably pretty good for the weight loss actually. I'm so busy at work that I hardly think about whatever I brought for lunch, it's just fuel to get the next project done. The walking and running really helps with the stress, I want to run all the time to get out and think and clear my head and it burns calories! Yay!

But anyway, size 11. I'm making that up but it makes me feel happy to think my sizes are dropping. It's the fantasy clothing size in my head that doesn't really exist. Really I still have some 12's that don't fit and some 10's that fit fine. The numbers are driving me crazy which is why I've decided to make them up, and so 11. Who needs reality anyway, totally over-rated. A person based in reality wouldn't buy an expensive ass cell-phone the same week she bought an expensive ass camera but god it's a wonderful week. Apparently I love stuff so much more than I thought, it's shameful. I'm ashamed of my love for these inanimate objects but OH SO HAPPY.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

"tell them your mean, rotten boyfriend said to take it back"

That's a direct quote. He is watching me use it as a title and is now leaving to sharpen the chainsaw. It's very man vs. blog. The thing is that I bought an iphone yesterday. It would be exciting except that I am completely terrified of opening it. Mostly I just take it out of the bag and pet it, and then put it back. I went to at&t to browse new phones and somehow I handed over my discover card. The tempestuous love affair with Apple continues. The practical part of me can't help thinking it was a very, very stupid thing to do. Not fiscally responsible. Matt has been enjoying spreading the news and watching the shock and horror. The same girl who hoards coupons and stockpiles sale items bought a 400 dollar cell phone, it's a bit out of character and he's getting good mileage out of the situation. I simply can't decide what to do. On the one hand...oh my god is that a lot of money, on the other the phone is practically indestructible which is a definite bonus. Anyway, go ahead and write me and tell me I'm an idiot or not, I'd love the feedback.

On the fitness front I walked five miles this weekend. I'm tired just writing that. I feel really awesome about it. Last week was a long week and this week is going to be a long week and tomorrow I get to take my new guys grocery shopping. Quieres ir a al supermercado? I'm doing ok on saying things to my spanish speakers, but I'm officially crap at understanding them. I put some spanish language films on my netflix, I need to practice listening to native speakers. Funny how my 99% wasp high school didn't prepare me for real life spanish speaking. Can't blame the school for what you choose not to learn though so it's either fly to spain or watch some spanish language films. I have three coming tomorrow and one features a triple same sex marriage ceremony...spanish hijinks are sure to ensue! I just hope they don't teach me to say anything untoward, I'm pretty sure they already think I'm crazy. (Which by the way is totally not my fault, there's some problem with my car's security system that causes it to bark like a dead seal every time I unlock it and the barking makes me growl and it's more or less like a day at the zoo only with a sunroof and a cd player and witnesses. It's embarrassing to say the least.) Wouldn't it rock if they all had blogs?

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Ogled in three languages

It's probably better that I don't know exactly what they're saying because I'm a much more compassionate soul without all the details. I'm trying to think of it as flattery actually. It's not so horrible to be admired. Funny to think I have to lose more weight to get less attention. The skinny women at work get noticeably less attention than me. I'm not sure how I feel about it, it was sort of peaceful to be under the radar and if anything that idea makes me want to lose more weight. I should anyway, the snapping of my knees with all the stairs is getting a bit old. I've started carrying my athletic tape, which in pure Amy fashion I have been referring to as my athletic support, incase my knee bothers me. I'm not entirely sure that dropping a few more pounds will make all the difference but it can't hurt and if vanity alone isn't enough of a motivator, health might just work.

I ordered a new camera today. I went with Pentax but I chose the K20D, a medium fancy. Exactly 5 minutes after I placed the order my cell phone broke. Not that these things are very related, it's just that I might not have spent the money knowing I would need to spend even more. It turns out the contract ends in a few days and I can get a new one relatively cheap but geez, I need one thing that doesn't fail five seconds before the warranty is up. I am cursed with the electronics, I hope that doesn't bode ill for the camera. Maybe I should google digital sorcery and make a talisman out of motherboards and micro chips. Anyway, I can use all my lenses with it and it promises to be awesome. I have a ton of photos to take for work and so I can write it off and keep files of the photos for a portfolio and it'll rock. I'm pretty sure.

early o'clock

I'm awake super early today and it's not to exercise. Which bums me out actually. I'm bummed for lots of reasons because I have to go in and help the crews get set up this morning...being one of the few that can say more than cerveza en espanol. I am loathe to get to work early because my boss will be all confused and think I'm working 60 hour weeks like many of the other salaried people. I'm not. There are few things that keep this job worth my while and if I end up working those kind of hours I'll be making the same money as I would at McDonalds. And I'd have zero time to exercise and that's just not an option.

So, I'm awake and I'm not running and it's pissing me off. That's my post today. I guess that's better than eating lard and not running and watching daytime tv. Have to keep it relative I suppose. It's been sort of great to be so busy at work. My legs are killing me from the stairs which is awesome and I have no time to think about food at all. The problem there is that I come home starving then bad decisions get made. Like super pretzels. One of the girls at work got me into these awesome microwave pretzels and I hate her. I don't buy snack food for a reason. If I have to make it myself I'm much less likely to eat a ton of it and actually get around to making it, home cooking + laziness = instant diet. No more super pretzels for me. Nothing that comes bulk frozen can be meant for a life of healthy moderate balance.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

"como estas?"

I often wonder how it came to be that I am the expert on so many things at work. Computers, banks, money, advertising, all sorts of things and some of them make sense. Today I am the expert on speaking spanish and hot damn, that sucks. We have 6 very nice, probably, spanish speaking workers starting today and wow do I wish I had listened to Senor Quesada in the 8th grade. He was Cuban and he had excellent clothes and wore sunglasses instead of a scowl like all the other teachers did. Damn it, why do I remember his wardrobe and not the verb forms we repeated over and over.

I have promised the guys I'm going to practicar a ayudar them which is about the most relevant thing I have in my lexicon. Donde esta el bano? only takes you so far when explaining landscaping. Wish me buena suerte.

Monday, May 12, 2008

"I don't have time for bondage fun"

Blogging from work, big no no. Fortunately my boss has no idea what a blog is. I'm super busy but it's been so long and I hate being a slacker. Things have been crazy with the traveling and the untraveling. There's a lot of work to do when you get home from a long weekend, dishes and cooking and baking and a boyfriend on the brink of starvation. He did a good job of cooking for himself this weekend, only the chairman of the meows ate all his food. Apparently she's quite a thief when I'm gone, who even knew she liked mashed potatoes.

I got my stimulus money, so that's exciting. It's camera buying money, I just have to find time to place the order. I was planning on saving it and being a grown-up but whatever. I hardly ever have money I don't have a plan for and I wanted to buy a camera anyway so why not shop shop shop. Normally when I go to visit my friends it's a spending extravaganza but everyone is between jobs or saving for school and it was a very calm weekend. Except that Frederick is totally full of yuppies, they were everywhere like a plague of blond average white people. I don't care how much money you have, you can't buy a personality.

I just got back from the dentist and I have no cavities. No drilling sans novacaine this time, thank god. I think I lost something of my apathy toward pain recently because this weekend we were discussing getting new tattoos (the Hood H from the old days, weren't we going to do that Sarah?) and I just felt so, well, OW about it. I don't remember ever considering the pain before. Probably I was too cool, or young, or stupid or all of the above. Now it's like, I already paid them and gave them four years of my life...I don't know that I want to mark a symbol they don't even used anymore on my skin with a needle. But I could change my mind, who knows. Next week I might be all over the masochism.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Animal Magnetism

There is a woodpecker trying to eat the side of my metal house. What's up Woody? I think he has an eating disorder. So, the antibiotic of promised puss removal. I'm taking it faithfully and it's making me want to die. Actually I feel better and worse, is that weird. I felt well enough to run this morning which was weird but it makes me really nauseous, which might be good for the diet so maybe it's all aces.

I guess I hadn't realized how sick I was because the antibiotics are making a huge difference. It actually felt good to exercise this morning as opposed to every other morning the last few weeks. I ignore a lot of the bad things that go on with me, sickness...broken knees, and then I'm always surprised how nice it feels when I get medical attention. I'm such a moron, I drive myself crazy.

Monday, May 05, 2008

"ooh, tiny"

I have petite ear tubes anyway. Lucky me. The doctor was a little frightened of my ears, she kept saying "it's dark in there" like she was starring in a slasher film instead of a medical office. Anyway I have pill the size of Zimbabwe and a slim hope to be not deaf soon so it's all good. And I bought myself a pity coke because I'm sick. And I felt like it. So there. And seriously if coke can eat rust it can probably solve my puss problem. Sexy!

Sunday, May 04, 2008

I'll try for a quiet rage"

It's been a while since I posted last, I've been busy dying of an ear infection. Can an ear infection actually kill you or does it just drive you slowly mad? So far crazy and I'm going to the doctor tomorrow. It's not horrible pain, just really annoying. It's kept from being able to sit down and concentrate but it hasn't kept me from rearranging my furniture. It's amazing how moving your things around makes your house so different. I moved kitty's favorite chair and I'm expecting a furry rebellion any minute. I replaced it with Matt's childhood desk to keep me typing properly until I find something or Matt builds something or whatever. I spent the whole weekend getting organized and also baking cupcakes. I'm going away again this weekend so I have to set up the house for bachelorhood. Cupcakes and frozen pizza, his is a glamourous life.

I'm going to visit some friends before one of them moves coasts. I can't wait. To celebrate I'm going to pick up a new camera. I'm thinking the Pentax K10d. I love my ancient film Pentax and the digitals have great reviews. If anyone has one I'd love to hear what they think of it.

I'd love to know how many of you are camera freaks and filmmakers. Some nice folks at Lipton contacted me recently about a new promotion that could win one of you a fancy new bike. I'm a tea freak so you know I was all over it. They're promoting their new white tea, which I love. I'll be posting about the details soon, as soon as I can think and hear again. It's hard to work on your blog with your head exploding from the inside out. More tomorrow with antibiotic goodness.