Leaving Town Again

Nothing better than starting the day off with an early wake-up from a mild nightmare. Nightmare because it woke me up thirty minutes before the alarm went off. Mild because once I outline it, most people will probably say "what's so scary about that?". I was driving with someone wearing a coworker's face (not someone I deal with on a regular basis, but I ran into him at the elevators the other day) and we found a little brick house for sale so we stopped and looked at it. (There is an empty brick house down the road that will probably be put up for sale soonish, the house in my dream resembled it slightly.) I decided to buy it. (I just had the meeting with the CCFairy on refinancing my house yesterday.) Then the dream shifted to me meeting with Dad and my sister who lives in Texas discussing my desire to purchase this brick house, which shifted in location to between my current house and my parents'. This meeting was taking place in my current living room. Then my father's younger brother knocked on my door to speak to my father and he was moving into the brick house with his children and step-children (all who are old-enough to have their own places to live). And I knew my father had hijacked my buying this house by telling his brother before I had a chance to even make an offer. I spluttered something at my sister, who never answered me and wouldn't look me in the eye either. I turned to my father with his brother right there and spluttered again. "How can you let THESE PEOPLE have what I wanted?" My father's brother sneered, "She's just like her mother." Then I was watching them move in and Dad backed a car that they don't own up to my window and told me to get in "Mustard is at the Monroe house." And that's when I woke up.

These people are just some of the ones I call the white trash I'm genetically tied to. Them moving next door to us again (yes, the trailer I kept wanting to fire a cannon at was one of the children) would be a nightmare for everyone. No, I don't think there is anything in the wind that this could happen. But I really didn't need a dream about family dysfunction when I have to take my mother to my sister who lives in Shreveport for wedding dress stuff.

And Mustard was out all night and ran in after I stumbled to the door after this dream. "Monroe house" doesn't mean anything to me, but it does resemble how my parents refer to houses in the neighborhood by who lived in them when they were children or who built them, and not by how they look to help me identify the location.

Other news, based on recommendations, I've been trying out Feedly to replace the Google Reader. The interface is better after the changes they made yesterday, but I'm finding it hard to get my feeds down. I accidentally got logged into Google+ when I couldn't convince Google that my account name did not need to be the same on my YouTube account. *headdesk* Bye Internet anonymity, I'll miss you. I still don't know what to do with Google+, which is the same way I feel about Facebook.

Can't think of anything else to deal with. I have to run out and buy cat food before we leave so toodles.

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The BookWorm

Have I Spent Any Weekends at Home This Month?

Out of town to see friends this weekend, and hopefully we can squeeze in Oz: the Great and Powerful. I survived last weekend's trip with my parents, and got more writing done than I feared I would, and picked up some smoke but managed to keep it off the papers for the most part, yeah! But as I passed the pile of cans to take to recycling that haven't left yet while I got in the car this morning, I couldn't remember when I was home last to deal with that stuff. I could look up my previous weekend plans, but more trouble than I want to go through for an answer. I'll just have to stay home next weekend.

I'm slowly catching up on reviews that I've been procrastinating on since the funeral. The "I'll do that later" procrastination has tipped over into "you’re worthless scum for not doing that!" guilt; and I'm slowly battling past that to actually leave the reviews on the merits of what I read. And I haven't even faced Facebook yet. Next week, I swear.

So Google Reader is shutting down. *Sigh* Add finding a new RSS reader to next week's to do list. I've hit my resigned point over the news, and just hope I won't run into any headaches trying to move my feeds over to a new reader.

And that's all I have for today. Time to post this and concentrate on Strix: Forget the Sun.

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The BookWorm

Hot Bod Post 3

No pounds lost to report this week, though my body measurements shifted all over the place so something is still working. I think I've hit the point where I must start exercising again. And since today was the first day since Daylight Savings Time started that I actually woke up with the alarm clock, I should be able to start next week. Boy, I miss the lamp. The timer went wonky and would not shut off when it was supposed to be off after the time change. :p

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The BookWorm

Hot Bod 2013 Post 2

186.5 pounds at the weigh-in, lost 4 in one week! WOOT! I noticed my pants felt looser, so I was expecting at the most two pounds lost. So what a lovely surprise I got in the morning. And without exercising because that has so not happened this week. Here's the weight change graph since April 1, 2012.

I'll be honest, I have been hungry on this diet. Some times because I can't eat according to the schedule and some times because of the portions. Did you know one serving of Brussels sprouts is six of them? I'd fill up one of my smaller containers, so I was probably eating three servings at once. At least that was healthy item to overeat on.

And Atkins protein shakes, *sigh.* I was in a bind this morning by running out of food I can have (I don't want to do heavy grocery shopping until after we get back from Biloxi), so I stopped at Wal-Mart. They fulfill the SHRED diet's calorie requirements and fulfill my low-sugar no grains requirements, so I bought a pack of six. Tried my first one today and I am not a fan. They have been regulated to the "put in lunchbox when there is nothing else and no money" section of the fridge. The book has fruit smoothie recipes in the back, so either I will make those or switch to Naked brand bottled fruit smoothies, which also fit all the requirements.

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The BookWorm

I Need More Self-Correcting Clocks

Oh good, I don't have to be my mother's entertainment this weekend; Dad is coming too. *Sigh* I don't gamble, so what I get out of these trips is peace and quiet without my usual distractions to write. However, when I took Mom the last trip, I discovered that even when I gave her the television, had all my papers covering the table at the hotel window (best light), and was hunched over them with pen in hand, she still had to talk and talk and talk and TALK because I was THERE! She was supposed to be napping; she came back to the room to nap!

I love her, but Dad's ears will be there for her to yak to and I will be using the mp3 player and earphones to enforce my writing time. Hopefully, I'll avoid the papers-absorbing-cigarette-smoke this time.

This is one of those free association posts, but it will sound like I'm bashing the 'rents. I'm not, but… okay, here's the story. Dad came to me with a request earlier this week: to look up my grandfather's insurance policies and see what is what with them. To which, he didn't even have to finish the request because I was already giving the answer that we all have to give the public who is confused about what the Department of Insurance actually does. "We don't track what policies the citizens of Louisiana have bought; we regulate the companies and agents who sell the insurance." The spiel can get longer, but that's essentially what many people want and we can't it give them. So Dad's just as confused as many other citizens; no big deal.

Except… except, I've been working there twelve years come May. And you guys have never asked me about details so you know what I do and who I work for? I don't feel hurt, but rather a pull between two voices in my head once I had that realization. Voice One: *Shrug* Maybe the DOI should address how confused people are about what we do. Voice Two: Let it go. You know you're not the kid they give a shit about, so why are you even surprised? They don't know anything important to you and it's safer that way.

I know this is a situation to listen to Voice One. But Voice Two is inside me, and I'm more puzzled that I have this need to hide what's important to me and protect it from everyone.

Okay, enough serious shit this early in the morning. I have to go put my hours in on the paying job. I'm not looking forward to Daylight Savings Time this weekend either. I also need to review things I have read AND answer people's birthday wishes. Pete's sake, why is that making me freeze up?

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The BookWorm

Hot Bod 2013 Post 1

Good news, I have maintained 191 pounds since the end of November 2012. Bad news, that's seventy-one pounds away from my goal weight. I'd settle for losing half of it by Krista's wedding and be pleased with my appearance at the event. And I'm not upset with the plateau. With the eating choices I have made and lack of exercise, I'm surprised I haven't gained.

So Mom gave me SHRED the Revolutionary Diet book for my birthday. She's been raving about a talk show host using it (the show isn't one I watch so my brain hasn't retained any names) and has started it, so I'm not really surprised that she helped it along to my house. However, nothing in the plan--except maybe the exercise—goes against Primal principles and it covers six weeks. So I've decided to give it a solid go, with a few tweaks.

Not tweaks on the food or the exercise (I've decided after the wedding, I can go back to the Primal exercise plan), but the schedule. Here's what the book has: Do not eat the last meal within 90 minutes of going to sleep. (pg. 16)

• 8:30am – Meal 1
• 10:00am – Snack 1
• 11:30am – Meal 2
• 1:00pm – Snack 2
• 3:30pm – Meal 3
• 7:00pm – Meal 4
• 8:30pm – Snack 3

My bedtime is 8:00pm, so no way this will work.

Okay, I think I've done all the math right.

• 6:30am – Meal 1
• 8:00am – Snack 1
• 9:30am – Meal 2
• 11:00am – Snack 2
• 1:30pm – Meal 3
• 5:00pm – Meal 4
• 6:30pm – Snack 3

That fits my life, and close to how I already eat. Now I have to make the meal plans fit what I have in the kitchen already since I can't buy groceries until next week.

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The BookWorm

I'm Semi-Ignoring Politics Today

Happy Sequester Day (and that's all I have to say about that).

So I'm thirty-six-years-old now and will just put this year's birthday down as odd. I still haven't celebrated it properly, and it doesn't look like I will until sometime in March. I'm not disappointed, more befuddled by responsible adulthood once again.

No nasty ramifications from the funeral, so my back is slowly unkinking itself. I read in the DF thread at Making Light that someone had noticed their body reacted to stress/conflict by curling into a defensive position. I'm not sure what defensive position would leave me with a knot between my spine and right shoulder blade that made turning my neck impossible last week. Maybe I was punching things in my sleep instead? Not intending to invalidate their anonymous experience, but see if my body correlated.

Combination yeah-bummer news: the CCFairy presented me with four options for the next step to take after my income tax refund comes in and I pay off my Visa card. I took a deep breath and asked the parental units for their opinions. We all settled on option 2 with a couple of additions: Refinance the house, pay off all non-student loan debts, buy a new car, put a temporary roof on the house, and postpone the big remodel for a year (maybe).

Dad point out my flailing over a new roof ruined when the back of the house is tore off during the remodel—WASTING MONEY freakout—is unnecessary when I can take the slightly used material from the temporary roof and build a shed or something. I was so scared of wasting money that idea never occurred to me. But I have been looking forward to the remodel this year, so bummer. Yet new car because Rizzo is slowly dying, yeah!

The house is cleaner than it has been in ages and not setting off my clean-now panic. Yesterday I had a lapse, but it didn't turn into a disaster area. So overall, I have to say UfYH's 20/10 timing and general motivation has worked in spades.

The next change I want to really implement is to start my day with 15 minutes writing before I even get dressed. Time isn't the issue (I have plenty of it in the morning), motivation I don't believe is an issue (I want to work on stuff), but I picked the wrong time to put it onto practice. Thursday during the busiest week we've had at the paying job in a while. Now I have a new month to try it out in.

February goals altered drastically on the 17th, not that I made a formal note of it then. The new February goal of surviving my grandmother's funeral without being committed or incarcerated by the Extended's dysfunction was successful. That's enough to make one swear off funeral attendance forever more. So how did I do on the other February goals?

February Boulders

• Use BodBot for a month. – Didn't happen at all. Damnit.
• Cut out grains as much as possible. – This I've been much better about post-funeral.
• CCFairy's homework is due Feb. 20th. -- Done
• Write 20 days on Strix: Forget the Sun. – January: 3 typed days, 2 rough draft days, two background detail days. February: 2 typed days and 5 rough draft days. I must break this cycle.
• Read through Stellar Gift of Death and wiki catalog details on aliens and locations. – Ugh, I haven't even printed it out yet.
• Post all the TDKR fanfics. – Have one left to go and it needs to go through the spell checker, so my time issue isn't because I'm wasting time with fanfic.

So looking at the month starting today.

March Boulders

• Write 20 days on Strix: Forget the Sun
• Read through Stellar Gift of Death and wiki catalog details on aliens and locations.
• Post all TDKR fanfics
• Pay off Visa card
• Follow the SHRED diet

Hopefully, changing the order will help me kick up my priorities.

Let's close up with a couple of webcomic recommendations. But I'm a Cat Person has reached its second year anniversary. I raved about Erin Ptah's And Shine Heaven Now, and this is her original comic dealing with supernatural shapeshifters and the humans they serve.

io9 reviewed Namesakes so I checked it out. All our fairy tales exists as parallel worlds and people from Earth are sent to them to complete the story. Wonderland gets multiple Alices, Oz gets multiple Dorothys until now when something goes wrong, and an Emma goes to Oz instead. We've got murders, conspiracies, and a Wicked Warlock of the West (it's a title don't you know). I plowed through the archive in two days.

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The BookWorm