12 whole pounds
Wednesday, Sept. 08, 2004,

Wow. According to the scale, I�ve lost 12 pounds. I don�t feel as thought I�ve lost that much, but I�ll take it!

That means, though, that I may have to re-think the 25 pound goal, because if I�m halfway there already, and don�t feel any thinner, it probably isn�t enough. But I�m keeping to it for now, and I�ll see how I feel once I�ve lost the other 13.

I was so cold at work this morning I had to get up and take a walk. I ran down the stairs, weighed myself in the fitness center, and then went and took my blood pressure at the machine they have in the first floor lobby. 128 over 78. WTF? What does it mean when the Systolic is high, but the Diastolic is low? Anyway, those things aren�t made for fat arms, so the reading is probably way off. (googled my blood pressure, and apparently it means I�m European. Their average is 127/77.)

I�m going to shred the leftover pork roast and make barbeque sandwiches out of it for dinner tonight. I�m hoping Spouse is back on his feed. I couldn�t get him to eat yesterday for love or money. He was still quite gun-shy after the belly bug attack. I got up a little early this morning and cooked him some oatmeal for breakfast, but he just pecked at it. He ate the lunch I packed him, though.

He finally got his bonus check yesterday. After taxes, it came to a little more than half the original amount. You ever get the feeling you�re being jacked up by the world? My Libra sense of justice is currently at odds with my Protestant work ethic. That can happen when you realize that your reward for being a productive member of society is to be forced to support the un-productive members.

Anyway, that means that if we replace the furnace, and the gutters, and I get my teeth fixed, that Spouse will only have about $300.00 left out of his $10,000 bonus. And with the medical bills he�s racking up, it�s back in the hole we go. I feel guilty about wanting to get my denture, but gott in himmel, what is wrong with a world where a person in my position has to feel guilty about getting some teeth?!

I have to take some reasonable care of myself, after all. It�s not like I�m ever going to be allowed to retire, or keep enough of my earnings to build a nest egg. And there is never going to be anyone in my life who takes care of me but me. Since I�m only forty, and can�t really expect to die for quite a while yet, some maintenance is necessary.

I finished my bracelet last night, and couldn�t be more pleased. It really came out great for my first stretchy piece. Even my friend D (who is a harsh critic of my work) thinks it came out quite professional-looking.

Now I want to do a matching choker, but I�ll need to see if I can get more �hematite� seeds, and maybe some antique pewter or Bali silver beads to help eke out my remaining garnet-colored glass beads.

I found another niggly little annoying thing about the Ellen Hart Book I'm reading. In the last "Sophie" I read, it flashed back to 1971, when Sophie was 19 and in bible college. Now in this book, it flashes back to 1972. And Sophie is fifteen!. Great continuity for a continuing character mystery series, there. That is just the kind of thing you can't hope to slip past a mystery reader.

300-6=294-6=288