I Am The Master

I blew past another Sunday without posting. But our trip to Pittsburgh really wore me out and I was pretty zombified all day. Now today I'm worrying that I may have a return of the strep throat -- my throat's definitely not feeling right and I don't feel well overall.

This is so NOT what I need this week. It's an exceptionally busy week with lots of afternoon appointments, I need to get the house clean for my friend SS who is coming in to town from DC and spending the night on Friday. At work I've got to get my newsletter printed and mailed, on top of Lent/Easter preparations. On top of that, today started my TTOM, and for the cherry on top? Hubby's tracked down some Labradoodle puppies that are available NOW, and the breeder is going to call us back about going to see them either Tuesday or Thursday.

Maybe it's not the strep returning. Maybe it's just a cold. I'm drinking lots of tea and gargling with warm salt water and hoping it will all go away. But tomorrow morning will tell the tale: if my throat's still bad or worse, back to the doctor I go.

The worst part about it it, this morning I finally got back to the treadmill and bike, and did some toning. I'll be really bummed out if I get super sick again and can't exercise!

I'm theorizing I might have reinfected myself because I forgot to throw away and replace my toothbrush. Stupid, I know. Lesson learned. I already have a new one bought.

Here's some of the good things that happened over the weekend: on our Pittsburgh trip we got to a book store (no decent bookstores in Bumf*#k Egypt where I live) and I finally purchased a copy of "Thin For Life." Our local library lost their copy, and since so many AFGers give this book such good recommendations, I've decided to add it to my personal collection. I figure this will be re-read and referred to regularly, so it's worth shelling out the dough.

I am actually glad that I have to travel 90 miles to get to a Panera, because if there was one close by I'd be there pretty much every weekend blowing my salary on their baked goods. My mom wanted to eat there for her birthday, so we sat and had sandwiches and their Crispani pizza-like thing, and everything was so good! I had a panini and it was wonderful. What really wowed me was the baked yummies I saved for the next day, however. I cannot find good scones in our rural backwoods area, so this was a real treat. Again, thank goodness there isn't one in our immediate area.

When I got home I had pleasant things in the mail, too. I got a letter from the organ donation organization that coordinated the tissue I received for my neck surgery. Several months ago I sent a letter through this group to the family of the donor thanking them and letting them know how my life has improved due to their gift. Saturday's letter stated that the family has written a letter, and the organization wants to know if I'd like to see it. I sure would, so I emailed them back this morning giving them the thumbs-up.

Also in the mail was a big envelope from the National Weight Control Registry. Sunday morning I ate my scones and filled out the bulk of the questionnaires -- is that hypocritical or sacrilegious or something? I'm not sure. Anyway, what a lot of info! The food breakdown is the most in depth and labor-intensive part. It really made me think about how often I eat certain foods and how much. I had to remind myself that this was an overall average for the past year and not just my eating habits on my "bad" weekends, so I made sure to make a fair representation on how I eat most of the time. And it's pretty obvious I've become a veggie fanatic -- it's the one section I ate the most often and in the biggest quantities. Which was good to see.

I still have to fill out the weight loss "diary" that pinpoints milestone weights and lists the whens and whys. I have to go back to my journal and archives to make sure I get these right. It's been such a dramatic three years.

Just before I came up here to post this I read the intro to "Thin For Life" and noticed that the author calls those people she interviewed (who have lost at least 20 pounds and kept it off for the long-term) "masters." I realized that I qualify to be called a Master. What a validating notion. I may have to get business cards with "Master" under my name.

Want to write more but I have to go get Mabel from Brownies. I'll tell you the other stuff tomorrow.