Ahhhhhh... I just got back from tonight's exercise: walking. I did my regular 3+ mile loop. It keeps me close to the river and there is a nice breeze you get off the water to help keep me cool on this extra warm night. It seems I've also missed my strolls around town. I haven't reached the point of getting a "runner's high" yet. But this exercising stuff is really starting to grow on me I think.
It's not pretty for sure. When I get done with a hike or yoga class or one of my Hoboken walks, I'm usually, quite literally dripping with sweat. My hair is soaked. My shirt is soaked. Even my underwear is damp. And in the case of a hike, my hat and shorts are pretty wet as well. My face is flushed, my mascara is running, (if it's a weeknight). And sometimes, some of my muscles and joints continue to pay the price the following day. I realized when I got back from work and walking, that even though it seemed okay slipping back into my yoga routine, my sides are paying the price today. Jody had us doing a lot of twisting poses and the poor muscles along my sides got quite the workout. Any time I turned, or walked quickly, or got up from a chair, the muscles in my sides made their presence known. What's the old saying, "No Pain, No Gain"? My right knee is still a bit stiff and sore from the lack of support I had been giving it, while favoring my left knee. I'm hoping that loosens up soon.
But on the other hand, when I finish whichever exercise I've chosen for the day, I have a general sense of satisfaction. My lungs feel more open. My muscles are warm and loose. And especially in the case of yoga, I feel calmer and more centered. And as sore as they are, I'm also getting my sides back. One of the benefits of all the hiking I did that one year was that my sides tightened up and became a smooth curve making my hourglass shape more of an hourglass and less of a partially squeezed tube of cookie dough. I noticed it this evening as I was walking up the hill at Stevens Tech and I put my hands on my waist as I normally do. The smooth curves are definitely returning.
Perhaps once I get fully back in the swing after my lost weekend, I'll reach the point of the runner's high and it will be less of a chore to drag my ass off the couch and into activity. DHPs and other exercise freaks (and I'm at the point, where freaks is still the right word) always talk about how they look forward to their exercise time. How their day isn't complete unless they've been able to do their regular exercise routine. Umm... okay... when does that kick in exactly? Because I'm looking forward to that moment. That moment in time when surfing the internet or curling up and watching "Scarecrow & Mrs. King" is less appealing than making myself sweaty and sore. I'm not sure I believe that day will ever come, particularly in the case of "Scarecrow & Mrs. King."
I'm running a little behind with the posting of the blogs I know. I'm hoping to catch up today. But thanks all for sticking with me!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Day 51: What If?
Today we'll start off with a couple of pictures. The first is the embarkation picture from my recent Victory Cruise. Or as I like to call it, proof that I got Scott to set foot on a cruise ship. I just wish I had thought to take a picture of him in the piano bar, because I'm not sure anyone would believe that.The second picture is of me and My Brian, from his visit here last week. I do believe we are both sober in this picture, getting ready to go out to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). We did actually do more than drink while he was here. In addition to MOMA, we took a trip down to Red Bank, NJ to visit Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash. Brian is an avid comic book reader and a big Kevin Smith fan so he's always wanted to check it out. We also went to Sweet Caroline's Dueling Piano Bar his first night, which led to a lot of drinking. And we went to the Billy Joel "Penultimate Play at Shea" on Wednesday night. So we started and ended our time together with music. Which seems fitting. Perhaps a little more fitting than starting and ending our time together with tequila.
I went to yoga class tonight for the first time in a little over two weeks. I was prepared to have a hard time, to not be able to hold the poses or get into many of them. But, it wasn't as difficult as I thought. I'm not saying I was able to do it quickly or perfectly, but I was stretchier than I imagined. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that the air conditioning was off at the the studio (Hey man, I didn't sign on for Bikram yoga!) So my muscles were already nice and warm. Perhaps it was because my expectations were low so what I could do surprised me.
At the beginning of class, Jody told us about a seminar she attended over the weekend called "Matrix Energetics". It's all about energy and it's uses in healing, psychologically and physically. Pretty interesting stuff. Now I'm not some hippie-dippy kind of person, but I do believe in energy work and I've felt the energy that flows from us and between us and others. I think next time this guy does a seminar in the area I might try and go. The possibilities are fascinating. And of course it is the possibilities that seem to be out of reach because we've been taught all our lives that there are limits to everything. It's hard to change beliefs that have been instilled in you since childhood.
That was one of the things that Jody kept talking about. Even when we do accept beliefs outside of the norm, it's hard to follow them when everyone else is preaching the opposite. The two words that Jody said over and over again was "What if". What if something that you believed couldn't change suddenly did, how would that feel? And she made a point about feeling rather than thinking because feeling is so much stronger. She got me thinking while I was going through my poses. What if I could actually lose this weight? What if my knees didn't get stiff and sore? What if I finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up? A lot of what if's, but probably the three biggest things on my mind. Because I was in that mind set, I thought about the weight loss what if. And honestly the first feeling that popped up was fear. I've been overweight for so long, I feel like it is part of what defines me as me. So who am I going to be if I become a thin person? Will it change my personality? How will it change the way people look at me and respond to me and perceive me? I think I have to lose that fear of losing myself in order to let go of the weight. That's something to work on in my yoga class and my quiet moments I think. It sounds weird to be afraid of losing weight, but I think that really is an issue.
Enough with contemplating my navel...
When I got out of yoga class tonight I felt really good. It was nice to be back and moving and focused. It was also nice to realize that I actually have adopted some real changes in my eating habits. That has always been a big struggle. I've kicked the junk and sugar, now I just need to get my portions back under control. I've started bringing my lunch to work again. First off, it saves me a lot of money. But secondly, it also makes it easier to control the portions since I pack it when I'm not hungry.
Now, if I can just avoid tequila shots and 14 day lost weekends, I should be back on track soon.
Cheerios!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Days 49&50: Wrong Way Laura
When I got up Saturday morning, it took me a while to get the gumption up to go out and hike. It was going to be an incredibly hot day. I hadn't hiked in 2 weeks, I really sort of wanted to just sleep in. But, I had to get back on track.I chose an relatively simple hike. It lists as a 4 mile moderate loop on High Mountain in Wayne, NJ. But once again, because of some trail re-routing it is a little longer now, almost 4 and 1/2 miles. Still not bad and there is only one serious up. Well, at least if you do the hike as written and don't take a wrong turn right off the bat...
I should have known it was going to be one of those days. Once I got myself together to head out, Scott asked if I would drop him at the post office since it was so hot out. We got in the car and I started to make a turn, the wrong way on a one way street. I've lived here for 17 years, how could I mess that up? I caught myself and corrected it, and laughed it off saying, "Well, that doesn't bode well for my hike today!" If only I knew then...
I knew generally where I was going and I had the hike directions, so I was halfway to Route 80 before I realized that the hike directions did not include how to get there from Route 80. I pulled over and pulled out a couple of maps, alas, they did not have details of the area, but I got a decent sense of which way to go and was relying on memory to get me the rest of the way there. I knew from 80 I had to get on Rt 23 North. But after that getting over to 504 was going to be luck of the draw. I passed the exit for Alps Road (go ahead and snicker Ed) even though it sounded familiar and headed up to Packanack Road because that also sounded familiar. I cruised through a lovely residential area and realized that while I wasn't on the right road, I was heading in the general direction. I eventually found Ratzer Road which also sounded familiar and turned onto it in the general direction I thought I needed to go. Soon I was at Alps Road again with a sign directing me to Rt. 504. Oops, well, I only went a little way out of my way.
Once I hit 504 I was on the hike directions. I cruised up College Road, but a lot had changed and they didn't have Parking Lot signs like they used to. I also noticed a new lot specifically for High Mountain Park. So I drove right past Parking Lot #6, realized my mistake and had to turn around. When I came back, I decided to park in the new lot, since it wasn't that far from Lot #6. Then I got out of the car to see where the trail started. I knew that the Red Trail actually started back up the road a bit, but I saw an unmarked trail directly ahead an thought may the re-routing had come over this way, or at worst the unmarked trail would meet up with the red trail. Yeah, not so much. I broke my cardinal rule of hiking "Never start down a hill until you are sure of the path, in order to avoid unnecessary ups." So I added an extra half mile and an unnecessary up to the hike and I was already sweating like George W. Bush on Jeopardy.
When I finally did get on the right trail I was fine. The paths on this trail are wide and well used by mountain bikers and atvs and college students from nearby William Paterson University looking for a place to hang out and party. It only has one serious up that takes you to the "summit of the highest mountain in view of the ocean on the east coast (south of Maine), with outstanding views." The views would have been very nice if we hadn't had so much rain and the trees weren't all lush and green. Still the summit was very pretty, sort of a meadow with wild blackberry and blueberry bushes, long grasses and lots of crickets.
I didn't encounter another soul on the trail for the longest time. Then my first contact was with a deer that crashed through some brush below me a little. This was the third deer in as many hikes for me, which is a little surprising. I usually don't see many and certainly not later in the day. Which suggests that the deer population has exploded again and they will have a deer hunt in the next few months. This one was a pretty doe and she stood an looked at me for a bit as if trying to figure out what kind of nut case I was for being out there in the heat and humidity. Well, at least I wasn't the one wearing a fur coat! I tried getting a picture but I didn't dare try and move any closer, deer are very skittish. So see if you can spot the deer in the photo below (I'll give you a hint, it ain't called a white tailed deer for nothing):
On the way down the mountain, I caught up with an older couple slowly making their way down the steep part of the trail. They were fairly prepared, appropriate footwear, backpacks with water and hiking poles (really helpful on steep rocky trails). But alas, no map or directions only an idea of where they were going, which they double checked with me. I headed off ahead of them but didn't let myself get too far ahead because there were a couple of less obvious turns. I hung back just long enough to make sure they made them. When we got on the final leg of the trail though, I left them behind and finished the hike.Air conditioning in cars is a great invention.
By the time I made it back to my car, the trusty pedometer read:
4.87 miles
11446 steps
7151 aerobic steps (at least!)
509 calories burned (at least!)
I felt better about having gotten back on the trail. And even better when I finally got going in the right direction!
Well, I overcame my cowardice and got back on the scale on Sunday. My weight also went in the wrong direction, but the good news is that after my 14 day lost weekend, I only gained a little over a pound! Hooray! That's what happens when you don't eat junk I guess.
After I did the laundry, I had a really lazy Sunday. I didn't have to be entertaining or friendly or chatty, so I curled up in bed and watched old episodes of "Scarecrow and Mrs. King". Bruce Boxleitner is such a hottie! Life was so much simpler in the early 80's. We knew who the enemy was: Those silly Soviets and the communist cronies. And you could always count on Bruce Boxleitner to run out of bullets and then climb up on something and jump on the bad guys and knock them out.
Half the fun is seeing a lot of actors in their early careers: a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards, a pre-SNL Kevin Nealon, pre-"Earth Girls are Easy" Julie Brown, very young and pre-"Married with Children" David Faustino" and not one, but two "24" presidents Dennis Haysbert and Gregory Itzin. And any number of "Sopranos" actors playing... what else... mob guys.
Well, back to work on Monday and back to yoga! I haven't been in over 2 weeks and I'm missing it!
Have a good week all!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Day 48: Getting Back on the Wagon and the Horse I Rode In On
Before I start this blog, I'd just like to answer Big Ed who asked: " Do you have any 'I was a good girl stories?'" Of course I do! But they are not nearly as entertaining! I'm a good girl in my day to day life, I just like to break out every once in a while.... And break out is what I did for these last 2 weeks. Oy!
Cruises are over, old friends have gone home. It's time to assess the damage I have wrought by misbehaving so egregiously over the last 2 weeks.
Hours of sleep lost: several
Hours of exercise lost: most of them
Quantity of alcohol consumed: excessive
Brain Cells killed: thousands (hopefully none contained important information)
Weight lost or gained: God only knows, because I'm too much of a coward to get on the scale.
Time spent with boyfriend on the cruise and with best friend having fun: priceless
Can't honestly say I regret anything I did over the last two weeks, although those tequila shots on Monday night might have been a little excessive. I had a lot of fun. I ate too much, but I didn't eat junk. I didn't exercise, but we did a lot of walking (and stumbling and staggering) around. I've already talked about the cruise, so let me 'splain a bit about My Brian, my best friend from college.
I mentioned him before. He's the original source of my thing for pianos and piano players. We met our freshman year of college in a creative writing class and we were virtually inseparable for the next four years. We were Lauraandbrian or Brianandlaura, depending on who was referring to us. He was my rock, my best friend during a time when I wasn't the most stable. If I had a bad day, I could go to him and we would just curl up together and watch reruns of "Hart to Hart" or we would go down to a practice room in his dorm and he would play piano for me, playing my favorite songs or doing silly versions of other songs to make me laugh. We watched each other navigating through the dating scene, knowing we could count of a shoulder to cry on or someone to bitch to when the relationship went south. Brian probably knows more about me than any other person in this world and he still loves me. Everybody needs one of those in their life.
Between having Brian here and talking a lot to a couple of friends having job or love problems, I've been thinking a lot about the people in my life and why they are in my life. In the past I've had some very strong gut reactions to a few people when I first met them. And I always kind of saw it as a sign that these people were supposed to be in my life for whatever reason, they had something to show me. There have been a few people like that, but these are the ones whose purposed was so clear.
I met My Brian when I needed someone to show me unconditional love and comfort and support and stability at a time in my life when I didn't have nor did I think I deserved any of those things.
I met Catherine when I needed a teacher, a guide and a friend to help me make that transition into the adult world.
I met Stephanie and I met a soul sister. Someone on with the same experiences and background and sensibilities and direction to reflect my choices back to me and help me see where I was going.
And I haven't quite figured out his purpose yet, but I had that same gut reaction when I met Ron. But I think it has to do with showing me a different direction in life.
Now, when I met the Bloggers Crew. That was a whole other thing. It had been a really long time since I'd made a new friend. That seems so much harder to do when you get older. And here I met an entire group at once! I have never in my life met a group of people who are so quick to offer love, support and encouragement to people they only know through email and meeting them all just reinforced that. And talk about a gut reaction! I think these folks came into my life to help me on this journey with weight loss and finding a new direction. It certainly wouldn't be possible with out them!
People come and go in your life, but the I think each one has a purpose, something to show you or teach you, if you are open to it.
So now, I'm getting back on the horse and back to the business of trying to lose the weight. Back to the regular blogging. And back to the hiking tomorrow! It should be a cool 94 degrees tomorrow in Jersey!
Cruises are over, old friends have gone home. It's time to assess the damage I have wrought by misbehaving so egregiously over the last 2 weeks.
Hours of sleep lost: several
Hours of exercise lost: most of them
Quantity of alcohol consumed: excessive
Brain Cells killed: thousands (hopefully none contained important information)
Weight lost or gained: God only knows, because I'm too much of a coward to get on the scale.
Time spent with boyfriend on the cruise and with best friend having fun: priceless
Can't honestly say I regret anything I did over the last two weeks, although those tequila shots on Monday night might have been a little excessive. I had a lot of fun. I ate too much, but I didn't eat junk. I didn't exercise, but we did a lot of walking (and stumbling and staggering) around. I've already talked about the cruise, so let me 'splain a bit about My Brian, my best friend from college.
I mentioned him before. He's the original source of my thing for pianos and piano players. We met our freshman year of college in a creative writing class and we were virtually inseparable for the next four years. We were Lauraandbrian or Brianandlaura, depending on who was referring to us. He was my rock, my best friend during a time when I wasn't the most stable. If I had a bad day, I could go to him and we would just curl up together and watch reruns of "Hart to Hart" or we would go down to a practice room in his dorm and he would play piano for me, playing my favorite songs or doing silly versions of other songs to make me laugh. We watched each other navigating through the dating scene, knowing we could count of a shoulder to cry on or someone to bitch to when the relationship went south. Brian probably knows more about me than any other person in this world and he still loves me. Everybody needs one of those in their life.
Between having Brian here and talking a lot to a couple of friends having job or love problems, I've been thinking a lot about the people in my life and why they are in my life. In the past I've had some very strong gut reactions to a few people when I first met them. And I always kind of saw it as a sign that these people were supposed to be in my life for whatever reason, they had something to show me. There have been a few people like that, but these are the ones whose purposed was so clear.
I met My Brian when I needed someone to show me unconditional love and comfort and support and stability at a time in my life when I didn't have nor did I think I deserved any of those things.
I met Catherine when I needed a teacher, a guide and a friend to help me make that transition into the adult world.
I met Stephanie and I met a soul sister. Someone on with the same experiences and background and sensibilities and direction to reflect my choices back to me and help me see where I was going.
And I haven't quite figured out his purpose yet, but I had that same gut reaction when I met Ron. But I think it has to do with showing me a different direction in life.
Now, when I met the Bloggers Crew. That was a whole other thing. It had been a really long time since I'd made a new friend. That seems so much harder to do when you get older. And here I met an entire group at once! I have never in my life met a group of people who are so quick to offer love, support and encouragement to people they only know through email and meeting them all just reinforced that. And talk about a gut reaction! I think these folks came into my life to help me on this journey with weight loss and finding a new direction. It certainly wouldn't be possible with out them!
People come and go in your life, but the I think each one has a purpose, something to show you or teach you, if you are open to it.
So now, I'm getting back on the horse and back to the business of trying to lose the weight. Back to the regular blogging. And back to the hiking tomorrow! It should be a cool 94 degrees tomorrow in Jersey!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Day 43: Time Off for Bad Behaviour
I've been a bad, bad girl. But it's all good.
I seem to have taken the week off. From the blog, from exercise, but I've kept my eating on track for the most part. I didn't weigh myself when I got home from the cruise. I just didn't want to see the damage wrought. I know I didn't eat a lot at dinner, but the problem was that the buffet lines were so freakin' long on the ship that it was often easier to go grab a pastrami sandwich, or a burger and fries or pizza. So not so much with the salads.
I drank a lot of my calories, stuck mostly with gin because that gives me a clean and happy drunk. I've read that if you're going to drink alcohol, gin is one of the lower (not low,but lower) carb alcohols. I strayed from gin a little on the last night in the piano bar. Some of us in there made it our mission to get the piano man drunk. Because a drunk piano man is a funny piano man. So after watching Peter slowly nurse the beer I bought him, we decided to step it up to shots. And we let Peter call his shot. SoCo and lime.
Oy! I haven't drank Southern Comfort since my freshman year of college. With good reason. The last time I drank Southern Comfort, I don't remember much about the party the night before but I remember the morning after. I had been working on a journalism project that was due by noon the following day and then studying for a Russian test I had the next day at 9:55 am. I had finished the project and was starting the studying when a friend called and said "everyone" wanted me to come over. I hemmed and hawed a bit then gave in (pretty easily). Well everyone was half in the bag when I got there so I thought I should catch up...oh boy. Like I said, I don't remember much about the party, except that there was an excessive number of Southern Comfort and cokes. I woke up the next morning, half undressed, splayed on my bed at 10:10 am! The exam had started at 9:55. I changed clothes in a panic, ran down to the class, grabbed the test from my teacher as he gave me a strange look. Started the test about 10:20 finished it by 10:45 before anyone else, handed it in, ran to the bathroom, threw up. Then I walked over to the Journalism building, handed in my project and walked slowly back to my dorm, breathing the cold Indiana air in, hoping to clear my head. Got back to my dorm, threw up again and went back to bed. By the way, I got a B+ on the Russian exam. LOL! Talk about rewarding bad behaviour! For a long time, I kept an empty SoCo bottle around to remind myself of that awful morning.
And that was the last time I ever touched Southern Comfort. Until the last night of the Victory cruise. It's only polite to join the person you are buying shots for, so there was a group of us doing them along with Peter. We had a lot of fun in the piano bar that night, getting extremely silly along the way. Around 2:30 am we all headed up to the Lido Deck for pizza and had a good time chatting and munching. Peter and I left together and I rode the elevator with him down one floor. I remember saying good bye to Peter and getting off the elevator. And that's when the shots really kicked in. I don't remember much of anything after that. I don't remember the long walk from the very back of the ship to our room all the way at the very front. I apparently made it. Scott says that when I came to bed, I was going on and on about completely nonsensical things. I woke up the later that morning at 7:30. We had breakfast, well I had toast and some melon, and then we waited to get off the ship. I was surprised at the lack of hangover until I realized, I was still a little drunk. And I had to go straight to work from the ship. Oy!
We ran into several people from the piano bar who all asked if I was going to make it to the office. We waited for them to call our number, because even though we had our luggage, self assist was a madhouse. We finally got off the ship around 10:30. At this point we were some of the last people off the ship so we breezed through customs and hopped in a cab. I made it to the office a little before 11. I did fine until my body decided it was tired and had enough around 4 pm. The last hour was torture.
I really expected to fall back into my routine, but the past week has been busy, catching up with work and recovering from my vacation and I was less than motivated on the exercise portion of the show. Friday night was spent in a cleaning frenzy as I prepared for the arrival of one of my best friends, My Brian. He's come to visit for the better part of a week. I'm just hoping my liver can survive it. We usually have one night where we go out and just get ripped and happy and have fun. That was last night. We went to Sweet Caroline's a dueling piano bar in Times Square and had a lot of fun. And a lot to drink. Brian is the man who introduced me to tequila shots way back when and tequila always seems to make an appearance when we get together and last night was no exception. We left the bar quite happy around 2:15 am and hopped a cab back to Hoboken.
It's funny, but reading this makes it sound like I'm a total lush. I'm really not, I don't drink much in my day to day life. Occasionally some wine or a couple of drinks with dinner over the course of a normal month. But when I get on vacation or once every couple of months when I cut loose with friends, I party it up. I don't expect to be partying this hard again until my Legend cruise in September. Although there are rumors of a Sweet Caroline's happy hour in August. Hmmmm... the two words that spring to mind after that happy hour back in May... pole dance. Perhaps I better skip this happy hour...
I'm hoping to get back to more regular blogging this week. But there are no guarantees, because Brian doesn't leave until Thursday. We are going to see Billy Joel on Wednesday night at Shea Stadium.
Thanks for your patience!
And a quick PS - Thank you Joanne for the Churchill's recommendation in St. John! It was nice and not crowded with other cruisers and the food was terrific! The best meal we had all weekend.
Ooooo a blog about alcohol. Not the blog I hand in mind, but I'll save that for later.
I seem to have taken the week off. From the blog, from exercise, but I've kept my eating on track for the most part. I didn't weigh myself when I got home from the cruise. I just didn't want to see the damage wrought. I know I didn't eat a lot at dinner, but the problem was that the buffet lines were so freakin' long on the ship that it was often easier to go grab a pastrami sandwich, or a burger and fries or pizza. So not so much with the salads.
I drank a lot of my calories, stuck mostly with gin because that gives me a clean and happy drunk. I've read that if you're going to drink alcohol, gin is one of the lower (not low,but lower) carb alcohols. I strayed from gin a little on the last night in the piano bar. Some of us in there made it our mission to get the piano man drunk. Because a drunk piano man is a funny piano man. So after watching Peter slowly nurse the beer I bought him, we decided to step it up to shots. And we let Peter call his shot. SoCo and lime.
Oy! I haven't drank Southern Comfort since my freshman year of college. With good reason. The last time I drank Southern Comfort, I don't remember much about the party the night before but I remember the morning after. I had been working on a journalism project that was due by noon the following day and then studying for a Russian test I had the next day at 9:55 am. I had finished the project and was starting the studying when a friend called and said "everyone" wanted me to come over. I hemmed and hawed a bit then gave in (pretty easily). Well everyone was half in the bag when I got there so I thought I should catch up...oh boy. Like I said, I don't remember much about the party, except that there was an excessive number of Southern Comfort and cokes. I woke up the next morning, half undressed, splayed on my bed at 10:10 am! The exam had started at 9:55. I changed clothes in a panic, ran down to the class, grabbed the test from my teacher as he gave me a strange look. Started the test about 10:20 finished it by 10:45 before anyone else, handed it in, ran to the bathroom, threw up. Then I walked over to the Journalism building, handed in my project and walked slowly back to my dorm, breathing the cold Indiana air in, hoping to clear my head. Got back to my dorm, threw up again and went back to bed. By the way, I got a B+ on the Russian exam. LOL! Talk about rewarding bad behaviour! For a long time, I kept an empty SoCo bottle around to remind myself of that awful morning.
And that was the last time I ever touched Southern Comfort. Until the last night of the Victory cruise. It's only polite to join the person you are buying shots for, so there was a group of us doing them along with Peter. We had a lot of fun in the piano bar that night, getting extremely silly along the way. Around 2:30 am we all headed up to the Lido Deck for pizza and had a good time chatting and munching. Peter and I left together and I rode the elevator with him down one floor. I remember saying good bye to Peter and getting off the elevator. And that's when the shots really kicked in. I don't remember much of anything after that. I don't remember the long walk from the very back of the ship to our room all the way at the very front. I apparently made it. Scott says that when I came to bed, I was going on and on about completely nonsensical things. I woke up the later that morning at 7:30. We had breakfast, well I had toast and some melon, and then we waited to get off the ship. I was surprised at the lack of hangover until I realized, I was still a little drunk. And I had to go straight to work from the ship. Oy!
We ran into several people from the piano bar who all asked if I was going to make it to the office. We waited for them to call our number, because even though we had our luggage, self assist was a madhouse. We finally got off the ship around 10:30. At this point we were some of the last people off the ship so we breezed through customs and hopped in a cab. I made it to the office a little before 11. I did fine until my body decided it was tired and had enough around 4 pm. The last hour was torture.
I really expected to fall back into my routine, but the past week has been busy, catching up with work and recovering from my vacation and I was less than motivated on the exercise portion of the show. Friday night was spent in a cleaning frenzy as I prepared for the arrival of one of my best friends, My Brian. He's come to visit for the better part of a week. I'm just hoping my liver can survive it. We usually have one night where we go out and just get ripped and happy and have fun. That was last night. We went to Sweet Caroline's a dueling piano bar in Times Square and had a lot of fun. And a lot to drink. Brian is the man who introduced me to tequila shots way back when and tequila always seems to make an appearance when we get together and last night was no exception. We left the bar quite happy around 2:15 am and hopped a cab back to Hoboken.
It's funny, but reading this makes it sound like I'm a total lush. I'm really not, I don't drink much in my day to day life. Occasionally some wine or a couple of drinks with dinner over the course of a normal month. But when I get on vacation or once every couple of months when I cut loose with friends, I party it up. I don't expect to be partying this hard again until my Legend cruise in September. Although there are rumors of a Sweet Caroline's happy hour in August. Hmmmm... the two words that spring to mind after that happy hour back in May... pole dance. Perhaps I better skip this happy hour...
I'm hoping to get back to more regular blogging this week. But there are no guarantees, because Brian doesn't leave until Thursday. We are going to see Billy Joel on Wednesday night at Shea Stadium.
Thanks for your patience!
And a quick PS - Thank you Joanne for the Churchill's recommendation in St. John! It was nice and not crowded with other cruisers and the food was terrific! The best meal we had all weekend.
Ooooo a blog about alcohol. Not the blog I hand in mind, but I'll save that for later.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Day 35: Sailing, takes me away
As I write this I am sitting on my balcony, in a bathrobe and sunglasses. The coastline of New Brunswick is directly ahead of us as we slowly make our way towards it. We are in the Bay of Fundy now so it’s pretty calm. There’s a low level fog along the coastline, but as it is a beautiful, cloudless, sunny day, I expect that the fog will burn off quickly. Our excursion doesn’t leave until 12:30, so we have the morning to relax and take out time getting off the ship.
It’s been a nice cruise so far. I think Scott is probably enjoying himself more than he expected to. I got him to sit in the piano bar with me for a while on the first night, he didn’t last long, but the effort was there and appreciated. Last night, we went to the production show “Living in America” and he said, “It wasn’t bad for what it what it was, high praise indeed. Then the deal was that he would go back to the cabin and nap and I would go to the piano bar for a couple of hours, then we would go to the midnight comedy show, so this was an historic evening. The first time I’ve been on a cruise ship and haven’t spent the entire evening from open to close in the piano bar. It was a struggle let me tell you. But the comedian, Happy Cole was very funny.
This may be the first cruise that I gain weight on. More due to inactivity, than the food. We’ve been pretty lazy so far, breaking my rule of only doing steps. But I suppose my saving grace is that the food has been a MAJOR disappointment. I kept raving about the food in the dining room to Scott, but alas, the quality I recall from my previous 4 Carnival Cruises just has not been there. The first night, Scott’s strip steak and those of the couple sharing our table were tough as leather. I had the sweet and sour shrimp and, while better, the shrimp was kind of mushy. Last night, was the worst though. Scott’s spaghetti carbonara was bone dry, my duck was indifferently cooked and cold, by the time I received it, I ate less than half. The prime rib that one of our companions ordered was 70% fat. However her husband enjoyed his lobster tail and shrimp. The maitre d’ chose last night to come around and ask how dinner was, and trying to be nice, we said, “Well, John enjoyed his.” He asked us what is wrong. The sad part was that while he appeared concerned, he didn’t seem all that surprised. He promised that he would make sure that the meals at least arrived hot.
I doubt it’s a coincidence that the major fall in quality coincides with Carnival’s decisions to drop the staggered seating times for the two dining rooms. Instead of 5:45, 6.8 and 8:30, there are only two seatings, 6 and 8 and I’m sure the kitchen is getting overwhelmed. Also, not coincidentally, they changed the menus recently (but not the dessert menu). I feel really badly for Scott. Plus, this is the first time I’ve really noticed lines at the Lido deck restaurant. And I’m talking really long lines that wrap around the sides.
On the plus side, the pastrami at the deli is still surprisingly good. Desserts however remain fairly indifferent.
Embarkation literally took no time at all. I was prepared of a wait, so I planned for us to arrive at the pier at noon. Figuring if the hour and a half I had heard reported was true, we would be able to go straight to our cabin when we boarded. However, we arrived at noon and we were on the ship at 12:30. Lines were short and efficient, and the embarkation staff was cheerful and friendly.
Fortunately the crew remain the biggest asset that Carnival has. They’ve been unfailingly friendly and helpful, without exception.
Oh and loving my balcony. It’s going to be hard to go back to a simple ocean view or inside when I sail alone, and I’m not sure that Scott will develop the love for cruising that I have so there will probably be many more solo cruises in my future.
And no, there hasn't been any piano riding this trip. I've enjoyed Peter Rossetti very much and we've had some interesting conversations after the bar closed, but while I've been having a tough time getting a handle on him, I do get the vibe that he's not a girl on the piano kind of entertainer. And that's okay. There's always the Bloggers' Cruise in February.
It’s been a nice cruise so far. I think Scott is probably enjoying himself more than he expected to. I got him to sit in the piano bar with me for a while on the first night, he didn’t last long, but the effort was there and appreciated. Last night, we went to the production show “Living in America” and he said, “It wasn’t bad for what it what it was, high praise indeed. Then the deal was that he would go back to the cabin and nap and I would go to the piano bar for a couple of hours, then we would go to the midnight comedy show, so this was an historic evening. The first time I’ve been on a cruise ship and haven’t spent the entire evening from open to close in the piano bar. It was a struggle let me tell you. But the comedian, Happy Cole was very funny.
This may be the first cruise that I gain weight on. More due to inactivity, than the food. We’ve been pretty lazy so far, breaking my rule of only doing steps. But I suppose my saving grace is that the food has been a MAJOR disappointment. I kept raving about the food in the dining room to Scott, but alas, the quality I recall from my previous 4 Carnival Cruises just has not been there. The first night, Scott’s strip steak and those of the couple sharing our table were tough as leather. I had the sweet and sour shrimp and, while better, the shrimp was kind of mushy. Last night, was the worst though. Scott’s spaghetti carbonara was bone dry, my duck was indifferently cooked and cold, by the time I received it, I ate less than half. The prime rib that one of our companions ordered was 70% fat. However her husband enjoyed his lobster tail and shrimp. The maitre d’ chose last night to come around and ask how dinner was, and trying to be nice, we said, “Well, John enjoyed his.” He asked us what is wrong. The sad part was that while he appeared concerned, he didn’t seem all that surprised. He promised that he would make sure that the meals at least arrived hot.
I doubt it’s a coincidence that the major fall in quality coincides with Carnival’s decisions to drop the staggered seating times for the two dining rooms. Instead of 5:45, 6.8 and 8:30, there are only two seatings, 6 and 8 and I’m sure the kitchen is getting overwhelmed. Also, not coincidentally, they changed the menus recently (but not the dessert menu). I feel really badly for Scott. Plus, this is the first time I’ve really noticed lines at the Lido deck restaurant. And I’m talking really long lines that wrap around the sides.
On the plus side, the pastrami at the deli is still surprisingly good. Desserts however remain fairly indifferent.
Embarkation literally took no time at all. I was prepared of a wait, so I planned for us to arrive at the pier at noon. Figuring if the hour and a half I had heard reported was true, we would be able to go straight to our cabin when we boarded. However, we arrived at noon and we were on the ship at 12:30. Lines were short and efficient, and the embarkation staff was cheerful and friendly.
Fortunately the crew remain the biggest asset that Carnival has. They’ve been unfailingly friendly and helpful, without exception.
Oh and loving my balcony. It’s going to be hard to go back to a simple ocean view or inside when I sail alone, and I’m not sure that Scott will develop the love for cruising that I have so there will probably be many more solo cruises in my future.
And no, there hasn't been any piano riding this trip. I've enjoyed Peter Rossetti very much and we've had some interesting conversations after the bar closed, but while I've been having a tough time getting a handle on him, I do get the vibe that he's not a girl on the piano kind of entertainer. And that's okay. There's always the Bloggers' Cruise in February.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Day 31: Little Victories
I had two happy moments today, that suddenly made this whole diet and exercise thing seem worthwhile. No, I didn't have a "1" as the first digit of my weight yet. When that happens, y'all will probably hear the whoops and shouts from all the way up in Canada to all the way across the country in California and Oregon. And my friend Nanni in Puerto Rico, if you listen closely you will probably hear it too.
No, today was two smaller victories. It's hard when you're trying to lose weight to see it actually coming off. I mean you can see it in the numbers on the scale and the measuring tape. But because the changes happen so slowly it's hard to see them when you look in the mirror every day. I keep hoping that one day I'm going to wake up and look in the mirror and see a thin person there. Sometimes I wonder if I will even be able to see myself as a thin person. You get so used to thinking of yourself one way and it's hard to change the perception. And this is a lifetime of perception to change here.
Anyway, on to my happy moments. The first happened at work. I was standing by my boss's desk talking to him about some things and he remarked that you could tell that I've lost weight, he could see the changes. Awwwww... Now I've worked for this man for 17 years. He's seen my weight go from about 180 to 250 and now as it is slowly going down again. Of course his wife has him really well trained. He notices when I color or cut my hair or when I'm wearing a dress (which doesn't happen often) and will remark on it. but it was nice of him to notice the small changes that are happening too.
My second happy moment made me dance around the apartment (which I'm counting as exercise!). Before the Blogger's Cruise back in February, I bought two strapless dresses that had very structured tops (read: boning). One was purple and one was blue. They were on sale so the prices were really good. I figured I could bring them on the cruise for the formal nights. There was one small problem. I couldn't zip them up all the way. I could zip them until just above my waist but no further. This was really frustrating since they were my size. But I guess since they didn't have any "give", they just weren't going to go. Instead of returning them, I put them in my closet until the day when I could get the zippers all the way up. Well, that day did not come when I needed a dress from my friend's wedding in March. That day was today!
I'm starting to think about what I'm going to pack for my cruise and even though I haven't lost as much weight as I thought I might need to get the dresses on, just for sh*ts and giggles, I pulled the purple dress out of the closet. I asked Scott to try and zip me up and suddenly a choir of angels singing the "Hallelujah" chorus appeared in my bedroom. (Now I have a pretty big bedroom, but when you get the whole heavenly host in there too, it gets a little crowded and I'm a bit claustrophobic, so it wasn't the pleasant experience one might expect.) The zipper reached the top! It was snug but not overly tight. I could breathe. I could sit. Excited, I pulled the blue satin one out. Bingo! Same deal! Hooray!
It's these little moments that make it all seem worthwhile. It certainly made it much easier to motivate to pull on my exercise clothes, knee braces and sneakers and go walking tonight!
Tomorrow is my last day of work for the week. I haven't decide yet whether I'm going to take my laptop on the cruise. If I do, I will try and blog. But no promises. So if you don't see any updates from Thursday night on, don't abandon me completely! I'll be back on Monday!
No, today was two smaller victories. It's hard when you're trying to lose weight to see it actually coming off. I mean you can see it in the numbers on the scale and the measuring tape. But because the changes happen so slowly it's hard to see them when you look in the mirror every day. I keep hoping that one day I'm going to wake up and look in the mirror and see a thin person there. Sometimes I wonder if I will even be able to see myself as a thin person. You get so used to thinking of yourself one way and it's hard to change the perception. And this is a lifetime of perception to change here.
Anyway, on to my happy moments. The first happened at work. I was standing by my boss's desk talking to him about some things and he remarked that you could tell that I've lost weight, he could see the changes. Awwwww... Now I've worked for this man for 17 years. He's seen my weight go from about 180 to 250 and now as it is slowly going down again. Of course his wife has him really well trained. He notices when I color or cut my hair or when I'm wearing a dress (which doesn't happen often) and will remark on it. but it was nice of him to notice the small changes that are happening too.
My second happy moment made me dance around the apartment (which I'm counting as exercise!). Before the Blogger's Cruise back in February, I bought two strapless dresses that had very structured tops (read: boning). One was purple and one was blue. They were on sale so the prices were really good. I figured I could bring them on the cruise for the formal nights. There was one small problem. I couldn't zip them up all the way. I could zip them until just above my waist but no further. This was really frustrating since they were my size. But I guess since they didn't have any "give", they just weren't going to go. Instead of returning them, I put them in my closet until the day when I could get the zippers all the way up. Well, that day did not come when I needed a dress from my friend's wedding in March. That day was today!
I'm starting to think about what I'm going to pack for my cruise and even though I haven't lost as much weight as I thought I might need to get the dresses on, just for sh*ts and giggles, I pulled the purple dress out of the closet. I asked Scott to try and zip me up and suddenly a choir of angels singing the "Hallelujah" chorus appeared in my bedroom. (Now I have a pretty big bedroom, but when you get the whole heavenly host in there too, it gets a little crowded and I'm a bit claustrophobic, so it wasn't the pleasant experience one might expect.) The zipper reached the top! It was snug but not overly tight. I could breathe. I could sit. Excited, I pulled the blue satin one out. Bingo! Same deal! Hooray!
It's these little moments that make it all seem worthwhile. It certainly made it much easier to motivate to pull on my exercise clothes, knee braces and sneakers and go walking tonight!
Tomorrow is my last day of work for the week. I haven't decide yet whether I'm going to take my laptop on the cruise. If I do, I will try and blog. But no promises. So if you don't see any updates from Thursday night on, don't abandon me completely! I'll be back on Monday!
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