tobermory's Diaryland Diary

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Resolute

I�m back after my week-long sabbatical � as promised. Christmas was most excellent � Steve gave me a new red Harvey�s seatbelt purse with a black seat-belt wallet, the complete New Yorker on DVD for the computer, some kitchen gadgets, flannel pjs, new headphones for my iPod*, and a bunch of other little things. My parents gave me a light grey cashmere cableknit tutleneck, a huge gourmet foodbasket, and an embarrassingly large check that went towards the car (OK � they gave me the check when I bought the car back in October but it came with the explanation that it was an early Christmas gift). From my in-laws I received a pair of nice suede gloves (which I promptly dropped into a puddle a few days later � luckily they came out unscathed) and a gift certificate for some beauty products. Although we weren�t supposed to exchange gifts, one of my brothers gave Steve and I a gift card for Home Depot � it was really more of a congratulatory gift for finally closing on the house. All in all a very nice Christmas indeed.

The earphones kind of give me the ickies. I asked for a new set of earphones (or ear buds or whatever they�re called these days) because the ones that come with the iPods from Apple are sucky and must have been styled to fit Andre the Giant � either that or I have very petite ears. I can jam them in my ears, but they tend to pop out if I move. It gets worse in the winter when the cold air makes the cords lose their flexiness � then they barely stay in at all - forget trying to work out or jog with them in. I asked for ones made by Koss because I had read somewhere that they made a set for around $20 (I tend to lose and/or break earphones at an alarming rate so I have a $25 limit) that had a decent sound and were styled to better fit into ears. And, they do both of these things, but (there�s always a but) the part that goes into your ear is made of the foam earplug stuff that you have to squish tightly and then shove into your ear canal and let it expand. While this does provide great fit and ambient sound blocking, the fact that they are going into my ear canal is a little gross. I�ll be the first to say that I am a frequent Q-Tipper in pursuit of greater aural hygene but still � ewwww. They should really come with some sort of protective baggie or cover for when you�re not using them because I can just see the purse lint accumulating on them. Gah. Plus now � sharing? Completely out of the question. My ear wax residue might be gross, but at least it�s MY ear wax residue. Anyone else�s ear wax residue can stay in their own ears thank you very much.

I managed to make excellent use of the new oven over my vacation. I made three batches of Christmas cookies, one pan of blondies, I finally got over my problem with chicken and made some fabulous saut�ed chicken breasts with a wild rice pilaf side dish, and yes, I did make the turkey with the White Castle stuffing, and yes, it was ghettofabulous � by the time its done cooking it�s lost most of the White Castle-ness and become extremely flavorful moist stuffing with just the right amount of everything. I did make Steve rinse off the turkey and stuff the stuffing into it because it was almost exactly the same size as Wendy, one of my cats, and that creeped me out a bit. Not enough to not eat the turkey � just enough to not want to have much contact with it in the raw state. I made Martha Stewart�s mac �n� cheese as a side and we may be eating it until the end of the month. When Martha says it feeds 12 she isn�t kidding. Then last night I made a pork roast for Steve to use as lunchmeat this week. Later this week when we�re done picking the turkey carcass clean I�ll make a big cauldron of turkey-barley soup. I am just Susie Fucking Homemaker.

On to that awful beginning of the year tradition � Resolutions. Yes � I made some.

1. Get back on the gym schedule � see resolution #6.
2. Eat better � cut waaaaay back on fried foods. This will help my cholesterol level go down and should help reduce me in general. Deep fried pickle chips/cheese curds/potato products � it was nice knowing you. Now BEGONE!
3. Lose 10 lbs. by the Green Bay mini-con. I want to shake it at the Bad Bar in something HOTT! So time to crack down pronto.
4. Lose 25 lbs. by the time I need to think about wearing a tank top. I have the added incentive that I have a high school reunion coming up in 2007. I�m not really planning on going since I don�t keep in touch with anybody but if I manage to become svelte and willowy in 2006 I might consider it.
5. No eating out in January. At all. No lunches, dinners, snacks � nada. I am still allowed to get plain coffee at Caribou or Sbux (especially on days like today when Steve sent me out the door with some sort of shitty tea) but no bagels, pastries or frou-frou coffee drinks. I have a fabulous new stove at home and the newfound ability to prepare chicken breasts in mere minutes so I have no excuse not to cook. Eating at home should take care of the fried food dilemma since I do not own a deep-fryer.
6. Get to bed earlier. I�m not 25 anymore � this staying up until past midnight (even if I am in bed reading) is wrecking havoc on my ability to get my ass out of bed in the morning (and consequently to work on time). If I get into work earlier I can leave earlier and take earlier classes at the gym and be home earlier and into bed earlier.

Now, since I vowed to list what I eat (and I should list my exercise as well) here goes:
Breakfast - 1 cup lite yogurt, Venti coffee with skim milk. Lunch - 1 packet albacore tuna (mercury levels be damned), 4 grainy ryecrisp things. Snack - an orange. Tomorrow I�ll start off with what I had for dinner tonight and what I did at the gym, and then follow with breakfast and lunch and I�ll keep to that format. I don�t want to cheat and list my dinner and activities now because they are in the future and the future is an ever changing thing.
OOH - had to edit this post to add resolution #7 - I'm going to try to do the 52 books thing. It's going to be tough because I also vowed to try to use the library more, but we'll see. I just finished Five Mile House by Karen Novak so I'm on my way. it was sort of 'eh' - a little too super-natural for my taste but I have two of her other books on loan so I'll plow through them and see if it gets any better.

1:58 p.m. - 2006-01-02

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