Getting Ready to Go...

T-Minus 4 days until I'm on a plane to Iowa ... then it's off to the mountains! I'm starting to get excited... but I'm also completely overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I have to get done between now and then. I've been working as hard as I can to get as much school stuff done as humanly possible. For my Poly Sci class, I've only got one more written assignment, one quiz, and a proctored exam to do.... the other classes...don't ask. In addition, I've got laundry... cleaning.... grocery shopping for BF... packing.... and various work/ school appointments... plus, somewhere in there I want to make time to drop in on some dear friends who just had a baby girl! (Welcome to the world, Megan Joyce Feltes!!)

UGH!!!!

Truthfully, I should not be sitting here blogging when there are dishes to be put away and piles of laundry to be washed.... not to mention homework and packing to do. Oh well..... a few more minutes won't kill me I guess.

In other news, I got some truly ugly, but truly comfortable shoes today. I'm wearing them right now.... trying to break them in around the house before I road-test them on the trip. :)

 

Oh, I also got my hair chopped off the other day.... I'm still adjusting to having it so short... but with the steamy weather, having less hair has been really nice! :) 

Trust the Program

I've been avoiding the scale lately. You know when your grocery supply gets low in the house and you begin eating really badly because.... well, that's the only option? That was me this past week. It's been sort of slim pickins around here.... I've been insanely busy with class and we were sans car for a few days because my POS VW had MORE overheating problems.... so I began to "cheat" a little bit. Nothing too major - I've cultivated quite a strong sense of self-discipline through this little experiment - but enough that I thought for sure I was going to see some fallout on the scale.

I weighed this morning.... expecting to descend immediately into a cloud of weight-gain depression....only to find that I'm still holding steady at 135. Incredible. My body is trusting the program.... my brain, not so much. I AM nervous though about my upcoming vacation.... I know there's going to be a lot of temptation... but I'm hopeful that I can maintain my self-discipline, get lots of great exercise walking/ hiking in the beautiful scenery, drink lots and lots of water (and swim in some too!!), and inspire my parents to do the same!! This will be the longest uninterrupted span of time I will have spent with them since I graduated from undergrad in '07. I'm hoping that some of my new found good habits will rub off on them.

I'm going to stop apologizing for not posting as often as I'd like to.... because of all these classes, that's just how it's going to be... Obviously, I'm nearing the end of my Dukan experiment, Stage 3 ends in August or September... and then Stage 4 goes back to normal eating with a few modifications. I've discovered that I really enjoy blogging - and so I may, at that point, transition this into just a normal blog. I hope that those of you who've been reading will continue to do so! I promise to try to keep it interesting. :)

Oh, and ..... Happy 4th of July!

God Bless America!

The 4th of July is actually one of my most favorite holidays to celebrate in Chicago. Having grown up in Sioux City, Iowa where fireworks are uber forbidden - so forbidden that the CITY of Sioux City didn't even have a fireworks display, all the forlorn Sioux Cityans would have to gather by the Mighty Missouri and watch the festivities in Nebraska and South Dakota... it was very sad - it was quite a change coming to Chicago where fireworks are almost a nightly occurrence once the weather gets nice (or at least I tell myself that all the loud popping noises are fireworks... ssshh!! don't burst my bubble!!).

There isn't anything quite like 4th of July in the city.... in a small town you get the city fireworks display, you might have a few Morning Glories, bottle rockets, and sparklers for the family barbeque... but it's nothing spectacular. In the big city though - it's truly an extravaganza.

Our first year in Chicago, we weren't quite brave enough to venture downtown for the big display.... so we had resigned ourselves to sitting dejectedly in our un-air conditioned apartment watching Vanessa Williams sing patriotic favorites with the Boston Pops (Lame)... but as we looked out the windows, we were amazed that we could see fireworks going off for 360 degrees around.... close, far, and everywhere in between. The entire city was alight with fireworks. At that time, we didn't have a balcony or any outdoor space at all.... so we ran excitedly from window to window, hooting and hollering for the other one to join us when we saw a particularly good one... it was incredible.

While I know that most people look at the 4th of July as a time for barbeques, beer drinking, parties, and the reawakening of one's pyromaniacal tendencies.... I see it quite differently. Being a student of history, I have thought on many an Independence Day eve of the sacrifices of those first Americans.... and of many other Americans through the years who have fought and died to keep us safe and free. I've thought of the men who sat in a stuffy hall drafting and signing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, forming the backbone of our American way of life. I like to think that when other people shoot off fireworks and celebrate the day that they are acknowledging these events too.... although, I'm sure most of them just like drinking and playing with fire...

Tonight I went out on my new balcony and watched the Pre-4th fireworks.... they're still going on as I write this now. I wonder if this is what it looks like in cities all across America right now.... if someone was watching from space, would they see a sparkling country celebrating its freedom and independence? I'd like to think so. :)

Cheating??

Ok, so last night - BF and I went out to Outback for dinner. It was a last minute decision... and when I got there, I couldn't resist eating some of that delicious dark brown bread they bring to the table... and having a wonderful bleu cheese wedge salad (although, to be fair, I only ate half because I very nicely split it with BF). The rest of my dinner was Dukan-approved - steamed veggies - no butter no salt (aka: no fun) and an 8 oz sirloin - hardly any fat at all (they overcooked it a bit too... I don't like it mooing at me, but this was a bit DRY). Normally I would just count this as my "Celebration Meal" except that.... I had sushi for dinner the night before....
what do you guys think? Did I cheat??