Pretty Pretty Pictures June 10, 2009

How cool is this? I stole this from Pixie @ ArtistMotherTeacher. Here’s a mosaic of my Twitter friends … and you can click on any of their photos to see their tweets. If you’d like to follow me and you’re not, you can find me here.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Respect for the Dead … May 22, 2009

I first saw this news story online yesterday. I immediately e-mailed the link to my colleague, who also had gastric bypass surgery. The two of us, pre-surgery, were nowhere near a combined 750 lbs., the weight of the woman who passed away, but the story still reasonated with both of us.

The basics of the story are that a woman, aged 48, who weighed 750 lbs. passed away at her home. The coroner’s office thought it would be a great idea to use a FLAT BED TRUCK to haul away the body. The body was dragged, on a mattress, across the apartment complex, while her 13 year old son watched. They even covered her in a piece of carpet, not even a sheet/blanket, and drove off with a police escort to the morgue. This happened in Indianapolis. Indianapolis!

What made the story even worse was the hatred evident in the comments left on the original story. What some people said, literally, is because this woman was overweight, she didn’t deserve any respect.

Umm. WHAT? As a former fat person, and now just a chubby girl, I can tell you first hand story after story of negative encounters I’ve had because of my weight … as well as positive encounters I’ve had when I’ve been thinner. Anyone who has struggled with their weight has the same stories to tell. (And I can tell you that if I were to wake up tomorrow and weigh 120 lbs., I’d still hear some of those cracks in my head.)

I don’t know what this woman’s circumstances were, why she weighed so much, or why no one stepped up and said something while all this was going on. But I do know that snide comments about overweight people seem to be one of the last acceptable prejudices. The same people who wouldn’t dream of making a crack about someone’s race or sexual orientation will ask, “Did you see the size of her ass?”

After losing more than 100 lbs., I guess I’m on the “inside” now. People are more comfortable saying things like that in front of me and it pisses me off. Sometimes these are people who knew me before my surgery, sometimes they are virtual strangers. Either way, it’s ugly and reflects more on the person who makes the remark than the person it’s directed to … but even knowing that doesn’t make the offhand comments hurt any less.

I Wonder If It Remembers Me … April 6, 2009

A blogging friend has a post up about the one film clip that always makes her cry. Hers is from The Color Purple. Mine is from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It’s a quirky movie, quite charming in my opinion. But it seems to be polarizing, you either “get” it or you hate it. I love it. It’s wrapped up in all sorts of emotions for me … it was the last movie I saw with my then-husband, about a month or so before the divorce was final. I cried all the way home.

This is my absolute favorite scene in the movie and my favorite line comes about 2 minutes in. Bill Murray is Steve Zissou, a kinda washed-up undersea explorer, hunting the creature that killed his longtime business partner. No one believed that the creature existed and everyone on the expedition is crowded into this vessel to look for it. When Steve says, “I wonder if it remembers me,” oh my goodness, I well up every time. It’s so beautiful and sad, and the music adds perfectly to the scene. Please do enjoy.

Vocab Lesson March 28, 2009

The great ceftin drama of 2009 seems to be over, thank God … my face was puffy until mid-afternoon and I still have red dots on my face from last night’s unfortunate drug reaction. I’m really not too surprised though — a few years ago I had an allergic reaction to augmentin, which is similar to amoxycillin, and the directions for ceftin said not to take if you were allergic to penicillin. Guess I need to stay away from all of the -cillins … aka the cheap drugs. Sigh. (I really can’t complain, the second antibiotic was only $7.75, when generally the cheapest copay I have is $10.)

Moving on. I have a pretty good vocabulary, although I seem to use the same 20 words over and over again, except when I’m really angry and bust out the four- and five-syllable words. (The last boyfriend once noticed he had cut his finger and couldn’t figure out how. I said I didn’t have any sharp parts and he said, very seriously, “You have a sharp tongue.” Touche.

Anyway, I was a meeting this evening and a word I am certain I have never heard before was used in one of the readings: captious. Out of 15 people, NO ONE had ever heard this word. In fact, no one even knew how to say it! Of course I had to check the dictionary when I got home.

Pronunciation: \ˈkap-shəs\

Function: adjective

Etymology:

Middle English capcious, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French captieux, from Latin captiosus, from captiodeception, verbal quibble, from capere to take — more at heave

Date: 14th century

1 : marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections <captious critics>2 : calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument <a captious question>

Hmm. I think I like this word. Now, to use it in a game of Word Twist … hee hee.

One Step at a Time … March 15, 2009

Yesterday morning I braved temperatures ranging from 33-36 degrees to do the Shamrock Run and Walk in downtown Indy. About three years ago, I did this walk, along with three coworkers, but it was 3 miles then and on a different course. The mileage had been increased to 4 miles this year. I was pretty lax about any kind of preparation; I walk pretty much every day and was just kind of like, eh, whatever, about the whole thing.

It really wasn’t too bad; it was just COLD. I parked about 5 blocks away then walked to the Circle. If the race had started then, it would have been great … instead, I had about 20-25 minutes to kill. Sitting wasn’t really an option, because cold + concrete = cold butt. So I wandered, talked to some people, and tried to stay warm. Chick-Fil-A was one of the race sponsors and there were dancing cows! So cute. I wished I had my camera but there was nowhere to stow it. 

Once the race started, I was stuck in a mass of people and tried to stay out of the way of the runners. I was in a group of walkers and the people around me were surprised at how many runners were behind us — because we stayed pretty far back in the pack. I’m not sure yet where I finished but I’d say if you divided the racers into thirds, with the fast runners being the top third, I was in the middle of the other two-thirds. I was passed but I also passed plenty of people … and was glad to see there were a lot of people behind me when I fnished!

I can’t wait for consistently warm temperatures so I can walk outside regularly (although that would mean walking past J’s building. Sigh.) and I might even treat myself to a new pair of tennies. The ones I have now came from Kohls and my left foot started to hurt somewhere after the 3-mile mark. I guess I’ll have to suck it up and get expensive shoes again. It made such a difference.

I’m Free! March 13, 2009

For a few days at least … I am doing the Shamrock Walk and Run this Saturday morning and was going to work from home tomorrow so I could pick up my race packet/t-shirt, but decided to just take the day off. Woo hoo! 

Of course, I won’t just be sitting around … I have a long to-do list:

1. Sleep in. (That’s a given!)
2. Drag laundry to my car.
3. Pick up race packet.
4. Have photo taken for passport.
5. Go to post office to pick up a package.
6. Go to ANOTHER post office to submit passport application (post office w/ package doesn’t do passports).
7. Stop by UPS to pick up my sugar-free peppermint syrup I ordered from Amazon for my coffee.
8. Do laundry. 
9. Work on my grad-level accounting assignment.

Phew! I’m sure I’ll manage to pack in some good lazy time … because I’ll be up bright and early Saturday morning to walk 4 miles in 30-some degree weather. Awesome! That reminds me of one more task … deciding what to wear to stay warm enough during the walk without being too bulky … hmmm. Definitely my black yoga pants and tennies … but the pants don’t have pockets and I need to carry my keys, ID and some $ for parking. 

And, oh yeah, I need to find someone to meet me at the finish line with a hot toddie … per the suggestion of Lissa and Mandy. Smart ladies.

My Hips Hurt! March 12, 2009

 

Tonight was belly-dance class #2. The instructor warned us that we would be sore in places that we wouldn’t even imagine. Ok, so I’m mostly sore from last night’s workout at the fitness center, but yeah, I know I’m going to be feeling it even more tomorrow. Shimmies ain’t easy, peeps.  

I did wear my awesome-o pink sparkly scarf on my hips tonight … but because I was wearing a brown sweater to stay warm, not too much of the scarf showed. Pfft. I took this photo the other day so I could send it to my mom, to show her the scarf, in all it’s pink and silver sparkly perfection; the mirrors are in my entryway and no, I didn’t realize how dirty they were until I saw the photo!

Spring Forward March 8, 2009

Seems like nearly everyone complains about losing an hour in the spring. Yeah, it stinks to wake up and have it be pitch black outside, but it’s so worth it to me to have more light in the evening! I moved to Indiana in 1998. Until just a few years ago, there was no daylight savings time here. Craziness! Why does it have to be light at 6 a.m.? Why why why? People I worked with bitched and moaned about DST the year it was implemented. I assured them that they’d grow to love it … which they did, tyvm. :p When it comes right down to it, we may “lose” an hour in the spring, but we get it back in the fall. Big whoop!

The belly dance class on Wednesday was super awesome. It was so much fun. I didn’t realize I was supposed to have a hip scarf, but I was just about the only person there not wearing one. Friday night, when I met a friend at Super Tarjay before going to see Gran Torino (excellent!), I found the perfect scarf: Pink AND sparkly! Oh my goodness. It is fantastic. I’ve tried to practice the exercises we went over in class but yeah, I have no idea if I’m doing them correctly or not. I guess I’ll see on Wednesday.

I’m dressed and ready for church but blogging in the bedroom, as Laci is still asleep on the couch. I felt kinda bad making coffee, because it’s just a one-bedroom apartment and the kitchen isn’t too far from the couch, but yeah, it’s coffee. It’s necessary!

So, Apparently, I Don’t Recognize Myself Anymore … March 5, 2009

I had my bariatric surgery just over 7 months ago and I’ve lost 90 lbs. (GO ME!) Standing in front of a mirrored wall tonight at the first belly dance class, I didn’t recognize myself.

For one, I looked taller! Woo hoo! (I’m 5′4″.) For another, well, I looked nothing like the image of myself in my head. To be honest, I have no frame of reference anymore. None of the photos I have to look at really look like me, because I basically look different on a weekly basis. 

I think this class is going to be good for me. I need to find my sass again. Ok, yeah, my level of sass right now is far higher than some people ever get. But they don’t call me “Sassrine” for nothing, you know. Instead of Stella getting her groove back, it’s gonna be Catherine getting her sass back …

Oh! And don’t even get me started about the gorgeous hip scarves available. OH THE SPARKLES!

You Bury Your Treasure Where It Can’t Be Found March 4, 2009

So, I’m all set with the belly dance class. It starts tomorrow and is on my way home from work! I emailed two instructors and heard back from them both. The woman teaching the class that begins tomorrow looks super cool. I hope it’s fun. I do better when I am active and don’t just set out to exercise, you know?

I have been obsessively checking the online gradebook for the class I finished Sunday. I know it won’t be posted yet, but I am dying to know what my final grade is. Accounting started yesterday. SO not my thing. 

Also, obsessively, I am listening to Ultraviolet (Light My Way) by U2. Achtung Baby was probably the last full album by U2 that I really, really liked. I didn’t like this song when I first heard the album — I was too blown away by some of the bigger hits — but now the sadness/weariness in Bono’s voice really reasonates with me. The line, “There is a silence that comes to a house where no one can sleep” struck a chord with me during the waning days of my marriage.

Please do enjoy.