Yeah, yeah, I know

... so I've been negligent about the blog again, and I'm sorry about that. Here... I'll fill you in.

John had his birthday on the 12th, so we celebrated in broke-ass style. Really, we had a great time. We just had to be especially economical about it. We set a budget so he could buy new clothes, then did a little shoping, after which we went to dinner at Rosa Mexicana, one of his favorite restaurants in the city. Of course, we don't just do birthdays... we do birthday weeks. All week long, John has been entitled to certain niceties, such as my doting on him far more than I'm accustomed to (and he's been gracious about it, careful not to rub it in, thankfully... for his sake). As for the clothes purchaces in spite of being broke, there was really no way around that. I've been on a crazy diet, sure, and it's working like a charm, but John's also been doing his share of work to lose a few pounds. A couple of days before his birthday, we did a general clothing and coat inventory, just to see how many of our clothes still fit. To our surprise, almost NONE of John's clothes fit him anymore... he was literally out of jeans, jackets, and dress shirts, and was down to two pairs of pants, both of them casual. We're happy that he's doing this, but man, losing weight's been pretty expensive. My clothes, on the other hand, can wait, as far as I'm concerned. After all, I'm not even half way to my goal, and I still have a few items that will work for now. Granted, they're mostly amorphous dresses or certain items that don't look too bad even though they're loose, but at least I have clothes to wear, which is more than I could say for John.

That leads me to the weight loss thus far. John's gotten down to below 200 pounds for the first time since... jeese, I don't know, maybe seven or eight years. My numbers, though, are something to behold. I haven't been this weight in about a decade, maybe longer. Currently, I'm at an even 170... that's 30 pounds I've lost in 9 weeks! And trust me, I'm not stopping any time soon; I've got 40 more pounds to go before my goal is reached, and I think I can get there by December. By the time my birthday rolls around (that's October 17th, for all you gift-givers), I hope to be in the 150s, a land I haven't been to since... let's see... well over a decade. I think I may have been in the 150s when I got married, so yeah, that was almost ten years ago. To be honset, I don't even remember what that's like, being that size. I'm already a little overwhelmed as it is, being able to fit into clothing I never dreamed of putting on just a couple of months ago. Weird. I went out with a few friends about a week ago for a birthday celebration, and everyone seemes genuinely impressed. Maybe they were just being polite, but they seemed to think the weight loss was showing. Then again, thirty pounds is bound to show, right? Anyway, this is awesome. School starts up in just under three weeks, and I should be down another ten pounds or so by then. Have I mentioned that I love this freaking diet?

Of course, I'm doing this to be healthier, no question. John and I have been running in Central Park almost every day now, something I couldn't do before when I was heavier. I definitely have more energy in general, my knees don't bother me anymore, my back hurts less, and I think my snoring has almost gone away completely (according to John, who is entirely too happy about that). So yeah, goody. But let's face it... there's a lot more to this weight loss business than health. And no, it's not just vanity. Anyone rememeber that whole rock star thing I've been working on? Well, I'm not as believable as a performing artist when I'm fat, apparently. Say what you will about talent being the most important thing, and determination, and keeping hope alive, and going from show to show trying to sell your album, and all of that crap. Trust me... no one really cares about listening to the fat girl sing her little songs, sad as that seems. I can't begin to tell you how often I've heard people give me compliments like, "Wow... if you were a bit thinner, you could really have a career," or, "Ever thought of sticking to just being a recording artist for now?" I've learned to take these as compliments because, well, let's face it... these people are right. Some folks may listen to the fat girl, but they're usually other fat girls who can't give me a record deal, and no one seems to think there's much good in catering to the fat girl demographic anyway. In short, I'm doing this for my career. Plain and simple. Frankly, I don't think there's much better reason than that for me. I mean, I'm doing what I can for my health... I have new doctors now, and they're taking care of me pretty well. I'm also exercising intelligently, eating carefully measured meals, and sleeping better than I have in years. I think I'm on the right track, if you ask me. Meanwhile, check me out in December.

Speaking of rock star stuff, I'm back on the open mic circuit, and I intend on going full steam for the next couple of weeks until school starts. Why not, right? That also means I need to update my artist website, so I'll let everyone know when that's done. For now, I'll send out emails when it's important. The web site should be new and improved in about a week, assuming all goes according to plan... hell, maybe I can get it done sooner. The point, though, is that I think I've picked up momentum from before, since a couple of weeks ago when I didn't feel like I was getting anything done. I've finished the final draft of my thesis... now I'm just waiting for my co-mentors to get back to me on any revisions, if there are any left (my guess is that I'm done, or extremely close to it). I also have a website project that I've got to finish up, as well as some prep work for the new lab I'm teaching this fall (research methods... good times). I think I'm taking it all in stride, though, and that's a good feeling. Whether or not it makes any sense, I'm giving full credit to the diet. I mean, it's the reason for so many other good things going on for me, so why not these as well? Thanks, diet... I owe you one.