Happy Merry

So there went Christmas. Not a bad one, either. For starters, we got to see the family, catch up with close friends that we haven't seen in a while, score some pretty great shwag, etc. John and I will be going in on Monday for new tatoos, which will be good family fun, and I'll be doing the Holiday in the Park thing at Six Flags wih my darling boys, the Johns and Ricky and Roger, some time on Friday. Best of all, (or, at least I think it is), we've actually managed to stay on top of things where our workout regimen is concerned; we've gotten into the gym like clockwork, and my running schedule/John's lifting routine have remained unsabotaged. Wow.

On that note, I'm about to embark on my third week of transition on my Medifast diet. I've finally gotten a few ooohs and aaahs on my weight, so I'm gratified on that front at long last. Transition, though, means the re-introduction of a bunch of foods that I haven't so much as thought about or looked at in the past six months, which is both exciting and terrifying all at once. For instance, I began eating extra vegetables for the first time three weeks ago, and two weeks ago saw the addition of fruit to my daily meals. Starting tomorrow, it'll be time to throw dairy back into the mix, and the following week will be time to include grains and breads. It may not seem like a huge deal, but it's pretty freakin' enormous to me. For one, I'm weighin in at about 127 pounds, a full three pounds below my goal. I can't say I've ever... EVER... weighed that little. Hell, I may have come from the womb at heavier than that. So yeah, I'm pretty scared, mostly because I don't want to lose what I've worked so hard to attain. I'm following the transition schedule put in plce by Medifast, though, so I should be fine. Hey... they brought me this far, and they haven't let me down yet, so I'm willing to give these folks the benefit of the doubt. meanwhile, I'll continue with my marathon training, as well as preparing for a 15K that's coming up in a little over a week (a "resolution run" over in Addison), which I signed up to run while I was still back in New York. And let's not forget my studying for comps, which I'll admit has gotten off to a slow start. But hey... slow and steady... well, at least I'm hoping slow and steady will do something good for me, because that's what I've got at the moment.

By the way, if you're reading this and I haven't gotten to visit you (assuming you're a friend of mine living in the DFW area), drop me a line already!

The holiday rush cometh

And, to be honest, I'm not ready. I did everything in my power to prepare, almost taking things to the point of anal mania, but to no avail. As it turns out, when your plans involve other people, and those people don't exactly hear your plans, the plans don't really matter. It's been two days on this trip, and already I've had a half dozen plans fall through. Love it. No matter... I think I've gotten over the initial stress of those things, and I'm ready to take everything in stride now. Literally.

I'm going to be running a 5K in Arlington this morning... it's called the "Just for the Heck of It" run, and I'm sure it'll be a little lame by comparison to the races I'm used to in New York, but at least it's something to do.Besides, it's only a 5k, so I'll be in and out in an hour, hopefully with the inclusion of parking and picking up my race bib, etc. So I'll do that, then, come back to Chuck's place, where I'll clean up and go on with my day. I have a few friends to visit, some Chrstmas shopping to tackle, and then we're ending up at my Mom's to spend the night. You know... at some point.

That is, if things go according to plan.

Right.

Being back is weird

John made the comment yesterday, as we were going for an evening run around Chuck's neighborhood, that we'd only been in Texas a few hours, and he already missed New York. I understood completely. I mean, it's not that we hate Texas. We're really happy to be here again for a visit, to see so many people that we love and miss, to have that odd experience of revisiting things that were once so intrinsic a part of our everyday lives, now so experientially removed from who we are now. Still, I, too, miss New York. Frankly, it's kind of my job as a New Yorker. If you live there, I'm sure you understand. Anyway, the evening run was also different... the air was thick last night, the new allergens in the environment were noticeable, and everyhing was so.. well... quiet. That, and it was about 62 degrees, in the middle of December. Weirdness.

The trip here got off to a predictable start; Laguardia airport was a madhouse when we got there at a little before 5am, and we stood in line at check-in until about 6:45, just fifteen minutes before our plane would depart. While standing in line, Kyadden mewed incessantly in his bag, upsetting all of the nearby dogs in their bags, which was good fun. Of course, once we got on the plane, the world was right again. Kyadden went instantly to sleep, the plane left on time and arrived at DFW fifteen minutes ahead of schedule.

There was some suspense riding on this arrival for us because my Mom would be picking us up, and she hasn't seen us since our big physical transformations. She got to the baggage claim, and when she finally saw us, she gave John a big hug, then came up to me and said, "Wow, your eyes are a little red... you need to get more sleep." Yeah... that's my Mom for ya. Later, though, she did have a good look at me and freaked out, so that was gratifying. i was hoping for more of a cool holy-crap-you-look-so-different-or-something look on her face, but no such luck. Oh, well... plenty of people to see me yet, so I'll just have to wait until then before I get that gratification. Chuck and Donna saw me for the first time in a while, too, and they both said something, but they've seen me more recently than most, so they don't really count on my shock factor search. But there are others, and I think they'll have a little more of a reaction. I hope so, anyway, or I'm going to feel extremely lame.

I am so much cooler than I was yesterday

Okay... momentous news...

Ready?

I DID IT!!!!! I weigh 130 pounds!!!!!!!!!

I weighed in at 130 this evening, and I could hardly believe it. I even did a stupid little dance in front of the scale, naked as a freaking jaybird, right there in the middle of the gym locker room. No one seemed to mind, actually. Not that I would have cared anyway, because I WEIGH 130 POUNDS!!!!

Holy crap. That means I've lost over 100 pounds since I came to New York, back in the summer of 2005. Ah, but it's the little things that I'm enjoying about the new me. For instance:

to be able to cross my legs...
to run for a few miles, and, more importantly, go up a couple of flights of stairs, and not feel like I'm about to die...
to wear a size small in just about everything...
to get the towels at the gym to wrap all the way around me...
to take up less space when I sit down on the subway...
to wear tall boots zipped up over jeans...
to wear short skirts...
to wear my hair back without worrying about my face being too fat for it...
to wear the coats I've kept for years because I loved them so much and finding them too big for me now...
to have skinny people talking to me and including me in skinny people talk...
having to wear my engagement ring as my wedding ring because it's the only ring I own that fits...
catching my reflection now and then and freaking out a little because I don't recognize me (no, seriously)...
not being recognized by my own husband when he's looking for me in a crowd...
not being fat anymore!

So tonight, John and I are pulling a late night at the office, working on papers like we do every December. We had our 9th wedding anniversary yesterday, which was very low key, especially since I'd pulled an all-nighter the night before and he was overwhelmed with work all that day. Basically, we did a gift exchange, watched a little TV, and fell over dead asleep. to be honest, it was lovely, and I have no complaints. We're going to do some fun stuff when we finally get some free time, which will be when we're in texas next week, so no worries about doing something momentous. For now, there's work to do. that, and I have a race tomorrow, which is why this is a late night rather than an all-nighter. the Holiday 4-miler in Central Park will be a cold morning run, but I think I'll be okay, since I have a warm shell and some long running tights that should take care of the weather issue. If there's anything I'm looking forward to, it's seeing what people back in Texas say when they see us... John looks like a freaking muscle-bound rock star, and I look like I went to the store and bought a hell of an upgrade.

Yeah. This ought to be fun.

End-of-semester... the usual

Man, but it's one hell of a crunch this year! Not only is it conveniently the end of the school semester at the same time as my ninth wedding anniversary (which means we can do absolutely nothing fun on the day), but we're also on the verge of going back to Texas for about three weeks, and that's always a little stressful. For starters, I have to take the cat to the vet so he can be cleared for takeoff, or so they can prove he's not a terrorist or somesuch. Then, I have to make sure we actually have luggage. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that I still have no clothing that fits, since the clothes I most recently bought seriously don't fit me anymore. I put on a pair of size 5/6 jeans from this ultra-cheap store in the Bronx that I bought, like, a month ago at the longest, and sure enough, they were so big that I could take them off without undoing them. Great. I mean, yes, great, I'm losing weight, I'm smaller than I think I've ever been and still healthy. But seriously... I need clothes. Anyway, I'm only two pounds away from goal... TWO POUNDS!!! After that, it's time to go into transition and maintenance, and that's a whole different scariness. I'm going to be eating normal food again, and I'm a little nervous about it, but John tells me he's going to coach me through it, since what he's doing is basically a modified version of what I'll be working toward dietarily. Okay, fine. So I have support. I won't lie, though... it's still scary.

I just ran another race this past weekend, the Joe Kleinerman 10K. This was actually the lonest race I've run so far, but it wasn't too bad, considering that I run that same loop of Central Park at least once a week. I've also just begun a new training regiment for running my first marathon, but it hasn't really gotten difficult yet, so I'm not struggling. Then again, I know that's just around the corner, so I'm sort of preparing myself for it emotionally. I've been talking to people who've run marathons before, and I think I'm on the right track with my training schedule. (I got it from a trainer from Medifast, actually, and it looks like it'll get me running the right distances in less than four months... cool.) I have another race coming up this Saturday, the Holiday 4-miler, which is also at Central Park... seriously, these are great fun, and I recommend them to any able-bodied whoever that doubts themselves even a little bit. Trust me, you'll thank me if you take my advice. Go find a 5K or something and just run it.

I have an audition in about a week, too. I'm nervous, but not realy, mainly because I don't expect anything to come of it. Still, it's one of those things that I've been meaning to do, and I'd just feel silly if I don't at least give it a shot. More on that later. Meanwhile, I have two papers due in two days, a third paper due next week, a bunch of homework to grade for the lab I teach, an assignment for psychometric theory that I pretty much decided was written in a bizzare form of sanskrit, and an anniversary that I feel the need to make a little more special than just another day at school. I'm busy. Healthy, happy, etc, etc... just busy, and wanting very much to catch my breath.

Actually, maybe I just did.