Fat Nerd Fit

The new year is fast approaching and I, like most of the world, am looking for what is to come and looking back one what has been accomplished. When I look back at 2017 all in all I am happy with what was accomplished. -- I went from a job that I really liked that didn't pay the bills to a job that I love that does pay the bills. WIN -- I've lost 22.4 pounds while just half assing my efforts. WIN -- I've helped my husband get off his pre-diabetes medication and lose over 40 pounds. WIN -- I won NaNoWriMo 2017 and wrote over 50,000 words in November. WIN -- I am truly happy with where I see my future going. WIN I did not lose the 50 pounds I wanted to. I did not finish my novel. I did not make my 1000 purposeful miles. I did not get close to any of these goals that I shared on December 31, 2016. But I feel like I did achieve goal number 1 on that list. Goal number 1 was Happiness. I feel like I did that. I am happy. I feel at ease. I feel content. I feel a...

So, um, yeah, November has come and gone. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving! Things have been busy in my neck of the woods. I’m still adjusting to working full time again after nearly a year of part time employment, of course, the holidays have arrived, and last month was also NaNoWriMo! National Novel Writing Month is an international annual challenge to write 50,000 original words (the average length of a novel) in the month of November. I did the challenge last year and failed miserably, not even making it half way to my goal. This year, however, at 9:00 pm on November 30 (the deadline is midnight) I submitted 50,075 words written in November! I was super stoked to be able to meet the challenge! I was that crazy person in the breakroom at work with my laptop, I tippy-tapped away on the keys while at home watching TV with the hubby, and on one particularly productive day off I wrote over 7,000 words while doing laundry and meal prep. I ended up with two short stories and th...

As a general rule, I try to give teenagers the benefit of the doubt. I know that they can be annoying and loud and obnoxious. They do dumb things and will act oddly just to get the attention. I didn’t think it at the time, but I am confident that adults felt the same about me when I was a teenager. At the book store, I run two very teenager heavy sections. Some of the teens do get on my nerves because they are still developing their people skills. A couple are just obnoxious in general. But the vast majority of them are awesome people-in-progress. Adults gave me tons of leeway and patience when I was younger, and I try to extend the same courtesy. As you’ve no doubt heard a million times: if you treat them as adults, they will behave as adults. I take them and their thoughts and ideas seriously. I listen to their opinions and engage them in conversation. We debate who the best Robin is (Dick Grayson). We discuss our theories as to where the MCEU is going. Who would win the Hulk...

I don't tell secrets unless someone is in danger. I know of no one in danger, therefore I have no secrets I am willing to share.

Relaxation is a key part of taking care of yourself. We can schedule the days, check off the to-do lists, accomplish all the thing- including eating right and working out- but that’s not all you need to do. Sometimes you need to do nothing. In a perfect world, I’d love to put time aside to relax once a week, or more often. But, usually, I’m lucky to get in purposeful relaxion once a month. I’m one of those multi-taskers that can’t sit still very well. As I type, I am working on catching up on blogtober, watching Spider-Man Homecoming, baking muffins, and thinking about what must get done next week. Oh, and playing around on the Stargate Forum. But, when I do get around to relaxing, my favorite thing to do is to give myself a facial, take an Epsom salt bath with some essential oils, listen to my spa playlist and read a book. My dog gets really confused when I do this and usually lays on the bathroom rug judging me silently. I like to do this when no one else is home so I can hav...

I have no problem growing old. I refuse to grow-up.

I try very hard to respect people’s phobias. I try very hard not to make fun of people for them, or tease them about them, or belittle them because of them. I am scared to great-googly-moogly of geckos. The house I grew up in had so many geckos! I saw them crawl out of a sink faucet, ninja out of a crack in a countertop, and freaking materialize in the middle of a room as I walk across it. They died in light fixtures and left creepy gecko corpse shadows in the ceiling. They jumped off the door at you when you approached just trying to get into the house. I have stepped on something “wet” in the middle of the night only to wake up to a corpse in the middle of my bedroom in the morning. I had a lot of friends tease me over how much they freak me out. I know that they had no intension of being mean. It was intended as good-natured ribbing. But that teasing struck me harder than the other times because I felt like my fear was something I had no control over. I could try a n...

My husband and I are the stuff-keepers of our families. We love old stuff in general, but I think photos are pretty awesome. I love seeing old photos of family members I have never met, those who passed away before-or long before- I was born. I think it gets especially cool when I see a picture of an ancestor with an object that I have from them. The best example is: I have several Shlitz glasses and a cocktail shaker from my great grandparent’s bar. At a recent family reunion somehow brought tons of old photos and one was of said great grandparents in said bar. Very awesome. My husband is a “the fourth” in his family. We have an old photo of “the first” and his wife. I think it’s easy in this technological age to forget that photos were not so omnipresent even twenty years ago. There was a time you had to plan ahead to bring your camera. There was a time you had to find a friend who even owned a camera. There was a time when photos were so rare that people only had their pictur...

I love to read. My favorite book series is Harry Potter. I’m part of the Hogwarts Running Club and read the books at least once a year. Outside of Harry Potter I like Young Adult and Teen books. I like using books as simple escapism. I know that at 33 I am far too old to be reading the same books I recommend to parents of twelve year olds, but I have to learn enough life lessons in the real world. I like simple stories that allow me an hour or so to live outside my own existence. Stories of peasant girls becoming princesses, history nerds becoming hero's, and boys who live in the cupboard under the stairs saving the world without anyone knowing. At the bookstore, we are allowed to check out books like a library without the time limit. I grab a book off the shelf read it and put it back- averaging two to three book a month. I judge a book by it’s cover first, then the summary. I’ve been let down a few times (Wildflower, I’m calling you out) and pleasantly surprised by others (B...

I love a good movie. I love bad movies. I appreciate most movies. Not horror movies. I can’t do horror. When I see a horror movie I turn into a 1940s woman: I have pearls specifically for clutching in horror movies. I will never say I have good taste in movies, but I enjoy an entertaining movie. Some of those movies are terrible (Disney Channel Originals!) and some are awesome (A League of Their Own!). I just look for something that entertains me. 1000+ points for giving me an ending I can’t predict a third of the way through. With my degree in Creative Writing, I have developed the annoying ability to figure out the ending very early in a movie. This isn’t a special power or something that makes me unique, but it is a side effect of my interests. It makes it hard to enjoy movies, let alone TV shows, but it is part of who I am and how I am able to look at entertainment. I can see a trailer for a movie and usually tell you what its about. I vividly remember a conversation I had wi...

So today’s topic is love. I’ m not sure which love to talk about. I have a romantic love, my husband. I have familiar love. I have objective love. But I think the true goal of love in self love. Love of self and situation leads to true and complete contentment. I love who I have become over the years. I look back on me in junior high, high school, and college and see a me-in-progress. Who I am now is an almost complete me. I am the sum of my experiences. I am made up of who I love and who loves me in return: My parents and sister who loved me first, my husband, my pets, my friends. I am people whom I respect and respect me in return: coworkers and acquaintances. It has taken me over thirty years to come to accept, be proud of, and love who I am. Do I have space to grow? For sure. Will I become more? Oh, yeah. Am where I am supposed to be right now? Of course. I love and accept me for who I have become, who I am and who I will be. I have not become whole or complete, bu...

Loves me a good kitchen. I love cooking and will happily spend all day chopping, boiling, baking, and seasoning. I’ve lived in apartments for the last eight years, so I’ve been stuck with tiny galley kitchens that don’t give counter space to roll out dough much less do anything more than basic cooking. When I was in junior high and high school I took all the cooking based home ec classes. My junior year of highschool an alumnus of the Culinary Institute of America came to my home ec class to teach us how to make crapes. It was at that point that I seriously started considering becoming a chef. My sister worked in restaurants at the time and was getting her degree in Hotel/Restaurant Management. After some research and thinking, I opted not to train to go professional because for me a large part of why I enjoy cooking is sharing what I make with friends and family. I didn’t want to burn out on cooking as a profession and not want to cook for loved ones. I opted to go into writi...

At the bookstore we love our terrible jokes. The winner comes courtesy of a (we think) seven year old girl at story-time. It's an amazing two parter of (we think) her own creating. Why did the chicken cross the road? To visit the ugly guy! To be immediately followed by Knock! Knock! Who's there? The chicken Best. Joke. Ever.

I have caught up!! Blogtober #9: Ice-cream This is another one where I’m not sure what to say. I’m in the minority in that I’m not a huge ice-cream fan. I’m not anti-ice-cream. I’ll eat it. I’ll buy it at the store. I just never crave it. I have self-control around it. A tub of Blue Bell can sit in my freezer for a month or more. Hell, I usually end up having to toss it because it gets freezer burned. Also, I like ice-cream with my chocolate sauce. That’s really what I like ice-cream for, it’s an excuse to eat a bowl of chocolate sauce. I saw on an episode of Good Eats how to make your own chocolate sauce from scratch. I haven’t done it, yet, but I have a feeling that I’ll probably eat more ice-cream when I have a scratch made chocolate to go on top. When I order dessert at a restaurant I usually opt out of a la mode. Give me a sopapilla with honey any day. Just a nice big piece of cake. Warm pie. Apple crisp. Keep your ice-cream.

I guess an October blogging challenge is the perfect time of year to talk about Holidays. I like family-centered holidays. I don’t get too into patriotic ones, or phony gift/card/candy giving ones. But give me Thanksgiving and Christmas any day of the year. My parents, because of employment moved away from their families. My mom ended up just one state away, but my dad moved from the northeast to the south. Growing up, most holidays were just the four of us. Every other year for Thanksgiving we would go to see my mom’s cousin and spend the holiday with that side of the family. We still do the every other year thing with that side of the family. On off years we didn’t do much. There’s no point in going too crazy to feed four people. You can only do so much with a thousand pounds of turkey before it goes bad. But on travel years we took part in the traditional Thanksgiving with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, rolls, pies, etc. Christ...

I have a love/hate relationship with goals. I love to set them and work towards them, but I am bad at actually achieving them. When it’s something that outside forces have a play in, when there’s something else there to help push me, I can do it. I got good grades all throughout my schooling. I am a good employee that goes out of my way, puts in the overtime, and doesn’t shy away from hard work. I frequently become the go-to person for a special project that needs to get done. But when it comes to something that is just on my shoulders and doesn’t effect anyone else, I have a hell of a time sticking to it. When I was working part time and had all the time in the world all day most days it was easy to make my goals part of the routine, but as soon as things got shaken up the goals were the first to go. I make token efforts, but man can I make some excuses. I keep thinking I’ll do it tomorrow, or get back into it next week (everyone knows Monday is the best day to start over on anyt...

I know that as a woman, the stereotype is that I love flowers and will instantly forgive anything if you think to send me flowers as an apology. I don’t get it. I like flowers. I think they’re pretty. But I have never been one to get excited over a corsage, bouquet, or single stem rose. Don’t get my wrong, I do not look down on my husband when he buys me flowers as a gesture of love. Our first valentine’s day he got me a single rose, he’s brought me sunflowers (my favorite flower) randomly just to be sweet. I appreciate the gesture and I keep those flowers alive as long as I can. I like the idea of gardening (I live in an apartment with terrible sunlight so I can’t actual garden) but, I’m more into the idea of practical gardening. I want to grow herbs and vegetables. I may branch out (branch…plants… get it??) into flowers at some point, but even then it’s a sort of an afterthought. Hell, I gave my wedding bouquet to a little girl. Her mom offered to dry and preserve it for...

I guess I’m getting 5 points off for handing this in a day late. Thursdays are very weird days for me. I open the store, but husband has the day off. Also, at this point, I haven’t actually seen husband since Monday night, or even Sunday morning because our schedules diverge so wildly. Thursday night is our un-offical weekly date night. We go out to dinner when I get home and just spend time together. But anyway, onto the topic at hand. Education I was one of those people that really enjoyed school. I was very fortunate that from kindergarten to a bachelor’s degree I had less than a half dozen “bad” teachers. I had several super supportive teachers who really encouraged me and helped me recognize where my talents lay and pushed me to work at it. As I’ve moved on into the full-time adult portion of my life I’ve found that I’m always attracted to an opportunity to learn more. My first reaction to any new interest is to study it, read about it, google it, find documentaries on...

Day four’s blogtober topic is “date.” Short of the standard Miss. Congeniality joke “April 25th. Because it's not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket” the first thing that comes to mind is dating. I don’t have a whole lot of experience dating, I only had one serious boyfriend and I ended up marrying him three years ago. But the man knows how to plan a date. Our very first date, which we have recreated several times, was to the Perot Museum in Dallas which at the time had just opened. By the by the Perot is amazing and I love going there. After four visits I’m a little over the standard exhibits, but they host some fabulous exhibitions that are worth every penny. A museum is a perfect place for a first date. We had been talking online for a little over a month when we first met in person. By being at a museum there was always something to fill the awkward pauses in conversation. We still have jokes from that first date that come up in conversation today. I...

I have no idea where to go with this one. I’m not a car person. I have my truck which I’ve been driving for 10 years now and I plan on driving it until it no longer functions as a mode of transportation. I don’t like car shows. I’m not into sports cars or luxury cars. I just like a car that is functional and has a couple bells and whistles. (My husband’s car has blue tooth and I really want that for my next car!) Super extra bonus if the car is a hybrid or electric. I’d adore a Tesla, but practically it’s so far out of the cards I haven’t even bought the deck that card is in. So, um, yeah. Car. There you go.

First of all, I have to give a shout out to all my new readers. My Blogtober post yesterday was far and away the most read blog post I’ve ever had! Thank you for stopping by you guys and I hope to see you around some more! And now, without further ado Blogtober #2: Babies I love babies. I love baby humans. I love baby animals. I love baby bugs. Tiny things are adorable. When I’m on a plane or at a restaurant and a baby is squealing or giggling I think it’s too cute. Happy babies can make loud happy baby noises around me all they want. I don’t care if we’re in a small enclosed space. Even crying and screaming babies don’t really bother me. I know that they’re just trying to communicate that something is wrong and they can only get their point across in so many ways. As a matter of fact, I get annoyed with the parents faster than I do with the baby. I have been told throughout my life that I’m great with kids. People feel compelled to tell me that in very random situations. I wa...

Blogtober #1 I’m going to give this Blogtober thing a chance. I’ve never done anything like this, but- as I stated in my last post- I’m trying to get a new routine going. Part of what I want to do is write more consistently, so Blogtober is a great place to start! This is a challenge issued by Mandi Morrison over at hexmumblog.com . She has compiled a list of topics, one for each day of October, and the point is to blog every day using the topic as a prompt. Day One: All About Me I always feel like there’s not a whole lot to say on this topic. I don’t really know why, but I always get uncomfortable when people want me to talk about me. I know that sounds counter-intuitive when I’m here writing a blog about myself, but the anonymity of the internet helps. I can think of two people in my real life that even know this blog exists. One I know for sure doesn’t read it and one I’m not sure. For some reason knowing that people I know may read this makes it harder for me to write ...

Dudes, I don’t even know where to start. Life has been passing me by at an alarming speed but in a good way. Nothing new has really happened, but I’m settling into my new normal. My schedule at the bookstore has found its constant. One great thing about this place is the full-time people have consistent schedules, even though it’s a retail job. The schedule still posts every week, but it’s really more of a confirmation of what you already know than a crap-shoot of hoping you can make plans with your friends. I’d forgotten how nice it was to be able to make plans in advance. I do not miss the corporate world in the slightest. I’ve been doing office jobs since I graduated from college and none of them made me as happy as the bookstore does. I’ve worked in payroll, in investments/oil, and the legal world. Yes, they all paid better than I get now, but the quality of life was atrocious. I was working crazy hours, not sleeping well, totally stressed, unhealthy, and unmotivated. My c...

This week has been a whirlwhind of the good kind of busy. It was a 50 hour work week, plus my side hustle. Then there's a house to run and oh, yeah! I have a husband that I didn't see for five days straight even though we live in a tiny one bedroom apartment. My alarm went off this morning and I jumped out of bed ready to go... only to realize that it's my day off! My new job is at an amazing and HUGE bookstore. This was week two and I got assigned my sections. Apparently I have already cemented my reputation as the nerd among nerds. I am in charge of the Manga, Graphic Novels, and RPG Guides. My knowledge from ThinkGeek has already come in handy. I found some back-stocked mangas and put them out on the floor and the set sold in less than four hours. I would have never known about Death Note if I hadn't worked at ThinkGeek. Now I know about the anime and that the live action version is about to come out. Every copy of Naturo that we had in the back I put on the f...

Hi, guys. I'm so sorry I've been MIA for so long. We got hacked and both of our computers (mine and husband's) ended up dying. It took a while to get the funds and whatnot together to get a new computer. But, we're back and we're good to go! The good news is, without a computer I've actually gotten my fat ass out the door for exercise more than ever! July I set a record for getting out and getting some miles in. I even had one week where I got out the door five times! That is huge for me. Usually I'm pushing it for three times a week and I did five without even thinking about it. The real corner I turned was on a day I'd usually be very likely to NOT go out for a couple miles... I did! Over a very busy weekend I had a lot of demands on my schedule. I had work, I had two birthday parties for my niece (we were told that we were not expected to go to both, but were welcome at both), a social engagement with my sister AND I was starting a new j...

I know it's been over a month since my last post. I have been running around like crazy... and I have nothing to show for it. I've gone through the interview process at two new companies, made it to the final round, and not gotten the job. I have another interview at a third company on Thursday. This new place is somewhere I've wanted to work since my college days. I'm not holding my breath, I've been burned too many times, but I am hopeful. The location is a bit far from where I live now, but it's not bad. I leave an hour before shift at ThinkGeek and always end up early, and I think my hour early routine would serve me well at this place, too. But, we'll have to see. There's no point in getting my hopes up any more. I feel really defeated when it comes to employment. I've always sort of fallen into jobs. ThinkGeek is the first job I got by going after it on my own. I have nearly 10 years office experience (in only two companies, I...

I did not go into this ACV experiment looking for a miracle drink. I was hoping for something to help me on my journey. There's not a big difference to report, but it's only been one week. I've also gotten my butt in gear in other aspects so I can't give ACV the sole credit for what I've found, but it very well may be part of it. Here's this week's break down. The routine: 1Tbs ACV, 1 Tbs lemon juice, generous squirt of honey and 12 oz water drunk twice daily. It's the first thing I drink when I wake up and I drink a second glass right after dinner. 1- Weight loss of one pound. That's more than I've managed to drop in a single week for a month now, so that's good. 2- Noticeable reduction of mucus. I'm that nerdy Daniel Jackson type who is always sneezing and blowing my nose.... not this week! I've had these types of results with lemon juice before so I'm 99% sure this is due to the drink. 3- Noticeable lack of craving...

The universe dropped this in my lap recently. I know the whole Apple Cider Vinegar ("ACV") Drink thing is not new, by any stretch. I've never given it any real thought, I've always passed it over as a fad diet and moved on. Last night someone in the From Fat to Finish Line group was talking about it and it seemed like quite a few of my FFTFL people had given it a try with various results and no real complaints. I trust my FFTFL peeps as they are always candid about their experiences good or bad. It really piqued my interest and I was mulling it over when today on the news they ran a story on it. It was the usual fluff piece that made no real assertions because they weren't about to take sides, but it once again on my radar. I continued to mull it over as I ran my errands this afternoon and when I popped into Whole Foods for a couple groceries, the first thing I saw an end cap with all the ACV drink ingredients. As this was the third time in less than t...

This week, I meal-prepped. I have a fridge full of healthy, ready to heat and eat food. There are prepped veggies. There are prepped fruits. There are ready to assemble salad fixin's. Yesterday I ate said prepped meals. I had pasta and veggies for lunch and an egg and veggie burrito for dinner. I felt pretty dang good about myself. Today as hubby left for work, I put the leash on the dog and went for a walk. Poor Scout-The-Dog is part Corgi and has tiny little legs. He made it .8 miles before this happened. He is zonked! I dropped him off at home and set out for another round of walking for 1.5 miles today. It's not a lot, I'm not as zonked as Scout-The-Dog, but I feel it in my legs. I've been majorly slacking on any and all things "Get Your Ass In Gear" but damned if I realized I was this out of shape... AGAIN. I'm proud that I got my ass off the couch and went for it. I'm a little ashamed that so little actually makes me feel like I...

So, I've become a mealprep kind of gal. With my schedule at the store plus a household to run it's become necessary and helpful. When left to my own devices, I'll run to the store for a frozen pizza or even make my own from scratch if I have all I need. Pizza is a downfall for me and I can't tell you what is is about it that makes it a weakness for me. Because I work a random smattering of weeknights and my husband works Sunday-Wednesday nights there's not a whole lot of reason to cook. When it's just me I have that "no one will know" cushion and on the rare day both me and hubby are off we tend to get in as much "us" time as possible and not cook, but head out to eat and do something. Because husband works nights and has an unpredictable meal time (he's a CSI with the local police department) I've been making his dinners for months, now. I'll make him an entree and he'll pack some snack-like sides and be on his way. He...

We've well established that I've been hanging out next to the wagon, talking about getting on but not quite able to bring myself to do it. This week, I had the best of intentions. I planned ahead and when I went to the store I stuck to my list, didn't splurge, and kept it clean. I even went to the farmer's market for fresh veggies. I meal prepped. I have a fridge full of salads, hummus (homemade) and sliced veggies. Fruit, pealed and ready to eat. Fresh brewed Green Tea. I've been eating pizza all week. I started my period on Monday morning. Usually my period is a total non-issue for me. Make sure I have some tampons on hand and maybe a single dose of Midol at the start and I'm business as usual. Not this week. My back cramped, my stomach cramped, I'm bloated, I'm craving meat (I've been a vegetarian for almost six years), I'm exhausted. It's so strange. I've been handling my period every month for over twenty years no...

So I'm still in a funk. It's strange. Nothing bad is happening. I don't have any problems holding me back. My relationship with my husband is solid. My dog's medial treatments are going well. The bills are paid. We have no problem meeting our needs. I love my job. I'm just.... blah. I go to work, have fun there, come home talk with my husband, have dinner, play with the dog and go to bed. Or on days off I do the laundry, catch up on TV, play with the dog, surf the net. Oh. And think about how I should be out running. There's always that. I think and talk a good game but can't get my ass up off the couch to do it. The weather is nice. There's a great walking/running trail near my home. I have the time. Not the motivation. I'm not motivated to do anything that I usually love. I'm not writing, I'm not crafting, I'm not cooking, I'm not doing anything. I can't put my finger on why. If I could pinpoint i...

Things have not gotten any better for me emotionally. I got the official "we're going another direction" from one place where I did three interviews and am just past a week of no word from another place where I've done four interviews. I've still been getting some decent hours at the store, but full time minimum wage doesn't go far. We've resorted to carrying a balance on our credit card, for essentials only- groceries, gas, vet bills for the pup. I've thrown myself into to-do lists and trying to keep everything as perfect as possible, even if the money isn't there. I've had a 30-40 hour work week, plus repeat vet visits for the pup's heartworm treatments, and on top of that have been trying to tackle everything hearth and home on my own. When I was working once or twice a week I told my husband (who works 40+ hours a week in law enforcement) that I would take care of the apartment since I was home with plenty of time on my hands. ...

After my last post, the pity party one complaining that my lack of things to do was draining my motivation, I got what I asked for. Busy. On Tuesday of this week I found out my work schedule for the upcoming week: 6 days, 40 hours. I have work at the store every day except Thursday this week. Which will be good for the pocketbook and the credit card balance. Also I have my side hustle of dog sitting Tuesday-Friday so I will be driving back to my old stomping grounds to tend to some puppers, then back to my new stomping grounds for the store. I also am going through the job interview process yet again. I still haven't heard from the company from last week, so I'm figuring that's a "no." Yesterday I had this weird, automated phone interview with a new company. It was strange having a one sided conversation with a computer. It was like leaving a voicemail job interview. No one is good at leaving a voicemail! But, I did the voicemail interview yesterday morni...

I know I've been MIA for two weeks, now. I don't even have a good excuse. I've just got the BLAHS. I don't have motivation to do anything, really. I can't pinpoint why or how but I just know what watching bad TV has been the only thing I've been interested in. Life has been busy, not with anything good, but busy. Maybe that's it? I haven't had anything to look forward to or focus on in the last couple weeks. I don't know... Work has been slow, if I get a shift at all I get one a week. In honor of my lack of work, and income, I've been applying for second jobs. My manager knows what I'm up to and is very understanding about the whole thing. I've been scouring job search websites and send in an average of seven applications a week. The lack of response is getting to me. Over twenty applications are out and I've gotten two responses from them. One didn't pan out, and one has gotten me through three interviews and now I...

I just finished reading The Devil in the Junior League by Linda Francis Lee. I recommend you don't. The book was terrible, two stars because the plot was coherent and there were not major holes. This book follows the turmoil of Mrs. Fredericka Mercedes Hildebrand Ware who discovers that her husband has been cheating on her, is leaving her, took all her money, and divorced her all without her knowing. You would think that the character would be crazy sympathetic, but she's not. Frede, as her friends call her, grew up crazy rich and is sure to remind you that, while she and her husband are rich, it's all because of her money. We're never told how she managed to make so much money, so I am forced to assume that it was given to her and she doesn't understand that people have to work. The story is told in first person and that person is as full of herself as can be. She is quick to remind you that she's rich, that she's beautiful, that everyone is jealo...

I've been keeping my feet up and trying to heal from my Plantar Fasciitis. With the exception of when I have to work I keep off my feet and when I am walking around I make sure to wear shoes that have some insert in them for extra support. It took a solid twenty days, but I am pain free when I get up in the morning! Today, being a nice cold Texas day, I hopped in my car and drove to a nearby park for a run. I put on my Couch to 10K app, made sure Charity Miles was running and hit the path. The park wasn't as nice as I was hoping. It was just a circular path around the soccer field with a small off shoot loop trail that went into the woods, but both loops combined wasn't even a full mile. When I go running again I'm going to look for a different park. I like getting to run through the trees and get a bit of nature. Running in circles drives me almost as crazy as running on the treadmill. So far, so good on the pain front. Granted, it's only been a couple...

I've already mentioned how the Hogwarts Running Club got me out and running again. The club's main focus is charitable fundraising through running. Every year there are six virtual races of varying distances and there are special medals for each race. When you register for a race, you're paying for your medal, but mostly contributing to the charity that the race is supporting. Right now we are doing the Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody Constant Vigilance 5k in support of Limbs for Life . I think the HRC website explains the connection between Mad-Eye and Limbs for life the best: "Moody never let his injuries stop him. Moody fought in both the First and Second Wizarding Wars and captured many dark witches and wizards, but at a cost. He lost a leg, an eye and part of his nose in carrying out his duties as an Auror for the Ministry of Magic. It is in this spirit, we are thrilled to announce that proceeds from this event will go to support the Limbs for Life Fou...

My first book of the year was a pick by the Ravenclaw bookclub. I'm pretty open to trying out new authors and genres and try not to allow myself to get stuck in a book rutt. I've never read anything by Fortier and was intrigued by the Shakespeare meets Da Vinici Code references on the cover blurbs. I like Shakespeare and while I was not impressed by the Da Vinci Code, I liked the idea behind it and honestly only saw the movie. I'm not impressed by Juliet. Like Da Vinci, I like the idea behind it: the "plague on both your houses" from Romeo and Juliet stems from a true story and a curse that has followed two families throughout the generations. Our modern day heroine, Julie, discovers she is a decedent of Juliet's family and travels to Italy to find out the truth of who she is and where she comes from only to be swept up in a mystery, conspiracy, and adventure. The story is told in two intertwining parts, modern day with Julie and 1340 where we learn the...

One of the terms that comes up over and over again in the From Fat to Finish Line Facebook group is "NSV" or Non Scale Victory. I hadn't really taken this side of the journey into consideration until I starting seeing other people's victories. When working on weight-loss and health it is so easy to just look at the scale as the only tool of measurement. When I confessed my weight to the group at the New Year one of the first comments I got was to only weigh once a month and not focus solely on the number as there is so much more to take into consideration. Yes, we celebrate everyone's weight loss numbers but there is also just as much support and excitement for the NSVs in the group. Yesterday I posted that it was my fourth day with no cream or sugar in my coffee. Over 120 people as of this writing have showed their support for my achievement. From a huge group of people who have either been there, done that, or are struggling themselves, or just starting...