Election Day

This morning I turned on "Good Morning America", as I always do before heading off to school, and the thought just hits me "Oh god, this is it.  Today is THE day."  Being an Iowan, I've been one of the chosen few who have been inundated with political candidates, ads, slogans, yardsigns, etc. for the past two years.  It's been a long road and now we are at the finish line.

While Robin and Diane were chatting away about Obama and McCain's final hours of campaigning, I started to tear-up (I am so the bride).  I guess what started to get to me was that we are so close to having a president that I can be proud of.  I'm a Democrat and proud of it. The thought of McCain being president makes my stomach turn, but in all probability that won't happen.  Not that I'm counting the chickens too early, I'm still nervous as hell before the returns actually are counted and verified.  But just to be this close and see the end in sight is such a relief.  The finish line is only hours away.

Time to Commit

I had my final training session with Nate tonight.  We discussed what I plan to do now that I've finished with my formal sessions.  For the time I spent with the personal training staff, I do feel like I've made a lot of progress (I'll find out how much when I have my exit evaluation next week).  But I explained to Nate that it's time for me to fly solo for a while.  I feel like if I'm going to be successful at losing weight then I have to prove that I can do it on my own.

For me to be successful, I have to motivate myself to get to the gym and workout.  I know where I want to get to (180 lbs and 15% bf) and I have the road map to get there.  I simply have to put the key in the ignition and drive.  Plus as I've said before, the scenery along the drive is worth taking in (good lord it was like a buffet tonight!).

Mad Men Madness

Tonight was the season finale of my favorite show - Mad Men (the show that everyone is talking about, yet very few people watch).  For those who have seen the show, they fall into one of two categories - those who LOVE it and those who HATE it.  The one criticism that I've heard from those who don't like the show is that it moves too slowly, and the funny thing is, that's what I love about it.

My brother Mike once said that a good television show is like a great book - at the end of each chapter of a great book you want to get to the next chapter.  Mad Men unfolds slowly and in subtle layers. This is the type of show where you not only have to pay attention to the dialogue, but also to the facial expressions and body language of the characters.

This is one of the few shows that I have ever watched where the characters are, for lack of a better term, real people.  Last week a character was raped by her own fiance and I was devastated.  The last time I could remember getting that choked up over a TV show was when Kevin and Scotty got married on "Brothers & Sisters".  And that was a happy event!

I'm anxiously looking forward to watching the second season again knowing how it ends. I'll be able to look for the little things that have such large ramifications in the end. Mad Men is a great book that I will enjoy reading over and over and over.  Not to mention the joys of seeing Jon Hamm, Rich Sommer and Aaron Staton.

Now I just have to wait three months until Battlestar Galactica's final season.  FRAK!

13,515 days

Thirty-seven years ago in Jacksonville, Florida I made my debut into this world.  Yesterday was the celebration of that debut. 

Relatively speaking it was a quiet birthday.  My kids at school sang "Happy Birthday" to me a total of three times (yet another reason why the really need to take chorus) and I got a couple of nice cards. Then it was off to a mentor/mentee meeting (2 hours of fun).  Matt then took me to Hickory Park for dinner.  Of course I had to get dessert and of course the waiters sang to me. All to get Matt the $2.50 discount on the ice cream.  LOL

After dinner we met Pete, Peter and Kyle over at Welch Ave. Station to watch the Phillies and Rays play Game 1 of the World Series.  Pete introduced me to the wonders of the gin gimlet. The drink reminded me of a pine forest - fresh, clean and crisp.  Since it was my birthday the waitress kept bringing em.  It was nice and let's just say I slept very well last night.

It was a good day.  

A Wii Bit Excited

So as luck would have it, I got a card in the mail today from my dad for my birthday. (for those unaware, my birthday is this Wednesday....37)  Every year my dad sends me a gift card and this year it was Best Buy.  Matt and I were going out anyways, so we stopped by BB so that I could pick up the new Keane cd.  Well, they finally had them in stock...the Wii Fit!  I couldn't resist. I've been looking for one for months and the stars finally aligned.  This will be a nice addition to my fitness program.  

Emotional Rescue

I was thinking about emotional releases today.  A couple of friends of mine will watch "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" just so they can cry at the end.  For them, it's cathartic to be able to get out those emotions.

So it got me to thinking what do I need to just get out a good cry, and on Friday it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I've discovered that, for me, news stories about soldiers returning from being deployed to surprise their kids, just sets me off.  There was one moment where a dad showed up in the classroom of his 7 year-old son.  The camera focuses on the kid and you just see the look of confusion turn to recognition.  Then the kid, crying,  runs to his dad and into his arms. I swear, after seeing this story, I cried for half an hour.  This happened two or three years ago and I still get choked up thinking about it.  Every time I see one of these 'feel good' pieces, I get emotional.  Normally stories that play on the viewers emotions make me nauseous, but for me, the reunion pieces get me.  

I also have to admit one other thing that causes me to tear up - "Oprah's Favorite Things".  I know, it's totally over the top.  But seeing people get tons of stuff that they don't need or could never even dream of affording hits me.  I know it shouldn't, but if it's on and I'm watching, I have Kleenex handy.  

Is it Friday yet?

This has been a very long week.  I've just had so much going on with school, working out, socializing, that my body today just wanted to shut down.  I was tired and cranky with the only thing I wanted to do was go home and crawl into bed and sleep.  Of course tonight is Pubstumpers and Legends so I'll be going to that with Matt.  I'm not sure when I'll actually be able to sleep in.  Tomorrow is the first ISU women's practice and then friends are coming over for dinner.  Not to mention the plethora of things that are planned for the weekend.  Maybe I can pencil in a few hours a couple of weeks from now.

Of course one thing that comes to mind...I'm getting old.  LOL  Next week is my 37th (ugh) birthday.  I'm having a harder time with this birthday then those in the past.  This past week a date was set for my 20 year class reunion and now I'm facing my late 30s.  I'm realizing that I'm not a kid anymore, even though I still act like one.  I'm way past the halfway point to "retirement age" and that's suddenly a sobering thought.  

On the plus side, I still look a lot younger than my age.  I know people my age who look 10 years older than their actual age.  With my fitness program, hopefully I'll be able to take a few more years off my looks.  Speaking of which, I cheated.  I had resolved not to step on the scale until November 1st.  Yesterday I woke up in a funk, actually the same funk I've been in the past week.  I put the battery back in the scale hoping that seeing a lower weight would pick me up.  The readout said "223".  So while I was happy to see the lower weight, I was disappointed that I couldn't hold out until the end of the month.

10:39 pm - Another fun night at Pubstumpers.  The Max Fisher Players won...again. We had great music rounds and ended up scoring 85 points.  We won the 12-week season by a wide margin.  I think we could have skipped the final three weeks and still held on to first place. Next week begins a brand new season.