Happy 2009

Ben's birthday is 1/1, easy for me to remember. We had a lovely brunch with his parents and saw Benjamin Button (loved it). We finished the evening with pizza and ice cream cake. Pretty low key but nice. I got him a cool camera strap and a book on bizarre WWII inventions, since he's kind of a WWII nut.

Resolutions are everywhere and I feel I should declare mine publicly so I stick to them. I only have one real resolution and it's been the same for several years = lose weight and get back in shape. Seriously y'all, I appreciate your comments that I don't look fat and I don't need to lose weight, but you don't know that I just have good genes to carry weight well. Sitting in lectures for hours every day gave me a comfortable, squishy butt. I weighed in this morning at my highest ever. To put it in perspective:

Last year this time weight (minus) pre-marriage college weight = 10 pound gain over 7 years
Current weight (minus) last year this time weight = 15 pound gain over 1 year

I know I won't be able to get down to my ideal 125 pound high school wt, but to be back in that early marriage era range is realistic and healthy. How will I do this? I looked at dance classes and can only afford one a week, and they're all in the evening. No good. I looked at gyms after talking to Kristin (who is gorgeous and svelte lately). The gyms here would be fairly expensive: 200+ initiation fees plus $30 a month. Plus they seem kind of icky with their sales pitches and guilt trips. Miranda (also doing resolutions) reminded me that the Wheat Ridge rec center is just up the street and offers all the same amenities. For 82.50 I get a 20-visit punch card: less than $5 per visit!

We quickly hatched a plan to get our butts there two times a week, even when I have classes. We went for the first time this morning and I feel GREAT! I was so much more comfortable working out with a buddy. Also half the people at the gym were oldsters instead of the tiny 19 year olds at Regis's gym, where I was constantly intimidated during the workout. These flabby people are totally non-threatening. Well, except for the grizzly geriatric who did sit-ups in front of us while reclining UPSIDE DOWN and with a GIANT WEIGHT on his chest. Yikes. He could totally kill me if he wanted to.

So! The only diet change I plan to do is to go back to more vegetarian meals, less dairy, less white carbs, etc. Oh, and cut down portion sizes. All the regular stuff.

Other goals I've made that aren't really resolutions but you could call them that:

• Get a sweet nursing job by July and start raking in the cash to our savings account
• Put up shelves in the basement storage room and clean it by Sunday
• Watch old movies with Brian more often
• Make a hat out of the yarn I spun
• Go to our family cabin with Ben and friends
• Get a new cat litter box
• Post Christmas vacation pictures before it gets embarrassingly late
• Sew tablecloths for Young Women

Hooray for fresh starts!