I did pose for the Library Science photo at school on Saturday. I wore my pink Red Sox cap in the picture. I was standing behind someone else wearing a Red Sox cap, but his wasn't pink.

I always have my final paper for Cataloging class in the back of my mind, but I'm still avoiding working on it. I have a feeling that it's done, and I certainly hope I'm right (!), but I need to proofread it, and edit it. It's up to about 7 pages. I chatted with this girl who took the Cataloging class last semester and she said that her paper was only 5 pages long (the paper is supposed to be 8 to 10 pages). She said the teacher said it was a little short, but still gave her a B+. Hearing something like this increases my confidence.

I mentioned smoking last week, and yes, I have taken it up again. For now. Parameters are the same as they were in December: none before noon, none at work, no more than one per sitting and no more than four per day. It's been going fine and often I have fewer than four. It took me 8 days to get through one pack. And yes, I know it's bad for me and all that, but I'm trying to keep my head together, and somehow, smoking helps me deal.

I am still working out regularly and tracking my food in Fitday. The trainer at the gym said I looked like I'd lost weight. I have lost 2.5 pounds off my highest recent weight, which was actually a pound more than I told my doctor so I'm sort of seeing it as a 1.5 pound loss, if that makes sense. At any rate, it's a move in the right direction. Just a very small one, but I'm trying to stay positive here.

The weather is mild and everything is turning lush and green.

Labels: fat, fitness, school, spring

posted by Miss Rachel 5/01/2007 07:14:00 PM

. . .

I did my new workout, and it was really really tough. Sweat pouring down kind of tough. It also took kind of a long time (over an hour), but I'm hoping that now that I know what to do (yesterday I was learning it for the first time), it will not take as long. I recorded it as a 45 minute workout because there are rests between the exercises. I'm feeling sore now, but in a good way. Today I was rewarded for my efforts with another half pound down from my low weight of last week.

I am still struggling to get myself to work on my paper and other schoolwork. Last night I read another article and then made myself type up a few sentences about it. I thought if I just put something down maybe it would help get me doing some more. I saved what I had typed and e-mailed it to myself at my work address. Work has been really slow lately, and I'm thinking I should use the slowness as an opportunity to do schoolwork.

Around 9:30 last night, I turned on the TV and started watching this American Experience about the People's Temple Church. Of course, it's a very creepy story and the show had many clips and tapes of the church, including a tape of what was said during the famous mass "suicide." Creeee-py, but I was drawn in and kept watching. There were also a number of survivors talking about their experience which was very sad. All in all, I don't regret watching it, but it wasn't the positive stuff I should be watching. This from a girl who watches Six Feet Under. And, let's face it, the other stuff I watch (Battlestar Galactica and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for example) is not exactly positive either.

Labels: fitness, school, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 4/10/2007 06:43:00 AM

. . .

I can't believe it's Easter. It's the most un-Easter-y Easter I think I've ever had. I even forgot it was Easter. But then it's not as if I usually do much for this holiday. The Easter bunny no longer visits and brings me a basket of candy as he did when I was little. And coloring eggs is fun, but you kind of have to do it with other people and have some people to eat them too. With Sweetie's having gone vegan, he wouldn't be that much help in that department. Anyway, happy Easter to those who are celebrating.

Another thing that makes it seem un-Easter-y is the weather. It's cold, and it even snowed a little last week. Thank god it didn't snow for that long nor did it accumulate. I'm kind of done complaining about the weather though. It's not that unusual here in New England to get some snow in April. That's just the way it is. And there are some flowers starting to come up. Soon we'll have a few clumps of daffodils in bloom.

********************

I'm starting a new weights program at the gym tomorrow. I'm meeting with the trainer to go through it. She e-mailed me a spreadsheet of the new program. Here's what I'll be doing:

Bicep Curl/Over Ball
Reverse Hyper/Leg Lift
Isolated Bicep Curl
Dead Lift Row
Rest & Repeat

Lying Single Arm Tricep Crossover
Dead Lift Elevated Heels
Tricep Dips/Bench
Rest & Repeat

Wall Squat/Alt. Front Shoulder Raise
Push-Up/Row
Reverse Curl In/Ball
Rest & Repeat

Single Arm Chest Fly/Ball
Superman (reps)
Push Up/Step
Rest & Repeat

Inner Thigh/Ball Squeeze
Slow Double Crunch
Plank Hold
Rest & Repeat

Lying Hamstring Curl/Machine # 3
Plie Tap
Rest & Repeat

Yikes, doesn't that seem like a bit much? (But at least there's not the 80 squats I had to do in the old routine.) I don't want to have to spend forever at the gym. Of course, I'm of the mindset that if I'm going to the gym, I should get a good workout when I'm there or what's the point? I still haven't seen much progress in terms of my weight on the scale, but I do think my butt seems a little firmer so I think working out may be helping.

********************
As you can see, I don't have much to say, but it's been so long since I posted I thought I should check in at least.

Listening: Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
Judy Garland - The Capitol Years

Watching: Six Feet Under, Season Five
Futurama, Volume 2
Miss Marple: The Sittaford Mystery (2006) starring Geraldine McEwan
Survivor: Fiji (and tonight I watched an episode of the Amazing Race.)

Labels: fitness, listening, spring, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 4/08/2007 09:13:00 PM

. . .

And now, some good news...

All right, this may not be a big deal or anything, but I lost half a pound! Or one pound or two pounds if you count some of the numbers I've seen in the past week. At any rate, it's a move in the right direction. Maybe my body is starting to get the idea. Maybe the cardio is starting to kick in a bit. I actually ran on the treadmill for a few minutes during my cardio workout yesterday. Today I did cardio on my elliptical trainer at home. Tomorrow it's back to the gym for weights. I don't really look forward to those 80 wall ball squats I have to do, but I do them. 80 squats people! Well, pretty soon the trainer is going to approach me and say it's time to change up my program again. Of course, the squats might get replaced with some other exercise I hate, but maybe not.

Labels: fat, fitness

posted by Miss Rachel 4/04/2007 09:15:00 PM

. . .

I've Given Up and Created a Tag Called "Fat"

Hmm, could that be a movie? A Tag Called Fat. ANYWAY, I know I'm not "fat," just overweight, and I try to be positive here, but to me feeling fat and feeling bad about my weight and being overweight can all be put under the subject of "fat" so I'm breaking down and using the F word as a tag.

I'm trying not to get discouraged here, but it's difficult: since starting my weight loss plan a little over a week ago, I've actually gained weight. Yes, it's only a pound or two, but still... I'm seriously eating better and less (I've been tracking it most days on Fit Day), and I did three 40 minute cardio workouts and two (40+ minutes) weights workouts last week. That may not seem like a lot to some of you, but the three cardio workouts are a lot more than what I had been doing, which was often no cardio. And I'm not willing to cut back on my eating any further so something's got to give here, and it's not going to be my sanity. It's only been over a week so I'll keep trying before I decide to take up smoking again. You may think I'm kidding, but I'm not.

Labels: fat, fitness

posted by Miss Rachel 4/02/2007 06:40:00 AM

. . .

Miss Rachel Approximately

Doing better. So far this week... I met a librarian at a party on Sunday and she agreed that I could interview her for my catatloging paper; I've worked out three times and have been eating less; I read a chapter in my textbook (this may not seem like much, but for this textbook, it is); I gave a presentation of sorts to some visitors from the home office at work today and handled questions as if I actually knew what I was talking about; I got them all to laugh a fair amount too and one of the people said that the presentation was both informative and enjoyable. Boy, that was a great feeling. And I bought Highway 61 Revisited on Sunday and have been listening to it a bit. Some of you might have guessed that from the title of this post.

Labels: fitness, listening, school, work

posted by Miss Rachel 3/28/2007 08:29:00 PM

. . .

I'm planning a trip to Rockport on Friday and this is the forecast: "The potential exists for 6 or more inches of snow and sleet accumulation late Thursday night into Friday... with the highest confidence north of the Massachusetts Turnpike." Yes, the storm is scheduled for exactly when and where I'm driving. And yesterday and today I drove home with my sun roof open. Such is New England weather...

I have been being a total slacker as far as schoolwork is concerned. There is a homework assignment due next class, and I haven't done it yet, but the main thing I should really be doing is gathering and reading material for my paper. And I haven't been doing that either. I have no idea how I'm going to write a 10 page paper on errors in cataloging. Of course, it would help if I started reading up on it, right? Well, maybe if the weather really turns out to be bad, I'll stay home and study this weekend.

One thing I haven't been slacking on is working out. I did weights on Monday, 30 minutes of cardio Tuesday, 40 minutes of cardio today, and tomorrow it's weights again. I haven't gotten on the scale because I don't want the potential number to discourage me. I was really being a chunky monkey, bingeing a lot in the previous weeks, but my eating has been good this week. Still, there's always the possibility that it won't show on the scale, plus I may still have some of the previous "chunky monkey-ness" to work off.

Watching: The Simpsons, Season Two.
Listening: Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark.

Labels: fitness, listening, school, watching, winter

posted by Miss Rachel 3/14/2007 08:48:00 PM

. . .

Remember how I said I didn't think I was ready for 10 pound dumbbells after I spent nearly a week unable to fully straighten my arms after using them? Well, things change because when I did my second weights workout of the week last Thursday, I felt that maybe it was getting too easy. So yesterday, on my first set of bicep curls and hammer curls, I used 10 pound dumbbells instead 8 pound ones. Today I am sore, but not in any way crippled as I was before. I must be getting stronger!

********************

This working later thing is, as my grandmother would say, for the birds. There were NO calls or e-mails after 5 on Monday night and after 6, the lights went off! Now I know that there is some code you can dial into your phone to have them turned back on, and I can find out what it is, but I didn't know it then, and so I was sitting in the dark. There were some lights on elsewhere on the floor and there were a few other coworkers there so it wasn't scary or anything. If it had gone completely dark and no one was there, I would have just gone home. Instead I chatted with the other people who all seemed to agree with me how ridiculous it was for me to stay late.

I talked to my boss about it, and he said why don't I just do it again Wednesday (today) and then not anymore. As I had mentioned before no one (except him) had seemed to notice that I hadn't been working the later schedule, and he doesn't care so hopefully, I can just bag it all together.

********************

Tomorrow, March 8, is my dad's birthday. Had he lived he would be turning 78. Boy, that really makes him sound like a grandpa, but then of course, he was a grandpa. Although he officially died January 1, 2006, I truly feel he died long before that because he had Alzheimer's. We did battle over the years, but I do still have good memories of him, and I try to hold on to those. He had a good sense of humor and we used to get really silly together (something my sister and I still do).

Labels: family, fitness, work

posted by Miss Rachel 3/07/2007 07:55:00 AM

. . .

A Slight Break in the Clouds

I'm feeling a little better.

I went and did weights on Tuesday and it was good. I had skipped weights last week, and just done one cardio workout; just getting though the week was an accomplishment. I am sore, but not unable to straighten my arms like after the first time doing the new strength program. I just don't think I'm ready for 10 lb dumbbells on bicep curls yet (which is what the trainer had me do that time); those are what really messed me up.

A little more comfortable with my new job. Yesterday, I bookmarked a library staffing site on my computer at work. I haven't contacted them yet; that's next. It's a start.

Labels: fitness, the blues, work

posted by Miss Rachel 2/22/2007 06:39:00 AM

. . .

A Clean Dog is a Happy Dog

Or the owner of clean dog is a happy owner.

There is a cute and *clean* dog lying on his bed behind my chair. I had him groomed yesterday and he looks beautitul. He also smells better. He's never been much of a smelly dog, but I guess this time I let him go a little too long "between cleanings" and he started to get a bit ripe. While he was at the groomer's, I washed the cover on his new bed to nip any smelliness in the bud (is that a mixed metaphor?). I also ended up throwing out the orthopedic bed in his crate because I found that it wasn't just the cover that smelled, but the whole bed.

I need to keep up and not let him go too long again. The thing is, the groomer is very busy and Blue is a very furry dog whose coat requires time to work on. So when I call, it's often two weeks before I can get an appointment, because other very furry dogs have already been scheduled, and that means living with a smelly dog for two weeks. So for next time, I've planned ahead. I put a note in our WebCalendar to call the groomer two weeks before Blue will be due for a spring cleaning. Literally, spring cleaning, since I like to have him done every 3 months, the next appointment should be in May.

Unlike Blue, I always enjoy going to the groomer because the people are so nice and I enjoy seeing the other dogs there. Yesterday, there was a Border Collie and a Pug and there was one of the groomer's dogs, a Pomeranian and another groomer's dog, a Shih Tzu. There was also a cat. As you might imagine, the cat was extremely unhappy to be there. When I arrived to pick up Blue, two of the groomers were working on the cat.

There used to be only those two people, but there is now a third groomer, who saw me out, and she seemed quite enamoured with Blue saying how cute he is and how well he behaved. I said he was different at home. When a stranger is in our house, you have to watch him because he might take his or her ankle in his mouth. For some reason, he never does this with my mom or sister though. It's as if he immediately accepted them as part of the pack even though they don't visit here very often. Maybe it's because my mom and my sister and I have similar genetic make-ups, and since Blue likes me, and they seem similar, he's decided they're all right too.

********************

My arms are finally more mobile. There's still pain when I straighten my right arm, but today is the first day since my new strength program that I can fully straighten it. I did my new program for the first time on Monday so I was due for my second weights workout of the week on Thursday. I was still in a lot of pain then, and I had some training for the new job and then the ill-fated meeting with the branch manager, and by then it was 3 PM, and I still hadn't gone to the gym. As you know, I was pretty unhappy after the meeting, but instead of shutting down, I thought, "F*** it, I need to go to the gym." So I did.

I talked to the trainer, and we decided I should still do all the exercises, just with lower weights. So in exercises when I had previously used 7, 8 or 10 pound dumbbells, I used 3 and 5 pound ones instead. I also managed to due my push-ups, but I didn't straighten my arms all the way when I came up. I probably said before here that my goal is to do a real, full push-up, and at this point I can't even do full "girlie" push-ups, but I am progressing. The trainer is now having me do girlie push-ups on the floor starting from a lying down position. So I start them fully pushing up, but I don't lower myself all the way down in between them. I know to some of you super fit types, this may not sound like much, but I tell you, I have really make some progress here. And I'm proud of myself for this.

********************

In other good news, I had a good conversation with my mother. She called me at work on Thursday, after my meeting with the manager and before my work-out, and I kind of felt like crying. I didn't though; I dealt with my stuff. As you know, I was really upset with my mom's reaction to me last week, for a habit she has of trying to deny or ignore any feelings I express if they're negative. So after we had chatted a bit, I said, "Mom I don't want to make you feel bad, but it bothers me when you try to deny my feelings. If I feel depressed or unenthusiastic about my job, I can handle it. You don't have to fix it, and I'd rather just feel bad than pretend I don't feel bad." God, that sounds like something from an after-school special or a self help book, but I felt so relieved after saying it. And she totally seemed to get it and, she was all right with it. Really, it was like, now that I've said what I need to say and she accepted it, I can go back to having a good relationship with my mom.

********************

Watching: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season Five. More awkward and offensive interactions with one of the most unlikable people to ever star in a show. It's just plain funny though. The Susie Green character is still my favorite. Larry: You call Jeff a fat f***. Susie: That's because he is a fat f*** !

Labels: Blue, family, fitness

posted by Miss Rachel 2/10/2007 08:33:00 AM

. . .

My Arms are Killing Me

I cannot straighten my arms without major pain. In fact, I cannot even fully straighten my right arm. Yesterday I walked around holding my arms bent with my hands clasped in front of me (like a nun, someone said). It's because of all those biceps exercises, plus the (modified) push-ups in my new weight training program. Sweetie says that I must have overdone it, that "it's not right" that I should be in such pain. But the trainer was there with me, watching every rep. Tomorrow is supposed to be my second weights workout of the week, but I don't know people, I don't know.

Labels: fitness

posted by Miss Rachel 2/07/2007 07:26:00 PM

. . .

I started off the week with a yoga class on Sunday morning. Yesterday, I got a new workout plan for weight training, and it's totally killer. Like just sitting here, I can feel it. Heck, lying in bed this morning I could feel it. It's mostly the biceps exercises that are doing it I think. For some of them I used 10 lb. weights, which is more than I'm used to. But, as I have decided, if I'm going to go to the gym, I might as well work hard while I'm there.

********************

I need to get some more work done on my homework tonight. I am taking Friday as a day off, but I don't want to leave it all till then. Besides, my "take every Friday off" thing that I did last fall was great, but I don't want to use up too many of my vacation days this early in the year by starting that now. So far I answered one homework question (there are 8) and did the reading. The reading was the first chapter of the textbook, and it was extremely dry. I didn't really expect anything different, and the teacher admitted that most library science books were pretty boring.

Somehow, cataloging doesn't strike me a boring though. It may be a boring thing to read about, but I think the topic is interesting if you're dealing with real stuff, like books or art or what have you. The teacher of our class for instance, is an archivist at another school up near mine. She's an adjunct professor at my school, which I've heard is something like doing slave labor.

Anyway, in class she gave us the following exercise: she passed around a box told us to take two things out of it. I took a postcard of an Edward Hopper painting called "Lighthouse Hill" and a giant super duper strong rubber band. Then we had to get in a group with 4 -5 other people and decide on a cataloging system for out items. The other items in my group were - some sort of train ticket with German print on it, a small sheet of star stickers, a golf tee, a three prong plug adaptor, a tape dispenser, a sheet of 1 cent stamps and... I can't remember the rest, but you can tell it's a very weird unrelated bunch of objects. The cataloging system we came up with was "two desk drawers with one for office supplies and one for household supplies." The other groups had similarly disparate groups of objects and came up with other good ideas for cataloging their stuff. See, cataloging is fun.

Watching: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Season Four.

Six Feet Under, Season Five. Yes, I'm still watching this depressing show. I just want to find out what happens.

American Graffiti (1979) starring Cindy Williams, Ron Howard, Paul LeMat, Charles Martin Smith and Candy Clark. Not as good as the first one, but how could it be? Still, not as bad as you may have been told. There are even darker undertones than there were in the first one, thanks to the Viet Nam war and Terry's most likely not making it out alive and knowing that John Milner is most likely meeting his death that night.

Labels: fitness, library science, school, yoga

posted by Miss Rachel 2/06/2007 06:26:00 AM

. . .

It's going to snow tonight and I'm so excited about it even though it's supposed to mostly happen after midnight when I won't be able to see it. And it's not as if I'll have a "snow day" as I would when I was a kid. I'll still have to go to work tomorrow. I'm working late shift again this week, and although it was my choice and it'll be nice to have Friday off, working till 7 is getting a bit old.

Still no word on the school job, and I've actually gotten to the point where I hope I don't get it because I'd prefer not to turn it down. However, I just don't think I'd be able to stand the stress of having to deal with the pay cut and having to find a second job. Mostly I just think the pay cut would be too severe (even with two jobs), and I don't want to live with the stress of struggling to get by. I've done it before and it SUCKS, people. And I'm not talking about just not eating out at restaurants or not buying any clothes, I'm talking food stamps and not having enough money to get my car fixed and running low on toilet paper kind of struggling. Yikes, just typing that brings me back and scares the hell out of me.

In other news, I went to the gym today and totally rocked! I did a 40 minute elliptical workout on Sunday, but couldn't convince myself to go to the gym yesterday and was not feeling much like going today AT ALL. As I walked to the elevator, I was thinking "I don't want to do this" and as I changed into my workout clothes, I was thinking, "I don't want to do this" but I kept going and made it through my whole strength training program and just felt so great afterward.

Reading: Inside Edge by Christine Brennan. I finished this yesterday and really enjoyed it because I am a skating fan. I read some stuff about Brennan's second skating book and apparently she really does a number on people she doesn't like, but I thought this book was pretty balanced. And just plain interesting.

Watching: Battlestar Galactica, Season 2. Still loving this.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Season Four. And this of course. :-)

Labels: fitness, work

posted by Miss Rachel 1/30/2007 09:22:00 PM

. . .