Yesterday...

The boyfriend and I broke up. We'd only been together for 3 months, but it's still a bummer.

This Week

This week, I.....

1. Am getting tired of this 1,000-calorie thing. It's easy to keep track of at home, but so hard if you are at a business lunch or eating out with friends.

2. Started going back to the gym.

3. Am going to organize my closet. The space isn't being utilized as efficiently as it should be, and that bothers me.

Lent for a Cafeteria Catholic

Ok everyone, today is the first day of Lent. For all my non-Catholic friends, this pretty much means that Catholics around the world (and lots of non-Catholics as well) are about to give up something they really like for the next forty days (Lent ends Easter Sunday). I typically give up cokes this time of year, but since I stopped drinking cokes a few months ago, I gotta do something different.

Let me first explain that I am not a 'serious' Catholic. I have my beliefs and I have my faith, but I don't follow the dogmas of any one religion. Call me a Cafeteria Catholic if you want. I pick and choose what traditions I wish to observe. Lent is probably one of my favorite traditions because it invites you to test your willpower. Can you live without something (or make a conscious effort to do something) for forty consecutive days, without slipping up? Ususally, I can.

So what to do this year? Since I'm always striving for a healthier lifestyle, I've decided to give up calories. Not all calories, of course, just the unnecessary ones. From now til Easter I will not eat more than 1,000 calories per day. Seriously. I know it won't be too difficult because I've been doing a 'test run' for the last few days (You didn't think I was jumping into this blind, did you?). I know it will be difficult on those days when all you wnt to do is eat a giant baked potato smothered in butter and cheese and sour cream (mmm...), but that's when you have to limit yourself (you know, only eat half the potato).

Maybe I'll even be down a dress size by Easter. We'll see. I also encourage you guys to give something up or make a healthy lifestyle change. See if you can keep it up til Easter. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Funny!!

Hey guys-

I came across this website today www.engrishfunny.com it's a bunch of foreign translations of the english language. Check it out if you need a laugh!!

Snow!

It is snowing in Houston...how crazy is that!? Just a little bit, and it won't stick, and I'm betting I will pass at least 3 wrecks on the way home, but it's still kinda cool!

Please Take Your Decorations Elsewhere...

This year I am not in the holiday spirit. I did put up a tree last week. It's 2.5-3 feet tall, pre-lit, and just the right size for my tiny apartment. I took it down during my lunch hour today. Yep, it's been boxed up and is back in my outside storage room where it's been all year. It never got decorated, and I never even plugged it in.

Last Weekend

This past weekend I:

1. Cleaned my house, except for the ironing. I hate ironing.
2. Finished a report for work. Yay!
3. Went horseback riding with my neighbor. See story below.

So my neighbor (her name is Sa, she's an avid horseback rider from Germany) invited me to go riding with her this weekend. I agreed, but only after warning her that I have been on a horse exactly once, and that was about 7 years ago. So off we went to Cypress Trails, the horse-riding place (or whatever you call it).

I have to say this place was pretty cool. A guide takes you through the woods, following trails and going up and down hills and crossing through a creek. The trail we took ran along a bluff overlooking a creekbank and eventually came out along a powerline. The ride started out great.

Then the horses started trotting, and that's where things started going downhill. For those who don't know (I didn't), trotting means jogging. The horse took off and I was super nervous and felt like I was going to fall, but I made it. No worries(: Then the guide asked if we were ready to go up Canter Hill. Not thinking anything about it, I said, "Sure". No one told me the horses RACE up this particular hill, hence the name Canter Hill. Go figure.

So there the horses go, hauling ass up this giant hill. For someone who is pretty much a first time rider, this is not what you should be doing on day #1. But, somehow, by the grace of God I made it up the hill without falling off. I should note, though, that one of my feet had fallen out of the stirrup, I got slammed against a tree, and had all but dropped the reins. Weird, but it was fun and it sucked at the same time.

At the top of the hill, the horse didn't stop running. I was trying to figure out how to make him slow down when I looked ahead and saw that the trail doubled back in a hairpin turn. I knew its over. The horse made a sharp right to go around the curve, and I (unintentionally) made a sharp left. Landed on my right shoulder and somehow ended up with bruises on my left side. I got back on and finished the ride, but my neck and every muscle in my back hurt for two days. My shoulder is still a little sore, but will be better in a day or two. My bruised side still hurts like hell, and I have this dull pain in my forearm.

I should note that the guide said the lady at the front desk told her I had been riding for years, as novice riders aren't supposed to canter (duh). I don't know if that's true or if she was pulling a CYA. Either way, it actually was really fun, and I plan on going back sometime.