Week 13

Moving is not good for operation a little less fat.  I gained 1.0lbs this week.  This is most likely due to my going out to eat for three delicious high calorie meals and a bunch of alcohol.  I also blame this pattern for my annoying cold.  Quite frankly I'm surprised it wasn't worse.

Weekend Wonders

So how come the moment you are moving your previously empty social calendar turns overbooked just when you have absolutely no time to do anything?

On Friday I went out for dinner and drinks so a little Mexican restaurant popular in my current stomping grounds then after wards we went to a friends house for more drinks where we played catch phrase into the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday I did a very miniscule amount of packing, made a bunch of phone calls and had way too many drinks while sitting around a fire eating steak and smores. It was cold and I was up until about 5:30am today I felt like I've been run over a truck carring a flu virus. My sinuses are conjested and I'm a bit afraid my swollen sore throat will close off at any moment.

Today I'm doing laundry, going to church and hopefully packing a couple boxes. I have to find out where to pocure more because lack of recepticles is proving to hinder my progress. Now I must get dressed (urgh) snort some nasal spray and try to look half way presentable.

Big News!

Project Annabelle is in full swing.  I'm moving.  Bye bye isolated tundra of Minnesota hello overpopulated city of Chicago.  Okay well not exactly..I'm moving in with my parents but this is a temporary step.  I need to get my house rented out and save a bit of money to cover housing expenses that might arise of my future renter.  I got a wonderful job (a promotion even) I'm actually a bit amazed they hired me.  The facility and location are great and even more importantly everyone I met was super nice.  

The whole thing is a bit jarring I have so much to do in such a short period of time. 

Time for bed.

Week 12

Another fun week.  Not really.  I've been busy, I've been over tired and I haven't been the gym in 7 days.  Somehow through my diet of McDonalds and prepackaged food I lost 5.1lbs this week. 

So definitely not bad news.  I'm going to try and get a decent nights sleep and hopefully make it back to the gm tomorrow.  Also there are some potentially exciting things on the horizon. Vague I know but yeah thats all I'm saying right now.

Peachy Keen

I had a wonderful day.  I skipped the gym but hey I stayed within my points so no biggie.  This is not my point.

So I was at the dry cleaners the other day where I was greeted by the most wonderful lady.  She was kind she was funny she carefully attended to all my ocd-esc requests.  I even called Alice to tell her about my pleasant interaction while doing my saturday chores.  

Flash forward to Wednesday I went to pick up my clothes and the same lady smiling said hi and said oh you must be here to pick up the suit.  Not only did she remember me and my order but she remembered out conversation and drowned me in genuine flattery!  Had she not been a middle aged woman I may have proposed marriage.

So often I threaten to write strongly worded letters to people who have pissed me off, of course i never get far enough to actually use a stamp.  Today in the spirit of turning over a new leaf I hand wrote a nice letter to the owner/manager of my dry cleaner describing my positive experience and singing "Sue's" praises.  I dropped it in the mail today.

Pleased with myself (and having leftover points for my day) I went to McDonalds to get an ice cream cone.  A few weeks ago Alice and I stopped to get a cone after dinner.  The young kid leaned out the window with the vanilla cone smiling and in a chipper voice said, "Who want's Ice cream!?!"  It was adorable and honestly made my rotten day turn good.  Upon Alice's urging I called the McDonald's and talked to the manager telling them about the chipper young lad that made my day.

Anywho today high on my spreading of joy I visited the same McDonalds to order my 3 point vanilla cone.  At the window a middle aged man half leans out and mutters, "Who wants ice cream...?"  Sure he didn't say it with the vigor it needed but it still made me feel good.  That kid got his compliment and thats what matters.

Annabelle Tinley signing out.... changing the world one compliment at a time.

If you would like a wonderful dry cleaning experience visit Sue...

Dison's Cleaners

20th St. SE

Rochester, MN 55904

Week 11

It's Monday weigh in day. Today is a particularly exciting because I officially reached my 10% goal. I never really cared or knew anything about the 10% goal until I weight to weight watchers the first time. I was never able to make it to that damn 10% in my three bouts as a member. Well suck it weight watchers I did it on my own.

Well don't suck it. I like weight watchers. I like their little three month journal I like having my points target to stick within. It gets me in the habit of this is what appropriate eating looks like and so far it has gone well.

In other news Alice and I have finally settled on our 5k date October 3rd. I'm going to take it a little easy this week on the jogging since my knee has been bothering me so I might just do 15 minutes of running and then cycle for 30minutes or so. I really should sign up for a personal training thing since I have absolutely no clue of how to exercise, but then again there is still so much time for that. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the glory time before the first sucky platue.


27.7 lbs lost! Rock on!

Wellness Evaluation

Today was my big wellness evaluation. Sure I should have done this when I started nearly 3 mos ago but I knew it involved spandex and running on a treadmill with a gas mask type contraption affixed to your face so I took my time in making the appointment.

Honestly it wasn't as bad as I expected even considering my evaluator was young tall and dark & breathtakingly handsome. Perhaps next time I will request a old lady so my resting heart rate isn't affected by lust.

So after an hour of embarrassing tests I got my less than lack luster results. But I'm not going to let it bother me. Its a start and something to improve upon.

Today
Weight: 246.1 lbs
Fat: 51.3%
VO2: 19.6
Resting HR: 103

And for the Goals
Weight: 165
Fat: <30%
VO2: >30
Resting HR: <75

Who is Cobie?

I met Cobie in the parking lot of my high school two weeks before the start of junior year. We were lining up for practice at band camp. That's right I said band camp...wanna make something of it. He was different that all my other friends who were primarily the straight A student council types. It's not that Cobie and I aren't smart. We are we just aren't "traditionally acedemically gifted."

Sometimes because I'm all too self reflective I wonder how things in my life my have been different if he had never come into my life. Before him I was completely and discustingly sheltered. I didn't know gay people, I didn't know the joys of smoking and I would never consider crossing from the suburbs into the dangerous city of Chicago where my parents would have me belive I would be shot on sight. In many late night walks through boys town and surrounding neighborhoods I came to see how my life might be different than the life my parents planned for me. I saw the worlds as bigger and different. I now can see all the possibilies for my future and that I can do anything I dream up, and I learned that from him.

He's different from any person I've met before or met since. He's completely unapoligetic about the way he lives his life. He does what he wants to do and is utterly authentic. He is there to listen whenever I'm going through whatever it is I'm going through and will ocassionally kick my ass out of self loathing mode when it needs to be done. He is always thinking of the future, his next degree, his next work venture. I'm a bit convinced that somehow he will take over the world and become extreemly wealthy. I'm hoping to stay on his good side so he will take me on all expenses paid vacations with him.

Since moving to the less than exciting tundra of minnesota 10 years I don't get to see him as much as I want but with every mini-vay that we meet things pick up right where they left off.

The contrast of Annabelle and Cobie

• He likes cats
• He likes camping
• He does lots of computer stuff and sometimes he talks about it and my eyes glaze over in ineptitude
• He listens to some really wierd music...even for me
• Sometimes I worry he will become a hippy and run away to join a comune...but then I remember that he wouldnt be able to live without his powerbook, ikea furiture and over priced Irish butter.
  

Who is Alice?

I met Alice my freshman year of college. It was most likely about 3am mid week (although such details can not be substantiated) all I know is no one else was awake. In the hallway of the dorms we started chatting, well more accurately mocking. Some people thrive on dorm life. We are not those people. There are little construction paper decorations with glitter in the hallways that change as the seasons pass. Then there are the endless pictures of people on the walls participating in water balloon tosses and three legged races. Its bit like kindergarten but with liquor.

So there we were twin insomniacs trapped in a floor full of estrogen mocking the latest pictures from the last "mixer." The theme from friends should have been playing in the background. We've been relatively inseparable ever since.

We worked together at both Dominos and Subway in college where no one we worked with could ever tell us apart. I understand we are both relatively tall and rubinesce but really...at the time she had short oddly colored spiky hair and mine was long and blonde it is still a mystery where the confusion lied. Those that could tell us apart often thought we were sisters.

As time has passed we have changed from same person, to sisters and now an assumed lesbian couple. A few short weekends ago we were attending a party where a former Winona allum was (as I was convinced) trying to get us to finance a building. Then after torturing us with his optomistic attitude for over an hour with a completly straight face he says, "So how long have you two been a couple?"

There was no...are you gay? Are you together? It just must have seemed like fact that we are obviously an old married couple. I can't completely fault him on his assumption because after further evaluation Alice has been and will likely be my future "date" for every new years, valentines day and anything adressed as Annabelle and guest.

Since our friendship has now graduated to married couple Alice has been pushing for a domestic partnership so she can have better health insurance and a membership at my kick ass gym. I was able to talk her down to an all expenses paid trip to my 10yr high school reunion instead. She admitted got a raw deal.

Since talking about the similarites between Alice and I would be long and tiresome I will highlight our differences instead.

• She likes onions
• She has a serious aversion to dog hair...and an even bigger aversion to dog drool
• She unscrews the cap of her toothpaste even if it has a flip top
• She does not use air conditioning

Yup that pretty much sums it up.

Who is Annabelle?

Despite the dissatisfaction of bff Alice we have a new alias. I present to you Annabelle Tinley. I don't know how I came up with the name it just seemed happy and fitting. Annabelle is a work in progress shes more the girl I want to be. I suppose at my ripe old age of 28 shes the "woman" I want to be but Annabelle doesn't really seem like a woman's name now does it? This blog will chronicle the journey of becoming Annabelle.

Annabelle lives in a shitty one bedroom apartment on the northside of Chicago while she continues to pay on her mortgage of sprawling 4-bedroom suburban/city home in Rochester, MN that was acquired during what she refers to as the "dark years" of her life. Said home is currently rented out to people whom continue to decline the value of her property but pay the rent on time so she doesn't really care that much.

Annabelle works in laboratory medicine where she is some bigwig and all of her staff and bosses worship her for her honesty, intelligence and calm demeanor. However her life is only centered on work for 50 hours per week.

Annabelle likes to spend her evenings cooking with her bff Alice and watching horrible pre-teen drama particularly Degrassi marathons. Together they have conquered making Tofu look appetizing and have tried every single vegetable Whole Food has to offer. After dining of healthful meals Annabelle and Alice enjoy a nice jog or bike ride on the lake shore or if the weather is unfavorable they take in a spinning class or meditative yoga class much to Alice's disdain.

Friday happy hours land Annebelle in Wrigleville to visit her longest bud ever Cobie for drinks, hotdogs the occasionally stolen Camel Light. She enjoys a large and diverse set of friends which Cobie lovingly prescreened for her, and she often treats them to dinner parties and long theological plans on how to save the world through Immunological drugs. Alice & Cobie refuse to attend such parties unless they are drunk, as under being the influence makes us far more entertaining.

She has a slight shopping addiction. She frequents H&M and owns about 3 dozen adorable summer dresses from Mod Cloth. She also spent an entire 3-week European vacation searching for the perfect bowl to place on her table...where she then spent hundreds of dollars getting an electrician to install a spot light on said perfect bowl.

Annabelle occasionally takes metra trips to visit her loving parents and grandmother in the (audible gasp) suburbs. They continually remind her that she isn't getting any younger and should settle down and start ensuring the continuation of the family line. She is however to busy and joyous to be bothered with the continuation of the Tinleys.

Annabelle is a do-good-er. She has contributed 20$ to nearly every charity in the Chicago-land area by participating in 5K races. She brings her own shopping bags to Whole Foods and does not own a car. She also schleps her recycling products since her shitty apartment does not have recycle bins. She believes the idea of being vegan is charming but her love of leather shoes and bacon keep her from taking the leap. She came out to her family as a democrat and was only semi-disowned for one holiday season where she received an autographed copy of Rush Limbaugh's latest book for Christmas.

So yeah that's the plan of where I'm going and who I want to be. Lets see how close I get.

This blog is a continuation of the writings of Ava Mazur. Her musings can be read on http://perpetuallysingle.blogspot.com/.