A post in which I am finally bad*

I did sleep well last night, courtesy of drugs. I figured I ought to get one good night in this week before I started driving. Driving makes me sleepy. Usually I smoke to keep from going to sleep behind the wheel, but I have to be careful about that with my Mom, because she'll fuss if I smell like smoke. I noticed that the painPM meds I have been taking have acetaminophen in them, and I've decided to stop taking that. I read something lately that said acetaminophen has been linked to a lot of kidney failure - now more than even is caused by diabetes. So I'm going to have to stop taking the painPM stuff, but I can still take plain ole sleeping pills.

Work was smooth and mostly quiet.

After work I went upstairs and hit the walker. Today I brought my iPod with me. That made a HUGE difference. I think I also finally hit that place where your body starts to get accustomed to moving again and it's not such a life-or-death struggle to get through a simple workout. Whatever the cause, or combination of causes, I felt GREAT today and just felt like I was flying during my workout. I found it tremendously empowering. Today was the first day I felt like I could have maybe gone on for a while longer if I wanted to. I'm burning about 250 calories during a 20-minute elliptical walk. I'm thinking maybe next week I may try upping it to 25 on days that I don't do weights and see how that goes. Lord knows I could use the extra exercise. It's been almost three weeks now, and I have weighed a couple of times, hopefully, but I haven't shifted an ounce. But I feel thinner, which is weird. Maybe the fat is moving around. Or maybe I'm just standing up straighter or something. Anyway, I told myself when I started this, it was about keeping my heart healthy, and not so much about trying to lose weight. I had to do something.

They had the TV tuned to the Food Network today while I was working out, watching Paula Deen. OK, I really can't stand her - she is like an Uncle Tom to her Southern roots, serving up shrink-wrapped corn pone for an almighty dollar to Yankees who don't know any better - but without sound it wasn't so bad. I reflected on the irony that were it not for socially programmed high-fat diets (which of course she both epitomizes and celebrates), many of us wouldn't need the work out room in the office in the first place.

I got home and started doing wash. I had one more load I wanted to do before I left town. I also packed up my suit. Aunt Ruby's funeral is this weekend. I'm taking the suit even though I haven't really planned on going to the funeral. Mom says Granny isn't going. She has given various reasons, but we both think the real reason is that she won't be seen there in a wheelchair. She just refuses to give in, but she can't walk. She has rheumatoid arthritis in her hips, and can only walk about 6-10 steps at a time; but when we went shopping the last time and took her in the chair, she was careful to tell the salesman that she could walk just fine. She told him the rest of us just didn't want to wait for her because she was slow. He was the soul of commiseration, good salesman that he was.

Anyway, should she change her mind and want to go (Ruby was one of the last of her sisters), I don't want to be an impediment. I'll be prepared. Frankly though, Aunt Ruby, despite her great pound cake recipe, was actually a great-aunt to me, and we have never been close. There are just things I'd rather do than go to a funeral when I get a chance to see Granny and Poppy. If they aren't going, I'll stay home with them. Mom and her sister Donna are going. It will be good to see Aunt Donna, it has been a while.

During this packing and stuff, I set up a buddy visit online. I threw a salad down my gullet for dinner while I waited for him to show up.

Afterwards, I was pretty wiped, but glad I had the energy for extra-curricular activities even after doing the walker today. I finished packing the rest of my things, and planning what I was going to wear. I found the new weekender I bought but haven't used, and packed in it. While I was doing it I watched the end of Pygmalion on TCM. It was interesting to see the original, since I had only ever seen My Fair Lady. I kept waiting for the songs. Leslie Howard was good as Henry Higgins. It was interesting to see how similar Rex Harrison's performance was in the same role. Wendy Hiller seemed a bit too high brow to me, but then I hadn't seen her pre-transformation.

By the time I got through packing, I was ready for bed. I climbed in, was covered in cats, and tried to get some rest. Tomorrow is a long day.