JennyExiled’s Neighborhood

1)  Lose pound #11.  If my Daily Plate/weight loss trend holds up, this will happen tomorrow morning.  (Or I guess technically at some point tonight, while I am sleeping.) 

2)  Read the new People, Us Weekly and Entertainment Weekly magazines.  I know People's cover story is Ellen and Portia's wedding.  I'm not a huge fan of Portia but I love Ellen.  (If you're gay, you have to.  It's one of the big gay rules, second only to `Don't sleep with the opposite sex.')

3)  Finish the new Faye Kellerman, The Mercedes Coffin.  It's really good so far.  (Incidentally, I had no idea Marge, one of the more major secondary characters, was a Republican.  I like her anyway, but wow--she blasted us liberals for blaming George Bush for the state of the country and I was a little taken aback because really, who else should we blame?  Regardless, this is a really good book and part of a fantastic series.  I love Peter and Rina.)

4)  Watch the remake of Prom Night, which Netflix sent me.

5)  Sleep.

6)  Do laundry.

7)  Quality time with Sam.

8)  Cook dinner at least one night--as part of my plan to realize that I cannot live on Lean Cuisines and cereal alone when I am at home.

This is a political one.

I read ths really good commentary on cnn.com comparing John McCain to George Bush.  I was talking to Jen about it and I mentioned that I had read somewhere that John McCain would be a fun guy to have a beer with.  I've heard the same said about George Bush, too, and I like fun people to drink with...but I wouldn't vote for one.

I want a smart president, one who won't spend a third of his tenure as president on vacation.  I want a president who can pronounce "nuclear."  (I'm petty that way.)

I want a president I can respect, not someone who just repeats the same speech over and over.  I don't want someone who resorts to dirty politics or name calling.  And I want someone who can speak without a speech writer nearby.

The commentary is really interesting.  I hope you read it.  It's not a love letter to John McCain but it's not a hatchet job, either.  And it raises some really important points, I think.

What T.V. series are you looking forward to starting back up in the fall?

In order:  The Office, Grey's Anatomy, The Amazing Race, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Californication, How I Met Your Mother and Heroes.

I am also excited for 90210 (remake).  (No, Angie, I am 13 years old.)  There are a few other shows I want to try, too.

I'm about to watch the last episode of the real Beverly Hills 90210, which I haven't seen before.  I'm sure I'll cry. :)

But in my defense, I'm off today and I have some sort of hideous cold.  But I'm armed with diet root beer and a personal pizza from Papa John's, and so I am good to go.

I didn't eat super well over the weekend--fried green tomatoes and calamari on Friday, plus a strawberry margarita; veal piccata and an appletini Saturday night--but lunch Saturday, I managed to order a salad.  (And cheesecake for dessert, hence the salad instead of pizza.)

I had a discussion with my friend, who was encouraging me to get the pizza instead of the salad, and she sounded a lot like I used to before I decided to diet: life is too short to not eat the food you like.

But for me, life is too short to not like what I see in the mirror.

I think this diet will work because I'm still eating food I like.  I still eat pizza and Chipotle and Panera and Boston Market.  It's just that instead of eating an entire pizza myself (over the course of two or three days, but still), I'm either getting a personal size pizza or only getting pizza when I have people to share it with.  And instead of getting Boston Market's dark meat chicken, I'm getting turkey.  And I'm eating fruits and vegetables and salad.  Instead of Ben & Jerry's, I'm eating Skinny Cow ice cream.  And I'm not drinking regular soda.  There have already been days where I've made bad food choices, and that's okay.  I just try not to make the absolute worst choice.  And the next day--even the next meal--is a chance to get back on track.

Dieting is easy.  You know exactly what you need to do--make better food choices and stop eating so much of the junk food.  And it's hard, because for most of us who are overweight, there are reasons for it. 

For me, I tend to eat when I'm unhappy or bored.  Food is a consolation, a celebration and a reward.  I am having to overhaul basically my entire way of thinking, and that's not an easy thing to do.

But now, even just ten pounds later*, people are starting to see the difference.  I liked myself already--I'm kind of awesome ;) -- but I think I'd like myself more if I'm not the fat girl.

And pretty soon--not next week, but next year sometime--I won't be anymore.

* = I don't mean to say "just ten pounds" like that's nothing, because it's been a challenge.  But ten pounds out of the sixty or seventy I want to lose is kind of a drop in the bucket.

Okay.  Over the last couple days, I have not eaten super well.  On Friday and Saturday, we ate at 8pm and I wasn't eating like I should be (Friday = fried green tomatoes and calamari; Saturday = veal piccata and I drank both days and there was cheesecake) but I also walked around a lot and today?

I've lost ten pounds!

Awesome!

Now back to salad. :)

So I just got back from the convention.  I only have one picture to share with you 'cause Chris Sarandon, Michael Biehn and Roddy Piper all charged an extra $25 (as in on top of the $25 for autographs) for pictures.

So here's me and Patricia Quinn, who played Magenta in Rocky Horror.

Convention 015

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I am super, super happy. :)  Everyone was really nice.  I pretty much only met those four and Mink Stole, who has been in a ton of John Waters movies and who apparently lives very near me.  (There are no pictures of us as there was no one to take said pic.)

I maybe wouldn't have recognized Chris Sarandon on the street, but Michael Biehn and Roddy Piper look very much the same. 

(Piper tried to keep my They Live DVD and when I asked for it back, he was like, "You just want everything, don't you?" and I was like, "Yup.  I get it, too.  It's my curse," and he laughed and shook my hand again and he was just awesome.)

Michael Biehn and I talked about The Princess Bride for about two seconds; he was really nice.

I didn't say much to Chris Sarandon, but he was also uber-nice.

And Patricia Quinn?  SWEET GOD. :)  I love her so much. :)

I had a picture of her that I had bought years ago when I was visiting Jen and she said that she really liked it and hadn't seen it before.  And we were just talking and I made her laugh but I think it was a pity laugh because I was just sort of rambling--maybe in an adorable way, but probably just in a strange way.

I saw Dee Wallace Stone and she remembered me from March and asked where Katie was.  We agreed that I was lucky not to have to help her (Katie) move. :)

Convention was awesome. :)

Finished Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner.  Holy crap, so good!

About to eat breakfast, then off to the convention!  Stories and pictures to come later. :)

Finished The Night Villa by Carol Goodman--I really liked this one.  I think Lake of Dead Languages is still my favorite, but I like this one a lot too.  I'd recommend it. :)

Also, am super excited for the convention.  Just thought I'd share. :)

Yes.  In honor of my nine pound weight loss (and surviving a six day work week without killing anyone--although technically I won't have done that until 11:30 tonight), I'm getting Chipotle for dinner. 

I'm honestly looking forward to a steak burrito bol about as much as I am getting to spend the next five days away from work.

God, I love their burrito bols.

So I am now nine pounds lighter and there is a chance that I can lose my tenth pound by Saturday. :)  (Which, as you all know, is the horror convention I've mentioned once or twice.)

Today is also the last day of a six-day workweek.  I am exhausted, but I think I can make it through eight hours.

(Dinner is probably going to be Boston Market--turkey, green beans and corn.  And according to Daily Plate, I can have that, plus breakfast and lunch, and have well over 700 calories to play with for later.)