I’m around, just busy this week with work, Buffy, Angel, and filling in on Conservative Grapevine and Right Wing News. If you’re bored, you can go read my post on RWN.

Kthxbai.

Wow, looking at our July calendar, I’m pretty sure we’ll be ragged or dead by the end of it. Frank surprised me yesterday with the news that he’s booked us a white water rafting trip (!!!) for this weekend. 1s and 2s and maybe up to some 3s. Yes, I’m a little wigged and also really excited. We’ve never done it before. I used to be dead set against the whole idea, before I hiked the Grand Canyon and decided I love the outdoors and should cowgirl up and just do it. Once we got to Idaho, I told Frank we should totally do that sometime. And now we are! Aaaah! So that’s this weekend.

Next weekend, we’re going fishing. My FIL’s favorite fishing spot is finally stocked, so we’re going up there with my in-laws. It’ll be fun. I haven’t fished since… wow, maybe since I was nineteen or twenty. Which, for those of you counting, is more than a decade ago. Surely I’ve fished since then? I can’t remember doing so.

And the last weekend in July, we’ve been invited to go hike in the Sawtooths near Stanley, a hike that sounds like we will not be in any kind of shape for, but whatevs. They can catch us on the way down. The hiking trip means that I need to buy hiking boots, because I haven’t had any since I hiked the Canyon the first time with Essay. I gave them to my mom, as I had not properly broken them in before the fourteen-mile round-trip hike (because I was really smart) and therefore never wanted to see them again. So I need to get those this week so I have time to break them in. Any recommendations as to high, low, mid boots? And how do y’all break in your boots? I’ve read a number of different ways to do it.

The other weekend this month, I turn thirty-two, so I’m sure Frank will plan something for us. He’d better! ::shakes fist::

We bought an annual national parks pass when we went to Yellowstone, so we plan to get a lot of use out of that. We’re only twelve hours from the North Rim and within even fewer hours of several more national parks, forests, etc.

Oriental poppies in Idaho City.

Gorgeous.

The ‘Stache agrees with me about North Korea.

You know, I’d wet my pants if McCain picked Bolton for VP. It won’t happen, because Bolton tells the truth way too much, but I don’t mind dreaming about it.

		I will marry Simon Cowell.
		After a wild honeymoon, We will settle down in Florida in our fabulous Apartment.
		We will have 13 kid(s) together.
		Our family will zoom around in a Red 2WD 2 cylinder Prius.
		I will spend my days as a Accountant, and live happily ever after.

I have a way better future with Spike over at SRM.

(via Tracey)

Okie dokie. Today I did my Wiirkout in the evening.

Weight: 144.6
BMI: 27.3
Weight lost: 6.8 lbs!!! Because I’m awesome!
15.6 pounds to goal.
Wii Fit Age: 33

I feel pretty good about that. Only five more pounds, and I’m below 140! I haven’t seen below 140 since roughly… late 2005, early 2006?

*Nightfly makes excuses for his upcoming love handles. Ok, fine, move into your house, but no time for unpacking! You get with the program.
*Susan is still at awesome BMI and weight. Go Susan!

And that’s the update. If you want to join in, leave a comment or a link to your post.

Wiirk it, yo!

You think this will be an Obama Hopechange post. You’re wrong.

People seem to actually be getting excited about Kim blowing up his Yongbyon nuclear reactor. I can’t even force a smile over that one. Kim has tortured his own people for so many years (his own people), and I’m supposed to find this guy trustworthy? I call shenanigans out the wazoo, peeps. First, as Captain Ed points out, the facility wasn’t even active, and it had long since been shut down. I say Kim was just waiting for the right moment. The moment when he has either built something that isn’t detectable from space (i.e., it’s underground), and it’s already gone live, or he’s got reactors going strong in other countries. We already know (allegedly) that he built a nuke facility in Syria; thank Israel for getting us (and themselves, of course) out of that one. Do y’all think that Syria was the only country that let North Korea in? Russia, anyone? How about China? Lots of countries in the Middle East, I could go on…

If we ever see the lights go back on in North Korea, then I might be happy at least for the North Korean citizens, because maybe once they have electricity, that’ll be a sign they’re also getting food. For now, I assume they still starve.

Sweet, sweet gunpowder.

Yesterday was a good day for people who want to own guns for self-defense but have been oppressed by their over-stepping local governments. I heard about the Heller decision just as I was leaving for work in the morning, and I smiled gleefully all the way to work.

I’ve gotta tell you, I was a little worried after the Supreme Court decided this week not to allow child molesters to be thrown into the incinerator given the death penalty, since child molestation doesn’t involve intent to kill (unless, you know, the evil pig dog takes it half a hair farther and does, in fact, kill). Apparently, intent to kill a child’s spirit doesn’t count. That travesty notwithstanding, I started skipping around when I heard that Scalia wrote the opinion on the gun case. That meant we had won.

The good (if somewhat puppy-blending) professor brings up a great point about the decision:

But winning in the Supreme Court is just the beginning of the story. Even the biggest civil-rights victories have taken years to percolate through the lower courts, often in the face of foot-dragging or outright resistance from lower-court judges, states and municipalities.

Brown v. Board of Education declared racial segregation unconstitutional in 1954, but it took a decade or more of slogging to make its promise bear fruit - and even then Congress had to give things a boost by passing the 1964 and 1965 Civil Rights Acts.

By contrast, in the 1990s the Supreme Court decided a series of cases narrowing Congress’ powers to regulate all sorts of things under the rubric of “interstate commerce.” But there were no hordes of public-interest lawyers to pick up on those decisions and bring new cases in the lower courts.

Glenn goes on to point out that the lack of new cases allowed the lower courts to ignore the Supreme Court’s rulings in the ’90s and that law-abiding gun owners will need to bring carefully litigated lawsuits into the lower courts if we’re not going to hose this one up. I’m thinking it’s time to join and donate to the NRA and get Frank signed up again (he wasn’t not signed up on purpose, just because I kept forgetting to renew him).

Anyway, yay guns and freedom!

Oh yes, this will be WTMI. It’s one of those dumb health posts y’all hate, but this is where I track my small intestine’s progress, so what can you do? If you want something more interesting and less graphic, you can jump over to SRM! and see my thoughts on sci-fi and fantasy.

So many rants are fully formed in my head. The news is making my noggin bleed purple fury. Supreme Court says child molestation isn’t all that bad (how much do I love Scalia and his scathing dissensions? Let me count the heart flutters.). Morons say it’s okay to poke fun at presidential candidates as long as they’re not black, which is totally retarded. And I have a ton of pictures to post and lots of thoughts on how World War II would have been a disastrous loss if we’d have had it today with our anti-American media.

But you know what keeps me from doing all of that?

Celiac. No, no, I’m not blaming celiac for my lack of blogging, and I’m not all woe is me for having celiac (it was actually the best diagnosis I could have wished for, honestly). I’m blaming the IBS that comes along with celiac, that comes along with identifying even more things besides wheat that apparently constipate you for years on end until you think that there’s no way you will ever be able to poo again. For pete’s sake, all you really want is to be able to drop the kids off in the pool, but they’re just hanging out in your most un-motile small intestine, waiting for you to drink a whole carton of heavy cream so they can skate on down.

So I’ve been listening to my body more lately. I know that wheat stops me up, and dairy runs right through me, taking everything else along with it. Corn has the same effect as dairy. I didn’t think I had much, if any, of an egg sensitivity, but yeah, I’ve noticed that when I have eggs, whether boiled or scrambled or baked in a loaf of bread, I’m at least as constipated as when I eat wheat. But so far that’s the only symptom I’ve noticed with eggs — no seizures, no migraines that I’ve picked up on, no whole-body inflammation, no skin that screams when you touch it. Like comes with the wheat, dairy, and corn. But after three days of no-going, I’m staying as far away from eggs as I can, at least until my intestine is healed.

You know, they say it can take six months to heal. It can also take two to three years. I’m guessing I’ll fall in somewhere around the three years. I had the migraines and diarrhea for three years before going gluten-free, and two years in was when I developed the epilepsy, muscle pain, nerve pain, and skin tenderness. So I think I’m still in for a long haul before I can even try dairy again (have I mentioned how much I crave cheese now? Much.). That is, except when the discomfort and pain of not being able to doooo anything makes me resort to drastic measures, as I did today. Yep. I know that tomorrow I will have seizures, migraine, inflamed body, etc., but if I’m able to get a little relief, it will be worth it. I ate cheese on my avocado chicken wasabi orange salad tonight. A decent helping of cheese, at that. Colby Jack. It was so good. My only regret is that I didn’t have shredded parmesan on hand when I resorted to my drastic poo-helping measures.

I know I’ve said it before, but I’ve missed cheese more than anything I’ve given up. All other dairy is replaceable with something that tastes better. But cheese can only be replaced by more cheese. Pizza? Bah. Give me a broccoli salad topped with parmesan, Chebe rolls with parmesan baked inside… cheese inside a chicken chimichanga…

Ok, I have to stop now, because I made myself promise that the cheese tonight was for emergency purposes only and that I wouldn’t have any more. And there’s a giant block of it in the fridge calling my name.

I loved this picture from Friday. Check out the sky!

There is house construction all around us in the neighborhood. And they start hammering boards and running their circular saws before 7 a.m. That’s just indecent.

What can I say? I was visiting national parks on Friday (thank you, Teddy Roosevelt).

Anyway, today my weight is 146.7. That’s a total loss of… carry the one… 4.8 pounds? I did that in my head, so it may be wrong. No change in eating habits over the last three weeks, just Wii Fit, plus some hiking thrown in for good measure. I’m 16 or 17 pounds from my goal and moving along nicely. BMI: 27.something. Wii Fit Age today: 34. I was actually 29 at one point last week.

Good news! I did the Tree pose in yoga today without falling. My foot was even above the knee for at least two seconds. Go me!

My favorite yoga poses, the ones I do every day, are the Half-Moon, Palm Tree, Warrior, and that one where you lie flat on your back and twist one knee over your body. Oh, I unlocked the last yoga pose, the Shoulder Stand. Hahahahahaha. I get as far as sticking my toes straight up in the air, and then I’m supposed to slowly roll my legs over my body behind my head. Even if I get a running start, I can’t do that one. So I skip steps two, three, and four and basically just lie there with my legs in the air. And the trainer (whose hair is getting longer, have you noticed?) tells me I’m doing a great job and so flexible. If she only knew!

I am addicted to the ski jump. Also love the tilt board balance game (haven’t gotten past level seven) and the balance bubble. I’m into the Advanced Step aerobics now, but I have to admit, it’s hard. I get confused, and I’m just now to the point where it doesn’t tell me to watch the feet of the other Miis if I don’t understand the pretty diagrams. Finally got past that part.

*No update from Tha ‘Fly. I’m sure he was exercising like crazy.
*Susan’s update from Monday. Check you out with your super-healthy BMI!

If I missed anyone’s update, let me know, or link yourself in the comments, or comment and tell us all about it.

Great job, y’all!

This week Bikermommy & Pappy came to visit. So I worked late every day last week and all weekend trying to get all of my work done before leaving. Frank did most of the cleaning since I was unavailable with all the working; good man, that husband. B&P were here all week. Thursday when Frank got off work we drove over to Rexburg to meet up with B&P, who had gone earlier in the day. Friday we drove the rest of the way to Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and Frank and I stayed in Jackson Hole Friday night while B&P started their long drive back to Texas. Yesterday we drove the six hours home. I cooked an early dinner (I mean, we were eating by 6:00!), and we watched hours of Buffy and Angel. It was nice to veg.

I look like a lobster from being out in the sun Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. What’s with the sun liking to burn people? It’s not nice, especially when people are too dumb to wear sunscreen. It should make exceptions for stupidity.

There was a big layoff at work this week. Boss is gone, along with three others in my department. I now report to Big Boss, who is my age but really intimidates me. I don’t know why, because he’s one of the nicest people I’ve met, a really good boss — maybe it’s because he’s so tall, I don’t know. Every time I get around him, though, I say the stupidest things. Like my Dumb Filter in my brain goes dormant while I’m in his presence, and I have to correct pretty much everything I say. I’m still in a little bit of shock about Boss. We had a really good rapport — he understood that nothing I say is serious, due to my inate sarcasm, unless I’m talking about debits and credits. A lot of major people are gone. Our Vietnamese intern is gone, the one who shared an office with Elle and me. I found this all out right before we were leaving for Yellowstone on Thursday when I got an email from the intern. Right then Elle chatted me, and I told her I’d just found out the intern (let’s call her Trixie for brevity) was terminated, and Elle told me that a whole lot of people were terminated. Apparently they wanted to do one big layoff so the remaining people would know their jobs were safe. (My response to that was “for now.”) Anyway, it’s going to be weird tomorrow. Elle said it was quiet all week.

We were almost involved in a huge accident Tuesday, a ten-car pileup. Actually, we found out later that we had, indeed, been hit, but we only sustained a cracked side mirror. I thank God for those mad defensive driving skillz He gave me. Remind me later to rant about all the bicycles on the roads in this town.

I finally got my Idaho driver license and car tags. I signed up for eight years on the license and two years on the tags, since we know I have a mental problem that doesn’t allow me to get those pesky legal things renewed in a timely manner.

Gotta go get dressed for worship. Later, dudes.

I didn’t forget on Friday. I was drowning in work, etc., as I’m on vacation this week, and it’s traditional to start off a week of vacation by working late the whole week before the vacation. Also traditional to work alllllll weekend long before vacation.

Bikermommy and Pappy are arriving today, but doggonit, I’m gonna get in my Wiirkouts. I haven’t done any since Wednesday. However, I did weigh in on Friday, and my total weight loss is 2.0 pounds. New weight is 149.5. Awwwwww yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.

Keep Wiirking Out, hotties.

Reader Dan emailed yesterday morning to congratulate me on a year of gluten-freeness. I’m glad he did, or I probably would have missed the milestone (like I miss every single blogiversary).

Wow. A whole year. About ten months of that has also been dairy-free. Man, do I miss cheese. Actually, that is the only thing I miss of the things I’ve given up. Okay, also the flour tortillas from Rosa’s, but we don’t have a Rosa’s here, so no big. And Fiery Habanero Doritos. Everything else is replaceable with better-tasting food (including, holy cow, the donuts we had the last three mornings). I haven’t talked much about this, but I’m still having occasional setbacks. I’ve started cutting way down on eggs and trying to cut out corn completely, at least in kernel form. I hardly have any corn syrup in my diet as it is. At least for baking, I can use egg replacer, but there is no replacement for egg salad or deviled eggs or tostada shells. It’s okay, though — if I start healing faster then I’ll be able to add everything but gluten back into my diet sooner rather than later. I love corn so so much, and occasionally I crave deviled eggs with all the urgency I own, but it’s only temporary.

Anyway. I feel worlds better than I felt a year ago. And four years ago, when I couldn’t even get out of bed from the migraines. And three years ago, when the fatigue was starting to settle in… Yeah, I’m much better now. Still have some healing to do, but I’m not complaining.

Rhodesian Ridgebacks, that is.

Today at doggie daycare (we may possibly *be* those people — I just don’t know anymore), Rowdi had several dogs to play with. One was a min pin, which she played with yesterday very well, but today the min pin was fickle and would occasionally snip and snap at all the dogs. But I like that Rowzer the Bowzer (also known as Row-Row the Bow-Wow) is able to play with the teeny dogs at this place. At the place in Florida, they separated the dogs, large and small, and the two sizes didn’t get to play together, but here all the rat terriers, chihuahuas, and min pins jump around Rowdi and yip and yap and frolic and play, and she alphaly ingnores them all. There’s a giant lab named Duke that she lurves and also a puppy pit who can match her in energy and sprinting abilities. Y’all know we have pretty much the most high-energy dog on the planet, right? Well, these little yippers (the rats, chihuahuas, min pins) tire her out as it is… but today, she had a puppy chocolate lab, a puppy labradoodle, and a Rhodesian Ridgeback. And the Rhodesian Ridgeback? Could outrun her. Dogs don’t outrun the Rowzer. And when I heard it was a Rhodesian Ridgeback, I was like, “But Sunny Lukis is obese!”

She sleeps constantly these days.

Another funny thing she does. In the mornings, we feed her before we leave for work (carpooling is awesome), because she’s going to need her energy playing with the puppies all day. Well. We usually feed her while we’re getting dressed, packing lunches, whatever. But as soon as she sees that we’re both downstairs and both wearing shoes, she won’t eat. Stops right in the middle — and this dog is obsessed with food. We coax her. “Rowdi, eat your food! Eat your food, puppy girl!” She’ll run and take a bite, then run back over to where we are to make sure she doesn’t miss us leaving for work. This is repeated a bite at a time until we’re ready to leave. She generally leaves about half a bowl (two cups) when we leave the house. A couple of times we’ve taken the bowl with us in the car so she can eat the rest of it, but that was just so much trouble, carrying something extra to the car and all. Now we just leave it in the house, as she is clearly not interested with the prospect of meeting new puppies nearby. And it’s so funny when we get home. I don’t know if she thinks about the food all day, like “as soon as I get through that door that I see so often, I’m going to eat,” or if she remembers food the second we hit the driveway, or if it’s when we’re standing next to the door fumbling for keys. But as soon as we open the door, she tries to bolt inside. I say, “No, first Daddy. Then Mommy. You last.” She sits politely until I finally motion for her to come inside, and the second she’s past the door, she swings around behind the door (where her bowl is) and starts chomping away, and she doesn’t even wait for us to take off her leash. I think the hunger pangs strike as soon as we step out of the car, because that’s when she suddenly forgets her manners and tries to lead us to the house. “I haz food there! Quick, hoomins!”

That’s all I’ve got. Work has been insane the past two days, and I only have three days until vacation, during which I need to do… oh… six days of work.

Today I think I discovered that one of my coworkers blogs. I went over to her desk to ask a question, and I saw that she had something that looked remarkably like Movable Type open on her computer. She quickly closed out of it. I don’t know whether to ask her about her blog or google her. They all know I blog, which is fine — I assume they read (not because I’m arrogant, but just in case) — but no one has told me about their blogs or anything.

Beddy-bye time.

That’s all.

The first rule of Fiit Club is you don’t talk about Fiit Club. The second rule of Fiit Club is you don’t talk about Fiit Club.

Yeah, so Fiit Club probably doesn’t fit for a name for the super-awesome, non-exclusive, public Wii Fit club that approximately… carry the one… two people have joined me in. Ack, ending a sentence in a preposition, I should be shot.

Anyway, still looking for a geeky name and for more peeps for this coolest of non-gyms. So far, Susan is in, and Tha ‘Fly, while he doesn’t own a Wii Fit (why?), is going to do the progress-tracking part of it. And I’m in. I declare myself President, because it was my idea, and because I’m awesome. But according to me, almost everything that doesn’t suck is awesome, so y’all don’t feel bad.

Alright, here are my results for Week One(TM):

Beginning BMI: 28.6 or 28.7, I don’t remember.
Today’s BMI: 28.06. Wahoo! I’m less “overweight” than I was on Monday.
Beginning weight: 151.5
Today’s weight: 150.4
Total weight loss: 1.1 pounds (I told y’all it was lying)
# of times I’ve wanted to smash the creepy electronic balance board’s voice’s face (yes, I’ve decided that the voice has a face, even when the animated balance board isn’t waggling at you on-screen) for saying “Step on” and then giving an “Oh!” of surprise after I step on (”Oh! It hurts when you stand on me! I wasn’t ready for such girth! I should have braced myself!”): 415

So that’s the update for this week. LOL, after seeing Nightfly’s post about his results, we have an official name. We Can Wiirk it Out. (That is subject to change if someone comes up with something involving Sci-Fi TV.) I imagine that since Susan just got her Wii Fit yesterday, she may not have results until next week.

Now. More people must join, because at current, we only have enough bodies for President, Vice President, and Secretary. We still need enough people to add the offices of Treasurer, Historian, Librarian, Audit Committee Chair, Gun Chief, Watcher, Slayer, and Warmonger. Personally, I want double duty as President and Slayer.

It’s butt ugly.

I almost started to get excited when I read on Instapundit that Ford is now producing the Flex, an SUV that will get 24 mpg on the highway (my Explorer gets roughly 15-16, and the Flex would get about the same as Frank’s Santa Fe). The engine will certainly drop out of my Explorer in the next five minutes, and I’ll be looking for a new SUV or truck, if we decide we even need one (carpooling is awesome when gas is so expensive). But then I went and looked at the picture, and my head immediately tilted to the right, as it does when I’m making my “really?” face. First of all, I’m not even sure that is a truck wheelbase. As low as that sucker sits to the ground, it may be sitting on a car wheelbase. The Santa Fe is on a car wheelbase, too, but it doesn’t look like someone just stuck a camper on the back of a low-rider truck and called it an SUV — it looks more like a bubble on wheels. Second, shorten the front and curve the windshield a little more, and you have what is known as the minivan. And it’s not the boxy thing. I love Volvos, and the XC90 is my dream machine. It’s that I’m not such a fan of the low-rider truck/SUV hybrid look. And also, one of the purposes of the SUV is that you can see over everyone in traffic, and all the people around you get to be miffed that they can’t see over you.

Am I alone? It is unattractive, yes?

Down 2.5 pounds my foot!

So here’s how the weigh-ins have gone with Wii Fit. Before I start, let me just say that I threw out my bathroom scale something like two years ago, because 1) after stepping off the thing, I was always seized by a strong desire to off myself and 2) I can’t *not* weigh myself every day if there is a scale in the house, and I know that it is so very, very bad to weigh every day.

Okay, so day 1, I did my Wiirkout in the evening. Weighed in at 151.5. Cool, happy that my starting point is just over 150 rather than just over 160 — let me tell you, the day a weigh-in nurse first told me my weight was 162 and therefore I had finally passed yet another 10-pound benchmark? I think I stayed in bed for three days eating Totino’s pizzas and Oreo cookies with a side of gravy after hearing that. Anyway, 151.5. I was wearing my khaki bermuda shorts, Dave Matthews Band firedancer tank top, and socks. No shoes.

Day 2, I got up and got started. I was wearing my khaki bermuda shorts, DMB tank, socks, and running shoes (after doing the jogging module the first day, I realized I absolutely must wear shoes for this except during yoga). Took off the same amount (2 pounds) for light clothing (Wii asks you at the weigh-in how heavy your clothes are — one day I’m going to put zero and see if the little animated balance board makes a pass at me), resisted the temptation to say heavy clothing (4 pounds) because of the shoes, though that would have been perfectly fair. Wii said my weight was something like 150. Before the balance board even told me, I said, “Well, that’s to be expected. You weigh more later in the day.” But still. I’d added about 2 pounds of shoes.

Well, I didn’t have time to finish my workout in the morning (only got in 27 minutes), so I decided to get back on the Wii Fit when I got home. So around 6:30 p.m. yesterday, I started up again. I had stopped the Body Test after the weigh-in yesterday morning, because I wanted to get in the whole workout before I had to shower for work, so I went back to the Body Test. I figured I should do the balance tests and all that (I tend to lean right). To get to that point, you have to weigh in again. Weight this time (near the end of the day) was 148. Yeah, right. 3.5 pounds already? Auction off that beach house in Arizona to someone else, because this biddy ain’t buying. But still, I’m just so happy it isn’t telling me that it’s just joking, I’m really over 160 again. Oh, and I was wearing heavier clothes (pajama pants and t-shirt) plus my running shoes. I should have been up from my morning weight, because of that whole fluctuation thing, but I wasn’t.

I’m trying not to get excited about progress, because I know it’s impossible for me to have lost any weight yet after two workouts, but whatevs.

So this morning I weighed in. Just a hair below 149. Tcha! As if. Bermuda shorts, DMB tank, socks, running shoes, and even my sparkly bandana this morning.

I’m not really focusing on the daily weight, though. In fact, I wish they had me weigh in only once a week or every two weeks; it’s more meaningful that way. I think what I’m going to do is update y’all on my weight every Friday (remind me if I don’t) so we can see a bigger picture of any progress going on.

What I am focusing on is how my body feels. I’m sore. I was sore yesterday morning, and today, my butt feels like someone took a hammer to it. So it’s gotta be working, right?

WII FIT CHALLENGE

Now. Tha ‘Fly mentioned that he wants to track his daily progress, too, and from the comments I’ve received, I know several of you have the Wii Fit. So I’m thinking we have like a Wii Fit Club (but y’all come up with a way cooler name than that, preferably something geeky). Anyone who wants to be included, email me or comment here, and every Friday I’ll post all of our results as you send them in (pounds lost — you don’t have to mention your starting weight, but you are welcome to). I’m not thinking of it as a contest, but more of a dorky club meant to encourage each other. You who aren’t participating can make super-awesome supportive comments, too. So I’m thinking we would start this Friday (you can say your weight, how long you’ve been Wiirking out, total weight lost since you started Wii Fit, how far you are from your goal, BMI improvement, as much or as little as you want to include). Every Friday I’ll do an update with everyone’s stats.

So here are the questions:
1) Who’s in?
2) Suggestions for the cool, geeky name for our non-exclusive club (anyone can join at any time, no need to catch up)?

It will likely succeed.

The Wii Fit was waiting for us on the porch in a big, red, smiling Target box when we got home. I quickly claimed first use.

Frank wanted to see how everything works, so even though I told him he would need to leave the room, he stuck around for my weigh-in. I’ve gotta say, I cheered a little. As in woo-hooed. Weight: First, an aside. I remember that right after my gluten challenge last June, I weighed in at 162. A whopper. I think I lost down to 156 within a couple of months, but then I plateaued, see-sawed, whatever. I know I went up and down because my pants would get tighter and looser (and the pants I bought only three months ago now require a belt so I don’t look like a hip young rapper). Boobs get bigger, boobs get smaller. You chicks know the drill (maybe some of you men know it, too). Anyway, the only thing that has changed in the last year is my diet. If you read here ever, you know I switched to coconut and sometimes palm oils for cooking (extra-v, unrefined), olive oil for raw food. We don’t do much packaged food (though I did eat a lot of Amy’s Organics food when I first started my job because I was adjusting to having to get up before ten); I make almost everything fresh. No gluten, obviously. When I went back on dairy for those two months or so, I know the weight went right back up, but I’ve noticed it slowly declining again P.D. (post-dairy). Fruit with dinner almost every single night. Pork is rarely consumed, stuff like that. Anyway, you get it. We don’t have very many bad eating habits. Unless you count that on my menu for the week, I have brownies listed as a breakfast food.

Ok, so back to my weight. 151.5. Wahoo! BMI? Eeeegad. 28.6.

Wii Fit wouldn’t let me set my goal for more than 22 pounds, so my goal is to lose 22 pounds in three months. I think I can do it. I’ve been steadily losing about a half pound a month (by my estimation) with no exercise, so I think I can do it.

I did the workout. Thirty minutes (which took about an hour because I did the demo on everything that had one) made me pretty tired. I did fine on the balance stuff, strength training, aerobics.

Yoga kicked my butt. Actually, one yoga pose kicked my butt. The Tree. Dude, seriously? I might be able to do that if I shave off some fat, take off all my clothes, and lie on my back. I couldn’t even get past step one. Grab your ankle, pull your foot up to touch the opposite thigh, leave it there. Ok, first of all? My foot doesn’t stick to my thigh. Maybe if I try double-sided tape. And then, THEN! You have to let go of the foot. And the foot is supposed to stay on the thigh. Hahahaha. Maybe I’ll videotape myself trying just that part. And then you’re supposed to — get this mularkey — raise your arms in that yoga way above your head, streeeeeetch your back, and reach for the sky! While your foot is supposed to still be touching your thigh. At the end of that one, the trainer says to me, “You put your foot down once during the exercise, now, didn’t you?” Um, once? Did you miss the other minute and fifty-nine of that? I was a Weeble.

Anyway, I suspect I’ll be crawling tomorrow, since I did thirty minutes of actual activity. I will update you on my progress.

That’s right. We’ve been here six months and have not unpacked. Because we are responsible adults. I kinda knew we would have to be forced to do it if we were ever to get unpacked. And so it begins.

My mom has been leaving comments on my blog. Things like “I’m so excited I get to see you soon!” and “I can’t wait to meet my granddog!” and I was wondering if I missed something. We had talked briefly a few weeks back about her and Pappy coming this summer, “probably in June,” according to my ma. So I called her and asked, “Um, did I miss something? Are you coming to visit? Because I should probably take time off from work for that…” It turns out that they’ve been planning to come up here in less than two weeks. Good to know.

So I have until two weeks from yesterday to get the entire upstairs unpacked (the guest room, landing, and reading room are full of unpacked boxes), set up the guest bed, set up the guest bathroom as an actual bathroom (I should probably get a shower curtain), make a menu for the week that they’re here, request time off from work, decide where I’m going to take them to show them that Idaho is teh awesome, etc., etc. I have to work, too.

I am not panicked yet. That will come weekend after next, when I know they’re actually in their MINIVAN (I’m *so* going to give them a hard time for getting one of those) on the way here and that I haven’t actually started the unpacking.

Today we will receive a package in the mail. A rather frightening package. Yes, peeps. Today we get the Wii Fit.

The scary part? Learning my weight and BMI. I haven’t been weighed since roughly… carry the one… a year ago. I mean, I’m almost positive I’ve lost weight. I know I’ve lost girth. But I am a woman, and as such, I’m automatically assuming that I’ll have gained twenty pounds since my last weigh-in.

So as soon as we get home, I’ll be taking the Wii Fit for a test drive. I think the most painful part will be finding out my stats (for which I will make Frank leave the room, but I can’t keep my own secrets, so I’ll end up telling him — not that he cares). After that, I’m hoping it gives me a good workout.

The biscuit, peeps, the biscuit.

See, unlike Sunny and Maggie Lukis, Rowdi will not sit still if you put stuff on her. Put a t-shirt on her, and she mopes so sullenly, will not look at you, acts like you’ve just killed her favorite squeaky toy, and doggone it, that squeaky toy was hers to kill. Put anything on her head? You’ve got about a half second to snap your picture before she knocks it off and walks away. Bad dog.

But I am not to be thwarted (for long). I want pictures of my dog with stuff on her, and I’m going to get them. So your genius muser did what any would-be dog torturer would do: I made her sit still with a biscuit on her nose.

We all know that Rowdi is awesome at the Wait for the Biscuit game (witness). So I realized that I could put the biscuit on her nose and have her undivided attention for however long it took to get a decent picture. I had put the egg on her head several times, and she had just tipped her head to the side or whacked the egg with her paw as many times. I put the biscuit on her nose and told her to wait for it… and then I was able to get a couple of pictures pretty fast. I love the look on her face so much it hurts. She feels such indignity, can you tell?

Exit question: How about that body frame? She has such a buff, muscular torso, but then you get to her legs, and they are so skinny! She has very narrow hips, no doubt the reason that at five years old, we already have to mix glucosamine and chondroitin with her food due to hip trouble. Poor egg-headed puppy.

37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’

38 “This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, 39 whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:

‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness,
O house of Israel?
43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
And the star of your god Remphan,
Images which you made to worship;
And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’”

You know who’s awesome? Lou Maull, that’s who’s awesome. He’s been a reader here for awhile (I hope he doesn’t mind my saying so), and a few days ago (okay, a couple of weeks — this one has been sitting in my drafts for a while), I got a most wonderful email from him. See, Lou runs a family barbecue-sauce-making business that’s been around for more than a century. Apparently all the peeps in St. Louis buy Maull’s barbecue sauce, because they know it’s tha bomb. I’ve meant for a while to try it but for some reason never got around to it (because I’m lazy). Well, the company gets a few emails a month from gluten-free sauce lovers asking if they can consume Maull’s barbecue sauce, and because of that, and because Lou has read about all of my gluten problems… he decided to find out. Even though there are others emailing him, I take full credit. ;-)

Lou went to his suppliers and asked each one if all of the ingredients he buys are gluten-free. (I’ll stop for a moment while you applaud.) And he didn’t stop there. He got the ELISA testing supplies (accurate to 10ppm) so he could be sure that his sauces are clean. He tested every flavor that they make, and only his beer-flavored BBQ sauce tested positive for gluten (and I conclude that since the others did not test positive for gluten, he runs a well-segregated shop).

I have been making my own barbecue sauce lately, because I hardly ever see prepacked bbq sauce marked gluten-free, and they all contain some language like natural flavors, spices, or flavorings… and when I’m running around the grocery store, I don’t usually have a laptop and wifi for checking out certain brands. I have found a couple of organic sauces marked gluten-free, but let’s be honest — they might as well be labeled “bland ketchup flavor.” And I do like my own bbq sauce (but I like most of my own cooking). But it is pretty inconvenient to have to make my own every time (and since I’m scared to try canning for fear of exploding glass, making it in advance and storing it is not an option), which means that we don’t have barbecue and barbecuey things very often. And we plan to get a grill soon, so I know there is a lot of smoking and grilling in our future.

So I’ve just ordered a lifetime supply (okay, twelve bottles) of Maull’s sauce. Every flavor except beer. I will report back later on how it tastes. It had better be good! ::shakes fist::

17 “But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 till another king arose who did not know Joseph. 19 This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. 20 At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. 21 But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.

23 “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ 27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

30 “And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers–the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look.

33 “Then the LORD said to him, ‘Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

So Friday the accounting department played hooky for most of the day so we could have a little team-building (read: time away from numbers).

We were all standing in line to ride the go carts at Boondocks (one of those golf-n-games kinds of places). I was standing next to Elle, Boss, and T (the Vietnamese intern — we have two now, one from Vietnam and one not from Vietnam), and we were watching all the kids and their bad driving (really, they don’t get the concept of turning around if your car goes backwards). At a break in the action, Boss (who is like Seacrest-sized so maybe five inches taller than me) said, “So, Sarah. Can you even reach the pedals in the go carts?” I looked at him. “Can you?”

Buuuuuuuurrrrrrn! Can’t dish the short jokes when you’re short unless you’re ready to receive return fire, yo.

More on hooky day later.

Well, I had all day today to write my post about Carrie Underwood and Josh Turner. Alas, I had more pressing matters to attend. I did manage to resize most of the crappy cell phone pictures I took, but my normal blogging was severely hampered by my inability to quit watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

We did it all day Saturday, a little yesterday, and all day today. It’s been the best three-day weekend ever. In fact, if I didn’t have month-end close for the next two weeks, I’d totally call in sick for the next however many days it takes to watch the entire series plus the entire Angel series.

Ack! Sleestaks!

Here’s a preview: Elle and me sitting on the third row waiting for the opening act:

Exciting stuff, y’all.

When we walk into our house now, it smells funkay. I traced the smell to the laundry room. Yep, the baby birds are stinking up the house.

Saturday, I thought they may have left the nest for good, and that made me happy, because I’d really like to get rid of that smell. I could hear no squawking at any time during the day — and we were home all day watching the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (plus the premiere of season two), so we would have heard them.

But Sunday they were louder than ever, so I guess we’re stuck with them a little longer. I think we will definitely put a cover over the vent after it gets cleaned out, because while it is kinda cool to have baby birds growing in your house, the bebbies are stinkeh.

*We finally saw Iron Man last night. Great flick. Dumb action, great hero, great villains, explosions, sci-fi… what more could a geeky gun chick ask for in a movie?
*For the first time in a very long time (like maybe since we met), Frank and I both know of more than one movie we want to see in the theater this year. We usually just wait for Netflix for everything, but Iron Man, Narnia, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, X-Files 2, Hancock… we actually want to go to the movies. We’ll have to sell my car to afford the tickets (seriously, eighteen bucks for two tickets? Are you mad?), but maybe we’ll only have to sell Rowdi if we see matinees.
*I answered an email from a friend a few days ago whose mom has just been diagnosed with celiac. I get one or two emails about celiac each month, usually from people who read here and know someone who was just diagnosed or have been diagnosed themselves or see similar symptoms to those I have experienced (and still do experience). And I really want to make a better effort to be a good resource for celiacs and people like me who are gluten-intolerant. I don’t know if I’ll do a one-shot post or a series of posts about gluten-free living, but I know I want to do something.
*My Florida neurologist (Dr. Wonderful) went through a couple of years and several theories with me while we searched for the cause of my migraines, muscle pain, nerve pain, and so many other symptoms. As soon as we saw how the gluten-free diet improved my life, he kind of became an expert on celiac and gluten. And now he has suggested to someone else (I don’t know how many, but I know this person, so I do know it’s at least one) that he/she may have celiac or some other kind of food intolerance. I can’t tell you how much that warms my heart. Not that someone else may have food problems, but that my situation may have played a part in his suggestion to this person (who is currently being tested).
*Rowdi is really enjoying playing with the other dogs in “daycare.” We know she is, because she comes home every day and sleeps until it’s time to go to bed and then sleeps some more. I think the little dogs are wearing her out, because every day when we get there to pick her up, the little dogs are always jumping all over her and around her. I know she’ll start pacing herself next week, and it makes me kind of sad, because when she’s ultra-tired, she doesn’t have the energy to be bad.
*I’ve been really inflamed this week. Having headaches every day, muscle pain, nerve pain in my leg… I think I must have had some gluten or dairy, but I don’t know how. I’ve cooked all week, so it’s not like someone is slipping something into my food. I have been wondering for a while if I’m also starting to have a problem with corn (I’ve thought this for a year or so now, but I keep telling myself it’s not possible, because that’ll just cut out pretty much all the Mexican food I’m able to eat). I’m also starting to wonder if I have something else going on that causes flare-ups of inflammation all over the body. I had a colonoscopy last March before my endoscopy, so I don’t think it’s Crohn’s or colitis, and I’m hoping it’s not anything. I guess I need to get myself to a new neuro. Wah.
*Today I’m getting paid to play. The whole accounting department is leaving the office at 11 and going to lunch and then going to do stuff that I’m way too out of shape to do. Teambuilding and whatnot. I’ll report later, as I’m sure shenanigans will ensue.

Later, dudes.