Boss-STONE

Hello lovers.  What a weekend!  Boston was just amazing, and very tempting at that.  As in, it tempts me to live there.

Friday I left work at 11 to meet Schmate to catch the 42^nd Street Crosstown bus, then into the bowels of the Port Authority to find Schmillie and catch our noon Peter Pan to Bean Town.  The bus ride was uneventful, minus some amusing accidental racist crossword puzzle answers, a long discussion of whether the name Kerry is pronounced differently than Carrie (apparently I’m the only one who thinks they’re the same), and an a scare at the Roy Rogers/Mobil stop where we thought we were getting left behind.  Then smoothly into Boston, where Schmauren picked us up at South Station and we went back to her roomy and lovely abode for a delicious spread of cheese, bread, dippy things, grapes, etc.  Yum.  After some relaxing and enjoying my first pumpkin ale of the season, we headed out in Cambridge to Shay’s Pub.  We scored a nice-sized table on the patio and proceeded to drink our faces off.  I was sampling a local New England brew called Narragansett, which I quickly dubbed “Nancy,” and began asking the curt waitress for “Another Nancy, please!”  Oh, I am all class.  Schmillie’s college gay was there, and Schmauren had a friend meet up, and then one of my softball friends came out as he was in town for a softball game.  It was a grand old time.

Mind, I was protesting loudly before my softball friend Spike showed up, insisting there was no romantic interest there.  My friends were skeptical of that, as they should be whenever I have a male friend, but he’s got quite his own drama after getting married, having an affair that was discovered, and now being divorced and dating the girl he cheated on his wife with.  (We were softball friends so I didn’t feel the need to break up our buddy-ship based on this.)  Also, I don’t find him attractive.  Of course, he proceeds to text me after we girls returned to Schmauren’s that he wanted to ask me back to his hotel room…  Nice.  I ignored it, but WHAT IS WITH these married men?  Or married/divorced with girlfriend men?  I’m trying not to be pessimistic about the whole gender, but REALLY?!

Anyway, after the lovely night out, we stop in the big grocery store Shaw’s to stock up on late-night snax, and in addition to two frozen pizzas, grab a very large bag of peanut butter M&M’s.  That bag was like the fifth Muncher this weekend, I tell you what.  Also, I may have been overly friendly with the cashier and freaked her out, but whatever, I like to relate.  I’m a people person, especially when I’m drunk.  So snax, silliness, then bedtime.

Saturday we woke up to a gorgeous day and yummy bagels that Schmate and Lauren went out to get.  Then we all four set off to rent very affordable bikes, and off we rode!  We probably rode around 15 miles (would you say?), and all over the town.  It was a great tour, especially of Schmate’s alma mater and the other college campuses in the area, and so relaxing to see the river and ride on some of the side streets with big old houses.  We eventually stopped for a late lunch of Mexican joy, then home for rest and shower time.  At night we sat on the back deck of Deep Ellum with Schmauren’s like-minded, beer-loving friends, and enjoyed the dusk and the company.  I also enjoyed the chicken & apple wurst, with sweet potatoes and beets!  It was almost my perfect combination.

We were all tired early, so took a cab home around 10 to snuggle into pj’s, pass the pb M&M’s, and watch another round of Aziz Ansari’s stand up.  (“Raaaaaaandy!”) 

Sunday it was up bright and early for Mama Schmauren to drop us off at South Station and get on our 10 am bus.  The ride was as quick as it could be, and I do love being back in time to have Sunday evening to decompress.  I caught up on my Netflix (Mad Men and Cougartown!), ordered Chinese, and got mentally ready for another work week.  All in all, I loved getting back up to Boston, and this time with my dearest friends to make some new memories (to replace the ones from last time, when I went with Mex.)  It’s such an approachable city, full of cute boys and smaht kids.  I would really like to live there someday, though I don’t think that day will be too soon.  I’m not quite ready, but it’s nice to think about.  And a big thanks to Schmauren for being an impeccable and generous hostess!  You know how to treat us right.

Spreadsheets and What I Ate: Tuesday

Another day, another few thousand rows in Excel, youknowwhatimean?

It's lovely out, however -- at least temperature-wise. We were due for some milder days, days where I can walk around at lunch and feel less like a lump of office furniture, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm also having a skinny day today (mentally), so I'm in a swell mood, just trying not to worry about things I can't control in other areas of my life (ahem). I've never been good at existing in the in-between or gray areas or what have you, so I'm trying it. We'll see how long I last.

Last night I was very responsible and also finished my book (Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name.) It was very well done, but still quite bleak at the end. I didn't mind though, especially as it was quite short so I wasn't mired in the sad parts for too long. I guess it technically had a happier ending, too, but in general it was nice and wintery, though may not stick with me for very long. After I finished, I started a collection of Evelyn Waugh's short stories. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Waugh He wrote Brideshead Revisited, which I loved, and so far I'm only on the first story but the architecture of it is so original, I've never read anything like it. Fantastic, plus I love things set in historical Britain, even if it's just early 1900s -- I somehow feel nostalgic for my own travels there, in a very comforting way.

Wow, that's a very mushy, librarian paragraph. Excel is rotting my brain.

I also rode the bike about 40 mins last night, and it says I went over 11 miles, though who knows. You guys, I can't break my bike habit. I know I should alternate with the elliptical, but it's working and I like to read, and I haven't put any interesting movies on my iPod to watch on the elliptical. I shouldn't beat myself up too much, right, because at least it's exercise? And runners don't feel guilty for only running, do they? Can I just be a bike rider? I do plan on incorporating more weight training, but I will probably give that a few more weeks/a few more dropped pounds, then decrease the cardio by a few minutes and add weight time.

For posterity:
B - coffee, Smart Start, skim milk (5)
L - chicken and swiss on sandwich thin with L&T, Miracle Whip light and mustard; apple (4)
D - Roasted Vegetable Lasagne (5); romaine salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, homemade vinaigrette (2)
S - Dannon Light & Fit yogurt, light string cheese (3)
Total - 19 Shoot. As weird as this sounds, I may cook some turkey bacon to go with my meat-free dinner.
Activity - ride 'r die
Flex points remaining - 0

And for fun, a painting of dear Evelyn, who yes, is a man:


Stay tuned later today for some musings about LOVE. I'm churning with wisdom right now, I swear, I just have to organize my thoughts. I should maybe use a spreadsheet.

Misc and What I Ate: Friday!!! January 8

Good morning and happy Friday, finally!

In sad news, Blackbeard has shaved off his beard, but the name will stay. I dreamt last night that he was making me french toast, but we still were awkward together. (Also I was changing a super tiny baby's diaper?? In the kitchen? It wasn't my baby, though.) I wish we weren't fighting right now. :) OH, and also in sad news, my long-latent crush on a former co-worker who happens to resemble a young Bruce Springsteen (swoon) was something I thought I'd finally be able to focus on. (Translation: I'm single now, he's cute, we're friends, let's get drinks and see what happens.) BUT he's had to move back to NJ (seriously, he's so Bruce) and I don't know when he'll be in the city next. He said he'd let me know, but for now, there won't be a distraction there. I need a new one.

I've been obsessively tracking my Proactiv order, since apparently my skin is always going to act like a teenager, and it left Edison, NJ this morning. I'm crossing my fingers that it arrives today!

I rode for 40 minutes at the gym last night, and I really wish I could trust those "mileage" counters on the bikes. I think it differs greatly from bike to bike, though I'll have to watch more closely. According to the bike I was on last night, I rode about 14 miles, but that seems excessive to me. Still, it was a great workout and my legs still feel tired this morning, which is a good thing, since they'll have at least today to rest, and probably longer. Oh, and I ate a light string cheese before the gym so that I wasn't starving, and I think that's a good plan for the future. I think I earned about 4 activity points, so I can give up 2 for sustenance.

I also am halfway through the book I'm reading now (and read on the bike), a biography of Robert Louis Stevenson, which I'm really enjoying, to my surprise. I'd just previously read one of Walt Whitman, and while he's interesting, the style of the bio was way too dense and academic. This RLS one is much more commercial and while I don't know if I've actually read any of his writing, I like reading about him. It's basically historical non-fiction about a rather interesting life.

I realized that after doing all that Indian food math yesterday, I forgot that I'm getting brunch with T tomorrow, which I'm sure will require excess points. That said, I think the Indian can fit into today's budget, so it wasn't entirely a waste.

Eating.
B - coffee, Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries (aka Best Cereal Ever), Milk (4)
L - chicken and swiss on sandwich thin with L&T, Miracle Whip light and mustard; apple (4)
D - Chicken Tikka with Basmati rice (8); celery sticks with light sour cream dip (1)
S - light yogurt (2)
Total - 19 ish
Activity - doing laundry, commuting
Flex points remaining - 35

I've started drinking a glass of Crystal Light after dinner at night as a dessert, since I always want something sweet. It's working, though it feels a little sad.