I Need to Lose Weight

Word of the Day

Subatomic toasticle - Any tiny fragment of toast left behind in the butter.

I had a long day yesterday, starting with my doctor appointment. To start the joy, I had to give blood...lab test. Though I've lost inches, I haven't lost weight. *sigh* I need to lose weight. My sugar level was too high but not enough to kick me into the diabetic column. My cholesterol level was high but what was rather confusing to me was that it was my good cholesterol level that put me into the too high level. The doctor didn't know what to do with that so...I was told to keep doing what I've been doing...Red Yeast Rice. To complete my joy, lucky me, I had to endure the humiliation of a pap smear. Could this day get any better?

And then onto the, "I'm in the city anyway so I'd better pick up whatever I need to pick up on my shopping list", part of the day. I stopped at Menards to pick up a filter for my little shop vac and some gardening supplies, something to kill the weeds in my lawn and something to support my peonies, something to kill mosquitoes and prevent ants from coming into the house, and a heavier duty shop vacuum to use in the garage and on the lower patio.

Today? I had a hair appointment in the city...but not until 1 PM. So, I started packing and compiling a shopping list of those things that I need to bring on my Scotland/Ireland trip that I don't own...at least not here. It was Senior Day at ShopKo today so I figured it would be a perfect day to pick up those items that I'd need for the trip at a 15% discount. I discovered that, after consulting with Sis, that I had enough pants, jeans, capris, and skinny jeans to last the three weeks of our trip. She plans to wear flip flops so I figure that I can get away with wearing my favorite sandals and packing a pair of walking sandals. Shirts? I've got plenty. I have a couple of suit-type jackets that I can add to outfits to dress them up that I'll be bringing. By the time I had to leave for the city, I had a good idea what I needed to buy for the trip. Socks. I needed socks. And? I needed to get some travel-size items to bring along to help stretch my wardrobe and maximize suitcase space. In the meantime, I also "packed" the purse I plan to use on our trip, using my new RIFD wallet, so I could get used to them.

Hair appointment? I didn't have much hope when I went into my appointment so I wasn't disappointed when it turns out that they didn't actually have my color in stock and had to mix it. Not good. While they were mixing, I sat for over a half hour. I was supposed to pick Ma and T-Square up for some shopping at ShopKo by 3 PM but.... I was supposed to have my hair cut by Sarah but apparently she was over-booked so I ended up with Dale...which wasn't a bad thing but I didn't feel all that confident when he had to consult the owner of the shop (who was incredibly busy) about how to cut the angle of my hair. I think he did better when he relied on his own instincts but I'm glad my hair grows fast because he used a thinning shears on my hair. Plus, the chemistry project where they tried to match my color left me with a streak of gold-colored hair where my skunk line was but I was told that it would blend. I'm not too sure but...I got what I expected and will live with it. It's not like I'm going to my son's wedding like the last time these people cut and colored my hair. It'll do and if it doesn't...I'll buy a hat in Ireland...or Scotland to cover it up.

At 3:30 PM, I walked out of the building into a misting rain and called Ma and T-Square. They decided that they didn't want to go to ShopKo after all because of the dreary, rainy, weather. Amazingly enough, my hair didn't frizz up. That's a good thing and I hope that I can have equal luck with my hair after I have to style it myself. I headed off to ShopKo and bought the items on my list along with a few other items that weren't on my list but I decided that I needed. Then, I got to the checkout stand and my credit card (Discover) was declined. What?! I used my Visa but was a bit upset about it. I called the phone number on the back of the card and apparently they'd thought that my card had been stolen...despite the fact that I TOLD them that I was going to be in Wisconsin for the summer at my annual Wisconsin residence. I CALLED THEM AND TOLD THEM!!!! I reminded them about my Scotland/Ireland trip. I HATE this but I suppose that it does prevent fraud and does protect me...it's just embarrassing when I see, in bright red letters, that the lady at the checkout stand is supposed to confiscate my card? ACK! She didn't but...stress!

After shopping...and calling the Discover people to straighten everything out...I drove over to Ma and T-Square's apartment to return T-Square's jacket that he'd left in my car the other day. There, I bumped into Sis and her hubby so I was able to give them a check to pay for my part of the Euros and Pounds that Sis purchased at the bank on Monday. She picked them up today. We split them up as best as we could but the denominations that we were given weren't exactly "splitable" outside of a Solomon solution...cutting the baby, or in this case, ripping the money in half. We decided to put the remaining currency in a pool until we could get change.

The drive home was WET and I was thrilled to actually get home. A fire in the fireplace would be nice but...I'm too tired to deal with it. 54 degrees. I'm looking forward to spending the next few days here, at The Lake. It would be nice if we could actually see some sunshine but I'm not holding my breath.

Random Quote of the Day

If I traveled to the end of the rainbow As Dame Fortune did intend, Murphy would be there to tell me The pot's at the other end.

Bert Whitney