I Quit

This week Mom and I decided to quit WW, so this morning we went in to tell them our decision and ask them how.  It was a simple phone call.

We have been loosing and gaining the same five pounds for the past six months or so because we haven't really been doing the program.  It's because of work and school and life.  Probably a lack of not trying hard enough too, at least on my part.

The hardest thing about it, for me, was feeling like we were breaking off from the people who work there.  One of the ladies that I talk to all of the time gave me her business card with her home number and email address.  She told me she loved me and made me promise that I wouldn't beat myself up about quiting.

I'm planning on keeping in touch with her; already found her on facebook.

This blog's purpose is now going to be just the ramblings of my head and stories I find worth sharing from work.

Sometimes It's so Hard to Hold my Tongue

As they were changing out my register with the opening cashier's yesterday afternoon, a customer came up to complain to my general manager about something.  I was over at the register by the door to keep the line going through, since I couldn't take care of customers on my register until my drawer of money was in it.

We weren't busy at the time and he was almost done, so I came to stand at the counter with the other cashier and see what the problem was.  That's when I noticed her tattoos.

Keep in mind that I have absolutely no problem with tattoos in general.  I plan on having a few myself and Kevin already has his first.  My problem was with what this woman had inked into her skin.

There was a swastika on each of her shoulders.  On each of her arms from her shoulder down in large print was printed the words "Almighty Whitey," so that it could be read from left to right.

What I heard of the conversation was the lady telling my GM that it was more crowded then normal, he calmly told her that we were always that busy.  She told him that she was uncomfortable, that she had to take her sweater off.  Essentially, she was embarrassed of her apparent beliefs, of what she had done to herself.

After she had walked off, my GM said "Yes, I'm prejudice.  Against morons and hypocrites."

I agree, and it took a lot for me to not say anything to her.

Bit of a BlahBlah

I succeeded in what I wanted to do last week.  I tracked every day, and exercised most every day.  My weight did stay the same, but apparently that's normal and I feel that that's better than gaining weight. This week I didn't do as well though.  I had the ohmygoshit'sfallbreakgivemefood!!! syndrome.  I had this to the point that I hurt my belly on Thursday because I went back to eating the way I used to.  This reinforces the idea that WW is a lifestyle, not a diet, which they tell us often.  If I eat the way I did before I was trying to take care of my body, it gets confused and freaks out on me.

This is going to be slightly random and quite nerdy.  I've recently been concerned about the use of then versus than, probably because I've been using these words in much of my writing, both school and otherwise.

So, I decided to see what Grammar Girl had to say and though I love what she does, I had a hard time finding what I was looking for.  Then (see? there it is) I decided to pull up my favorite online dictionary and see if it would help at all.

Then:  1) At that time

           2) immediately or soon after

           3) next in order of time

           4) at the same time

           5) next in order of place

Than:  1) used, as after comparative adjectives and adverbs, to introduce the second member of an unequal comparison

           2) used after some adverbs and adjectives expressing choice or diversity...to introduce an alternative or denote a difference in kind, place, style.

If you stuck with me through my nerdy moment, I applaud you, go get yourself a cookie.

Going Crazy

Crazier than usual that is.  To anybody that cares, I apologize for not posting in a while, it seems that professors have decided to be extra difficult in the amounts of homework that they give out this semester.  Then again, this could be due to the fact that I have three English classes, two for my women's studies minor, and a self defense class.  All of which have been quite amazing.  I'm learning lots and having a good time doing it--when I'm not stressing over everything.

Today I have decided something.  I am actually going to try this week, not just say that I am going to, or I will wind up quiting WW after the week is done.  I've been putting too much money into it to not even be trying the program.  I woke up at 6:30 am every morning this week so that I could exercise, I'm in a self defense class in which I get a good amount of exercise, and I walk up and down the hill instead of taking the bus.  Yet I still gained 1 pound this week...

So, I'm going to try--No.  I'm not going to try, I'm going to do it because I know I can.

9-11-01

Ten years ago today, America was struck by something that sliced us all to the core.  When those towers in New York City fell, thousands of lives were lost and we suddenly realized that we aren't invincible.  Nearly everybody can remember exactly where they were or what they were doing on that day, when they found out what had happened.  I was in class and the day just stopped as our teachers told us what had happened.  When you're in elementary school, you can't entirely grasp what's happening in situations like this.  Many of us learned what terror and sorrow really were that day.

Where were you?

I heard this song on the way to class the other day, and I wanted to share it here.

I will never forget the lives that were lost and the brave men and women who fight and are still fighting to keep us safe.  My heart goes out to those left behind.

If I Die It's Because

I obviously didn't succeed on keeping any of my goals; except for the read friends' writing, I've done that at least a bit.  Hopefully I'll be able to post at least once a week now.

But school has started, so that will be harder than it should be.  I have six classes this semester, but I don't want to just let my blog fall to the wayside.  I have three English classes (fiction writing, world literature, and technology and writing [which is actually about blogging]), two women's studies classes (urban folklore and love and friendship), and my first PE course, women's self defense.

For the latter I signed a permission slip that said I was aware of the possible risks it listed and accepted them.  They talked about possible death at least three times.  So, if I die, it's because my partner, Sarah, and I did something stupid.  We met and decided to be partners in this class while exclaiming "what the Hell?!" over the permission slip.

This week has been a little rough, due in part to the fact that it is the first week back.  I need to get ready to leave for school, so I'm going to leave you with a piece of my creative work.  It's a writing exercise for my fiction class.  Kevin encouraged me to go with it and follow my heart on what I wanted to do with it.  The format looks kind of strange here, but if you'd be so kind, comments are lovely.

            Her hands rested on the curve of her stomach as she eyeballed her aunt’s damn cuckoo clock.  She’d obviously misjudged the older woman.

            “Cassandra,” her aunt smacked the table in front of her.

            “I’m listening.”

            “If you’d been listening you would’ve answered my question.”

            “If you’d been saying something interesting I would’ve listened.”

            “Do you want my help?”

            “Yes.”  Cassandra’s gaze settled on her belly before returning it to her aunt’s eyes.  “What was your question?”

            “How do you expect me to believe that you’re pregnant and—”

            “I expect you to trust me,” Cassandra said, then swallowed hard.

            Her aunt pushed her chair back from the table and started to clean the kitchen.

            “Are you dismissing me?”

            “There’s nothing to talk about if you’re only going to tell me fairytales.”

            Cassandra jerked up from her seat and left through the kitchen door, making sure that it slammed behind her.  The door of the car she slid into received an equal amount of abuse.

            “Went well then?” the driver said.

            “Don’t talk to me.”

            “That’s right.  I just drive the get away car; I’m not supposed to be able to talk.”

            Cassandra glowered out the window.  This jerk, her roommate and lifetime friend, was the one that everybody thought was the father of her unborn child.  She’d never even had sex…

LaLaLaLa

First of all, I came to the conclusion that I haven't been taking myself and my craft seriously.  I'm not just a cashier and frontline worker, I am a writer.  Despite this, it doesn't seem that I've been doing all that much writing, so I'm going to set myself some goals that you should hold me accountable for.  I will blog at least once a week, twice if my work schedule allows.  I will write one new poem, or edit a previously written one.  I will work on my newest novel project for at least an hour every day.  And I will read Maciena and Stephanie's work that they have both gifted me with.

I don't remember if I've talked about my little fish tank children yet, so I'll introduce you to them today because of our new addition.  A couple of weeks ago one of my glofish died, so on Tuesday we went to the pet store and found the person we were looking for, Carrie.  With her help, Mom and I got a Julii Cory Catfish (Kitty) to join my remaining glofish (Pinky) and my aquatic frog (Sminth).

So yesterday was my sixth day at work in a row, which I am not used to so I was slightly zombified.  Since it was a Thursday, I was honestly expecting a slow night.  Instead, BG experienced a freak thunderstorm that sent the city into chaos.  Most of the electricity (including half of the mall's and nearly everything on our side of the bridge) was out.  Two or threes planes at our small local air port were literally flipped over and their were trees and power lines down everywhere.  The stop lights on our main road were out and reduced to mayhem producing stop signs.

The buffet where I work was one of the only functioning restaurants left.  After the storm quiet, we got slammed.  The only way that we were affected by the power outage (other then the large number of hungry people)  was that our electricity flickered on and off at the beginning of the storm.  This made my credit card machine go extra slow and act up a bit.  Oh, our phone wouldn't stop ringing either with "do you have electricity? are you open?"

I'm glad that I wasn't out in that storm, and that, as far as I know, everybody is ok.

I'll have to share with you the book that I just finished next time because it was quite amazing.  Last night I started reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett and am planning on seeing that movie.  I didn't listen to music this time, I've watching "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" with Momma and texting Kevin (who is coming home tomorrow!!!).