I Am the Incredible Shrinking Woman

Over the past few years I had gained a lot more weight
than I was happy with.  I had tried a lot
of diets and exercise plans, but nothing seemed to work long term.  It
seemed like I was always able to lose about 10 pounds
and then I would plateau and give up.  Back in February, my company
decided to start a Weight Watchers at work program. 
We would have a Weight Watchers person come and run weekly meetings in our
office and the company would pay for half of the cost.

I had heard good things about Weight Watchers, so I decided I might as
well sign up.  I had decided to train for a half marathon in
January 2006 with some friends and I knew a large part of this would mean
losing weight.  A lot of weight.  Like 100 pounds.

So how has it been going?  Well, since February, I have lost 50 pounds! 
I've gone down 3 sizes.  I still have at least another 50 to go before I
get to my
goal weight, but I know I can do it.  I know that I can use the things
I've learned from Weight Watchers and apply them the rest of my life.
I'm very excited.  Jeff calls me a Weight Watchers evangelist because
whenever the topic comes up (and these days that's a lot, as people
notice how much weight I've lost and ask me about it) I extoll the virtues
of Weight Watchers.  Seriously though.  If you are looking
to lose weight it's a great program.  You don't even have to go to
meetings - you can do it by yourself online.

In college, when I was thinner (funny, I always used to feel *so* fat
in college, but when I look back at some of the clothes I've kept I can't
imagine fitting
into them!) I was a huge clothes horse.  Since gaining a lot of weight,
this habit of mine had been channeled into shoes and purses.  Now that I'm
losing weight,
I'm loving clothes shopping again.  As Jeff says, my losing weight might
be very bad for our budget.  Good thing I just got a raise. ;)

 

Last
5 songs played on my iPod:
La Descarga del Bobo -
Willie
Bobo

Always Wanting You - Merle
Haggard

Lousiana Woman, Mississippi Man - Conway
Twitty and Loretta Lynn
All My Exes Live in Texas - Whitey
Shafer

Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key - Billy
Bragg, Wilco, and Natalie Merchant

George Lucas at AFI Silver

Jeff and I love movies. Jeff and I usually go to the
movies at least once every week, and our dvd collection just outgrew it's
home in December after adding about 30 new dvd's to our collection at
Christmas.  If I could build one dream room in a house, it would be a home
theatre.  And I don't mean a couch with a big screen tv, either.

However, we generally have different taste in film.  Jeff likes big
action movies like Independence Day and Armageddon.  I prefer classics,
documentaries, and foreign films, though I do also like a lot of the big
action movies that Jeff likes.

Little by little, I've been getting Jeff to enjoy the kinds of movies I
like too.  Jeff surprised me one day by wanting to go see Hero, directed
by Zhang Yimou.  I think it probably helped that Jet Li was the star, but
this helped me to introduce Jeff to some of my favorite Chinese films (I
took a Chinese film class in college, so I have quite a few).

This past weekend, Jeff said he had a surprise planned.  Since he said
that it was something he thought I would like, but he thought he might
like it more, I started imagining things like laser tag, a computer
convention, or something having to do with Star Trek.  Boy was I surprised
when we drove to Silver Spring, got out of the car, and started following
the signs to the American Film Institute Silver Theatre.

Since the Silver re-opened in 2003, I have been trying to get Jeff to
go with me, but he has never been interested.  Yesterday, however, the AFI
Silver was showing Episode IV, V, and VI of the Star Wars trilogy, so Jeff
got us tickets to all 3 films and we spent the day watching the original
Star Wars films on the big screen.  What a treat!  According to AFI staff,
the AFI Silver is the only theatre in the world that has permission to
show the 3 original Star Wars movies.  During the renovation of the
Silver, George Lucas personally outfitted the theatre's sound system (and
it was one of the best I've heard).  I'm not sure why Jeff thought he
might enjoy it more than me, after all I was Princess Leia for Halloween
in 1st grade.  I was even the proud owner of the plastic Jabba's palace
set, featuring a real trap door.  When I was in elementary school, I
washed my hair with shampoo that came out of a plastic model of Darth
Vader.

After spending 8 hours at the Silver, Jeff and I were both really
impressed.  They have good concessions and they have wine and beer that
you can take into the theatre with you. They also have an espresso
machine.  Neither the tickets nor the available snacks were as expensive
as other theatres with similar amenities.  Jeff was looking at their
upcoming schedule (which includes Jaws and the Indiana Jones movies), and
surprised me by saying he wanted to come back to see The Thin Man Movies. 
AND, he thought we should become members.  I think this might be the first
time Jeff has ever wanted to see a black and white movie, so AFI, thank
you!

 

Last
5 songs played on my iPod:
Do What You Wanna (Mr.
Scruff's Soul Party Mix) - Ramsey
Lewis
In the Waiting Line - Zero
7
Still in Love Song - The
Stills

Fried Neckbones And Some Home Fries (Dan The Automator Remix) - Willie
Bobo

Spread Your Love - Black
Rebel Motorcycle Club