A THANK YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE. (not directed at anyone who reads this, so no worries)

… you may now return to your regularly scheduled programming ….

i have been contemplating starting a new blog to document my weight loss journey. would any one actively read and comment on it? is it anything you all are interested in? i’d be posting interesting stories, motivational tidbits, exercise ideas, and of course, my own progress.

and yes, this would be in addition to this blog.

please share your thoughts.

take it. let me know how you do/what you think.

… more to come …

let’s pick up where i left off yesterday’s story, shall we?

i wanted to get to the caucus early, so i left around 6:15. i was
heading to city hall, when i saw the school across the street was a
voting site.

thought i was supposed to go there.

went there.

found out i wasn’t supposed to be there.

my precinct cuts off in the middle of the 100 yards between my house and that school. great.

jumped in the car and called daddy. figured i didn’t have enough time
to go google this unknown school (i did), so i had him do it while i
drove.

he mapquested. NEVER use mapquest. it’s stupid, and doesn’t send you the direct route.

i drove around for 30 minutes looking for white oak st. it was a random side street … that i didn’t even need! blah.

NOTE: it is about a MILE away from where i was. and i drove around for that long. arg.

daddy was very patient with me, and stayed on the phone until i got there, at 5 til.

had to park four blocks away.

stood in line—OUTSIDE—without a jacket. (yes, i know, my bad)

they finally let us in the gym around 7:30. people were still voting.

stood around.

felt dizzy (blood sugar falling).

lamented with others about wait.

**FUNNY STORY: hundreds of people (estimated 4-500) were spread out on
the gym floor. an announcement went out that the republican convention
would be held on the far side of the gym, so please meet there. at
once, the entire crowd migrated to the near side (where i already was),
leaving 7 (seriously, just SEVEN) people for their convention. the room
laughed, clapped and then cheered. no one wanted to be a republican, i
guess.**

FINALLY, at 8:30, they were calling for individual precincts. didn’t know mine.

looked at the map. found it.

stood in randomly-formed line. there was no organization at all.

asked if i had voting receipt. (early voters didn’t get receipt)

had to step out of line to get one. woman giving it to me didn’t even check me, she just wrote it.

getting headache and more achey.

luckily, they let me back in my place in line.

wrote my name, address, email and candidate’s name.

**i’m concerned, because i didn’t have my voter number (not many did), so i hope my vote actually counted.**

RAN out of the building, to get away from the throngs of people.

walked in complete darkness back to my car. 4. blocks. away.

had weird guy whistling a tune behind me the whole way.

was TERRIFIED i was going to get killed and thrown in the ditch.

walked faster to the car.

found that it was blocked in.

took five minutes and a 16-point maneuver to get it out.

drove home.

sara was there.

she made sure i ate something.

alex came home.

learned that obama was losing texas.

went to bed.

woke up.

obama lost texas. BUT NOT BY MUCH.

and ATM, he’s kinda winning the caucus. THAT MAKES IT ALL WORTH IT. go 08ama, GO!

btw, grayson was going to meet me at the caucus, but we just couldn’t get it all together in time. maybe next time. 

… in other news …

tomorrow’s the big day. day one of what i like to call “project:
betterment.” my buddy laura (not local laura) and i are working
together on this. hopefully this time, i can produce a more
long-lasting change.

i have been contemplating waking up EARLY to workout, as i’ve heard
that is better for the body, but i don’t know that 5 a.m. is doable.
will it make more of a difference to exercise in the a.m., versus 12
hours later? let me know your thoughts.

alright, i guess that’s all i’ve got for now.

loves and AOT,
–jen

p.s. doesn’t that suck? that stuff is permanent!
    

so many things have been going wrong today, but i’m going to try to turn each one into a positive. hopefully it helps.

1. it snowed last night, and the roads were covered in ice and snow.
this provided me with a chance to take it easy going into work, thus being able to eat a warm breakfast.

2. i left for work way later than i normally do, and hit all the school zones between here and there.
although i was in the car for an hour (usually a 20 minute drive), and was behind every stupid soccer mom in existence, i got a chance to listen to more of kidd kraddick. they always make me smile.

3. i couldn’t find my coat.
it was quickly warming up and the sun was out.

4. my work computer crashed.
i’m getting it replaced with a brand-new tower computer, with LEOPARD.

5. it would have been my parent’s 30th anniversary today.
they’re much better off without each other, strangely.

6. i got my work pants wet while getting the car ready to go.
i was able to wear jeans instead, on a no-jeans-wearing day.

7. we lose an hour on sunday.
yeah, i’ve really got no positive for this. we freaking lose an hour of sleep!

8. i have a really bad headache, which i’m afraid will only get worse as the day goes on.
time for a snack. yum!

9. gas prices are going up, again. and i need to fill up today.
(how to spin this?!) i get to stay home more? lol, don’t really have much for this one either.

and, here are some straight POSITIVES for you:

1. i found a diet buddy.

2. laura’s moving to allen.

3. bills are paid for the month (for the most part).

4. i’ve gotten quite a few complements on my hair.

5. it’s VOTING day. what an exciting time for democracy?!

6. we got to play in the snow last night. riley loved it.

loves and AOT,
–jen

 

 

friday, i made my voice heard. i voted.

it was kind of insane, really. the last day for early voting (and around 4:15, to boot), people were out in droves. the setting sun was pouring in the hall’s windows, and there was no air. miserable.

slowly, but surely, we made our way into “the room.” they separated us—by party—into two lines.

i got my little electronic voting card, crammed it in the machine, and voted.

(lol, best candidate name on the ballot: gene kelly, although not THAT one. seriously.)

anyway, i turned in my voting card, and got my nifty sticker.

strangely, getting that really made me feel like i DID SOMETHING worthwhile. funny how sticky paper can do that.

tomorrow is the big day for texas, ohio, rhode island and vermont. if you live there, and you haven’t already, GO VOTE! otherwise, you have no right to complain about the state of the nation.

be sure to study up on the candidates and their issues. the dallas morning news has a cool side-by-side comparison for both parties. tres helpful.

and, as most of you know, i am an obama supporter. i’ve been reading his blueprint for change. it’s quite an informative read. you can download it here.

and just some fun things i threw together for my various blogs:

that’s not to say that i don’t appreciate hillary, either. her policies (for the most part) are there, even if her personality isn’t. i will say this: i respect her for showing up on snl over the weekend. it makes her seem, well, human.

more politic-centric blogging tomorrow, since i’m caucusing …

… in other news …

alex and i spent most of saturday cleaning, before mom and dad bare showed up. and i would just like to say, the dinner was a HIT!

we ended up playing a few games of squabble before they headed out for the night.

i finally got the chance to have a lazy day, just hanging out at home on sunday. it was lovely. the mister came home around 7:30, ate and crashed.

now, i’m just waiting for the bits of snow to fall. fun times.

loves and AOT,
–jen