Is it really this difficult?

Being that I am a poor graduate student, I went against my better judgment and starting getting my prescriptions filled here. Their slogan is "Save Money. Live Better." So why is it that I always leave the store completely and totally frustrated? Only once have I had a pleasant experience there - the first time I picked up my prescriptions. They sucked me in with cheap prices and what seemed to be satisfactory service. It was clearly a fluke day for them. Since then, there has always been a problem with at least one of my prescriptions. Have they ever called to say, "I'm so sorry, the prescription that we told you would be ready at noon on Monday probably won't be ready until 2010?" No phone calls, no warnings, and no sympathy when I show up and my prescription isn't ready.

Today, I went to pick up my prescription, which clearly said on the bottle that I had refills. Apparently I don't have refills. So, I wasted 45 minutes going to a store that I can't stand and had yet another frustrating experience. I'm switching my prescriptions to one of my favorite places to shop. If I have a problem there, at least I can enjoy browsing the aisles.

Something is wrong with the world

How can this happen? From the newspaper:

Knoxville police this afternoon charged a 58-year-old Powell man with one court of first-degree murder in this morning's shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.
Jim D. Adkisson is being held on a $1 million bond at the Knox County Detention Center.
He is accused of opening fire during a children's play, shooting eight people with a shotgun, killing one, according to Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV.
Seven of the wounded were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, according to spokeswoman Becky Thompson.
Earlier today, five were listed in critical condition; one was listed as serious. Another was treated and released.
All were adults: four women and three men.
Another victim was trampled and was treated and released at a hospital, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said during a press conference this afternoon.

The irony, in spite of the tragedy of this whole thing, is that the Unitarians are the most accepting, non-violent kind of folks. Unitarians are the ones who believe in freedom of religious expression, the dignity of each human being, and tolerance. Why would anyone want to open fire at this church? Or anywhere for that matter?

Gym, Day Two

It takes 21 days to make or break a habit so the next 19 are going to be make or break for me. Yes, I did make it to the gym on Day Two - and I went swimming. The sky was clear so I opted for the outdoor pool (which was a little cooler than expected, but not too bad once I swam a lap). The pool is an Olympic sized one, but the lanes are marked off by the width, not the length of the pool. My original goal was to do 10 laps, then I backed off to 5. When I got in the pool, I thought 7 laps would be a good goal. Lucky for me, the rain coincided with the end of lap 5 and the feeling that I might drown if I attempted to swim another lap.

So I'm off to a decent start with exercising, but not so decent on the food aspect. I was starving when I got home after swimming and decided on an early dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse. I didn't eat as much as I normally do, but it still probably wasn't the best option for getting healthy!

I'm skipping the gym today and opting for a 30 minute ride on my stationery bike at home. I am making progress.

Quote of the day

I am a tangent waiting to happen.

Gym, Day One

As I tire of relentlessly beating myself up for having gained weight (weight which has been with me for 10 years now), I took a proactive step today and went to the gym. My original plan was to go to a 30 minute "All About Abs" class, but then I remember that 10 years ago, I somewhat regularly went to a 15 minute abs class that consistently kicked my butt. Or my gut. And I thought, wow, this class is 30 minutes, that's twice the gut kicking I used to get when I worked out on a semi-regular basis. So, I did a little cardio and a little arms/legs stuff on the machines. I may attempt the Abs class on week 2 of the gym.

The workout ended well, but started a bit bumpy. I left my water bottle in the car. No problem, I'll just frequent the water fountain and check out the 19 year old hottie boys. Before I got on the bike, I got my ipod shuffle out of my bag. I was so impressed that I actually remembered it!! Alas, I did not remember to charge it. No tunes for me, but I did get in some good people watching and hopefully, some even better calorie burning!

Part two of the getting fit plan is to actually read the Weight Watchers emails I get. I mean, I pay a monthly fee for them, perhaps I should read and ACT on them. Yes, that's right. I pay a monthly fee for information that would help me get back to my fightin' weight but I don't actually pay attention to the emails (or my eating habits). I might as well just toss some money in the garbage each month. Some days I think there may be no hope for me.

But today, I actually made some progress - at the gym and with my to-do list.

And, I have a new tool for bribing myself on the dissertation... When Chapter One is in my professor's grubby little hands, I'm going to treat myself to this toy:

Babies and other ramblings...

A few of my friends have been busy lately - having babies!! Both of these little ones were due to arrive on my birthday, but neither cooperated. :(

Meet Lizzie - who arrived first, but still a week after my birthday!

And here's Inman - who came TWO weeks after his due date!

These two little ones are VERY lucky to have such amazing parents. They live a couple of hours away so I haven't met either of them yet, but I will SOON! I'm so excited to see Lizzie and Inman grow up and to see their parents as parents!!

In other news, I went to the store yesterday and got some school supplies to bribe myself to get organized and motivated to work on my dissertation. Hopefully, the bribe will work.

I had lunch with my friend Lori yesterday and she's lost 20 pounds. She has a workout buddy and she said that he was surprised with her success. She asked him if he questioned her motivation and he said that even though he didn't know her well when they started working out together, he knew that she was a very determined person. He just wasn't sure that working out would be something that she was determined about.

And now back to the need for the school supplies. I think the above description of Lori fits me too... I am a very determined person but I'm very selective about what gets the focus of my determination. So far, the dissertation has not made the short list! So, my goal for the day is to fill my new notebook with all things dissertation, get my desk cleaned off, and find a planner that suits my non Type A lifestyle. Any suggestions for a planner would be welcomed!

A new commitment...

...to blogging. I have to admit that I am a closet blog stalker. Not closeted anymore though, I've made my confession. I love reading about my friends and their lives and then reading about who they follow as well. And as I'm laughing out loud at what they are writing about or thinking about all of emotions they are going through, I think, Hey, I can do that too. I mean, I'm funny (at least I think I am some 17% of the time to quote my friend Deb) and I go through stuff in life that I can write about. I'm certainly more prone to write about it than actually talk about it. Of course, I don't know that I want to actually tell anyone that I'm blogging. I mean, I want people to read (I think), but I don't want to be all "Did I tell you I have a blog?" It's just a little too "all about me" for me. So, we'll see how this goes and if I break down and tell anyone.