Friday, December 05, 2008

Fridays and counting

Here it is December already and I should be thinking about Christmas but alas, all I can do is yell at the radio in the car when it plays some horrific jazzed up big band version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I hate that song anyway because it makes Santa sound like a creepy stalker guy with possible serial killer tendencies: he knows when you are sleeping, the better to leave dead crows on the foot of your bed and he knows when you're awake, so he can tap on the window a lot and cut the phone lines. Adding a bunch of trumpets is not making it better. That's part of my Christmas spirit: mine the perimeter for possible reindeer incursions. Well, that and drool over the Sephora catalog (I don't wear makeup, but I like to buy it. Go figure.) and brood about what a pain in the ass it's going to be to put up Christmas lights. I have no holiday spirit. All I have is cookie spirit.

I've done one of my usual contrary things and to celebrate this festive season I've decided to quit drinking for a while. So far it's been 8 days and surprisingly easy: yes, the evenings take longer to go by but no, I don't miss waking up bleary and besides, it seems to have cut down on the hot flashes some. There are a variety of reasons I'm doing this but high among them is the desire to lose weight. I lost weight during my fall trauma but apparently it was only mislaid, not actually lost and it's sneaking its way right back onto my middle now that I'm not starving myself and constantly pacing in circles moaning.This will not do. I just got a pair of kick ass black velvet pants and they look amazing right now. Add a couple of pounds and they will only look sad. Sad is not what I am aiming for during the few hours of the day that I can actually be bothered to wear something besides sweats and fuzzy leopard print slippers, so these pounds must be stopped. Granted, my dressed time is generally spent in my bunker office or the car, so I might as well keep the sweats on, but let's all pretend that I have something resembling a glamorous execu-chick life.

According to this nifty little calculator, the amount I usually drink is equal to a scary amount of junk food and jaffa cakes, whatever they are. Since I clearly then had a choice to stop either eating or drinking, I cut out the alcohol entirely - yeah, I know, that's not like me but these things happen. I have a sneaking feeling that it would work better if I didn't then have a tendency to think to myself, "Hey, I am not drinking! Therefore, I am completely entitled to make and eat a huge loaf of banana apricot chocolate chip bread plus giant cookies at work and I will lose weight anyway!" I suspect this is not going to work out all that well but at any rate I won't be able to blame all my stupid decisions and mind bogglingly dumb comments on beer anymore, so there's something to be said for that. I guess.

8 comments:

Will of the Hill said...

Well .. hmm .. i scored over a 1000 on the "nifty lil calculator". I too should hop on the wagon. But wait --- its Friday nite. Maybe January 1. peace.

Arwen said...

I am proud of you taking a hiatus on drinking but today is the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the prohibition act.
Just saying...

Edgy Mama said...

I stopped drinking about a month ago--but have allowed myself a couple of drinks one night a week the past few weeks for parties. I've lost three pounds--hurrah! The other plus is that now two beers is all I need for a great buzz.

Admin said...

With the economy in the crapper and Christmas right around the corner, it's downright tempting to drink yourself into a daily stupor.

And just wait till it's time for the ol' Griswold house-hunting shenanigans. Don't think I'll be able to contain myself.

Gratuitous said...

I'm not a proponent of drinking too much, but I'm also not a proponent of drinking too little. We're less likely to care about our flaws if we're drunk, yet being drunk too often is also a flaw. Paradox, eh? So how's about a balance: Don't drink often, but when you do drink, drink too much! C'mon, do you really think we can be socially charming without a little lube? Or maybe, drink often but go to bed nearly-sober (that way there's actual sleep and not unconsciousness happening - no morning blearies - might be healthy). Do not consult 12-steppers.

By the way, do you ever read comments? Most of us are commenting to you, and not each other, so just wondering. I suppose it's possible that blogs allow us to be both extroverted and introverted at the same time. Is that you?

mygothlaundry said...

Hi there. Yes, I do read the comments but I never seem to have anything to say back until days pass and then I think of something and then it seems like, oh well, hmmm, no one will read it anyway. I know I'm supposed to comment back and stuff and occasionally I berate myself for this flaw but then I still somehow can't bring myself to do it. I am an outgoing introvert, myself, so there you have it.

Gratuitous said...

Don't change a thing.

zen said...

The fact is, once the owner of a blog comments on their own blog, nobody ever reads it. At least that's what i've observed on my blog...