~Tuesday~ I caught the 6:45 bus this morning and part of the trip was déjà vu and the other part brand spanking new. I’m a poet and don’t know it. I can make a rhyme any old time.
The part that was déjà vu was the two people who got off the bus just as they did last Wednesday when I caught the 6:45 bus. They got off near the same housing complex on Gorman Street, walked up to the same corner that they did last week, and just stood there by the Parkwood Village sign that was still lit, as it was still dark out.
Lo and behold, who should get on at the next stop!?! Li’l Dino! On the 6:45 bus. Well, well. We exchanged hellos.
“You’re up early,” I said, actually initiating further conversation. Yikes.
“Yes, yes. I’m on a new shift this semester. Getting in earlier, and going home earlier.”
“Is that good for you?” I asked.
“Oh yes,” she replied. “I like getting up early.” I remember seeing her that one time on her day off when I was riding my car. She was indeed up and at ’em and out and about even though she was off.
Then she said, “You’re up early.”
“Yes, I have an early meeting this morning. Otherwise, you can be sure I’d still be in bed,” I said laughing.
“I know that’s right,” she said laughing, too.
I’m not going into a whole lot of detail on this, and I don’t want to make a big deal about it, as I’ve been through it so many times before, including the spreadsheets and graphs and all that other malarkey, and well quite frankly, I’m embarrassed about it and tired of it.
So, here it is in a nutshell: I had signed up for NC State University‘s ESMMWL (Terrible acronym that stands for Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less) program, which is a program I appreciate them putting in place to get people to start working on losing weight before the 2011 State Health Plan goes into effect that will force people who are not within healthy weight ranges to join the 70/30 medical plan, which means that after your deductible is reached, you have to pay 30% of the bill. In other words, you won’t be able to join the 80/20 plan or the 90/10 plan even if you’re willing to pay the higher premiums for them.
The ESMMWL program runs for 15 weeks, and they’re charging $30 for it, and if you make an earnest attempt for at least 10 of the 15 weeks, they’re refunding $25 of it. It’s all well and good, but at the last minute I decided to bow out of that and just do Weight Watchers (WW) on my own.
I’m a lifetime member of WW, meaning that at one time (I think it was for about two weeks) I reached my goal weight, losing 55 pounds. And I only mention that to say that I’m very familiar and comfortable with what a lot of foods weigh and/or how many “points” they’re worth, and I chose to take that route instead of potentially learning a whole new program with ESMMWL.
I’ve hooked up with a friend and we’re weighing each other every week to keep each other honest, and that’s pretty much all I want to say about it. We weighed in today and I was totally disgusted to record the most I’ve ever weighed in my entire life. Okay, done with it. Onward and upward. Or, hopefully more accurately, onward and downward.
Aren’t you glad you got the nutshell version?
My friend Jen gave me a ride home again from work, and I scurried off to the movie theater in North Hills to see a free, pre-screening (I think it opens everywhere on Friday) of The Lovely Bones. A note had gone out at work on how to register and get two free tickets to see it, first-come first-served tonight.
It started at 7:00 and I got there at about 6:20 and there was already a fairly long line for it. While I waited for about five minutes before it started moving, standing right in front of the box office, I noticed that regular ticket prices are $9.50. Really? Really? When did that happen? I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $7.50 for a movie ticket.
I can’t remember the last time I went to a mainstream theater to see a movie, though, so maybe they’ve been that high there for a long time. I usually attend movies at The Galaxy Theater in Cary or the Carolina Theater in Durham and sometimes the Rialto and the Colony in Raleigh. And, of course, I document all the movies I see (in chronological order), with a clickable list that links to the blog entry of the day I saw the particular film.
I was not at all engaged by this movie, and in fact I left about 45 minutes into it. I didn’t find myself sympathetic to any of the characters (or perhaps it was that I didn’t find myself sympathetic to any of the actors playing any of the characters), and I found the parts just stupid where they were simulating the little girl being in heaven, “…But, it’s not really heaven yet,” said “Holly-Go-Lucky” just as I was leaving.
I went to the gym, where I did 30 minutes on the elliptical machine for a 515-calorie burn. I started to listen to a podcast of This American Life, but realized quickly into it that I wasn’t and switched to some upbeat workout music.