31st Birthday - two days late, of course

Well, on Monday I turned 31 years old. Usually my birthdays pass with very little fanfare. I get a gift from Mom, a card from Dad and occasionally a friend wishes me happy birthday. I really don't mind that. This year was different. I got a cake with ice cream and the works. Mom made me a GF chocolate cake with butter cream icing and vanilla ice cream. Then my brother actually got me a present. My brother got me a DVD player. He also bought me a DVD to go with it, from Playtime Boutique. He had me open it in the kitchen. It was hilarious. As I was opening it, we both kept looking at Granda to make sure Grandma didn't look our way and saw what he got me! Mom's present is apparently still being made. I figure she has someone making me a frog. Tee-hee :)

I like my brother's girlfriend. She seems nice and her kid is a real cutey, if much less adventurous than my niece and nephew. He's a heavy sucker. Mom and I ended up babysitting him while my brother and his girlfriend went to a movie. I don't know if she and I would be as close as my sil were, but as long as she makes my brother happy, then I will be happy to love her or at least like her. Besides, it's an easy way to get a new nephew.

So the materialistic part of my birthday aside, I guess it's time to look at last year's goals and see what I have accomplished.

Last Year's List:
1. Lose 100 pounds (at least) and get back down to a size 12. (And stay there for the rest of my life!)
2. Go back to college and get my degrees in History and Library Science. Once I get them and get a decent career I can go back for another degree like Anthropology.
3. This isn't really one I want to do, it's more like I have to: Learn how to drive a car so I can get my motorcycle license and a scooter. A motorcycle would be preferable, but a scooter would be sufficient for my purposes.
4. Learn how to speak ASL, German and Latin.
5. Have something published, even if it's just my stitching patterns.
6. Visit Ireland, England, Germany and Egypt (Along with every other country in the world and Antarctica! I'll just list those four as the major goals right now.)
7. Learn how to fly a small plane.
8. Learn sky- and scuba diving.
9. Get a cat and some frogs.
10. I guess I should add the old standard of a long-term boyfriend/husband and adopting kids even though I'm not sure they really are one of my life-long goals.

Well, as of this writing, they all stand - even though I have made progress on the top two. I haven't lost 100 pounds, I've only lost 20. However, I have dropped to almost a size 16. Another few weeks of careful eating should see me there. If I really start exercising, it'll go even faster... My loan rehabilitation program is almost complete, so I should be able to to get another loan from PHEAA for college in the Spring semester. There's a light at the end of both tunnels.

As for the license, well, I made an effort, but I needed to send in the birth certificate for my passport, so it's really not my fault ... although procrastinating so long probably didn't help. I should have my birth certificate before we go on the trip, so maybe I'll go for the written test before we leave. Maybe.

6 is actually going to be exercised on our cruise. I'll be visiting two different countries. Part of 8 (scuba-diving) might be accomplished before the cruise. Mom was talking about us taking scuba lessons before we go. We'll see.

To be brutally honest. I screwed up this last year. I could have made a hell of a lot more progress on 1 and 3. I still can. I need to make another goal, one obtainable to add to those from last year. I just can't think of anything right now. Maybe one of my friends will have an idea as to something I can improve. At the moment, I can only think of becoming more devout in my religion, actually observing all of the holidays with real rituals, rather than just simple ones.

Diets and Women's Sizes

I'm on a diet. It's been mildly successful so far. I've lost 2 .75 inches around my waist in a few weeks. I consider this a major step forward. It's a damn good thing I actually like salads.

I've been trying to figure out my end goal (size 12) and what I need to lose to get there. The problem is there are quite a few different measurement charts to go by. The US Standard size chart, which the clothing manufacturers in the United States aren't required to use, for some reason, states thus:

Size 10 (might be cool to be this tiny again): bust - 32.5, waist - 25, hips - 34.5

Size 12 (ultimate goal): bust - 34, waist - 26.5, hips - 36

Size 14 (goal for vacation at the end of July): bust - 36, waist - 28, hips - 38

Apparently, this sizing standard is falling into disuse by everyone because of its age, vanity sizing (yes, I believe it exists) and designers whims.

By contrast, the majority of catalog sales measure sizes thusly:

Size 10 : bust - 37, waist - 28, hips - 38.5
Size 12 : bust - 38.5, waist - 29.5, hips - 40

Size 14 : bust - 40, waist - 31, hips - 41.5

I would love to make it to the US Standards idea of size 12. I'd feel so skinny it's not even funny. However, just to get to their size 14 waist, I'd still have 15.5 inches to go in three months. I think the catalog one is a little more doable. It makes me wonder, though, I'm already wearing size 18. It doesn't take dropping almost 16 inches to lose two sizes, does it?

Oh, did I mention I keep putting off the exercise portion... *stupid stupid*

A week of ups, downs and in-betweens

Up: Mom and I put a down-payment on our cruise at the end of July to the Caribbean. Also, we'll go a day early and see Kennedy Space Center before we cruise.

Down: Grandma had a sugar-spike episode in the middle of Old Country Buffet on Tuesday.

Up: I paid off my mattress and it's being delivered this Saturday between noon and 4pm.

Down: I have to finish reorganizing my room in two days so the guys can actually deliver the blamed thing. (So why are you on the computer, idiot?)

Up: Reorganizing my room will give me more space to work with (if I can move the dresser) and let me sort through my books; get rid of those I don't want on PaperbackSwap (Shameless plug - check out the link on the list on the right) and actually catalog the rest on LibraryThing.

In-Between: I have decided to go on a diet to lose two sizes (at least) before the cruise. Blech! It's a good thing I actually like salads and rice cakes.

Down: My brother was just here pirating our wireless for his job hunt and received a call from my oldest cousin, asking him if he wanted to go out for drinks. She has never asked me and I feel a little (a lot!) depressed at always being the odd cousin out. Oh, and when she was told where my brother was, she didn't bother asking how Grandma was doing or ask to talk to her.

Up: My brother and I had a normal conversation while he was here and he didn't, for once, try to tell me how to live my life. He was actually pretty nice for the most part and kept his snide remarks to a minimum.

Up: I sorta told off (gently) the co-worker who torments me the most after she kept taking the supplies I needed to do my job so she could do hers instead of getting them for herself. I felt good about that.

Up: I'm already pretty far on my nephew's birthday present after less than a week of stitching. I think I'll finish it in a matter of weeks, not months like I'd hoped. The Temple will take longer, but I expected it to take a while.

In-between: Kwan Yin is sort of on hold until I find out if I'll be able to get her to her recipient, as the girl quit where we work and I have no address for her at the moment. I have to email her and make sure she keeps me updated on it.


Wow! There are more ups than downs. I like that.