New addition to the family, part ii
Seems like Steven and I are developing an April trend here… buying a new* Infiniti.
Infiniti FX35
You may recall that I’ve been debating the pros and cons (half seriously) of buying a new car for some time now. I really wasn’t planning on buying one this month, but the Kimbot** started having some starter problems. It would start after awhile, but I made an appointment to have it checked out and told Steven, seriously, that if it cost more than $500 to fix the car, I was just going to buy a new one.
Well, every Tuesday, I have to get up extra early to make it to a reoccurring appointment at my office, so Steven and I don’t carpool. Last Tuesday, I was all ready to go, I got in the car, turned the key in the ignition… and nothing. I tried to be patient. I gave it time, and kept trying. The clock was ticking, and it was about 7 minutes until my train was going to leave, and my car wouldn’t start. I got so frustrated, and just laid my head on the steering wheel and closed my eyes and started to cry a bit (I know, so lame). Then I saw the garage light come on. Steven was sleeping, and heard me trying to start the car, so he got out of bed, put some clothes on, and tried to help me. No luck. But he did drive me to the station. What a sweetie. He made my day that morning.
And that was when I decided I didn’t care so much about the $500 anymore. I didn’t want to put up with it. I loved the Kimbot when I lived at home, within a 100 mile radius of my mechanic father. But now? Sorry, I am too impatient to deal with it.
I decided it was time to buy my first “real” car. I decided I deserve it. That doesn’t mean I need it, I know that.
So Steven did all the research for me, because he loves to, and I don’t, and he was excited about getting another new car. This isn’t actually the model or make I was going to buy, but I won’t go into THAT story. It all comes down to salesmen playing games, and us deciding not to give in.
We only stopped at Infiniti because Steven wanted to talk to the service department. But I asked if we could go in to look at the SUVs. I’ve always loved these models, but didn’t think I could afford one. Guess I can. Mostly.
I love that it sounds just as beautiful as Steven’s Infiniti, and drives just as smoothly. It has more space and all wheel drive, but still looks curvy and aggressive – which is something I like. And we’ve had great experience with Infiniti so far, which makes me feel very comfortable.
So yay. I pick it up on Tuesday.
Steven has that “what did I get myself into?” look on his face!
We had some good times Olds, but now the FX35 is the new Kimbot!
P.S. The Olds was going to cost $1200 to fix (they found a few other problems).
*That would be new to me. I am too poor to afford this car brand new (and I HATE what they did to the ’09 model).
**Kimbot is the name of my car. I even have the vanity plates. Yep. Dork.
Props to Glamour and my “eye patch and dental floss bikini” story
Update 4/10: Photos are available on the Glamour website now.
I was flipping through the May issue of Glamour last night and I came across a page with a gorgeous, curvy model wearing a bikini.
She looks AMAZING!!!
“Oh my gosh!” I thought, “They are actually showing a realistic looking model that has a body that looks like mine!”
I was excited. Then, I realized the entire photo shoot was that one, gorgeous, curvy model. And then I was ecstatic. Giddy. Excited. All by a swimsuit photo shoot!
I love this suit. I could see myself wearing it.
The article is called “Now That’s A Sexy Swimsuit!” and features model Crystal Renn in 5 different swimsuits. I tried to find it on the Glamour website to share with you, but couldn’t (so I scanned these two photos to share).
Props to Glamour for actually showing a realistic looking model in some attractive swimsuits. I am going to have to write them a letter telling them how inspiring it was to see someone I can actually relate to… and that it actually made me look forward to buying a swimsuit this year!
This photo shoot, and a few other blogs I’ve been reading have got me thinking about swimsuits. I have a pretty good swimsuit story, that I actually feel represents a good era of my life, when I wasn’t preoccupied with my body image or food all the time.
My father and I visited Spain in the summer of 2002 with my classmates and Spanish teacher (one of those trips). My mom helped me shop for the trip. I picked out a couple of swimsuits, one being a bikini that she ABSOLUTELY was opposed to me wearing. She called it my “Eye Patch and Dental Floss Swimsuit.” If you look at the photo below, you’ll see why.
Of course, I had to wear it while I was there, just to spite her! Muah ha ha.
I talked to her last night on the phone, telling her I was going to post about it. “You know,” she said, “it was not that I thought you looked bad in the bikini, it was just that I thought you were showing too much skin.”
She’s probably being sincere. But now I realize I DID LOOK BAD, but am happy to report at that time in my life I DID NOT CARE. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say… I became very indifferent to what others thought of me in high school. That’s not to say I had a 100% healthy self esteem, but that I had a very healthy outlook on my appearance. I didn’t worry about how I looked, what others thought of me, or what I ate. As you can see in the photo, maybe I didn’t look that great – but I didn’t care.
Ignorance was bliss, in that case.
It’s not until I got to college that I started to think about food, weight, exercise and apperance. So every once in awhile, especially around swimsuit season, I think of this silly photo, and the time in my life it represents.
Friday Question #62
If you could “fast forward” through something in life, would you? What would it be?
Have you seen that Adam Sandler movie, Click*? Adam Sandler buys this universal remote and finds out he can use it to fast forward through all of the un-pleasantries in his life. He uses it joyfully, to skip the hard work required for his promotion, but discovers an awful side effect – he misses out on what is going on with his family during that time. He becomes distant and removed and ends up losing them.
I used to want to fast forward through all the time and hard work it takes to lose weight and just get to the “after” picture. I felt like I was stuck in “before” land.
But then I realized two things – that once I got down to my “goal size”** I would have to work hard to maintain it anyway. and that arriving at that “goal size” didn’t guarantee my happiness.
So I got over that. But I still fantasize about “fast forwarding” through things. That’s me, always looking to the future, struggling to live in the moment.
I have scheduled pay increases that would be great to fast forward to – not because I am struggling, but because I am greedy. It would be great to fast forward to the summer and some frickin’ warm weather. It would be great to even fast forward to our half marathon day, because I am so excited about it!
But I think I would rather live through the struggles… even though I continue to fantasize about skipping forward.
*One of the few Adam Sandler movies I can actually stand to watch.
**Not even sure what that is anymore, or how it could possibly exist.
Dreaming of dresses*
It’s happening again. When I walk past Ann Taylor** on my way to work, when I read InStyle, when I run an errand at Sears during lunch… I am noticing dresses and find myself wanting to try them on!
I finally did go to White House | Black Market in November to check out that dress I had been eying. I was with my mom and grandma, and we were at Water Tower Place in Chicago. We went in to the store and I feel in love with every dress, but tried nothing on. I didn’t need one. I just wanted one!
Of course, my mom didn’t understand this, so for the rest of the shopping trip, she kept pointing out dresses to me, then bought me a very pretty one for Christmas. Love my mom.
So, now it’s happening again. I see dresses I want to try on. I usually resist the urge for two reasons – I have no need for a new dress, and I have very muscular legs… that don’t always look so great in a dress. Plus, I do have some cute dresses at home already (example one and two)! They may be too big for me now, but I should at least try them on before I go shopping.
Or maybe I should just say “what the hell” and try some new dresses on anyway. It can’t hurt. And there’s that wedding we’re going to in July…
Here’s a small sample of some of the dresses catching my eye now:
Hey, does that one in the middle remind you of Miranda’s dress from the Sex in the City movie?
I really love black dresses and also ones with big floral prints!
*Day dreaming only. My actual dreams last night were about a client. I won’t go into details, but if I am up and can’t sleep because I am dreaming about a client… that’s not a good sign.
**Someone, please explain the difference between Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor LOFT. Diane…?
My Office’s Biggest Loser Challenge Update: Week 10
I wasn’t looking forward to weighing in today for my office’s Biggest Loser Challenge. Last week, I weighed in during my “loss of appetite” phase and showed a huge loss of 2.5%. At the time, I even said “I know some of that is going to come back.” Sure enough, it did – 1.15% (along with my appetite, thank heavens)*.
You know what I say to all this? A big “Who cares?!” I’ve gotten so used to my body weight going up and down and up and down. If this challenge has taught me anything, it’s that my weight doesn’t directly correlate to ANYTHING. So I really shouldn’t give it ANY power over me. My body seems to be on a path of its own – a path that doesn’t follow a straight line and is impossible to figure out. Sure, my body generally responds well to eating healthy and exercising, but it’s been throwing a few challenges my way lately – ones that are probably not appropriate to discuss here. I’ll just say, I really want to trust my body, but I’m starting to second guess its intentions. It’s probably nothing serious, and doesn’t affect my running at all, but I think I will be seeing a doctor just to check in.
My second cousin Denise is participating in her office’s Biggest Loser Challenge as well. She’s been doing it for four weeks now, and I am super excited for her! She is making great progress in eating healthier and being more active.
She’s already had to play the scale mind games though. After a smaller loss (in comparison to a big loss the week before), she emailed me saying she was “really disappointed” because she thought she had lost more. She recognized that her clothes were loose but she still felt the disappointment.
I tried to be encouraging to her and share what I’ve learned doing this challenge – that the scale is not always an accurate representation of your hard work throughout the week. And she knows that! She’s obviously making progress because her clothes were loose**. It’s just so easy to let those numbers dictate your feelings.
I hope participating in the Challenge has as positive of an effect on her as it has on me – both physically and mentally. Already, I know her participation has helped me – it’s given me a chance to reflect on the challenges of adapting a healthy lifestyle from a friend’s perspective. Encouraging someone else, and following their progress has made me realize how important it is to have a healthy mindset about this whole process. I’m not explaining it very well, but sharing our struggles back and forth in email has given me a broader perspective on the meaning of living a healthy lifestyle. It’s also helped me learn how to overcome my own struggles.
And it’s nice to have my own cheerleader as well! Encouragement is always nice, and Denise is very thoughtful.
*My total loss so far is 11.25%.
**I much prefer kapgar’s method of following weight loss – by how your clothes fit. None of my size 12 dress pants fit me right anymore. They are all falling down and have too much extra fabric in the butt. So… time to do some more “interim” shopping.
Side Note: I published this at noon, but something was wrong with it, so I’ve republished it.
Too tired to meow
Data had his teeth cleaning operation yesterday. It went well. They didn’t even have to remove any teeth!
Of course, I worried about him all day. Even after Steven talked to the vet post cleaning, I still felt sad for Data.
I was really anxious to see him when I got home. He was waiting for me at the stairs by the front door, like always. But he was a bit… off. He was a bit… loopy. Can you tell he was loopy by the way his eyes look in the photo below?
Loopy eyed Data.
He kind of kept running into things. We had the dishwasher door open, because the dishes were air drying, and I think he ran into it 20 times.
He went through his nightly routine of “feed me more,” but silently. I think he was too tired to meow. (That was a nice change!)
He was being very cuddly and sweet. Aww.
I haven’t seen his newly cleaned teeth yet, since he hasn’t been opening his mouth to talk. I am anxious to see them! I am imagining them being all sparkly and white. Ha ha.
We have to give him some medicine daily for awhile, and we are going to get a little brush to brush his teeth once a week (ha ha ha, riiiight). I’ll let you know how that all goes…
Where they shaved his leg to give him anesthesia.
Gun Safety Class
Steven and I took a gun safety course on Friday – a course we had been wanting to take for some time. We went to the shooting range twice last year. I hoped going would help me overcome my fear of guns, but I still felt pretty nervous when I was there, so we took this class.
The class was different than I thought it would be. I thought it would be pretty textbook – this is a gun, these are the parts, this is how you use it, blah blah blah. But I felt like the class was taught by the zen master of gun safety. He was all about being calm around the weapon – about finding an inner peace and balance. He talked a lot about anticipation, and how someone anticipating the weapon firing is what messes up their shot the most.
That is definitely what MY problem is. My hands are shaking before I even get the gun in the air. I feel like a million electrical currents are running through my blood. The whole time I am putting pressure on the trigger, I am just waiting, waiting… and I am still startled when it fires.
The instructor really helped with that. He talked a lot about mentality, and anticipation. I think he really helped me feel more calm and less fearful. He shared good techniques with us.
I think I could apply some of those techniques to my life OUTSIDE of the shooting range. I have been WAY TOO nervous and anxious lately. Way too impatient. I rush too much. I am always going from one thing to the next. I never really take time to relax. I’m all go go go ALL the time.
It’s time to find some inner focus.
I’ve been trying for some time already. Maybe now I can finally do it. Or at least get one step closer to being less… anxious all the time.
Maybe.
Knowing
Has anyone else seen Knowing?
Steven and I saw a preview for this when we went to see Taken. I turned over to him and said “That looks really good, but… Nicolas Cage is in it…” I had kind of written off Nicolas Cage movies as “immediately in the Netflix Queue” movies. As in, “not worth seeing in theater!”
But Ebert gave it 4 stars (like that means anything, I know), we love “the world’s coming to an end” movies, and had a free movie ticket*, so we decided to go.
Wow. I was completely shocked by this movie. We all know from the previews that the movie is about a sheet of paper with a bunch of numbers all over it. Nicolas Cage gets a hold of the paper and figures out the numbers correspond to dates of horrific events and the number of deaths. Pretty freaky already, right?
Well, I don’t want to give it away, but the movie is a little bit more complicated than that. It took on a much more different angle than I expected it to based on the preview. And it seriously creeped me out. As in, I was grabbing Steven’s arm in the theater, and will probably have nightmares.
I wish I could say more, but I don’t want to spoil it. If you were thinking about seeing it in the theater, I think it is worth it.
*We are signed up for the free rewards program at our theater, and they keep giving us free drinks, and popcorn and tickets! They gave us another ticket tonight! Sweet!!!
Half Marathon Outfit
Has anyone else noticed that all of the women’s exercise clothes this season seem to be pink or green?
Good thing I like pink and green!
I was at Kohl’s on Friday, and decided to buy some of their Nike workout clothes to try during my practice runs, in hopes I can wear them at the half marathon. I showed them to Steven tonight, and he had two comments – “White? You’re very brave,” and “That looks like a soccer uniform.”
Ha. I am not surprised about the last comment – that is what attracted me to the white and green tops in the first place – they reminded me of shopping for soccer jerseys. I played soccer for a few years in high school, and my friends (okay, FRIEND) and I were really into it. We loved to go to Scheels, our local sporting goods store, and look at all the cool soccer gear.
Maybe someday I’ll get back into soccer. Maybe there’s still hope that I could actually become good at it!
Friday Question #61
Do you “brown-bag” your lunch or a lunch for your kids/family members? How often?
A little blurb in the April issue of Marie Claire made me think about this. They had a little chart that compared the cost of making a sandwich at home, to buying one at Subway. They concluded that the cost was so close ($5.01 vs. $5.59), it might not even be worth the effort to make the sandwich at home.
Hmm.
I bring my lunch to work every day of the week, unless I have a planned lunch date. I usually only have one lunch date a week (with my favorite lunch buddy, diane), but this week, I had THREE lunch dates – one every single day I was at work!
It’s expensive to eat out downtown every day. But some people do. I know people at my old office who did. And I am sure there are people at my new office who do as well. I’d rather have it be a treat, then do it every day. Three days in a row was too much this week.
Hi! I’m Kim, a 40-something-year-old living in northeastern Illinois with my husband Steven, and our cats, Khaleesi, Apollo, Starbuck, and Eddard aka Ned. My current main hobbies are running, painting rocks, flying, reading, and eating. I follow a vegan lifestyle and work in an account management role. I write about a variety of topics and consider this a “life” blog – a place I can share anything that’s on my mind. Please visit the “About” page to get a better idea of who I am! 🙂
