(Non) Rapture: afternoon/evening/earling morning after

There were some of these...

and these...

and these...

and these (which I hadn't had since college - what a perfectly delicious drunk food!).

All of the above took place within a span of two hours. Oh, that would be two hours of the EIGHT we spent together. I hesitate to say I needed it (because does anyone ever need to drink so much that they have a hangover for two days afterward?!?), but it really was a fantastic night... despite the lack of floating naked people (well, there were some semi-naked people, but they weren't floating). :-)

Wrong number

Dear 2:30 AM "Oh my god, I'm so, so sorry, wrong number" Guy:

Please excuse my irritated and definitely inappropriate response to your "Get your hot naked ass over here now and fuck me hard!" command. You see, these days the phone usually only sounds off at that time on a work night if there's something seriously wrong. Please understand that I've been out of my booty call days for a few years so when that shrill ring cut through the early morning silence, my stomach dropped and I was instantly filled with dread. I expected to hear of an emergency or learn that someone had died... I really did not expect to be greeted with ass talk.

I am so, so sorry that I completely ruined your schtick and possibly upset your horny. I hope you were able to eventually dial the right number, as it sounded like you were quite in need of a little companionship (although I think my suggestion that you should "go fuck yourself" would have taken care of the situation).

Just a piece of advice: put your booty call numbers on speed dial. It makes the process a little easier and will save you from having to abashedly apologize to random strangers. Most importantly, be sure to correctly label the numbers so that you don't accidentally booty call your grandmother.

Progress

I haven't mentioned much about my weight loss efforts lately, but I am still going at it. I have been a bit frustrated over the past couple of months because I've hit a massive plateau - one that involves me either losing no weight at all for weeks at a time or losing & gaining the same seven lbs over and over. It's quite annoying, but I haven't given up. I know that after losing almost 70 lbs, my body has gotten used to my workouts and needs to be shaken up a bit. In an attempt to move past that plateau, I've recently added running to my workouts (which I hate - it's sooo boring compared to kickboxing!) and I replaced my morning trip to Starbucks with Shakeology (which I love).

I also realize that although I'm not consistently losing weight right now, my body is still in the process of reshaping itself (in a good way). Around time that I hit the 50 lb mark, I had a ton of people constantly remarking and inquiring about my weight loss (which is flattering, but can sometimes be a little awkward, depending on their reasons for asking). I didn't hear much for a few months after that, but within the last month, people have started to notice and make comments again. I've realized that's because my shape is changing again - this time, it's not so much a visible loss of pounds as it is the addition of new muscle tone and much more defined obliques.

So although I am struggling a bit with the actual numbers on the scale, I am able to still see progress in other ways. One of my favorite markers comes in the form of my clothing size, as I think it gives a nice reminder of what I've accomplished during the past year & a half...

What I was wearing around this time last year (click to embiggen)...
















And now...
















I'm currently about 15 lbs away from where I was when I graduated from college in '99 (although if I still had my clothes from back then, I wouldn't wear them because most were either from my super-weird-pseudo-preppy-looking-for-a-job collection or my super-slutty-I'm-single-and-clubbing-every-weekend stash). Ultimately, my goal is to get out of the sizes with an X in them. Realistically, I'll probably never be much smaller than a Large as I'm all boobs, hips, and booty no matter how much I weigh, but that's cool with me. I'm a fan of the T&A. :-)

In the meantime, I'm just trying to take it one day at a time in my quest to be a healthier person (inside & out!). It's slow going, but I know I'll get there eventually... if only I could get there without having to torture myself with the most evil and boring exercise ever (aka running). ;-)

The last month

This is probably one of those needless to say statements, but I've been in a bit of a blogging slump. In fact, I'm afraid I may have hit the blogging wall... I have been writing about my life for the last 6.5 years. That sure is a lot of comebacknikki. I still have tons of ideas and approximately fifty posts saved in my draft graveyard (where ideas go to die), but I rarely have the motivation to write. I'm not sure why... maybe because I'm tired & frustrated with parts of my life, maybe it's because so many bloggers have closed shop, or maybe it's because I don't feel like what I have to say is all that interesting. I loved blogging for the first five-ish years, but over the last year and half or so, it's felt more like an obligation/something I feel guilty about and less like something I want to do. Sigh. I don't know.

I've started another blog (focused on food), but I haven't opened it up to the public yet - there are still a few things I want to set up before I share it with everyone. I am definitely much more excited about writing over there (and I have so many awesome foodie photos to share!). In the meantime, I haven't made a decision about this space. While I'm feeling a bit blah about it, I'm still not ready to let go.

And on that note, here's a bit of the last month of my life...

• M got a job! I haven't mentioned too much about the situation over the last year or so, but if you remember, M was laid off back in August '09. Up until two weeks ago, he was still unemployed. Thankfully, he did have his consulting clients (that he started with before he was laid off), but that was inconsistent and very much part-time. The consulting helped keep him semi-sane, but honestly, the last year and a half has been rough... I don't want to go into the details, but we'll just say that it was a very stressful time for both of us. Now, his new job isn't perfect, as he's classified as an apprentice & the company has some financial issues, but it's *something* (and he likes it!). There is potential for him to move up in a few months (if the financial issues don't put an end to his position). It's definitely exciting, but we're both trying not to get too excited as there's still a bit of uncertainty.
  
  
• An instructor was fired from Large College because of things she wrote about the school & students on facebook. Sigh. I seriously do not understand what she was thinking. Department Chair friended everyone in the department a few days after he joined fb (a year or so ago) and strongly encouraged all of the instructors to do the same (which is another issue - um, why am I being forced to share my personal life with people I don't necessarily like?). I would estimate at least 3/4 of the faculty & staff are now friends with each other... knowing that, why would you say anything negative about the school (even if it's true)? I'm sure she felt there would be no repercussions because she put it on facebook instead of mentioning it at school, but... ugh! Bad move!

• I met a professor from my graduate school (not my program) through some friends of M. Fifteen minutes into our conversation, she asked me if I feel like I'm "compromising my academic integrity on a daily basis" by teaching at Large College and that I really should be looking for another job if I "ever want to be taken seriously by the academic community." Oy. Now, as much as I'm not in love with Large College and feel there are some major ethical and organizational issues (see here, here, and here), I still wouldn't say that I'm less of anything because of where I work ... who the fuck does she think she is?!? I have to admit that not only was I taken aback by the question, I also felt bad. In fact, I was even a bit embarrassed. Non-adjunct faculty positions aren't exactly easy to come by these days & LC is not where I would be if I had a choice... but still, I work my ass off there. I teach 20-25 classes each year (with anywhere between 10-35 students in each class). I am the adviser for two student activities/clubs, I coordinate a faculty council, sit on four committees, and tutor various students (not from my classes). Despite what I may feel about LC's practices, I still give my all to the students. Sigh. I so want to go back in time and tell her in the most polite way possible to kiss my fucking ass.

• M had a birthday! :-)

• So did E! Remember this tiny baby? Oh, he's very much a rough-and-tumble, silly little three-year-old now. Where did the time go?!?

• I spent way too much time discussing/arguing with former classmates about how I am anti-American because I mentioned that I do not celebrate death, even if the person in question is Osama bin Laden. I said that while I do not mourn the death of ObL, I also do not celebrate it because we should not celebrate the murder of anyone... and the issues are far too complex to reduce everything to the destruction of one (albeit, very bad) man. I also said that I found the images of people partying in the streets to be quite unsettling. Apparently, those sentiments make me a "uninformed fool" and a "traitor." Hmmm... I somehow failed to make that connection.

• The 5K for Midwives happened once again. There were no bags of apples this time, but there was a cool tree at the starting point. :-)

• And finally... M & I saw A Twist of Water and Jay & Silent Bob Get Old (hilarious!), I got my hair cut/highlighted at an awesome salon, bought some more shoes, had another meal at Mercat a la Planxa (I'm officially obsessed with that restaurant), ate at the Davis Street Fish Market for the first time (excellent!), had the best facial ever (seriously, if you live in Chicago, you should go here!), bought a bunch of White Sox tickets (pleeeaase stop losing!), fell in love with an adorable puppy,* and graded approximately 95 midterms & 170 papers.
  
  *we couldn't get him though because he's way too big for our place - if you're interested in an extremely sweet & adorable Pitty mix, he's available here (Roo)