A Pepsi Challenge Update

Patrick has now gone five full days (plus several hours today) without any cola products as stipulated in the Pepsi Challenge. To my surprise, he’s been very even during this time without much whimpering, biting or messing of the rugs. At first I thought “good man” and then I thought more:

He has been enjoying coffee (from which he gets his ‘brown’ and caffeine) and now I see that he has taken up drinking Diet Sprite (from which he gets his Aspartame and bubbles). I think the existence (and increased usage) of these two beverages pretty much make the challenge – well, unchallenging.

Clearly I need to establish more boundaries on my future challenges so that he doesn’t have these gigantic pop & coffee-filled loop holes to frolic in.

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You know it's true ... Everything I do ...

Alrighty, it’s a Tuesday so let’s get down to business: This week I’m down another 2lbs. This is most wicked and most awesome as it brings me to a total loss of 10.8lbs since Aug 23. This means I’m still what the docs call “overweight” (and what well-intentioned parents call “fluffy”) but much better than a month ago.

I’m now at the point where I’m starting to notice my weight loss but others are still oblivious to it. This is fine by me because the whole reason I’m doing this is for l’il ol’ me anyway. I do have to remind myself every so often that sticking to the plan is for my own benefit – and these reminders usually come when I’m faced with an ambush of cookies and chips and booze. In moments of agony I stay strong by singing Bryan Adams’s “Everything I Do” (to myself) while imagining Kevin Costner shooting a fiery arrow through a menacing and tyrannical buffet spread. Ok, I don’t actually do that, but maybe now that I’ve got the imagery down pat I will. Ha – yah, I totally will.

I do get reminders that I could do more, though. Like, say, exercise. Yesterday, I ended up spending the day not in front of the television as I fantasized, but instead cleaning up the place. I just cannot have a day off where I don’t tidy – I have a love/hate relationship with housekeeping. Plus, we were having the lovely Siobhan and her boyfriend Patrick (popular name, ‘round these parts) over that evening and needed to have the place look respectable.

Anyway, I woke up this morning with really sore thighs and bum and knew immediately where it was from: squatting and bending while vacuuming and scrubbing. How truly, truly sad. I mean, that sort of thing isn’t exercise or straining or anything, but apparently it’s been the greatest muscle usage my ass has seen in a long time. Sad indeed.

Oh well - we can't be completely perfect, right? :)

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I Don’t Hate Mondays (I’ll Tell You Why)

Because I have a whole bunch of vacation racked up, my manager is insisting that I schedule some time off. I’ve decided to take every Monday off for a month - and this starts right now. As I type, I am sitting comfortably in my pajamas, enjoying a bit of coffee and really letting my mind explore all the different options and possibilities I have available to me ("... should I watch The Price Is Right or Family Feud?"). Taking Mondays off is starting to rank in Top Ten Of Jen Decisions.

I normally despise Mondays as they signify my having to go to work where I would have to sit at my desk and do my best to ignore my responsibilities until it was time to either eat lunch or go home. Now, I only have to put that tiresome energy in for four days a week. Wee!

You won’t see me talk too much about the office here as my workplace has Dooced employees before. I’m sure I’ll get desperate for stories to tell and start letting loose at some point - because MAN, IS THERE EVER SOME GOOD MATERIAL THERE - but for now, my resolve is strong.

We don’t have any Big Brother stuff happening as far as monitored net usage, but apparently (and this is all here-say as it was well before my time at the company) some former employees were part of a blog/web ring that really explicitly spoke badly about some other co-workers … which was eventually happened-upon by someone that cared about said co-workers … who mentioned it to various management types … who apparently thought this sort of thing was bad for a company's reputation … and, well, yah. They don’t work there anymore.

So, since I still like money, I’ll try to keep my trap shut about the old fun factory - for now - and just enjoy the day.

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I Am Samm

I have been asked via e-mail (which was terribly exciting for me - hello, Lynda!) what I have against “Jenn.” I will now happily reply.

My name is Jen. It is Jen because that’s exactly how it sounds – Jen. Other than a whiny child or perhaps the odd run-in with a valley girl, no one has ever tried to call me Jennnnn. I understand that Jennnnn is an exaggeration, but I really see no difference between it and Jenn. Both involve unnecessary letters and my eyes wincing at the sight of them.

My biggest gripe around this issue is when people completely ignore the fact that I sign e-mails “Jen” and instead reply with something to the effect of “Thanks, Jenn!” My response is to screw with their name in return. “Anytime, Jessicaa!”, “I’ll get right on that, Davidd” or “Have a great weekend, Michassholel!” It’s funny how quickly some of them catch it.

When talking to a Jennifer that goes by something that sounds just like “Jen” – the default should be to use “Jen” rather than “Jenn” just as one should default to using “toaster” instead of “breaddd crustinggg machineee.”

It’s true, some Jennifers prefer “Jenn.” Feel free to correct them.

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