smiling on foot

Now that Halloween is over… it’s pretty much all downhill from here. I don’t mean to be a negative Nancy, but I just love, love LOVE Halloween and then I hate, hate HATE cold weather and snow. I can’t help but feel a little down trodden once Halloween is over. The cold is creeping in and I’ve already started using my electric blanket. Cold weather tends to make me quite inactive and I’m really wanting to maintain my 25 lb. weight loss from earlier this year. But it’s actually proving quite difficult already.

First of all, I’m dating someone and that comes with nights out to eat and drinking during a new relationship. Secondly, Halloween candy and treats are EVERYWHERE at work. So I’ve gained back about 8 lbs. during September and October. But on the relationship front, I think we’ve now moved into another phase where we can spend a Saturday night cooking and watching a movie “on demand” instead of drinking beers and eating chicken fingers at the Ming. He’s a FANTASTIC cook and is not the mac & cheese kind of guy at all. We eat steak and veggies or stir fry or homemade pizza… mostly healthy stuff. So that should help. However, I find myself trading in my gym-nights to spend time watching TV and drinking wine with him. I need to get better with my 3 x’s a week gym schedule. I’m seriously losing my stamina to stay on that machine for any good length of time. I went on Monday after not going for 2 weeks and it was a poor, poor showing. I’m going back tonight and showing that Precor AMT 100i what I’m made of.

The winter also brings about a lot of family parties and that brings us back to eating. Mum, my two brothers, my sister and myself all have post-Halloween birthdays. My brother, CS, and his wife, LS, have birthdays around Veteran’s Day. There is usually a dinner and birthday cake made by Mum. I haven’t heard if it’s happening this year, but it probably will. And I will undoubtedly pig out on Mum’s cake and eat at least 3 tablespoons of frosting before she even gets a chance to use it. Side note: I’m disgusting when it comes to sugar… and it’s getting worse with age. The candy corn consumption this year was shocking even to myself. I could eat a whole bowl of Mum’s frosting, no problem… especially if it was lemon… mmm lemon frosting…
Estimated weight gain after CS and LS’s birthday: 4 lbs.

Then there is Thanksgiving which is a good excuse for Americans everywhere to partake in some good ol’ fashioned gluttony. Mum makes everything so, so, so good for Thanksgiving. Her apple pie is almost an art form that shouldn’t be eaten… almost…mmmm apple pie… Then there is her famous cheesecake. And the stuffing and the mashed potatoes… and did I mention the apple pie? Then I’m taking some time off work to perhaps go on a road trip with NF and friends. Road trip = fast food and many, many swedish fish for the drive.
Estimated weight gain after Thanksgiving Weekend: 6 lbs.

December brings forth many holiday parties, Mum’s birthday party, Christmas and then New Year’s. Mum makes the most delicious oriental meatballs that are best to consume immediately before cheesecake. I know it sounds strange, but I’ve been eating this combo for so long that I’m conditioned to want cheesecake (but only HER cheesecake) after eating those meatballs. I should mention that she puts delicious, syrupy, canned cherries on top of the cheesecake… mmm cheesecake… I can see my gym visits fading away by mid-December. My sister-in-law, LS, makes a great spread for Christmas Day and usually has these scrumptious little pastries from a friend’s bakery. I so look forward to those pastries. She also has many dishes of Italian food of which I make sure to eat one of each kind: manicotti, lasagna, meatballs, etc. Then on New Year’s, the friends will all gather at HEKD’s and order massive amounts of Chinese Food. Yup, I should be one, blubbery, fat, piece of S by then.
Estimated weight gain in December: 8 lbs.

Then in January, I will celebrate my birthday and my brother, AS’s, birthday. When I celebrate my birthday, I usually do so for at least a week beforehand and indulge in multiple celebrations with family and then friends. I’ll also convince myself that whatever Superbowl party I attend is actually a birthday celebration for me too. And I will go after a plate of nachos like they were made for only me and absolutely necessary to my existence on this planet. After my birthday, the cold weather really starts to affect my mood and ‘eating my feelings’ doesn’t make ‘the cranky’ go away anymore. So I drink heavily instead. Not only does the drinking cheer me up, but also provides my body extra warmth in addition to my new layer of fat. (Smart thinkin’, right?) This phase comes right in time for RB’s birthday weekend in February where I will get stinkin’ drunk in her basement, do karaoke, argue about friends of hers I don’t like, do more karaoke and then end up collapsed on the floor in laughter. It’s also my sister’s birthday, as well as her last born’s birthday. The family will get together for dinner and birthday cake and it’s amazing that we’re all not sick of each other. I think if mum had one more child in the winter, that child wouldn’t get a party… just too much getting together. Good thing my brother and I usually celebrate ours in one combo party. February, I’ll start to try and exercise again, but it will be futile for I will be that aforementioned blubbery, fat piece of S. By March, my spirits improve, I usually start eating better (since there are no family parties) and I’ll probably be better at going to the gym.
Estimated weight gain in January and February: 12 lbs.

If you are keeping track, I’m estimating a 30 lb. weight gain this winter on top of the 8 lbs. I’ve already accumulated. This is not good. After re-reading this post, I think I may have to sit down with Mum and have her plan in advance her menus for all family events. Is this unreasonable? Then I can form an eating strategy for the winter where I’ll indulge once or twice, but other times eat salad, one meatball and maybe one bite of cheesecake. And I canNOT give up on my gym visits… no matter how badly I want to sit on NF’s couch instead, no matter how sniffly I get, no matter how dark and cold it is when I leave work… I must keep up with my good health and not become the Jabba the Hutt of Weytown! There’s just no excuse for me if I don’t. I implore all to send helpful tips on how to get through this winter without gaining back the weight I worked hard to lose!

But when the weather outside is frightful and Mum’s food is so delightful… *sigh*

My favorite holiday is coming up this Saturday and I am SO excited! Halloween is great. I love candy and all things sugar. (I am wearing my candy corn socks and they’re making me want to buy some!) I love the “spooky” decorations. I love stepping out of your normal self and dressing up as something fun. I’ve been slowly gathering items all month for my costume with glee. The house was decorated last Saturday with all my fun ghosts and skeletons hanging from everywhere. Tonight, AMR and I are doing some pumpkin carving and will add my jack-o-lanterns by the front stairs for all the trick-or-treaters this Saturday. Then after trick-or-treaters, there’s a Halloween party to attend with friends. It’s going to be such a great day!

I basically wake up on Halloween morning the way other girls wake up on their wedding day.

I will never be one of those people who don’t like to dress up for Halloween. When I was going with that Irish guy, he told me that no one in Ireland dresses up and that it’s just for kids. What?! I tried to explain that Halloween is a “party holiday” (no gift-giving, yay!) and since they are a “party culture” – I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t get into it. But many feel foolish dressing up in costume. Or they are all busy/stressed and adult-like so they can’t be bothered with silly nonsense like costumes. I get it, but I feel bad for those who can’t let loose and have fun with it. They are certainly missing out on how great it is to dress up weird and rip it up with your friends.

What are you going to be this year? NF and I are going to be Brangelina… yet we need to get our act together this week for the “brad” part of the costume. I found an Angelina dress (black and low-cut) at the Goodwill for $6 and had mum perform some alterations so that it’s not TOO revealing – but still revealing enough to get the point. I need someone to draw on the elaborate tattoos (I saved out a bunch of pics from the internet in preparation). Perhaps Mum, perhaps Xtina – probably not NF, although he said he’d do it. Do you think black pen is too permanent? I’m going to be so cold, but it’ll be worth it.

Whether you’re watching Halloween-themed movies and waiting for trick-or-treaters or heading out to a spooktacular party with friends, I hope everyone has a fun Halloween and enjoys the holiday!

Hilarious Halloween Costume Links:

Top Ten Tasteless Costumes

How to Find a Masculine Costume for your Effeminiate Son

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HEKD is making fun of me because I was making fun of her choice of framed photos in her new house… every one of them a pic of her and her husband.  I told her, “We get it – you’re in looooove!”  What’s funny is that we then suddenly realized I have not appeared in any framed photos of hers during the entire decade of our friendship.  Then we thought back to the condo she lived in for about 6 years and confirmed that there were no framed photos of me on display at that place either.  I noted that she did have a framed photo of her friend LC and her husband MC on their wedding day… she used to have a framed photo of her and the tall one… and she has a framed photo of her with another girl she’s friends with (but she says it was a gift from that girl so I can’t be mad at that).  The point is, all these people aren’t as important as me and yet I have no presence in her house!  HEKD says she is working on a shrine in my honor if it will keep me happy. Well, it’s a start. Next, she will need to be sincere about worshiping it.

Then I was thinking about it some more and I don’t think any of my friends have framed photos of me in their living quarters… unless you count a photo of KDM, AMR and I on prom night in 1995 that is on display at AMR and Bykfam’s house.  If I am wrong, please let me know to help ease my mind. But even though my living space has decreased from a 2 BR apt. to just a single room within my parents’ house… I have pics of my friends all over! In fact, you would think I was in love with HEKD with amount of photos I have framed of her… at Vegas, at her wedding, at the cheesecake factory, etc.  AMR, RB, Bykfam, JBP, Xtina… they all are there on display so I can look at them lovingly and look forward to the next time I see them. The realization that no one does this for me is frankly devastating. Xtina doesn’t even have my 4th grade picture on display at her desk anymore.  :(  I’m feelin’ the non-love today. I see how it is.

On a related note… I have two very talented friends. One is a fiend at knitting and the other is a creative artist. Do you think either of them has ever made anything for me? Hellz no! I’ve been very good friends with them for years and watched with sadness as they’ve made project after project for every one else they know and nothing ever for me. What’s up that? Is it crass to complain about not receiving homemade gifts produced from their talents?  Probably. Are we close enough friends that they’ll think it’s funny? Likely. Have I been such a good friend that I deserve a homemade gift? You know it’s true. If I dote on my framed photos of my friends as much as I do, just think how much I’d adore your homemade gift! But don’t drop everything and make me something just because I’m sobbing every night at my multiple unrequited loves. I’ll survive. Don’t worry about me. But HEKD, I’m following up with you this weekend to see how the shrine is coming.

Dad turns 74 today… he’s getting up there!  I gave him a card about napping and it says “Nappy Birthday” inside. It couldn’t be more fitting. Kelly loves him some nap time! He will be celebrating by finishing up a graphic design project he’s been working on for a client and maybe some birthday cake later. Mum is making a Boston Cream Cake in his honor – mmmm. Tomorrow, he takes his lovely wife out for a steak dinner! Woo woo!

Happy 74th, Dad!

So this blog has been super public and live since mid July and there have been a handful of people who have found their way to smilingonfoot.com via searching for other things on the internet. Below are words that they entered into their favorite search site (mostly google) and somehow my blog came up for them and for whatever reason, they clicked and arrived. I’m sure they were all disappointed that my blog is not dedicated to their topic at hand (you know who you are you weird foot fetish people)… but all the people with the cat pee problems definitely got a good recommendation with that new catbox I bought. It was a good solution for my cats, mos def.  And I hope all the skype people not only looked at my entry about skyping with RB, but also clicked through to RB’s skyping post. Perhaps she could shed some light on that analysis. Any who… here are some of recent search terms for this here bloggo:

- if you dont use IM more often, I swear to god, elle kay – smiling on foot [this is my friend, DS, who likes to communicate via my search terms because he knows I check them]

- why dont you ever sign online LK? smiling on foot [him again]

- how to stop cats from peeing on edge of catbox [I feel their pain - get the catbox I have and your dreams will come true]

- precor 100i boston [this person happens to be from Jamaica Plain - but I have many people looking up my fave machine at the gym]

- cat pees over side of catbox [seems to be a common issue... epidemic even]

- giant catbox [what?]

- skype smilings [this is one of many skype entries - I hope they enjoyed screenshots of RB skyping with me]

- night clubs people 40 dance along south “shore of MA” [this savvy person used bing.com and works at Blue Cross Blue Shield]

- skypohontas [someone in Moscow who's obsessed with RB]

- harem pants [someone in Singapore with bad fashion sense]

- LK i know you read these, smiling on foot [guess who again!]

- video smiling woman feet [I have a feeling this person in Athens, Greece just may be my soul mate - I have smiling woman feet!]

- cat tail twitching urinating [what? my cat isn't the only one?!]

It’s 5 a.m., my medicine has worn off and the pain from Tuesday’s gum surgery has awakened me. Needless to say, I am not a happy LK. Have I told you why my gums are in need of so much repair? Probably not, so here you are…

One day 3 years ago, I was chatting with JBP at the ol’ workplace when my filling just popped right out of my mouth. Thank goodness I was talking to a friend and not the CEO or anything (because the CEO and I were total Bifskies).  As it turned out, the tooth was so grinded (fyi – grinded is not a real word) away, it could not be filled again and the dentist I went to at the time opted for a crown.  The crown felt a little sensitive, but I figured that was part of having a crown. Fast forward 2 1/2 years and the sensitivity has increased. At a regular cleaning with my Weytown dentist, I bring it up to him and he says that there’s a gap and who knows what’s going on under there. This was when the fun started.  There are just 10 easy steps to the sort of Dental fun and good times that I’ve been fortunate to experience and await me in the near future:

1) Weytown dentist says I need to pay my old dentist a visit and request a new crown for free. Not an awkward request at all. I did take off a half day at work and drove all the way up to Woburn for the old dentist to tell me there’s nothing wrong with this crown and that I need a root canal.

2) I then made an appt. with the root canal specialist at my Weytown dentist. He told me that I don’t need a root canal, but I could have gum disease and to meet with the gum specialist.

3) I met with the gum specialist and he said I did indeed have some sort of inflammation surrounding this crown… mainly due to the crown being too big for my mouth.

4) Following the gum specialist’s treatment plan, I went for a “scaling” or “deep cleaning” that lasted a little over 2 hours. I borrowed an anti-anxiety drug for this visit. The Novocain application was the worst ever. Ever. The girl was young and most likely fresh out of dental school. She jammed that thing so hard into the back of my mouth that it took my breath away. Then tears started to stream down the sides of my face as I tried to stay still and wait for it to be over. When she saw the tears, she told me I was doing great and jammed it harder while holding my head to be doubly sure I wasn’t going to move. I don’t cry in the dentist chair ever. Ever. I only hope she improves her Novocain implementation skills in time.When standing at the reception desk making my next appt., the receptionist asked if I was okay. I was just blankly staring out the window… half loopy on anti-anxiety medicine and half traumatized and responded in a distant voice, “Dental work is sad…”  She agreed. Then I went back to work for the day.

5) A couple of weeks later, I went in to have my crown removed and a temporary one put in its place. This time, my Weytown dentist did the Novocain application and he did it with far less brutality and pain. However, when he told me to rinse when he was done, I realized my hands were shaking. I didn’t take an anti-anxiety pill for this procedure, but perhaps I was more traumatized from the last visit than I thought. I wore my iPod throughout, but there was no drowning out the crunch sound of the crown as he took it out of my mouth in pieces. Gross! But overall, this visit wasn’t so bad.

6) Two days ago was the gum surgery. The gum specialist sliced open my gums to clean out the bacteria that had been collected and trapped under my too-big-crown and then gave me stitches. I borrowed another anti-anxiety drug for this visit and had Mum drive me there. Mum asked how I was feeling in the waiting room and if I was nervous. I told her that I wasn’t really nervous, but just sad that I had to be there. She laughed and said that perhaps this is my reaction to anti-anxiety medicine – sad.  I really didn’t know what to expect and thought maybe I’d get some of my errands done later that afternoon. Boy, was I wrong! This was another 2-hour visit and the iPod came out again. The special bonus of gum surgery, is that not only do you get the big jab of Novocain at the back of your mouth, but you also get repeated little needles of Novocain applied all along the outside of your gums and then all along the inside. Needles. Stuck into your gums. Repeatedly. Surgery was noisy and wet. I had to wear goggles. When the Novocain wore off, it was bad. I was so wiped out, I could barely make it to CVS to get my prescriptions. I took my first 800 mg of Motrin at 1:30 and by 3:30, I was alive again. I even played the piano. NF came over and I had another pill with dinner. We laughed and talked through the movie I had put on for us and then I felt a little twinge… and then it hurt… and then it felt really warm in my mouth. I think I pulled one of my stitches out.  But that whole area is covered with a wax-like substance (called “the dressing”), so I can’t be sure of what’s happening. NF was leaving anyway so I walked him out and then stuffed a pile of gauze in my mouth and went to sleep like that. Thankfully, the bleeding stopped (mostly) by the next morning. But I felt like someone beat my face in and left me for dead. I somehow dragged myself downstairs and made some soft and warm french toast followed by 800 mg of Motrin. I was still wiped out and in some pain for work, but I could still function okay.

7) Next up will be stitches removal on October 1st. They told me it’s pretty quick.

8) 6-8 weeks after stitches removal, I will get my brand spanking new crown, that hopefully is not too big for my mouth.

9) I don’t know the specifics of my new dental insurance, but I had to pay $550 this week and I have another $550 on my account that I’ll pay later. And I’m sure there’s more to come. Better to get this over with while I’m living at home, I guess.

10) Enjoy a healthy mouth that will include one perfect crown on top of the cleanest gum line in the south shore!

The good news is… NF and I are official.  Official, in that, we are officially bf and gf. The bad news is… you bloggos will no longer get to enjoy my ‘adventures in online dating’ posts that were such a big hit on the last blog!

NF turns 30 this week and also is moving into his own 1 BR apt. this weekend. So this is a big week for him! I’m looking forward to his birthday celebration this weekend.

I’ve received many requests from my own friend group to meet NF.  Soon, my friends, soon. And for the love of God, be on your best behavior and be sure to talk me up real good.

My trip to the ‘Cuse was a blast! But really, who thought it wouldn’t be? I haven’t had a chance to get my pics onto the internet yet (maybe tonight), but there are some good ones. RB is a great hostess and packed her party fridge with tons of beer and dt. mt. dew – even VIOLET dt. mt. dew. Who’s better than her? Our first night was game night, and once again our hostess, RB, successfully forced the game Catch Phrase onto her guests. I’ve decided that enough time has passed from when we lived together that I can let go of my hate for this game. I was just sick of it back then, but I think I can deal with a couple times a year now. See how emotionally mature I am? It was good to catch up with our hostess, SF, KW and the guy who ran 60 miles. Poor HEKD got the “Oh no” voice at least a hundred times that weekend (100 from me and 100 from her husband, easy). It just never gets old. I don’t know why, but it’s wicked funny every time. And if she gets mad at us for making fun of all her “Oh no’s,” then it’s even FUNNIER. :) Double D knows what I’m talkin’ about. Then the next day was “The Great New York State Fair.” HEKD and Double D’s baby Bateman was a good kid for Cath while we were at the fair. HEKD was amazed. We theorized that perhaps he sleeps better for people who don’t hover over him, pick at his head and change his clothes all night long. Hmm? (We love you, HEKD. You are a good sport to put up with us mean kids.)

Although the NY State Fair was indeed a great time, next year I have some improvements for myself to make it even better. 1) Wear shorts, not jeans – it was too hot for jeans as RB advised, but I ignored. What was I thinking?  2) Consume a breakfast, a small lunch and maybe even a Pepcid AC before arrival. My belly was starving when I wolfed down a delicious Hot Beef Sundae and two cups of chocolate milk. This was cause for some serious pain which seriously hindered my enjoyment for the first hour of the fair. 3) Wear inserts in my sneakers for added support. 4) A little related to #2: I need to really plan out what I’m going to eat and when. We passed so many items at night that I wanted, but felt I hadn’t had any “dinner” yet so I’d wait. My “dinner” ended up being a single baked potato while my “dessert” was a giant fried dough. You can get fried dough at any old fair – I wish I got something crazy and NY State Fair specific… like fried cheesecake or fried snickers. As you can tell, the food element was an obvious issue here which will be taken more seriously next year. I refuse to be disappointed in myself for two consecutive years! One of the best parts of the fair is the Indian Village. RB and I got in touch with our Native American heritage and purchased jewelry and learned about Sister Corn. The crafts in the Village ranged from kind of crappy jewelry to really amazing artistry. I should’ve done some Xmas shopping there for my Native American sister (my actual sister, not Sister Corn). We’ll put that on the list for next year too! All in all, a successful trip and I look forward to next year’s outing at the fair!

Click here for pics from the Labor Day Weekend Syracuse Trip of ‘09!

I’m gearing up for a trip to the ‘Cuse this weekend to visit my friend and former roommate, RB. I’ve successfully strong-armed her via fb to host a game night on Friday night and then Saturday will be a big event: The NY State Fair. I’ve never been to the NY State fair, but I hear it’s a massive estate of epic proportions. And all the food is deep fried. And they have something called WINE SLUSHIES and sculptures made of BUTTER. This may be the new location where dreams come true (no longer Ocean State, MD). As you can conclude, I’m pretty excited to check it all out, as well as visit with my “kindred spirit” RB, in addition to HEKD, Double D and little “Bateman” (not to be confused with “Batman” who has long since been out of the picture). I’m hearing that other Syracuse friends will be poking in here and there during our weekend plans to say hello and visit with the Boston kids. I can’t wait to see every one!

I’ve just completed a little August hiatus from the gym. The week before my vacation, I didn’t feel like going (or working, really) so I was definitely Minimum-Effort-Girl that week. Then of course there was the week OF my vacation, of which there was no way in Hell I was going to ruin my week off with exercise. Then there was the recovery week after my vacation when Minimum-Effort-Girl returned. Then I pulled my neck (SO F-ING BAD) at my sister’s house that weekend when I had to catch her bunny who had escaped. That little furry jerk made me run through four neighbor’s yards before finally catching him and spasmed out my neck so hard that I saw stars. So there was another week I stayed away from the gym. But this week, I made my triumphant return and it really wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Tonight, I decided not to overdo it with another session on the PRECOR AMT 100i right before my trip and instead took a 30 min. walk through the neighborhoods.

It’s such a nice night out and it’s been absolutely perfect all week. I love this weather for every day living and super hot for vacation. It seems there is a full moon out tonight as well. I walked down KDM’s old street and remembered my driving instructor teaching me how to back up in a straight line on that road. I remembered picking up Kerri at her house. And how could I forget the memory of the day I went to drive her home and hydroplaned into the bushes! Good times. I also walked around my own neighborhood and remembered all my classmates who lived in all those houses… One is married to KDM’s old neighbor, one works at the Old Navy at Patriots Place (and is a fb friend), one I believe lives in Texas, one lives in AZ and I don’t know what happened to MDavis or MLyons… and there are others.  And here I am all left behind in the ol’ neighborhood. But the weather is nice so all is good. You can even smell the ocean tonight. For the past two days, I’ve spent my lunch hour at Wollaston Beach with a delicious salad. It’s not too windy or too hot to sit on the sea wall, so I quite enjoyed it. Of course, it was not so enjoyable when I got back in my car and my arm dipped into wet seagull poop on my seat. It’s a good thing I have napkins and half-drank water bottles in my car for cleaning. I’ll have to remember to shut the sunroof while dining on the sea wall.

I’ve just decided to pack for Syracuse tonight because I have a DATE tomorrow night. And not just a regular date… a THIRD date. Kind of nutty, right? Through the past 17 months of singleness, there has been no sign of this elusive phenomenon called a third date. There has been a bunch of first dates, one second date and a handful of experiences that we will just call “gray areas.” And now here it is before me, an actual 3rd date. This guy is VERY nice and behaves like such a gentlemen. This behavior is admittedly blowing me away. LK does not meet nice guys. LK attracts weirdos and scumbags. He treats me with such a high regard than what I’m used to… I really didn’t think there were any respectful men left in my age group. Speaking of age… he turns 30 next month, which means he’s a couple of years younger. Mum told Dad that he was a younger man and Dad says, “Oh! She’s a Cobra!”  He meant to say “Cougar” but got so excited at the prospect of sounding hip and cool, he said the wrong word. No worries, Dad, Cobra works too. :)

There are two things I’ve done three times in the past week and they are eating raviolis and driving to Marshfield.

Don’t you love raviolis?? I sure do. Do you like it better when they have cheese in them or beef? I had some over the weekend that had beef and spicey sausage inside and they were delicious. I was watching my sister’s house, dog and 13-year old while my sister and hubby went to Bar Harbor for a romantic weekend away. My sister lives in Marshfield right near the beach. I so rarely cook that I decided to make a carb-o-licious meal of my favorite things. Frankie (the 13-year old) and I went to the local Shaws with really nothing in mind, but I saw these raviolis near the deli and thought they looked yummy. I also bought a package of cheese ones… but it was like 4 different kinds of cheeses… so good. I also made a creamy garlic sauce, rice a roni with herbs, salad and POTATO SKINS. The pre-packaged food near the deli had these amazing potato skins with real potatoes and real hunks of bacon that made me say F-it-all and bought those too. We ate this meal both Sat. and Sun. nights.

I also ate raviolis last Friday night with Xtina at our fave: The Chat (pronounced “Shat” – short for Chateau). They fry their raviolis and call them “toasted” on the menu. Anyone that’s anyone knows to call these treats “toasted ravs” when ordering. We love going there and ordering the same meal: salad with parm. peppercorn dressing and toasted ravs w/meat sauce. Although these two ravioli experiences were excellent… my 3rd ravioli meal came from chef boyardee and was reduced fat – so naturally it sucked. I don’t recommend, but Mum was visiting with her sister and did not provide me a delicious meal that night. It was one of those super hot and humid days that makes cooking out of the question so a canned meal was adequate, but not very satisfying. Like my man, Meat Loaf says, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. :)

Now on to my trips to Marshfield.

My sister teaches yoga every Tuesday night and during the summers, she teaches on the beach. It’s really so nice to be doing postures while gazing at the ocean and smelling that ocean air. However, I haven’t been to any of her classes this summer! I’m a bad sister. It takes about an hour to get to Marshfield from Quincy after work and I’d have to leave work at 5:15ish which almost never happens. But she tells me a few weeks ago that she’s trying a new dog yoga variation of her normal class… “doga” as it’s called. Needless to say, I made it a point to attend. I did not have a dog, but sat on my mat and did my own stretches while watching the show. There was some “human yoga” mixed in with the dog stuff too. I assisted with my sister’s dog when needed, but Frankie pretty much had the assistant job covered. I wish I brought my camera, but there will be another in Sept. I plan to borrow a dog (from my brother) and attend this class again. Everything went a lot smoother than I expected and my sister’s dog did her postures very well. The 4 dogs in the class did not do so good, but I think they liked the attention from their owners anyway. All proceeds went to the Fairy Dog Parents organization that gives help to dog owners who can’t afford their dog(s) anymore. I met some representatives of the organization who were very nice. The other dog owners were friendly too and I think everyone had fun with the “doga.”

Last night, I once again left work and headed south to good ol’ Marshfield. This time, it was not to see my sister or go to her house. Brace yourselves, Bloggos, because I went on an honest-to-God date. I haven’t been on a real date in a while. Partly because there hasn’t been any real prospects and partly because I get too suspicious of the men out there to really make any effort. But I recently came across a nice, young man on the internets and decided to give it a go. He is a south shore kid like myself and I have a  feeling that we have similar sensibilities. Marshfield is a halfway point for us since he lives in Plymouth and we both have a fair idea of what the town has to offer in terms of watering holes. We had some Chinese food and then went down the road to another bar where he knew the bartender. I woke up at 5:40 this morning with a beer headache. (I’m clearly out of practice.) Since this is an hour and 20 min. earlier than my usual wake up time, I am currently not looking forward to the day. The headache was such that I couldn’t go back to sleep so I got up and ate some cereal along with some Excedrin (2nd time this week – my stomach lining is slowing deteriorating as I type). It’s been a relaxing morning of lying in bed with my baby girl cat and watching all the Ted Kennedy stuff on TV. Dad says, “Well, I better go fill in for Teddy.” He thinks he looks like him and could pass as his double while Ted’s employees “do all the work for him.”  I told him this morning that being a senator requires more than Kennedy looks, but apparently this fact is not important. Dad’s also mentioned (repeatedly) in the past that he is the lost Kennedy brother. What a lunatic. :)

Here’s a side-by-side comparison for you to judge:

Brothers separated at birth? You decide.