Alas, it is back to work for me. Yesterday was pretty exciting car-wise. The mechanics said my catalytic converter had died. This is an ~$800 part that we had replaced about two years ago. Meaning it shouldn't be dead. Luckily, the last one we bought had a lifetime warranty. Instead of paying at least $750 to have it fixed, it cost us about $80. Good times! Next up? State inspection and emissions testing. I'm sure that will cost a pretty penny. On the good side, I don't need to go searching for car insurance quotes this year. We have some decent rates right now. Let's all hope my car doesn't need tons of repairs to pass inspection!
Happy Columbus Day
Today is Columbus Day. Since my daughter's school and YMCA program are both closed today, I had to take the day off from work. We've already gone to the library and played some tennis. Coming up: A trip to the playground and possibly shopping for NFL t shirts for my sister and her boyfriend. And, at some point, I need to pick up my car, which has been in the shop all weekend. I miss it a lot. Well, Happy Columbus Day everyone!
Favorite Friday
In both my zumba and jazz funk classes, we have been dancing to this song. It's really catchy! Maybe a little too catchy..... (Now if I could only get a big knife to remove belly fat so I could stand watching myself dance in the mirror. I swear, mirrors are pure evil! My teachers are all "Look at the audience!" and I'm all "There is no audience only Fatty Me! Close the curtains and I'll look up!" Blargh.)
Halloween
Halloween is quickly approaching. Originally, my daughter wanted to be Hit Girl from the movie, Kick Ass. That would have been fine. However, no one makes a child-sized Hit Girl costume. (Not that I blame them. I understand the reason.) I would have sewn one for her...but my material handling skills are a bit lacking. Especially in the pleather area. So she has switched to a cute (and girly!) Mad Hatter costume. I'm debating wearing a costume to match hers. Either Alice or the Red Queen. Though the March Hare did pop into my head too. What do you think? Alice, Red Queen or March Hare?
My non-diet diet
I don't really have a lot to talk about. So I'm going to talk about the "diet" I am trying out. It's not some fad diet or anything weird. I'm simply not eating foods containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). That means no soda (I could drink things like Pepsi Throwback but I'm choosing to eliminate all soda), no Stove Top stuffing, no Heinz ketchup, and many many other foods. I have to read the ingredients on everything because HFCS shows up in unexpected places, like bread. My family switched to a honey wheat bread with no HFCS. It is still delicious. This is my second week on the 'program.' There have been some rough patches but, overall, it has not been a difficult task. I have found that I don't have the munchies nearly as often. I'm not sure if it is a result of all of the water I have been drinking or the higher nutritional value of the foods I have been eating. For example, even though Crunchy Cheetos do not contain HFCS, I have been snacking on raw green beans instead.
I have also signed up for a zumba class on Thursday nights for the next 6 weeks. In addition, I have a jazz funk class on Wednesday nights. With any luck, I'll be able to drop a couple of pounds by the time the zumba class ends. I'll try to remember to let everyone know my results.
Until then, here is a video of a lecture given by Robert Lustig about HFCS:
Darn Weather
There have been some major storms rolling through the Northeast, which is why I haven't been posting anything lately. We had some power problems on Friday and that sucked a lot. I hope everything is back to normal now, even though it's still raining off and on. In homage to water falling from the sky, here is Madonna's Rain.