Traveling Mouse

Dear Friends and Family,

A big Happy Birthday shout out to my younger sister.

I'll see her tomorrow for graduation. So it'll be birthday, graduation, and parents/in-law's first meet all rolled into one. It promises to be a lot of fun.

Last night a close friend from college called. James was in town on business and stopped by to chat. It was so good to catch up. He thought the house looked awesome. I don't think he recognized it from last time, which doesn't surprise me. It made me feel so good! He also complimented me on my weight loss and that felt extraordinary as well. It feels so good when people notice. Now, don't get me wrong, the whole Weight Watchers thing is for me, and even if no one noticed, I'd be okay with it. But, still, it is great when people compliment you. He's so sweet!

Off to work today. And, then, I'll be entering radio silence for three to four days. We're off my sister's place for graduation and then from there we're flying to Montreal for the F1 race. Mr. mouse and I have been going to the race since 1995 (with a couple of exceptions) so it's an annual event for us. We're staying with one of my best friends from grad school in Montreal. Fred is so likeable, my friends get jealous when they meet him. He's successful, funny, articulate, humble, attractive and got the French-Canadian accent to boot. But, for me, he's just Fred.

One hurdle I'll be working to overcome this weekend is how to manage the whole food situation. Weight Watchers is very easy when I'm doing the cooking so I control the ingredients and I know exactly what I'm eating. But, recognizing that life is life, there are situations when I don't control the food. So, I need to be able to navigate those waters while still enjoying myself and not coming across as "allergic to food" which I don't want to be. If these are life changes I'm making, I need to make the social situations work, since for me, life is about social situations. Wish me luck!

And, to chat more about food. I have this theory, at I can only do so many things in the "foreground" loop before feeling overloaded. But, I am capable of many many things in the background loop. My example for this is commuting, the first week to a new job, that's in the foreground, but after awhile it's definitely background/semi-automatic/routine.

Well, since March my "three" have been work, Weight Watchers, and house. Work's improved a ton with the new boss, so it's almost background loop again - in fact, yes, it is background loop now. And, I'm finally getting my arms around Weight Watchers. I've done enough research and made it through enough weeks that it doesn't feel as mind-bogglingly complex as it did when I first started. I have enough of a grocery list of acceptable foods that I'm beginning to feel like I know how to make this work for me. Now, don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean I'm falling off the wagon here, it means I'm beginning to understand how to stay on the wagon without it taking all of my concentration and effort. So, that feels good. I'm beginning to get in under control. House, well most of the heavy lifting is done, but I've got a space reserved for it in the foreground until we close. It deserves the dedication and the focus. So, for now, that leaves me with an empty loop. And, I'm okay letting life-in-general occupy it for the next three weeks. Afterwards, I'll have to figure out what I'm taking on to keep me moving forward. I've got a couple of tentative ideas out there. I'll keep you posted.

I'm not sure of time and capability of posting from the events, so you've been fairly warned. Hopefully, the small novel I've written today makes up for the upcoming dry spell.


Cheers!
mouse