Is Giant Angry Knee contagious?!

Yikes. I think I've gotten the west coast version of Lori's GAK!

I made the mistake (apparently) of actually walking in the sand last night. This has always been stressful on my (bad) knees, but I was feeling optimistic since I've been biking and walking and stair-climbing and otherwise exercising a lot with no problems. Wrong-o. This morning my right knee (not the one that had surgery last October) was incredibly swollen...and it still is. It's hard to bend it even. And now it hurts. :-( I've taken two big doses of Ibuprofen and have been icing and it's not helping.

I'm very sad 'cause this means I can't do my scheduled walk tonight -- I'll walk Doglet, but not very far. I'll do pilates because that's not stressful on my knee. But I've been getting so excited about feeling strong and fit and hopeful about my weight and this restriction (even if for a short time) really bums me out.

Living in sin

DB and I are closer than ever to really living together -- all of our stuff is at least on the same property! :-) So far we're sleeping at The Last Bachelorette Pad and his office is down below. We'll try to get both units all nice before we have his kids and grandkids up for a family fun day at the beach this weekend.

It was an extremely tiring weekend. Saturday we got up at 7 to go to Home Depot, then DB started building another shelf in our garage for storage. The cable people came to fix mine and hook up his, then I went for a hair cut. After that, heavy-duty yoga for an hour and a half then biked down to B's to pack pack pack!

We got back to our place about 5, then DB went back home with his car to get his computers, etc. I cleaned house, did laundry, walked with Doglet then DB got home about 7:30 with the computers and, after showering, we headed out to late dinner.

Yesterday we got up early, jumped on bikes to head to his place to wait for movers (I love the beach in the morning!!). Then did movers until about 2. Stopped for lunch (salad and beer), then back to his place to clean (he's having a cleaner in tomorrow, but the place was FILTHY and we really needed to get off the top layer of grime). We finished up around 6 or so, then showered (in DB's new place!) and walked down the street to another new-to-us place for dinner that was really good (more salad, but some "bad" appetizers and...dessert...to celebrate).

Got home fairly early and did a few more things then CRASHED. We're pretty much living back-and-forth between the two apartments -- upstairs and downstairs. ;-) DB loves his new office (although he's got a lot to unpack). It's all very good, but we are pooped. I kind of wish I had taken today off, but I'll have a few days off in a few weeks when my family from NYC comes to visit.

I think I did ok on food for the weekend with all the exercise we got. (My weight was down at my weigh-in on Friday too.). Time will tell, but I'm exercising a lot more than "usual" being at the beach and hope that continues...

Some photos

Me and my Fit.
My Fit.
Me descending stairs from The Last Bachelorette Pad.
Doglet at TLBP. :-)

Oh yeah...WEIGHT blogging!

I guess I've kinda forgotten about talking about this for a while so today I was thinking to catch everyone up a bit on what's been going on with me in this area and offer some info I recently received...

The move, pre-move, etc. hasn't been the greatest for weight loss for me. While I haven't been eating badly, I also haven't been sticking to WOW, like, AT ALL. It seems I want to celebrate each new day's something-or-other with a cocktail or glass of wine. There's a lot of toasting going on. At some point, I'll have to really buckle down, but I'm fresh out of will power when it comes to booze right now. Having said that, I'm drinking far less than I WAS (most days) so I guess that's a small victory.

Despite all that, I haven't REALLY gained any weight (of course, I do my usual ups-and-downs that I've been doing for the past 9 months, but nothing really UP for more than a week). I think this is due to all the extra "inadvertent" exercise I'm getting. Being at the beach, I just love walking and biking. I can't WAIT to get out for my daily morning and evening walks with Doglet (and, of course, he gets more than just two a day...others are just shorter). DB and I also bike back and forth to each other's apartments since it's a lot easier (and more fun) to bike along the beach than to take a car. Not to mention that I have to walk up and down the steps to The Last Bachelorette Pad multiple times a day. This has GOT to be good for my butt, right? And I also have been keeping up with my "gym" schedule -- three days a week I do focused exercise -- longer Doglet walk along with pilates or yoga. This seems like it all should mean a loss, so I'm blaming that not happening on my not-WOW behavior.

I've also looked at the fact that overall I've lost just about 10-15 pounds in the past nine months. That is certainly not what I had hoped for back when I started this in October. I really want to lose about 20 more pounds, but I just don't seem to be able to muster the willpower to make it happen right now. :-(

So I'm looking at some other ideas about how to reactivate the loss:

A co-worked gave me a DVD last week called "Yoga X". Just the title made me a little leery...I mean, yoga is by its very nature not an "X"-type activity! I watched the beginning with my co-worker and, while the instructor looked like some guy I'd see down the block at Muscle Beach, he seemed to be taking the poses slow and properly. So I hunkered down to do this practice last weekend -- I had to set aside some real time because it's an hour and a half DVD (which, by the way, is exactly the length of all the classes I used to take -- somehow, I'm not finding those blocks of time in my life right now!). Well, it kicked my ass. I did the whole thing, dripping sweat, reminding myself that my yoga chops are not what they were, but that I have done practices like this (and more challenging) many times. Frankly, I wouldn't recommend this DVD to someone who wasn't very experienced with yoga -- not only would a beginner get frustrated with the many MANY vinyasas that are included, but I think a beginner (or even an intermediate practitioner who isn't VERY careful) could really get hurt. I also thought the instructor was way un-yogi -- "fight for it!" was one of his favorite phrases when things were getting challenging. NOT my idea of a yogic attitude!! ;-) Having said all this, I enjoyed the challenge and getting to work on a lot of poses (although not held as long as I would have liked in the calisthenic atmosphere of the DVD) that I haven't gotten to work on in a long time. When it was over, I was a sweaty puddle, did my own personal chant and felt GOOD. The next day, I felt muscles that I haven't felt in a long time. And that felt GOOD too. I'm going to try to get over my aversion to the instructor's manner on the tape and do this DVD once a week for a while. :-)

Next, I got an e-mail from my assistant that a friend of hers who is a natural healer sent around. It has a lot of interesting ideas that I have been thinking about and thinking of exploring one at a time. Here it is:

HEALTHY TIP OF THE DAY:
"...We have 2 types of fat. Yellow fat is the unwanted type that serves as an insulator and stores excess calories. While brown fat acts as a furnace and burns the yellow fat so your body can use it as fuel. If you have a good amount of brown fat, you can just about eat whatever you want without gaining pounds. If someone has too much of the "bad" yellow fat, it is difficult to lose weight even on a restricted calories diet.

Fortunately there are many natural remedies that can help kick-start fat burning. These fat burners include the following:

1. Essential Fatty Acids.If you are deficient in EFAs, brown fat becomes inactive. Take 500mg of omega-6 fatty acid daily. Sources include evening primrose, borage, black currant, and hemp oils.

2. Medium-chain Triglycerides.MCTs accelerate metabolism and help lower cholesterol. Add 1 or 2 Tablespoons of virgin coconut oil or grapeseed oil to veggies or salads on a daily basis. IMPORTANT NOTE: Avoid if you have a liver disorder or diabetes.

3. Tamarind Fruit.Dried rind from tamarind contains hydroxycitric acid which helps metabolize and clear fat from the liver. Taking 250mg of HCA three times daily at least 1/2 an hour before meals also helps decrease the changing of carbs into fat. This sure automates a low-carb diet.

4. Green Tea.Caffeine, theobromine, and polyphenols prevent fat absorption. Fat cells don't stand a chance because green tea's compounds break them down before they are even able to deposit themselves in your thighs or abs. It's also known that green tea can increase your metabolism. Drink 2 - 4 cups daily.

5. Dry Nettle Leaf.The infusion of dried nettle leaves is excellent for resetting your metabolism. You will also receive a vast amount of nutrients that will help your body function at its best. Drink 1 cup daily.

6. Apple Cider Vinegar.Add 1 teaspoon organic vinegar in a glass of water and drink an hour before each meal to reduce body fat and help control appetite.

So go ahead and get healthy while burning unwanted fat. It's easier than ever with a little planning and discipline developed by habit."

I already drink decaf green tea every morning (one of the partners in my firm who lived to be in his mid-90s swore by this). This week I started taking an EFA supplement along with my daily regime of other vitamins and minerals. I might try one of these tips at a time to see if they have any effect. It's interesting to consider anyway!

Hoping for a not-too-bad weigh-in tomorrow...

Celebration

The past two anniversaries, DB and I have had wonderful long weekends in Catalina -- the first year, he surprised me. The second year, I surprised him with a repeat! So that's kind of our tradition. This year we agreed that we had to forgo that with all the real estate stuff going on (although we hope and plan to reinstate the tradition next year). So we decided to celebrate by recreating our first date! ;-)

Before we began to recreate 2004, we started with sparking sake on our new patio after inspecting the construction in DB's studio/office that happened yesterday (the wall is down and the place is gonna be fantastic!). I gave him his card and present there -- he loved his gift and choked up at the card (me too).

Then he went back to his place and we were off to recreate 2004!! We met at the same time as and at the same place. We didn't manage to get the same table, but he and I both wore as much of the same clothes as we had access to. ;-) The interior of the restaurant is much more romantic now and the sushi was much better than I remembered. AND they let us drink sake that we brought (unlike last time!). DB got me the most amazing AMAZING card and I was all choked up again (he was too). We talked about so much and how lucky we are and how happy.

After dinner we changed up the order of the date a little -- I had to go to the bathroom so we headed to his place BEFORE the beach walk instead of after like in 2004 (now don't get excited, I only went to the bathroom there in 2004!). We rode in my car (the first time he's ridden in the new one so that was fun). Before we went to the beach he gave me these great leggings I wanted that look like tattoos so I could keep my legs warm on the beach -- they also say "je vous aimes" which is special too. Then we walked down to the beach with a sake bottle (for old time's sake -- we didn't really drink much). The moon on the water was as beautiful as in 2004. DB was as romantic as then too. Our silences were precious...again and still. He gave me a beautiful coral and silver necklace. We went home (to our place) about 10:30 and soon went to sleep.

It was a great celebration. And it's so fun moving closer and closer to being totally in our place!!! Today DB is building shelves in the garages so we have extra storage. And I'm going to make dinner after my exercises...

Romantic. :-)

And our story began...

It's the third anniversary of my and DB's first date and we're all about CELEBRATING!! First a few reminiscences about 2004 (excuses to those who may have heard this before):

Earlier that year, I had had my house feng shui'd and one of my goals in changing the energy was to find a GOOD relationship. Soon after that, a feral cat had kittens in my back garden and I started on a few months' project of trapping, fixing and releasing the feral cats that seemed to be breeding all over our neighborhood.

In July I went back to NYC to help my sister and her family move. When I came back home, I was feeling pretty low. I had had a sad/bad break-up with a woman who I thought was a good friend and I realized that a GOOD relationship hadn't quite showed up in my life yet. At almost exactly the time that I was thinking I should call my feng shui consultant and get her to help, she called me, asking how I was! I told her that maybe I should have specified in our earlier consultations that I wanted a GOOD relationship with a MAN...I had had a plethora of cats, you see! She immediately said she knew what to do and we set an appointment for her to come over on Sunday, July 18...at which time she did some stuff with a fountain in my bedroom and left with a "good luck" wish.

Monday, July 19...I decided it was time to start checking out match again...I had been off for several months because I tended to get tired from it after a week or two at a time. And there I saw a man...he was handsome, he seemed clever, he was tall enough, he was the right age range and he lived close by (geographical desirability is not a small thing in this sprawling metropolis!). So...I winked (which was free). (July 19 is now our Winkaversary.)

DB responded quickly (that day or the next, this part is kind of fuzzy) with a short and extremely clever e-mail. I had to pay to respond and I did. ;-) Somehow my response went into DB's junk folder and he only found it by looking on match and seeing that I had sent a reply. Whew, that was close!

We proceeded to talk on the phone (I'm a big proponent of not too many clever e-mails before talking and then meeting) on July 21 (Talkaversary?) and set a date for that Friday, July 23. Over the next couple of days we had several fun e-mail exchanges -- mostly about where we were going for dinner (sushi). Thursday evening, I even saw him walking down the street on my way home from yoga, "Hey, I think that's the guy I'm supposed to meet tomorrow night...he looks like he's a little wacky...could be good!" But I didn't really have any expectations...I knew better.

We met Friday at 8. He had walked over to the restaurant and was there first. He had brought sake because he knew they didn't have a liquor license and usually let you drink what you brought. Not that night! So we left the sake in the bag and had our first hour or two totally sober while we had sushi. I remember thinking that I must not be attracted to him because I was so comfortable -- I even, while talking about both of our bad back issues, talked about keeping my belly muscles strong "under all this fat, I actually have really strong muscles" or something like that! I couldn't imagine ever mentioning the f-word to someone to whom I was attracted.

We talked about our lives. He told me about his daughters and granddaughters. He told me about his marriages and finally confessed that his age on-line was slightly younger than real life (he must not have been used to dating women who could do math -- while he was very young when he had his kids, the math I was doing in my head would have made him about 18 with the first one!). I liked him.

After we ate, we went for a walk on the beach and cracked open the sake. We drank from the bottle as we strolled. We started to learn about each other -- neither of us wanted (more) kids, we both had a very "life is fun" outlook, he showed me his romantic/poetic side by talking about the shine the moon made on the ocean. We stood in silence and just looked at that for what seemed like the longest times. We were comfortable in our silences. At some point, he turned to me and asked "can I kiss you?". I honestly don't think any man had ever asked that of me before. My answer is probably obvious to you now! :-)

Lots of very fun smooching and more talking ensued...and ensued and ensued for the next three years. :-) Magic.

These years have been some of the happiest of my life...I feel like I waited for a long time for such a GREAT relationship with such a GREAT man...and both DB and I did a lot of work to get where we are today...both together and individually. Mostly what we have is fun. Mostly what I have is a man who is perfect for me beyond my wildest dreams...a partner, a friend, a lover, a playmate. I work every day to try to give him the love and joy he gives to me.

No words are powerful enough to express my love and appreciation for this man. But the ones that I always use to try are:

I love you, sweet-heart.

I've been a lazy blogger

And I have no excuse for it! Well, I have lots of excuses, but whatever. ;-)

Weighed in today and those pesky lbs. from last week are gone, despite still being very un-WOW. I am walking SO much more (not to mention climbing steps to the apartment multiple times a day) and that is surely helping. I am also sticking with my pilates and yoga in addition to the walking. Whether I'm losing a lot of lbs. now or not, I'm definitely losing inches. I have a pair of jeans on today that I actually dried in the dryer before putting them on and by the end of the day they will be stretched out so much as to be too loose! I always hang-dry my jeans to avoid shrinkage so this is pretty big. ;-)

Having DB home this week has been a real treat. I feel so lucky every morning I wake up with his face next to mine. And I can't believe that it's going to be our three-year anniversary on Monday and I still feel so in-lovey-dovey. It's such a great feeling!! And I deserve it -- I waited a long time for him to show up in my life!!!! ;-)

I'm loving my little Fit -- it makes it slightly more bearable to leave the beach to go to work since I have her to drive in.

We got a tenant for the apartment over the garage and I am thrilled. He loves the place, seems like a really cool guy and also loves pets. This means that we can trade pet-sitting services -- which will save me a BUNDLE. He's moving in in September when I move out of the apartment into the "big house". He's also an Aquarius like DB and me so January/February at our house is gonna be Party Central! :-)

One of the remaining tenants in the "big house" is moving out tomorrow. That means we can start construction on DB's office/studio on Monday...a great way to celebrate our anniversary! DB will then move in next weekend and we'll be living across the patio from each other. After that, we have to focus on prep'ing for Burning Man and for my family coming to visit for two weeks in August.

All is falling into place. The beach is inspiring me to fun exercise. And life is beautiful. :-)