It Just Doesn't Add Up

I went bowling last night at AMF Pleasant Valley with the BF and his old co-workers. Seeing as how I completely suck at bowling, the fact that I bowled 5 games is pretty damn impressive. The first two games were unforgettable.

But look at this:

The 125 is me!!! 'A' is for 'Asia.' I was representing my peeps. Anyway, the important part is that I broke 100! This is the third time I've done it, and I'm sure the last.

What's really amazing was the next game where I got 4 strikes!!! 4 fucking strikes bitches!! And I didn't break 100. Sigh...I dunno how that happens.

I had forgotten how much fun bowling can be. Especially when the lights go down and its Rock n Bowl. Of course the fact that the place darkened, combined with me playing 3 games previously meant that I did nothing but sucked at the end. I thought that my arms would be sore the next day, but surprisingly, that wasn't the case. Probably due to the fact that my ball was only a 9 pounder.

Bad Influence

I've heard that once people get into a relationship, they tend to "let themselves go" and gain a few pounds. I'm sad to admit that that's true. I don't think its necessarily because I don't care how I look anymore or whatnot, but the sheer fact that there always seems to be other things that need to be done that are more important than slaving away at the gym. That and since I'm busy with the avalanche otherwise known as school, I'm reduced to eating out a lot. Or eating nothing, which has happened a few times. Neither are healthy, I know.

The BF and I have made it our New Years resolution to lose weight. Well, its actually broader than that-just to be healthier. Since I have Fridays off, I should go to the gym. But did I? No. I had to study. And then I decided to be Martha Stewart and do the whole cooking thing. I never realized how hard it is to prepare meals. I had to troll through all the grocery weekly ads to find whats on sale, make a list, and make sure I go to the cheapest place (there are 3 grocery stores near BF). I got boneless pork, chicken breast, mushroom, asparagus, squash, pomegranate, and a whole bunch of other stuff that somehow added up to $50. Obviously there's still room for improvement on the whole budgeting thing. At least we're not eating out as much.

So I've cook twice in 4 days. Not bad. And it was edible. And I'm alive. And the BF is alive. Overall, a success! I'm going to try to do this at least 3-4 nights a week. It really all depends on my class load. But seeing as how I'm all out lazy and read the morning of instead of the night before, I really don't have an excuse.

In addition to eating healthier, we're walking in the evenings. Its a little hard now since it gets dark at 5 ish, and its cold (its supposed to be 12 degrees this weekend!). Why else? Because of me OUR DOG IS OVERWEIGHT. Before I took my BF's life over by storm, Jessie was healthy. She weighed the correct amount, yada yada yada. Enter me.

I have this propensity to buy her all sorts of goodies. Especially ones that are shaped and decorated (because she understands this). I like getting her bone shaped doggie biscuits dipped in carob, dipped in peanut butter, dipped in just about anything. And she just inhales it all. I got her treats that are shaped like bacon and eggs, peanut butter balls, apple and cinnamon biscuits, etc. She's basically tried it all. I declared her birthday two weeks ago and got her a doggie cake.

The result? In the 7.5 months I've known her, Jessie's gained 10 POUNDS. We put her on the scale at Petsmart before her bath, and she's a little over 9 lbs heavier. We have to walk her now. She's right on track to the Freshman 15. Actually, she walks me. Its ok-its good for both of us.

Christmas at Biltmore

Immediately after my last final, the BF and I went to Biltmore to see the Christmas extravaganza. It was nice, although not as done up as I had hoped. And still...no pictures allowed inside. No wonder it's not an Asian tour stop. The big tree in the dining room was a sight to see though. It had to be over 20 feet tall, and unlike mall trees, it was actually one tree, not 30 perfectly put together. The Estate had to buy two of them because each only lasts about two weeks. So when its time to change the tree, they only have one night to remove all Christmas ornaments, take down the tree, put up the new one, and get all the ornaments back on. Once again, too bad I couldn't take a picture of it.
This is a pic of the front of the house. I really thought that the house would be outlined with Christmas lights. Obviously that wasn't the case...maybe my tastes are tacky or something.
Here's a pic of the house from the road that leads to the garden, winery, and outdoor center.

The next day we took the Segway tour. It was way better than riding on a regular Segway because these were off-roading Segways. The tires were super fat and seemed all-terrain like. Here's us in front of the reflection pond. The pond is crazy because it had to be far back enough so that the whole reflection of the house fit.


At first I was scared shitless of hoping on the Segway. Even though we had an instructor, it wasn't like he had the ability to stop me if I went careening off course. We started off in Turtle mode, where the fastest is 6 mph. That was practice mode. When it came time to go on the course we got upped to Rabbit, where the fastest is 12 mph. That rocked. By the end I was a Segway fiend, but it took a while to get there. At first it was hard for me to balance. The machine is pretty big, and I had a hard time controlling it in the beginning. To go forward, you lean forward. To go back, you lean back. So when I was going forward and tried to stop, I would lean back a little to far and start going backwards. It took me a minute to realize it, and then another minute to figure out that I had to lean forward slightly to stop. By the time my instructor told me I was going backwards and I actually stopped, a good 30 feet were between us. Good thing quick thinking and reflexes weren't required to operate this bad boy. Either that, or good thing no one else was on the trial at the same time we were... Although I think the Segway rocks, I can see why it never really caught on as the new travel medium. The ones we rode cost $5,500! Ouch if we broke it!

After the Segway, we did the Landrover Experience Driving School. This is my second time, and luckily I got the same instructor (he remembered me!). Since it had been raining the few days and hours beforehand, we had to take a different route. Why the instructor didn't want to use the winch was beyond me.
I've told the BF many times that I 'need' a Range Rover. And he always rolled his eyes at me. But this time...wah la!!! He loved it! (Even the heated steering wheel).


I got the last ten minutes of the lesson and ended up in Superbowl sized mud pit. It took around 8 tries to get out of it.


We've decided that when we make enough money (or win the lottery), we're getting a Range Rover. Our dog would look fantastic with her head sticking out the window. I guess this will happen after I finish school, get a job, and bank out the ying yang.

Senior Citizen Discount

As much as I try to deny it, the truth is smacking me silly in the face: I am getting old. Not physically (no wrinkles and I'm under 30). Not mentally (mind is sharp as a tack-I hope). But I'm in terms of my lifestyle. I can't remember the last time I stepped foot in a bar that wasn't for a networking event. Hell, I can't remember the last time I stayed up past 10:30.

Last weekend the BF and I stayed in. I bought a puzzle. 1000 pieces and I finished in less than 24 hours. (Did I mention that I'm under 30?). While at Walmart looking for said puzzle, I came across Yahtzee for $5. That went in the cart too.

There was an article on Yahoo! recently about TV shows. The highest rated 'unhip' show is NCIS, which consistently ranks 4th, but doesn't even make a blip on the radar with viewers ages 18-49. So either its extremely popular with SAT studying students or extremely popular with those nearing retirement. The BF and I watch it religiously.

All we need to do is jump in on his father's weekly bridge game at the neighborhood church and we're set.

Oh, and we love Scrabble.

The Countdown Begins

Man. You'd think that after what my Bf said about me in my last post, he'd tread cautiously.

Wrong.

Since I've entered her life, Jessie's been in heaven. Although she's not allowed, Jessie snoozes on the couch. We know this b/c there's dog hair on the couch. Hummm...wonder how that got there. But when I'm around, she gets on the couch. Even though Bf doesn't allow it. I do, because its easier to pet her when we're both on the couch versus me on the couch and her laying down. It puts a crick in my neck.

The bed is also off limits. She gets away with it every once in a while with me, but Bf's not fond of it. Something about how she needs boundaries, and they're all disappearing now that I've arrived. Whatever-I tend to tune him out after that.

Oh hell, ever since I started spending the night, Jessie's been upstairs in our room. Bf used to leave her downstairs and put the kiddy gate at the foot of the stairs so she couldn't get up. Hence why she would sleep on the couch and then get off when she heard him coming down. But now he's moved her cushion and blanket into his bedroom and she sleeps there everynight. Even nights I'm not there. See how I'm slowly but surely changing him? HAHA!!

She's gone to the bathroom inside the house, and Bf gets really mad. She's trained to not do that, but you know...shit happens. Literally. We're really good at letting her out before we head upstairs, but the other night we forgot. Oops. So she did her thing right outside his closet door.

Bf woke up because Jessie was acting crazy, saw what she did, and had to clean it up ASAP. Then he took her downstairs, put her in her crate, and started stuying in the kitchen, but supposedly Jessie was whining so loudly that Bf was afraid it would wake up, so he let her out.

I slept through it all. I slept through her acting crazy, through Bf turning on the closet light and cleaning up her mess, through her whining downstairs. But that's not the point.

I mentioned how I was surprised that I slept through everything. I'm not a light sleeper, but usually noise for a substantial amount of time will wake me up. And what did my loving and caring Bf say?

"Yeah, you were totally out. And there was some weird noises. I wasn't sure if it was you or Jessie farting."

Anybody see D-Day coming?

Foot in Mouth

The reason I'm attaining a higher education is because I don't have model looks to rely on. That being said, I'm not skinny. Well, let me clarify- I'm not skinny compared to the average American, but I am skinny compared to a sumo wrestler. You get my drift.

I have a gym membership that I think about going more often than I actually go. My stomach isn't flat and hard, and my ass isn't tight and bouncy. When its all tallied up though, I'm not too too shabby.

I like screwing around with Jessie and try to dodge her. Usually this comes in the form of her chasing me around Bf's house. It totally gets her riled up and for the next hour she's literally stuck by my side. Last night she was chasing me around, and when I stopped, she jumped on me. She's trained to not jump on people, but when she gets excited, she forgets everything. When she jumped on me, her right paw lifted up my shirt, and she scratched me from the bottom of the boob diagonally across my stomach.

Ouch.

Later I lifted up my shirt to show Bf what his dog did to me.
"Look at this!!!"

His response? "Cardio will take care of that."

I think the look of utter shock on my face hit him hard and he realized I was referring to the scratch mark, and not my stomach flab.

Welcome to relationships.