Where did the time go?

Several people have called it to my attention, via private emails, that they are missing my daily blog entry. It's already Wednesday, and I haven't written since Saturday. My only excuses are busy and lazy. So here is an update on the last few days.

Sunday we went to see a Steve Carell movie, Crazy, Stupid, Love. We went to it for the same reason that we went to see Spy Kids 4 last week: it was one of very few offered before noon at the reduced price of $6. It turned out to be MUCH better than we expected. We were laughing out loud, tearing up, and genuinely enjoying ourselves. Our typical Sunday continued with lunch at Bongos Cuban Cafe, just across from the theater. Mark has been there twice before, but I had never been there. We used our Tables in Wonderland card, so we got 20% off the check. It's almost time to renew that card, so we just did some quick calculations and realized that we more than made our money back on that! A quick trip into the Magic Kingdom to turn in another contest entry and buy some baby clothes at the Emporium turned into hours and hours of waiting for buses and driving around. We thought we would catch the bus to Saratoga Springs on the way back to our car at Pleasure Island. We never saw that resort and the bus was right there waiting. Big mistake! Saratoga Springs is HUGE with multiple bus stops. After stopping at four or five bus stops, we got off at the main one by the pool. Then it was nearly a half hour wait before the bus to Pleasure Island came! Sigh.

Monday was wonderful! It started off with a Brit Milah at our synagogue. Our new Rabbi and his wife, also a Rabbi, had their second child, a baby boy, the Monday prior. The whole congregation was invited to the brit Monday morning, so Mark and I got up early and went, along with our gift of three Disney outfits! It was lovely to meet their families and have a nice bagel breakfast with everyone.

We went straight from the brit to the dentist. Mark had an appointment to meet with a periodontist about some potential gum surgery. He does NOT want to do it, but after meeting with the dentist, he probably will go through with it. He can be sedated for a deep cleaning around the roots and then again for the skin graft and surgery. It will be multiple trips to the periodontist, but otherwise he is going to lose a tooth in the front of his mouth. I know he hates and fears dentists, so I'm proud of him for meeting with the periodontist and considering actually having this cleaning and surgery. Part of it is that these dentists and this office is really wonderful and put him at ease. Part of it is that our dental benefits are really, really good, so it won't cost us an arm and a leg to do this.

While I was there, I asked about making an appointment to get my temporary filling replaced with a permanent one. They said, "How about right now?" Whoa! I went right in and got my filling. Nice. No problem and no charge! She also adjusted the new crown that she put in two weeks ago when I said it was still bothering me. This dental office really is great.

The day wasn't over! After the dental visit, I went straight to my neighbor's house to play Mah Jongg. I was very sleepy because we got up so early to get to the brit by 8:15, so I just knew I wouldn't play well. This was the largest group of women that I had seen there so far, 11. Maureen set up a third table. I lost every game, but I was not surprised by that. When I got home, I blew off going to the gym with Mark in favor of a little nap. Possibly not my smartest move, but I just didn't have the energy for the gym at 5 p.m. after such a busy day.

Now I'm up to "Weigh-In Tuesday." I didn't even want to write about it yesterday because it was so bad. I was 252.5 in the morning, a two pound gain. I was shocked. I guess it was no exercise all week and eating out again. Bongos was tasty, but high calorie. I behaved pretty well on Tuesday and was rewarded by only being 249.3 this morning. Whew! Still, it shows that I'm barely able to maintain now. My whole life I have always said I have never maintained my weight. I'm always either gaining or losing, which is why over a ten year period I managed to get up to 322 pounds without even realizing it. I didn't have a scale that went that high, and I just ate what I wanted. Obviously, that was a bad combination.

Yesterday, Mark and I also tried a new water aerobics class. It was at 10:30 in the morning for 45 minutes. We both liked it a lot, and although it's offered five days a week, Monday through Friday, due to the High Holiday schedule, other obligations, and our travel schedule, we don't think we can get back to it again for at least two weeks.

We also had the Wine and Cheese Social for new residents of Solivita. I thought it was last Tuesday and we drove all the way up there before I realized I had the wrong date on my calendar. LOL! This time we did make it up there, and we ate cheese, crackers, fruit, and wine. We sat at a table with three other new residents and had an enjoyable hour of sharing move-in stories and the difficulty of learning how to drive around all these confusing roads in the community. After an hour, I sneaked through the ladies room from the restaurant, Mosaics, to the Starlite Ballroom for the Guys and Dolls rehearsal. I'm now in an ensemble to sing an extra song, "Route 66," which meant staying an extra 20 minutes after the main rehearsal. I really do get such enjoyment out of singing with this group.

My three month follow up appointment with the opthamologist to check on the healing of my retinal repairs was moved from this morning to next week. Now we are free to go up to the Ballroom for the New Resident Orientation at 9 a.m. I don't know if we really need it, but we're going to go see if there's anything we don't know. That will be followed by "The Works" at my favorite salon. I'm having the mani/pedi, hair trim and dye, and full face waxing again that I did before the wedding. I really like doing this, but it takes three hours and nearly three hundred dollars, so I'm going to put it off for at least two months before doing it again. Of course, the mani/pedi will always be every two weeks. I can't give that up!

Tonight begins the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. I'd like to wish everyone a very healthy, happy, and sweet New Year!