WALKING STATS

STEPS....45
MILES....0
CALORIES BURNED....0

Saturday Netflix

This evening I watched Rumour Has It... with Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner. It was a pretty good picture. I rented this one because last year I really wanted to see it but could not find the time to go to the movies. Also I liked the premise of the movie. It was about a woman (Jennifer Aniston) who discovers that the movie, The Graduate, was based on her family. Gaining this knowledge she then tracks down the man whom the Dustin Hoffman character is based. She does this because she wants to find out whether or not he is her father. Overall the movie was a pretty good standard romantic comedy. No complaints here.

I also watched a movie starring John Cusack and James Spader, called True Colors. The movie was extremely predictable. It was about these two college friends, one rich (James Spader), the other poor (John Cusack). The poor guy is a bit of a hustler. He constantly goes for the easy way out by manipulating situations to his advantage. Eventually, he steals the rich guys fiancee and engineers a run for political office paid for by a mobster. I bet you can imagine that things turn out bad but eventually the rich guy and poor guy make amends. Like I said very predictable. My only reason for watching it was John Cusack . Which by the way he looked very good in this picture. My favorite scene in it was when he was wearing this black and white sweater while on the mobsters yacht. He looked simply delicious in that scene!

Anyway, while watching the movie it made me wonder, What the Hell has happened to James Spader? Yeah, I know his career is not dead. Yeah, I know he is on Boston Legal. And.... yea, I know he’s aged since the movie first came out. But its like he has completely let himself go. He went from several years of being a hottie to pudgy. On Boston Legal I can barely tell him apart from William Shatner! In Season 1 of Boston Legal he looked pretty decent but this year its like whoahh, What the hell has happened to the man? Its down right shocking!

WALKING STATS

STEPS....4779
MILES....1.05
CALORIES BURNED....163

This evening I went to another downtown takeout, Crazy Greeks. When I gave the guy at the counter my ten dollars to pay for the order he said, Oh is this a $100! This of course made me wonder if he was just trying to be funny or if all the downtown carryout workers know each other and gossip among each other.

As you can recall last night I mistakenly gave another counter guy at another restaurant $100, thinking I had given him $10.

Oh, well I guess I will have to lay low from downtown takeouts for a while. I will try to weigh my odds with Weight Watchers and Lean Cuisine dinners.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on green slacks, a black cardigan sweater, a striped multicoloured turtleneck, and New Balance 653 shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....9031
MILES....1.99
CALORIES BURNED....337

This evening I did something really stupid. I paid for takeout food at Shanes on Fayette Street with a hundred dollar bill. This all happened because I thought I handed the guy a ten dollar bill. I felt so embarrassed. He had to go to a special place in the store to get change for me. I apologised profusely and offered him the ten but he was not having any of that. In retrospect I think I was being silly for apologising. I did pay for the food, after-all, just with a higher domination of money.

Also, I have to admit that I was looking over my shoulders when I left out of the takeout. I was afraid that maybe I had made too much of a scene and that it was a distinct possibility that I might get robbed. The restaurant is in a shady part of the city. It is near the old abandoned Grey Hound bus station. Luckily, nothing happened.

Just for the record I almost never leave out of the house with that much money. This was an isolated incident that I hope never occurs again.... especially in that neighborhood,....at night.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on brown slacks, an olive turtleneck, and a multi coloured dark v-neck sweater. On my feet are Nike MaxAir tennis shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....9187
MILES....2.02
CALORIES BURNED....334

MORNING COMMUTE
It appears that the regular bus driver is still on vacation! The bus arrived at its scheduled arrival time, 6:04. The regular driver arrives anywhere from 6:06 to 6:12. One thing is for sure, I will be on time for work today.

THE DEAD PRESIDENT
I recently learned that President Gerald Ford died. I do not remember him much. The reason for this is because I was a toddler when he was in the White House. My only knowledge of him comes from old Saturday Night Live skits with Chevy Chase portraying him as being extremely accident prone. The only other things I know about Ford is that he pardoned Nixon and he used to be a male model.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on a black mock turtleneck, a fair isle knit sweater of red, black, olive, and white, green khaki pants, and New Balance 653 shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....10724
MILES....2.36
CALORIES BURNED....387

This morning I was on time for work! This was due to the fact that I caught a cab down to light rail station. I know that I can not keep catching cabs to avoid catching the perennialy late #20 bus. I will have to think up another less expensive strategy for being on time. Walking in extreme cold aggravates my asthma. You know the thing is that if the #20 driver were arriving at the time she is supposed to be I would not be in this predicament.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on a turquoise v-neck sweater, oatmeal long sleeve Lycra top, blue jeans, and Nike MaxAir shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....9263
MILES....2.04
CALORIES BURNED....337

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I got up this morning to make a breakfast from the present I bought myself. I bought myself a breakfast gift box of pancake mix, coffee and sugar free syrup. Then afterwards I wrapped presents as I watched a Christmas movie I had never seen before, Meet John Doe. I have to say that I enjoyed Meet John Doe more than Its a Wonderful Life. I wonder if that can be considered as blasphemy?

After all the wrapping was done I headed out into the rain to deliver the presents over my fathers house. The gifts did become a bit wet with all the rain. In fact the handle to my fathers gift bag broke as I was walking down the street towards his house.

When I finally arrived I was shocked to notice that this year they had a real tree up instead of an artificial one. It appears that they bought the tree on Christmas day. Despite this, I still kind of miss the old artificial tree being up. Anyway, under the tree were tons of unopened presents. My youngest niece, Alexis, explained to me that they would not be opening presents until 5:00pm that evening.

I was also shocked to see my brother, Carlos there. I was shocked because I did not have a present for him because I was previously told that he would not be able to make it. Oh, well.....

As luck would have it I bought along my digital camera and laptop. So I took a lot of pictures as I promised my eldest niece, Lisa I would do. I was taking the pictures because she could not make it over because she could not have the day off from work. I must have taken a zillion pictures! In addition to taking pictures I trimmed the tree along with her daughter, Shay. Sadly, my father and my brother did not want there pictures taken. Also some time during the evening my nephew Little David showed up with a posse of his cousins. My Uncle Leon also called up to see how everyone was doing. All in all it was a pretty stress free evening.

The present I got from my niece Alexis was a Cranberry bath set from The Body Shop. It came with glitter lotion, soap, butter lotion, and lip gloss. This was great because I love bath sets. The only problem is that it had bar soap instead of liquid soap. I prefer my soap liquid because liquid soap does not leave as much soap scum or soap residue as bar soap does. Despite this it was the best present ever! I just love the glitter lotion. It makes me look all sparkly.

JAMES BROWN IS DEAD
I was sad to find out while I was watching the evening news with my dad that James Brown had died. I feel bad for his family. For them, Christmas, a normally joyful occasion will be forever linked with sorrow. May the memory of the Godfather of Soul live on!

WALKING STATS

STEPS....5171
MILES....1.14
CALORIES BURNED....183

This morning I almost left out for Church. The thing that prevented me from going was that every time before I leave out for church I check out the churchs web site to see what the service is going to be about. Today, I noticed that there was no service listed for 11am. They only had evening services listed. I am not sure if the morning service was eliminated today in lieu of special evening Christmas services or not. By the way I wonder if I am the only person who checks out her churchs web site to see what the service is going to about before she heads out the door?

In other Christmas eve news.... I watched Its a Wonderful Life on NBC. Sadly, I started to nod off as Jimmy Stewart first meets Clarence the angel on the bridge. This is the first time that I can remember that I have fallen asleep while watching this movie. I love that movie! I still can not believe that I was fighting to stay awake while watching a movie I love.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....3632
MILES....0.80
CALORIES BURNED....123

The only bad thing that happened today was when I realised in horror that my clothes did not match. I was out shopping in the mall when I opened my coat and realised my faux pas. So thus there was not much I could do but keep my coat closed. This all happened because I was in a rush to leave out to finish up holiday shopping before the crowds descended upon the malls.

This time I was shopping for my older nieces, Lisa and Alexis, and their brother, my nephew, Little David. Who am I kidding the only shopping Little David requires from me is a trip to the old ATM. He is extra easy to shop for because his only request is cash. My two nieces on the other hand are a bit difficult to shop for. So I did the only thing I could think of. I called one of them up and asked.

So thus, my nieces have two gift cards from Victorias Secret and my nephew has a hundred and something for Christmas. I also bought my father a new coat. I am not sure if he will ever get to use it as he rarely leaves out the house in winter. Also being extra cautious I asked my niece if my brother would be over for Christmas. I would hate to have him over there and not have a present for him. My niece assured me that Carlos said that he would not be able to make it over for Christmas. So thus I sighed a sigh of relief.

Also earlier today I downloaded a widget to my MacBook dashboard that allows me to listen to any BBC channel available for broadcast on my computer. Today, I listened to a full cast recording of a Christmas Carol on BBC7. This makes the second day in a row that I have listened to a radio production of A Christmas Carol. However, I have to say that this production was much better than the one on NPR last night. I also listened to a bit of BBC Gloucestershire. I chose to listen to this station to see what local BBC radio stations sounded like. Also my family is from Gloucester, Virginia so I was curious as to what Gloucestershire would sound like. I was disappointed to find out that it sounded like a regular radio station.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....7634
MILES....1.68
CALORIES BURNED....297

Today was the annual Christmas luncheon at work. Also earlier today I got something I have always wanted all my life..... a red Santa Clause hat complete with white fur trim! I was absolutely over the moon with joy when Keisha (who also by the way is a kick ass cook) gave me the hat. To be fair she gave almost everyone a Santa hat. But little did she know that a Santa hat is something I have always wanted! WoW! Nearly, all my holiday dreams fulfilled!

As far as the Christmas luncheon goes it was pretty ho hum. I believe for me this was because neither Arnold nor Arvada showed up for work today. In previous years I have enjoyed sharing a table with them. I missed hearing Arnolds jokes and watching Arvadas reactions to them. By the way he acts at work you would never know that he has a very quick wit.

Sadly or thankfully there will be no Christmas luncheon next year. The reason being is that the company said that instead of the luncheon they will just give us the day off.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on a grey fair isle knit sweater, white turtle neck, blue jeans, Nike MaxAir shoes and a SANTA CLAUSE HAT! Whooopeeeeee!!!

WALKING STATS

STEPS....6944
MILES....1.54
CALORIES BURNED....270

Today, I had the day off. I usually take the first day of winter off so that I can celebrate Yule. As per usual I went to the Winter Solstice Ritual that they do every year at the Church I attend.

Ever since last year I have gotten over the groundhog dayness to the service. Every year its the same format, the same songs, and the same people leading the service. I now feel comforted by it. I even looked forward to seeing the same group of kids doing a pantomime honouring the sun deities in the story of Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess. I also looked forward to singing O Solstice Tree and of course saying Blessed Be in public.

The only big difference with this years service was that there were so many people in attendance that the piano player ran out of Joy To The World as we were gathered in a line to receive cookies and wassail. In all the years that I have attended our Winter Solstice Ritual this has never happened. Joy To The World is usually still playing as we make it back to our seats to eat the treats. Also I noticed that they added some Christian elements to the service, the choir sang, Song of Peace: Dona Nobis Pacem.

The only weird thing that happened during the service was as I neared the front of the church to receive my cookies and wassail the guy who had the tray of wassail jumped in front of the guy who had the plate of cookies. This made me feel very nervous. I do not know why he did that? Was he doing this to get my attention? All I knew at that point was that I was afraid to pick up the wassail before I got the cookies. What if I picked up the wassail first and then I could not go back to get my cookie? I was paralysed with fear. I was on the verge of a panic attack. Why did he have to jump out of line towards me? In the end I slowly picked up the cookie then the wassail. I was shaking with fear. I hate it when things jump out of order. After that episode I was shaking until I sat back down at my seat. I calmed myself down by slowly taking a bite of the cookie then a slow sip of the wassail. I have never felt this panic stricken in church before.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....7353
MILES....1.62
CALORIES BURNED....250

This year at work instead of having an informal get together to exchange Secret Santa presents it was catch as catch can. I felt a bit disappointed about this. Then again what else could one expect. Our department did not even have a tree.

So sometime in the morning I gave Lisa her Secret Santa Christmas present. I am not sure if I did a great job of explaining that I was her Secret Santa. I hope that she did not throw away the fancy red bag that contained her Target gift card.

Later in the day I discovered that Richard was my Secret Santa when he came to my cubicule with the Walmart gift card I requested.

If I have not said it before.... I really, really miss having a pre-designated time to exchange Secret Santa presents.

WHAT I AM WEARING;
Today, I have on a black Christmas shirt that has a Christmas tree on it as well as a reindeer with two bells on his horns that actually jingle if you move around too much. I also have on green slacks, a red cardigan sweater, and New Balance 653 shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....6828
MILES....1.50
CALORIES BURNED....270

MORNING COMMUTE
This morning I was on time for work. I attempted to walk down to the light rail station. Halfway towards my goal I saw a #20 bus and hopped on. The bus was not driven by the usual driver who kind of reminds me of a female zombie. I hope this means that she will be off work this week. I do not like it when she is driving because she is always late which in turn makes me late for work.

MY FIRST TARGET EXPERIENCE
Yesterday, for the first time ever I physically shopped at Target. My previous encounter with Target was through online shopping. I bought my Doctor Who sweatshirt from their online store.

The reason why I ventured off to Target was because the woman whom I was the Secret Santa for wanted a Target gift card.

To me Target felt slightly more upscale than Walmart. I even found a bag specially designed to carry a yoga mat. I would never be able to find a yoga bag over at Walmart. I know because I tried to find one there.

Also while there I bought a couple of clothes items. I have to say that they do not have much of a Plus Size clothing section. It was almost as if they added the section as a brief afterthought. There were just about 2-3 racks of clothing to choose from. I do not know if this is indicative of Targets attitude towards plus sized women or if it was just this store. Or maybe even the attitude of the Towson/Lutherville area. One time I went to the Old Navy store in Lutherville and could not find a single item in my size. However, when I went to the Old Navy store in Security Mall I had no problem finding plus sized clothing. I dont know maybe the reason they do not stock much plus size clothing in that area is because fat people dont exist there...

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on some of the new clothes I bought last night at Target. I have to say that the clothes fit just like one would imagine clothing would fit from a store that has only 2-3 racks of plus sized clothing. The clothes are in my size but they cut wrong. They fit much tighter than they would if I had bought them from Kohls, Lane Bryant, or even Walmart.

The clothing I have on is a new pair of chocolate coloured slacks, an oatmeal coloured long sleeve spandex top, and a turqouise hoodie. I also have on my Nike MaxAir shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....9437
MILES....2.08
CALORIES BURNED....323

Today, I was late for work. This time the reason was that I had trouble flushing my toilet. It turns out that the chain inside the tank had become undone. I did a temporary fix by attaching a safety pin to reattach the chain. I wonder how it was that it became undone? I have never had any problems with it before.

WHAT I AM WEARING
Today, I have on a sage green sweatshirt, ecru turtleneck with a small patchwork design, beige khaki pants, and New Balance 653 shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....12444
MILES....2.74
CALORIES BURNED....484

Today, was yet another busy day for me. It started off at Church then ended up at the BSO.

At church the sermon was presented by our new ministerial intern. She did a good job. I liked that her sermon was very energetic and dramatic. It was a nice change of pace from the usual presenters. Dont get me wrong I am often enlightened by the sermons of our usual ministers. It was just nice to hear a fresh young voice with an upbeat attitude.

After church I headed over to the annual BSO Christmas Show. The Christmas Show is the first show of my season subscription at the BSO.

This years Christmas show featured Sandi Patty. I did not know quiet what to expect. I only know that Sandi Patty is a fellow BBW and a contemporary Christian singer. I was not sure if I would enjoy the show or not. One thing I knew is that I did not want to watch a show that felt like an endless Christian indoctrination session.

First off I have to say that for a brief second I thought I was in the Pearlstone Theatre at Center Stage when I arrived inside the theatre. The reason for this is that a proscenium arch was erected on the stage with two giant nutcrackers flanking either side of it. Also most importantly there was a very lush red curtain hanging from the stage. WoW! The BSO went all out for this Christmas show. I was immediately enchanted by the stage design and could not wait for the curtain to rise so that the show could begin.

Overall, I really enjoyed the show. It was truly a Christmas show not a Christian sermon show. Sandi Patty did a great job as hostess. I liked that she had numerous costume changes into glamorous sparkly gowns. She was like a plus size Barbie doll. She had a phenomenal stage presence and was a pretty good singer.

The routines I liked in the show included the tap dancing Santas, the Carol of the Bells ballet dance number, and this old time radio bit they did. I also liked Dan Menendez, the piano juggler. Since I play the keyboard I was truly in awe of his skills.

The only bad part in the BSO Christmas show was when this group of singers sang Seasons of Love from the Broadway musical, Rent. I really love that song. In fact I love it so much that it is on my iPod. The group of singers who sang the song were great. The problem was this one guy who had a solo towards the end of the song. His solo completely ruined the song. It was as though he was singing another song. He sounded out of step with the song. He was so off key that I felt embarrassed for him. Despite this one uncomfortable moment the show was outstanding and very entertaining.

In fact as I was leaving I heard someone remark that the show was as good as the one they have in New York. I assume that the show in question that they were talking about was Radio City Music Halls Christmas Show. Since I have never been to Radio City Music Hall I feel that in a way after viewing this show I have a gist of what Christmas shows in New York are like.

Today was a very busy day. I had two activities lined up for today, yoga class and a show at Center Stage.

The Yoga Drawing class went great. I kind of felt sad that it was the last class of the three week session. I hope that the class returns. For our last class we did a lot of challenging poses. We even did my favourite pose, tree pose. After the class our instructor photographed our drawings. She said that she would email us the photos. I hope that she will not forget.

After class I had just enough time to grab something to eat then head over to Center Stage to see The Boys From Syracuse. I was ushered to my seat again by Paul. I used to have classes with Paul when I was a theatre/art major at Towson. Since he never gives any indication of previously encountering me I never say anything to him like, Hey did’nt you used to go to Towson? I think we had a class or two together! Anyway, his non reaction is not the least bit odd to me because odds are he does not remember me as I am not a very outgoing memorable person. I think the classes we had together was either Mojo Gentrys or more popularily known around campus as just plain old, Mojo drama class or perhaps it was Stan Browns drama classes for voice and movement. I can not remember which...

The Boys From Syracuse Quick Review
Overall, I enjoyed the musical a lot. The only problem I had was staying awake. You see I usually like to see matinee performances. When I had a subscription for evening performances it never worked out for me because I often found myself falling asleep. The main reason for this is because I usually am in bed around 9pm and evening performances last until 10pm. So thus I was up beyond my usual bedtime.

The reason why I switched my usual matinee subscription tickets for evening tickets was because I did not want to miss the last Yoga Drawing Class. I felt that seeing one peformance at night would not be so bad. This of course was foolish on my part as I was yet again fighting to stay awake. What I saw of the play was pretty good. It had a fast manic comedic pace. The singing and dancing were top notch. I also liked that it had a multi-racial cast. It was like every colour of the human rainbow was represented on stage. I only wish that I was not coming back from a yoga class when I saw it.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....7090
MILES....1.56
CALORIES BURNED....243

Today, at work I gave out the Christmas cards and candies I bought last night at Walmart and Rite Aid. I wanted to get it out of the way because I have a busy weekend ahead.

It should be noted that in handing out all of these cards and candies that I had no idea who all of the people were. As I have previously written I got the names off of a list I got from my Supervisor. I have to say that it took quiet a while to sort out who sat where.

You may ask, Why give out things to people I barely know? Well, I like to do it because I feel that it is important to be kind to people. We are on this earth for a short time and I would rather spend my time practicing random acts of kindness as opposed to cruelty. In short I like to think that by doing this, I am doing my part, in making the world a kinder, gentler place to live.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on a multi coloured striped turtleneck, green pants, and New Balance 653 shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....10006
MILES....2.21
CALORIES BURNED....374

This morning it was foggy as hell outside. It should be noted that it was also a little foggy in the evening.

Afterwork, I decided to head over to Walmart to buy more candy for my coworkers. Somehow candy canes did not seem like enough. Also I wanted to hand out my cards and candy tomorrow before my schedule becomes too hectic with Christmas shows and shopping.

While in Walmart I ran into coworker Arvada who was also Christmas shopping. She told me that she and a coworker were going to exchange presents tomorrow. I felt that this was great because I would also be handing out things tomorrow. It was almost as if synchronicity were at work. Friday was the unofficial day to hand out holiday gifts! And I did not have to receive a memo about it. This made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

In the end I bought several plastic Christmas balls filled with either Hershey Kisses or Reeses Cups. The Christmas balls were earmarked for the day staff. I also bought 10 of these fancy looking ceramic Christmas themed character heads filled with candy. The ceramic heads I gave to the Christmas Club members.

On the way home I stopped off at Rite Aid where I found a Helly Kitty Christmas Ball. This was an unexpected strike of luck. This was a strike of luck because the ball was perfect for one of my coworkers who has a major jones for Hello Kitty. So thus she is the only coworker who does not have a gift that is identical to anyone elses. Also while at Rite Aid I got the evening staff and people who were new little Whitman candy samples. I felt I should include the evening staff because I tend to work beyond my shift.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on a purple turtleck that has a leaf design on it, blue jeans, a black cardigan sweater, and Nike MaxAir shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....10526
MILES....2.32
CALORIES BURNED....400

Wow! What a difference a day makes! Two people, Angela and Debbie, offered to drive me over to the restaurant! In the end Debbie drove me over. The restaurant was pratically up the street from the light rail station. In total not including me there were 10 people in attendance Richard, Linda, Angela, Lisa, Arvada, Vanessa, Bonnie, Debbie, Michelle, and Tyra.

Overall, the dinner was outstanding. I had a shrimp and crab alfredo along with a Caesar salad. My drink of choice was diet Coke. I have to say that the servings the restaraunt had were huge. I could hardly finish my plate. In the end I finished it and I was thoroughly stuffed! It is a good thing that I skipped lunch this afternoon.

The only time I felt uncomfortable was when the pre dinner discussion turned to the recent tragic events involving the mistreatment of babies. My breaking point was when they started talking about a news story about someone who had put a baby in a microwave. I had to get out of there before I started crying. The imagery that was passing through my head was so horrifying that I had to leave. I told them I had to use the ladies room as I quickly exited the restaurant. While in the ladies room I cried and tried to calm myself down as I did some yoga asanas. I have no idea how long I was in there. All I know is that by the time I went back into the restauraunt my dinner had arrived.

One interesting thing I learned was that one of my coworkers really loves his dog. He even has a picture of his pooch on his cell phone. Somehow I never had him pegged as an old softie when it comes to his dog.

I am not sure if there will be another Birthday Club next year. If there is I hope that we will be able to hold another end of year dinner. Despite at one point being driven nearly to tears I had a great time.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on a grey fair isle knit sweater, a white turtleneck, stone washed jeans, and New Balance 653 shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....9218
MILES....2.03
CALORIES BURNED....330

My only concern for today is tomorrow. At work I am a part of a Birthday Club and tomorrow we are going out to dinner. We are doing this to everyones amazement because the Birthday Clubs has collected by years end enough money to treat the members to a free dinner.

My problem is not the dinner but how will I get there? I do not own a car and do not know if anyone will bother to drive me over or even remember that I am a part of the Birthday Club.

Oh, well I guess I will have to stay tuned for tomorrow...

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on powder blue denim jeans, Nike MaxAir shoes, and a pink tweedy sweater, along with a pink turtleneck.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....8795
MILES....1.94
CALORIES BURNED....323

After several months I decided to turn on my desktop iMac computer. I have never turned it on since I bought my MacBook. Much to my amazement it came on with no trouble what so ever! In fact the reason I went out and bought a new computer was because my iMac was acting funny. The problem I was getting with my iMac was that I kept getting this blinking folder that would not go away. I figured that the reason behind that was because my computer was near the span of its life span. I have had the previous computer since the fall of 1999. I do not plan on turning on my desktop again lest I get the blinking folder again.

WALKING STATS

STEPS.....410
MILES....0.09
CALORIES BURNED....10

Today, I went to church. Today was no ordinary day at church for it was the annual, Winterfest! I know it might be considered shamelessly crass to write up a review on my church’s annual Holiday Pageant. But hey, what else do I have to write about?

Overall, I have say that this years Winterfest was ok in comparison to the ones held in previous years.

The standout performer by far was this guy that sang Motherless Child. I am surprised that he is not in the choir. Then again he probably can not be in the choir because of his age. I swear at my church it seems as though there is a requirement that you have to be 50 and over to be in the choir.

As usual the guy who portrayed Winter had on a kick ass costume on. His costume is very reminiscent of an old world Santa Claus. It is basically a long, all white Santa suit complete with beard. Its the coolest winter costume ever!

Oddest number or what the hell is this about moment was when the Sunday school kids marched across the room simulating a rainstorm by snapping their fingers and then stomping. What the hell does a rain storm have to do with winter? This display would have been more appropriate for a Springfest. Then again Im not sure if we have a Springfest? Anyway, when I think of winter the first thing that pops into my head is not a rainstorm! I felt embarrassed watching the kids perform a clearly out of season rainstorm number. Maybe they should have performed a snow dance instead?

After church I went to the drug store and found 52 candy canes for $4. That settles it! I will be buying candy for everyone in my department! This is ok with me because I like to give out cards and candy. Heck, I do it nearly every year. When it is all said and done this will be the most candy I have bought for my coworkers since I worked there.

WALKING STATS

STEPS.....6524
MILES....1.44
CALORIES BURNED....223

Today, I went to my Yoga Drawing class. I was again late but not as late as I was last week. Before coming to class I bought a new yoga mat. In hindsight it was stupid to go out and purchase a new yoga mat. Then again maybe I was wise not to bring my purple mat. I noticed that one of the students in the class also has a purple yoga mat identical to the one I have at home. The new yoga mat I bought today has a very groovy 1960s orange and pink floral design on it.

The yoga class was again very refreshing and enlightening. I really enjoyed engaging my entire body in the art process. I also feel that I came up with a lot of good work that could be the basis of a new series of paintings. I especially loved this picture I drew of a steaming cup of cocoa and cookies. It made me want to go out and eat some!

Also today I learned that the instructor also teaches another Yoga Drawing Class at Midtown Yoga. I believe she said that she teaches the class every first Saturday of the month. I have no idea where MIdtown Yoga is. However, I would love it if they extended the yoga drawing class at the Patterson.

I always feel as though I have learned something new about myself and my art after each class. Also I feel so relaxed. Well, more relaxed than I do after a 20 minute Yoga Zone dvd. This of course may be because the class is two hours long....

WALKING STATS

STEPS....8100
MILES....1.78
CALORIES BURNED....313

It is very cold outside. It will not get out of the 30’s. I suppose this is what it will be like for the rest of the season.

Ordinarily, I would not care that it was cold in December. Because...well,... it usually is cold in December. However, this year is different for me because I have been doing a lot of walking outdoors. Since I have been walking out in the cold I will have to devise a way not to trigger an asthma attack. As Ive previously written my asthma is triggered by cold weather. I wonder what strategies I can come up with. Perhaps, I will have to start indoor mall walking. Mall walking could be dangerous for someone like me. Dangerous in the sense that I could possibly be over come with the incredible urge to shop.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on a black Doctor Who sweatshirt, a bright blue turtleneck, blue jeans, and Nike MaxAir tennis shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....8161
MILES....1.80
CALORIES BURNED....310

It looks like I will be buying cards and holiday candy for almost all of my 60something coworkers. At least those whose names were included on a list I got from my Supervisor earlier this month. She gave me the list after I inquired if it was possible to have a list of everyone who works in the department. I am not sure if the list she gave me includes absolutely everyone in our department. There are these people that work in the back of the room sorting, signing, and folding things. I am not sure if they are part of our department or not? For all I know they could be temps. I do not have anything against temps. I used to be a temp. Also last year I gave cards and candy to all the temps we had in our department.

I especially would not want to leave out that guy that always uses the printer near my cubicle and seems to really like the Baltimore Ravens a lot. Even though I do not know his name I would feel as though I would be slighting him if I did not include him. This feeling of a possible slight is based soley on the fact that I see him everyday. Then again maybe his name is on the list and I am not possibly slighting anyone.

I know, I know.... I can not be expected to give cards to every single person that I see at work. I know, no one is going to go postal because I did not give them a Christmas card. I know my Christmas cards will not save the world, stop global warming, or end the war on Iraq. The only thing is I do not want anyone to feel slighted.

My change of heart about buying cards for everyone at work occurred this evening when I found two very expensive boxes of Christmas cards on sale at Rite Aid. These cards were fancy looking with glitter and gold gilding. I just could not believe how much they were reduced in price. Not to mention that the two boxes were enough to cover 60 people. This made me realise that everything goes on sale around the holidays! Which means that buying cards and candy for 60 people would not be such a hard feat. Its not like I have to spend money on gas or child care. The world is on sale during the holidays!

So there you have it. This Christmas, cards and candy for everyone-!! ......or almost everyone...... Im still not sure how inclusive the list my supervisor gave me is.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....8195
MILES....1.81
CALORIES BURNED....297

Sadly, today there was very little to do at work today. I hope that this is not the start of a downward trend that could end with layoffs. Hopefully, there will be more work to do tomorrow...

After work I went over to the library to pick up more books on tape or more precisely books on cd. I have recently noticed that I enjoy books that are in this brand new genre called, Paranormal Romance. I think this due to that fact that I am a Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Star Wars, fan...AKA, a female geek. All I know is that I find it hard to get into a book where no one is in any type of potential physical danger.

So far my favourite authors in this genre are Mary Janice Davidson. I adore her outrageously zany Undead vampire series. The series is about a recently dead wisecracking 30something vampire queen.

Another one of my favourite paranormal romance writers is Charlaine Harris. I love her humorous Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mystery series. I mean how could I possibly dislike a series that includes Elvis Presley as a dimwited vampire named, Bubba? Also as an extra added bonus HBO has ordered an hour long pilot of the series to be written and directed by Alan Ball. I hope that Ball will be able to capture the fun, kooky, off the wall feeling of Mrs Harris books. As I understand it the series will premiere sometime in 2007. No word yet on who has been cast for the series

I also enjoy reading Tananarive Due. As far as I know she is the only African American female besides the late Octavia Butler who writes in this genre. I have read all of Dues vampire books, My Soul To Keep, and The Living Blood. As you can see, so far there are just two books in the series. As I understand it Due is currently working on the third book in the series, The Colony. She has recently completed a mystery book with the actor, Blair Underwood, and her husband Steve Barnes, called Casanegra: A Tennyson Hardwick Story. The book is due to come out this summer. I can not wait to get started reading the book of hers I picked up tonight, Joplins Ghost.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on another fair isle knit sweater. This one is coloured sky blue, lemon yellow, white, and grey. I also have on a dark blue turtleneck, blue jeans and New Balance 653 shoes.

WALKING LOG:

STEPS....10261
MILES....2.26
CALORIES BURNED....380

This morning I again took a cab over to the light rail station. Luckily, I am on time for work!

LOCAL TRAGIC NEWS STORY
Today, I am feeling upset over the local news story about a baby that was killed by a car driven by an immigrant woman. The immigrant hit a grandmother who was pushing a stroller that contained her grandchild. The immigrant did not bother to stop she kept plowing down the road with the stroller still attached to her bumper. According to reports she drove the car for several miles before she stopped to dislodge the stroller. After removing the stroller she kept on driving. I can not imagine that anyone could be that cold as to remove a stroller with a dead baby in it and then keep on driving down the road like nothing happened! What kind of human slime does something like this! I am deeply outraged, angered, and saddened by this womans lack of humanity.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on a fair isle knit sweater of black, red, olive green, white, and black. I also have on black slacks and black canvas tennis shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....10888
MILES....2.40
CALORIES BURNED....390

This morning it was very, very, very very, very cold and windy. I took the cab down to the light rail. I did this because my asthma has been acting up all this weekend. It tends to act up more often in cold weather than in any other type of weather.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on blue jeans, a black cardigan sweater, and an ecru turtleneck that has a patchwork design on it. On my feet are Nike MaxAir shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....16159
MILES....3.57
CALORIES BURNED....577

Today, I went to church. It was a very exciting day in church. It appears that a member of our church is a part of a landmark class action lawsuit that starts tomorrow. The lawsuit involves allowing same sex marriage in Maryland. By the way I am pro same sex marriage. If a gay or lesbian wants to marry their partner, the way I see it, its nobody’s business but their own. As long as they love each other, its all good.

The other really exciting thing about church today was that there was a film crew inside shooting a documentary. The documentary as I understand it will about about this particular church members plight to marry his partner. The director came all the way from Los Angeles to shoot the film. They filmed the service from beginning to end. I can not imagine that the documentary will show the entire church service. I wonder what they will keep in and what will be left on the cutting room floor? Also I would love to see the film when it is finished.

Overall, I wish the church member well in his lawsuit to allow same sex marriage in Maryland.

Today, for the first time ever I attended a yoga class. Im not sure if it can be considered a real yoga class because it was a yoga drawing class. My main experience with yoga is through DVD’s, primarily, various 20 minute Yoga Zone dvds. Gosh, I own probably about 20 of them along with various other yoga dvds. So when I saw that a yoga drawing class was being offered at the Creative Alliance I said, Eureka! Sign Me Up! ......Also it did not hurt that the class would only be for three Saturdays. So if yoga drawing did not work out for me it would not be too much of a financial lost.

Sadly, I was late for the first class due to a bizarre mix up on my part. You see the majority of the times that I have been over to the Patterson was at night. So getting over there in the daylight felt odd to me. I did not have my usual visual markers to alert me as to where I was. I ended up getting off the bus on Conkling Street and walking down the block until I saw the big Patterson movie theatre sign that houses the Creative Alliance.

Despite this, the first class went great. The moves were not too hard to follow. Also, I liked the fact that the class was small. There were just two other women in the class. They were two older women whom it appears also attend the morning drawing class that the Creative Alliance holds on Saturday. I also learned that I was the only one who had paid for the class before Friday. The two older women had signed up at the last minute.

The teacher was also great. She appeared to be about 30something and seemed to know what she was doing. I believe she said that she graduated from MICA in 1988 and also one of the students in the class is also a MICA alumni. So it appears that I am surrounded by a couple of folks that have an actual art education. Overall, I really enjoyed the non judgemental laid back atmosphere of the class.

WALKING LOG:

STEPS....5170
MILES....1.14
CALORIES BURNED....173

Today, I summoned up the courage to ask my supervisor for a list of all the people that work in our department. I wanted the list so that I could get an idea of how many Holiday cards to buy.

I have been dreading finding out the total number of people who worked in our department for some time. Over the last couple of months our department has grown by leaps and bounds. Last year at this time there were about 15-16 people in our department. To my shock I soon learned that there currently is about 57 working in the department not including a couple of people who I assume report directly to my supervisors supervisor. Including those people there is about 60something people working in the department.

As you can imagine, after receiving this list my heart was filled with anxiety. Will giving out Holiday cards make me go bankrupt? Will anyone really care if I do not give out Holiday cards? Oh, well I have a couple of weeks to make a final decision.

WHAT I AM WEARING:
Today, I have on a pink tweedy sweater, jeans, and New Balance 653 shoes.

WALKING STATS

STEPS....10064
MILES....2.22
CALORIES BURNED....370