LadyGypsy.net – the blog of Kimberly Dowd of New Jersey

I used to be deathly afraid of needles. As a child, the offchance that I MIGHT get a shot would send me into nervous fits. As an adult, the fear persisted. When I had the pre-marital blood test that NJ required back in 1997 (and that they eliminated later that year, naturally) I shook and shook in anticipation.

Darn, my desk is junky.

If you HATE needles giving blood has to be the biggest way to get over it. (or pass out and die, whichever) First there’s the painful finger-pricky thing to test your iron. Then there are the tubes and bags and tape and you get to lie down for 20+ minute WITH IT ALL IN YOU. And watch other people get stuck the same way.

I’ve been giving blood for about 9 years now.

So today I sauntered into my local LabCorp for round 2 of Thyroid-related blood tests and I didn’t even flinch.

That wee cotton ball, that white wad of courage means “Hey, World! I got stuck today and I didn’t think twice about it!”

Sometimes I’m think I’m a Rock Star. Then I start to cry because I have to rip that tape off and…ow!!!!

***
Weight: 163. I stopped trying for a few weeks, and it shows. The weight’s been hovering between 162/163 since Easter. I’m back on track today though. I’m so close to getting under 160, but unfortunately I’m CONTENT with how I am now. That’s never a good thing. Maybe I need to try a swimsuit on.

Dream: I had a dream that I was on Dancing with the Stars and was paired with Maksim. We were dancing a Latin hip-shaking dance (I think a samba) and I got to grab his ass.

It was a fine ass. It was a good dream.

After a few weeks of no loss and a bit of gain, week 14 sees me at my lowest weight ever!*

Today I weighed in at 162.4 lbs, down 1.8 lbs. That erases the Easter gain PLUS some. This brings me to an even 18 lbs total, which is equivalent to three 6-lb tubs of Crisco. Ewwwwww!

I’m averaging 1.2 lbs lost per week which is supposed to be ideal. At this rate, I’ll be in my mid 140s by John & Kristen’s wedding. Which is what I wanted.

18 pounds!

I’m pleased if not completely happy. Why am I not happy? Because I love food. I love to eat. I love to eat out. My weekly indulgence is eating at Sonic on Saturdays. Burger. Medium Tots. Diet Soda. I hear Sonic has great slushy drinks and milkshakes, but I dare not try. Why bother?

The novelty of eating better has worn off. I will always always always pick the candy bar over the apple or the cheesesteak over the grilled chicken salad with low-fat dressing on the side. I miss junk food, but I’m not disciplined enough to stop at one serving. So I don’t eat it. I miss my Friday night wine, but at one perfectly proportioned serving, I’d be wasting money on stale wine each week. So I don’t drink wine.

And yes, the above is me being all poor-me and pissy about things, but what good is a blog if it’s all shiny-happy all the time, hm?

*Since I lost all my weight the last time. Ha. I R yo-yo.

***
Happy Tax day, by the way. I lose 34% of my weekly income to taxes. Next year it’ll be higher. And before you tell me it goes toward good things and I should suck it up and other countries have it worse, tell me you decided to forgo the house/child/travel/medical deductions & exemptions so that the country could be a better place.

About 3 months ago, I joined Foursquare. If you’re not familiar with it, here’s Fourquare in a nutshell:

You go places, right? When you get someplace cool (or boring) you can “check in” via your cell phone or laptop. You can set up Foursquare to then send out a Twitter or a Facebook status update. The more places you check in, the more badges (little icons) you earn. If you check in at a spot more than anyone else, you become “Mayor” of the area.

You can also use Foursquare to leave tips for other visitors. Like “sit by the window to see the lake!” or “snippy cashiers.”

I had a lot of fun with Foursquare.

Had. Past tense.

One day, after we had gone with Kristen to look at wedding gowns (four months away!) we stopped at Starbucks. I pulled out my phone and checked in. No problem.

About 10 minutes later, the Barista came out and asked if there was a “Kim” here. My stomach fell. She said I had an important phone call at the desk. I walked up with her and took the phone.

Guy: Is this Kimberly?
Me: Yes.

At this point, I knew this wasn’t an important phone call. How? My important phone call people have my cell phone number.

Guy: This is xxx, can you pick me up a frapp?
Me: What?
Guy: It’s me, xxx, I play WoW can you get me a frapp?
Me: I do not know you. Goodbye.

After assuring Mom & Kristen (and various people in Starbucks) that nothing was wrong and that it was a prank call, I explained what Foursquare was. And the more I explained, the dumber I felt.

If you’re on Foursquare too, do this exercise. Look at yourself in the mirror and explain what you do on Foursquare. Pay special attention to the part where you say you voluntarily let the entire Internet know where you are.

I un-installed Foursquare from my iPhone and deleted my account that night.

I like to think I’m Internet-smart. I don’t tell you guys anything you can’t find out anyway. You know where I work, but that’s easily Googlable. Savvy locals will probably figure out where my apartment building is, but I don’t give you the actual apartment number. I don’t tell you all I’m going on vacation until I get there.

(I will tell you my weight, though…162.2 this morning, 18.2 lbs lost total, closing in on the big 2-0!)

I just feel like an idiot for thinking Foursquare was a good idea. I’m not going to tell you “omg never go on 4sq you’ll get stalked and die” because that wasn’t my story. Thank goodness.

Just be careful out there. Okay?

Related links
Stalked on Foursquare Google search
PleaseRobMe.com