My Mom

Mom (with rabbit ears)

If anyone were to read this goofball blog from beginning to end, they would find out that I'm a daddy's girl. I think he is pretty great. He is what someone might call a "man's man", but he is sensitive and thoughtful and we get along really well. But my mother isn't exactly a zero. For one thing, she is a real brain. Throughout my life I have gone to her for all kind of advice. I consider myself an independent thinker and she is just as responsible for that as anyone.

My mother is into her 60s but I think she is still a real babe. And she has a lot of fun. I hope I live as long as she has, and if I am that lucky, I hope I hold together physically and emotionally as well as her. It is actually something of a life goal of mine.

My mother apparently holding
 up a light post

I don't mean to shock anyone with this bold revelation, but my mother and father still "do it", and do it fairly often. My mother jokingly told me a year or so ago despite the fact that at first I really did not want to hear it. An hour later, after the shock had passed, I thought it was pretty cool. That's another thing I hope I'm doing when I'm as old as Mom.

My mother exercises and keeps busy physically and psychologically. Best I can tell, she seems to be a very good sudoku player. I have played Scrabble against her a handful of times and I am yet to win. She goes to an aerobic class two or three times a week and is physically fit for a woman her age, and really, a woman of any age.

Yes, Mom is pretty cool. I'm not sure I mention her often enough in this zany blog. She really deserves her own blog entry, so here it is. A pretty wonderful woman.  
   

Thoughts On a Cross Country Trek

My boyfriend Terry and I have actually discussed a cross country trip of about three weeks in length. We would both take time off of work if we decide to take this trek. We would visit places like Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and eastern California.

Terry isn't wild about the idea of flying so I proposed we go cross country on the ground. Terry suggested we rent a small RV, an RV or perhaps a camper/trailer. I have found that there are some problems with this idea.

An RV, even a small one, would cost us about $3000 for three weeks. That would not include campground fees, fuel, etc. Giving it some thought, if we drove an RV, that would mean that anywhere we would want to drive, we would be driving an RV. So backcountry dirt roads would be risky. If we wanted to go to a nice restaurant, we would be pulling into the parking lot in an RV, that is, if the parking lot would accommodate an RV. And an RV is probably not a lot of fun to drive. To make a long story short; I'm not thrilled with the idea of an RV.

Towing a small camper has its own problems. First, I'm not sure either Terry or I own a vehicle that could tow even a small camper. Also, whenever we would pull off into a parking lot, the camper would be coming too, taking up parking spaces. Perhaps the biggest problem is that I would need a camper with more than just sleeping quarters, I would need a camper with an interior toilet. Best I can ascertain after doing a little research, that would mean at least a mid-sized trailer which, in turn, would mean we would not have a car that could pull it. Bottom line; I'm giving a thumbs down to a camper.

So, it would appear that our best option would be motels. I'm not wild about motels. I don't too much mind a nice one for a stay of a few days. A couple of days allows me to get comfortable with the motel room. But I am a little creeped-out about checking into a series of run-of-the-mill motels. Still, with a little research and planning, the lesser quality motels can be mostly avoided. The downside to motels is that if we are going to stay in the better establishments, it would probably mean getting reservations weeks in advance, which would potentially take away some of the spontaneity of the trip. Personally, I would rather sacrifice some spontaneity rather than do without a bathroom. I love the outdoors, but I have my limits.  

Shopping While Hungry

When I was in high school I started getting a taste for junk food cakes. I tried Ho Hos, Snowballs, and of course Twinkies. By the time I left for college, I had two favorites; vanilla flavored Zingers, and orange Hostess Cupcakes. To be fair, I would occasionally subsidized the utter lack of nutritional value in these foods with skimmed milk. I would dip the Zinger into a glass of milk, I would pour milk on the orange Hostess Cupcake, usually when it was in the package's plastic cup container, then eat it with a spoon.

It was the epitome of a "guilty pleasure". By the end of my freshman year, I had gone from a skinny girl, to having a "filled-out" figure, an anatomical enlargement at least partially due to my snack cake consumption. The habit could not go on forever and I finally said enough was enough. I stopped eating most of the cake junk food, and I started to exercise.

Wednesday I was pushing a cart through a grocery store when I came along boxes containing eight Hostess orange cupcakes. They were on sale, and I was feeling hunger pangs. I am not writing this blog entry to state that I purchased a box of cupcakes. I'm writing this blog entry to state that I purchased two boxes of cupcakes. Two boxes, or sixteen individually wrapped cupcakes.

That was Wednesday. Today is Sunday and of course all sixteen cupcakes are gone... well, strictly speaking they are gone. They seemingly still exist in the form of 2.5 pounds of bodyweight that I did not have last Tuesday. I'm not sure how one and a half pounds of food can become 2.5 pounds of bodyweight, but that's what seems to happen. I'll survive. Tomorrow I'll cut back on my caloric intake, and I'll visit my fitness center and do an extra ten minutes sweating on the elliptical.

Next time I go to the grocery store I'll make it a point not to be hungry.