Tom insists that because I’m not more than 20 pounds overweight, it’s okay for me to lose weight this slowly. Yes, it’s true that the more weight you have to lose, the faster it comes off till you get within 20-30 pounds of your goal weight. Nonetheless, and even though I seem to be more regular, I won’t count on losing any more weight. I don’t think I’m ready yet to let it get too out of control, either. I’ll still exercise and eat sensibly.

We checked out Weight Watchers. It’s $60 to get started, then $15 for each month, so no, it’s not too expensive. I just don’t think I’m interested. At least not yet. However, I saw a rather interesting commercial worth investigating online. They have a web address as well as an 800 number to call. It’s called Perfect Portions. You place a menu (the contents of each meal) down inside a round dish. Then, on top of it, you put down a see-through plate with dividers, similar to a TV dinner tray that has a section for the main course, the veggies, the dessert, etc. This way your carbs, proteins and other things are divvied up the way they should be to ensure weight loss in a healthier, more effective way, so you don’t have to measure or count calories. I assume this would be a low-carb, high-protein diet. For those who want to get ripped and look really muscular, you’d have a diet that is rich in carbs.

You can mostly see my muscles in my shoulders, abs and calves. Depending on how I move, you can see some biceps and some outer thigh muscles.

When pulled straight, my hair is to the middle of my ass now. When left curled, it’s to the crack of my ass.

I figured out why the dogs are so obsessed with the pipes. It isn’t just the pipes themselves they want to play with, it’s the animals hiding inside them that they want to get at. The cat is out there right now crouched down and ready to pounce, should something good emerge from one of them.

The barking still continues to be horrendous. Especially for where we live. Once the sun sets, it’s terrible. The renter’s dog was barking so ferociously for attention last night at around 8:00 that I had to put on some music just so I could eat my dinner in peace. Again, I so do hope it improves as it heats back up. I think that the reason it’s not as bad during the daytime, especially during the week, is that people aren’t home as much. When they’re home ignoring the dogs, that sets them off more, knowing their owners are so close and can hear their useless barks for attention. Again, I don’t know how the owners themselves can stand it. If Pepper were here barking his head off just outside a window or a door, I’d want to strangle him! I’d go completely insane having to listen to that.

There have been a few more downloads, putting it to a total of 25, and they were all pictures of me.

Got mail from Mary today. She didn’t mention anything about when she’s leaving, so I’m still assuming she won’t be there much longer than about a week after the 7th. I sent another letter back telling her that once again I’m going to put a hold on any more mail to her unless she contacts me telling me she’s going to be there longer.

She sent another book of stamps which was very nice of her, and that same picture of her the media took that she had sent me about a year ago. It’s a nice one, though she’s awfully thin. I never did get any pictures from Michelle and Todd, though, so who knows if they’re just playing with her or what? So many people say so many things they’re going to do that they don’t.

Surprisingly, she sent more fantasy stuff she wrote which contains sexual fantasies between her and the soul mate she hopes to one day meet. I had thought she said she was going to get working more on her book which was part of why she had me send her a copy, so that’s why I was a bit surprised, but no problem. I have more free time now that I’m not proofreading.

I agree with her that fantasy is fun to write, though as I told her, I never saved anything I wrote cuz I thought it was stupid. Besides, I doubt she’d enjoy anything I wrote as it was about lesbian couples. I love my husband, but I am so not attracted to the male body, the male scent, the male anything! I do prefer the feminine touch, though not as feminine as I used to like. I like a woman who looks like a woman, yet who’s strong and that I know is going to make me feel safe.

As I told her, I’m glad to help out any way I can because if there’s one person I know who would never take my help for granted or who wouldn’t do me a favor if I needed it, it’s her.

Later…

We checked out Perfect Portions and I definitely want to try it. I believe the economy pack, which was what I think would best suit me, is something like $50. It is higher in carbs, though I think it’ll be alright. The balance of nutrition and what you eat is almost as important as how much you eat, and this will help with that a lot without having to count, weigh or measure.

We’re going grocery shopping Monday after the dentist, and that’s the day I’ll allow myself one final big-sized treat before committing myself to having no fun for quite a while. I can still take days off, but my weekly “day off” can only consist of a regular-size candy bar, a slice of cake, a few small cookies, etc. Not a trip to the China Buffet, a pint of ice cream or a giant candy bar.

I was sitting outside while he prepped the truck for the cylinder head we’re expecting next week and I heard the renters chatting (a woman and a man). And part of the corner of the house was between us too, so that tells me that had we been in back or by the bedroom side, we probably would’ve been able to hear what they were saying.

If we ever do get that inflatable pool we were talking about, hopefully they won’t spoil our peace too much. The bulk of the time we’re going to want to swim will be in the middle of the day when it’ll hopefully be too hot for them to be outside gabbing unless they get a pool of their own which wouldn’t surprise me in the least if they did. On the other hand, if I were to swim in the early evening, that’s when it could be a bit noisy.

Although they don’t seem like they’re going to entertain today, I’ve got the kitchen blinds shut. I didn’t come here to glance out a window to see 20 people. They’re definitely not an asset to this place. There are just too many of them and they’re outside too much of the time. It’s still peaceful as can be compared to Phoenix, but I’m really getting sick of the openness around here. Because of it, we can hear barking from miles away. If there were woods between us and the renters, we’d never know they existed. I find myself thinking more and more of a cabin in the woods if we can’t live on a boat, simply to avoid having to see anybody at all and to get even further away from people.