Rants and Raves

I know that I haven't posted in a while, and, to be honest, I'm not quite sure why. Yes, I've been busy and yes, I've had a lot to do. But, I'm on here reading almost every day anyway, so why am I not posting?

I guess because I have not had a lot to say. Nothing much has changed in my life and so I really didn't feel a need to share my boring "goings-on" with the world. Today though, I have decided to comment about a few things that I have been pondering the last few weeks:

#1 The Election: Hallelujiah! Barack won! Now comes the hard part. Even though he has a Democratic Congress and it looks like he is making some very intelligent and well thought-out choices for individuals in his cabinet (Madame Clinton and Mr. Richardson anyone???), I still worry that the hole we have dug ourselves is going to be too much. In the long run I know that things will change, I'm only concerned that four years will not be enough time for Pres-elect Obama to turn things around enough for the country to keep him in office. I guess only time will tell.

#2 The Election: Part 2: Proposition 8: Having grown up in southern California and been raised in a fairly liberal family, it is mind boggling to me that the people of that great state could not get their heads out of their arses long enough to realize that things like divorce and adultry are a lot more detrimental to marriage than two people who love each other, and happen to be the same sex, getting married. I could have sworn that there is supposed to be a separation of church and state in this country. Did I miss out on some huge Constitutional Amendment that changed that? I don't consider myself religious by any means (and, honestly, probably more anti-established religion than anything), but I do believe that 1) it is not OUR job to judge people or make decisions about their lives; 2) we did not create this earth and whatever, or whomever, did is really pissed off at us right now; and 3) some of the most closed-minded people I have ever met are extremely religious (more like extremists, whether that's Christianity, Muslim, Judaism, whatever), and, I believe, are the ones who will have a lot more to answer to on judgement day than those of us who simply want to live peacefully and allow others to do the same. Uggghhhhh! I could go on for days about this one!

#3) Running: I have continued to run and did another 5k on November 16th in Boulder. The Panicking Poultry 5k www.panickingpoultry5k.com was a beautiful run on a beautiful Sunday morning in the foothills of Boulder. More than 1,000 people showed up and, though my time was not what it could have been, I had a great time. My mom came with me and patiently waited while I ran all 3.1 miles -- something I never in my life thought I would be doing, much less enjoying -- and then we ate some Carrabba's when I was finished www.carrabbas.com. I gave myself a little leeway with the time for two reasons: altitude and I donated blood on Friday, less than 48 hours before I ran. No wonder I was tired!

#4) Relationship: Keki and I are doing very well. I wish I could explain to him why I'm a cry-er, but sometimes I can't even figure out why I'm crying, so how can I explain it to him? My ex used to get on my case about the same thing. Maybe I could try hypnotherapy? We were shopping at Puma on Saturday and, for no discernible reason other than every shoe I picked he didn't like, I started crying and said I wanted to go home. Oops. Bad idea. I was quickly compared to his ex-girlfriend who never did such things and was quietly admonished for making things so difficult. Sor-ry! If I could stop myself from doing such childish things, I would. But I have tried and it's all to no avail. So, bless his patient heart, after me crying off all my makeup and a very long, silent car ride home, he forgave me (again). I guess he must love me -- if he didn't he surely wouldn't put up with all my shenanigans.

#5) Holidays, Specifically Thanksgiving: I'm tired of holidays. Honestly, they hold no meaning or value to me (except an extra day or two off work) and I've never really been a big fan of them. I am glad that I have a reason to go to San Diego to see my sister and the kids (not that I really need a reason), but I also feel like it's all such a farce considering the horrible state of our country and our world. So I'm taking sides with this blogger http://goprairie.blogspot.com and I am not giving thanks to God (or whomever) because she hears it all the time. Instead, I am going to personally thank all the people close to me for the huge, or tiny, part they play in my life. Sure, I could pretend to be superwoman and act like I get it all done on my own, but really. There are so many people I want to thank and I am going to start with all of you: Thank you for reading my blog and for being interested, communicative participants in society. Whatever job it is that you do, it helps make this world go round and for that, I am thankful.

#6) Losing Weight: I'm sure that only those of you closest to me know that I have been trying to lose weight. And we're not talking a little bit or for a short amount of time. For those of you who don't know, there was a time when I weighed 243 pounds and wore a size 18. And I'm only 5'6". Granted, I have always worked out and I did have a lot of muscle, so I never looked like I weighed that much. But, it wasn't pretty. I was fat. When I started the basic academy for ICE I was at my highest weight. That's also when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. Over those nine weeks, I lost 26 pounds, but I was still big. Over the next few years I went up and down a little, but I never got below 211. Well, that is all in the past. I have worked my butt off for almost a year and I am now down to 190 -- from the 223 I started at -- and have 15 pounds to go to make it to my goal. My goal of 175 may still sound like a lot to some, but at 190 I am a size 10 -- a size I haven't been since I was a sophomore in high school -- and I will probably be a size 8. Losing weight has been one of the hardest struggles of my life -- harder than college, working for ICE, or my divorce -- and I am proud of what I have accomplished. I will try to post some before and after pics when I reach my goal -- hopefully by New Year's -- so you can see the difference. All total, from my highest weight, I've lost 53 pounds -- almost 22% of my body weight. It's a wonderful feeling, and definitely something else that I am grateful for this year!

Oh Sarah....

A dear friend of mine sent this to me and I think it's hilarious. Read on...

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.... If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."* Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers,-- a quintessential American story.* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim. -- Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maverick.* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded. -- If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian. If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married heiress Cindy the next month, you're a Christian.* If you teach responsible, age appro priate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America 's.If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA , your family is extremely admirable.OK, much clearer now.