Crash!

Hopefully, supposedly, my next vacation up to the Great Northwest is ended. Thank you, tax refund! The problem is that I’ve had to raid from it already. It hardly seems fair – I got my refund on March 1 and I’ve had to take almost $600 from it already. $150 has been repaid, and another $150 on Wednesday, and then the $187 next Monday, and the final $100 will be repaid on the 17th. (Please do not do the math. I realize the totals repaid/to be repaid do not equal $600. I was rounding.) Happy St. Patrick’s Day, indeed! It just seems that bills keep piling up. I’m sure you have no idea of which I speak.

Fortunately, the trip is scheduled for around Memorial Day, so I will have time to get back on my feet. I’ve been a good little savings-disciplined girl to help out as well, so the boy and I can go out a little more often and have more outdoor fun. We’re considering a whale watching trip, which sounds spectacularly amazing. Yes, yes, I’ll be bringing the camera.

Speaking of cameras – because I’m about twelve weeks out from the trip, I am back on my wonderful crash diet, which is highly effective not only at helping me lose weight, but at helping me feel occasionally faint and foggy-headed. Those last two effects tend to be temporary as my body adjusts to the severe calorie restrictions (thank goodness). I realize that this is not the healthiest way to go about the work, but like I said, it is the most effective. My goal is to get off twenty-five (or thirty) pounds before I go. In the past week, I’ve lost the initial five, and my goal for this week is three-and-a-half pounds. That means that the last ten weeks can be made up of more realistic weight loss, for which I am pleased. And if I lose even more, well, that’ll be a happy bonus. I know it sounds like a lot to lose, but I had a lot to eat over the holidays and the extended cold we’ve been having makes me depresso-eat.

One last comment about severe dieting: it doesn’t take me long to realize that I want to make every calorie count. This means no crappy, badly-seasoned foods. I want every single bite to be worth it. To that end, the baked ravioli and meatball casserole is pretty much a bust. The ravioli is good (and 100% whole wheat!) but I’d forgotten how much I don’t like meatballs that aren’t homemade. These meatballs are crappy enough to have the dreaded white ball in them as well. On the minus side, I have to eat it for lunch every day this week as I am too poor to make a replacement dish. On the plus side, however, fewer calories!