News (and not-so news)

Day "off" today -- not working either job, but getting ready for the trip and going to get some tests done for my physical next week -- blood, x-rays of my hips, etc.. I will spare you a list of all the stuff I gotta do and just give you the quick update for now:

Friday, gave my notice at Ikea. My last weekday there will be November 4th, and then I've agreed to work a couple of weekends after that, so my last actual day is the 19th or something like that. The money I make is negligible, and I can pay COBRA for a while while I find other work that gives medical benefits. A few things helped me to make my decision: I found myself complaining all the time about the job, and I'm not much of a complainer in general, I don't think; I had a week where I was only working one job, and I realized how very much I love having time at home; and I found that in two weeks, the work I had to say no to at UCB because I was busy at Ikea would have more than paid my COBRA payment (which is large, but not as large as my previous COBRA payment was). So, anyway, I'm not gonna be selling plates any more.

I'm writing again. More on that later, perhaps.

My mom's gonna get me a Costco card. Some day when I have money, that's gonna be a dangerous thing. ;-)

Money is beyond tight, but we're really happy, so I don't mind. Much. And I will probably be making more money now that I can work more at the higher-paying job. And hell, maybe some day they'll actually hire me, and kill two of my little birdies with one stone.

Besides, I just finished a project for that swanky new freelance job I got, and I liked the work and it was fairly easy (*waves to wild_irises* -- I found myself thinking a trained monkey could do it, but then I remembered all the people I tried to train for stuff as "easy" and shut my brain up) and pays really well (by my standards), so things is looking up. Next step: keep an eye out for more freelance work and a benefitted job that I like.

where have you gone, my body?

[I posted this to a Usenet group about fat acceptance and thought it would also belong here, so here it is.]

So I don't diet (duh). I don't do weight-loss efforts, because they make no sense to me. Regardless of that, I've lost a considerable amount of weight in the past two years, without intending to. And here is my list of things that suck about that:

1. My clothes don't fit.
2. Money has been tight, so "just get new clothes" is not a viable solution.
3. Getting used to my new body is weird. It's still my body, but it feels weird, and I'm not sure I like having to reacquaint myself when we've been such good friends all these years.
4. My *clothes* don't *fit* -- I haven't had that problem in years (I was the same fat self all my adult life).
5. (This one I'm not proud of.) Nowadays, armed chairs and theater seats and the like aren't issues that affect me directly, so I'm less aware of them in general.
6. I get cold too easily for my taste.
7. Likewise uncomfy. That padding was there for a reason, and I liked it.
8. People assume I'm doing something virtuous/right/healthy because I'm thinner now, and they give me praise that irritates the shit out of me, and makes me spend my precious moments telling them that I'm less healthy now than I ever was when I was fat, and then having them disbelieve me, which pisses me off yet again.
9. There's probably a nine. There's always a nine.

But my clothes don't fit! Waaaah!
End of whine.

What I shall pack...

...probably.

* the shirt I owe to a friend who left it in my apartment more than a year ago

* as many cute outfits as fit. What the hell, not flying, and there's room in the van

* road food -- chips, cut-up veggies, etc

* sex paraphernalia

* books to read and to write in

* hairbrush (I usually forget this)

* toothbrush, soap, shampoo, toothpaste

* vitamins, iron pills, birth control, James's medications

* tacky postcards (to receive one, please send snailmail address)

* stamps, writing paper (typo people), envelopes

* the work papers that I need to drop at UPS tomorrow

* the gifts for my mom -- lots and lots of Ikea herring and other Swedish fish products

* games for the game room at the con

* Dr. Tran & other bad movies for bad-movie night in our suite

What am I missing?