a bit of this a bit of that
i'm really super bored and trying to get back into the habit of blogging more often, so this post will probably be a jumble, but thanks to anyone who sticks with me, hahaha.
besides getting back on the weight loss wagon 100% this year, i'm going to try and really get our finances in order now that the boy is back to work and hopefully (knock on major wood!) at a job that he'll be at for quite a while. i'm also taking the plunge and applying for a job that i never in a million years would have thought i wanted, but the pay is really good (much more than i am making now), the benefits are awesome (my benefits are non-existant right now since it's cheaper for me to pay cash than to pay for my insurance), and i think it will be much more exciting than my current job. so fingers crossed on that!!! tomorrow i'm going to sit down and figure out what we owe and to who (i mean i have a general idea, but i'm going to write down percentage rates and all that jazz to see what's smarter to pay off first) and start a plan on paying it all off, plus saving some. if anyone has any other ideas or suggestions or recommendations on good books to check out that deal with finances, please let me know.
i just really need to get everything straight since if i'm going to start eating the things my trainer wants me to eat, i'm going to have to start paying a little more at the store. i would also like to be able to get a membership to the gym by my house so i can go there in the morning and then go to the free gym through my work at night. it's just not easy for me to go twice a day to the free gym since i live 30 - 45 minutes away from work and i'm not comfortable showering at the gym in the morning, so really i'd need to drive all the way back home to shower and then back to work. which is a waste of time and money. whereas the gym near my house is five minutes away and i can go there, go home and shower, then head to work and it's also much wiser to go there on the weekends then the free gym. it's easier to go to the free gym at night, since it's only two minutes from my work and i can just shower when i get home.
until last month i had not flown on a plane since 2000. when i was much, much smaller than i am today. so i was really frightened to have to fly at 500+ pounds. i asked the person buying the tickets for me to get me two because 1) i was pretty sure that i wasn't going to fit in just one seat and 2) i didn't want to be all up in the business of the person next to me. even with two tickets i was still worried about how it was all going to go down. i knew i would need a seatbelt extender and that didn't bother me, but i wasn't sure if the armrests on the seats were going to go up or not. i was getting various results while searching and asking people so i just prayed when the time came, they would go up.
for the trip out to la i flew american airlines. my first flight was on a tiny, tiny plane (think one seat on the left hand side, the aisle and then two seats on the right hand side). when i checked in for the flight i explained i had two tickets and i asked if i could board early because of needing extra time and the guy was very nice about it. he said i could and he would actually be the one at the gate, so no worries. when the time came he called up those who wanted to preboard and motioned for me to come on up and i did. i asked for an extender as soon as i boarded and the flight attendant was very nice about that as well. my seat was actually all the way at the back of the plane, so i was glad he let me board early because again, it was a very tiny plane. i am also very glad that i had two seats on this flight. there was no way i was going to be able to fit into one, nor was there any way someone would have been able to sit next to me. the people who sat in front of me were also very nice...it was a family of four (mom, dad, baby, and aunt, but all the adults were around my age) and they were talkative and the baby was playing hide and seek with me. the flight was very short and when it was time to get off the dad asked if i wanted to go before them since they had to pack up some stuff, but i said no to go ahead and i was the last one off the plane. for some reason it just made me more relaxed to be the first one on and the last one off...when usually everyone is dying to get off, hahaha.
when i got to chicago my arriving gate and departing gate were so far away from each other, but i figured i better get used to that much walking, hahaha. i had to use the restroom, so i stopped and did that and then right in front of my gate was a dunkin' donuts and i got a small hazelnut coolata. when i was done with that i went across to my gate to wait, but that is when i realized that most of my flight was already boarded. inside i was freaking out, but i tried to play it cool on the outside. i was actually in the 7th row for this flight, so i figured it wouldn't be so bad. that is until i got to the 7th row. it's the first row of seating after first class. i had the window seat and the middle seat, but i quickly realized that the armrests in that row of seating do not go up. and truthfully, i probably could have squeezed in one seat, but the armrests were super thick, so it just wasn't going to happen or be comfortable for a 3.5 to 4 hour flight. of course since this was all happening right up front, the entire plane was staring at me and i could feel myself turning bright red.
i explained to the flight attendant that i had two tickets, so i wasn't sure why i was placed in seats that had armrests that didn't go up. she was super nice about it and she told me that she would see what she could do to find two other open seats for me. she asked if i preferred to sit by the window and i explained that i did only because i didn't want to make a hassle for the person i was sitting with if they had to go the restroom or something. she told me to sit in the seat right behind where i was supposed to sit while she went to try and find something else for me. i was very embarrassed, but at the same time i noticed that in the 8th row i barely took up 1/4th of the middle seat. and there happened to be a larger gentleman sitting there as well and he took up the window seat and about 1/2 of the middle seat. when the flight attendant came back she said she found something in row 18, but it wasn't a window seat and would that be a problem? i again told her i just didn't want to make the person sitting in the row with me have any issues, so again she said to hold on she would be right back. when she left i asked the gentleman (actually he was my age, hahaha) if the seats were free if he minded me sitting there. he explained that really only one of the seats was open as he had two seats himself, but since we both fit comfortably he didn't mind if the flight attendant didn't mind. when she came back i asked if it was okay if i sat there if the seat was open and she said as long as i didn't mind that it wasn't a window seat that was no problem. i explained to her i was more comfortable there then having to squeeze past all the people to get to the back of the plane. she was completely kind about it and got me an extender as well.
other than that there were no issues with that flight. i did feel bad for my seat mate as he was larger than me...my knees touched the seat in front of me, but his stomach and knees touched the seat in front of him and when someone from the back of the plane found out the window seat that i was supposed to sit in was open, she came up and asked to sit there. she obviously saw what was going on with me, knew i was larger and she saw him when she came up and knew he was larger, but she proceeded to recline her seat on him and crush him. i felt so bad for him. my person in front of me also reclined her seat, but i didn't touch her chair or anything (other than my knees), but i did feel like i was up in her hair the entire flight, hahaha.
flying back from la i was flying united. it was actually very nice because the i got upgraded to economy plus and there is six extra inches of leg room and the seats are a lot bigger, so i barely hungover into the seat next to me. again, i asked to board early and again it wasn't an issue nor was getting an extender. the funny thing about this flight was that you could see the look of horror on everyones eyes as they passed by my seat...you could tell they didn't want their seat to be with mine. i actually ended up having to sit next to a guy was was obviously upset he had to sit next to me. i guess he didn't realize that i probably thought ahead and got two seats so not only did i get extra room, but he got extra room too!
and then on my next flight i was again glad to have two seats as it was a much smaller plane (although this time there were two seats on the left side and two seats on the right side), but not as small as my first plane i was on. the only issue i had on this flight was that they didn't assign my seats ahead of time so when i got to the gate they had to move some people around so i could have two seats next to each other. again i boarded early and was the last to exit.
all in all my flying experience wasn't that bad. if i need to fly again, i will probably continue to ask for two seats/tickets until i'm around 350 pounds...unless it's united and i fly economy plus, then i can probably start asking for one seat/ticket around 400 pounds.
i have also decided, to keep me both accountable and follow my journey through more pictures this time around, to post pictures of my weekly weigh in. it's also easier for me to take a picture of the scale then to lean over to look at the numbers and throw the weight off, hahaha. now i should note that my camera and the clothes i wear to weigh in weigh 2.0 pounds exactly (0.4 for my camera and 1.6 for my pajamas and underwear), so the scale will always read 2.0 pounds heavier than i really am. since i hadn't got around to posting about this until now, here are my first three weigh ins. i weighed in at 564.4 on 01.09.10 (which again i thought was originally an error, but it was not), but i do not have a picture of that as i weighed in quickly before heading off to la. i tired to make the pics all the same size, but i failed, hahaha.
01.19.10 - 548.0 pounds/-16.4 pounds
01.27.10 - 549.6 pounds/-14.8 pounds
02.02.10 - 543.2 pounds/-21.2 pounds
well, that's about it for now...hopefully tuesday will bring me another good weigh in!!!
besides getting back on the weight loss wagon 100% this year, i'm going to try and really get our finances in order now that the boy is back to work and hopefully (knock on major wood!) at a job that he'll be at for quite a while. i'm also taking the plunge and applying for a job that i never in a million years would have thought i wanted, but the pay is really good (much more than i am making now), the benefits are awesome (my benefits are non-existant right now since it's cheaper for me to pay cash than to pay for my insurance), and i think it will be much more exciting than my current job. so fingers crossed on that!!! tomorrow i'm going to sit down and figure out what we owe and to who (i mean i have a general idea, but i'm going to write down percentage rates and all that jazz to see what's smarter to pay off first) and start a plan on paying it all off, plus saving some. if anyone has any other ideas or suggestions or recommendations on good books to check out that deal with finances, please let me know.
i just really need to get everything straight since if i'm going to start eating the things my trainer wants me to eat, i'm going to have to start paying a little more at the store. i would also like to be able to get a membership to the gym by my house so i can go there in the morning and then go to the free gym through my work at night. it's just not easy for me to go twice a day to the free gym since i live 30 - 45 minutes away from work and i'm not comfortable showering at the gym in the morning, so really i'd need to drive all the way back home to shower and then back to work. which is a waste of time and money. whereas the gym near my house is five minutes away and i can go there, go home and shower, then head to work and it's also much wiser to go there on the weekends then the free gym. it's easier to go to the free gym at night, since it's only two minutes from my work and i can just shower when i get home.
until last month i had not flown on a plane since 2000. when i was much, much smaller than i am today. so i was really frightened to have to fly at 500+ pounds. i asked the person buying the tickets for me to get me two because 1) i was pretty sure that i wasn't going to fit in just one seat and 2) i didn't want to be all up in the business of the person next to me. even with two tickets i was still worried about how it was all going to go down. i knew i would need a seatbelt extender and that didn't bother me, but i wasn't sure if the armrests on the seats were going to go up or not. i was getting various results while searching and asking people so i just prayed when the time came, they would go up.
for the trip out to la i flew american airlines. my first flight was on a tiny, tiny plane (think one seat on the left hand side, the aisle and then two seats on the right hand side). when i checked in for the flight i explained i had two tickets and i asked if i could board early because of needing extra time and the guy was very nice about it. he said i could and he would actually be the one at the gate, so no worries. when the time came he called up those who wanted to preboard and motioned for me to come on up and i did. i asked for an extender as soon as i boarded and the flight attendant was very nice about that as well. my seat was actually all the way at the back of the plane, so i was glad he let me board early because again, it was a very tiny plane. i am also very glad that i had two seats on this flight. there was no way i was going to be able to fit into one, nor was there any way someone would have been able to sit next to me. the people who sat in front of me were also very nice...it was a family of four (mom, dad, baby, and aunt, but all the adults were around my age) and they were talkative and the baby was playing hide and seek with me. the flight was very short and when it was time to get off the dad asked if i wanted to go before them since they had to pack up some stuff, but i said no to go ahead and i was the last one off the plane. for some reason it just made me more relaxed to be the first one on and the last one off...when usually everyone is dying to get off, hahaha.
when i got to chicago my arriving gate and departing gate were so far away from each other, but i figured i better get used to that much walking, hahaha. i had to use the restroom, so i stopped and did that and then right in front of my gate was a dunkin' donuts and i got a small hazelnut coolata. when i was done with that i went across to my gate to wait, but that is when i realized that most of my flight was already boarded. inside i was freaking out, but i tried to play it cool on the outside. i was actually in the 7th row for this flight, so i figured it wouldn't be so bad. that is until i got to the 7th row. it's the first row of seating after first class. i had the window seat and the middle seat, but i quickly realized that the armrests in that row of seating do not go up. and truthfully, i probably could have squeezed in one seat, but the armrests were super thick, so it just wasn't going to happen or be comfortable for a 3.5 to 4 hour flight. of course since this was all happening right up front, the entire plane was staring at me and i could feel myself turning bright red.
i explained to the flight attendant that i had two tickets, so i wasn't sure why i was placed in seats that had armrests that didn't go up. she was super nice about it and she told me that she would see what she could do to find two other open seats for me. she asked if i preferred to sit by the window and i explained that i did only because i didn't want to make a hassle for the person i was sitting with if they had to go the restroom or something. she told me to sit in the seat right behind where i was supposed to sit while she went to try and find something else for me. i was very embarrassed, but at the same time i noticed that in the 8th row i barely took up 1/4th of the middle seat. and there happened to be a larger gentleman sitting there as well and he took up the window seat and about 1/2 of the middle seat. when the flight attendant came back she said she found something in row 18, but it wasn't a window seat and would that be a problem? i again told her i just didn't want to make the person sitting in the row with me have any issues, so again she said to hold on she would be right back. when she left i asked the gentleman (actually he was my age, hahaha) if the seats were free if he minded me sitting there. he explained that really only one of the seats was open as he had two seats himself, but since we both fit comfortably he didn't mind if the flight attendant didn't mind. when she came back i asked if it was okay if i sat there if the seat was open and she said as long as i didn't mind that it wasn't a window seat that was no problem. i explained to her i was more comfortable there then having to squeeze past all the people to get to the back of the plane. she was completely kind about it and got me an extender as well.
other than that there were no issues with that flight. i did feel bad for my seat mate as he was larger than me...my knees touched the seat in front of me, but his stomach and knees touched the seat in front of him and when someone from the back of the plane found out the window seat that i was supposed to sit in was open, she came up and asked to sit there. she obviously saw what was going on with me, knew i was larger and she saw him when she came up and knew he was larger, but she proceeded to recline her seat on him and crush him. i felt so bad for him. my person in front of me also reclined her seat, but i didn't touch her chair or anything (other than my knees), but i did feel like i was up in her hair the entire flight, hahaha.
flying back from la i was flying united. it was actually very nice because the i got upgraded to economy plus and there is six extra inches of leg room and the seats are a lot bigger, so i barely hungover into the seat next to me. again, i asked to board early and again it wasn't an issue nor was getting an extender. the funny thing about this flight was that you could see the look of horror on everyones eyes as they passed by my seat...you could tell they didn't want their seat to be with mine. i actually ended up having to sit next to a guy was was obviously upset he had to sit next to me. i guess he didn't realize that i probably thought ahead and got two seats so not only did i get extra room, but he got extra room too!
and then on my next flight i was again glad to have two seats as it was a much smaller plane (although this time there were two seats on the left side and two seats on the right side), but not as small as my first plane i was on. the only issue i had on this flight was that they didn't assign my seats ahead of time so when i got to the gate they had to move some people around so i could have two seats next to each other. again i boarded early and was the last to exit.
all in all my flying experience wasn't that bad. if i need to fly again, i will probably continue to ask for two seats/tickets until i'm around 350 pounds...unless it's united and i fly economy plus, then i can probably start asking for one seat/ticket around 400 pounds.
i have also decided, to keep me both accountable and follow my journey through more pictures this time around, to post pictures of my weekly weigh in. it's also easier for me to take a picture of the scale then to lean over to look at the numbers and throw the weight off, hahaha. now i should note that my camera and the clothes i wear to weigh in weigh 2.0 pounds exactly (0.4 for my camera and 1.6 for my pajamas and underwear), so the scale will always read 2.0 pounds heavier than i really am. since i hadn't got around to posting about this until now, here are my first three weigh ins. i weighed in at 564.4 on 01.09.10 (which again i thought was originally an error, but it was not), but i do not have a picture of that as i weighed in quickly before heading off to la. i tired to make the pics all the same size, but i failed, hahaha.
01.19.10 - 548.0 pounds/-16.4 pounds
01.27.10 - 549.6 pounds/-14.8 pounds
02.02.10 - 543.2 pounds/-21.2 pounds
well, that's about it for now...hopefully tuesday will bring me another good weigh in!!!