The Bedside Pile Up - Another Frey Household Census

There are usually multiple reading items at my bedside table, but it's kinda gotten out of hand. Not that I mind as reading is one of my all time favorite things to do.

Here is the list of what you see in the photo from top to bottom as of 10/24/10:

At Home by Bill Bryson - a book about houses, their history and history of the things in them (from kitchenware to bed linens, etc.) This kind of book is right up my trivia/history alley. Plus I love Bill Bryson in general.

Westways Magazine (November/December 2010) - I was about halfway through reading it. (I finished it last night and it is no longer in the stack.)

Time Magazine (11/1/10) - I read this last night and it is no longer in the stack)

What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell - this is Mr. Gladwell's collection of articles written for the New Yorker over the last eight or ten years. Great stories and easy to read just one at a time. I've read all of Mr. Gladwell's books and eat these articles up!

Budget Travel Magazine (November 2010) - I've read this but am saving it here to remind myself to keep some of the hotel info. This is my favorite travel magazine as it's not pie in the sky. Some of those *other* magazines have articles that say "Budget rooms in Paris! Only $299/night!" Uh, not my idea of "budget."

Los Angeles Magazine (October 2010) - I have not read this issue yet, though I'm halfway through November's issue. Maybe because November is in the living room and this is buried here? Hmmmm. I love my city!

Oprah Magazine (November 2010) - I believe this will be the last issue I get of O. Kind of moving on from it as it just got repetitive and I found I wasn't actually moving forward just reading about moving forward. So I'm ditching the magazine and moving forward!

Y The Last Man Vol. 1 (Graphic Novel) by Vaughan and Guerra - Recommended by a friend, but haven't started it yet. I'm starting to dabble in graphic novels this year.

A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg - my mom gave me this and I have not yet read it. But it's by the bed which means it is much closer to being read!

Two sheets of paper -- my platelet donation info sheet from September 3, 2010. Which reminds me, it's time to donate platelets again!

Vanity Fair Magazine (October 2010) - folded open to the Sarah Palin story. I traded O for Vanity Fair this year. 

Time Magazine (9/13/10) - this was folded open to page 69 to remind me of something, but it didn't work, so now this is gone from the stack.

Envelope with 4 AMC movie tickets - my thank you gift for donating platelets in September.

Budget Travel Magazine (September 2010) - Have read it but want to save it for a few articles.

New Yorker Magazine (August 9, 2010) - open to page 74 on a story about "Charlie Chan". I no longer receive the New Yorker, just wasn't getting around to reading it weekly. I was basically paying to read the cartoons! Traded this for Vanity Fair as well.

Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky - totally forgot I had this book and am halfway through it! Distracted much? I love his work and need to return to this.

Wired Magazine (July 2010) - 1/2 way through, but removed from stack.

The Lives Of Trees by Diana Wells - my mom gave me this book and I thought it was an odd choice, but then started reading it and enjoy its random trivia/history-ness. I feel like this will help inform some character I create some day.

Parenting From The Inside Out by Daniel Siegel - This book was recommended by a dad friend of Kurt's. Kurt has read it, I have yet to. I feel like I should read it when we get closer to actually having a baby. (When we get matched.)

When The Nines Roll Over and Other Stories by David Benioff - I had the privilege to work with Mr. Benioff recently and have enjoyed reading his novels. I have not yet cracked this one, but it will remain on the table.

Linchpin by Seth Godin - I need to dive back into this book. I started reading it and it was quite slow. A friend who has read it says the first 100 pages are SLOW. (Glad I wasn't the only one who thought so.) So I need to get back to it - it stays.

Disquiet, Please! A New Yorker collection of humor writing. I got this as a gift a while back and left it by the bed to dip into now and again. I might cycle it out as I have others to dip into. Maybe it will be fresher if I take a break from it for a while.

There is an annex to this pile - the floor. Luckily the only thing on the floor is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. I have plans to move this one to the stack after removing one or two things...I would like to read it soon as I keep reading about it being made in to a movie. 

This is an epic stack of reading material and it will get smaller today. All of it I am enjoying having nearby. Going to bed is made so much more cozy by all this reading to choose from. 

I LOVE READING! 

Oh and the clock radio on the table is 22 years old! I can't believe I still have it.

Climbing A Mountain in 1991

Here I am, climbing a mountain in Italy (Via Ferrata Col Rosa)(Seriously, check out that website! I climbed up and down 7000 feet!). It took eight hours, it was exhausting, I was terrified, I wanted to quit and I kept going. I bagged that peak and was exhilarated! I love this photo from that day (Thanks for taking it, Donna) because I was not one to show my emotions easily and I am not hiding a thing here. 

This photo is my lesson for today, where I am this year and all the new peaks I'm climbing.

Weigh in Wednesday -- Sigh

I'm losing it. Not the weight, but my ability to find some balance.

I weighed in at 177 today, up two pounds again. I'm frustrated with myself and yet still eat over my limit with great gusto. (Okay, I had rice and beans and half a chicken breast so it wasn't like I ate a whole pizza, but I needed to be eating a lovely fresh salad instead...)

The 175 plateau is getting old and I'm wallowing in it. I realized this week that most of what is going on is comfort eating. I'm in a place of great discomfort right now, a place of my own choosing. I have chosen to follow a creative path and to (somewhat) avoid the FX work I normally do. That job provides great income and I'm really good at it. And yet, my heart is in the writing right now and I need to be with my heart. But it's not a comfy place. It's dark and uncertain and scary and hard. And while I love every minute of writing and meetings with my creative team, I am reaching for solace in food. Yummy yummy, always there, always agreeable food. Throw a couple of glasses of wine in there from time to time and I'm the proverbial (though lately I feel like the literal) pig in sh*t.

The freelance life I'm used to. It's been ten years of that and I do great with it, love it, actually. But this new path is waaaaaay different. Failure is something I've experienced very little of because I worked my ass off to be a success. But not having failed much in my life means I have not risked much either and that makes me fired up to take more risks. So that's what I'm doing, taking risks. And eating to make it feel better. 

I'm determined to get to my goal of 167 and stay there. That's ten pounds away from where I am today. Totally doable in a reasonable amount of time. 

Help me Libra, help me find that balance.

...And A Bag Of Chips!

Digging through some papers yesterday, this photo popped out at me. Awesome! This was 1997 or 1998 and a gang of us went to Las Vegas and decided that one of the nights we were there we would dress up as cheesy as possible. We all went shopping at Jetrag and other similar stores and found outrageous outfits. When I spotted this dress, and it fit, I knew I was golden. The shoes, well, not so great, but cheap and LOUD.

But the hair. Oh the hair. That hairdo cost me $50 and it was well worth it. The hair looked fabulous (oh I'll be the first one to say so) and it DID NOT MOVE all night. And by all night I mean a good 14 hours from the time I walked out of the hotel salon. Then it brushed out easily the next day and still looked awesome. 

When the six of us were in our full regalia, we turned heads while walking through the casinos. Someone asked us if we were a band! Highest compliment, really. At one point we took over a blackjack table (only six seats) and people came to hang out and watch us play. What a blast!

If I could do my own hair like that easily every day, I would.  (Key word there is "easily.")

Viva Las Vegas!

Weigh in Wednesday

The number is 175 today. Much better than last week's 179. Hooray for trips to Maui but holy crap I can't seem to control my eating when I'm home. Plus lots of comfort eating after some stressful times last week with the parental generation.

I'm back on track, getting back toward my low of 174 and flying toward the 167 goal. My hair is getting long and I'm getting tired of dealing with it! A change up will be nice when I hit my mark.

I also haven't been exercising much as I pulled a muscle in my calf a few weeks ago and just couldn't risk further injury. Just couldn't! ; - ) But this week will involve more exercise.

The nice thing is, when I got to this 175 neighborhood, I really enjoyed feeling smaller than I have been for the last few years. But now that I've been here for a month or more without further weight loss, I'm feeling quite squishy and chubby again. This is good as it makes me want to not feel that way! Further motivation...

I want to be the big dog. I just don't want to be the BIG dog.

Around The House On Maui

We arrived yesterday to overcast skies and cool temperatures - what a refreshing change from LA!

In the car at the airport Kurt was greeted by 12 of his best friends - the Malasadas! 

 
Mmmmm.

We were also greeted to these treats in our guest room. The aforementioned favorite candy and the yummy smell of tuberose.

Later, I noticed out the window of my mom's kitchen this little garden spider (not sure what kind it is). Clearly he is eating well! Notice the carcasses he has stashed around. (circled here and you can click it for a bigger image.)

 
The big event today is that the tree trimmer is here. The coconut trees need cleaning up a couple of times a year and watching this guy work is pretty exciting. He climbs up with his huge machete and goes at it, giant fronds thumping to the ground.

All is well on Maui...