• I’ve been having trouble with my left Achilles heel when I run, so I went to get fitted for new running shoes at this place called Fleet Feet that my friend Becky recommended. Zoot also just got some shoes at the Alabama branch, so it was doubly recommended. And I have to say, they were very nice and helpful. Apparently I am an over pronator, which means my feet roll in when I walk/run. I have very high arches, but they are collapsing when I run, which is causing problems. So I am now the owner of a pair of Nikes built to give me stability when I run, stuffed with special orthotics to give my arches even more support. I wore them when I did my workout video at home tonight, and I can already tell the difference. My ankles felt studier, for one thing, and my feet really did feel better supported.
• I made chocolate chip cookies this weekend that turned out perfectly. Crispy on the edges, chewy in the middle, absolutely delicious all around. It was completely by mistake, too. The butter was still partly frozen, so I microwaved it, and it got all melty. The meltiness seems to have helped create the perfect consistency. And now you know the secret too. Now if I could just stop eating the cookies. I’ve had three since I came home tonight.
• John and I have decided to ditch Amsterdam from our trip and just focus on London and Paris. We're considering Versailles. I continue to get more and more excited about the possibility of this trip! I hope it works out for us.
• I think I’m going to have to give in and buy some new clothes before I finish losing weight, because I have virtually no clothes that I can wear to work anymore. I actually wore a lame and dopey looking outfit that was too big today because it was cold outside, and I didn’t have anything that fit and was warm. I’m discovering that almost all of my sweaters are too big, and my winter suits don’t fit at all. Naturally, this would have me shopping for clothes I don’t even want to buy on the worst shopping weekend of the year for someone like me. Someone who gets itchy in malls when they aren’t crowded and noisy, and practically breaks out in hives in the stores this time of year. I know, you're thinking "Oh, boo-hoo." and, yes it is a wonderful problem to have. But I don't want to buy a bunch of new clothes that won't fit me in three months. See? It is a dilemma. Edited to clarify: I am looking forward to a shopping spree once I finish losing weight. Just not before.
• This weekend I went to an art gallery lecture and show with my mom. I thought it was just some guy she knows through her work with the local Democratic Party. I was picturing some earnest hippy guy who painted at home in his spare time. Well, it turns out that she does know this guy through her Democrat connections, but he’s also an internationally known painter whose work sells for something between $10,000 and $18,000 per painting. A little out of my league, but I really liked his stuff. He’s interested in astronomy and had some interesting paintings showing light against the night sky, either with the moon or a falling star, or an image inspired by something he’s seen in his telescope. It was a very cool show. It was on the Eastern Shore though, and I completely forgot that my mom is terrified of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Until she handed me the keys to her car and asked me to drive. Suddenly her reasons for inviting me became much more clear. I mean, I do like art, and it is always nice to do stuff like that with her, but I had wondered why she invited me.
• In other momentous news, after driving to the Eastern Shore and back with my mom, the perfect opening to talk to her about my infertility (which she did not know about. Our relationship is…complicated, to say the least) presented itself and so I sighed, gathered my courage, and told her. Not all the details, but she knows now, and it went ok.
Now I must go to bed before I eat any more cookies. They are in the kitchen calling my name, and yes, they really are that good.
