Reward & Punishment, USMC, and SOTU

So I was supposed to get a massage on Monday. With the success of my fitness regime I wanted to treat myself with something other than food (which is kind of self defeating when you think about it). So I thought getting a massage would be a good way to reward myself for losing 20 pounds. But . . . . unfortunately I got on the scales Monday AM and I'd gained almost 5 pounds back. So if exercise and diet helps you lose weight, then not exercising and not dieting means you gain weight. And the trips to San Diego didn't help with the diet or the exercise part. And will say that I've made an awful discovery in Americone Dream! Damn you Stephen Colbert!! Damn you!!

So instead of rewarding myself, I'm now punishing myself. Yes, it's time to go back to my self-esteem crushing gym. I looked at my workout book and apparently I haven't lifted in a month. And I'm going on a cruise with teh gays soon, so I need to crack the whip and get back on track. So goodbye creamy rich ice cream, goodbye french fries, goodbye bread, goodbye alcohol. It was nice knowing you.

Spinning the subject wheel: The US Marine Corps. So I watch VH1 in the AM since that's pretty much the only time they play videos. And lately as I've been watching I notice this ad/infomercial for Black History Month about some of the first African American Marines. Apparently the ad/informercial is produced by the USMC. And I have to tell you, it rocks. And I think it's great that they are doing that.

Spinning the subject wheel again: State of the Union. Wow. It's the first one I've watched all the way through in 8 years. Again. Wow. It was really amazing. Andrew's got some good responses, and I feel for them all. It's the first time in a long time that I felt a politician was talking to me as an adult. We're in a tough situation. It's not going to be easy to fix. It's not going to get fixed overnight. But we're Americans and we can do it. Wow. Thank you for being honest with us. Thank you for treating us a responsible adults. Wow.

Oh, and Nancy, honey, please . . . . SIT THE F&CK DOWN!! Yes we got you are happy (so are we!), but you look like some sort of demonic cheerleader jumping up from your chair every 5 seconds.

Snotty and Sniffling

Yep, I'm sick again. As is quite typical on my trips to Paris, I usually get sick a day or two after I get back. And while I usually blame the walking & talking viral factory that is my niece, I actually think it was my Mom this time. So I've been trying to lay low for the past week or so to try to recuperate.

Christmas in Paris was good. Ish. Five adults and two children does cause some interesting family dynamics. But I think it went better than I thought. And while the weather was pretty cold, atleast it didn't rain much. So we did managed to get out of the flat every day for little adventures or the daily chores.

Let's see, Christmas highlight? I have to say that it's my niece listening to my iPod and singing along to Pink's "So What" at the top of her lungs!

"So so what?
I'm still a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don't need you"

Just too funny and too cute.

And the trip back rocked! I got bumped to business class (thank you United!) and the flight got in an hour early!

I stayed in on NYE. Museum Man and I watched a movie and had some kirs. Nothing too wild. Though we did have an exceptional brunch at Fahrenheit at the Ritz Carlton in Georgetown with the Glamazon on New Years Day. We had several cosmos and we were feeling pretty toasty by the time we left about 3 plus hours later. Definitely a good time.

Started the new gym routine yesterday. It's been three months since I started at my self esteem crushing gym and I need to mix up my routine to see some new improvements. And like any gay man, I normally ignore my lower body. Well, with the cardio I do, my lower body is fine. But I finally decided to add some legs to my routine. Plus I'm mixing up my other workouts. I want to lose 15 pounds by the cruise in March. So that's the goal!

Work to Live? Or Live to Work?

I'm in the zone again it seems. My current schedule:

Wake Up.
Gym.
Breakfast.
Work.
Lunch.
Work.
Gym.
Dinner.
Work.
Watch last night's Tivo-ed "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report"
Sleep.

Repeat.

And yes that's 2 gym work outs a day. I've been doing an hour of cardio in the AM. And then lifting and 30 minutes of cardio in the PM. The good news is that my "Captain Cardio" routine has helped me drop some weight. And it does feel good to fit into some of my nicer clothes and not worry about them looking like sausage casing.

Anyways, I'm feeling the urge to do a blog rant about politics, but I'll probably save that till the weekend when I have time to think clearly.

Just Me and Sandra Bullock

Yep, that's how I spent my weekend.

I can rationalize that my failure to go out on Friday night was due to being tired after working all week on a proposal. And I did go out briefly on Saturday during the day. But I killed my plans to go out on Saturday night when I realized that I was having trouble getting into a pair of my jeans. Getting depressed about how big I am is usually not a good mindset to have when going to JRs and seeing the S&M crowd. And other than a couple of trips today (church, volunteer gig, and lunch date), I've curled up in my condo all weekend. Sad and pathetic, or just catching up on some much needed rest, or hibernating and hiding from the world? You chose.

Regardless, I''ve been able to spend some quality time with Sandra. And yes I have Netflix movies I need to watch. And yes I have a ton of Tivo stuff I need to watch. But Ms. Bullock just beguiles me and I get sucked into watching really bad TV. Speed, Ms. Congeniality, 28 Days, even Murder By Numbers. I watched them all. Well, not really Murder By Numbers. I'm a bit too squeamish for it. But I channel surfed through it spotting Ms. Bullock there. If I had seen The Net it would have been perfect. The Net has one of my favorite quotes:

Cyberbob: So what do U want in a man?
Angela Bennett: Butch, beautiful, brilliant, Captain America meets Albert Schweitzer. Spends all day dashing into fray while making world safe for democracy; at night playing Bach cantatas while curing cancer.

Exactly! But maybe not so much the Bach cantatas.