What? It's Technically Still Wednesday

Geez, with only sixteen minutes left to Weight Loss Wednesday, you'd think there was bad news to report. But actually, I did myself proud.

LAST WEEK'S WEIGHT: 138.2
CURRENT WEIGHT: 137.2
POUNDS TO GOAL WEIGHT: 12.2

Not bad, right? I'm not sure how it happened, really, since not only did I move forward with my plans to indulge in a big, heaping bowl of spinach dip this weekend while my beloved was out of town, I did it TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW. Once on Saturday night while enjoying my long-awaited Sex and the City marathon, and once the night before at a quaint little pub with Jessi, a blog reader who works and attends law school in Indianapolis. I was so nervous about meeting someone whose sole perception of me was based on meticulously crafted entries and goofy pictures that almost always involve Photoshopping some of the acne off my cheeks, so afraid I'd look like an asshole when referencing something from my blog, as if I assumed people had nothing better to do then commit my archives to memory, but the minute I laid eyes on her happy smile outside the Aristocrat in Broadripple, I immediately relaxed and let myself be carried away by good conversation. Which lasted two hours. It was that awesome.

Plus, I felt a little like a rock star when we would delve into a new topic and she knew exactly what I was talking about, like when we were swapping stories about old boyfriends and I'd said only a few words about my second one before Jessi was like, "Oh, when you were Trophy Frema?" And I was like, "Oh, yeah!"

(How many of you have met other bloggers/blog readers? Did you have a similarly awesome experience?)

In other news, I can't deny my feelings any longer. I miss All My Children.

The Bible reading is becoming harder to keep up with, despite my intentionally leaving the Good Book in plain sight on the nightstand instead of tucked away on a shelf halfway across the room, but I still manage to get my time in more often than not. And I still enjoy it and feel like I've learned a lot. However, the absence of AMC from my daily routine is almost impossible to bear. No, I haven't cheated, thanks so much for your faith in me, that is, unless you count desperately flipping through soap mags in the check-out aisle at Target as cheating, which I don't, because I totally didn't learn anything about whether or not Krystal's had her illegitimate baby, Tad knows his own son is (unknowingly) (of course) playing daddy to the long-lost daughter he once thought died in utero, Babe's fake death has been brought to light, or Kendall is still carrying hottie Zach's child. Easter Sunday will indeed be a glorious day, because in addition to celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, I'll also be reprogramming my VCR to record channel six every week day at one o'clock eastern standard time. Let us rejoice and be glad.

On a related note, Carrisa asked me last week why I decided on AMC as my Lenten sacrifice, which was a perfectly valid question; after all, boycotting daytime television doesn't eliminate disease or help the poor or even make a difference to anyone but me. I really wanted to pick something, though, that hit me where it hurt, and if you had any idea how much time I spent catching up on episodes, lurking on message boards, and combing through character bios, you'd know that by the time Lent rolled around this year I was on the verge of obsessed. For my own peace of mind, I wanted to know that I wasn't as dependent on such a shallow form of entertainment as I thought, and when times got tough, I tried to remember how insignificant my sacrifice was when compared to what Jesus did for us, even though it was an insanely important part of my life. I love the history and the characters and the laughable plots and the inappropriate wardrobe choices made for Susan Lucci (how many times did she wear strapless dresses in November, girlfriends? How many?) and the guilty-pleasure escapism provided by the great and wonderful land of Pine Valley, but I had to prove to myself I could take a step back when that love got out of control.

How about the rest of you fellow Lenten observers? Are you happy with the choices you made regarding your own Easter sacrifice? (If in fact you gave anything up in the first place; I know not every Christian denomination does this.) How did you do? What did you learn?

P.S. Both Bethiclaus and David have decided to take the WLW plunge. Let's show 'em some love, shall we?

Comments

[mjd]

It is still Wednesday in M-ville; currently it is 11:09 PM. Being the shameless person that I am, I gave up nothing for Lent. I think that sacrifice and fasting can be a meaningful and rewarding practice. Especially, when you make some intentional commitment like you obviously did.

Well, I have given up drinking forever unless you count my occasional O'Douls.

[Molly]

I have been 50/50 on my lenten stuff. Or maybe 40/60 or 37/63. Wouldn't I look like quite the ass if I added wrong and said 27/83? Where is this going? I DON'T KNOW.

I can't believe you've done so well with AMC. Nice work, friend.

[VirginiaGal]

Congratulations on your continuing WLW dedication AND success! And early congrats to making it through Lent without AMC.

I forgot about Lent; err, make that willfully neglected to do anything because I am on the fence about the whole religion thing. Living in the state with both Pat Robertson and Oral Roberts can do that to you.

PS. I have a new (entirely pathetic in comparison) blog.

[Jessi]

You ARE like a rock star!! :) Off to Florida to visit the 'rents - enjoy your Easter and your Monday reunion with AMC!

[Rachel]

Congrats on more weight loss! Even with the Spinach dip, which, by the way, could you email me the receipe?? V

Very good with giving up AMC for Lent and following through with it! You're a strong woman Frema!!!

[Silly Hily aka The Hilarazzi]

I have done excellent (if I do say so myself). I gave up fast food and ALL carbonated beverages. Like you said, anyone who knows me knows how HUGE of a deal that is. For me. I allowed myself the cheat on Sundays with the diet coke. Other than that, no diet coke and not an single calorie of fast food has gone into my body. Do you KNOW how good Sonic sounds right now? Every time I would think about having a Diet Dr. Pepper or a Diet Coke or Wild Diet Cherry Pepsi (my new favorite) or some McDonald's or Wendy's or Sonic or Taco Bell (my mouth is watering) I would think about WHY I gave those things up. Since this happened often, I think I have successfully (almost) completed the 2007 Lent season. Amen.

[Isabel]

Good for you. And good for your for choosing to give up something for Lent that is important to you. Your reason for doing so was so nicely put.

And hooray for the weight loss. You are rocking it girl. Your body thanks you.

And yes, meeting fellow bloggers has always been such a wonderful experience for me. Every time. I can't wait to go to BlogHer and have all the wonderfulness times a million!!

[daddy d]

Give up for Lent? No, I just tried to do more teacher stuff. Serve the students in my care, should they like it or not. It is Easter time and a time to reflect on the meaning of this time of the year. Jesus did his part and now we need to do our part for the Kingdom of God.