What's That Number?

I have lost the ability to remember telephone numbers. I suspect I am not alone in this.

I knew lots of  phone numbers as a child. I knew my number, my mom's work, my aunt's, grandparents, best friend, local radio station... No problem. But with the advent of phones that allow you to program in every number you may ever conceivable need, my retention ability has gone the way of the dodo.

Blair and I were in town this weekend and I wanted to call my mom. "Oh, shoot, I forgot my cell phone," I said.

"I've got mine," he said, handing it to me.

I stared at it and realized I didn't have the slightest clue what my mom's number was. Couldn't even guess at the area code. If I can't hit the star button and then say, "Mom," there's apparently no reaching her.

As of today, I know 4 telephone numbers. My home phone, my cell, Blair's work (only b/c I make myself dial it in case I'm ever out without my cell phone and need to reach him) and my cousin Amy's number from when we were kids. That's it.

My friend Trisha has the freakish ability to remember almost any phone number she's ever dialed. She could prank call a random anyone from the phone book and be asked their number two years later and be able to recite it back. Not the most entertaining of party tricks but hey, it's more than I've got going for me.

Do you think cell phones are making us dumber? Aren't we losing some sort of mental conditioning that comes from having to remember a multitude of seven and ten digit numbers? I'm not sure our society can afford much more dumbing down.

I'd call someone to complain, except I don't have their number.

ChowBaby.com

Here's something you probably didn't need in your life: a direct link to every calorie you consume at a restaurant. Be warned--it's hard to pull yourself away once you log on and see what all your favorite foods are costing you. Go to www.chowbaby.com and look up menu items at your favorite restaurants.

My grande decaf mocha with skim milk and no whip from Starbucks? 230 calories, 42 carbs, 32 grams of sugar and 14 grams of protein.

Or how about my favorite cinnamon-crunch bagel from Panera? 490 calories, 91 g carbs, and 9 grams of fat.

Sob! Oh, the inhumanity of it all!

I haven't been able to bring myself to look up the fat/carb/sugar content of Wendy's fries. Some pleasures in life just shouldn't be messed with.

Edward McKay's

Blair and I have started date nights on Sundays. We do very well to go out with the gray hairs and see a matinee, then eat dinner at 4:30 p.m so we can have our food digested by the time we go to bed at 9. (Others might dread growing older but we can't wait. We're already living the lifestyle, anyway.)

So yesterday we spent our time at Edward McKay's, my favorite used bookstore in the world. It was packed with a combination of families in church clothes browsing the children's aisles for picture books, goths in black hanging out in the "alternate spirituality" section, older people checking out books in the Judo section, and a guy who looked like he'd be most at home in the wrestling ring lovingly pulling out used cookbooks and flipping through them.

I love the energy! You can't pigeonhole anyone and the joy that comes with finding hidden treasures at bargain prices can't be matched. We hit paydirt yesterday. THREE David Sedaris books on sale plus a Stephen King called "Lisey's Story." that I'd never heard of. How is it possible that I have never heard of a Stephen King book??? I almost passed out when I saw it sitting there in front of me for a paltry $6. And now it's mine! Ha ha! MINE!

I also got Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I've read it several times but it's a classic for working and wanna-be writers (most famous for Chapter 2 titled, "Shitty First Drafts") and it was $3. The happiness was almost too much to bear.

After well over an hour at the store, we went to Village Tavern where we had beer, wine, appetizers, and a meal. Lingered over it all, which is unusual for us. We were home by 6:30 but that's okay as we were both tired. I ran 16 miles that morning and Blair had spent the morning clearing briars off the cabin property.

We're quite pleased with Sunday date nights. Less crowds, less lines, and we're not moping around the house, waiting for Monday to roll around.

Who knows? Next week we might go wild and stay out until 10.

Scaling Back

The running is going well, the body is healthy, the mind is fit. All that remains now is to lose the weight.

You would think running 30 miles a week would take the weight off but not so much. At least, I don't notice a huge difference. I don't actually own a scale. We threw ours out about 5 years ago. But I certainly don't notice my clothes hanging off me by any stretch of the imagination. My guess is I've lost maybe 3-4 pounds. I'd really like to take 10 off by the marathon in December. There's a runners creed that says for every extra pound you carry you slow down something like 1 minute in the marathon. So 10 pounds = 10 minutes. That's a lot in runners time.

I read an article that recommended writing down everything you eat.--nothing new there. What was new is that the author said most people consume  1,000 calories a day more than they think they do. 1,000 calories??? That seems like a lot. But I agree with the premise that writing down what you eat and when you eat it can lead to  weight loss, just from the fact that you have to ask yourself if a handful of grapes or grabbing a cookie is worth hauling out your booklet to record it.

I'm only on day 4 but you know what? I think that 1,000 calorie thing is true. I guessed I probably consumed 1500-1600 calories a day. Writing down what I ate, I've found myself a little more aware of what I'm eating and saying "no" when before I might have gulped it down without a thought. Even so, I'm still around the 1500-1600 mark. So it's probably fair I was munching down 500-1000 extra calories a day before this. Ack! So much for my "I must have a slow metabolism" excuse. Apparently it's been working overtime. =)

I'm not sure how long I'll last with the food diary. Frankly, it's a pain. But I'll stick with it long enough to get a firm grasp on what's going in and at what cost.  Ten pounds  in 3 months is doable. Sigh. I'll just have to make Blair do a better job of hiding the chocolate...