-0.4

It was not the horrible Thanksgiving week I expected. I weighed in this morning at 216.8, which is 0.4 pounds lighter than last week's weigh-in prior to three Thanksgiving dinners and a lot of unusual eating.

I am extremely happy with this because I expected to be saying, "All I did was eat like a normal person and I gained three pounds." This reinforces my belief that I have learned how to maintain my weight while "eating like a normal person"; it worked during the 35-day stint earlier this year and also worked during Thanksgiving week. If I can do the same + make some progress over the Christmas season, I will be in great shape heading into 2013.

Then again, maybe I didn't eat like a normal person. At my first two Thanksgiving dinners I saw thin people getting a 2nd plate full of the same food they just ate; meanwhile, I felt stuffed. That can only bode well. 

Daily calorie totals for the next week will be posted here.

And, I suppose I should take this opportunity to share other news. On Monday this week I was blessed with a big promotion at work; it had been expected in the 3-6 months range but it blindsided me and a lot of other people when it happened so quickly. I have now graduated from the ranks of PSR, Mentor, Tier II Specialist, Assistant Trainer, and Team Lead; I now get to become Quality Assurance Specialist (it's a new position; I'm not replacing anyone). It's my biggest jump yet; still, it is just another step in the right direction (albeit one that I will probably spend years on). I'm excited about the challenge and all of the things I will be doing, and I'm looking forward to working with the people who make all of the decisions. The only other thing I'm working on is building up my accrued years of employment so I can get maximum PTO (25 days/year + holidays instead of 15 days/year + holidays). :)

One thing I am also very excited about is that Kylie Grabenstein will be replacing me as Team Lead. She is very well-deserving and one could argue with great effectiveness that she should have been one step ahead of me in all promotions. Any time I've been promoted my first thought has been, "But what about Kylie?" Hence, any time I get a chance to plug her merits, I do so. I am having a great time training her this week and I know she will be an amazing Team Lead, likely outperforming me. Congratulations are also in order for Rob Hovey, one of my team members who, as part of the domino effect created by the new position, will now move to Tier II.

I should also let you guys know that I am desperate to get to the doctor and have a lot of testing done. I have been experiencing very troubling, near-excruciating pain in my left arm/underarm/side of chest area, stretching into the neck and back. It has been ongoing for 3 days; I have taken a steady diet of prayer and aspirin in an attempt to subdue it but so far it has not subsided. We are in a buffer period between being on my insurance and Amy's insurance right now, and we need to wait to get verification of Amy's insurance (and ensure they don't try to "pre-existing condition" me) before I make my appointments. Quite frankly, I'm just trying to survive until then. That's what it feels like. Prayers of the semi-urgent variety would be very much appreciated.

One more thing to mention -- I feel like I've been quiet lately -- is where I stand with grad school. I started out with two classes this semester, but quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to handle it given everything else that was going on in life. One day I was driving down the road, so stressed about school that I realized I was failing to see the beauty all around me. At that point I realized it wasn't worth it, so we decided to go ahead and cancel the loan, incur a rather unfortunate cost, and drop a class. We made the decision that any classes I take in the future will be paid for out-of-pocket because, although we only had the loan for a week or so, it made us extremely uncomfortable. The one class I stayed in is going well, and I should have an A barring a collapse in these final 2-3 weeks. I feel good about studying for and passing my GRE this year, being accepted into the MBA program, and doing well in that first class. Next year, I will be ready to start the "MBA core", which is 12 classes. We're actually not signing up for a class next semester, because we're paying out-of-pocket and we know that we will be buying a car in the very near future. In order for me to stay active in the program and avoid having to re-apply in the future, I have to sign up for a class once every 18 months. Of course I don't want to wait that long between classes, but we'll do what we have to do in terms of finances. If I do decide to stay on the MBA path, as long as I have it by the time I'm 35 I won't be disappointed.