Two Quick Stories

I am going to share two quick stories today that will illustrate 1) how messed up I am; and 2) how amazing my boyfriend is.

Story #1 - I have been trying to lose weight since I moved in with my boyfriend. Not because he told me to or anything like that, but simply because I know I need to. I am 5'8" tall and in July at my first Weight Watchers meeting, I weighed in at 200.6 pounds. This is absolutely the heaviest I have ever been in my life. According to the height/weight chart, someone my height with a medium build should weigh between 136 and 150 pounds. Now, anyone who has ever dieted understands that 50 pounds is not going to be easy to lose, nor will it be fast. I follow the Weight Watchers Flex program where I assign Points values to everything I eat based on the amount of calories, fat, and fiber it contains. The program is actually really easy to follow. The hard part for me is attitude. When I first started, G (my amazing boyfriend) and I would go walking in the afternoons. I complained a lot because it hurt like hell to make my body walk up and down hills and everything, but G kept going with me and encouraging me all the way. Unfortunately, however, I wasn't losing weight very quickly. This probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was not being completely honest with all of my Points. I would count the bread as a point, but then not count the butter. Or else I would just "guestimate" on the value of something, when I truly had no clue. Apparently, this isn't good enough.

My weight went down, and then up again, and down and up for a few weeks. So, about three weeks ago, after hovering around 190-192 pounds, I finally came to the realization that I couldn't lie my way to weight loss. If I wanted to lose weight, I was going to have to really commit to the program and follow the rules. And G was right there with me, saying what he often says to me for encouragement, "Do it Sweetie!" The results have been very satisfying, honestly. However, I have a slight addiction to the scale that probably isn't healthy, in that I weigh myself every morning and every evening religiously, fretting over every discrepency. This week, for example, was the first week I was actually seeing some results. My pants were fitting a bit looser, and I could see my cheeks beginning to slim just a bit. Wednesday morning I stepped on the scale for my morning torture, and was thrilled to see that it read 186.5!! Hallelujah! I ate right all the rest of that day and again yesterday. But last night, we decided to run to Best Buy to get a new mouse (see story #2, which I'll get to in a minute) and then swung over to the Japanese Hibachi Express Restaurant that we go to all the time. Honestly, I thought I was doing good to only eat half of my Hibachi Chicken, and I knew that I was still under my allotted daily Points. When we got home, though, I went in to weigh myself and it said 190.5! OMG, I was freaking out! Maybe it was the rice, does rice sit heavier even though it has less points? I have no idea. Anyway, the point of this story is that even though I was freaking out over something most men would find ridiculous, my amazing boyfriend put on his coat and walked out into the freezing cold 10 o'clock evening air to go for a walk with me to ease my mind. He didn't get upset with me or tell me that I was being stupid. He didn't chastise me for eating too much food or give me a lecture on losing weight. He simply told me that I was doing very well on my diet and that he would help me in any way that he could. I know that I am very lucky to have someone that is going to stand by my side like that, even when I am being silly.

Story #2 - Back to the mouse we bought at Best Buy... G and I are very much into an MMORPG called Everquest II. Not only did we meet online through this game, but we also play it almost every day. I have been wanting a new mouse for quite a while now because the one I have is very plain and doesn't have any extra buttons that I can program for use in the game. My current mouse also isn't very comfortable on my hand, and since I'm writing or at the computer most of the day, I need a better mouse. So, after looking at the selection for several minutes, I finally picked out a mouse called the "Death Adder" by Razer. It is comfortable, attractive (it has very cool blue lights that light up the scroll wheel and the design on the front), and has some extra buttons that I can program however I want. When we got home (after the Japanese food) I immediately opened the box and read the instructions on how to install the mouse. It seemed simple enough. Plug in the Mouse. Turn on the computer and insert the Driver disk. Install the software. Restart your computer. Standard installation procedure, and I felt confident that I would be using my new ultimate gaming mouse in mere moments.

The mouse apparently had other plans for me. Why does it seem like the majority of things that claim to be "Plug and Play" or "easy to install" just don't freaking work? I followed all the instructions to the letter, but when I rebooted my computer, the mouse did not work! Sure, it gave me a pointer on my screen, but when I tried to left or right click, nothing happened. When I opened up the "TrayIcon", the software that came with the mouse was yelling at me "Warning! Your mouse is not connected to the computer!" I wanted to scream back, "Oh Yeah?? Then why is it clearly plugged into my USB port!" Let me tell you, I have zero patience for this sort of thing. Surely when they were developing this product to sell at major retailors across this great nation, they noticed that the stupid thing doesn't actually work when you follow the directions on their little sheet. It's not as if there are millions of operating systems out there that they have to work around.

Okay, so here's where, somewhere between the rice and the mouse, I started to turn into what my boyfriend affectionately calls... Poopey-bun. There was no "troubleshooting" section in the booklet that came with the mouse, and I couldn't figure out how to make the dumb thing work. G very calmly slid into my computer chair and started to work to figure out why the mouse was not responding. After a few minutes, with me ready to call a 1-800-hotline number for Razer and chew their heads off, he calmly moved the mouse to his laptop, downloaded some driver update from the Razer website, and miraculously fixed the mouse problem like a true modern day knight in shining armor. I realized afterwards, of course, that I was being quite dramatic and silly, but what I noticed most was that, unlike boyfriends I have had in the past, G did not once get frustrated or upset with me.

Oh, and this morning, I went to Weight Watchers for my weekly meeting and weigh in. The results? I lost a pound and a half, and am now officially down to 187.6 pounds. I immediately text messaged G to tell him the good news. During my meeting, right after I accepted my 16 week charm for sticking with the WW program, my phone alerted me to his text response. "Do it Sweetie!"