Day Off...Kinda...

Today was a LONG day. I woke up early in anticipation of all of the planned events. I get all antsy like that - when I know there is a bunch of stuff to pack into one day, my internal alarm clock wakes me up at 8 when I could easily have slept longer. Sucks to be me...

So I bounded out of bed at 8 or 8:30am, went online to set up my fantasy teams for the day, and Angela and I were off to the gym. Finished there around 9:45, had to head to work for a bunch of blood results - I diagnosed a diabetic cat, hyperthyroid cat, a Tibetan Terrier with possible Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and a big Neopolitan Mastiff with some mystery weight loss (diagnosis pending). Of course, when I got to work, half of my results hadn't come thru the fax machine yet, so I had to hassle the lab to send the stuff through. We left by 10:30.

My grandma was in town for a doctor's appointment in NYC, and she was flying back to FLA today, so I told my mom that I would drive them to the airport. Yes, my mom is scared of driving to JFK, so being the precious little angel that I am (NOT), I told her I would take them. So, off we went, Grandma Phyllis was taken away in her little wheelchair, we were home by 1pm.

Angela had to do some phone interview for her disability insurance (interesting stuff, I know), she was done by 1:30. I had been ready to rock...but waiting for her interview to finish took the wind out of my sails, so we decided to pass out for an hour.

2 hours later, we woke up.

Angela hit the shower, I puttered around online for a few, then we hit the road at 4pm to go to Old Navy for a bit of shopping and The Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

Made it to the mall at 4:30, went into Old Navy and had a good long look around. Saw absolutely NO shirts that I liked, but found some jeans that were nice - I had to get some new jeans because I wanted to wear some to my buddy Mike's Rehearsal Dinner next week, but the jeans I have from before the summer (Size 40 waist) are too big. Keep in mind, I don't think I have been in jeans below size 40 since high school, so this was a major thing for me. I grabbed a size 38 and 36 of the same style to determine which would be the way to go, figuring it would more than likely be the size 38. Off I go to the dressing room...

...try on the 38's...they are loose!

...try on the 36's...a bit snug, but definitely doable!

So I can now say that I wear a size 36 jeans!!! For all you skinny/normal sized folk out there, this was a big step for this fat guy. I also bought a new belt to go along with the jeans, Angela bought some gym-wear and some other stuff, and we were off.

After this joyous experience, we went to The Cheesecake Factory at 5:15pm - got there before the mad dinner rush, which was SWEET. I had a bowl of Mexican Chicken Soup and Chicken Madeira (leaving 90% of the mashed potatoes behind) and Angela had her favorite Luau Salad - delightful!

After dinner, around 6pm, I decided to go into H&M with Angela to see if I can find a shirt. They had some nice stuff, but I think their clothes are for you skinny people out there, cuz I tried on their XL shirt and it wasn't even CLOSE. Angela started looking at underwear so I bounced. I found the Sports Memorabilia shop, went in, bought myself a new NY JETS cap, which is SWEET, found my little lady again, and we headed home around 7pm.

We are now back in the house, safe and sound. My NY Mets lost to the Florida Marlins on ESPN 2K5 Baseball on my Playstation 2 (which pissed me off, my first loss of the season!), and I was inches away from shutting the system down without saving that game. I HATE losing. I have encountered many things which have tested my willpower over this last year and a half of weight loss - many people at work bring in many culinary delights which I stay away from even when I can smell the aroma of freshly baked brownies, cakes, cookies etc...but the fact that I SAVED that BIG FAT LOSS on my ESPN season...that says a lot. It means that I passed the ultimate test, and if I can resist that temptation, there ain't no stopping me now.

Size 34 jeans, here I come.