DAY 255: BEGIN WEIGHT LOSS KICK OFF WEEK

     Happy Kick Off to Weight Loss Week a/k/a Happy Passover!  Passover started last night and despite not going to a seder I did spend time with some Jewish people.  And despite the late night slip up of eating street food--that hot dog always looks good after a couple of drinks--I am well into my Passover observance and well on my way to weight loss.  I always seem to lose some weight during this time.  Probably because my diet is so bread and grain heavy.  Plus, I don't have anyone cooking me delicious Passover food.  Today my lunch was some raw green beans and bowl of matzo ball soup--pre-made from the store.  If that doesn't spell weight loss then I don't know what does.

DAY 254: DAD'S DAY TODAY

     Today would’ve been my Dad’s 69^th birthday.  Happy Birthday Dad!  I wish he was still here.  If he was still alive, I’m almost certain he would’ve driven to Dallas from Albuquerque last night and stayed until Monday.  He would’ve driven straight through, calling me when he got to the Grapevine Mills Mall outside of Dallas, to tell me he was going to get out of the car to stretch his legs, which in my Dad’s language meant shop.  That guy loved to shop.  He loved to shop for pretty much anything and pretty much any store. 

     He also had a fondness for newspapers.  He read several every day: The New York Times, The Financial Times, USA Today, a local paper—The Albuquerque Journal or the Dallas Morning News—depending where he was; and sometimes The Wall Street Journal.  He’d been known to write letters to the editor of The Financial Times.  He wrote a letter about Maureen Dowd’s book Are Men Necessary?  He praised that book and spared with some other letter-to-the-editor writer who thought Dowd’s book was junk.  

     To my knowledge, Dad never read that book.  He thumbed through it, got some good passages under his belt to wield into his letter, but didn’t read the book cover to cover.  He did however gift that book to me.  So it was my job to read it.  Dad gave me the hardcover version with the clipping of his letter to the editor messily folded between the cover and the book’s creamy first page.  See how I’ll never forget him?  He did stuff like that all the time.

DAY 253: FEBREEZING MY HAIR

     Do you do what I do after a late night out at a bar that doesn't have a smoking ban?  (And why do these bars still exist?  I thought you couldn't smoke at restaurant bars anymore?!!)  I spray a ton of Febreeze in my hair so I don't have to smell the smoke trapped in my hair on my pillow all night long.  Hey, it's quicker than taking a shower at 1 or 2 or 3 in the morning.  Don't judge.

DAY 252: SCANDINAVIAN APPETIZERS

     Have you ever had Scandinavian hors d'oeuvres? I'm about to find out at an event called Private Evening in Scandinavia at a furniture store.  That's right, people in Dallas throw their parties any place they can, furniture stores included.  At least there'll be beds there in case I get tired.  

DAY 251: COLD STARS

     I went to a Dallas Stars game tonight and was the only one in my group who was cold.  I brought wool gloves and wore them; but there were girls in skirts and sleeveless tops who felt fine.  I was too embarrassed to put on my wool hat and pashmina, but I had them with me and wish I'd felt confident enough to put them on...  I'll be thawing out for the rest of the night.  Hello heating pad.

DAY 250: KENNY LOGGINS LIVE

     I used to think that Kevin Bacon sang the song Footloose.  Well, tonight I saw the actual singer, Kenny Loggins, sing Footloose, Danger Zone, a song I didn't know he sang form the movie Caddy Shack and a bunch of other songs.  He was really good.  I enjoyed the show, not the valet line so much after the show, but show was great.  Plus, it was a special event benefiting LaunchAbility, a non profit that creates programs and training that help children and adults with cognitive disabilities.

DAY 249: APRIL FOOL'S FOR REAL

     I made a big stink about how I wasn't going to wear a swimsuit to a pool party today and how I'd only wear shorts and a tank top.  I complained about how it's only April and how it's too early in the season to get into a swimsuit let alone get in the water.  But I reluctantly wore a swim suit under my dress to the party.  Well Happy April Fool's Day to me--who was the first one in the water at the pool party today?  This girl.  It is currently 86 degrees in Dallas.  How could I not get in the pool?