Red Scarf Project

redscarf.jpg,
originally uploaded by bassbot.

I'm probably too late in mentioning this to anyone else who wants to participate, but today I finished my scarf for the Red Scarf Project. Since I work with college students I see how hard the adjustment to college life can be sometimes, even for the kids who have families to give them support. The Red Scarf Project is a way to offer a little encouragement to young adults who have aged out of the foster care system and are attending college without the family support so many others are fortunate to have. I think this is now becoming an annual event, so if you'd like to participate but missed it this time around, keep an eye out for information about the 2008 project. I think the announcement comes out in August or September. (btw, the awesomely cute wrapper for the scarf was courtesy of Melissa, who has many wonderful things related to this project on her blog.)
(ps: don't tell anyone, but I didn't even block the scarf after I finished it. It's made with a machine washable wool blend and I think it looked ok even without blocking. sshhhhhhh.)

January

Oh, January. It always messes with my head. Bare tree bones and evergreens. Want to hunker down in a little circle with my tail wrapped around my nose, just like the dog. I fall down into myself and need to be reminded to come out to play. It's a time good for losing myself in a task-- a translation, a crafted object, a project, anything that lets me sit relatively still and spin in on myself. My bones feel cold even in a heated room. My mind has a hard time pulling away from itself. This is supposed to be the time when things sleep below the frozen earth, preparing for some warmer day when they can burst forth in the warmth of the sun. Time to curl up, bundle up, let whatever it is lying dormant inside make its secret preparations for spring.

And the Other Reason Is This

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my reasons for going to Weight Watchers, although I don't know if I also mentioned that one of the main reasons I go is because it's something I do with my Dad, who I don't see too often otherwise.
The person I was introduced to at the meeting a couple of weeks ago was actually my Mom's hairdresser. This means she is a person who plays a central role in my mother's life, seeing as how Mom is one of those ladies who goes to the salon every week to get her hair "done". Anyway, when I called my mother last week to catch up she mentioned that the woman made the same comment to her that she made to me-- "Pam doesn't really need to go to Weight Watchers." Mom then proceeded to tell me that the reason that people say that about me is because I have a "thin face" and people really just look at that and make their assessment. It's because they aren't really looking at the rest of me.
Well, I know I would have been well within my rights to call her on that kind of comment right there. You know, stand up for myself and tell her that actually my body isn't all that gigantic and is not freakishly mismatched with my face. (vision of pinhead on balloon body dances though my head) But I know that sometimes Mom talks without thinking and can say things that she would deny actually meaning if her thought process was fully engaged as she spoke. What I did was just let her ramble on about it a bit without reacting and recognized in myself that this is probably why I have such a hang up about my weight to begin with.

Another Pingree Encounter

Last week as I was wandering around the empty MUB trying to figure out how to get down to the ground floor to attend some training in the Distance Learning Center for some new technology I'll be piloting this semester. I was walking down the narrow hall where WUNH is located, looking for a staircase, when who comes strolling along in the opposite direction but Bruce Pingree. Now I know he never says hello to me and probably doesn't even know who the hell I am, although our paths have crossed on and off for the past 25 years or so. I still felt compelled to say "hi" just so I could see him walk past me in silence. Then I got to giggle to myself about it before I finally got smart enough to stop looking for a staircase and let the elevator take me down to the Distance Learning Center.

My Dog Is High

My dog is generally a mild mannered little guy. He has a marked tendency toward wimpiness that makes him do stupid things like bark at old people walking on the opposite side of the street and, when at the vet, to react in a panic and flip out. The last time I took him to the vet it took five people to hold down the 25-pound mutt so they could clip his claws. I think he drew blood from at least three of them with his scrambling. After they finished and brought him back to me he was his usual high-tailed, perky-eared self and was happy to see the vet when she walked back into the room. She gave me a prescription for a tranquilizer for him for the next time I need to bring him in and told me I should give him a practice dose sometime to see how it effects him.
Now these are real and good tranquilizers made for humans. When I have had occasion to take them I feel the effects in about 10 minutes and am looking for someplace to lie down and take a nap within a half hour (just what I need for air travel). This morning I picked up the dog from the ex's house and noticed he was particularly pungent. (I'm speaking of the dog here, not the ex. He wasn't home.) Since I have a free morning I decided it was a good time to give the doggie a bath, with some pharmaceutical assistance. After several failed attempts at enticement with cheese and dog treats. I finally just put a leash on him, dragged him into the bathroom, picked him up and put him into the tub. He cowered and skittered and tried to evade me, but he never tried to bite me about it. He was fine once he was in the water. I lathered him up, rinsed him off, let him know it was ok to jump out of the tub and then dried him off. Still no noticable signs of tranquilization though. I figured after the bath he'd settle down into his bed and take a nap. Instead he has plowed through a whole dish of dog food (muchies?), bumped into a few walls and doors, jumped up and barked out the windows at every moving object and probably some inanimate ones too. He just came over to get a pat and then shook off again and smacked his head all over the side of my computer. He's walking around wagging his tail for no apparent reason and wiped out at the window when he tried to jump up for barking purposes. Its obvious that the dog is high and yet not at all tranquilized. Maybe I'll need to give him two pills before I take him to the vet next time.

That's Why I Go

Since last May I've been going to Weight Watchers meetings with my dad every Saturday morning. It's our thing. Progress has been slow for me this time around, but there is progress and I feel pretty good about how I handle my eating.
For the past couple of weeks friends of my dad have been at the meetings, either joining or re-joining. After we have been introduced and said our "nice to meet you"s both of them have looked at me and asked, "Do you need to be here?" It's a nice compliment, actually. My answer runs somewhere along the lines of "Yes. I'm very close to where I'm aiming to be", but it should more accurately be "Yes. This is how I stay out of trouble."
One thing I really like about that particular meeting is that there are a number of people near or at goal who continue to attend regularly to keep on track. There are quite a few people who look like they "don't need to be there." Sometimes I feel less accomplished since I only went in with 15 pounds to lose in the first place (this time around. My Weight Watchers experience started when I was 10 years old) and I'm still not quite there yet, but I don't think letting myself put on that extra 35 pounds I was carrying around 10 years ago just so I can lose it all again and boast of a nice big weight loss is really in my best interest.

Whatshername

This is a weird first post for the new year, but has anyone else noticed that one of the models in the past couple of LL Bean catalogs used to be a Victoria's Secret model back in the day? (late 1980s would be my guess) I just got the Women's Early Spring catalog in the mail today and she's there on page 10 in navy blue Power Dry garb, among other places. She looks the same as she did before, just with clothes on now. I have no idea what her name is. I don't think she was ever one of the big supermodels or anything. I guess I just find the transition from Victoria's Secret to LL Bean kind of interesting.