SHE AIN'T HEAVY

Well, it's happened. I met the second Weight Watchers target loss goal. After climbing at the BRC and hanging out with my friends in Boulder, it seems I've lost 7 percent of my starting body weight. To celebrate, I bought a pair of "boyfriend capri pants" (whose boyfriend, incidentally, wears capri pants?) from American Eagle, just to see my kid's startled expression (file that under, "OMG, My mom's buying pants at MY store? WTF?").

I had a slow day of climbing today - my foot is giving me some trouble. But I finally topped out a route I was projecting, and figured out another segment of a 5.7+ that has been kicking my ass. So technically, it was a good day. I'll be back at it tomorrow, of course, because the trip to Shelf Road looms like a glorious sun about to burst from the morning horizon.

I've lost inches off my upper arms, inches off my thighs, four inches off my waist, and five inches off my bust (a humble beginning if you ask me. I was bestowed with certain mammary gifts that have been a pendulous burden for years). And this month's culinary adventures begin in India, thanks to a cookbook I bought in Colorado. I've been working with foods I used to reserve for the "Eew Gross" category, like plain yogurt and spinach, and learning to work with whole spices. I've even made my own curry paste. It's a whole new world odor, man. Recipes will be posted soon.

I'll be heading back to the wall on Tuesday for a more rigorous session. I've learned that I have to have slow climbing days between the "big" ones to give myself time to recover from whatever advances I make. I'm dropping Old Blue (my trusty bicycle) off for its spring tune up today, climbing, and then going to yoga class. If anyone had told me two years ago that I'd be so active, that I'd be so engaged with both the world and my physical self, I would have laughed before cramming a donut down my gullet. Yet here I am, with a goofy grin on my face, looking forward to the workout.

And because I'm so darn happy, I've been working like a maniac. I finished a cartoon last night and worked on a paper. I met with my online writing group in preparation for the Rhetoric Society of America conference at the end of May in Minneapolis, and started working on yet another journal article. A dear friend hooked me up with some great music by Angus and Julia Stone, so I'll end this post with a video from their first album. It's a great graphic piece, and I love it.