Georgia On My Mind

Hello all! Sorry it's been a few days since I last posted. I was in Atlanta, Georgia for a veterinary conference. It was a great conference! It's one of the biggest annual veterinary conferences, with around 10,000 veterinarians, vet students, and vet techs attending. I got a bunch of free stuff, including this super cute baby blue baseball cap that says "Woof" on it in white letters, three textbooks, pet food and treats, lots of pens, three bags that will be perfect for reusable shopping bags, a t-shirt, a cat/small dog bed, and a caricature of my cat! It is hilarious; he has this devilish look on his face and the artist made a caption saying "I will take over the world!" I think I am going to frame it.

The band Train, of Hey Soul Sister fame, performed at the conference, and Merial sponsored the concert, so it was free for attendees! It was a great concert; they played for an hour and a half, and at one point during the concert, Pat Monahan, the lead singer, came into the audience and sang, and I was two feet away from him at one point! We made eye contact. Eeeek! Jeff Corwin from Animal Planet spoke as well, and brought a bunch of creatures with him, including a 15-foot Burmese python! I got an externship at a really nice-looking small animal orthopedics clinic in Annapolis, MD, as well, so I am very excited about that. On our last night there, myself and my friends from school who I was sharing a hotel room with all went out, and we got famously drunk. Falling off barstools onto the floor drunk. We took the party back to the hotel room where an ice cube fight broke out and one of my friends and I apparently drunk-dialed three of our other friends, although he nor I have no recollection of this happening! We had three rum bowls between six people, and boy were they good. I ended up puking before the night was over, which was good on two accounts. One, I didn't take in all the calories I drank, and two, I would have felt a whole lot worse the next morning had I not puked! I felt like shit in the morning anyway, and let me tell you, that plane ride was SO MUCH FUN. Not. I had a headache most of the day, I was extremely tired, and I was worried I was going to vomit at the airport, on the plane, during my layover, and during my second flight. I could only drink coffee and water, because anything else just made my stomach churn at the thought. As happy as I normally am over an inadvertent fast, I could have done without the nausea, thanks. Turbulence and being hung-over do not mix. In fact, my stomach still has not felt 100% today. Ugh!

Anyway, I go back to school in ten days, on the 14th. I am both looking forward to and dreading facing the scale, so these last ten days are going to be super-strict eating-wise. My mom and brothers are heading down to visit my grandparents this Sunday, and won't be back until after I leave, so it will only be my dad and I at home. He is oblivious to anything, so I won't need to worry about my mother watching my eating habits. In fact, my brother may be taking some of the pressure off me. He has recently slimmed down and is working on adding more muscle, I think in preparation for college, which he is starting this fall. However, my mom thinks he is getting too skinny and wants him to put on some weight. He eats one Poptart for breakfast with a glass of skim milk, which is probably 300 calories, and then doesn't eating anything until dinner. He works out most days, too, and I catch him looking at the calorie content of everything, even blueberries. I don't think he has a problem persay, but I think he might be taking things a little too far, because his goal is to put on muscle and slim down, but he is not eating enough in my opinion to add the muscle that he wants. Anyway, my mom is watching him more than me these days, so I guess some of the pressure is off my back for the time being.

I hate money. Let me just say that right now. My dad and I worked on a budget today for my last two years in school, and they do not look pretty. My tuition went up this year, but my financial aid stayed exactly the same as last year, so I basically have less money to live off of. My savings account is crying out for help as well, and my dad wants me to try and save $4000 of it for after I graduate, because most places to rent apartments will want first and last rent up front. I agree with his reasoning, but I am just faced with the cold hard fact that I won't be buying hardly anything except for necessities for the next two years. This is all the more reason for me to lose weight so I can wear all the clothes I bought when I was ultra-thin and would hang off me so beautifully, but just barely fit now and I feel too self-conscious to wear. My one year Blogger anniversary is also coming up September 1st, and I want to make a splash for it, so I need August to be really good. And it will be!!

Anyway, I am going to catch on bloggies :)

Love you, Skinnies!

~Sottile