gigglechick.com

mouth was great - have seen better shows of theirs but it was fantastic to see 'em... fred said they'll be back in july :) photos friday night plus more story

::: plunked in on my treO:::

okay, my precious Fat Off Fanatics! it's time to weigh in!!!!

DO NOT POST YOUR WEIGHT IN THESE COMMENTS...

POST THEM IN THE GREAT BLOGGER FAT OFF BIG FAT FORUM!!!

(by the way - i lost 5 pounds this week!!!! sweeet! i swear - peewee can back me up)

am now eating my bacon egg & cheese sammich as a reward...

(tonight i will post the tallies up on the Fat Off List)

went out to st. francis of assisi church on 31st st. lit a candle for the Pope... very sad about this. i liked him. good pope.

to make matters worse... frank purdue died.

too many deaths this week.

johnny cochran, mitch hedberg, chicken man, the schiavo girl and, unfortunately, it looks inevitable that john paul II is not gonna make it.

over 80 of you chunky monkeys signed up for this thing.... only a little over 50 of you have posted your weight.

YES. you have to register on the forum.

(i've already been chastised by one (now ex)member because registering "took up too much" of her "time" --- not for nothing, but i set this thing up in a week, have been adding people to it nightly, will be adding the weights to it and all that stuff every friday... and the forum registration is free. so, three minutes of your time will not kill you. if you are having problems with it, let me know.)

if you DO NOT want to be on the Fat Off list anymore LET ME KNOW - i'd rather have a smaller list to contend with if that is the case...

otherwise.... GO WEIGH-IN... if you gained weight, so what? it's the first week... there are 12.5 more to go.

WEIGH INS ARE EVERY FRIDAY. this way i can enter them on the list and not have to be sitting around the house waiting for people to step on the bloody scale all weekend.

that said... go. git. weigh in and good luck.

if you are having problems registering for the forum - i will allow you to post your weight in THIS POST HERE only for this week... this will give you a week to register (FOR FREE) in the forum - hell i bought the forum so it'd be a nice little meeting place for the Fat Off...

to enter your weight follow these directions:

• your name
• your # on the Fat Off list
(www.gigglechick.com/erin/blog/fatoff/ )
• what you weigh today
• how much you've lost THIS week alone since
the previous weigh in
• how much you've lost in total thus far.
• if you gained this week, post it, it's okay - hell, it's just one week... you have til June 21st to lose!

heyyyyyyyyyy! am at da jersey blogmeet right now... photos when I get home!

::: plunked in on my treO:::

okay - i am back from "da' jersey blogmeet" ... it was swellegant meeting all of you - i didn't get a chance to yap with everyone, but it was kick ass to see everyone face to face...

i've posted photos (from my teeny camera)

i am tuckered out and will post more tomorrow (man, it's a bit of a hike from brick to union and then back...)

by the way - i posted my photos of the Cowboy Mouth show (from Thursday) --- i may have had a few beers so that night they seemed worthy of a pulitzer prize winning photography award... today, not so much. a lot of fred's sweaty feet...

still had fun...

more proof of life at the blogmeet... hopefully others will post more pics

• kate's pics
• shamrocketship's photos

right now i am gonna watch the Yankees kick the Red Sox asses.

(yes. the season has begun as has the trash talk)

woo! vs. the red sux...

yanks | 9
sux | 2

tino's back!!! yay!!!

too cold for capris, too warm for a sweater.
i really have got to get new clothes for this "almost spring" season *sigh*
clothes that don't need ironing. jeez i hate ironing with a passion... i pretty much just shove what i am gonna wear back in the dryer til most of the wrinkles are out...
in other news, ate like a hog on friday and saturday and weighed myself this morning - no damage done... woot!
gotta throw myself into the shower now - debating on driving the half hour up to the other train or racing like a madman to the 7:20am one...

okay all... it's been a few posts since i've brought up the Great Blogger Fat Off!!!

hope all are doing well and sticking with it - heck, it's only the beginning of the second week!

what's going on? go yap on the boards... i've added another thread called the Weekly Yapfest - so ya' can check in and say how you're holding up (friday will be the weight check-in)

so Fat Off Folks, feel free to fiddle with the forum!!

(yes. it's 1am and i am loopy on alliteration.)

mornin'. I fricking forgot my lean cuisine today. arrrrgh.

dog was barking. I was rushing around. had to set vcr (amazing race tonight). had to check emails. threw wrinkled clothes in the dryer to "iron"...

looked at the clock... 7:40am. crap. squan train is at 7:50 so I had to drive to long branch... this is nothing out of the ordinary for my morning routine...

last night went to the food store and bought more lean cuisines... and whatta I do? nothing. forgot my chicken enchilada suiza (which may be for the best - haven't tried that one before) right now on the RRE, there's a crazy woman that usually sits in the last car (where trip, bj and I usually sit) word on the street is she mocked my pink coat a few weeks ago ... there's a group of "regulars" in this car... the RRRof the RRE (regular riff raff) - have had my eye on one cute guy that gets on at red bank... I forget if i've seen a ring on him before (no clear view this morning)

note to self: start going to tanning... feeling quite pasty lately.

another note to self: get some fruit for lunch or scout up a bodega that has a lean cuisine in it....

(oh... and congrats to those Tarheel Boys! what a great game!)

::: plunked in on my treO:::

okay - so out of the 88 who signed up - within one week about 20 disappeared - go figure...

anyway --- the top three LOSERS this week are:

#63] C-C | -10 pounds!!!

#81] sara | -8 pounds!!!

#72] amy | -5 pounds!!!

erm, and i suppose there's a tie for third ----

#1] gigglechick (me!) | -5 pounds

----- go check out the list -----

now, to the folks who've vanished - come on - THIS friday - post what's transpired, if you've lost or gained....

(i think this week for me may not be so dramatic... friend is visiting... arrrgh. and she always wants to eat.)

first thing i did this morning was pack my lean cuisine... seeing as i ate 1500 calories yesterday when i should only have had between 1200-1300... think i may be posting a gain on the friday weigh in... whatever (the "friend" will be arriving on the Monthly Express in a few hours... sorry, fellas.)

was up til 1:30am reading and writing emails... again... digging the emails that i received last night [insert sly grin here]

and by the way.... i am totally jealous of some folks who are going to the yankees/red sux game today... an afternoon game on - what looks like - a beautiful day.... 2 down....

okay so... i'm on the RRE and "JB" and trip were on there (of course) and apparently saw the bit about the "cute red bank boy"... red bank is one stop away... we'll see how non-chalant they are.

not a good day to start stalking red bank boy. i'm bloated, breaking out, constipated, smell like stale cigarette smoke and have really dry skin and oh fuck.... cute guy just sat in front of me... crap.

yeah. that figures. now trip and "JB" are singing the theme to the Love Boat.... that's just swell.

god I really smell like frigging cigarette smoke. damned gigglemom.

(he's got a nice laptop... still can't see the ring finger.)

(yes. I said he has a nice laptop... go ahead Gutterminds... make your pithy, wiseass remarks :)

::: plunked in on my treO:::

married. saw it when he moved his backpack.

no stalking to be had this day.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

he's sensitive, he's sexy, he's Brawny

amazing. simply amazing.

erm... now, after the funeral, whose house in Rome is everyone going back for ham and cold cut sammiches?

okay all y'all Fat Off Folks.... it's time for you to weigh in!!!
go to the forum and post it in there now!!!

so I have to run a 5k tomorrow in 'squan called the Fool's Run...

I hadn't started training til 5 minutes ago when I needed to run 150 yds from my car to the train in long branch... luckily, for the first time in a month, i'd put my running shoes on (mainly because my right foot has still been in pain - remember the podiatrist last month - and the bunion is pretty much screaming and growling at me with every step... yes. the illusion of my "perfect" body has been shattered by bunionspeak hasn't it?)

that said. have layouts to design before I get into the office... and I have cramps... happy friday.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

ugh. after a few pints, IMing is lovely.

okay - so... i ran the.... okay... WALKED... the 5k Fool's Run (fools run. geniuses walk, i say) in 48:32... (we were on our cell phones trying to get springsteen tickets for 2 miles)

i KNOW that i will be running the Parker House Toyota 2 Mile Run and hiding in the bushes...... with the keg

had a LOT of fun today - hung out with jude. met a guy with a Meat Market shirt on and then hung with my friend Lynda and now am home at 9pm and dog tired.

O'Neill's Bar in manasquan is having a golf outing on Thursday, July 14th (yes, Bastille Day)... it's $175 (i have to register soon because spots are filling up.) there are shotgun starts: one's at 8:30am (gotta be there by 7:30) the other's at 1:30pm (gotta be there at 12:30)... cocktail hour/buffet is from 6-8pm

it's $175 and that includes greens fees, power cart, refreshments, gifts & prizes, buffet and two hour open bar....it's at Woodlake country club (where i went for my senior prom)

benefits Tim O'Neill who has ALS (lou gehrig's disease)

it doesn't really say if it's a scramble, etc...

hopefully will get carol to join up with me... she wanted me to play in a may 9th tourney, but i can't - my other art director is going on vacation that week, so i can't really take off that day...

of course, by july 14th i will be at least 20 pounds lighter (what, with the Fat Off and all that ending on my 35th b-day)

at first, i'd been rooting for this kid, but week after week he has been making me shake my head and be like "what the frig are you still doing on this show???"

so I am sitting here on the RRRRE (Really Really Riff-Raff Express - the 9:06am out of long branch - seriously there are already guys drinking beer... frigging mets fans)

I was running late.... had to wear my boot the nutty podiatrist gave me because I can barely frickin' walk on my right foot and the boot is actually the only thing that's not killing it.

so I hopped on the parkway to get to long branch and it was a parking lot. so I got off 7 miles later and hopped on 18... made it to long branch and had to park further than I was on friday... no running to be had... the 8:24 RRE was still in the station!!

I hobbled to the parking money slot thing... then hobbled down the stairs as fast as I could, then hobbled up the other stairs halfway and the frigging thing pulled away...

so I waited for the 9:06 - and I am on it... and they just announced that due to wires being down at newark, we'll be 45 minutes late. I COULD opt to take the PATH train once I get to newark... but then I'd have to switch a couple of times, wait for other off-peak trains then walk a couple of extra blocks to get to the office. any other day I would be fine with walking... except buniongirl is in pain

::: plunked in on my treO:::

am standing on the PATH train right now. frigging am late as hell. njtransit train sat outside newark for an hour. I am pissed.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

after my 5 hour commute today i need to seriously start thinking about moving back up north... so, if anyone wants to help this poor slob move, send a buck to the mini giggle fund over there (i'll be changing that button.)

help.

5 hours.

i have an apartment all lined up as well, and it's $1500/month

am not sure about moving... I certainly WANT to... but it's $1500 a month -

of course, for the hell of it, not only because i don't want to change my mini graphic.... but, i kinda went on the mini cooper site, priced out my ultimate mini cooper convertible S and applied the loan that i actually was approved for (and is in my account) and the payments will only be $220/month...

so that, with my $420/month loan payment and then the mom $$$ and all that stuff in the aforementioned post... well, kinda works out to be cheaper than the apartment... and if i had a mini, well, then i would not complain about my commute (still on the train, but i'd dream of the mini every day)

i think i am going to test drive one this weekend...

yeah, you guys have been reading my site for long enough to know that i am flighty, impulsive and a little on the loopy side...

the thing is, thinking about this, i don't have a stomachache, whereas thinking about the move and apartment and crazyass rent, well, i have been in the bathroom with stomach cramps and the onstart of an ulcer thinking about it...

and if worse comes to worst, i can always live in the car. it might be cramped, but, hell... it's a mini :)

first off, thanks for the comments.

let me clarify everything now.

1) i am not taking the apartment.
2) i am going to attempt to purchase a mini cooper convertible s on saturday

as for not taking the apartment. i can't swing $1500/month on top of still giving mom cash... which brings me to the next group of suggestions:

no. i do not do roommates. have in the past, and swore i would never have one again. may as well live with mom. i'm 34, not in frigging college.

mom is not going to take in a "roomie" either.

i will stay at home. help fix up mom's condo with the idea of selling it. once sold i will have the profits and put that as a down payment on a house somewhere.

no, i am not moving halfway across the country and leaving my job that is great to go somewhere that is not exactly known as a design mecca.

i do not "need" to get another car. so that's why i am NOT going to an auction, or buying a used one... you HAVE seen the mini giggle fund callout before. it's a dream car and i am going to treat myself to it (and hopefully the mini cooper website wasn't figuring payments wrong...)

what i WILL be doing is giving my 99 chevy cavalier to mom who owns a 91 tempo that doesn't have heat, or A/C -- nor does it have windows that go down. it's been described by a mechanic as "a disaster waiting to happen"

so that is why i am getting a new car - because A) i want one and B) to give gigglemom mine

my gut - which i hold it's opinion in the highest regard - had been flipping all last night and this morning - the idea of an apartment is nice. did i want to become a benny again? no. i am a shore girl first and foremost.

if anything happens to my job (god forbid) at least i will not have to worry about a lease, etc.

what are you talking about with "her HUD situation" - oh hell no that was not just said in my comments, was it??

my mother is her own person with her own taxes. she is not a dependant on my taxes, nor i on her's... let's get that straight.

whatever. i merely was pondering earlier today whether or not i should pay out the ass for an apartment that would be available may 1st --- in which - after all is said and done with every bill i have going each month, i would have $115 to my name... whereas if i get the car, after all the bills i have, i will have $1643 left over -- so... it's really not exactly a brain twister as to what the smartest decision is.

sure, i'd like to get out and back on my own... yes. the smoke kills me... yes the commute is grueling (although i know people who've been doing the same commute for over 20 years... so i shan't complain too much)

and when i get a mini cooper convertible, i will be grinning through it's windshield...

i have it pretty good in this house - after i've figured out finances and all that... yes, i am living with my mom at 34 (going on 35) but hey, i can always stay over other's houses if needed... and as i said before i moved back down - maybe it's a good thing that the condo is akin to a chastity belt on me right now.

i applied for financing on the mini cooper website today and they approved me... all i have to do is head over to princeton on saturday and take a test drive, tell 'em what i want, fork over a down payment and then smile.

back in 1991, i had come into a good chunk of change from my car accident when i was younger - and i went to the mazda dealership and test drove a miata - the car of my dreams back then. i drove it for 6 hours. it was blue. and then i was sitting there in the dealer's office, pen in hand, about to sign - cash. full payment. right then and there.

and i choked. my gut said no. not now.

and every time i see a miata i get a little wistful

i am 34 now. and yes, i have been whining about the mini cooper convertible s for about a year now....

i am going to bite the bullet and take this sucker on... i am finally getting some decent credit and i am going to use it...

anyway - i am not trying to growl at everyone who commented. i am fine with the comments, but come on, some of them were a little ridiculous.

and my back-up plan:

i'm playing the lottery.

then again, i have always liked the vw beetle convertible, too :)

nah, i still like the mini... the payments might be a tad more than i thought (i thought i was getting the Mini Select payment plan, but that seems to be somewhat LIKE a lease - don't want that because there's a balloon payment at the end. no thanks and i can't trick it out til it's paid off (and then what? i have to get the frigging thing all tricked out after it's 4 years old? no.)

Yeah. My old boss could only come down to $1450 for the apartment... so i did a last minute crunch of numbers - lo and behold, i would be in the frigging red about $240 every month... (and that's with only having a cell phone as my main number)

the mini (if payments are around $600) will leave me with $400/month in pocket (which would be for mom's cigarettes.)

more than likely i will be just sitting home alone at gigglemom's... no mini, tired from the commute, uterus out of service, cranky and cradling a bottle of anti-depressants...

yeah. that sounds about right.

word on the street is that Mini will not go below 6% for financing.

yes. you read that correctly. six percent.

if that's the case, it's the aforementioned uterus, anti-depressant situation for me.

that would mean my payments would be almost $1200/month --- which would be wayyyyy more expensive than even taking the apartment in jersey city.

screw it. i should take my $7K loan and go to the roulette table at Trump Marina.

so, eh, penn station's on fire or something. huuuuge gates closing it off so no one could get in.

was gonna attempt to take the 6:14 train out...

have popped on the PATH train and will head to newark

shoulda seen the news choppers swarming overhead... before I knew about it I was a block away and heard them... thought to myself "hmmmm why the eff are they RIGHT above me? that isn't a good sign" and then I saw the police and fire dept and newscameramen on foot... and the huge throng of people standing outside a gate I never knew existed.

so, first thing I thought was "get to the PATH before anyone thinks of it" and it's relatively empty (by rush hour path standards) of course I could be engulfed by flames in a domino effect tunnel fire (odds are no.)

speaking of tunnel fires... and burning a hole in one's pocket...

priced out a vw beetle convertible... will test one...

wish me luck with the commute (by the way... yes I want to move up north... but I won't be going to the heights,etc of jersey city... scares the funk out of me there... already was attacked downtown don't wanna be in the heights and the price of those apartments is somewhere around the $ I can afford.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

actually i really don't want to move up north all that much. and i can't afford to swing the rent and utilities etc etc etc PLUS paying part of mom's mortgage on top of it (because that's not negotiable)

as far as a car being a "financial loss", i would think that a car is a bit more of an asset than handing money over for rent - without the option to buy - yes, i would like to get out on my own.

but part of me does not want to be stuck in jersey city should anything happen (job, family, etc).

the point about RHBs... well, any RHBs that are interested should have their own place that i can crash at.

as far as the whole political aspect of one comment... um, not for nothing, but i've been wanting this frigging car for well over a year and a half... i am a designer, these things make me salivate --

i really resent the fact that there was a comment suggesting that i am manipulated by "the gnp/republican political agenda" - i just want to get a fucking car that i actually LIKE, not a piece of shit that i don't need and will despise.

3 years ago my 210,367 mile ford escort's axle broke in half and i had to go out and get my cavalier - which was 3 years old at the time - i didn't have a choice with the car. it was the only one that was available to me because of my credit and the price. while the car has been fine, i want a frigging mini cooper. i don't exactly feel like buying a car i want is not being "grown-up".

i will be giving my cavalier to my mother - whose own car has NO heat, NO A/C, and no windows that move up or down.

i am test driving the thing on saturday and will see how my gut feels that day. if it's cool with it, then i will buy a mini. if it's not cool, then i just let my loan $ sit in the bank.

even though the longer i let it sit there, the less of a chance it will have to accumulate because i don't DO WELL with long-term money ...that and the fact that if i keep the money in the bank, gigglemom will more than likely guilt me into buying new plumbing or a rug or something like that.

for ONCE i want to spend it on me. i can't move. i would like to. but i cannot pay rent AND mom's mortgage. i've tried to figure out a way. even if rent somewhere was $1000, i'll have $350 left each month.

and yes, if you are about to comment "well, move to an apartment down the shore - just get out of gigglemom's" -- well, the rent down here is ridiculous as well (the price of houses is crazy so everyone has loopy ass mortgages.) so loopy rent with mom's mortgage and then the monthly train ticket as well as gas, electric, cable/internet, cell phone, my loan, my storage unit, and what i pay to keep all of my websites running... well, it's a bit steep and i wouldn't be able to do it.

here - at risk of being tacky... but whatever... you all basically know every aspect of my life anyway.

this is if i rent a $1000 hovel in jersey city:

rent: $1000
PATH: $60
mom: $800
storage: $150
gas/elec: $100
cell: $150
loan: $360
cable/int: $120 (approx)
gas/car: $50
food: $300
web: $70
_____________
$3160

this is if i rent the $1450 gorgeous apartment in jersey city:

rent: $1450
PATH: $60
mom: $800
storage: $150
gas/elec: $100
cell: $150
loan: $360
cable/int: $120 (approx)
gas/car: $50
food: $300
web: $70
_________________
$3610 (which puts me in the red by $170... can't live)

this is if i finance a mini - let's say for $570

mini: $570
train: $291
mom: $800
storage: $150
cell: $150
loan: $360
gas/car: $150 (might be less, i am overestimating just in case)
food: $400
web: $70
_____________
$2941
(see, cheaper. yeah i would be locked in for a bit, and the commute may be killer, but still... it's a MINI.)

YES. i could forego the mini and pocket the $570 a month that i would be shelling out for it - slap it into a savings account and then have $30000+ in 5 years. hopefully gigglemom and i will have sold the condo by then and i would have a down payment for a house.

maybe so. that doesn't sound horrible either.

as i said, i am test driving the mini on saturday (unless i snooze in too long.)

so there you have it. the math. the life-sucking soul-sucking math.

hmmmm. just noticed that i said "have 30,000+ in 5 years" --- jeezuz i'll be 40 and i didn't even think of putting it towards a wedding... but then again, according to the comments, i am not desirable if i live in my mother's house.

and i do know that mom's car is going to crap out on her within the year (if not, sooner) and i'd rather have her in a safe car like the cavalier than the 179,000 mile '91 ford tempo.

plus, one reason i moved back in with mom 2 years ago was because she was sick. and now it's worse with the oxygen... not that she's not mobile and going to work, but still, it's a bit on the scary side thinking of her alone

ever see "Only the Lonely" with John Candy and Ally Sheedy? well, i can look somewhat like a chunky ally sheedy but with the mental crap going on in Candy's head... mixed with a healthy dose of "Terms of Endearment"

gleny - mr. mini guy - created this for me... :)

thanks, gleny !!!

okay.... so... i have to work this weekend (yes. weekend commute)

what does this mean? no mini test drive. plus i'd asked the chick at the mini dealer what rates they give for excellent credit and she said the lowest is 6.5% for "ELITE" credit (eh, my credit is not so much on the elite side.... it's like, pulling itself up out of the mire kind of credit...)

so, divine intervention.... it's stepped in --- between my mini and me.

so i hunkered down tonight when i stepped in the door and watched The Apprentice...

ohhhhhhh baby... mini who? mini what?

I WAS BORN ON THE SUMMER SOLSTICE .... perhaps this is my "density"

(not sure where the hell my golf clubs will fit though.)

-------UPDATE-------

so last night after seeing the Solstice on the Apprentice, i wound up staying up late...

watched Letterman - who had Anthony LaPaglia on who was talking about his new movie "Winter SOLSTICE"

then i watched Craig Ferguson - who had Fran Drescher on and while she was talking i was tuning her out then she said something about "blah blah blah... summer SOLSTICE [insert annoying laugh]"

then this morning the weather guy on the today new york show said "yeah, you have your winter and summer SOLSTICES"

come on. have people been using the word Solstice in every sentence in their everyday talk for a while or is this just kinda FREAKY?????

solstice.

i've lost 3 pounds this week!!!!
so in total since the Fat Off began, i've lost 8 pounds!

SWEET!

okay, so, all of you involved with The Great Blogger Fat Off - you know what day it is..... it's weigh-in day!!

so GO TO THE FORUM and post your reply in this thread!!

IF you are having problems getting into the forum, yes, you may post your weigh-in here... using the same format as on the forum:

• your name
• your # on the Fat Off list
• what you weigh today
• how much you've lost THIS week alone since the previous weigh in (PLEASE put a + or - sign in front of the number)
• how much you've lost in total thus far. (PLEASE put a + or - sign in front of the number)
• if you gained this week, post it, it's okay - hell, it's just one week... you have til June 21st to lose!

please for the love of all things holy DO NOT EVER CHANGE YOUR BABY'S SH*TTY DIAPER NEXT TO ME ON THE EFFING TRAIN AGAIN WHILE SINGING OLD MACDONALD.

dear god I am about to wretch.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

at risk of riling more mothers who enjoy the public display of bodily fluids/solids:

okay... so no car or fecal talk here...

go. laugh. erm... or sing along.

and i agree, the kid in white is my favourite human as well.

[snagged from paul]