Vanity Sizing, Mold, Lost Cat, and Cruisin'

I'm back in Texas for the winter.  I came back to Texas in early September for a business trip and found my bedroom closet flooded from the condensation pipe of the brand spanking new air conditioner I had installed in late April.  The pipe had clogged up, so the overflow condensation went into my bedroom closet - the only spot in the first floor of the house with carpet.  I ripped the dripping carpet out, got the A/C guys out to blow out the line, and called the insurance agent since I saw mold on the wall.  The first appointment I could get with them was October 7.  More on this to come - I'm getting bids from contractors and trying not to bankrupt myself in the process.

When I put the carpet out on the curb for the garbage collection, I accidentally left my front door unlatched and unlocked.  After I went back to Minnesota my 15 year old cat Gracie got outside and went for a walk-about.  

When I got back to Texas 3 weeks later, the first thing I did was to go out to the backyard and call her name.  I kept hearing a soft meow, but thought that it was coming from inside my house.  After checking in there, I went back outside.  I could still hear her, but where the heck was she?  Up in a tree?  On the roof?  As I moved to the other side of the house, there she was, sitting in the tall grass, waiting for me find her.  She was dreadfully skinny, but otherwise looked healthy.  A little over a week later and lots of canned cat food, she's almost back to her old self!

I mentioned earlier this summer that I had been losing weight - I plateaued again, but when I got back to Texas the scale mysteriously started to move again.  Since many of my work clothes were in the moldy closet I felt like I better go shopping.  When I started the summer I was a solid size 14, but bought some size 12's after I lost a little weight, so I tried on the size 12 khakis at Steinmart.  I looked at the tag 3 times, because they were too big.  Yes, I fit into size 10 khakis.  Size 10 was my goal size when I started my journey (size 18-20), because I didn't know what that looked like, only that I had never been there.  Now I realize that I have a little ways to go (20 pounds before I'm in the "normal" range), but still - size 10, people!  There is a term in the fashion industry called "vanity sizing", which means that I'm really closer to a size 14 but that this company wants me to buy their brand, so they label size 14s as size 10s.  Their strategy obviously worked on me, because I bought 2 pair.

And to celebrate, what better way then to go on a Mediterranean cruise with your best friends?  We're flying to Barcelona Thursday night to spend the weekend, then boarding the ship Sunday for 7 days in Florence, Rome, Naples, and Palma.  This is the first real paid vacation I've taken in years, and I'm so freakin' excited I could spit!  The best part (in my mind anyway), is that we each have our own cabin (check out the Studio Cabins on Norwegian Epic) so that we can rest, relax, and chill when we need to without getting on each other's nerves.  All of our shore excursions have a food or wine theme to them, and if there's a cooking course on board, I'm there!