Bombs, Guns, Burns, Bad Flix, Blues - A Good Weekend

Happy Monday! It is sunny here this morning, and I very chipperly walked to the bus freeway station (1.2 miles) and then got off the bus .4 miles early (Thank you, google maps for providing these distances!). So by the time I got into the office, I was all warmed up and ready to go.

A very nice weekend. Friday night, I saw "Horrible Bosses" with a friend. Oh jeez, it was a horrible movie. Blech. But we saw it at The Big Picture, where you can pre-order your mid-movie wine, and also we sat in the front row, which includes comfy ottomans to rest your weary legs. So we stayed. Still a horrible movie. The outtakes at the end were the best part.

And understand, please, that I am pretty crass and not at all pious. But when did movies get so RAUNCHY?? Wow, that was a raunchy movie.

Saturday morning, I did the Seattle Police Department Community Policing Academy. Fun! My volunteer partner and I did this in lieu of a volunteer shift we had planned for the day. Anyone can go to this training, although we heard about it through the volunteer grapevine, since we already volunteer for the police department. Anyway, the training was fun - it was a day-long dog and pony show for the department and I really enjoyed it. SPD has had a hard time in the press the last year or two: all I can say is I've worked with many officers in a professional and volunteer capacity and they have always been wonderful. And after I got to play with their toys have some equipment demonstrated, I have more respect for some of the challenges they face! I have always said I would be a bad cop, because even wearing the bulky radio makes me cranky. Add in all that extra gear, and I would be a raving beeyatch. How do you go to the bathroom??

It was *very* cool to put on the bomb suit, because just the top half of the suit weighs sixty pounds. Guess who got to experience instant regain of all that extra weight I've lost? That was a very cool experience, to feel 60+ pounds back on my frame. Yay me! I have had the opportunity in the past to try on this suit, but passed because I didn't want the shame of it not fitting. No problemo, now. :)

Also, we got to play with a simulator. It shows these video scenarios of responding to a 911 call, pulling over a vehicle, etc. It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. :) Scenarios unfold, and sometimes it's a shoot/don't shoot situation. When the cops train, they do their whole spiel - freeze, put down your weapon, etc. When I do it, it's "ACK! Stop that! Oh!" But here's my victory picture - the blue dot is me blowing the bad guy's head off, and you can see me in the very bottom right of the picture.

We also met the bomb-sniffing dog and his handler, both super-cuties. It was a very fun day! I really identified with the dog - he only works for food, he is otherwise lazy and not at all protective or motivated to work unless he's told to do so. He was such a sweetheart it made me miss having a dog. I will have to be careful not to fall into that trap now that we are in a house.

Burns! OH MY! I went to the SBUX drive-thru on my way to the SPD class and they handed me my tea, but the lid wasn't on tight and the cup collapsed in my hand. I was covered head to toe in hot tea!! OUCH!! Thankfully I take my tea with lots of milk: I think that's what saved me. But I still got blistered burns on my inner thigh. OUCH!! I was running late to the class, so I just kind of "uhh, I have to go now..." and left. They gave me a comp card for a free drink. It was a surreal experience.

Finally, blues. We went to see a bad blues band on Saturday night. I didn't like them at all, plus I am not a blues girl. But it was nice to see the venue...I am always trying to broaden my horizons and I had never been to this type of place, so it was good to check it out. Too bad none of us liked the music.

My weight continues to hover at 185. My body is telling me clearly that this is just how the weight loss will go. Lose 5 pounds or so, then hang out at that weight for a bit. It doesn't seem like all that long ago that my weight hovered endlessly at 190, and 195. I am just impatient, impatient, impatient.

One thing from seeing myself in pictures this weekend, specifically watching the replay of the shooting simulator, and some pictures my friend took of my posterior:

Firstly: yay me! I'm looking so much better. Secondly: Hrm, I still have a long way to go. Thirdly: Am I going to need a butt-prosthetic?

Edited to add: Oh, imagine how peeved I was to see my portrait hanging at the art museum last Friday! I had been so clear with the artist that it was private and not to be shown publicly!



Voluptas, 1897
Franz von Lenbach