There and Back Again

Disposition: Excited
Listening: iTunes purchases
Reading: Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Watching: C-Span’s Road to the White House
Obsessing: Hayden Christensen
Pondering: Beauty isn’t worth thinking about; what’s important is your mind. You don’t want a fifty-dollar haircut on a fifty-cent head. (Garrison Keillor)

After weeks of searching for a new hairdresser on account that the one I went to last and really liked is on maternity leave, I eventually found one who was worth checking out. And I finally did it, I finally cut my hair short. Not too short but shorter than usual. The new ‘do is chin-length with long layers in the back — a long ways from the mid-back length I used to sport. Although I don’t quite like how the color-highlighting came out, I do like the cut. If anything, it makes my head feel lighter which is more than I can say for the rest of my body.

Lately, it’s been a struggle to get back to the low-carb diet I started earlier this year, which resulted to a much needed weight loss and 2 dress-size drop. Thankfully, I haven’t gained back the weight I’ve lost but I haven’t been losing weight either. Somehow I feel heavier and I feel as if I’m at the cusp of a relapse. I need to be strict again and now that the holidays are upon us, it will be really challenging but I’m going to try.

On a different note, yesterday I watched the extended Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers DVD and I loved it! I do understand that Peter Jackson, the director, had to cut scenes to keep the time down but I have to say, the movie is better than it already is with all the added scenes. I just love the scenes featuring Boromir (played by Sean Bean in the first Lord of the Rings movie) and his brother Faramir. And the Eowyn-Aragorn scenes, in my opinion, were truer to the book than the over-written scenes for Arwen. Even the extended Treebeard scenes were fun to watch. But most of all, the extra Gollum/Smeagol moments were priceless. Naturally, watching the extended Two Towers just heightened the excitement for Return of the King, the third installment in the movie. I am also cramming to finish the book, which means Gen. Wesley Clark’s Winning Modern Wars is on-hold, for now. I’ve read the book before but my sister and I wanted to read it all again before the third movie. Now we’re raising against each other on who can finish the book first. Loser buys lunch and dinner on December 16 which is when the movie is due out at midnight.

Best I sign off now so I can do a bit of reading before Alias is on. Until next entry…

Friday Five (Delayed)

1. List five things you’d like to accomplish by the end of the year.
Finish the Afghan I’m trying to crochet
Finish the pillow I am trying to crochet
Finish Winning Modern Wars by (Ret.) General Wesley Clark
Auction off all the eBay items I’ve been meaning to post
Lose weight

2. List five people you’ve lost contact with that you’d like to hear from again.
Honestly, no one comes to mind. I’m in contact with everyone I need to keep in contact with, despite the distance.

3. List five things you’d like to learn how to do.
Knit, learn and speak the Spanish language, swim, ride a bicyle and connect my iPod to my PC.

4. List five things you’d do if you won the lottery (no limit).
Pay off my bills, car and the house.
Buy a new house.
Buy all of my brothers and sisters a house.
Pay off the debts of my brothers and sisters.
Save and invest the remaining money so I can travel when I want to, wherever I want to.

5. List five things you do that help you relax.
Strap on my noise-cancelling headphones and listen to quiet music
Write in my journal/blog
Sleep
Watch a movie
Surf the net