Big news!

Sorry for the delay.  It does seem like I have been apologizing an awful lot for not keeping this blog more up-to-date.  I need to get back into a good blogging groove.  This community and recording what is going on in my life is the only way I ever lose weight.

As for my big announcement...  I am going to graduate school!  For those of you who have been reading since I started, you already know that I moved home to New Jersey after starting graduate school in San Diego and only completing one year.  Last winter, I applied to Columbia, Tufts, and George Mason.  I was accepted to all three, but quickly realized that there was no way I could afford any of these great private universities.  So, for the past month or so, I have been applying for job after job, just hoping to get an interview.  Then, two weeks ago, I received an email from the chair of the Community and Global Health Department in the School of Public Health and George Mason University, offering me a paid research assistant position.  I was thrilled, but still felt very uneasy about the necessity to more than double my debt in order to attend.  I asked if there was any possibility of obtaining an out-of-state tuition waiver - basically the school would treat me like a Virginia resident and I would pay that tuition, which is significantly less expensive than out-of-state.  (For those of you not familiar with the US higher education system, basically it's expensive and screwy)  After two nervous weeks, I found out that they were able to obtain the funding for that!  Orientation for my program is on August 24th, so I am moving to the Washington, DC metro area in less than a month - crazy right??  I am incredibly excited to have such a good opportunity and be able to finally get my adult life on the right track.  I will be studying for my masters in public health and hope to work for a government or non-profit humanitarian aid group.

As for eating and my weight.  I was doing very well and managed to get down to a pre-gym/run 135 last week.  Then, I had a few bad days and I'm back to 136-137.  I ran this evening, and hope that will help my morning weigh-in be better.  Hopefully, I will not eat too much since it is supposed to be another really hot day tomorrow.  I have been keeping up with my training plan for my half-marathon in September, so I have been running quite a bit in addition to my classes at the gym.  I know I eat way too much, hence why the weight is not coming off.  Maybe living on my own soon will help.  I am desperate to lose at least 18 pounds.  I want to be 120.  Heck, I would be happy with 125, most likely.  I am simply not working hard enough.

Finally, I promise that I will comment tomorrow.  You have all been writing so faithfully, and the least I can do is leave an encouraging comment to go along.

Tomorrow is a gym day, but I might add on a short warm-up run of 1.5-2 miles or take back-to-back classes.  I still need to try and wiggle into this dress by the time Juan arrives for my friend's wedding in two weeks.  I wish I could just snap my fingers and be thinner.  The least I can do is skip breakfast.