New Schedule, New Pants, New Me

Last Friday was officially the final Summer Hours Day Off. I took advantage of my four day weekend to visit the family up North. It was the perfect weekend for it, with temps in the high 70's to mid 80's, light breeze, and plenty of sun. I couldn't have planned it better. I had a great visit with my parents and sister, and the folks had all the aunts and grandparents to dinner on Sunday, so I got to see everyone except my uncle Jim, who was out in the woods for the weekend.

The secondary purpose of the trip was to have another final run-through of the stuff at my grandmother's house - post-estate sale and pre-goodwill. I was finally able to go through the books (those that were left), and managed to snag a box full of art books. There was also some stemware that I couldn't bear to see go to goodwill. Here I was, thinking I was getting away light this time, right? Yeah, no. Back at my parents' house, they had saved out a ton of stuff for me that they had found right before the sale. Not that I'm complaining, it's great stuff and I'm glad to have it, but it was like "Surprise! More crap!" It really IS good stuff though, including my grandfather's mint condition beaver fur top hat (MUCH nicer condition than the one I already have), a bunch of records, and my grandmother's 1960's-ish freaking VIKING sewing machine! Unfortunately, it's so heavy that I can't carry it into the apartment.

So I noticed last week that my work pants looked absolutely ridiculous on me, and I could put them on and take them off without undoing the button or zipper. While I was up there, my mom and I went to Target and I did some pants shopping. I got four new pairs of work pants, and get this - they are THREE SIZES SMALLER than the last pair of pants I bought!! **Happy Dance** I'm feeling really good about myself, and it's making the pain of changing my lifestyle a little more palatable.

Speaking of lifestyle changes, my Summer Hours at work were 6:00 - 4:30 Monday - Thursday, and I LOVED it. I told my boss how much I liked coming in so early (alone on the floor, no phone ringing!), and he asked if I wanted to try a 6:00 - 2:30 schedule regularly. It. Is. Awesome. I can't believe how much I get done between 6:00 and 7:00 without any distractions or interruptions! The only drawback to this is that I've been going to bed at 8:00 every night and getting up at 4:00 every morning. So far, getting home before 3:30 has been completely worth it though. We'll see if I love it when winter comes and I'm standing at the bus stop at 5:00 in the freezing cold.