Some success with weight loss

Okay, it's time to put a different title on top of my blog. My heart still aches, but my mouth and stomach are better! Boy, that dentist really did a number on my lower left gum and cheek with those injections. And as far as my aching stomach, in addition to being disciplined in fasting one day a week, I have been amazingly able to control my food intake - the kind of food, the amount, and the frequency - in the past month. I also was doing great at getting to the gym more regularly than usual, and as of this morning, I have lost 10 pounds in the past month. Now on a person my size, that is barely noticeable, but I feel the difference. I hope I can ignore all the goodies that will be upon the staff table when I go back to school and also get to the gym after school at least some of the days.

We have all heard the stories about American Idol auditions, but this week we learned about it first hand. Jeremy's boss and coworkers very much wanted him to audition this week in Miami, so they gave him the time off, even paid his hotel! He drove down to Miami Sunday evening, was in line to register by 6 AM on Monday, and returned early this morning for the first round of auditions. There are three rounds before ever even getting in front of the main judges, Randy, Paula, and Simon. I think there were about 10,000 people auditioning in Miami, and that's only one of maybe six or eight cities where they are auditioning! Now many of you have heard Jeremy sing, and we all know he's good, certainly better than Bucky Covington, Chicken Little, and Sanjaya, all guys who made it to the top 12 in the past. In fact he's been likened to Josh Groban. But just like we've heard before, they are looking for the unusual, the weird, the absolutely horrible, as well as the exceptionally awesome singers to put through to the third round, from which the first few shows of the season are made. Jeremy called this morning when he was waiting for the round one audition. He said they have 10 booths, they take four at a time in each booth. At that point he thought they may have listened to about 150 people and only sent 2 to the second round. He said, "They're sending a lot of really good people home." So we were not surprised that he did not make it to round two. He was number 3000-something, and only about 20 at that point had made it to round two. Among those 20 were some that were dressed in weird costumes and had terrible voices. He said that the sad part is that the preliminary judges tell those people that they did great, so they go on to round two and three thinking they're good, only to be embarrassed for public TV when they get in front of the judges. Hmmm. I never did like those early shows, and now I will like them even less. Jeremy did this on a whim and he had fun. It gave him a chance to sing again, something his crazy work and school schedule does not usually provide time for. Now this weekend my former student (also Jeremy's voice student) Heather Harley is going to the auditions in Philadelphia. She works at a bridal shop and has considered showing up in a bridal gown to give them that variety they're looking for!!

When I got home today there was a most welcome sight on my porch - my Gevalia coffee shipment!! I've been getting Gevalia's traditional roast for about 15 years by mail, and I just don't like anything else as well, not even Starbucks. I add a little bit of hazelnut decaf to it, and ummmmm - it is the best - to me anyway. I provided the coffee for our big Witmer and Stauffer weekends this summer, so I've had to resort to Folgers for about a month. But tomorrow morning I'll have me some Gevalia again. That sounds like a good way to start my first day back on the job!