Drove up to Bellevue on Thursday with the daughter for a ‘girls day out’. She talked me into having my lips and chin waxed at Gene Juarez. She always gets her brows waxed there, but I’m okay in that part of the face. I don’t think I’ll be doing any waxing again anytime soon. My face feels funny without all those little hairs. Besides, it hurt! After that, we had facials scheduled at the Clinique counter. One of her friends is a salesperson there, so he did us up together. It was okay, but I think I prefer the stuff I use. I did buy a lipstick and eyeliner, though. Then, we had a nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I stayed almost totally compliant. I didn’t touch the breadbasket. Ate an omelet with portabello, asparagus and artichoke sauce. Ordered tomato as the side instead of potatoes. The indiscretion happened when daughter couldn’t finish her piece of key lime cheesecake. I just HAD to taste it! Took three bites. It was worth it.

We did a little shopping in the mall after that. Bought some smelly bath products. We browsed in the jewelry stores, until we thought the traffic would be cleared up enough so we could drive home. When we got to the car, daughter noticed her wallet was missing. We backtracked our steps to every place we had been that day hoping that it had dropped out of her purse somewhere and someone might have found it. No such luck. We figure someone took it out of her purse while we were having our facials done. We drove home making lists of all the banks and credit card people and places that take automatic payments from her accounts so she could take care of it quickly. What a bummer ending to such a perfectly good day!

I played golf Friday with a 79-year-old woman. She played rings around me. I admired her so much. In fact, I admire a lot of the women I play golf with. Many of them are well into their 60’s and 70’s. They are wonderful women. I want to be like them when I get to be that age. I don’t want to be sick or injured. I don’t want to be miserable and alone. I want a great attitude,

How can I make sure that I stay healthy? I can continue eating right, and continue to try to eliminate the few avoids that I now let myself indulge in. (At this point I think I can count those items on one hand.) I can try to lose those last eight pounds that seem to want to keep hanging around. I can be more diligent at my exercise. Lately I have let my aerobic activity slide to only once or twice a week. I need to incorporate more stretching into my days, too.

Looks like I’m gearing up for a fall push into bettering myself. September always seems to be a good time to give it an extra nudge. It looks like a little journaling will be in order, too. And, visualization….that too. Blogger Cheryl thinks we B’s are naturals at visualizing. That is one area I am really weak in. Sometimes I just can’t see the forest for the trees. So, I’ll probably spend the rest of this week ‘visualizing’ all these efforts taking place while the summer winds down.

Would you please pass the Doritos over here?

I’m spending too much time watching the Olympics. I stayed up till midnight last night. I’m feeling a bit groggy this morning. I’m sure those Olympic athletes have much better discipline about their rest. They probably have much better discipline over their food, too.

Aren’t they all just gorgeous? Great specimens of humanity. The only exception, in my view, is the women gymnasts. Some of their bodies seem a bit freakish to me. But, I suppose that is the kind of body one needs in order to perform those stunts.

I would guess there is a heavy leaning toward type O’s in these competitions. Probably not too many nonsecretors, either. It would be interesting to know the blood types of the athletes and compare them to which sports they are excelling in.

Oh well. I must be off to earn some money to pay for the electricity that keeps my TV on so I can stay up late to watch the Olympics!

I was just having a brisk walk on the treadmill trying to get some inspiration for a blogging topic. Unfortunately, I was also watching a movie at the same time. Bad combination. The movie took over.

I just spent two wonderful days in golf-land. There was a women’s tournament 30 miles north in Tacoma. It is one of the best tournaments in the area. I had a wonderful time meeting new friends and playing bad golf. Now, you have to understand that I AM a bad golfer. My handicap index barely qualified me for this event. I had no visions of winning any prize. I just went for a good time.

It took quite a few years to accept myself this way. When I first started playing, I practiced and practiced and took lots of lessons and played whenever I could, rain or shine, alone or with others. It didn’t matter. I just drove myself to get better. But, I would always come home dissatisfied with myself, because I just knew I could have done better. If only I hadn’t stroked the putter so hard on this hole. If only I hadn’t topped the ball on that fairway. All those and more self-deprecating kinds of thoughts. Then, last year, I couldn’t play because of my neck and shoulder problems. It was too painful. Now that those problems are under control, I feel so overjoyed to be even able to play the game. I do regular maintenance on my body to control the pain, and I try to make it a point not to play golf two days in a row. I definitely have some physical limitations because of the problem. I had to play two days in this tournament, and I am feeling the effects today. So I ‘m using lots of heat, no lifting and doing some neck traction.

But, anyway, I am trying to make a correlation here between obsession and acceptance with golf (or whatever your personal challenge is) and obsession and acceptance with the BTD.

When I first started the BTD I was very ridged. I carried my lists. I kept a precise journal (which is highly recommended for B-types). I think I might have been a bit obnoxious about “oh, I can’t eat THAT!” I planned my eating quite meticulously. And I felt extreme guilt when I ate avoids. I would spend the entire day after a splurge chastising myself and feeling what a horrid person I was.

Maybe because the diet is so automatic with me now, or that I have learned my limits, I feel at ease with myself and this way of life. I no longer feel deprived or “different” because there are some things I do not eat. I know that I am going to be faced with daily choices to eat avoids or not to eat them. I find I do not feel sad if I choose not to eat an avoid. And, on the other hand, I do not feel guilty anymore if I do choose to eat an avoid. I have the choice to feel well, or feel stuffy and bloated.

What I think I’m trying to say here, is that after 53 years, I think I’m finally figuring out how to accept myself as I am, and I’m no longer trying to be the ideal human being that I perceive to be lurking out there. I just go out and do the best I can every day. Is this a result of following the BTD and (most of) the lifestyle recommendations? I believe it is.

Had the most intense training over the weekend. Went to Yakima for Barbershop singing workshops. It was great. The main presenter was from Chicago, and is director for a chorus that has won the International competition four out of the past six years. He was phenomenal. We spent practically all three days on vowel formation.

The eating challenges were all over the place. I did well. Had a planned avoid meal. That was Saturday night. Mexican restaurants have precious little that a B nonsecretor can eat. So, had a huge soft beef taco with whatever else was served. Of course I filled up on the corn chips and salsa. I did choose to have red wine instead of the obligatory margarita that everyone else had. And of course, as expected, I woke up Sunday morning with swollen eyes and stuffy head. Otherwise I pretty well stuck to the program except for the occasional wheat in the salad croutons, or the mini-bagel or toast at breakfast.

The water weight should be off by tomorrow.

Shot a 96 at golf today. Hurray!! It’s only the third time I’ve shot under 100 all season. What a goofy game!