I raised my eyebrow and asked what was up, and he said he was watching me shuffle my feet.

Yeah... I was totally checked out by my boyfriend, and he was busted.

In addition to being checked out, he also said that my thighs had more definition in them. Yay to working out!

As a side note, he�s now up two workouts on me for this month since I�m just now regaining the ability to walk since my crazy day of three workouts to ensure I won the contest where I did 30 minutes of leg exercises. Tonight, I must run.

Last night I finished �How to be Good� (I finished �Stop the Insanity!� the night before) and outlined stuff for my class.

Besides that, that�s all I�ve got going on here.

This afternoon I met up with Bethany9 and Ozwald for lunch nearby his class and our offices. Weather Bug tells me it�s 32 degrees, meaning that I won�t meet anyone for lunch again (unless I can get there by the underground walkways) until April at minimum. This was a great way to end the lunch-going season with two very cool people I feel fortunate enough to know, nonetheless call friends.

[group hug]

Being 32 degrees reminds me to mention that 32 degrees feels no different than 7 degrees and that there�s no reason to leave the house at that point for anything other than necessities. Some people are new to the coldness, so I just thought I�d share that tidbit.

I was thinking about people who live in super-cold places and what makes them able to withstand the temperatures. In Chicago it�s not a matter of having thicker skin to the elements, it�s that we have better gear.

I may be wearing a skirt and hose today (damn calves won�t let me wear heels, and all my pants require heels because of the length), but I�ve got on a minimum of gloves, a scarf, and a crazy-good wool jacket. Eventually I�ll feel the need to wear a hat, but let�s remember that I cross four streets to get to work and get a good amount of time under the heat lamps at a nearby hotel.

Besides the cold weather, I got another clue that the holidays are approaching: I got a family newsletter from a friend in Texas.

The first time I got his newsletter three years back. I went through his family�s articles where his wife and he were starting a company, had their first baby, were raising money for the American Cancer Society, and were active in all of these other fantastic organizations, and I seriously had some tears of happiness for them.

I�ve known this friend for a long, long time, and the First Annual [Last Name] Holiday Newsletter confirmed that he had exactly what he always wanted in his home life.

And now today I get the third edition of the newsletter, and they�re doing just as fabulously as they were before, all smiling faces (and an extra face in there too), and all that happy family jazz. I keep up with my friend a lot better these days (blogs are indeed good for something besides self-indulgent ego stroking from strangers), so I know all of this stuff about him already. But it didn�t stop me from again smiling, getting a little misty, and sending good thoughts in his direction.

I love when good people get the good lives they want and deserve, and boy is my friend and his wife top-notch when it comes to people!

Again: [group hug]

This weekend is all about Benito�s house. (I�ll get my turn next week when my furniture comes in and I�ll need a hand moving it where I want it.) Tonight we�re going room-to-room to list what needs to be done in each.

The previous owner of his place wasn�t so good during the whole move-out thing, leaving several scratches along his walls that we couldn�t get out. Paint colors have to be thought out, keeping all of his furniture in mind.

We�re also boxing up as much as possible for a Goodwill run tomorrow, and gathering our strength and patience and holiday cheer to go to the suburbs to run errands.

I sure as hell hope Wal-Mart is a madhouse since their stock price has taken quite a hit lately. Kmart and Sears, you can eat it for hurting Wal-Mart�s attempt at a gain.

In other news, I haven�t been grocery shopping in since my brother came to visit. And seeing that he�s a 6-foot, 200-pound teenaged boy who spent a good amount of time in the house, playing videogames, there�s very little food left.

As far as the pantry goes, I�m down to a can of tomato soup and a box of fried rice. There are also some soy chips, wheat pretzels, and reduced fat peanut butter. The fridge has some chocolate soy milk, two bottles of balsamic vinegar, and an unopened packet of guacamole.

I�m by no means starving, but meal planning is getting more and more difficult as the days go on.

And speaking of days going on, this one�s done for me. I�m heading home to study and run off my yummy lunch before heading to Benito�s tonight.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! �