Brittany, you too?

I realize I had no personal relationship with Brittany Murphy, but I can't help but feel sorrow for another soul who has lost a life at such a young age. In fairness, I feel sympathy for ANYONE I hear of who has lost a life, not just Hollywood celebrities. It is hard to hear of these untouchable people (Health Ledger, MJ) losing their lives much too soon. As I was looking through pictures of Brittany Murphy, I noticed how horrifyingly skinny she was in her later photos. She used to have a cute little pudge on her during her Clueless time. But, the latest photos are downright scary. It makes me wonder if this death was related to an eating disorder. Or maybe drugs, but I'm pretty sure this has to be linked to her unhealthy weight in some way.

Not to be crude given what my prior paragraph says and no disrespect meant, but I did see my personal trainer at the gym today. When you sign up for 24 Hour Fitness, you get a free personal training session. I met with Fred today. He was a very warm guy with some great glasses. We had an honest discussion of goals, wherein I point blank told him, I will never count my calories or deprive myself of food pleasures. He then proceeded to pinch all my fatty spots with his demonic fat pinching device and gave me my BMI. I'm too horrified to type out what it was, but I looked at him and said "well, this is why I'm here!" I did learn some good stretching techniques from him, and I also learned that you are not supposed to weight lift everyday. Cardio is ok to do everyday, but with resistance training, you must give your body a break. Good to know! I really enjoy my eliptical machine. I get right in front of the tv, and I've watched some pretty good shows! I watched a show about aliens attacking teenagers. Another one about a monster slayer. The best was a show about two teenage goth boys. They took these "hot goth chicks" to a cemetery in an attempt to woo the ladies, but it just didn't work. One of the boys is obsessed with his movie hero, Bruce something, and is a total nerd with a lame mohawk. Totally loved that show.

My friend took me up on her IOU birthday present of a manicure/pedicure today. I haven't had one in forever (being thrifty!), but I do enjoy them so very much. There is a great little salon near my apartment that is super zen and relaxing. We walked in and as she got her lashes tinted, I rested my feet in warm, swirling water. I put the massage chair on, and ahhhh! I went with pink today. I'm normally a red and black fingernails kind of gal, but I was really feeling the natural pink. Very unlike me, but I went with it. The toes are a shiny, light pink, and the fingernails a darker pink, with white tips and a little strip of silver sparkle in between. I feel kind of festive.

After the spa treatment, we went out for some Thai food, which has really started to grow on me. I got a pad basil chicken, which was so spicy that my nose started running, and I can feel the chili in my tummy hours later.

I called my ma today, and we had a good hour conversation. I talked to her about my move some more, and planned out some of the details. There are small things, like getting my mail forwarded to her address in the interim; shipping out boxes early so I don't have to get a hitch; getting set up on online banking for my car payments. There is a lot to do, but how much of it is reasonable to do this early in the game? Regardless, it was great to talk to her about it, as she would love nothing more for me than to move back to Florida. Ugh. Showing her how thought out this decision is, and how much pre-planning I have thought through really showed her how serious I am about this. Every question she had, I had an immediate response. I think it's hard on the folks that I live so far, but the next move will be much closer to them for sure, and they know I just can't fathom the thought of living in Florida again. I'd take snowstorms over hurricanes and 10 months of suffocating heat anyday.

I then talked to my friend who will be doing the cross-country drive with me. I told him the states we were going through, and his wife has family scattered about (and I know some folks too), so we have some solid stopping points along the way. He is a very calm and practical person, so he's definitely someone I could do this long drive with. I told him when I wanted to do this...end of may/early June, as school ends May 29 or so. He plans on requesting time off work, and then I need to buy him a plane ticket! I feel like things are "happening."

In two weeks, I sign up for my last classes of this program, and that will be incredibly exciting. I'm even more excited for my beautiful financial aid check that will take care of my money woes for awhile. I know I have to pay it back, but really, who DOESN'T have student loans to pay back nowadays? If my car loan and student loan are the only debts I have, that's not too bad at all!