199 - ... is 200 minus 1

So I was paying bills online, and there it was... $41 due to Bank of America... the $6 credit card charge for my bloody Mary plus a $35 returned check fee... Damn. I attempted to pay it, but my online payment privileges have been suspended... I called to rectify that once before, but wimped out after they transferred me to another dept, because it was at that point that I finally realized what had happened... and I just couldn't couldn't face it right then. I was too ashamed.

Admittedly the $35 fee rankled me, but it was my own idiocy that caused this, so I was prepared to eat the crow, or pay the piper as the case may be... I was going to call tomorrow (did I mention I procrastinate), but decided to tackle it tonight. Hoo-ah! My motivation came from the fact that I'm terrified of doing anything to upset the delicate balance of happy creditors I've got going. I'm afraid to blink wrong until the 22nd when the new laws kick in.

I know I confused the crap out of the representative who answered my call... but I guess my ability to laugh at myself put me on her good side because she took the $35 fee off (and I didn't even ask!), and let me pay over the phone without charging me the usual $15 fee. Awesome. And she got a good laugh out of it after I told her I felt like a complete a-hole once I figured out what had happened. I think it was probably a good thing that I called during a slower period, if she'd been in a bad mood she might not have waived anything. So happy-happy joy-joy, I think this little episode is behind me.

Tonight I skipped Jillian and did Gilad. He is killing me in an entirely different way. He works the legs to death (it burns!), then he exhausts the arms (they burn!), then he destroys my abs (it burns!). But I do notice that he combines moves like Jillian does. I don't know what it is about him, but I really like his workouts... always have. And no, it's not because he's eye candy... I think it's that he was the first one who made me aware of my form. Once I started paying attention to that I could actually feel my body getting stronger. It's amazing what a difference it makes if you go into a squat and push up from your heels... you feel it in a totally different way. So I think I'm going to alternate Gilad, Jillian and the treadmill. I may even break out the Total Gym. I have two issues with that though: space, and one of the pieces on the handle is missing, so it's almost impossible to use it without injuring myself -- and since I didn't buy it directly from Total Gym, and can't find the damn serial number -- they won't sell me any damn replacement parts! Seriously! When one of the cables frayed, I had to find an aftermarket seller. In that instance it worked out great, but with this little part, I don't know what I'm looking for... Plus, my beloved Sammy used it as a scratching post, so the piece I lay down on is all fucked up and prickly. Someday I tell myself I will buy another TG... I loved the crap out of it, and it does work, but I look at the price, and assess my current lack of space and decide against it (note: they claim that you can roll it under a bed - HA! Size-wise, you could, but weight-wise... you'd better be in good condition...)

Got my Julia Childs cookbook yesterday afternoon. It was a bit of a letdown. I guess I've grown used to more modern cookbooks with a certain format to the recipe. And I like pictures rather than drawings. Everything seems so complicated, and even though she says you can get all these ingredients in the grocery store... yeah, okay, you can... but some of them are ingredients with modifications... Like cream... you use heavy whipping cream, but then you have to add a Tbsp of buttermilk to it and let it sit for 8 hours in order for it to be like French cream. WTF? After skimming through it, I'm not sure I'll be doing much more than letting it be a conversation piece on my bookshelf. And holy hell, I bow down to Julie Powell for having cooked her way through that tome... it's not a project I'd want to bite off! No way, no how. Someday I will make the beef burgundy though...