catchin' up

wow, i can't believe tomorrow's april 1st already. this year is WINGING by! even though it's the last day of the month, which is not a big momentous anything, today starts the beginning of some good life changes for me. the last couple of weeks have been so crappy for me, health-wise... i got really sick, which killed any chances of working out or dancing... i've been eating for emotional reasons because an old friend pissed me off (note to self: stop punishing yourself for other peoples' issues!), and then add to that dating D, which means i'm eating out several times a week on top of my normal eat-out schedule for work. it all adds up to me feeling like crap, and looking forward to getting my act together. so i kept a food journal over the last week... my trainer at the gym is going to look over it (the poor guy, he's going to have a heart attack) and make some suggestions (um, yeah, don't eat out)... plus today we changed my workout strategy, so that instead of doing heavy-ish weights until my knees buckle, we're doing lighter weights with more reps to make it more cardio but still tone me up. hopefully this'll cut back on my can't-move-for-days-after problem, so i can still go dancing and work out for the rest of the week. i feel great this morning after an hour and a half workout, so i'm thinking this is the better path.

i'm bummed the weekend is going to be icky... soaking rain, according to the news. D and i were planning to spend the day walking around boston (good exercise), then hit the local market for fresh veggies and an artisan cheese and a bottle of wine, and make a good healthy dinner and stay in. now instead we're going to be trapped inside all day. hrm. (get your minds out of the gutter. i really did want to get some fresh air and exercise.)

choose life

the vatican wanted terry schiavo back on life support. the pope himself wants to stay on life support (ganked from swankyfunk *waves hi*). yet if a couple wants to create life artificially, it's a big fat NO.

grrr.

forgive me if i've ranted about this before, it's a big personal issue for me... i just hate when institutions (religion, government, etc.) pick and choose within an issue, instead of looking at the overreaching, greater good and being on one side or the other of the entire issue. you see, the vatican can talk about the sanctity of life... and they can denounce abortion because it cuts a life short, and then can talk about the importance of life support for the pope and terry schiavo... but when a girlfriend of mine and her husband wanted to have a baby years ago, and could only create life through artificial insemination, the catholic church was so opposed to it that it refused to marry them.

yup. my friend and her now-husband are a wonderful couple... very much in love, and they VERY much wanted a baby together, as soon as possible after they were married. but early in their engagement, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and had to basically have everything removed to cure it. so before the surgery, the two of them went to a sperm bank and made several deposits, so that once they were married they could still have a child together. as the wedding date got closer and they went through their pre-marital counseling within the church, they were asked the standard catholic question of whether they would welcome children into their lives. excited, they said yes, and told just how far they had gone to ensure that they had a loving home full of children. but at that news, everything changed... and they were denied the chance to marry in the catholic church... because that was an unnatural way of conception. my friend was devastated, especially considering that she was such a devout catholic... went to church every sunday, and was a parishoner at the same church from the moment she was born until they pulled the proverbial rug out from under her.

so, yeah, i get pretty testy when i hear something like this. if life is sooo important to the church that you should sustain it artificially, then i don't see why they shouldn't be jumping for joy at a couple who wants to start it artificially as well. reason #7,396 why i'm not a practicing catholic anymore.