Scavenging and Celibacy

So, this week is the wonderful clean-up week in my great city. Which means there are a lot of people out scavenging.
Last year my husband and I got a claw-foot tub on clean up week. Our friends, Matt and Dana, got a beautiful, upright, carved piano.
This year has not been all that fruitful. It is the year of the broken appliances and old toilets. I am not looking for either of these things.
Nonetheless, I did have three great finds.
1) a vintage mirror (circa WWII era) to hang in the bedroom,
2) a really awesome hand-made wood chair to put on the front porch which I can now sit out on because,
3) a cabinet to put the catbox in to cut down on smell and litter scattered EVERYWHERE on the porch.
I love clean-up week. It seems to bring out an interesting aspect of people. Both generosity and greed at the same time. And the packrats are out in hordes. I only allowed myself to pick up things I actually, truly needed this year. Because of the purging, of course.
As for purging, my weight purging has not been going well, thusly, I have not written since my last entry. A few days ago I weighed in, and basically, I may as well never have started the diet. that's how bad it was. And why? I don't know, because I honestly wasn't cheating at all.
So, this weekend was spent feeling sorry for myself. And drinking wine. Which is, yes, cheating, i realize. But sometimes it is just hard to care.
I am hoping it is the Ovulation (i.e. weight retention) because if it is not, I don't know what I will do. I have worked so hard for nothing. My body hates me. But I will not give up.
At least I feel differently. At least I feel like I look differently. Even if there isn't other cop-outs.
By the way--why do they call it a cop-out? What does that mean??!!
On the topic of other things I did this weekend...{Mom and Dad, you might want to stop reading now.}
A few weeks ago, friends Sara and Carrie suggested that Husband and I try celibacy until arriving on vacation.
I think, sure, no sweat. That would be fun. Delayed gratification and tension and all of that.
Well, I am beginning to remember what it felt like to be dating and trying to be "good."
Husband did not really understand the purpose of said delayed gratification. He could not see how waiting would make it more fun in the long run. He didn't really "get it."
Thus, I found myself in an irrational conversation with someone who looked like my husband on Friday night, but I know it wasn't my husband. It was......well,......I think I was having a conversation with, let's just call it The Member.
The Member did not understand the concept of vacation celibacy at all.
How could delayed gratification make Hawaii better?
No, Member, it is that waiting will make the results of waiting better, and we will just get to enjoy it in Hawaii. It gives us something to look forward to.
Member: But I don't understand how that will make Hawaii better. We already have Hawaii to look forward to.
Member (new tactic): Well, what if we just start on an even numbered day? That way we can start next week, after the weekend.
Me (the rational one): Monday is an odd-numbered day.
Member: Oh......
Me (the rational one): See, IT will make Hawaii better. Hawaii will not make IT better.
Member: I just don't see how that is going to make anything any better. It will be just as good now as then.
Me (the rational one): No, you don't get it. Waiting makes it more fun.....
Member: Want some wine?

An hour later......I am feeling like I just ruined Christmas. I lack such self-control to maintain prolonged vacation celibacy. Especially when dealing with complete irrationality coupled with Friday night exhaustion and the lack of ability to reason something through with a possessed individual. And husband is now saying to me that we can just "start over" until the vacation.

Yeah, right. And how many times are we going to "start over"??!!!

So, vacation plans, weight loss and other things included, are not going according to plan.

Other than dealing with irrationality all weekend, Husband and I did actually get something tangible accomplished. We finally bought tile for the floor and walls for our bathroom reno. I am excited about it. It was pretty reasonable slate tiles for the floor and hexagonal cream tiles for the walls which we will then accent with bronze accent tiles to match the colors in the amazing sink we bought. So, now we just have to decide when we are going to feel like being without a bathroom. For some reason we just aren't starting this project...maybe waking up in the middle of the night in the middle of the winter to drive a mile to go pee (when we were redoing the sewer line) has scarred me seriously. Or maybe the idea of actually doing this projects is just too intimidating and overwhelming. The Veterans of Home improvement (Matt and Dana) keep assuring us that everything will be fine, that we won't ruin everything, and that gravity won't break. But I wonder....