Sin City...Again!

I'm going to Las Vegas this weekend. I am sure it will be a great time because:
1. We are staying at the Bellagio. Yes, that Bellagio. The one featured in Ocean's 11...perhaps the fanciest hotel on the Strip.
2. Another female will be coming with us, so if I get bored by J. and his brother playing craps all night, I will have someone to shop and/or drink margaritas with. Also, she's very nice and I am sure we would have a great time perusing the Prada, Dior, Armani, Gucci, and Chanel shops. No, I will not buy anything. But it will be fun to look!
3. The weather: currently predicted to be in the 70s throughout the weekend.
4. I might try my hand at Baccarat, the game of Kings. I was reading up on Baccarat the other day, and it is surprisingly easy to learn. Of course, I kind of hate gambling and don't like throwing money away, but I am willing to wager a little bit to test out my skills. I've been practicing online...I probably will be too intimidated and/or chicken to go up to the actual tables, but maybe I'll just hang around them and watch.

Note to self:

Do not write about the merits of Amtrak before you actually take the trip. As it turns out, I did not actually take the train to Minnesota. The train was delayed about 25 hours and I waited for 11 of those hours at the train station. I got home at 1 am. My brother then drove down from Minnesota to pick us up and drive us to Minneapolis. Then, on the way home, my train was delayed again. So I took the bus and got home earlier than I would have on the train. The bus also cost only $55, compared to $130 for the train. My mom couldn't take the train back either. Luckily, my brother's friend was visiting and he drove her home.

I will never take Amtrak again. At least we got our refunds.

Time Flies....

...When you are busy at work. But now I am on winter break and I am quite enjoying it. I am looking forward to going to Minnesota with my mom to see my brother, his wife, and my nephew.
I am excited because we'll be taking the train! So it should be a nice, relaxing trip.
And then I will be back after Christmas and I'll be headed off to Texas. And that is all that I care to write right now!

My Meyers-Briggs Personality Type

It's scary how well I fit this...
I'll highlight the things that seem most relevant.


Ethical-Intuitive Intratim - INFj (The Empath)


INFjs have a very characteristic dispassionate facial expression. This is often reminiscent of the depiction of saints and martyrs from early Christian icons. Their faces convey the feeling that their soul is suffering even when it is not. (note: I get accused of looking unhappy and told to "smile!" all the time)INFjs faces are often perfect ovals but can be rectangular in shape as well. Their noses are usually straight and slightly elongated, but not prominent.

INFjs do not show intense positive emotions, instead they simply smile. All their facial expressions openly reproach nefarious happenings. The same can be noticed in their intonation. In many cases INFjs have a slim, ascetic figure. Their movements are often quite harsh although not lacking mobility. INFjs with more fuller figures are less mobile and active. When walking, INFjs may keep their feet close and parallel to the ground, maintaining a short distance between each step.

INFjs are generally very modest, which is also noticeable in their choice of clothes. However from time to time they may wear something very flashy according to the latest fashion especially is noticeable in males. INFjs prefer to observe people for sometime before making contact in order to identify social hierarchy in a group. Normally INFjs do not show initiative when making contact for the first time.

INFjs can be very touchy and this may strain the easy atmosphere of a conversation. Sometimes they adopt a monotone speech pattern that can snuff out all playfulness in others. INFjs have a special ability to listen to people and as a result they are often asked for advice or sympathy. They never push people away and are always prepared to listen for as long as it takes to make others feel better, even if they theoretically have better things to do. INFjs are always ready to help friends in difficult life situations. They care not with words but with real actions.

INFjs do not really make good cheats or frauds. This however, does not stop them from trying sometimes. And even if they do, they are likely to feel pretty bad about themselves afterwards. This gives INFjs a reputation as naive and impractical people. INFjs are very conscientious in their work . They do everything carefully, paying great attention to the quality of their labour. INFjs demand cleanliness and order. At home they tend to keep everything tidy, carefully storing their belonging, especially females INFjs. They like a calm and measured style of life and therefore try to prepare and anticipate everything beforehand, often making them quite reliable.

INFjs know how to establish peace between conflicting sides. They take a neutral position in the conflict, often being fired upon from both sides. They rarely push, shout or show aggressiveness. Instead they punish offenders by completely ignoring them until they realise their mistakes and apologise. INFjs do not like to project themselves: when everybody works, they work too, when everybody rests, they rest too. INFjs often cannot stand violence, conflict and graphic depiction of injuries.

Vegging Again!

To answer the comments-I don't know how long I plan to do the veg thing. I believe I answered some of those questions when I last spoke with Jaime, but here are my answers:
I don't think I want to be completely meat-free forever. I will probably include chicken, turkey, and fish at some point...when, I'm not sure. For now, I'll stick to the veggies until I get tired of it.
As far as animal by-products goes, I don't really pay that close attention. I eat eggs and dairy. If I know that something has lard in it, I will most likely avoid it. I think that's the greatest challenge-knowing whether something has animal products in it. I wouldn't eat soup flavored with bacon, but I might eat soup flavored with chicken stock or something like that. If something has been cooked with the meat, I will just take off the meat in a pinch. But in general, I am trying to avoid foods like those.
So that's my update!

Update on the Vegging

Well, as my friend J. has pointed out, it has been nearly 3 weeks since I wrote about being a veg. It is actually quite easy to do, and I am not really missing hamburgers or steak at all. I do miss chicken a little...but it's pretty easy to avoid when there are delicious other things such as cheese and bread and pasta and fruit and a myriad of vegetables to choose from.

I did have some challenges when I went to some barbeques recently. However, that was easily resolved-at one barbeque, I simply ate a light meal before and focused on the variety of salads and fruit. At the other one, veggie burgers were provided. And boy, do they taste good on the grill!

Labor Day weekend is typically a big barbequeing (sp?) weekend, and last weekend was no exception. Jim's family loves meat, and of course they wanted to barbeque. I grabbed some portobello mushroom Morning Star burgers and found that they were amazingly delicious. The second day, I made vegetable skewers with tomatoes, zucchini, onions, peppers, and pineapple. I put a light coating of spices on them, and voila! They were delicious. So, I am going to stick this out for as long as I can. I don't notice any negative health effects so far. I feel pretty good. I tend to wait to eat until I'm super hungry. Being a veg helps with this because instead of shoveling a cheeseburger, fries, and a large caffeinated soft drink into my face, I am now eating a lighter meal consisting of something like a corn soft shell taco, black beans, onions, cilantro, a light dollop of sour cream, and some low fat cheese, with herbal tea (natural caffeine). It fills me up just as much, and doesn't make me feel sluggish and slow by the end of the day.

On another note, I did buy some multi-vitamins and some iron. I have been taking these daily, which is something I've always tried to do in the past and failed....now I have the motivation, and I've been pretty good about it.

Vegging Out

Well, this past summer I discovered that I am unhappy with my weight. No, I don't think I'm fat. However, I do not like the fact that I seem to keep expanding. I am about 10 pounds heavier than I was 3 years ago. I do not like this. I attribute it to my love of cheeseburgers. I have been very lazy this past year. I think part of it is because I started working and not getting enough sleep. I felt too tired to cook anything healthy, so I went to Portillo's and Culver's far more often than I should have. I didn't exercise for about 4 months. Instead, I napped for an hour and then ate a cheeseburger. Then Jim came and stayed with me for 5 weeks while he worked on a project for his job in Schaumburg. We ate out every night because his company paid for it. This was not good for healthy eating. Again, too many cheeseburgers and Italian beef.

Now, I am exercising about 4 times a week. I walk about 3 miles or about 45 minutes worth of exercise. I find that walking is a good workout when it's really hot out. I also do my Wii Fit for 30 minutes a day.
Anyway, I've decided that the best way to get to my healthy weight and maintain it is to cut out the meats all together. I have recently developed a love for goat cheese these past few weeks, and I have noticed that my meat consumption has greatly declined. So I'm going to try it. I don't know if I'll stick with it, but I think it will be an interesting experiment.
Starting....now!