I haven�t kept up with the diary lately. I seem to be coddling the bad habit of posting only once a week! This must change.

Here�s what�s new:

I�m 3-1/2 weeks into the new weight lifting program and I�m pretty impressed with the results already. According to one of the books I have about the workout, by the end of this week I should start seeing some definition in my upper abs. And, surprisingly, I think it will happen. I have two more workouts left in the week.

Joyce said I should expect to see a striking difference in 3-1/2 weeks. I don�t necessarily think I�d call what I�m noticing "striking", but I am very excited nonetheless. Last night, while taking a hot bath, I could have sworn I saw some definition in my quadriceps! My stomach, my number one problem area, is starting to firm up. And the shoulders and triceps are a given; I saw those starting to shape up a couple weeks ago.

I think if I keep on keeping on, I�ll be pleasantly toned and less fatty by October. Yay!

Last weekend, M and I went antique shopping with Zaugi in Sacramento. We found some great deals, which we snatched up immediately. We had a big shopping list of things to find and, although we didn�t find all of the things on our list, we did find a large armoire and a nice storage trunk. I am so relieved! Now I will actually be able to keep some clothes in the bedroom instead of traipsing out into the front room nude (where the closet I�m using is located). Thank goodness we don�t have overnight guests too often. The storage trunk is a nice addition because now we have a place to keep extra linens. In case you couldn�t tell, the house lacks storage space.

We also bought an iron "slider" bench for our deck. That wasn�t on our list but we thought it was a good idea. We figure we might actually use the deck if we had a place to sit. That�s fairly obvious, isn�t it? However, being that it�s extremely chilly in San Francisco almost all the damn time, we may need to invest in an outdoor overhead heat lamp. We�ll see how it goes first.

We need to return to Sacramento this weekend to pick up all the stuff. We didn�t have a way to get all the stuff home last weekend.

Another thing that happened this week is that I found out the lodge where we have a block of rooms reserved (actually, we�re reserving the entire lodge for our wedding guests) is really unprofessional. Now, first of all, the Hotel Manager has not returned any of the 3 or 4 phone calls, 1 fax, and 1 email I�ve sent her over the course of the past 6 months. I finally gave up and figured she had what she needed. That seems to be the logical thing to do. Two months ago, we sent her a fax giving her our credit card information for a second time and specifically wrote on the fax, very clearly, which room M and I wanted to reserve for ourselves. She actually called M after she got my fax, oddly enough, and acknowledged the information I had sent. So M and I thought everything was set. After all, we�d gone through the whole process of reserving the rooms twice so we figured it was done correctly at least one of the two times.

But earlier this week, Zaugi called to tell me that my aunt in Idaho had called to make a reservation, and the Hotel Manager wouldn�t do it! Hotel Manager said to her, "The bride and groom have not specified which room they want yet, so I can�t process your reservation because I don�t want to give you their room." When I found out about this, I was livid. I asked M to call her because I was too angry.

He called me back and said, "You know, that woman doesn�t know what she�s doing. I had to repeat everything I said at least twice. But everything�s taken care of now."

I�m not convinced. And now I don�t know what to do because we�re sending out the invitations in two weeks. I am already really embarrassed that my aunt had problems making her reservations; imagine if all of our out of town guests have this problem?! If everything�s not already crystal clear to the Hotel Manager, I want to drop the block of rooms there and reserve somewhere else. I�m just sick of dealing with this woman�s incompetence. I don�t even know if there�s anyone I can complain to because she�s the manager! And I know if I call her right now to tell her just how important this is, I'll have to leave a message... and she won't return my call.

This is unreal.

I think what I will do is call our wedding coordinator at the lodge and ask her where I can file a complaint. I want to be reassured that the problems are in the past. Otherwise, we�ll take our business elsewhere.

I�m just really perplexed. You�d think we�d get the royal treatment reserving all the guest rooms in the entire lodge! Instead, we�re being punished.

Well, on that note, I�m out of here. Happy Friday!