it's good to pay attention (lyn)

Meredith and I see Collected Stories tonight at Manhattan Theater Club.  I like the play more than Meredith does, but we both stay to the end, which is unusual.  The play started at 7, so by 9 we are saying goodnight.  Alexander’s last day of classes was today (he now begins prepping for his finals and SAT 2’s) so I’m looking forward to getting home early, and maybe finding him available.

I consider taking a taxi, but scratch that idea quickly since (a) it’s early; (b) it’s a nice night; and (c) I don’t have an extra $10.  And besides, the subway is fast and I have plenty to keep me occupied as I ride it.

So I’m on the under-populated N line, reading The Heights by Peter Hedges, a book I’m really enjoying.  I only have three stops before I have to change to another subway line.  When I next look up, the subway doors are closing and we are departing from 59^th/Lexington.  The last stop in Manhattan.  My stop. 

The next time the doors open, we have crossed over water and entered the borough of Queens.  My subway ride home has now more than doubled.  And, I’m further away from home than when I started.

In December 2006, I weighed 123. 5 pounds.  And then I stopped noticing.  I was pre-occupied with feeling normal again, after having gone through a very bad summer.  A summer where I actually thought I was losing my mind.  A summer where I was in constant pain from a toothache and a strange but persistent bad sore throat.  A summer where doctors could find no way to alleviate my physical pain.  A summer where I lost my appetite for food.  By December of 2007, I was so grateful to have reclaimed my life that I barely noticed when I got on the scale and it showed 148 pounds. Or when it showed 12 more pounds a year later.

See what happens when you don’t pay attention.  You could end up in Queens.  Or worse.  40 pounds worse.