Hello everyone!
I hope that some of you still remember me! It's been quite awhile since I've posted, though I have been lurking from time to time. I "left" for awhile when I was finishing up my thesis because I was really busy, and also I was not following Atkins at the time anyway. Though I've been slowly working my way back to Atkins. Aside from still having some Cheerios for breakfast, I'm nearly back on plan, and I've been making a big effort to drink at least 3 L (96 oz, I think) of water every day (I have never had to use the bathroom so much in my life!). And my discipline the last month has amazed me - I've been trying to cut back on portion size and limit evening snacks and though I haven't been perfect, I'm shocked by the restraint that I have had when the opportunities for cheating were plentiful. As you might think, I'm feeling pretty good about that!
My thesis has been done for a couple months and I'm currently back home in Ontario with my parents. I found a temporary full-time job (it goes until the end of January), so I'm earning a bit of money again. I have to make a short trip to Montreal in January to tie up some loose ends regarding thesis work and finish things off for a conference paper that I'm currently working on with my supervisors. At the end of January though, I'm completely free! As in, I'll have absolutely *no* responsibilities (well, okay, I'm ignoring my student loan here - I'm hoping that if I don't think about it, it will just go away)! I'm not quite sure what to do with myself, since I'm really not sure what sort of engineer I want to be anymore.
Actually, I've "sort of" been looking for jobs. I may have mentioned this before, but I have my heart set on going overseas somewhere. I'm sending in an application to get a "working holiday maker" visa for the UK next week (it seems to be the country where I can easily get the most flexible visa), and if there are no problems, I should get it by the end of January/beginning of February, which would be perfect timing, as my current temp job ends right around then. I was even considering teaching English in Asia, though most programs require a 1 year committment. My brother is getting married in July, so it's probably best not to commit to something that would make returning home in a few months too difficult.
So, that's where everything stands at the moment. I'm going to use my brother's wedding as additional motivation to stay on track (my sister and I are the MC's). I've been going to the gym to do weight training 3 days a week for the past month (we've never had a gym in my small town before!) and I've been trying to get a walk in, or do an exercise tape, at least a few times a week. I haven't noticed much difference yet, but I'll try not to let that discourage me! I'm also a bit hesitant/nervous about showing up in Europe without a job (should I not find one in my on-going search this next month), but at the same time, the very same thing excites me. And I also have the simultaneous feeling that I should go to a country where English isn't the native language, as it's "too easy" otherwise.
Who knows what I'll end up doing?! Perhaps next week I'll have an entirely new plan!
I hope that you all had/are having fantastic holidays! I also hope that none of you had any family or friends hurt by the tsunamis over in Southern Asia. Luckily, the parents on an Indonesian friend of mine were unharmed (they live in Indonesia still).
Take care,
Julie
I'm back, I think!
Sounds like you have tons of great sounding plans--hope they all work out for you 
Your brother's wedding sounds like the perfect goal. 
