According to my mom's bathroom scale, I gained about two pounds while I was home for Christmas. Since leaving for college (and even more so since moving to California), it amazes me to go home and see how we eat there. We double up on the comfort foods and favorite restaurants, of course, because they're only available to us at this one time a year. Still, everything is either fried, covered in butter, covered in cheese, or all of the above.

In the past, I've actually gotten sick, because my body isn't used to the change. I know my diet is far from healthy (note the huge burrito I just had for lunch), but it has noticeably less fat and grease than what I grew up eating.

During this past trip, one restaurant set out on the table for six adults what appeared to be more than a pound of butter. For the bread. Leon remarked that perhaps the butter was also meant for the baked potatoes that came with our entrees but no--another bowl of butter that had evidently been served with an ice cream scoop (three scoops) accompanied this course.

This is the first time that I've visited and realized just how sedentary the Quincy lifestyle is. And often when sedentary, we eat. I kept eating out of boredom and also because things just tasted good. I wasn't hungry but, dammit, when's the next time I'm going to have a chocolate chip cookie? Or a glass of eggnog? And did I actually fight my sister over a piece of caramel apple pie?

When I think about all of this, it's amazing that my mom has lost more than 70 pounds over the last 7 and a half months. In Quincy, no less. It has taken me that same 7 and a half months (in a much healthier environment) to lose only 27 pounds, something I could never do in Quincy.

And I don't know what point I'm trying to make. Perhaps it's that I never could've lost this weight in the Midwest, even though many people have. But it's easier there, I think, to stay fat.

Of course, there are many other things at work, too. For instance, I have stopped getting discouraged when I have a week without a loss. I don't think, "All that work for nothing." I think, "Hopefully next week will be better." I have stopped thinking that I have to give up all the foods that I enjoy, although it's been more than a year since I went to Cold Stone Creamery. And I have started realizing how good I feel at 27 pounds less than I was at another stage in my life.

As Leon already posted, we experienced an earthquake last night. It was only a 3.7 but definitely the biggest (and closest) one I've felt.

I was in the bathroom, washing BART grime off of my hands before dinner, and Leon came in to tell me about his exciting day of watching old Chip 'n Dale cartoons on YouTube.

All of a sudden, we heard a loud noise that sounded like an explosion, and felt the building shake a little. Both of us thought at first that someone had driven a truck into our apartment complex, if that helps you understand any better how it was.

Anyway, Leon was so excited that he could talk and think of nothing else for the next half an hour, but I recognized it for what it was: not that big of a deal. But the holiday season is slow, so this is all I have to talk about. Cut me some slack.

Oh, I also discovered that my beloved Ask.com has a cool earthquake page located here. It maps recent earthquake activity. Last night's is already on page 2 in case you're wondering.

I need health insurance. And I need to find a primary care physician. I'm just tempting the gods to strike me ill. Rather, I have been. I need to see a doctor soon, and I know it's going to be expensive.

Doctor visits are always expensive and being in California will multiply it by three.

And Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Governor of California.

On one of the communities I read, someone posted a comment stating that she couldn't imagine how Arnold could possibly be a good leader because his accent prohibits him from pronouncing the state name the way we're used to hearing it. I mean, is this really relevant? Is this why half the nation is angry?

I'm not a Republican, but I do like to question people who fall on extreme sides of the political spectrum. So I'm legitimately asking, why is everyone so upset about Arnold? Is it actually not Arnold but the recall itself that infuriates people? Or, honestly, is it because he's a Republican?

Because, quite frankly, I believe that if Gray Davis were a Republican and some random celebrity Democrat replaced him, the same people who are so upset would be cheering. But that's just me speculating.

Are people upset because of the allegations of Arnold groping women? Then surely these same people were outraged by Clinton. Oh, wait. But Clinton was a Democrat, so then that was irrelevant.

Seriously, what's with all the drama?

I don't think that California has anything to worry about. And if it's as terrible as everyone thinks, then you could always recall him.