5 things

Full disclosure: I stole this meme from The Red Velvet Girls blog because A. it looks fun and B. I'm trying to distract myself from doing other, more important but equally as tedious work.

5 Things I am looking forward to:

1) Going to the Red Wings/Avalanche hockey game with the husband and Otto this week and then the zoo the next day!...2) My mom coming to visit on her spring break (and thus saving us a full week of daycare costs!)...3) Reorganizing and cleaning up Otto's room this weekend...4) Spring!!...5) making our own curry from scratch. Nom nom.

5 Things I did yesterday:

1) Worked out: Jillian Michaels is kicking my butt!... 2) strayed (just a bit) off the No-S diet and had a small hot chocolate. So what? It was worth it...3) Watched the Olympics with my little boy. He calls skis "ice skating boards."...4) Made grilled pastrami and swiss sandwiches on dark rye bread. DELICIOUS...5) Read some guilty pleasure vampire fiction on my Kindle. Don't judge.

5 Things I wish I could do:

1) Travel more...2) get fresh sushi more often...3) work part-time and get to stay home with my little boy more!...4) Go somewhere warm. Even a couple of days would be nice! (this harkens back to #1)...5) take more long, hot, leisurely baths! They are one of my favorite things but usually there just aren't enough hours in the day.

5 Places I'd like to travel:

1) WARM PLACES...2) Japan...3) New Zealand...4) Alaska...5) ANYWHERE WARM.

5 Cute things I've found online lately:

Cute birds on Flickr: (this one from M Todd )

Mustache mugs. Holla!

Cute shirt dresses:

Wine Monkey Bottle Caddy! (Via Rare Bird Finds)

Robot vinyl wall decals. I just impulse bought one of these and a spaceship from the same seller for Otto's room.

If you decide to post your own 5 things, let me know in the comments!!! C'mon...you know you want to waste some time hunting for cute things on the internet! Heh.

Crush of the Day

Don't know how many of you are watching the healthcare debates...honestly, I've tuned in here and there but am in no way glued to it. I know how strongly I feel about it, i.e, that we desperately need reform, very PRO public option but wary of requiring people to carry insurance and I just get frustrated watching all the rhetoric spin 'round and around the media.


But in reading other blogs and news stories about the issue, I came across this fantastic clip of Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-NY letting the house HAVE it. (FYI, he gets 'disciplined' a couple times but then really lets loose after that.) Love it.




Via Shakesville

Is that kind of like being a pepper?

Last night, I did something I don't do nearly often enough: I went out for dinner with a friend. And it was so fun! We met at a small, local eatery, filled up on homemade bread, wine and cheesy goodness and gossiped to our hearts' delight. After stuffing our faces, we ran across the street to a local watering hole for a drink before I had to head home for bath/bedtime with the little man. It was great to get out and have some girl time. And part of me knows that its good for the Husband, the kiddo and puppy Ruby to have some time to themselves as well.

I felt like I was proven right when I walked in the door and Otto was so happy to see me. He ran to me exclaiming, "Mama! Mama! Mama! Guess what?!?!?"

"What, honey?"

"Ruby is a dammit!"

And with that, he sprinted away.

Maybe this is why I don't go out more often. Sigh.

Selling out. And more diet blah blah blah

Some housekeeping: So I've been fucking around with layout and stuff and I ended up adding just a little advertising over there, to the right. Yeah, I know its hard to miss. I hope its not too disruptive but I like BlogHer and what they do for women bloggers. When I got the invite, I thought "why not?" If I get a little change for decaf mochas out of the deal what's the harm, right?

Now I just wish I could afford to go to the BlogHer conference in NYC...it sounds so fun!!

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Speaking of mochas (or lack thereof), I'm on day 2 of the No S Diet. The No Seconds thing wasn't hard. The No Snacks part was kind of tough. The No Sweets thing, however, was brutal yesterday. I didn't realize how completely hooked I have been on a little something sweet after lunch. And dinner. And in the middle of the afternoon if I happen to forget my piece of fruit that I usually snack on. Ouch.

I think I'm going to cheat a little and keep the mid-afternoon snack of either fresh fruit or veggies. I really need a blood sugar boost around 3pm to keep from going completely mental on my co-workers and/or sweet family.

And just to clarify, I'm not trying to lose weight. Not really. I could probably stand to be 10-15lbs lighter but I am right in the middle of "normal" (whatever that is) for my height. What I am trying to do is tone up and get healthy(er). I really want to be stronger. I already exercise pretty regularly (30-50 min, 4-5 times a week) but I feel like curbing my bad eating habits will help me feel better about myself and ultimately help me to really firm up.

I've actually been wishing lately that I could take some sort of martial arts or self-defense classes. There aren't a lot of options around here and the karate club that I see advertisements for around town seems intimidating...anyone know of any good DVD's /at home workouts that teach that stuff? I know that's no substitute for an in-the-flesh instructor but I'm shy. And mainly have to do any working out at 5:00am, which cuts down on my options of scheduled classes just a bit.

No S. And 300.

Holy shit, this is my 300th post. I'm kind of sorry I don't have something epic/splendid/affecting to write. But that wouldn't really be in keeping with the spirit of this blog, now would it? ;-)

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In my on/off quest to get/stay healthy and fitting into all my clothes, I recently came across this diet.

Now, first off, the word "diet" is an immediate turn off to me. I am simply not interested or motivated to count calories, omit entire food groups, count points or anything else like that. I know those things work for some people and kudos to you if they do, but for me? Not so much. I like food. And cooking. And we don't eat crappily...we don't eat fast food, we do lots of fresh veggies and fruits and whole grains but also BUTTER and CHEESE and PASTA and mmmm...I'm hungry.

Maybe that's why this whole "No S" thing makes sense to me. The entire thing is, well, pretty easy. And really, just common sense. From the website- the diet in a nutshell:

"There are just three rules and one exception:

• No Snacks
• No Sweets
• No Seconds

Except (sometimes) on days that start with "S""

And that's pretty much it. You can click the link and keep reading if you want. Not everything the author writes is all the politically correct or sensitive to people of all sizes, but the core idea makes sense to me. No snacks. No sweets. No seconds. Except on days that start with "S", which would be Saturdays, Sundays, and Special Occasions.

As you'll notice, if you click the link, the author has penned a book, but pretty much lays everything out on the website. Its intriguing! In fact, he deliberately makes the point that he feels spending money on fancy diet crap is silly.

Since I (all to easily) fall into the habit of medicating my 3:00 pm doldrums with snacks and I'm TERRIBLE about helping myself to seconds (sometimes thirds) because "it will never taste as good as it does right now!,"I like how the No S idea doesn't say you can NEVER snack, NEVER have seconds (or thirds, heh). It just provides some parameters for this behavior. I'm gonna try it. I'll let you know how it goes. I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be harder than it sounds...

Inspriations

As a variation on a "My Favorite Things" post, I thought I'd share some stuff, people and music that I'm crushing on right now. This time of year, especially, I find myself needing just a little inspiration to stay motivated- not only for just the day to day stuff but also for the extras (knitting, journaling, getting dressed in the morning...) This shit is getting me through, people.

First up, Bill Murray and more specifially, this movie. I love it so much.

He was recently on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations (another crush) and it was so fun to see the two of them together, discussing food and other things...Sigh. Think I just might have a thing for older, ruggedly handsome and darkly humored men? Me either. :-)

Also, I'm still totally crushing on First Aid Kit (link to their MySpace)...I know the band name is silly but 1., English is not their native tongue and 2., they are so young! But OMG look at this gorgeous video! And I love, love LOVE how their stong, soaring voices blend together.




And, lastly, check out these adorable handpainted cards on Etsy...This broken hearted one's my favorite (of course):

I'm making a concerted effort to create more right now...I feel like its a great way to pull myself up by my bootstraps and dust the dirty old snow off my pants. I'm trying to journal more, do more art projects with my little dude and brainstorm re-decorating ideas for the house.

That, paired with a generous dose of Crown Royal might just get me through :-)


What's getting you through the hum-drums of late winter?

Its a Bummer

We took a couple days off this past weekend to spend some time with the in-laws in the wilds of central Wyoming, otherwise known as the small town my husband grew up in and in which I lived for a very short time. (Long enough to meet him, anyhow. )

It was relaxing and badly needed- a long, quiet car trip though beautiful frozen vistas of partially snow covered sagebrush, deep ravines and craggy rock paired with an icy, crystal blue sky... a couple days of sledding, food, and reading (yay Kindle!) and then a day at home to catch up on shopping, laundry and rest. And some more reading. Heh. I should make a note to always take a President's Day/Valentines Day break because it restored some sanity I wasn't even aware was missing.

After 4 days off the grid, however, its good to be back, catching up on blogs, twitter, news...I love reconnecting with my internet buddies. And the best part? Its Wednesday already! :-)

* * * * * * * *

In other news this awards season, I am apparently up for the Worst Mother Ever award (yet again). The little guy has had a nasty red bum for the past week and a half or so. We tried everything that usually works on diaper rash: blow drying/air drying, keeping it super clean, good cream, even cutting out acidic foods for a couple days...NOTHING worked. If anything it kept getting steadily worse.

Finally, yesterday, I broke down and took him into the pediatrician. $80 later and we have a diagnosis of Strep. In his butt. The Dr. said its super painful and not very common although he does see it a couple times a month (that's not common?) where the strep bug bypasses the tonsils and settles in the, uh, other end.

Of course, I felt horrible that I hadn't immediately noticed that something was really wrong but he reassured me that we did everything right and yada yada yada...Still, mom-guilt has set in and Little O can pretty much get away with murder at the moment because I feel so bad about abusing his poor, sore behind with creams and blowdryers all week.

Live and learn, I s'pose.

My Favorite Things

The bad: Its fucking freezing here (of course) (still): -2 degrees this morning on our way to work/daycare. Additionally, I live with a sick, complaining Husband. And also a sick, whiny, fragile toddler. I'm also still dealing with the emotional weight of my brother and his partner's miscarriage, my rift with my other brother, friends who seem to be disappearing down the rabbit hole of booze/drugs and/or on the verge of losing partial custody of their kids because they just can't seem to parent responsibly....sigh.

Its been a while since I've done a My Favorite Things post...but I need a little pick me up and thinking about things I'm loving is one of the best ways for me to pull myself up and dust off my pants.


First up, is my new toy: the Kindle 2.

Yeah, yeah. You've all heard about it. But truly. For a prolific reader like myself, it is kind of totally fantastic.

(Disclaimer: I am in NO WAY being compensated for reviewing this. I paid full price for the bastard.)

I've gotten over the buyer's remorse-type feelings that I always get when I spend any large amount of money on myself and have really started enjoying it. I've downloaded a bunch of free classics that I can't wait to read/reread: Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Jane Eyre...and there are lots more where those come from.

I purchased one book, just to try out the whole shop/download wirelessly thing and I've gotta say, it was pretty smooth. Also, my custom made cover arrived just a day after the Kindle did and it turned out so cute! I'm officially smitten.

And while this thing won't completely replace books for me- If I read something that I truly love and know I will want to reread/share I'll probably eventually purchase it in hard copy form. But for guilty pleasure reading (which I, ahem, do a lot of), I just don't see how this thing can be beat.


When I'm able to tear myself away from the Kindle for a moment, I'm also really loving the simple things:

Chamomile tea.

Walking home for lunch in the bright (cold) sunshine.

Long, rambling phone calls with friends.

Snuggling with my kid under the down comforter while the wind whistles outside.

Good TV: like this, this or this.

Thinking about Spring, as far away as it might be.

What things are you loving right now?