Sunday, January 31, 2010

Diet Dummy



For most of my life I was one of those rare and lucky women that could eat whatever I wanted and not gain an ounce. As a result, I have never learned anything about dieting. I don't know how many calories someone is suppose to have and I totally have no clue about this "points" system that people talk about.

A few months back I read about Jennifer Aniston's diet, which is simply that she doesn't eat white food -- that I could understand. I noticed that Rapunzel over at In Pursuit of my Inner Pin-up also seems to follow this. I am sure like all diets it isn't as easy as it sounds, but it sounds easier than counting calories or points. I don't buy white bread, except tortillas, but I rarely eat those. I am going to guess my biggest problem will be the no potato part. I love them in any form, mashed, baked, fried and I like to put more white stuff on them, like sour cream, butter (is butter considered white?), gravy and sometimes ranch dressing. Still, at least I can understand the basic concept of it. Best of all, by those guidelines white wine is out (which I don't like anyway) and red wine is perfectly fine!

So anyhow, that is my plan because so far over the last 6 months (most of which I worked out pretty regularly during) I haven't lost a pound, in fact, I gained 2.

BTW, Rapunzel also has a yummy sounding veggie recipe on her blog that I am dying to try!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

The Happy 101 Award!



Thanks to Rapunzel for giving us this award! Hopefully, Regan will do it too!

The award is called "HAPPY 101", the instructions that come along with this award:

1. Copy the image and display it on your blog.
2.List 10 things thatmake you happy.
3. Try to do at least one of them today.
4. Pass on the award to 10 bloggers who brighten your day.

Hmmmmm, Ten things that make me happy....

1. My pets, Sweetie and other family
2. Good books (and even some bad ones)
3. A good movie/ TV show
4. Jewelry, anything sparkly, it doesn't have to be expensive
5. Chocolate
6. Wine
7. Friends
8. Good music
9. Feeding my neighbor's horses apples
10. It has never happened, but I am pretty sure that winning the lottery would also make me happy.

Now to pass it on to 10 Bloggers that brighten our day:

1. Girl in a Satin Slip
2. Female of the Species
3. Beamships Equal Love
4. SoCal L.O.W.F.I. (Skylaire)
5. Surfing the Tao
6. The Spirit Guide
7. Any women not already mentioned from Women of Esoterica
8. The Bigfoot Field Reporter
9. A Halo of Dust
10. The Pink Flamingo

Monday, January 18, 2010

The Shake Weight

That's right, I bought one! And it's great. Silly, but great. I use it in the morning, and work out on the bike/elliptical thing in the evening.

I bought it at Target, which was good; I didn't have to order it and wait, etc. It comes with a short DVD which is easy to follow. Six minutes or so, really, and you can really feel it as you work out with it! It doesn't use batteries or anything; it's just the one weight that you, well, shake.

The advertising proudly announces that the Shake Weight has been featured on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Well, yes, it has, but not exactly what you'd think; this is pretty funny. I love Queen Latifah's handling of the thing:

Still, the thing works, and that's all I care about. I don't feel ripped off or anyting, it's easy to use, and that's what matters to me when it comes to things like this.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Not a resolution, but...

I have now not had a cigarette in 8 hours. I know that doesn't seem like much to non-smokers, but it is to me. It isn't a new years resolution (I hate those) it is a coincidence that it happens to be new years. Last week when we were in Taos Ski Valley, there were very few places we could smoke and all of them were outside where it was freezing. So during that time I got down to about 6 cigarettes per day and it really wasn't that hard or bad. So I have been thinking about that and decided to try to quit once again and just maybe this time I won't fail. Really, you would think that watching my older sister die of lung cancer should be enough to make me quit because it was a really horrible death and not the way I would like to die if there is any way I might prevent it. Not to mention that I am genetically prone to have heart problems, though to my knowledge my heart is in pretty good shape.

However, just to warn you - it is quite likely that I will be posting a lot about food. Yep, even more than I do. As I look back on my vacation status updates at facebook they totally revolved around food because I was hardly smoking and I also am a foodie. :)

Art costs teacher her job?


I just noticed this link in Anna Murphy's tweets. What does society have to do to be rid of this type of puritanism? Really I believe that at least 95% of people in America understand that there is nothing wrong with their child seeing a nude piece of art and that the human form is not shameful or evil. That a teacher could be fired (or even put on leave) for taking children to an art museum is really unbelievably stupid and wrong of the administration of that school.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. My SO, Britton, is a sculptor and he mainly does female nudes and/or partly nudes. I have seen grown men in there 50's that blush and have to turn away from looking at them. This is especially true for the total nudes. Remember when John Ashcroft put curtains over those semi-nude statues of Lady Justice? While I am sure this type of nudity phobia is not just confined to men, they do in many cases seem to be more freaked out by it.

Although, it is true that good art should cause some sort of reaction, firing a teacher over a nude or any type of art in a museum should never be the reaction.