Colds Suck.

I actually think having a cold is worse than having the flu. Sure, you are more functional with a cold, but all you really want to be doing is lying on a couch watching mindless TV. At least with the flu it's usually a day or two then it is out of your system. Colds linger FOREVER.

I started feeling sick on Wednesday, got worse on Thursday then got a little better today. I was beginning to feel optimistic. Then BAM!, now I am starting to cough. DAMN YOU COLD!

I am really really wanting to get back into a steady workout routine, and between surgery and sickness I am wondering if that is ever going to happen.

At least it is Friday, and I can sit my lazy bum on the couch alllllll evening.

Maybe I should invest in this device:

Movies, Friends and Food

I had a fantastic weekend! It was just one of those weekends you really really do not want to end. I had a date night with The Husband, a day with friends, brunch with family and got a lot done around the house to boot! Plus I have stayed on track with my diet and have lost 4lbs so far. I am feeling pretty good right about now.

Friday night The Husband and I went to Red Robin for dinner (don't judge us, we had a coupon and they have awesome veggie burgers) and then out to see I Love You Man, which was fabulous. I needed a good, solid, funny movie, and this delivered. I think I have a little Paul Rudd crush blooming ;) (Sorry Husband!) I highly recommend this movie to anyone looking for a great comedy. As a fair warning there are some raunchy parts, but nothing over the top. Plus a little potty humor never hurt anyone, right? I happen to find it quite funny (because I am apparently a 13 year old girl).

Saturday The Husband was out of town, so I spent the day with my best girl friend, her kids and family. We headed out to the swap meet at the Orange County Fair Grounds and had a blast checking out all the fun, random stuff you find there. They were even having a karaoke contest, which is ALWAYS amusing. We got to have some good girl talk, which is always nice, and I love being able to see the kids. Her boys are the cutest (and biggest!) babies in the world. (I am not biased or anything) I am so lucky to have such great friends!


I was also able to get grocery shopping done on Saturday which included spending a lot of time in Whole Foods. I love the store. I wish I could afford to do all my shopping there and eat completely organic, but that is not feasible at this time. Right now I am trying to buy organic dairy and certain produce, which is a good start. I also picked up a little bit of fish for my non-veggie husband. He was stoked, I usually won't buy meat for him ;)Sunday we went to brunch with my Mom and Sister at Marmalade Cafe which just opened at The District in Tustin. We had eaten at the Grove location last year and LOVED it, so we were all very excited that there was a new, local location. The food there is superb! It is all organic as well, which is always nice. I had scrambled eggs with cheese and avocado, breakfast potatoes and 1/2 half a bottle of champagne. My mom and I finished a bottle by ourselves. Lets just say we were both plenty giggly after that! The Husband and my sister were certainly getting a kick out of us. Champagne or no champagne, I highly recommend Marmalade Cafe to those who enjoy a good Sunday brunch. I have not eaten lunch or dinner there, but I am sure that the food is awesome for those meals as well.
Sunday afternoon was productive and Sunday night relaxing. It was the perfect weekend and just what the Dr. ordered. Hope everyone else had great weekends as well!

About Me

This was a fun little list that I found while perusing different blogs. It I bold the item I have done it, If I italisize it is something I intend on doing eventually.

1. Touched an iceberg

2. Slept under the stars

3. Been a part of a hockey fight

4. Changed a baby’s diaper

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Swam with dolphins

8. Climbed a mountain (I have odne plenty of hiking, but I don't think that is what they are talking about)

9. Held a tarantula

10. Said “I love you” and meant it

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise

15. Seen the Northern Lights

16. Gone to a huge sports game

17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Bet on a winning horse

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Taken an ice cold bath

28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Ridden a roller coaster

31. hit a home run

32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking (alcohol may or may not have been envolved ;)

33. Adopted an accent for fun

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment

36. Loved your job 90% of the time

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Watched wild whales

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach

41. Gone sky diving

42. Visited Ireland

43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited India

45. Bench-pressed your own weight

46. Milked a cow

47. Alphabetized your personal files

48. Ever worn a superhero costume

49. Sung karaoke

50. Lounged around in bed all day

51. Gone scuba diving

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Done something you should regret, but don’t

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Been in a movie

60. Gone without food for 3 days

61. Made cookies from scratch

62. Won first prize in a costume contest

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Been in a combat zone

65. Spoken more than one language fluently

66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone

67. Bounced a check

68. Read - and understood - your credit report

69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy

70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did

71. Called or written your Congress person

72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge (I have driven it many times, but never acutally walked it)

74. Helped an animal give birth

75. Been fired or laid off from a job

76. Won money

77. Broken a bone

78. Ridden a motorcycle

79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph

80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing

82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

83. Eaten sushi

84. Had your picture in the newspaper (In a Laguna Beach paper when I was about 10. Was with my Girl Scout Troop)

85. Read The Bible cover to cover (Years ago)

86. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about

87. Gotten someone fired for their actions

88. Gone back to school

89. Changed your name

90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands

91. Eaten fried green tomatoes

92. Read The Iliad (I read the Oddessey, but not the Iliad, and I am A OK with that)

93. Taught yourself an art from scratch (Hoping to do this soon with chrocheting)

94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (Could never do this)

95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt

96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

97. Been elected to public office

98. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you

101. Had a booth at a street fair

102. Dyed your hair

103. Been a DJ

104. Rocked a baby to sleep

105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fours

106. Raked your carpet

107. Brought out the best in people (At least I hope so!)

108. Brought out the worst in people (I am sure I have done this too)

109. Worn a mood ring

110. Ridden a horse

111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap

112. Prepared a dish where four people asked for the recipe

113. Buried a child

114. Gone to a Broadway play

115. Been inside the pyramids

116. Shot a basketball into a basket

117. Danced at a disco

118. Played in a band (Elementary School Band!)

119. Shot a bird

120. Gone to an arboretum

121. Tutored someone

122. Ridden a train

123. Brought an old fad back into style

124. Eaten caviar

125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need

126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant

127. Published a book

128. Pieced a quilt

129. Lived in an historic place

130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage

131. Asked for a raise

132. Made a hole-in-one (mini golf)

133. Gone deep sea fishing

134. Gone roller skating

135. Run a marathon

136. Learned to surf

137. Invented something

138. Flown first class

139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite

140. Flown in a helicopter

141. Visited Africa

142. Sang a solo

143. Gone spelunking

144. Learned how to take a compliment

145. Written a love-story

146. Seen Michelangelo’s David

147. Had your portrait painted

148. Written a fan letter

149. Spent the night in something haunted

150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane

151. Ran away

152. Learned to juggle

153. Been a boss

154. Sat on a jury

155. Lied about your weight

156. Gone on a diet

157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget

158. Written a poem

159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox

160. Gotten food poisoning

161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission

162. Hiked the Grand Canyon

163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks

164. Gone to the opera

165. Gotten a letter from someone famous

166. Worn knickers

167. Ridden in a limousine

168. Attended the Olympics

169. Can hula or waltz and polka.

170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books

171. Been stuck in an elevator

172. Had a revelatory dream

173. Thought you might crash in an airplane

174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert

175. Saved someone’s life

176. Eaten raw whale

177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint

178. Laughed till your side hurt

179. Straddled the equator

180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing (I think it is worth framing, others probably wont LOL)

181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival

182. Sent a message in a bottle

183. Spent the night in a hostel

184. Been a cashier

185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

186. Joined a union

187. Donated blood or plasma

188. Built a campfire

189. Kept a blog

190. Had hives

191. Worn custom made shoes or boots

192. Made a PowerPoint presentation

193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course (What is with all the hunting stuff??)

194. Served at a soup kitchen

195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube

196. Know CPR

197. Ridden in or owned a convertible

198. Found a long lost friend

199. Helped solve a crime

And it starts...

Today is the first day of my new diet/lifestyle. I have made tons of excuses in the past, and because of those excuses I am 50lbs over weight. I love food, and therefore I eat way too much of it. Combine that with my very light exercise and you get a disaster!

I signed up on Spark People. It's a great website where you can track your daily calories as well as chat on message boards with people trying to lose weight just like you. This will give me more accountability and make me actually write down what I eat. You also get to see this little weight loss ticker that shows how much weight you have lost to date, and I really want to see that sucker move! Who knew a weight loss ticker would really be the thing to make me want to get my butt in gear?

I am also going to work on picking up a new hobby, I am thinking crocheting. Having something to do with my hands and keep me from being bored will be extremely beneficial in keeping me away from bad foods. My Grandma also crochets and I love the blankets she made us growing up. I hope to be able to make blankets for our future kiddos.
Then there are the pictures. I have a couple of pictures of me recently that make me look like a house. I can't stand it, and looking at those pictures on occasion really helps me to remember WHY I am doing what I am doing.

I have also decided to give yoga a try. I have anxiety issues, and I think that it may do a lot to help me relax more. It's also great exercise! If I pair that with more walks around the lake and more Wii Fit, I think I will do great.

Last but certainly not least, I am going to try and purchase more organic foods. I strongly believe that the hormones and pesticides we are consuming on a daily basis are making us ill. After my surgery I decided that I really wanted to do everything I could to keep from having to do that again, and I feel this is something small that might make a big difference. Yes, organic is more expensive, but it is one thing I don't mind spending a little extra money on.

My first goal is to lose 20lbs by the time we go on vacation to Austin, which is the end of June. That gives me 3 months, which is a little over 6lbs a month. I think I can do it!

Surgery Recovery (Fun with Drugs!)

So I am mostly recovered from my surgery, thank goodness. I don't do well when I am trapped inside on a couch for extended periods of time. I am even back at work today!

The first day was rough. I felt like crap, I was in pain and the anesthesia stole my brain and my energy. I slept all day and all night. The Husband kept coming in and checking on me, I am sure he wanted to make sure I was still alive. All I can say is thank goodness for drugs. Norco and IBUPROFEN, you were my best friends that day. Plus the Norco not only helped with pain, it made me go to my happy, sleepy place every time I took it. The next day I felt much better, but my brain was really fuzzy. I had a hard time processing thoughts and a REALLY hard time speaking. My sentences never came out like they sounded in my head. Anesthesia is a weird weird thing. By Thursday I was going stir crazy, so I decided to drive myself to the store and buy cake mix and make a cake. (?????????? I'm telling you, it was the drugs) That turned out to not be the best plan as I was pretty sore afterwards, but I was so happy to have left the house I really didn't care. I made my cake and didn't eat it since I had no appetite. I'm a freak I tell you. Finally on Friday my Momma came and took me to the movies. Escape!

We went and saw Race to Witch Mountain (yes we are nerds, don't judge us). I had loved the original growing up (called Escape to Witch Mountain) so I was actually really excited to see the remake. I also think The Rock is awesome. The movie was nothing spectacular, but it was entertaining and that is really all I wanted and was looking for at that point. I would probably not recommend that you see this in the theaters unless you were a big fan of the original. The original was better, but it was fun to see a modern interpretation of the story. After the movie we went to lunch at Islands which was wonderful. Thanks Mom!
Saturday I spent the day relaxing again. We watched some movies, one of which was Death at a Funeral. AWESOME movie. It was hilarious. It is British humor which I adore, but be forewarned that it is not a typical American comedy. It hurts to laugh still, so this movie was very very painful, but worth it. It made me look at Valium and little people in a whole new way. We also watched Samantha Brown in Ireland and dreamed about going there. Sigh. Is there any place on earth full of such happy, drunk people surrounded by such beautiful landscape? I think not.
We also went out and saw Coraline in 3D, and I HIGHLY recommend this movie. It is hard to find in 3D, but I can't imagine it being nearly as amazing without that aspect. The 3D was done so well. The story was also very very very good, and actually really suspenseful for an animated film. It is definitely not for young children...probably kids over 10. So if you can find it playing in a theater it is worth spending the money on.

Sunday we were fortunate to have tickets to the Laker game. I was feeling pretty good, so The Husband and I headed up to LA. Unfortunately, we got a ticket on the way. We were a little lost and arguing about directions and I told The Husband to turn. To make the turn he had to quickly get over into the left hand lane and in doing that cut someone off on accident. Cop saw it and gave us a ticket. Sigh. I take the blame, unfortunately I cannot take the traffic school. At least the game was a blast and the Lakers won! WOO HOO! I even had a beer since I was completely off my medication (just taking IBUPROFEN on occasion). We also walked around the new Nokia Theater complex. Looks like it is going to be really neat when it is completed.
Another amazing thing happened while I was stuck inside, it seems like the economy finally made a turn for the better. Apparently all that needed to happen was for me to have my cysts removed! (Yes, I am totally taking credit for single handedly turning the economy around). I am knocking on every single thing I have that is wood, but we finally had some good news. Madoff is going to jail, the stock market rebounded a bit, retail sales did much better than economists had predicted and CitiGroup actually recorded profits. Hallelujah! I know that it will be a long long road to economic recovery, but my only hope is that we have reached the bottom. If we have reached the bottom I may actually stay employed and I am hoping I won't have to watch any more of my friends lose their jobs. My fingers are permanently crossed.

So, back to work and reality for me. I have my post op appointment next week, so hopefully I can get back to my normal activities then. (And get the heck off pelvic rest! he he)

Harvey Milk Day

SB 572 Harvey Milk Day
This bill would require the governor proclaim
May 22 each year as Harvey Milk Day. It would encourage public schools and
educational institutions to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that
date. Status: Introduced on February 27, 2009.
Lead Author: Senator Mark Leno Principal
Co-Authors: Senator Kehoe and Assembly Members Ammiano and John A.
Pérez
Sponsor: Equality California

Above is a bill that was introduced last month in CA. It is a repeat of a bill that was introduced last year, passed, but was vetoed by the Governator under immense pressure from the religious right. (Shame on him) They touted it as a "gay day" which was shameful. I guess they must think MLK day is a "black day" too. Ridiculous.

I am posting this here so that more people will be aware of this effort and so that we can put pressure on Arnold to not make the same mistake twice. Harvey Milk was a transformative political figure for many people, not just the GLBT community. He deserves this recognition.

Fun with Surgery!

Well tomorrow is the day that I have to go under the knife for the first time in my life. SOO not looking forward to it. The surgery is very routine and is an outpatient procedure, so thank goodness for that! I am just very ready for it to be over and for my butt to be on the couch drugged up watching trashy daytime TV.

If I make any incoherent blog posts over the next week, blame it on the drugs.

The LOST Obsession

I think that people who are not fans of LOST will never truly understand the devotion of LOST fans. It's not just a show that you watch for one hour a week and forget about until the following week...it's a lifestyle ;) There are blogs, message boards, websites created by the shows producers (including ones for Oceanic Airlines, Dharma, Hanso ect ect that all have clues in them about what will be happening on the show), podcasts and vodcasts. I always frequent the blogs and message boards (which can be seen in my favorite blogs on the right hand side on MY blog) and really am so impressed with the little things that others catch that I am just not observant enough to notice.

So for the last couple of weeks I have decided to dive into re-reading some episode summaries and analysis over on http://www.longlivelocke.blogspot.com/ . (This is a GREAT blog, I highly recommend it to other LOST enthusiasts) I ended up re-reading every.single. write up for every.single. episode. Crazy much? I have to tell you though, my amazement and love for this show has been completely renewed. It was amazing to see all the hints they dropped WAY back in Season 1 that apply to things that have only started happening NOW. The writers and producers really have had the whole show's arc planned from the very beginning, and it is really impressive. It was also fun to realize just how many questions we have had answered. People always complain that we never get any answers, but we really do! They are just always accompanied by a billion more questions. My favorite? All the literary references that were made, and how so many of them had elements of time travel. (ie A Wrinkle in Time).

Now that I have read all the episode summaries, I am going back and re-watching all the episodes. This will give me something to do next week when I am stuck on the couch after my surgery. (Blech)

So yes, I am a crazed fan. And a huge nerd.

Cranium ROCKS

I love board games. LOVE them. I grew up in a house where we were always playing games (and still do!) so I have probably played almost every major board game there is. I love Scategories, Life, Sorry, Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Apples to Apples and many many others. All of those pale in comparison to the funniest board game ever created, Cranium.

The only problem with this game is that you have to have at least 4 people to play it, so it is not one that The Husband and I can play together on our game nights. Maybe that is why when I DO get the chance to play it I enjoy it all the more. This weekend I was able to spend almost an entire day with my best girl friend and her family. In the evening a couple other friends came by and we all sat down and played this game for a couple of hours. We laughed so hard we cried. Between drawing with our eyes closed to charades to humming songs, we made complete asses of ourselves and loved every.single.minute. This was only compounded by the fact that "Team Mommy" was trying to take care of/breastfeed their infants in the middle of doing all of this. Seriously, it was probably the funniest thing ever. (Shout out to K & A, thanks for the great time!)

So I highly recommend the combination of good friends, good booze and Cranium.