Puppies Need Homes!

A friend of the woman I work with found 6 black lab mix puppies that really need homes. The email said this:

Please let me know if you know of anyone who might be interested!

Scott (my friend) rescued 6 black lab (mix) puppies out of the middle of the road on Saturday.
PLEASE help me find them homes - otherwise, it's Animal Control - which means they only have 5 days.
We've bathed them, sprayed them for fleas and wormed them....but we can't keep them.
They are currently in a kennel in my basement since I don't have a fence.

I've lost count of the number of rescue groups that I've contacted, only to be turned down due to no room.
Please check with every dog person you know to see if they need a puppy

If I had a yard I would snatch up at least 2 of these little guys but since I cant I would be more than happy to be an Aunt to them. If you know anyone else who might be interested please let them know too. I dont know if the 5 days thing is correct but I would rather not think about that anyway. Leave me a comment or send me a text if you might be able to give one of these adorable little guys a home.

Sisters, Sisters there were never such devoted sisters! (can anyone name that movie?)

My sister flew in last night, yay! Aside from the fact that she had to pull a Home Alone and sprint through the Airport to catch her connecting flight and her bag came out looking with a broken handle and covered in dirt, she still made it in one piece.

This morning I took her to work with me to suprise my parents and wouldnt you know it, my Dad had a meeting in Bakersfield and wont be back until this afternoon and my mom took her sweet ass time getting to work this morning. It was worth it when she made it though because I told her I had a suprise for her and when she saw my sister she screamed, turned bright red, started crying and couldnt talk. Her reaction was priceless. She didnt even move for awhile, just stared at her. It is so fun suprising people:)

The main reason my sister is in town is to go to her good friends baby shower on Saturday and she will be flying out Sunday morning to be back in time for the Super Bowl party her and her husband are hosting. It will be a quick trip but it is great to see my Sissy Poo.

I am having a frumpy ass day which has reinforced everything they say on What Not to Wear. With my foot bothering me I went with the running shoes today at work and for some reason I am never comfortable in running shoes unless I am in full work out gear. I just cant figure out what to wear with running shoes and not look like I am 16 with no sense of fashion. Actually I had no sense of fashion at 16 so thats probably why I am uncomfrtable, I have reverted back to my insecure times of low self esteem.
So I went with a tshirt and jeans, except my jeans are a little stretched out and big at the waist so I have to keep hiking them up and my tshirt apparantly went through some warping since I wore it last because it is strectehd out at the bottom and the sleeves are oddly short making me look like I am trying to be in the gun show or something. I also have to keep pulling the shirt down (probably why it is so strecthed out)and my hair is flat.
These are not big issues but I hate feeling frumpy. When I am dressed in my regular work clothes I always feel pulled together which makes me feel good and people react to me more positively. When I wear things like this I dont feel good about myself and I doubt anyone could take me seriously as a professional and my confidence is low. Yup Stacy and Clinton really know what they are talking about when they say your clothes should reflect your inside and personality. My exterior right now is a 16 year old fashion tard and my inside is annoyed and grumpy. Thats it, tomorrow pain or no pain I am dressing nicely.

In case you missed it...

I think this episode aired Sunday night:

And yes, I do kinda want a taste of your sugar lumps;)Btw I think I could learn some dance moves if I watch this enough. Sad but true.

I think I may have finally done it. After years of wearing (and loving) high heels and pounding the pavement and the treadmill, my poor little left foot may have taken too much and is waving a tiny white flag.

For the past week or so I have had pain between my arch and my big toe at the ball of my foot. At first it was just sort of annoying and felt like a bruise. It would hurt when I was wearing heels, especially high ones, but would be pretty insignificant if I was wearing my running shoes. The same is still true except the pain has gotten worse and it is now swollen. I also notice when I walk I am favoring walking on the outside of my foot because if I dont put any pressure on it, it doesnt hurt at all.

Last night I did a high intensity running circuit where I incorporated side shuffling and running backwards on the treadmill which was definitely a bad idea because it hurt while I was doing it (no pain no gain though, right??) but because I am a bit obsessive and also a masochist I kept going and then walked home. I woke up this morning and it was very sore.

I dont want to go to the doctor because x rays are expensive and also because they will probably tell me to rest it, which I just cant do. I know it sounds dumb but not working out would make me incredibly depressed and miserable. For example I had a bad weekend and I was feeling really sad last night but after I got done at the gym I was happy and content again. For me working out is an instant mood lifter and the most effective anti depressent.

So instead of going to the doc just yet I am going to try to make some adjustments. I am going to wear my running shoes to work for awhile, cut out the walks to and from the gym, no more running (I will do my cardio on the bike)and ice and take ibuprophen. I am also going to look into getting a gel insert for my shoes and if that doesnt work I might have to stop wearing heels when I go out, which would be lead to an identity crisis so I will try to avoid that plus I honestly have no flats, none, and I will be very annoyed if I have to start wearing my effing running shoes to the bar.

I suppose it was inevitable that I would develop some sort of injury at some point but I still want to believe I am invincible. I do not want to stop or slow own my weight training because I am seeing some pretty decent muscle development and I dont want to go backwards. Besides my foot doesnt bother me when I am lifting at all, even if I am doing squats. But if it doesnt start to feel better after a week or so I will go to the doc to get it checked out. I am stubborn but I dont want to worsen the injury and be forced to take more time off.

I think she means something else...

This was on The Soup this weekend and it made me laugh outloud so I thought I would share. Please to enjoy!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

I finally fixed my itunes and my ipod this weekend and even upgraded my dinosaur ass and got an adapter so I can play my ipod in my truck. I am always very anxious when something goes wrong with any technological device so I am happy there were no major problems, I lost no music and I dont have to listen to the radio when I drive all of the time. Good times.

Meanwhile my computer at work is messed up with a virus and has been for a couple of weeks now and everytime our computer guy comes out he tells me to do something, says that should fix it and leaves while it does its thing but I continue to have problems. Frustrating yes but it has also helped me focus more on my work since I am using the computer in the office that everyone can see so being online is not such a good thing. I even got closeout documents done for (2) projects, a woo hoo!

And only 6 more days until my self imposed shopping strike can be lifted. I hope I dont go buck wild and that I have actually learned something from the process. Luckily though being only a few months away from spring I am not tempted to buy spring clothes since I wont be able to wear any for while and there is nothing more frustrating than getting new clothes and having them sit in your closet for months (hell I normally cant even wait a day). So maybe there will be some good deals on winter clothes that can transition into spring I can look into, but if I dont need it or absolutely love it than I cam not buying it. Well, a girl can try at least!

Whats New With Me

So I know I have been somewhat MIA lately, but things are good with me, I am just laying a little low. I have been getting good and regular sleep which has made me more productive at work and since I am pretty much swamped there this is a good thing. I am making progress on some projects though so hopefully I will be able to check some things off my list soon. You know you have been in the construction industry awhile though when you compare having your teeth bonded with the cure time for concrete.

My stomach problems have lessened but I am beginning to see a pattern of flare ups that coincide with my hormonal cycles which the IBS research says is likely. So at least I know when to expect that so I can be very careful not to eat gassy foods around that time and not to overeat during that time, which is also a trigger.

Speaking of my stomach though, I started a new progressive ab routine called Spot-On-Abs about a month ago that has given me the best results I have ever seen. It is hard, a circuit of 7 ab exercises for 30 minutes straight without stopping that I do 3-4 times a week, but it works. The basis to this program is a study that found that you can actually achieve some spot reduction or more specifically they found that during exercise, the fat cells surrounding the trained muscle released more fat into the blood, meaning a greater quantity of fat is fed to the exercising muscles to be used as fuel. However it had to be done for a prolonged period of time and it had to be used in conjunction with a total body strength routine and cardio. Aside from the science mumbo jumbo though I have seen a lot of progress in this area since starting it so I would reccomend it as long as you dont just do the ab portion but the entire program or a version of it.

In other news my sister is coming to town! She will be here next week to suprise a friend at her baby shower and also to suprise my parents who dont know she is coming. So I am going to pick her up Thursday night and take her to work with me Friday. She will only be here for a couple of days but it is always nice to see her. I might be able to drag her out to Landmark at some point but we will see.

And lastly it has been a lot warmer lately (yesss!) so I have not had to use my heater which is going to save me money on my PG&E bill that was out of control last month and I only have 9 more days left of my shopping boycott, it is getting tough though. So many sales and I definitely feel the pangs of withdrawl. I just have to make sure I dont go overboard once February hits. I will do some shopping (that Target gift card is burning a serious hole in my pocket) but since we still have more winter left I will probably do alright until Spring hits, then I might get a little spring fever so that will be the real test. I am making progress on paying off credit cards though and should have those paid off in full within the next 6 months which will be awesome.

So thats whats new with me. See, you arent really missing much and besides absence makes the heart grow founder or is it out of sight out of mind...

Stationary!

I love Stationary and cards. When I was a kid my mom used to make me write thank you notes anytime I recieved a gift from anyone and although at the time I would have rather been outside playing, I now appreciate the value of the hand written thank you note and continue to write them. I think it is nice to take a moment and show your appreciation for the thoughtfulness of others and I know when I recieve one, it puts a smile on my face to know that someone appreciated something that I did or gave them.

I try to have stationary on hand in case something comes up and I usually buy it at Target, which usually has a decent selection but nothing special. I have always wanted personalized stationary though and today I discovered the BEST website for stationary and will happily be ordering some stationary and cards.

Hello!Lucky carries vintage-inspired letterpress stationery company but now offers digital cards and stationary to save some money and expedite ordering, but maintains that same quirky vintage look. Here are some examples:

Cute Monkey Valentines Card


Cute apology cards (not that I ever need to apologze for anything....)

Peacock themed thank yous! (Yeah I ordered this one)

Adorable Mother's Day card:)

I ordered personalized stationary with my name on it, a few birthday cards, thank you cards and a Mother's Day card to use this year. Now I won't have to go out in a mad rush at the last minute to find cards for people and I love them, so cute. They also have a great selection of Shower Invitations and Wedding Invitations in case that is relevant to anyone. Love it.

So this is kind of an exciting day. As everyone knows Obama will be taking the oath of office this morning and it seems like people are kind of excited about it. It is refreshing to see people hopeful for the future and proud of their country because it has been so long since that has happened on such a large scale. I won't go into how historic today is, everyone knows about that already, but regardless of his race I can't remember anyone in the public eye being able to create such excitment and (cliche of the day) bringing people together. Even if you don't like Obama, you have to give him a lot of credit for that.

I am slightly uneasy with this rock star status that Obama has taken on though, he has a lot of hard work ahead of him in order to prove himself, but I would rather see people thinking positively rather than negatively which has been the trend of the past. I hope that everyone who wants to is able to enjoy this day and that everyone appreciates the significance of today as well. I will be pleased when all the celebrities go home though, that inagural concert had some overly dramatic moments (Tom Hanks giving his speech with the over the top music playing and Steve Carrel, really? I just kept waiting for him to say "thats what she said"). But thats just me, I am not the most sentimental person in the world, let's be honest.

I also look forward to listening to Obama's speech. Thus far he has delivered some fantastic speeches, the nerd in me still appreciates how hard it is to write a really good speech. He has a rhetorical gift that captivates people. Giving and writing speeches is really difficult but to have the entire world watching you and expecting so much from you is probably the most pressure anyone giving a speech can have. I am sure he will do well.

And how about people in the White House with a sense of fashion! Yes the fashionista in me would like to see what Michelle is going to be wearing today and tonight, but I won't be obsessing over it like some people. I just like to look at nice clothes and well dressed people.

So that is all of my musings on today thus far. Now I have to get some work done before the New York Times begs me to write for them;)

I have eaten strange things in my life, my absolute favorite strange food combination being peanut butter, mustard and pickle sandwiches (soooo good) but this one I am not so sure about but I would definitely try:

The Max Special is a sandwich made with peanut butter, mayonnaise, and pimento-stuffed olives. I am not a huge fan of mayo (I think of it as a moistining agent rather than something I am actually supposed to taste in a sandwhich)but peanut butter and olives are pretty strong flavors that will probably overwhelm the mayo. Besides the ediotor in chief of Gourmet Magazine reccomended it so it can't be that bad!
It seems like it is somewhat similar to my PBMPS and I like that so I will have to pick up some pimento-stuffed olives and give it a try.

Does anyone know if I re-install itunes if it will delete all the music I have downloaded? Out of the blue I tried to start up my itunes the other day and it gave me a message that said something like "quicktime could not be detected and you need it to run itunes, reinstall itunes". I havent done it because I am afraid I will lose all of my music and I dont have it backed up anywhere nor do I even know how to back it up if I wanted to. I tried to just uninstall and reinstall quicktime but it didnt help. Any suggestions??

Sewing Class Looks Promising

Last night was my first class meeting for my sewing class. This instructor has a much more casual but hands on method of instruction. I do much better when I am shown how to do something rather than just being told or reading instruction.

Instead of having everyone in the class make the same things, we got to choose to make whatever we wanted so I decided to do a dress. It is a simple pattern, similar to this:

but the neckline is a little more simple and it includes a belt made out of the same material as the dress is. The material I chose is a nuetral cream color in cotton that has a small diamond pattern to it. Sort of boring but I can dress that up really easily and in a lot of ways with red or turqiouse shoes etc.

Hopefully I dont screw it up and it comes out ok. If it does I plan on making the same dress in multiple colors. Watch out Project Runway!

Does anyone have the series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on DVD? And if so, might I borrow it? Of course I can always just watch it online but I would rather watch it on my tv.

I would like to thank Heather, Ed and the Soup for forever changing the name Rick for me. I am working with someone right now named Rick and all I can think of when I read or say his name is "Riiiick"! Oy vey.

Ok ihasahotdog, I will.

Food and Exercise

Being healthy is something I work on constantly, specifically in regard to nutrition and exercise. I devour information on both topics and keep numerous resources on hand so I can make good decisions a little more easily. One of these resources is a book called "Eat this, Not that" from Men's Health magazine. I think I have mentioned this before, but it is a small book that gives information and makes suggestions on the best food to eat at fast food and other restaraunts. I don't eat fast food very often but when I do I consult this book to make the healthiest choices. Some of the suggestions seem obvious but others are not so obvious. For example at Quiznos one of the best sandwhiches to order is the honey bourbon chicken sandwhich, which I wouldnt have thought of initially but is actually really good and spicy. I highly reccomend this book and I also have a copy if you would like to borrow it sometime.

Men's Health also has a list of best supermarket foods. They have 125 categories on this list and include foods like ice cream, hot dogs (real beef hot dogs too!), salad dressings, chips, beer, cookies, crackers, frozen meals, pizza, chocolate etc. Basically my philosophy is to never completely cut out any food item that you really enjoy, but make informed decisions and if there is a similar substitute go with that and occasionally have the full fat version. There have been many times I have stood in front of the frozen food section craving pizza and scutinizing the nutrituional labels to try to find the healthiest choice, but this list saves me that time and energy. I find it very useful and if you at all have a desire to eat healtheir, this takes the guess work out.

I also have many resources in regard to exercises and weight training. If you are a woman I do not reccomend reading Shape or any one of thise girly mags for exercise advice. They are full of inefective exercises and unrealistic plans that promote great results that you probably wont see. I highly reccomend Hers Body Building magazine for that type of advice or the original Body Building magazine for both men and women (just ignore all of those print ads for supplements featuring steriod using scary muscle people). I get bored really easily when it comes to my workouts so it is something that I constantly change up. It is also good for your body because it will help you avoid over use injuries and even small changes in your routine can cause you to work muscles differently and keeps it challenging. Because of that I have a really thick binder of exercises and training ideas that I refer to so I can change up my routine frequently.

Recently I have had multiple people inquire about my routine at the gym which makes me super duper happy because I work really hard and to have other people notice it just makes me feel like I must be doing a decent job and making some gains. I have a passion for weight training and fitness and it makes me happy to share that with other people because it is become such a big part of my life. So if anyone ever wants to look at my bible of weight training exercises broken down by muscle groups that I keep I would be more than happy to let you borrow it.

I know that most people who read my blog don't care about this stuff so you have already probably stopped reading and thats ok. I don't mean to sound preachy and I hope I dont come across as a know-it-all because I absolutely do not know it all. I am constantly trying to expand my knowledge on the subject and learn more and I have a deficit for the science of it all. But I do have a love for learning about it and talking about it and I will continue to do so because it makes me happy and ultimately life is about finding your passion.

And with that I will stop boring you:)

Ginger Root

In my quest to ease my stomach problems I have decided to give Ginger Root supplements a try. Ginger root has been used in alternative medicine and obviously cooking for quite some time and one of its listed benefits is easing digestive problems.

Ginger root extract can help the digestive process by breaking down proteins and it alleviates nausea (and morning sickness-not that this is relevant to me but if you are pregnant it is a safe method for helping with that) by relaxing stomach muscles. And as a bonus, Ginger root extract has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties as well. As an antioxidant, it may help boost immunity and relieve the symptoms of colds and flu. Its anti-inflammatory properties make it useful in treating pain and inflammation caused by arthritis, and it is effective in treating muscle pain as well. Sounds good to me!

I don't care for the taste of ginger, I think it tastes like soap, so supplements would be better for me than the real thing. I hope this can help, even if it is a slight improvement. I have been pretty good the past few days but still experiencing symptoms. Since modern medicine basically shrugs its shoulders at IBS, I am more than willing to try different methods, as long as they are proven safe, and obviously ginger root is not dangerous.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

NCIS

I previously posted about 24 being back on the air and one of my favorite shows. But another one of my favorite shows lately has been NCIS. This show was on for quite some time before I watched it. It wasn't until it was syndicated on USA (I think)and they had it on twice a night that I started watching and got into it.

I love crime shows and got a little burned out on Law and Order and CSI, but this show has similar plot points but with a lot more humor. The characters are all great too. The hard ass boss (Mark Harmon), the womanizing and cocky agent and his fiesty female partner who gives him crap all the time, the dorky agent and the really quirky goth tech girl. The cast has a good chemistry and the writing is pretty good as well.

So if you like an hour long crime/mystery shows and havent watched this yet it is on syndication on weeknights at 6 and 7 on USA (I think) and new episodes air Tuesday nights on CBS.

You know whats awesome...

When you find a hole in the crotch of your spandex workout pants...while you are wearing them at the gym...and you aren't wearing underwear.

Ok that might actually be awesomely funny to someone else, but as it was, I was a little embarassed. The hole wasn't huge, like the size of a pencil eraser and since I was doing an upper body workout I wasn't doing any exercises where it would be easily noticed by anyone. And as far as the lack of underwear goes, I would have to wear a thong since my pants are spandex and when you wear regular underwear with spandex you look like you are wearing diapers. Thongs are just not all that comfortable when you are working out, I am constantly adjusting and they drive me crazy so I just dont wear them since I wash my pants everytime I workout anyway.

So there ya go. I threw those pants out so I don't mistakenly wear them again. Good times.

Mawidge

A look into my future perhaps? Seriously though good for her. The reason she didn't want to get married was so she wouldn't be stuck in a bad and abusive relationship:

"Wang grew up watching her uncles and other men scold and beat their wives and often found her aunt crying in the woodshed after an attack, the paper said.
'All the married people around there lived like that. Getting married was too frightening,' she said of an era when Chinese women had few rights and low social standing."

I wish her the best. She sounds like a little spit fire.

Jacks Baaack

Last night was the season premier of the new season of 24. It has been a really long time since the last season ended with the writer's strike and all but Jack Bauer is still a badass. I needed a recap since it had been so long since I had watched it, but they didn't really provide that so I had know I missed some things but was able to follow it pretty well. Apparantly there was a 2 hour special that they ran on some random night that filled in some of the blanks but I missed it so I will have to see if I can rent that at some point.

Happily it is still a great show though and there are a lot of changes this season. Jack Bauer is indicted and CTU is gone. There is another 2 hours on tonight that I look forward watching.

Also, sorry if I have been a little bitchy and on edge lately. I am trying to make some changes in my life and I am feeling a little lost and unsure of the direction I want to be going. That isn't an excuse to act bitchy and be moody but it helps to explain it a little. I am a work in progress.

Tales From The Gym

Friday afternoon I had another odd encounter at Centerpoint. When I walked into the weight room I saw Ed on the leg extension machine! Ok that wasn't the odd thing but it was really good to finally see him there and hopefully it is a regular thing and maybe Heather will join him in the future too.

On to the freak show though. I am minding my own business just working on my fitness and this man I see there somewhat regularly but have never really spoken with walks up to me and asks how my reading comprehnsion was. Not sure where this question came from or what he is getting at I ask what he means and he basically repeats the question to which I reply, "sure I guess so". He then hands me a somewhat thick unmarked manilla envelope and starts walking away. I ask him what he is while he is leaving and he says something about the healthcare system and keeps going. I open it up and glance at whats inside and it appears to be a study titled "The Model emergency Health Powers Act". Great, I go to the gym and some random dude gives me homework. I put it away and continue on with my workout.

Well I finally got around to actually looking at it today and it is not one study, it is a collection of studies and newspaper articles about various health care issues ranging from the Black Death, radioactive materials, pesticides, obesity and government mind control with little handwritten notes all over the place. One note reads, "San Joaquin Valley. See MRSA & pesticides coupled with large dairy industry perfect 'anthrax' cover" Awesome. Not only do I not want to read this crap and wont read it, but now he has a reason to come up to me and talk to me. Oh yeah and it seems he might be just a little bit crazy.

These are the days of my life, *sigh*.

Quickie Post

I don't have time for an eloborate post at the moment so here is a quick rundown of some things that I have been on my mind lately:

- It is a CCR kind of day. CCR is just one of those bands that always puts me in a better and more mellow mood. I am super busy at work and I put them on and somehow it took the edge off. Please to enjoy one of my favorite songs:


- I signed up for another sewing class, this time from Clovis Adult School. I really didn't care for my instructor last time I tried to take this course. She went way to fast even though it was a beginner course because half the people in there had sewn stuff before and I didn't even know how to turn the machine on. I stopped going after the first day and got a refund because I was already completely lost and there were only 4 classes so it was going too fast for me. This course is 8 weeks long so it should be a slower pace. I am absolutely dying to learn how to sew though so I am sticking with this one.

- I am also going to try to incorporate more vegetarian meals into my diet. With the increasing sensitivity of my stomach, meat has not been sitting well with me. I love the tatse of meat so I would never go completely vegetarian but I think eating a little less heavy might improve my stomach situation. What concerns me the most is not getting enough protein though so I need to educate myself on what the best non-meat foods that are high in protein and get some recipes. I know tofu and soy are good substitutes and eggs have a lot of protein, but outside of that I don't really know. I just need to keep tweaking my diet until I find the main culprit of my problems and find what works best for me.

- I really hate winter. I don't know how long it has been since we have seen the sun here in Fresno but it is too freakin long if you ask me and it is getting me depressed. I am going to have to start tanning or something. Oh how I long for the days of sun and warmth and not having to wear layers and jackets. Getting dressed this morning I changed several times because I just couldnt get it right, freezing the entire time. In the summer and spring all I do is throw on a dress and heels and I am done, it is so much easier!

And with that I get back to work for a few more hours before I can officially say the weekend has begun.

It's the Dog Version of Ed!

February's Resolution

So I have been thinking about what I want my resolution for February to be and yesterday it occured to me, be a more positive person. The reason I had that little light bulb was because I witnessed how destructive and sad people who are negative can be.

One of our superintendents is one of those people that constantly has bad things happening to him and has not had an easy life. At first you feel a little sorry for him, a working guy down on his luck, but the more you get to know him the more you realize he brings this all on himself and takes a victim attitude to everything bad that happens. He complains about his relationship with his wife, the people he works with, even the insurance guy (who is a liar and out to get him). It is just sad to me when people refuse to take responsibility for themselves. I truly believe if he were more positive, better things would happen and he would be a happier person.

When I am around people who are negative, or whiners or are super critical of others it reminds me how ugly a characteristic negativity is. I know I can be negative at times like everyone else and when I get in one of those moods I am miserable and I take it out on other people and no one wants to be around that. I also believe that having that attitude attracts bad things to you, a self fulfilling prophecy if you will. I realize that in everyones life a little negativity must fall but I would like to work on keeping it in perspective and being more proactive about things, in particular about my happiness. I can't control everything but when bad things do happen I can blow it out of proportion and bith about it more than is neccesary. That isn't making the problem go away but making it worse.

Just some thoughts on my February resolution. So far 7 days in and January's resolution is going well. I look forward to my year of improvement!

Working on Fitness

It is a New Year which means a couple of minor annoyances for us gym rats out there. First of all this is when everyone decides to join a gym to get in shape and for about 2 months you have to deal with a crowded gym and waiting for equipment. On one hand it makes me happy to see people striving to be healthier despite misleading articles about how exercise won't cure obesity. I will repeat over and over )and over and over) that a healthy balanced diet along with exercise (and not this 2 1/2 hours of moderate exercise a week crap that the government spews - *note the reason that such a low number is used is so people won't be intimidated by how much exercise they actually need to engage in to lose weight, plus that is not even what the government reccomends for losing weight but just to be minimally active) is what keeps people fit and healthy. And if you don't believe me or want to hear this being said in a more entertaining and eloquent way, read this.

I selfishly get annoyed by this however because it can disrupt my workout, particularly since I do circuit workouts often. Newbies just don't get the norms of the gym though, which is completely understandable, so I remind myself to be patient because again, I really am just happy people are actually putting effort into it.

Secondly there is a plethora of "New Year, New You" diet and exercise plans that inundate us in magazines and online that are often ineffective but give people hope that they will finally achieve their weight loss goals. Unfortunately the diets are too restrictive or the exercise plans aren't effective which frustrates people and they give up, feeling bad about themselves. People want a quick fix but the only thing that truly works over the long term is a healthy, well balanced diet and again exercise. If you want to be in shape you have to work hard, you have to be consistent and you can't eat whatever but have to have some self control.

However among all of these junk articles there are some really cool fitness aticles like this bad ass 14 year old girl, Zoe Smith who can lift twice her own body weight. Not only a fantastic role model but also proof that women shouldnt be afraid to lift weights, it won't make you big and manly because women lack the testosterone that causes that to occur. It is nice to see a young person (ha, I sound like my parents) embracing physical activity and not leading a lazy, inactive lifestyle.

I have made some changes in my behavior to improve my health at the start of this year that have been a long time coming too and I know it is difficult to make changes, to break habits, addictions and behaviors and no one is immune to this struggle. If you take it day to day and realize it isnt easy and there will be set backs you may be pleasantly suprised at what you can accomplish.

Reason #247 for why I hate winter, my PG&E bill is 4 times what it was in the summer, doh! Good thing I gave up shopping this month!

Last night I made spaghetti squash for the first time and I really liked it. It took a lot longer than I expected to cook the squash since I have an oven that is quite fickle but after an hour and a half it came out beautifully. I actually like it better eating it with just a fork out of the squash than I did when I put ground turkey and a red sauce on it. The sauce just masked the flavor of the squash, which is really good all by itself. In the future I would go with a lighter sauce, or none at all and just use it as a side dish.

I also watched the X-Files movie that came out over the summer last night. I was lukewarm about the first movie but I thought this one was much better. I always like the characters of Scully and Mulder and the story line was pretty solid and it had that creepy vibe the X-Files is known for. If you havent seen it and like the X-Files, you would probably like it too.

I have also been thinking of New Years resolutions this year and decided to take a little bit of a different approach. This year instead of listing the things I want to change and tackling them all at once, I am going to focus on changing something every month. For January I am going to work on my spending, specifically I am not going to buy any clothes or shoes for the month. I know a lot of you are probably thinking uh whats the big deal, it is only a month. Well this may be true but you see I have developed quite the shopping habit. I rarely go a few weeks without buying something, whether that be a scarf or pair of shoes or sweater. I have justified this spending because typically everything I buy is on sale or I will buy from an inexpensive store. However I am still spending money that I do not always need to be spending, even if it is on sale. With all the after Christmas sales going on I have been really tempted to give in and buy things but so far I have been able to stop myself.

Although this is not a New Years Resolution that I will keep the entire year, I think it will really show me how much I have been spending and wasting, and it will also teach me to not always give into that little urge to shop and buy. I love clothes and I will never give up shopping entirely, but I don't need to buy everything I want or think that I want.

I woke up this morning at about 7:30 and decided to go grocery shopping. I was having trouble sleeping last night which continued this morning so I just had to get up and do something. Early morning is a great time to go grocery shopping too, you basically have the store to yourself and there is no waiting in line.

I have been eating out more lately so I was happy to have food in my fridge and since I got a new cookbook, there are several recipes I am eager to try. Tonight I am giving spaghetti squash with ground turkey and a red sauce a try. I have had spaghetti squash before but never made it myself so hopefully it works out alright. I also made a nice breakfast burrito this morning that was super yummy.

In other news you may have noticed I have been a little distant lately and you would be right. I have felt melancholy and that my life is just overall stale at the moment. This happens to me every so often and I will typically retreat and not want to go out and do things for a little while. I guess I am just sort of bored with doing the same things and I am tired of drinking every weekend and I am mad at myself for living my life in contradiction. That pesky cognitive dissonance really bothers me and effects how I see myself and I am at the point where I am ready to draw the line. So if you see changes in me or if you see me sad/angry/frustrated just know that I am trying to work things out for myself and be happy. I will be fine, I just need to re-assess myself and get back on track.