WOOHOO!

I've lost 8 pounds this month! I know that rate will slow down as the pounds come off, but this is a great start, and I'm very happy for it. I haven't even added much exercise yet, I've just been focusing on changing the way I eat; because I know myself...I have to do it one step at a time. Anyway, hooray hooray! This halfway makes up for the nights I've only been getting 2-3 hours of sleep this week (yay for teething).
I know this is isn't a long one, but it's not always the size that counts (that's what she said).

For those following the writers' strike...

Seth MacFarlane, oh he of Family Guy fame, has created a great video which he titled "The Negotiating Table" to explain how things are going with the Writer's Guild strike. Check it out here.
Be-deah be-deah be-deah, that's all folks.

Fun stuff

Seen at Cynical Bastard's and Work in Progress...

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first article title is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/

The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.Now take your pic, add the band name and title to it, then post it.

I have to say that mine rocks. In fact, I'm inspired by it...inspired to actually write a song (or poem) with that title. I love the band name. I love the photo, which is by Víctor Almendra. Holy crap. Awesome.

WWC, better late than never.

The awesome Tink (all hail the Tink!) is continuing in her quest to stump us with words to photograph every week. Damn, last week was hard. I mean, it wasn't THAT bad, but I could not find anything original for black. But really, I think black is a "colour" I'm just not doing a lot of right now. Is that weird? I guess I'm just looking forward to spring or something because it's all about spring colours right now. Please to notice the hipness of my vernacular. Anyway, last week's words were Strange and Black.

It's very STRANGE how it went from winter wonderland to barren, muddy, soggy mushland in just 2 days:

(and 2 days later, it looked like this:)

This week's words were soft and square. And I did NOT get my freak on, people. No, instead I went back to the basics. A.k.a. WWC 101.

Soft:

Square:

(Yes, the pillow is a rectangle. Yes, this is called cheating. I KNOW. Shoish.)
I'll bet you thought I was doing pictures of my kid again. Nope. Maybe next week though. :)

Special thank you to Tink for the Golden Spork Award 2nd year in a row. I worked really hard for it, ha...ha...ha. Seriously though, I got the "Playful" award, and she said she could hang out with me all day. Um, like, oh. my. god. I am like, SO freaking out right now? Because Tink? Is the coolest? And the wittiest thing I can think of to say in the face of this truly awesome award is to do a really shitty valley girl impression? In all seriousness, though, I'm totally chuffed. Thanks, Tink!! :)

Hey moms!

Isn't this fun?:

Good times, good times.

You really have to watch what you put in your mouth...

(That sounds dirty. I love it.)
It's amazing to me how quickly the things you eat add up. Obviously my intake was disproportionate to my output or I wouldn't be posting about starting a new lifestyle of healthful eating and such, but boy - it's really an eye-opener when you're logging every little thing and keeping track, and seeing the numbers in black and white. My poor body. Well, my-poor-body-for-the-last-10-years, because it stops here and forever after. This is my fourth day logging everything into the website I mentioned last time, and I've already learned so much, not just in terms of being more aware of what I'm eating, or how quickly it adds up, but how to adjust what kinds of things I eat nutritionally speaking and how I FEEL intaking only a certain amount of calories. And how easily my brain will say "Hey, it's fun to be out of the house, why don't you just drive through Tim Horton's and grab an apple fritter for fun..." I didn't, for the record. But it's amazing how the brain will jump there so easily and try to convince the rest of you that it's "For the Greater Good." (<--Name that movie reference.) Funny thing is, though, the voice sounds desperate to me - it doesn't have the impact on me it used to, and it's detached somehow, like something I can hold in my hand, look at curiously, figure out, and then discard. Thank goodness!
I'm still late with my WWC but I will have it up tomorrow.

New Year's Resolutions, Shmew Year's Mezholutions

I don't "do" New Year's resolutions. It's been so long, I don't even remember the last time I did any. I'm one of those slow changers; I'm not the type of gal who suddenly goes "I need to make more money" and then within 24 hours have moved across country to begin a new job that will lead to fame and fortune. Does. Not. Happen. I'm more of the "line up all of my duckies in a row and then tip-toe into it" genus.
But over the holidays, one thing came into focus. I've been lining the duckies up for a long time and suddenly, after adding 3 more duckies, there they all were, ready and waiting for me to tiptoe in. Duckie number 1 was making a few appointments with a counsellor. Duckie number 2 was an article in an Oprah magazine (not everyone's favourite, I know, but I like her, and I love her magazine). The article was about self-mastery vs. self-esteem, and clicked a few things into place in the rusty cogs of some long-forgotten area of my brain. Duckie number 3 was a website mein Hublein's cousin told me about (found here). He's been using it to work on the same issue, and said website is, yea and verily, a revelation to me in many ways. Special bonus: it's FREE!
The duckies have lined up. I'm ready. Please wish me luck as I tiptoe into a leaner Freakazojd.

Vlog Friday

With a tip-o-the-hat to Jay. Although I'm not committing to doing this EVERY week (like Jay does, because he is a superstar that way), I will do it sometimes.
Settle a bet for me and the mister...

My kid is SO damned lucky he's not ticklish, because his father would completely take advantage of it. :)

Have a GREAT weekend everybody - see you again on the other side of it!

Hooray for Happy Holidays!

After a rough November/December, I am so happy to report that our holidays were wonderful. Here are a few highlights for your viewing pleasure.
The most photographed thing at my family's Christmas dinner was a gag gift I got for my dad. Not everyone had a turn, but many did...

Da Man:

Arrr...(pirate viking?):

Min bror:

And his lady, grrrr:

A sweet viking:

And last but not least, "Pengin Viking":

I also had fun matching Pengin to mein Hublein. Yes I did. And yes, Virginia, I AM a geek:

While Pengin fell asleep just before the gift unwrappings at my family dins, he was awake for it at my inlaws' and it was very cute. Here he is with his auntie & uncle, with one of his favourite presents...an awesome toy from said auntie & uncle, coincidentally!

Special bonus - Hublein got Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve off work in addition to the stat holidays. This was a wonderful thing, because holy crap, we sure needed it. So he went back to work yesterday and I went back to posting. :)

WWC

Ok...this week's WWC is a BIT of a cop-out, because I'm using pics of my kid. I probably could have been more inventive with this - in fact, I KNOW I could have - but this is what I had time for, and I'm trying to get back to the regular posting that I was doing so well with before life got nuts (see previous post). So on with it, then...this week's words were brown and pattern:



Brown



Pattern (a.k.a. Hooray for fun kids' socks!)





How freakin' cute. I mean, really.