Boo-Ya!

I am not typically for the death penalty...

but there are Exceptions.

It occurred to me today

While working on a contract for 2008 that NEXT YEAR is 2008. This is obvious to most people. But that means that my 10-year high school reunion thing is next year. Not that I want to talk with the majority of those peeps. But I'm old now.

I Won Shoes!

I don't think I have ever won anything in my life! I am SO excited.

Did I mention?

Maddy picked out the smallest pumpkin ever?

Our Weekend

Maddy plots to invade Poland...



Punkin' Patch


Mike's Melons


Mike's impression of Wayne Coyne (cute!)

Eat THIS, World Bank

I would love to go

But tricks-or-treats must come first when you have a 2 year old.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Have I mentioned that Maddy really likes that movie? That she watches it a lot? And that, by "a lot," I mean EVERY FRIGGIN' DAY!?!

Anyhow, we carved punkins tonight...The one on the left is mine, the one next to that is one we picked up because Mike thought it looked like a moldy skull (which it does) and Mike tried to do a Day of the Dead thing with it. The one next to that is Maddy's "ghostie" pumpkin, since she found a ghost candle Mike's mom had bought and specifically told Mike to carve that for her. The one on the end is Mike's-I love it.



Mike's punkin...notice the bat symbol...

My pumpkin. I have never been so pleased with a pumpkin since the X-Files one I did in school. I didn't get Mike to help me at all either. I could have down the lettering better, but I was freehanding it by then. Still pleased.

Of course, now its 11:23 and I am still processing pumpkin seeds from 4 punkins...good thing I can't sleep anyway...

Best. Movie. Ever.

Well, no, that may be an exaggeration.

But in a time when I have been gradually losing faith in horror movies, this is definitely a bright spot. Funny, smart, and gory, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. And kudos to Mike for renting it.

My New Niece Looks Psychotic

Welcome to the family.

My Blue Heaven

Just got back from Vegas about an hour ago. Can't sleep, since I am still on Vegas time. Hoping to doze off soon.

The house was a mess, by the 'rents anniversary present came in so I can lord that over them for the next few weeks.

Vegas was same ole' same ole'. Lost about $10 in slots. That's not too bad, unless you consider the fact I was playing penny slots. Then it just becomes sad.

I got to see Louis C.K. there. He was great as always.

Highlights of Vegas trips for me are always food-related. I think my favorite thing was Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Omelet w/ Shallots (had it for breakfast twice) and Fried Calamari at the Irish pub I like. Yum. Dammit. Now I'm hungry.

But the best thing was the Blueberry Sage Martini-it was the perfect martini. It smelled wonderfully fragrant, yet clean & crisp and tasted like heaven too (if Heaven were drenched in Blueberry Stoli). The second one tasted even better.

Lychee Martinis-not so good.

Chocolate Martinis make a nice dessert.

Airport martini was so-so, but came in a takeway cup to board the plane with. Sweet!

And yes, I did gain 4 lbs while I was there-with all the walking too! Argh!

Dear CNN,

Why do you suck?

First off, why is this your headline story?

Secondly, who comes up with the headlines for your stories? Mike had an appropriate response to this one-

U.S. Military looking at alternatives to Turkey

"How about Tofurkey?"

Bye Bye Miss American Pie

I feel horribly guilty about leaving tomorrow (for Vegas on a business trip). I decided early today that 1) I was gonna keep Tilda home with me so I could spend the day with her 2) I was going to make Mike's favorite dinner (Tuscan Meatballs) and 3) I was going to bake, from scratch, a colonial-era pumpkin pie.

I started around noon with the crust. I never made a pie crust before and think I did everything right. Between the mixing, freezing, and resting, the crust itself took two hours and looked like it would cook up nicely. I threw the rest of it together thinking it would be smooth sailing from then on.

Only to learn that one cannot substitute heavy cream for whipping cream.

Mike, who avoids my Food Network addiction as much as possible, even rolled his eyes when I told him about the substitution. "Well, that won't work."

The pie never baked right and ended up cooked on top, but forever gooey in the middle. Bleah. I ended its short, but nicely-spicy-smelling life in the trash.

Erg.

My guilt was then increased even more since I had been telling Ma~ all day that she was going to get "cake." (see previous entry regarding said child's fondness for cake)

I am a terrible mother.

So I did an emergency run to the Stupidfresh for ice cream. Ben & Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie-usually my favorite. It tasted okay.

But not as good as punkin pie. :(

Diet is a four letter word

I have been thinking a lot about religion lately. Namely, my own personal search for a greater truth that rings completely and utterly true. I have yet to find one that I can accept and practice wholeheartedly.

But I did start thinking about the skeleton of most religions-a set of beliefs describing the workings of the world and its people, defined practices and/or rituals, a spiritual guide, and some sort of end result-peace, eternal life, etc...Often there are devout followers who preach their own belief system to anyone who will (or won't) listen.

My question is-how is this different from dieting?

Hear me out-I am not saying we should replace religion with dieting-I am just saying there is a correlation between how both are marketed and practiced. Let's start with the beginning:

1) Most diet books offer a (fairly) easy premise to understand, which is the basis of the diet. Like accepting Jesus as one's personal savior or the concept that life is suffering, there is usually one premise that acts as the underlying foundation for the diet-all carbs/fat/transfats/red meat, i. e. is/are evil and should be shunned. Usually, there are larger societal factors at play, such as a more modernized economy has led to a more sedentary life and more processed foods, etc...

2) Defined practices and/or rituals-like memorizing commandments, prayers, or rituals, dieters are encouraged to read, learn, and absorb information about their chosen diets, much like devout worshippers. I myself can give a pretty good estimate of how many calories I have ingested each day-like forswearing non-Kosher foods, I regularly avoid high-calorie fare that I deem "not worth" the sin (and penance) of ingesting. If not calories, then a list of specific foods to (or not to) eat, charts, indexes, etc...Tell me how attending Weight Watchers meetings is not like attending Sunday School.

3) Spiritual Guides-like many preachers, pastors, ministers, imams, whateveryoucall them, diet book authors and creators claim to know the one and only path to the Weightloss. According to these doctors and nondoctors, all other diet gurus will lead you down the wrong path to a hell of failure and weight-related problems. They all explicitly point out what is wrong with other theories and beliefs and how science backs up their claim. Sounds like the debate between Creationism and Evolution to me....

4)The Money Shot-Most religions offer some sort of everlasting life and/or peace. An end result that makes all of the pain, suffering, and hard work worth it. All diets offer this same prize of accomplishment-Do What I Say and Ye Shall Overcome....and Slip into a Size 4.

There are closet dieters-people who are ashamed of their chosen "religion" and, like Peter, will deny that they are on a diet rather than admit the truth, for fear of shame and humiliation. No one likes to admit that they are a "sinner."

Then there are the opposite, people who try to "spread the good news" about their chosen religion and make as many converts as they can. If we become a low-carb nation, more low-carb food choices will be available for everyone and we can all be happy and trim, right?

There are people like me, who weigh themselves religiously (every day) and read everything they can about the various diets and exercise, seeking the truth of how to lose weight and be healthy. The goal is to be healthy, live long, and look acceptable. Sometimes, it borders on fanatic. We are checked by guilt. We do penance for our sins.

Then there are atheistic dieters-people who don't give a damn about what the most current (read: popular) truth peddler says and will eat whatever they please. To hell with heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, etc....these are the Taoists of the diet world.

So I guess my question is-do diets market like religions or are religions marketing like diets? Which is a more disturbing concept? And, more personally, do I myself gravitate towards health and nutritional information because it is the only "tangible" (i.e. based on science) "religion" that I have been able to find?

That was either a really deep thought or a really lame one.

Or maybe it's just late and I am tired.

Soup's On

Me: Tilda, what do you want for dinner?
Maddy: Cake.
Me: You can't have cake. You can have some grapes?
Maddy: Cake.
Me: How 'bout soup and crackers?
Maddy: Cake.
Me: You can't have cake.
Maddy: I like cake.
Me: I know you like cake. How about some cheese?
Maddy: Cake.

AGH!

So Maddy's new thing is to remove her diapers. Even if she has on pants, she has, lately, been coming into whatever room we happen to be sitting in with a big smile on her face and no diapers. Sometimes she is holding them, sometimes we find them stashed under her bed or on a bookshelf...

Yesterday was the kicker though. We had put her down for a nap. Since she is now sleeping in a big girl bed and not a crib, naps have been more...challenging. Basically, she gets up and paws through some books, looks out the window, plays with clothes...Not much to do with sleep. Depending on my current mood, I will either try to get her to go to sleep or ignore her.

Yesterday was one of the "ignore her" days. So after she had been in her room for a few hours, quiet for some time, I decided it was time to wake her up. I hit something when opening the door. Which, of course, turned out to be Maddy who had apparently fallen asleep behind the door. Wearing a shirt, no pants, no diaper, and one sock. (She did not have socks on when we put her to bed.)

The room was strewn with wipes, socks, books, and clothes. And the half-naked baby with one sock looked around confused and sleepy as though she had nothing to do with it.

Thus, I decided it was time to start potty-training seriously.

So, I'm a bit stressed today.

Five Little Punkins...

Yuck

Scary

Yuck (again). Scary because it looks like some things I find at the bottom of my fridge.

Cool...

Awesome!

All Hail Hypno-toad

OH HAPPY DAY!!!!!

I will still be joyous even if this proves to be a hoax.

Buddhist-Quaker-Pagans Unite!!!!

I've been thinking a lot about religion lately. My job and current life is so rote that I have to believe that there is SOMETHING bigger than all of this....but the beliefs I was raised in and embraced as a child no longer "cut it." I am looking for something else.

I took this Belief-O-Matic quiz, as I have done many times before. I always get the same results. Unitarian Universalist is always number 1. Everyone I know gets this, so I always disregard it. Buddhism second (Theravada). Quaker third. Buddhism again (Mahayana). Quaker. Neo-pagan. Sigh. I feel like I am shopping for pasta. It's a terrible feeling. But there's got to be SOMETHING right? Otherwise, why? (To which Mike says "Why not?" Did I mention I despise my husband sometimes?)

No, I don' t think Belief-O-Matic, despite its great name, is the end-all of religious quests. It is highly amusing and nothing more. But still...makes you think?

How bad am I about taking pictures?

Both of these pictures were on the same camera. I am so ashamed....




(and yes, they are both of Maddy)