Yipppeee!

No Doubt tour dates were just announced! I plan on buying 2 tickets with the assumption that I can find somebody to go with me. Now that I will have Chelsea Handler and No Doubt tickets, I'm just waiting for U2 to announce their next tour.

Happy Mardi Gras!

I went to Mardi Gras when I was around 23 or 24 years old. It was a blast! People dancing in the streets and drinking all day and night. Before I left people warned me to be careful about random violence, but I had a great experience. My favorite part was escaping the crowded streets at night for the piano bar.

The Hills Season 5 Trailer

I know I said I was over The Hills...but I feel like I should watch the last season just to see it end (or how fake it can get?). It looks like Lauren and Heidi reunite as do Spencer and Brody. How convenient...and the Heidi/Spencer thing may come to an end...which is probably because the only other thing they have left to publicize is a divorce (or a baby...but even they wouldn't go that far?). Lauren's boyfriend still will not appear on the show...and does she know had bad that bright red lipstick looks?

The Hills - MTV Shows

Ugly Ugly Ugly

Why is this so difficult? Most of the women at the Oscars tonight look awful. This entire awards season has been a bust for fashion. They are beautiful, have stylists, custom designed gowns...and this is what they come up with??? Best and worst lists to come...although it will likely be short on the best and long on the worst.

Jenny Craig: Week 12

I had another bad week, but I lost some of the weight I gained the week before. My official JC weigh in today was up 2.2 pounds...that is a two week total. I accepted it and just wanted to move on, but the consultant I saw today wouldn't let it go. I couldn't get an appointment with my normal consultant so I had a different person today. She was determined to "figure this out". I told her exactly what the problem was...I was stressed and ate too much. I snacked and ate when I wasn't hungry. No big mystery, but I had to sit there for a half an hour and analyze everything with her. Ugh. I just wanted out of there. I woke up today with a bad sore throat and I really just wanted to weigh in, get my food and leave. I wish the consultants would just accept I knew what I did wrong and move on rather than trying to fix me. I realize that is what they are there to do, but I know what I did. I didn't go in there thinking I did everything right and then gained weight. Honestly, I was happy it was only 2.2 pounds. So here are the totals...7.4 pounds on Jenny and 14.6 overall.

A Love Story for the Ages

I'm sure by now everyone has seen the picture of the firefighter in Australia giving a drink of water to a burned koala. I find this story fascinating (even more so than Chris Brown beating the crap out of Rihanna). Turns out "Sam" is a girl, but that's ok, Sam still works as a name. My favorite part of this story now is that Sam has a boyfriend named Bob at the shelter who was also burned in the fires. Bob and Sam took to each other immediately and have formed a bond. They now share a cage and comfort each other with hugs! Bob is very protective of Sam and his health has improved since she arrived. This is so sweet. They are expected to be in the shelter for 4 or 5 months and I hope when they recover they are released together. Good luck to Sam and Bob!

Thursday Thirteen: Random Thoughts

I've been having a hard time coming up with topics for the Thursday Thirteen lately, so here are 13 random things on my mind lately.

1. This economy really has me spooked because anything could happen. I'm just hoping that my husband and I stay employed until things turn around.

2. For a long time I've wanted to become a financial advisor because I enjoy helping people with financial issues. The problem with it is that it is really more of a sales job. I'm thinking about taking online courses toward becoming a CFP (Certified Financial Planner) to see if it's something I really want to pursue.

3. Why is Jennifer Aniston going to the Academy Awards?

4. Brad Pitt was nominated for Best Actor?

5. One of my cats is successfully losing weight. He's gone from 18 pounds to 15.5 pounds (goal is 14 per the vet). The other cat needs to lose weight too, but has gone from 13 to only 12.6 (goal is 12 per the vet). This has been over about 2 and half years.

6. Suri is now way cuter than Shiloh.

7. Winter will soon be coming to an end. I'm ready for warm evenings on the deck drinking margaritas and eating chips & salsa.

8. I really want to go back to St. John.

9. What if I don't like the new kitchen when it's all done?

10. Will my neck and back ever get better? I still have daily pain from the car accident.

11. I love the TV show Friday Night Lights. I have been watching the past seasons from Netflix and I don't want it to end.

12. What is it going to be like having contractors in my house and no kitchen for who knows how long?

13. I can't believe all the people from elementary school and high school that I have reconnected with on Facebook.

Happy Birthday To Me

It's my birthday today. Even though I'm getting old and I don't do anything to celebrate my birthday, it still puts a little spring in my step. It would be nice to live life like every day is my birthday. Thanks to Facebook I have many more people than usual wishing me a happy birthday.

Jenny Craig: Week 11

Bad, really bad. So bad that I canceled my appointment and didn't weigh in. I seem to have lost all motivation and just want to eat. I have a lot of things stressing me out right now which makes me eat and not care if I gain weight. I have gone to boot camp a couple times and that makes me incredibly hungry. It's still hard to me to put diet and exercise together. I'm not sure the exact amount, but I think I gained around 3 to 4 pounds.

Back East

When I was a kid we went to visit my mom's side of the family a few times "back east" in North Dakota and Minnesota. I know these are not really the east coast, but to us in California it was "back east". We went three times and it was such a big deal to me to go "back east". Now my dad is planning a trip to go "back east"... to visit ME!!!! I realize I live on the east coast and moved far away from my family, but I never though of it as "back east".

Let the Games Begin!

The kitchen remodel is (hopefully) about to start! It is scheduled for February 23rd and tonite we have the walk through. This weekend we plan on packing up the kitchen and setting up a mini kitchen in the office. I really hope everything goes as planned. I told my husband to expect me to break down crying at least once. To add to the stress of the kitchen remodel...I now have 3 family members coming to visit in April...before the kitchen will be done! I really wish they would have picked other dates, but they didn't, so now I'm preparing for guests while going thru the remodel and they will have to deal with the noise/mess while they are here. Not really how I wanted my dad to see my house for the first time. We also don't have sleeping arrangements for all 3 of them in the house so I'm turning another room into a guest room. So far I scraped the wallpaper and now I need to paint and get furniture.

Dancing with the Stars

I am excited for the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars. Last season I wasn't interested in any of the "stars" so I only watched a couple episodes. They are trying to shake things up this season with having "wild" people and real life couples. Here is the cast for this season.

Belinda Carlisle - Lead singer of the Go Go's, who I loved when I was a kid. She has also released a number of solo albums, but she will always be from the Go Go's to me. I'm worried that her face is looking a little like Priscilla Presley's though with too much plastic surgery. She is a former bad girl turned Buddhist.

Denise Richards - Oh my, how do I describe her? Actress??? Model??? Reality star??? Charlie Sheen's ex??? Husband stealer??? I can't stand her and hope she goes early.

Jewel - I am surprised to see Jewel on this. Although she is not a huge star, I think she is a bit above most of the people on the show in terms of level of celebrity...however, my guess is that it is for her husband.

Ty Murray - Jewel's husband...oh, and a "bull riding superstar". Hmm...never heard of this guy, but it goes along with the "love is a battlefield" theme for this season...ooh, they should have had Pat Benatar and her husband instead!

Shawn Johnson - Olympic gymnast..the one who didn't win the all around gold medal...ok, ok, but she did win other medals. I'd rather see Nastia Luikin who is more graceful. I like Shawn, but she is very short (4'10") and stocky so I worry about how she will dance with a partner and look graceful.

Lil' Kim - Rapper best known for her crazy, revealing outfits and wigs...and went she to jail. She was also the "secret lover" of Notorious B.I.G., so I guess opposites do attract. She falls into the "wild" category for the year.

Steve O - Crazy stunt guy from Jackass and Wildboyz. He is known to have problems with drugs, alcohol, beating people up, and mental illness. Definitely fits the "wild" category. We'll see if he's able to stay clean to get through the show.

Chuck Wicks - Apparently a country singer...who is partnering with his girlfriend Julianne Hough. She is really good and has won twice so I think he has an advantage.

David Allen Grier - An actor...I honestly do not know who this guy is.

Gilles Marini - An actor best known for being the hot guy next door to Samantha in the Sex and the City movie.

Nancy O'Dell - Access Hollywood host. She seems a little too boring for this season.

Steve Wozniak - Founded Apple with Steve Jobs and is a Silicon Valley icon. I don't really get this choice since there are so many people who want to be on the show. His only tie in to a "star" is that he used to date Kathy Griffin.

Lawrence Taylor (LT) - Retired hall of fame football player. He has a long history with drugs, alcohol and hookers, but has since cleaned up.

That's all 13 of them. Hopefully they won't disappoint!

I Want a Koala

This picture of a firefighter sharing his water with an injured Koala in Australia really touched me, but it also makes me sad to think of all the people and animals who are suffering in the fires.

Jenny Craig: Week 10

I had a really stressful week and I admit to being an emotional eater. I ate my JC food...plus quite a bit more. I thought about canceling my appointment to try to lose the extra weight and not have to admit to it, but I didn't and I went to face the music. It ended up being only a 0.6 pound gain. Not bad given how much I ate.

Done

I haven't had time to post much lately. I have been really busy at work and was working late most nights. I went crazy on eating snacks and know my JC weigh will not be good tomorrow. I am ok with it though. This project has been weighing on me for a while and I finished today at around 4pm (yes, on Saturday) and feel so much better now. It was a beautiful day today with the temperature going up to 65! Unfortunately, I started my day with getting my eyes dilated and then once I could focus and read again, I had to work. We did get out for a walk at about 4pm though and it was still nice. One thing happened though that I could not believe. We saw a couple with a dog and they let the dog off the leash. It starting running toward something...then I saw it was chasing a deer! Why would someone let their dog chase a deer??? It seemed so cruel.

Jenny Craig: Week 9

I lost 0.6 this week bringing my JC total to 10.2 and my grand total to 17.4. My JC consultant was getting on me again about weaning myself off the JC food and planning meals according to their guidelines which is based on exchanges. There is no way I am going to calculate meat/starch/fat exchanges on everything I eat. I also don't understand why they don't want me to stay on the JC food since that is how they make money. I'll count calories, but I won't do this exchange thing. I like JC because it is easy...then they try to switch you to this exchange thing which is exact opposite. No thank you.