Strike a Pose

I don't post much about work...guess I'm a little paranoid that someone I work with (like my boss) has found this and I don't want to write about anything that will get me fired. I like my warm house and new car too much to be unemployed.

Also, I don't often feel good about the work I do, thanks to never being told that it's any good. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been praised by a superior in the last five year for the work I've done (despite getting lots of praise from clients, having them pick my concepts, liking my copy, etc.).

So, I just had a to brag a little bit. I have an ad running in the March issue of Vogue. There's not a lot of copy, but I wrote every word, and damn it, I think that's pretty cool.

Stuff I’m reading, watching, loving right now.*

Books: I have a habit of having more than one book going at a time. Currently, I’m reading:

• You: Staying Young: The Owner’s Manual for Extending Your Warranty
  The latest in the “You” series by Oprah’s favorite doc and some other guy. Can’t seem to get through this, although it does contain some great information. Seems to be geared to someone at least 10 years older than me. Which is fine. Anything that makes me feel younger.
• The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
  The gals at work started a book club and this is our first selection. I’ve read several of Bill Bryson’s other works and he always makes me laugh aloud. A Walk in the Woods is still my favorite from this Iowa-born writer who lives in England.
• What To Expect: The Toddler Years
  You gotta read these if you have a kid, right? I’m already two months behind on this user manual…I hope there’s not something important that I’m supposed to be doing. (As a side note, the first book in this series is the classic What To Expect When You’re Expecting, which I did not need. There should be an adoption book called What To Expect When You’re Not Reproducing.)

TV

• How To Look Good Naked
  God love Carson Kressley. He was always my favorite Queer Eye guy, and who better to build up the self-esteem of the average woman than a man who has clearly embraced his different-ness.
• The Biggest Loser: Couples
  I’m not quite as into the Couples show as much as I am the regular Biggest Loser shows, but I still tune in faithfully every Tuesday. Love to watch the transformations. While I eat cookies. And ice cream.

Movie

• P.S. I Love You
  I’ve only seen two movies (in the theater or otherwise) since Lauren was born, so perhaps I am not the most discerning of movie-goers these days, but I loved this chick-flick. I know it didn’t get good reviews, but I don’t care. For two hours of laugh-cry-laugh-cry (throw in a little lust for Gerard Butler and Jeffrey Dean Morgan and their yummy Irish accents), it was worth the $9.25 and half a box of Kleenex.

*I was not paid to review any of this stuff, but I am by no means above accepting any free goodies the publishers/producers might want to throw my way.

Oh, God, please let us win

Ha ha! It's 2008 so I can start posting about football again!

Despite my wish that my beloved Bucks play in the Rose Bowl (I can't handle the pressure of another National Championship game), we're going to the big dance after all. I am wearing my (uh, Bret's) Fear the Nut shirt, have pre-ordered a pizza to be delivered promptly at 7:00 p.m., and need to come up with a scheme for getting Bret to put Lauren to bed (her bedtime is the same time as kickoff). But I may already be screwed on that one; he put her to bed the last two nights (coincidence? I think not.)

GO BUCKS!!!!

All right, I realize that my posts are making me sound like Debbie Downer, and while, yes, I do tend to have a strong streak of the melancholy in me, I’d like to think that I’m mostly a positive person. So I’m going to write about something positive.

I have a new nephew! Colin Matthew was born January 3, weighing in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces and 19 ½ inches long. He came quickly so there was no time for drugs (my sister-in-law is my hero). I can’t wait to visit him and big brother Caleb. My brother is well on his way to having his own soccer team.

The other exciting news is that my new dining room furniture is being delivered tomorrow. No, seriously, you have no idea how exciting this is. I was convinced I would die an old woman with that hand-me-down table and chairs (they actually have “1973” stamped underneath them). Our new set was the floor sample so I got a mission-style table, 6 chairs, buffet and hutch for what a buffet from Pottery Barn costs. A good deal to be sure.

See? I can be happy!

Not a New Year's Resolution

I have been going (back) to Weight Watchers for 4 months now – and have a whopping 8.8 pounds lost to show for it. I went a year and a half ago and lost 22 pounds in 2 months. Of course, I gained it back, probably all in the 7 weeks I was home with a newborn (I swear if I were a stay-at-home mom I’d weigh 600 pounds and need a really, really strong anti-depressant).

My whole plan when I started WW this time around was to reach my goal weight by the time I turned 40. I even had a whole campaign dreamed up for the process: Hot By 40. I figured out how much weight I'd need to lose each week in order to reach my goal by then, and it was quite reasonable. But I fell off track a month or so ago and now it’s probably not do-able. Not for me, anyway. Forty is “only” 53 weeks away and I am doing this slowly.

I just dropped a blob of buffalo chicken dip leftover from New Year’s eve on my mousepad. That should give you some indication of how slowly it's going.