Took my usual walk with Kristen on Saturday morning. We got a little lost but it only succeeded in giving us more time to talk and a half hour on top of our usual walk time. We figured this was enough reason to stop for Egg McMuffins on the way out grocery shopping.

I took these pictures of baby leaves on our walk:

After a full day of cleaning, the super cool party people started showing up around 7pm for the Sparkle and Pamper party where everyone dresses in their jammies and we sip martinis and eat nummies while getting facials and trying on jewelry. We had a great mix of people who really enjoyed everyone else's company and made new friends.

Jimbo and I were up bright and early on Sunday morning to help my family rake my Grammy's gargantuan yard. We had a good (exhausting) time. My family is super cool. Check out mom's pics.

Monday marked Belle & Buddy's first birthday. Jimbo worked from home so they had company all day and then he picked up some presents and a special dinner for them.

And if that wasn't enough to make it a banner day, I got my final present from my secret pal who revealed herself to be miss Goofy Girl herself. What's ironic is that she's the one who inspired me to participate! Thanks for the pressies, Heather! You've got great taste!

It's been a looooong time in the making, but I've finally got it done. Ladies & germs, I do present to you, my latest masterpiece:

Ah, yeah, it's a mommy blog, but not just any mommy blog a cool-mommy products-cool-deals-blog and if I were a mommy I'd most certainly have this puppy on my blogroll.

Now if you'll excuse me I think I earned myself a margarita.

1. I can't...
   
2. I can...
   
3. ...made me feel really good this week.
   
4. I bought...
   
5. My car...
   
6. My bedtime ritual includes...
   
7. This weekend I will...
   

I scoff at people who speak of this "bad tequila experience." I LOVE tequila. It's May 5th, Cinco de Mayo - what better time to profess your love to tequila? Yeah.

I shook it up with some 'rita mix and poured it into a salt-rimmed martini glass and curled up with the chickens to watch Bridezillas. It was a pleasant evening, a little work, a little cleaning, some laundry... and the headache that won't go away. I assume it's a tension headache from the week from hell at work and expect it to go away as I unwind. Not. It goes from annoying leetle headache to "omg I'm going to die", pain, and nausea.

I wanted to curl up in bed with my new O magazine, but all I could do was curl up in bed and die. Sleep was not good. Six million ounces of water did not help. I jumped up out of sleep at one point, convinced that the cats were hanging from the mirror that was falling off the wall. I was hurtin' for certain.

Unable to sleep any longer, the morning began at 5:30. I curled up with my blankey and "Take this House and Sell it" on DVR. Eventually, after a bagel and cocoa kristpies, I started feeling somewhat normal.

I can't figure out if it was the tequila and the salt and my choice of dinner (a weight watchers calzone filled with sodium) that made me dehydrated or whether it was the dreaded migraine. Either way I'm feeling better and it will be a while before I have tequila again. But I won't swear away from it forever, I love it.

The weekend is slow and peaceful and quiet.

Jimbo: So what do you want to do today?
Me: I want an egg-white omelet.

So off we went to the Owl Diner for breakies and then made our way over to the boulevard for a nice little walk. What a suprise when we bumped into Erika and Jay and their entourage, including little Sammy (what a doll, what gorgeous blue eyes!). Then we headed home for a nice long afternoon nap followed by some House on DVR.

Jimbo: *blah blah blah* (I don't remember what he was saying) cupcake
Me: Cupcake!? Ohhh, I like that word, That's your new name for me.
Jimbo: Cupcake? Isn't that offensive? Doesn't that mean you're fat?
Me: Hell no, it means I'm cute!

Urban dictionary has some wacked out definitions of cupcake, (I especially like #1, but of course it's a verb) but we'll use it as a noun and stick with cute.

Next on the agenda? We've got a date. We're headed to Villa Banca. Pumpkin Raviolis here I come!

Are you always trying to improve yourself and are never satisfied with the end result? Forget about that supposedly perfect future version of you. It's time to say yes to the fabulousness that is you right now.

Thank you dear horoscope, this is exactly what I needed to hear right now. Can you believe that I haven't really acknowledged those nearly 12 pounds that I've lost so far? Well sure, I'm all "go me" and the such but that's just rah-rah BS.

In some warped way my mind thinks that since I shouldn't have weighed 164 (ouch) pounds in the first place, then I don't really deserve any cheers for losing those first 12 pounds, which will turn into 15, 20, 30.... My mind says, "well darling, you really shouldn't have weighed that much to begin with."

Well duh! But taking that weight off, that was HARD. And it's still hard and dammit, I deserve some recognition. So here I am going on the record saying for once and for all.... dude, you rock the house with your bad-ass weight loss. Keep up the good work!

CNN.com - 'Fat Man Walking' completes cross-country trek - May 9, 2006

"NEW YORK (AP) -- Steve Vaught didn't count each mile he walked or weigh himself every day along the way. And as he completed the final leg of his trek across America, he said making it to New York City from California on foot was only part of his story."

"This is not about obsessing about numbers, or times, or dates, or miles," he said. "It's just about going on a walk and sort of having time to get things straight."

"...for me it's never been about the destination,it's been about the journey."

Kind of puts thing into perspective doesn't it? It's what our Weight Watchers leader has been saying - it's not about the numbers on the scale but how you feel. Good for this guy for doing something about how he felt. He's definitely an inspiration.

Thanks to Jimbo for the link!

Ore-ida Fast Food Fries rock the house, y'all. My coworker suggested that I try them after we had a discussion about the difference in points between fast food fries (wicked high) and frozen fries (wicked low) . She came up with a great solution - frozen fries that taste like fast food fries. She was definitely onto something. These fries are low in points (3pts for 3oz) and taste just like fast food fries (ala McDonalds) just without the grease and salt overload.

Try 'em.

Bush challenges hundreds of laws - The Boston Globe

"Bush is the first president in modern history who has never vetoed a bill, giving Congress no chance to override his judgments. Instead, he has signed every bill that reached his desk, often inviting the legislation's sponsors to signing ceremonies at which he lavishes praise upon their work.

Then, after the media and the lawmakers have left the White House, Bush quietly files ''signing statements" -- official documents in which a president lays out his legal interpretation of a bill for the federal bureaucracy to follow when implementing the new law. The statements are recorded in the federal register.

In his signing statements, Bush has repeatedly asserted that the Constitution gives him the right to ignore numerous sections of the bills -- sometimes including provisions that were the subject of negotiations with Congress in order to get lawmakers to pass the bill. He has appended such statements to more than one of every 10 bills he has signed.

I heard about this last night on NPR while driving home from work last night and was so shocked that I had to call Jimbo and tell him about it. I feel like it's just one thing after another with this "president." I just wish I could do something about it.

1. Nobody can ... like I can.
   
2. The last gift I bought was...
   
3. Every year I grow...
   
4. I've always wanted to know...
   
5. ...makes life simpler
   
6. My favorite book is... because...
   

"My cubicle
it's my small, small space
in a crowded place
just a six by six foot booth
and it hate it that's the truth."

So the weekend was lovely... lots of driving around in the rain. Saw both moms and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Jimbo and I carpooled on Monday morning. I was clueless about the flooding issue until I turned on NPR and we a wee bit shocked that the flooding was very close to where we live. The Merrimack River, which we need to cross in order to get back home was near flood levels. I was very concerned of course, and called Jimbo who then called the Department of Public Works who said that they didn't forsee any problems. Phew! But then I logged on to the local newspaper that talked of evacuations, flooding and landslides. That was enough to send me home.

We got home safe and got a few pictures of the rising water. We're pretty darn lucky. There are currently dozens of streets and bridges that are closed, many within a few miles of our home, but we haven't been touched and don't expect to be as we are on higher ground. But, since people are cautioned to stay away from the river, we're both working from home today.

1. I like my pizza with...
   
2. ...gets me out of a rut.
   
3. Dear Mother Nature....
   
4. Mmmm, I'm craving....
   
5. Today my hair...
   
6. This weekend...
   

Since I've joined Weight Watchers I've been more and more aware of what I put in my pie hole, and as such I spend a lot of time checking out the nutritional information of the food that I eat. Thanks to Weight Watchers web site and the ultimate non-official Weight Watcher's site Dotti's Weight Loss Zone, getting this information is easy. I can put a number on everything I eat.

Well, almost.

While a ton of restaurants provide the nutritional content of their food, many do not. This is an outrage. With the obesity epidemic in this country, it's shameful that some restaurants refuse to disclose this information.

What can we do about it? Tons. Complain! I sent the following email to Bertucci's yesterday following an unsuccessful attempt to find out the nutritional information of their menu. I also sent it to the Consumerist (which gets over 10,000 hits a day) and they posted it.

How to make a difference? Do something.

Dear Bertuccis,

While I understand the cost that goes into preparing nutritional content for your menu, I think that it would be money well spent.

Obesity in this country has become an epidemic and restaurants are partly to blame. Certainly consumers are responsible for what they eat, but it’s difficult to manage this when restaurants like yourselves neglect to post your nutritional information.

I have read on this site that you suggest that customers inquire with the local restaurants for a list of ingredients as each meal is prepared fresh daily. I have found that the menu at every Bertuccis is exactly the same, and would hazzard to assume that the main ingredients are basically the same.

Given this, I don’t believe that it would be a financial hardship for Bertuccis to compile and provide this information, and you would be doing your part, as a restaurant, to allow your patrons to make educated decisions about what they consume.

Thank you for your time.

It's been very quiet round here - in my blog that is. That's because everything else has been everything but.

Continuing on the usual path as of late, work had been crazy busy. I've been busy with web stuff, too, and spring stuff, and family stuff, staying away from the computer stuff, and becoming obsessed with wedding magazine stuff (don't ask).

The weekend was fun - hung out with Lauren Friday night, did the Wachuset Beer Festival on Saturday followed by dinner with friends, and moving Jimbo's bro into his new condo.

That's about it. Back to work.

1. My favorite ritual is...
   
2. Oh how I love...
   
3. I am super-duper successful because...
   
4. If I were a vegetable I would be...
   
5. My favorite pen is the...
   
6. Memorial Day Weekend is made for...
   

No time to respond... that will have to come lata. Enjoy!