Here is my own blog comment to his post and review about the show:

I think Kirstie Alleys Big Life show is sort of like a car accident… you just can’t turn away in fear you might miss something. I actually can’t determine if I like the show or not just yet, though, I suppose, since I would like to watch it again, in that sense, I do like it.

What bothers me is her all her whining about wanting something easy and not really willing to do the work she needs to to lose the weight she wants to. It’s like she expect that a weight loss fairy will sprinkle her with skinny dust overnight. It would be nice… I want that fairy too… but we all know that it won’t happen!

I don’t know, it might be too soon to tell, but after only seeing the first 2 episodes, I felt disappointed in her, like she isn’t prepared to lose the pounds again. I don’t think she’s in the "I want this so badly and I’m going to do whatever it takes!" mindset yet.

I do enjoy her humour, but her weight loss humour and constant bashing of herself as she sees photos of herself taken from the paparazzi is not a very good start to weight loss. I think she needs some therapy as well, so that she’s not back at this point in her life AGAIN in the future. She has a really awesome support system, and she needs to fall back and use it a lot more, which would also include her wonderful talented trainer!

I really hope her attitude changes for the better, or else, I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to sit and watch someone fail before they’ve even really begun the journey. But I wish her all the best of luck!

Saturday pretty much turned that way, it was a good lazy day, the best I’d had in a while. It was enough of a rest day to feel energized on Sunday. I got a call from my step-dad on Sunday morning asking me if I wanted to hitch a ride with him after he’d pick up some cigarettes and a few things in town so that I could come visit for the afternoon. I was still sleeping when he called though, which was about 11:30am, and he said he’d be over in about half an hour, and then my mom made him give me an hour to get ready. I was happy when he then changed his ETA to 12:30 because I wondered just how quickly I could get my ass in gear to get dressed and eat breakfast – I don’t like to be rushed, especially on a Sunday, but an hour, I could handle.

When I got there, my mom wasn’t dressed yet, and I wasn’t feeling well for the first hour or so of being there. I had horrible back “ovary” pain, and had to lie down on the couch until my 2nd dose of Ibuprofen would finally take effect. My mom got dressed and about an hour later, I finally started feeling better. We’d planned to take a walk in the woods, but we both didn’t feel well enough to go out and do that yet but wanted to take in some fresh air, so we took out a couple blankets and pillows and sat outside on the picnic table and just enjoyed the winter sunshine. My step-dad and I took a few pictures too.

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The wind was cold so my mom and I went in the house to warm up for a bit and find something better for her to wear. And then we went out for a little walk around their neighbourhood by starting off through a ski-doo trail in the woods at the back of their yard, and then walked a loop back to the house on the neighbourhood road instead of back on the trail. We took it slow, and stopped a couple times to catch our breath and just enjoy.

We felt really good when we got back to the house and finished our walk and felt proud that we’d taken the opportunity to do so even though neither of us were feeling the best to begin with. We felt empowered. Even though it wasn’t much, the point is, we did it.

Finally, we had an early dinner and just hung out and she brought be back home before it was totally dark around around 6 or so, and I still had the rest of the evening to spend with hubby and the puppy.

It was a pretty good weekend all and all, and I think just what I needed to feed my soul.

I’ve been trying to think of something special to do for my mom. She has taken me out for dinner once or twice for my birthday, so I thought I’d treat her to the same.

At first I thought of going to Siva’s Restaurant, which is where we went for Peter’s Dollarama Christmas Staff dinner. It was our first time there. We had a great time, the food was good, the service was great, the staff were friendly. They had great food choices for the buffet, and they also had the Pasta Bar opened the evening we went – though, the night we went, I didn’t know we were to go to the pasta bar after eating from the buffet, so I had a plate full from the buffet counter alone, and didn’t return for anything else, I was stuffed. Ever night of the week, they have a special, like all you can eat ribs/steak buffet, a fish & chips & steak bar, roast beef, crab leg & pasta bar. And that’s all apart from everything else available on their menu.

Ever since we’ve been, I knew we’d just have to go back again some time, and try to bring my mom and step-dad some time. I thought maybe this would be the perfect occasion for that, but, it all depends on our finances next week.

I thought maybe the least I could do, was to bring my mom out for a late birthday brunch, just the 2 of us. But now it’s a toss up between Siva’s or maybe Boston Pizza. I guess I still have time to think about it.

I’m not sure what kind of present to get her, I’m not sure what she would want. She’s always in need of clothes and never buys for herself, so maybe I can get her a gift certificate to Penningtons like I did last year. She seemed to really like that.

I’d appreciate any good gift ideas. Maybe you’ve gotten your mom a present in the past that she really loved and wouldn’t stop talking about it? Help a girl out.

siggie by Christina

2. I’ve been thinking a lot about getting back into a routine exercise program. I really enjoy the walking DVD’s though, and that’s what I’ve been thinking about the most. I wanted today to be the first day of starting this routine again, but I woke up feeling pretty lousy and with a really sore back. It took 5 Ibuprofen and a couple Midols, and about an hour later, I was feeling a lot better. I was pretty much pain free for the afternoon and part of the evening, when I had to take another small dose of Ibuprofen, and just another again.

3. I’m finding myself having to take more Ibuprofen because I have days where the medication doesn’t even touch the pain, and I’ve had to miss work because of it. So, my mom advised that I should simply just take more to find the dose that best suits me and makes a dent in the pain, and that I can get the most amount of time without taking another dose since I’m finding the smaller doses aren’t lasting very long at all.

4. I thought the week would go on slowly, but we are already the end of Tuesday/Wednesday early morning, so that’s not half bad. Once Wednesday is over, it’s usually smooth and easy sailing, and the end of the week is much easier to visualize.

5. We started another new Canadian project at work tonight. It’s a lot like the project I worked on last week, so I’m flying through it like a feather in a breeze. I love it. The whole evening went so smoothly, and I got so many completes, I barely even noticed the 5 hour shift pass by. I love it when I’m kept busy enough and that happens. The surveys are about 15 minutes or so a piece, and I’m getting about 2-3 completes done an hour… so it really makes every hour pass by quickly. I’ve not had time to check email, check Facebook, read a magazine or any other little tasks I can find to occupy my time between calls.

6. Peter has a full day of work tomorrow… with not just one job, but he’s working both jobs. He’s at the grocery store from 8am to 4pm, and Dollarama from 4pm to 8pm. He’s going to be so hungry and exhausted when he comes home probably around 8:30-9pm. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes to bed not long after he gets something in his stomach. Which is too bad, because we won’t see each other very long in the morning, and I finish work at 10pm and won’t see him for very long between the time he comes home and heads to bed. Ah well, at least we will be spending the entire weekend together.

7. I had a dream about a hometown friend Monday morning. I messaged her on Facebook to tell her about the wicked, wicked but exhausting dream I had. Her and I don’t talk very often anymore, we are both simply busy with life, and her with her 2 boys, one of them still being a baby. *Note to self, find picture of the baby and wedding picture* She said she’ll be going to our hometown for a visit, and since I only live 3 hours away and she’s coming from Southern Ontario TO Northern Ontario, Timmins is basically on the way, with a bit of a detour off the main highway. She’s planning on going for 3 days, but she didn’t say when they would be going… so I’m thinking it could be as early as this weekend. We haven’t seen each other in forever. I’d even say… about 8-9 yrs, goodness, it’s been so long, I can’t even say for sure. The last time I saw her, she met Peter when we visited my hometown, and she had us over for dinner. I think that was in 2001 but I’m not even sure. Through the years, keeping in touch has dwindled and dwindled as every year has passed by, but we’ve always managed to send one another a Christmas card, Birthday card… Last year I got her wedding reception invitation, a wedding picture of her and her hubby, and then a picture of their newest son, Anthony. I’m looking forward to seeing her, but, I’m already nervous doing so since it’s been so long… so much our lives have changed since we’ve been teenagers. We’re like completely different people, so it’ll be almost like getting to know her all over again. But I do hope that we can reconnect again, and basically start our friendship all over, and be able to lean on one another like we once did. I really do miss those days, and I guess that dream was just a way of reminding me of that.

8. Strange how things come up back in the light in our lives. I like to think that maybe we are in need to have another in each other’s lives again. I’ve always said that people come in and out of our lives for different reasons. And sometimes, the people who we’ve lost touched with on purpose or by accident, come back into our lives for a different purpose than the original one. And sometimes, it’s to lend a helping hand in some way, us in their life, or them in our life.

9. Another routine I’ve been meaning to get back into is going to bed at a reasonably good time. Considering I typically get off from work at 10pm, I’m thinking 12:30am-1am isn’t too bad. I love my 8-9 hours of sleep in order to function properly the next day, so I’m thinking getting up at 9 or 10 is a good time to get up and have loads of time to get things done before I even have to think about work getting started in the early evening.

10. Time for me to start implementing the 2nd routine. It’s 1:09am and time for me to scoot to bed, get some good shut eye, have me a little drooling session my pillow, dream beautiful dreams, and wake up well rested for a whole new day! But before I do, I’ve got a load to transfer to the dryer… because as you know, a woman’s work is never done!

Happy Wednesday! Have a wonderful week!

siggie by the talented Donnelle

The most recent incident being this evening, while I was working, my MIL did the dishes. I woke up late today and hadn’t had time, other wise, I always do them, especially since Peter doesn’t do any dishes and MIL winds up doing a bad enough job most of the time that I have to rewash stuff.

She’d made dinner too tonight, and when I finished work at 10pm and had some dinner, she later came down to check how we liked dinner, etc and asked how I must have liked the kitchen being cleared up from clutter when I finished work, I nodded, agreed and said thank you.

Why is it that when people do things that they don’t ordinarily do, they expect to be thanked, but when the person who takes on those responsibilities day in and day out, it’s a thankless job?

It’s a pretty rare occasion that I get thanked for something, and when I do, it’s usually followed after I’ve said “Your welcome!” in hopes that it’ll ring some bells in their unappreciative minds.

Maybe it’s just my way of thinking, from the way I was brought up, to learn to be appreciative, polite and kind, and maybe they just don’t think that way… they just aren’t used to voicing courtesy, politeness and gratefulness like I do.

My MIL is FOREVER seeming to reach for confirmation/validation of the things she does – and to top it off, she actually doesn’t do much at all. But being who I am, I usually give it to her, but again, it can surely go both ways.

*shrugs* I just don’t think it’s really not all that hard to do, and a thank you, please or good job goes a long way once in a while.

Everyone likes it when they are validated for doing some thing good, or kind or after working really hard on something, and it’s not fair that it should only go one way.

That’s my rant for the day.

1. A few ex-co-workers names popped into my mind tonight, so I searched them on Facebook. From there, I found out that the old company I used to work for in Ottawa, Ontario, 5 years ago, has changed it’s name again. It used to be BDP (Business Data Processing Ltd.) and changed to Resolve Corp. shortly before leaving there to move back to northern Ontario. I was trying to search people that I may know and still may be working there, and found out that the company has changed it’s name yet again to Davis + Henderson. Unfortunately, I wasn’t successful in finding more than a couple people, but this was before I even found out the new name.
2. I’ve got a full work schedule this week. I’m scheduled to work 5pm to Midnight all week with the exception of Friday, which is 5pm to 10pm. I know I’m going to be pretty tired once the work week is over, but I think the extra money will be worth it. My hours have been pretty low since before the holidays, and it was only last week that I returned to a full schedule for the exception of taking the day off unexpectedly on Tuesday because I was feeling miserable. So a full pay will be nice to return to.
3. My shift ended about 1.5 hours early tonight though, but that’s okay.
4. I’m starting to get irritated at some of the people with whom I speak with on the phone while on the job. Particularly, people who don’t speak English, or barely do. I don’t understand how they can be in this country for years and years, half their lives or even, possibly most of their lives, and they still can’t get by with the English they do know. It seems to me that this should be a priority to learn when they enter this country as an immigrant (and other countries who have English as a first language) or in the least, English should be an obligation to learn in the first couple years while a resident of the country, even if your not a citizen yet. And by far, they should be able to get by and understand quite a bit of English when they receive their citizenship documents. I hate having to call and waste my, and the companies time, and calling people who can’t barely speak a word of English. I do understand that learning a new language is hard, but it’s certainly not impossible, and there are programs and courses out there that do a very good job helping people in doing so. I think our gov’t is slacking and is not strict enough when deciding who deserves their citizenship, and who does not. It shouldn’t be a free ride.
5. I came accross this neat little google gadget for iGoogle tonight. It’s a facebook gadget which enables you to view your facebook account from the iGoogle site, and be able to view it like a cell phone application, but instead, via your browser. I find it useful because facebook’s status pages lag the rest of my opened tabs, and it becomes a problem while I’m working, even if I’m not viewing them at the time and they are idle. So this is a neat little gadget I can have open, without conflicting with my work or other opened tabs. Facebook Gadget
6. The cold temps have returned, but from Thursday on, they should be pretty mild again during the day. It’s really lovely to see these nice mild temps since we should be dead center in winter’s coldest days. We have our fair share of cold temps this month and last, but, far not as much as we usually would, so this is VERY nice, and I feel we’re getting spoiled and have no reason to complain about the cold we have had, nor the cold we may get in the future.
7. My dryer drives me nuts, it makes noises as it spins and it breaks my concentration. It needs oil, and hubby hadn’t done it yet. I hate being in the room while it’s on, but while I’m writing this, I’m drying my comforter.
8. It’s been a long day… I’ve done quite a bit today, plus a 6.5 hour shift. The heat is getting to me too… it’s making me sleepy.
9. We’re looking to get a professional Dog Tag made for Stitch soon so that if ever he does run away or escape, he will have a tag on him to let people know that he does belong to someone, and they can call us if they find him… if it so happens that we can’t get him back ourselves of course. We will feel much better knowing that he had that I.D. on him. The only thing I’ll continue to be scared of afterwards, is traffic, hoping he doesn’t get hit by a car, or almost causes an accident by crossing the road. He runs ragged and doesn’t look at all where he’s going… all he can think about is that he’s FREE, FREE, FREE!! I sure hope he will grow out of that as he gets older!
10. Well, that’s it for me. I can’t believe I actually made it to 10 considering how tired I am. I have no more thoughts in my head except for getting the comforter out of the dryer, stripping, getting comfy in bed, and having a snoring AND drooling love fest with my pillow. <3

Good night!

1. When you are done putting groceries in your car after shopping, do you return the cart to the correct spot? sometimes – we go shopping as a family (hubby and mother-in-law) so we usually take turns

2. When was the last time you hand-wrote a letter? Do Christmas cards count? LOL A few months ago… probably in September to an old hometown friend.

3. Have you ever fallen asleep at your computer? no, I don’t know how people can be comfortable enough to sleep at the PC LOL

4. What was your favourite childhood book? I wasn’t a very good reader as a child, I had trouble retaining what I was reading. And, my mom didn’t read to me as a child either (not that I remember anyway). So with that said, I don’t have one.

5. On average, how many meals do you eat a day? 2

6. Plain, salted or buttered popcorn? Salted

7. What was the last movie you watched? Avatar – AWESOME!

8. What is your favourite thing to do online? chat with friends, facebook, play in Paint Shop Pro

9. What was your favourite year in school? 10th & 11th grade… I started getting more confidence in myself and didn’t care what anyone said about me.

10. What concert did you last attend? a Julius Caesar play

Hubby came across this site tonight, and I’m drooling already. My mom bought me a bake ware set for Christmas and I think I must make this special addition to it when I get the chance.

It’s called the Big Top Cupcake and all cupcake lovers and bakers can find it here:

https://www.bigtopcupcake.com/

or

http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/btp_cup_cke_ontv.html

Neat huh?

:: OPEN RANT ::

Anyway… as I tried to find the energy to get my ass in bed, I started watching an infomercial on TV. I don’t watch them often, but every now and then, a good one will snatch my attention and I have trouble ripping my eyes away. The music was what first got me hooked, and 2nd, the fact that this was more like a 3-in 1 exercise. It was the “Cardio Twister”.

It seemed relatively easy, straight forward, anybody could use it, and lastly, the weight loss results would be there. But, alas, with any other exercise machine, I’m waiting for the catch… How many pounds can this machine really handle? I want it, but can it handle me? I want to lose weight, and I need something I’ll stick to, but it also needs to be sturdy and not fall apart the second I step on the equipment.

Well, about 20 minutes later, what I was waiting to hear finally came flashing on the screen… MAX of 250lbs!

A-HA!!!!!

So tell me… how are they going to get the people of the world to stop being obese and make them skinny if the exercise equipment can’t even handle an obese person to begin with?!?

This is preposterous!! And it should be illegal to allow exercise equipment on the market that can’t barely even undertake my 6’3”, 240lb hubby, who’s not even obese, but just a little on the chub side!

I do understand that these exercise equipment entrepreneurs try to make the most money by using the cheapest materials to make their equipment, and thus, making profits because the equipment cost them half of the amount it’s being sold at. But, they should really re-consider by focusing more on how many more people they could target this equipment to if they actually didn’t cheap out on the actual building materials, and by doing so… doubling/tripling their profits because more people, in this case, specifically obese people would buy their products too.

It pisses me off how CHEAP things are made these days and only last a short amount of time, as compared to when we made things to actually last and last us a life time… like furniture, vehicles, electrical gadgets, machines, equipment and the list goes on! Cheap shit is wasteful when you know it won’t last long, will break, and you’ll have to toss it and get another one… IF you decide to replace the item.

There is competition out there for who will get the fattest person the skinniest, and these people are certainly not thinking about the best way to do that… they’d rather count dollar decimals on their bank statement. It’s disappointing and frustrating!

:: CLOSE RANT ::

siggie by Laurene