Month: October 2010

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the Marie Claire blog post that provides some real insight into the type of person that works for the magazine. The author goes on about how just seeing overweight people makes her feel uncomfortable. Now, let me tell you that several years ago I interviewed for a position as copy editor at Marie Claire. At that time in my life I was perhaps slightly thinner than I am now. I was probably fluctuating between a size 6 and a size 8. I was in my mid-20s. And damn if I didn’t feel totally out of place there. I think everyone who worked there was a size 4 at most, and there was an unspoken superiority, you could just tell. I didn’t find this story surprising at all. The type of person who writes an article like that probably doesn’t understand who some people struggle with weight loss programs.

Really, what a hurtful article. The editor who let that one go should be just as ashamed of herself. I seriously doubt the writer was able to post that without any oversight. It’s nice that she added an apology at the end, but maybe she should have read that post over before hitting “publish” and thought twice about what she said.

So I’ve managed to cheat death for another year. Yes, yesterday was my 35th birthday. The number makes me feel kind of old, like I should start thinking about the best calcium supplements, but that’s the way it goes, right? Looking at photos from a few years ago, I think I actually look a little better now so hey — maybe there’s hope after all!

Actually I had a great day. I got to sleep in a little, I got books and comics and gift cards and even a little cash 😉 My friends overwhelmed me with birthday greetings on Facebook. And Drew took me out to a great lunch at La Puerta Azul over in Salt Point. What’s a little birthday lunch without some kind of beverage? He made the command decision to order a flight of silver tequilas — Patron, Tres Generations, and Corazon.

Corazon was my favorite out of the three. It was smooth with a hint of pepper, but not overwhelming. My least favorite was the Patron. Not surprising, it just tasted manufactured. But I guess if you sing about it in a rap song it instantly becomes a favorite. Don’t get me wrong — it was good. But compared to the other two. Well, it’s overrated in my opinion. I’ve had the Tres Generations many times at home and always enjoy that.

It was so hard to decide on a lunch entree because everything looked delicious. I got Arroz con Pollo and Drew ordered enchiladas. Delicious, both of them!

For dessert we ordered Aroz con Leche (a coconut almond rice pudding that is wrapped in crisp pastry and served with tequila lime ice cream) and Drew could not resist asking for a Tijuana Speedball, mostly because he just wanted to say the name.

Seriously, how you could you have a bad birthday after that? Once we were stuffed we wandered over to Alterniverse across the street and hung out for a bit. I never did make my roast chicken and hot fudge cake because I was entirely too stuffed last night. I’ll make it tomorrow, I think.

Now we’re back to the old grind. Laundry and cleaning and writing and… all that stuff 😉

While no one really wants to be woken up shortly at 4 a.m., it does have its benefits. As I type this, it is just after 10 a.m. and I’ve already done all of my household chores for the day. Laura is napping at the moment (since she was the one who insisted on getting up so early), so it’s nice and quiet. I caught the tail-end of that show “The Doctors” as I was folding laundry and it was all about ways to lose weight. I wonder if they had any hydroxycut reviews earlier in the program? The only method I saw is a new procedure that is basically Botox for your stomach. Apparently it relaxes the muscles and makes you feel full faster. Eeek. I’m skeptical of anything with botulism in it and I think you’d have to be pretty desperate to inject it into your GI tract. Of course, I’m sure there is a lot more to it than the synopsis on the show.

So what should I do with the rest of my day? I’m going to plant my amaryllis from the kit I bought last night and hope it blooms in time for Christmas. I’m going to run to the post office and maybe Michael’s and Walmart after Laura wakes up. And maybe I will put out a few more fall decorations. It almost seems too late, but we’re having family over on Sunday and of course we are also hosting Thanksgiving so it would be nice for the house to look a little more festive.

I know it’s not even Halloween but I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year because we’re having it at our house. Sure, some people might not like the extra work, but honestly? Cooking a turkey dinner is not a big deal to me. Usually we go away so the kids can watch the Thanksgiving parade, and I can drink as much wine as I want! 😉

Also, as long as the weather cooperates and my parents come up they’re going to take the boys back to Palmer for the weekend. That makes it SO much easier to do my Black Friday shopping! Laura will have no idea, so I’m not worried about her. But Jake is at that age where he is questioning Santa Claus and I’d like for him to believe for at least one more year.

So yeah, I think it’s going to be super fun and I am really excited to have Drew’s mom, aunt, and my parents over for the day. I’m looking forward to doing things MY way. Which is mostly traditional, but with a spin. I think everyone will really enjoy it.

Ah, it’s Friday night! Noah and Laura are fast asleep and Jake is at a Cub Scouts pack meeting. He is feeling so much better than earlier this week. He was bored out of his mind the two days he was home. Wednesday, all he wanted to do was play the wii, but I wouldn’t let him because I didn’t want him jumping around. Thursday he still begged for video games, and Drew decided to play some Lego Star Wars with him. My, Nintendo has come a long way since the days of Zelda, huh? At any rate, it passed the time. Today he was back at school and he is certainly back to his old self!

Meanwhile, I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of some friends I have not seen since I left Boston… 12 years ago! How does time go by so fast? They have two girls, ages three and five and the boys are looking forward to playing with them tomorrow. The plan is to hit the Sheep & Wool Festival. I hope the weather will be nicer than it is today! On the other hand, it won’t be as crowded if it’s rainy 😉 Either way, I am just so excited to see Jess & Chris and catch up with them. It’s been way too long.

I can’t believe that I’m just getting to write about our afternoon at Comic Con! We decided to go on Sunday, mostly because that’s when we could find someone to watch the three munchkins. It was such a great time. The show opened at 10 and we got there with time to spare. Sunday was kids’ day (but I’m glad we didn’t bring Jake and Noah because it was so crowded) and the goodie bags contained comics, some superhero figures, a Power Rangers episode on DVD, and a bunch of other things. So the boys didn’t even have to do all that walking to get a souvenir!

Drew met quite a few writers and artists that he adored. Brian Michael Bendis was the big one. We waited in line for quite some time and got in just before the signing was over! We also got a glimpse of Stan Lee doing an interview in the press booth:

There were tons of booths selling gold and silver age comics. I overheard one guy saying that on Saturday someone stole one of his books. Horrible 🙁 I don’t know if you can hook up security cameras in those trade show booths, but sadly it is probably a good idea. For the most part, people were really nice. Towards mid-afternoon the Javits Center was just too crowded and it was impossible to see anyone or check out booths so we decided to leave. But we came home with a huge stack of comics, some tattoos, pins, and even a book. It was a ton of fun and I can’t wait to go again next year!