Am I the only one disturbed by this...

Has anyone else noticed this commercial for Nuva Ring. It started out as a cheesy computer generated commercial, then they decided to create a live action version that is almost identical to the computer one. It's a little creepy.

**Sorry, but this is the best quality that I could find**

Computer Generated Version:



Live Action Version:

Bigger than myself....

Tonight I got to experience something that I haven't had the opportunity to experience since I was a kid.

My little brother started playing baseball when he was 6 years old. I can't tell you how many days and nights I spent at the little league watching him practice and play. When he made the All-Star team, it meant even more time and more fields. There was always something about watching him play. Not just because he is my brother and I wanted him to do well, but because I felt connected to the team. They're victory felt like my victory. I got to be a part of their celebrations and I felt proud to be connected to it.

I haven't felt that sort of "team-spirit" for many years. I got to feel that again tonight. My in-laws gave my husband and I four tickets to the Ray vs. Twins game tonight. We took two of our friends and headed to the Trop. I new that the Rays were only a game away from clinching a spot in the playoffs, but it hadn't really sunk in. One of the greeters was standing by the escalator and saying "History is going to be made tonight." That's when I realized exactly what I was in store for.

Growing up we were Braves fans in my house. Not exactly a local team. I got out of baseball for a while, but started getting back into it a few years ago. I had never been a Devil Rays supporter. My husband's family is from Boston, so I became a Red Sox supporter when we first got together. A couple years ago I decided that I was going to support my home team. I'm a Tampa Bay girl. I needed to support my local teams. It was only right. So I decided that my favorite baseball teams were: 1) Devil Rays; 2) Red Sox; 3) Whoever was playing the Yankees. Even when the Devil Rays were losing, they were still my team.

This season has been pretty amazing. My husband and I have been to 4 games and we've had a blast every time. We've watched the other games on TV. I have several co-workers who follow baseball, and so I've been able to talk to them about it. Not since I was little have I been this immersed in baseball. It's been a fun summer.

I was really excited about this game tonight. I watched some of my favorite players walk up to the plate and do some great things. I some amazing plays and even more amazing dedication. I am rather amused that my home team has decided to shave mohawks in, and I didn't even mind that there were dozens of fans that have done the same thing.

More than what I saw was what I felt. I real sense of unity and support for those players. i genuinely feel that I was part of something incredible tonight. I get to say that I was at the game where the Rays clinched a playoff spot. It was a great game. They played a decent team. And watching the team rush the field to celebrate was amazing. I hope that I can get in to see s playoff game, and I hope that they take it farther and I can be a part of that too.

Damn, it feels good to be a Tampa Bay girl tonight.

It's all relative...

5 years ago I began a full on assault on my weight “issue.” I was the ehaviest I had ever been at 40 lbs over my goal weight. It took me 6 months, but I lost the 40 lbs for a total of 4 dress sizes. I thought that was huge then.

A year ago I found myself with a 1 month old baby and more than just baby weight to lose. 90 lbs. 90 lbs was what I needed to lose to get to that goal weight of 4 years prior. Yikes. I remember when 40 lbs was insurmountable. It was rather discouraging.

I finally started losing weight when I started working. Makes sense. I was busier then I ever had been, and walking all over downtown Tampa every day. I noticed a difference right away. Well, now I am almost 5 months into my career and I am 30 lbs down. 5 years ago 30 lbs would have been huge. Now, it’s only one third of where I want to be. I still have 60 lbs to go to get to that goal weight.

I’m not trying to say that I am unhappy about the weight I have lost. I am really very pleased. I am down to pre-baby weight and almost down to what I weighed on my wedding day. I made it past my first goal (which was to get under the 200 lbs mark) and now I heading toward my second goal (the weight I was 5 years ago).

5 years ago 30 lbs was huge. Today, 30 lbs is ok. It’s all relative.

See more progress on: lose weight

Week 1 - Band 1

Week number one is done. Well, really it was a week and a half, but that’s because I realized towards the end of the week that i didn’t have all of the albums of the first artist. So it was really about ten days…but I digress…

Week:1

Band/Artist:Feist

Website:Feist

Albums:

Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down) – 1999 – Fun album, lots of soothing and catchy songs. I think I recognize some of these from other places, maybe from a movie soundtrack.

Let it Die – 2004 – Pretty good. One of my favorites is from this album.

Open Season – 2006 – This is an slbum of remixes. Normally, I’m not a fan of remixes, I like originals or covers but not remixes usually. This album was ok though. No crappy techno versions, so that’s a plus.

The Reminder – 2007 – This album is my favorite. The songs are upbeat and pleasant to listen to. The’re overpowering in anyway and when I listen to them, I want to sing along and wiggle a bit.

My Moon Man – 2007? – This album has three tracks, two are remixes of the same song. Not bad.

Discovered:When the new iPod nano-video came out, Feist was featured in the commercial. The song was 1234 from the album The Reminder. The song was kind of catchy and appealed to me from the beginning, so I sought more.

Thoughts:I really enjoyed this past week (well 10 days). After the initial couple listen throughs, I had some immediate favorites. There will definitely be some songs added to my favorite playlist from now on.

Recommendation:Absolutely!

Favorites:

Monarch – Family
Monarch – Onliest
Monarch – Monarch
Let it Die – One Evening
Let it Die – Gatekeeper
The Reminder – Sea Lion
The Reminder – 1234

See more progress on: 1 Band - 1 Week

namaste

Yoga is a wonderful practice. In the past, I have enjoyed practicing yoga, especially when I am able to do it on a consistent basis. It is so beneficial to my body, with all of the aches and pains I deal with on a daily basis. There was one time, for about a month, where I had no pain due to my plantar faciitis (pain in the foot and heel associated with an inflamed tendon in the bottom of the foot), that was when I was doing yoga about four times a week. There was another time when my back pain had virtually disappeared, that was when I was doing yoga five times a week (and working out at the gym too).

I lost a great deal of my flexibility since having my son. Being pregnant messes with your joints. There is a chemical released in your system that loosens the cartilage in your body when you are pregnant. The main reason for that is to make it easier for your pelvis to expand when the baby comes out. Well, the chemical isn’t localized. I had a lot of issues with my ankles and my hips. They didn’t like to stay in their joints. I almost fell several times. Well, I still have those issues. My joints feel weakened and stiff. Yoga would help me immensely.

There is a yoga program on Oxygen network called Inhale. Steve Ross is the instructor. He is amazing. I love that program and won’t waste my time with others (except for practice on my own). I purchased his book some time ago, but it has been collecting dust on my shelf. One aspect about his method that I love is how rigorous it is. unfortunately, that also means I won’t be able to do all of it at first. I am so stiff and out of it, that I’ll have to take it easy for a while. But, hopefully, it won’t take long to get back into the swing of things.

So, Three times a week. That should be enough to ease me back into things while still making a difference. I have a tendency to go balls-to-the-wall when I start an exercise regimine, and I normally injure myself and have to stop. So, I’m going to start off slow and steady and build up my strength a bit before going full force. I am basically starting from scratch since I was out of shape before the pregnancy and that just made it worse. I think it is safe to say that I am in the worst shape of my life right now.

See more progress on: do yoga 3 times a week

Locks of Love

“Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.”

Locks of Love

I have wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love for quite a while now. Every time that it is long enough to donate, I’m told that they can’t take it because it is color treated. Not this time. I am determined to grow out my hair, and then, when I inevitably get sick of it (usually this happens well before it’s grown to a considerable length) then I will cut it all off and donatee it. That’s the plan at least.

See more progress on: donate hair to Locks of Love

another lost interest

Another one of my favorute past times that was put on hold throughout my sentence in law school (see: 1 Band – 1 Week), was reading. I used to devour books the moment I got them.Now it seems to take me months (even years) to finish one book. Well, I am out of school and moving on with my life and family. I want to start reading all of those dormant stories that have been shelved for the past three years. Following are two lists, one lists the books that I would like to read, the other lists books that I would like to re-read.


To Read

The Other Boleyn Girl by: Philippa Gregory
The Boleyn Inheritance by: Philippa Gregory
The Queen’s Fool by: Philippa Gregory
The Virgin’s Lover by: Philippa Gregory
Nothanger Abbey by: Jane Austen
Lady Susan by: Jane Austen
The Jane Austen Book Club by: Karen Joy Fowler
The Da Vinci Code by: Dan Brown


To Re-read

Pride & Prejudice by: Jane Austen
Emma by: Jane Austen
Persuasion by: Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by: Jane Austen
Sense & Sensibility by: Jane Austen
Harry Potter by: J.K Rowling
Catch 22 by: Joseph Heller
Bridget Jones’s Diary by: Helen Fielding
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by: Helen Fielding
A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by: James Joyce



I am open to suggestions. The first books on my list were loaned to me by my best friend, and I love them. If I get back into the swing of reading, I can knock these out pretty quickly, so here’s hoping.

See more progress on: read

The neverending battle

Ahhh weight. It seems like most people have an issue with weight, or at least did at one point in their lives. Mine has been a struggle for at least 17 years. I’ve fluctuated between being overweight, underweight, and now, obese. Granted, obese is a misleading term. Those standardized BMI (Body Mass Index) numbers that you see on the walls of doctors offices and even on some scales, don’t take into account different body types. Take, for example, my sister and I. While she is two inches taller than me, a healthy BMI for me will always be higher than hers. The standardized chart doens’t agree. However, the width of my hips and shoulders means that for me to acheive her healthy BMI, would be to look sick. But I digress…

This goal originally had a number attached to it. I am quite hesitant about attaching a number to my desired weight loss. I know how much I weighed when I was at my peak physical condition, but I can’t be sure that I’ll be able to, or should, reach that weight again. I was that “perfect” size 3.5 years ago. I’m now 3.5 years older and I’ve had a baby. Women’s bodies, their proportions, change when they are in their twenties. I experienced it in my early twenties and have no doubt that my body went through another change as I am now in my, ahem, mid-twenties. Not to mention – I had a baby. There is no telling how much my body has actually changed until I get closer to that goal weight.

That isn’t to say that I don’t have a goal in mind. I definitely have a goal in mind. I want to lose somewhere between 60 and 80 pounds. I’d be happy in a size 10, even though that old goal weight put me in a size 6. I just don’t want to tether myself to a completely unrealistic goal and make myself miserable in the process.

I probably won’t update this goal much. Losing weight (properly) is a long and arduous task. I’ll post when I have something significant to report.

See more progress on: lose weight

The List

Ok, so here is the list that I am going to start with (in alphabetical order):

Alkaline Trio
Amy Winehouse
The Bouncing Souls
Chris Cornell
Concrete Blonde
Dropkick Murphys
Feist
HorrorPops
KT Tunstall
OneRepublic
The Pretenders
Siouxsie & The Banshees
Soul Coughing
Soundgarden
Tegan & Sara
Tilt

Some of these bands are new to me and some I just want to reaquaint myself with. I am open for suggestions, so if there is a band out there that you are in love with, let me know, I’ll add it to the list. My goal here is to make music an important part of my life again. It used to be, and I have forgotten just what it means to me.

Let it begin.

See more progress on: 1 Band - 1 Week

The sky is falling, Chicken Little.

The sky is falling, Chicken Little.

At least that's what my husband, cousin, and I thought when we heard (and felt) two close set "booms" as we were chatting together in my living room. Andrew's first thought - Armaggeddon. My first thought - a transformer blew (that's actually happened in our area before) but all the street lights were still on. The answer to the riddle of the double boom wasn't answered until I heard a newcaster talk about hearing the sonic boom from the the shuttle landing. Then it all fell into place.

I can still remember when a space shuttle landing (or take off) inspired awe and excitement. I remember going outside in school to watch launces. It was neat, the concept of space. Now it's kind of, well, whatever. Have we really become so desensitized to something that 50 years ago was all but an impossibility. It's kind of sad when that childlike wonder diappears.

If you're interested:
Space Shuttle Completes 16-Day Mission, and Lands
Endeavour calls it a night with safe landing