Trying To Find The Brightside
I’m not typically one of those glass half full kind of people. If something bad happens to me I have a really hard time putting on a happy face and trying to see the good in the situation.
However, I’m really trying to change that and I’m hoping that in 2009 I will be able to be a more positive person. That’s the plan at least.
I got to practice a bit last night when my daughter’s bout with the stomach flu came back in full force all over my room. My first reaction was to find a corner and sit and rock for awhile. I tend to go all Rainman whenever anyone throws up.
My usual tactic for cleaning it up is to bribe my husband with sexual favors and let him handle it. He has a stronger stomach and likes sex so it is a win-win situation. But unfortunately he was already asleep and wasn’t hearing any of it.
Alas, it was all up to me to handle it and after I got my daughter cleaned up and snuggled into bed I set to the task at hand. Instead of crying (like I really wanted to) I tried to find the good in the situation and here is what I came up with:
-I started with the old standby…at least it is only a stomach bug and not something more serious. I am so lucky to have pretty healthy (albeit germy) children.
-The floor really needed to be washed anyway so this just gave me an excuse to finally get those dustbunnies out from under the bed. And look, I found an earring (that hadn’t been puked on-Hooray!) that I had been missing for months:
-Thank God we don’t have carpet. I LOVE hard wood floors.
-These curtains needed to be washed anyway.
-I really didn’t feel like reading that pile of magazines sitting next to my bed. Now I don’t have to feel so guilty throwing them out. As I went through them to see if anything was able to be salvaged and I found a picture that a friend gave me from May of 2006 that had missed her attack (Hooray):
-Of course this reminded me that Love Lives and McGosling still might eventually get back together. A feeling of peace and calm came over me as I considered the possibility of this.
-My room is essentially spring cleaned for the new year now! Wish that I didn’t have to do it at 3:00am but the motivation was there so I just went with it.
-My daughter was puke-free the rest of the night and woke up feeling better.
Of course I am exhausted and am wondering if I will make it to New Year’s. I’m also furiously spraying everything with Lysol and Clorox so that no one else comes down with it.
We had some plans to go to my mom’s to play games and ring in the New Year but I’m trying to wait and see where this stomach thing is going to go. We leave in a few days for our Disney cruise and I’m paranoid that one of us is going to be sick on the ship or my son will get it right before we are leaving and I will be worried about him the entire time we are gone. I really can’t see me being able to look on the brightside if that were to happen so please send positive, healthy vibes our way.
How about you? Any big plans for tonight? Are you a glass half-full or empty person?
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Fine By 2009: Final Check-in!!
So, here we are…a few days from 2009. Are you looking fine? Did you give Helen Mirren a run for her money?
Well, sadly I have to say that she looks better in her bikini than I do. Although I am four pounds lighter than my starting weight, I am no more toned or fit.
I did learn a few things on this journey:
1. I felt great on the days that I exercised. I really did have more energy and my mood was lifted far more than when I didn’t exercise. It didn’t matter if I did an hour or just 20 minutes. I really noticed a difference in the way I was feeling when I took the time to exercise.
2. Smaller goals and rewards worked better than long term goals and rewards. On the weeks that I set a goal and really focused on it, I did better than on the weeks that I didn’t.
3. If I want this to work, I really need to make it my top priority. Too often, I put the Looking Fine challenge out of my mind and focused on other things. It really needs to be the most important thing (other than taking care of my family) if I want to see results.
4. Getting good sleep is the most important piece of the puzzle. If I stayed up too late and didn’t get enough sleep, I definitely noticed that I was more hungry the next day and I didn’t have any energy to workout.
I’m interested to see how everyone else did. What did you learn? Will you keep working on your goals throughout 2009?
Check in here:
If you enjoyed being part of a weight loss community, I recommend the following sites:
Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans
Here’s to a healthy 2009!!
Friday Eye Candy: Best of 2008
Since my house looks like Christmas exploded all over the place and I am having a really hard time finding the motivation to clean it up, I thought I’d put together a little montage of my favorite eye candy of the year.
First, we have the photo that inspired me to start Friday Eye Candy-Ryan Gosling on the set of his next movie All Good Things:
To see the other pics from this set, click here.
Josh Duhamel was among the “Guys Named J” edition:
One of my favorite eye candy themes of all time was the “Wet Men” edition. Of course, this gives me another excuse to post this picture of Matthew McConaughey:
The “Cougar-Bait” post was a lot of fun. Thanks to Joe Jonas, Shia LaBeouf, Chase Crawford and all the other young cuties:
And it wouldn’t be a best of 2008 without mentioning the Twilight guys and the beautiful Robert Pattinson:
Now I’d like to thank the following bloggers and non-bloggers for sending me their lists:
Ok, hopefully I didn’t miss anyone. If you haven’t sent me your list of guys yet, please email them to me at dailymishmash (at) gmail (dot) com. I’d love to feature your favorite guys on my blog!
Here’s hoping 2009 can be just as sexy!
Ryan’s Christmas Present To Me
I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas. Ours was great!
I should be sleeping. I did the “I‘m just going to get on here real quick to check my email and then I’m going right to bed” and we all know how that goes. Tonight’s distraction was waiting in my inbox. I like to think of it as Ryan Gosling’s Christmas present to me.
He and his band, Dead Man’s Bones, put out a video for one of their songs. It is called In the Room Where You Sleep.
Of course, I was way too wired to sleep after watching it. So, what else could I do but put it on here to share the Christmas love.
Just ignore the whole Halloween thing. I have no idea what that is about.
I’ve watched the video three times and I have come to the conclusion that there are a few things that I LOVE about it:
1. Ryan is playing the piano! I didn’t even know he could play the piano. He is just full of surprises. There is just something so sexy about a guy playing the piano, or any instrument for that matter.
2. I like that he put kids in the video. It just works for the song and is so sweet.
3. The music is actually pretty decent in a very peculiar way.
4. It reminded me of Twilight. Need I say more?
5. The back of Ryan’s head is so sexy!
Watch and let me know what you think:
While Ryan can usually do no wrong in my eyes, I have to say that the song needs a little polishing. His vocals are hard to understand at times. I wish he didn’t sing so close to the mic and used his regular voice (like he does in his song Put Me in the Car) but I don’t think that is the point. They are going for a Gothic/Gospel/Showtunes feel according to their myspace page. I think they achieved that here.
Regardless of any complaints I may have about the song, I am intrigued and am looking forward to hear more of the Dead Man’s Bones.
If you are in Austin, Texas you will be lucky enough to hear them play at the SXSW Festival on March 21st. Supposedly, they will be playing a concert. Hopefully they will play somewhere near me soon!
Ok, what do you think of the video? Love it, hate it or completely confused by it-I’d love to hear your honest opinion.
Side by Side
I don’t have time for a real post. I promise I’ll write one after Christmas. My mind is just too jumbled right now to string together anything coherent.
I just thought I’d do a few side by side shots to get your opinion on a few things:
First, here is what Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams would look like if they were spending the holidays in Canada together (like they should be). They are both rocking the cute coats and I can picture them walking hand in hand down the street on their way to pick out their Christmas tree. Can’t you?
Oh well, a girl can dream.
Next, in Twilight news, I would like to discuss the Jacob Black controversy. Supposedly, they are considering another actor for the role. I believe his name is Michael Copon. I really don’t understand this. This other guy doesn’t look that much bigger or wolf-like? I mean do they really think they are going to find an almost seven foot tall/ Native American-looking actor that would be better? I think Taylor did a great job as Jacob in Twilight and I just read that he has put on 19 pounds of muscle to keep the part. I appreciate his dedication and hope that he gets to keep the role. I think with a little CGI/movie magic they should be able to make him bigger. Here is a side by side of the two actors considered:
And of course, we must discuss Robert Pattinson’s new haircut.
I think he definitely still looks hot but it takes a little away from his Edward-ness.
What do you think? Upgrade or downgrade?
That’s about it for now. I probably won’t post again until Friday, so I just wanted to wish everyone who celebrates a very Merry Christmas!!
Fine By 2009: 1 Week to go!!
I can’t believe that it is only about a week to go in the challenge. Didn’t the time just fly by?
Of course this is going to be the hardest week of the year. Parties with all kinds of temptations are looming everywhere you turn. If you’ve been consistent throughout the challenge with your exercise and watching what you eat, this week will be just another blip on the healthy living radar.
Or if you’ve been like me, you have already eaten your calorie allotment in cookies for the entire week. 
I will post the last check in next Monday. Please let us know how you did even if the results weren’t exactly what you hoped they would be. I know my results aren’t going to be good but I will post anyway.
This week’s workout winner is Jen E. from Momma Blogs Alot! Way to go Jen!!
Have a great week everybody!
Friday Eye Candy: Love Actually Guys
One of my favorite Christmas movies of all time is Love Actually.
I think what I love most about this movie is that it is like seven or eight romantic comedies rolled into one. It is definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it yet. My husband and I have made it our Christmas tradition to watch it every year while we are wrapping presents.
(Note: It is definitely not a family friendly movie. It has its share of sexual content, language and nudity. Just wanted to warn you in advance so you didn’t pop it in with your young kids around.)
Aside from being a very sweet and funny movie, it is also made up of an ensemble cast of very good looking guys and their sexy British accents! What more can you ask for in a holiday flick?!!
Take a look:
Colin Firth as Jamie
Liam Neeson as Daniel
Rodrigo Santoro as Karl
Andrew Lincoln as Mark
Hugh Grant as The Prime Minister
Aloha Friday Questions:
- Which Love Actually guy would you like to find underneath the mistletoe?
- What is your favorite Christmas movie?
To see more Aloha Friday Questions, head over to An Island Life.
Check out other blogger’s favorite Christmas movies at My Friend Amy’s Christmas Movie Extravaganza.
Sex and Minivans 101
This post is not about learning to have sex in a minivan.
Ew… that would just be gross. And wrong. How would that even work with all the carseats, goldfish crumbs and other non-sexy related items strewn all over the place?
I don’t know about you but sex in a minivan is not exactly on my list of things I want to do before I die. But maybe there are others out there who have tried and liked it. To those freaks people, I say good for you. Whatever floats your boat!
This post is actually about the School of Sex Education that occurs almost weekly in my minivan.
I’ve gotten the “how does the baby get into the mommy’s belly” and the “how does the baby come out of the mommy’s belly” among a variety of other questions.
For whatever reason, my kids seem to be very curious about things when they are riding in our van. I usually try to answer as briefly as I can and tell them “there’s a scientific explanation for that and I will need a book to explain it in further detail” but they never remember to ask for the book. I have gotten off the hook pretty easily so far.
Note: If they do ask for “the book” I am definitely planning to get one and be completely honest with them. I just have a problem having this kind of talk when I’m operating a moving vehicle. I need to be seated and stationary.
I wasn’t really surprised when I was bombarded by the following conversation yesterday on the way home from school:
My Daughter: Marley and Erin are getting married.
Neighbor Girl: Girls can’t marry other girls.
My daughter: Why?
My son: Because if they did they would go blind.
I nearly wrecked the car at this point. Where on earth did he hear something like that? Is he watching Fox News behind our backs?
Me: No, that isn’t true. Girls will not go blind if they got married.
My son: Then why can’t they get married?
Me: Well, in some states they can get married, just not in Maryland. It isn’t legal here.
My son: So, they would go to jail if they got married?
Me: No, it just wouldn’t be recognized as an actual marriage. I think it would in other states like Hawaii or Connecticut.
My daughter: I’m moving to Connecticut then.
At this point I had the following concerns:
1. Did my daughter just come out?
2. Is gay marriage even legal in Connecticut, but more importantly, why would my daughter want to live in Connecticut instead of Hawaii?
3. Does this mean the Disney World Fairytale Wedding I’ve been planning for her for the past seven years is now off?
Later when we got home, I asked her why she would want to move to Connecticut and she said so that she could marry a girl.
Me: Why would you want to marry a girl? (In my best Seinfeld “not that there’s anything wrong with it” voice so as not to sound overly upset or disappointed.)
Her: I don’t know.
Me: Well, that is your choi…decis…that is fine.
I’m really not sure what to make of this. It could be nothing but I also wouldn’t be surprised if she really did want to marry a girl. There have been other signs.
Actually, there was one just the other day when she brought home her journal from school. It said clear as day:
I Love Gabriela Montez!
Now don’t get me wrong. I think Vanessa Hudgens is a very pretty girl, but come on now! She did see all three of the High School Musical movies so she is fully aware of how cute Troy (Zac Efron) is. I mean, who doesn’t love Troy?
He’s a dreamboat! (I’ve never actually used that word before but I think Zac Efron exudes dreamboatedness. Don’t you?)
I’m a strong believer in the fact that sexuality is what it is. I don’t think it is a choice and I definitely don’t want my kids to feel badly about themselves no matter what orientation they may be.
On the other hand, I still can’t help but worry as a mom. I know we’ve made a lot of progress in the area of gay rights, but obviously not enough. It would still be a difficult lifestyle to live and I’m sure she would have her share of struggles.
Only time will tell. Either way, I plan to be completely supportive.
Even if it means that I will have to give up this dream:
Sniff, sniff.
McGosling Wedding Postponed
It seems as though the fake wedding that I’ve been planning in my head for Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling is going to have to be put aside for awhile.
It turns out that they are both “openly single”, and although they still love one another they just can’t seem to make it work.
A source told People,
“He still loves Rachel and Rachel still loves him, but the timing is off and they can’t make each other happy right now.”
Please help me digest this information. What should we take from this? Does this mean that the wedding will be this year or next year?
While we are on the subject of Rachel McAdams, I just read that she will be filming a new movie with Harrison Ford. It’s a romantic comedy. Is it just me or does that sound a little creepy? All I know is that there better not be any off-screen chemistry. He’s still with Ally McBeal, so we’re safe right?
Finally, here is the picture that People used in their McGosling story:
I really like Rachel’s coat. Actually I need this coat. Does anyone know where I can find one like this?
Fine By 2009: 2 Weeks To Go!
I’m going to make this quick because I’m feeling a little under the weather today.
Last week’s Silver Workout Medal winners were Jen @ Momma Blogs Alot and Andrea at Red Knows How.
Way to go girls!!
Here are a few tips that I ran across this week that I thought might be helpful to everyone as they continue on their journey to fit:
-
Think about what you can add to your diet, not what you should take away. (ie fruits, veggies, and other healthy snacks)
-
Enjoy your treats away from home. (An example they give is going out for ice cream instead of keeping a half gallon container on hand. Keeping them outside your own house makes it harder to indulge as frequently.)
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Spice it up. (Adding spices to your foods will be more satisfying so you don’t eat as much.)
To see the other tips in this article, click here.
Do you have any other tips to add to this list? How did you do this week?
Mister Linky is not working today for me. If you wrote an update post, please feel free to leave the link in the comments. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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