Hump Day Hottie

This weeks Hump Day Hottie was born in a small town in Washington State in October of 1973 to BonBon, a home maker, and Den, a pulp mill worker. She had two older siblings, Ria and MacKeiver.

She grew up less than an hour from the ocean and had regular trips there during her childhood whether it was to fly kites, clam dig or play in the surf.

When she was 10, her parents divorced and at the age of 14 her mother remarried and she moved over 2 hours away near Mt. Rainier. She hated it there. The nearest "town" was 7 miles away and to get to school it wasn't even the short bus, but the school districts station wagon that picked her up.

Between her Junior and Senior year, she moved again into the city, but missed her friends from school and continued on with school just to graduate, not making many friends her last year because the classes that were Senior classes in her old school, were Freshman classes in her new one.

Probably the worst decision she ever made was to not go to college, but instead worked at such jobs like Dairy Queen, Sbarro's, and a 7-Eleven type store. She did get promoted to the corporate office, but was downsized just a year later.

At the age of 24, this weeks Hump Day Hottie gave birth to her only child, Devon and then 3 months later relocated to Michigan, where she still resides today.

Currently, this weeks HDH works as an insurance agent and has recently lost over 50 pounds on Weight Watchers.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ RachelG1016

The Television Dilemma

You know that the TiVo pickings are getting slim when you are excited about having your soap opera recorded every day so that you at least have SOMETHING to watch.

Most of the weekly shows that I watch are either done for the season because they ran out of episodes, or they are spacing them out and putting a filler show in every other week or so.

Some of the shows did a pretty decent mid-season finale considering that they don’t have anything else to show us, such as Desperate Housewives.

Now I am having a dilemma. What shows should I start recording now that my usual picks are done 6 months early? I can only watch so many Little People, Big World episodes and Big Brother 9 doesn’t start until February (I do have to say that I am really excited about it coming 6 months early).

I am sure that the new Survivor series will start relatively soon along with American Idol, but to be honest with you, I can’t handle watching ONLY reality tv. I need some dialogue that is scripted!! I need talented actors that can convey more than annoyance, boredom and cockiness.

I am also totally bummed that the second season of Dexter is over. I found it this season and am now totally addicted. I am planning on going to get the first season on DVD so that I can sit and learn some more of the back story. Michael C. Hall ROCKS!!!

What are you planning to TiVo or to watch in lieu of your favorite shows?

I Hope Turning 50 Feels As Good As This

I walked into my meeting last night with trepidation. I knew that I had stuck to the program, but was it enough to reach my short term goal of 50 pounds? I didn't know but since I had given myself until the day after Christmas to reach it I was OK either way. After putting my jacket in a chair, I went to the bathroom (every little bit helps) and then head to the front desk.

Lisa (my meeting leader) greeted me and we chatted for a few moments while she got me a new tracking booklet as I had used the last spot on the first one the week before. I took off my zip up hoodie and shoes and step on the scale.

It always takes a few seconds for the weight to come up but we can't see it. They have it only on the screen that they can see. It seems like it takes forever.

Lisa looked at me and said "How do you think you did?"

I replied saying, "I think that I hit my goal", meaning that I reached my 50 pound loss goal.

She waits a few more seconds and said, "You are down 50.1 pounds!"

I laughed and gave Lisa a high 5.

During the meeting she presented me with my 50 pound keyring and asked me to tell people what I am doing to lose weight.

I discussed food journaling, not grazing or inadvertantly snacking and also exercising. The same things that I have talked about every other time when I hit a milestone.

I went home and told my room mate and called a few friends. Everyone was really excited that I had hit my goal 2 weeks early and I went out with a few friends to celebrate. I drank water and sang some karaoke and met some cool people. One guy even had the bartender send me a drink because I sang his favorite Christmas song. I felt bad that I didn't drink it, but I had already used my daily points so I made sure that I thanked him and subtly moved it over to where there were a few more drinks sitting in front of other people.

This morning I went online trying to find anything that shows what 50 pounds of fat looks like, but I could only find 1 pound and 5 pounds. So, here is a photo of 5 pounds of fat. I have lost 10 of these.

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my promise. I will be posting a full length photo of myself sometime this weekend. I will also be posting some full body before photos as well so that you can see the difference.

Hump Day Hottie ~ Guest Post

Today’s HDH was born in Umbria, Italy on September 30, 1964. Her mother was a painter and her father owned a trucking company.

She speaks Italian, French, and English fluently and has acted in each of these languages, as well as Aramaic.

She began modeling at age 16. She initially went to school to become a lawyer, and by modeling, she helped finance her tuition while at the University of Perugia. In 2004, while pregnant with her daughter, she posed nude for the Italian Vanity Fair magazine in protest against Italian laws that allow only married couples to use in-vitro fertilization and that prevent the use of donor sperm.

Her English film career began in 1992 as one of Dracula’s brides in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. She is perhaps best known for her role as Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions followed by her portrayal of Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ. Out of her all her movies roles, my personal favorite was when she played a doctor in Nigeria being rescued by U.S. forces in Tears of the Sun. If you are looking for a good horror film, I highly recommend 2001’s Brotherhood of the Wolf, in which she also stars.

She is married to fellow actor Vincent Cassel (lucky guy!), with whom she has appeared in several films and had a daughter, named Deva, born September 12, 2004.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie (courtesy of Jaybird) is ~ Monica Bellucci

Thoughts On The Past Six Months

I have one day to go to make it a full 6 months on Weight Watchers. I started on June 13th, and this week is week 26 for me.

In the past 6 months I have lost 44.5 pounds which is nearly a third of my total goal of 147.5. That is amazing to me. Six months ago I was busting out of my 24's and now my 20's are getting too big. My feet have gone down a size and my ring finger has gone from a 10 to at least a 7.

I feel so much better. I can sleep the whole night through and not have horrible back pain in the morning. I can go dancing and be on the floor for 3-4 hours and my legs don't ache and my feet barely hurt, even when I wear heels.

I feel attractive again. I used to feel like I was the biggest, ugliest person in the room. Now, I might be the biggest sometimes, but I know how far I have come and that I am becoming as beautiful on the outside as my friends tell me that I am on the inside.

I have had a few splurges like birthdays and last Monday with my 20 point leftover extravaganza, but I haven't ever felt like I was being deprived and I never went over my weekly points except for the time that my son was in the hospital. I feel better, I look better, heck, I probably even smell better now that I don't have fat and grease from fast food in my body.

I don't know if I ever would have started this journey if it wasn't for my mom. She offered to pay for WW for the first 3 months as a birthday present and I almost turned her down. I would have been a fool to do that. I love the program and the people that I have met while on it.

People say that they won't change if they lose a lot of weight. I want to change. I want to be a more confident person. I want to feel that I am worth something and I can't wait until I see my mothers face when she sees me for the first time after I have lost so much weight. She lives on the other side of the country and I won't see her until next summer. I hope that I will be down 100 pounds by then.

I never thought that I would stick it out. I have no willpower. What I discovered is that if I want it bad enough, and I take it seriously enough, I can achieve whatever I put my mind to.

Thank you to EVERYONE on here who has inspired me, given me a wakeup call or made me take myself not so seriously and filled my day with laughter.

P.S. ~ Only 5.5 pounds to go before I post a full body photo (I will be clothed LOL)

Hump Day Hottie

This weeks HDH was born on September 18, 1973 in Stillwater, OK. He has 2 sisters and 2 brothers.

He was a member of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity when he attended Oklahoma State University.

He is a former Versace model.

His got his first acting job on the pilot episode of The Nanny.

He also appeared on other shows such as Saved By The Bell and Party of Five.

He lost out to Edward Norton for a role in Primal Fear and turned down the lead role in 54 which late went to Ryan Phillippe.

He has been married to Lisa Linde since 2000 and has 2 children, Jack and Mary James.

His is most famous for his role as Cyclops in the X-Men trilogy and as Lois Lane’s love interest in Superman Returns but many women will recognize him as Lon Hammond Jr. from The Notebook or as Corny Collins in Hairspray.

He is currently starring as Prince Edward in the Disney movie Enchanted.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ James Marsden

My Brilliance On Display

Friday was a very busy day for me. I was up at 5:30 and out of the house at 5:40 to arrive at Target right when they opened at 6:00 to get some of the early bird specials. I got the items that I went out there to get and continued shopping until around 11:30.
I got home and tried to rest, but couldn’t relax enough so I got up, started a load of laundry and then brought out the Christmas tree and boxes of decorations.
After testing 600 lights, I discovered that only 100 of them worked anymore so I went down to the local Family Dollar and purchased 400 more lights, found the perfect door wreath and a couple of cute decorations and headed home.
While I was out, I went to grab my cell phone to call my room mate Rico, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I remembered that I had stuck it in my jeans pocket the night before when I was out doing something and I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I came home, looked around the house and then headed towards the back room, opened up the washing machine and located my phone in my jeans pocket, soaked and not working.
I took out the battery and left it open overnight to try and dry it out, hoping against hope that the beautiful pink Razr that Hilly from Snackipoo.com had given me would give me a Christmas miracle and work.
The next morning, I turned on the phone and it worked!!! It came on and although it had a bit of clouding on the screen, the graphics were fine. But the sim card wasn’t. It kept telling me to insert the sim card. I took it out, put it back in and nothing.
So, I headed down to the nearest AT&T (formerly Cingular) store to get a new sim card. When I arrived there, everyone was very nice and I explained what happened. They inserted a new sim card and nothing happened. Apparently, it wasn’t the sim card, but the phone itself. It was pronounced dead, by drowning, on Saturday afternoon.
It was time to get a new phone and I pretty much knew what I wanted, but I had no idea what it would cost or what it entailed. After 30-40 minutes, I walked out of the AT&T store, the happy new owner of the Blackberry Pearl Red. Thankfully it was on sale with a case and car charger included, but it still cost me over $240.00 which put a kink in the rest of my Christmas shopping over the weekend. Thank goodness that I am over 80% done with my shopping and only have about another $150 worth of things to buy.

Poking My Head In To Say Hello

I know it’s been some time since I have posted anything other than Hump Day Hotties and there is actually a good reason. Well, a few good reasons, but that is neither here nor there.

First off, they have severely restricted the time at work that we can go on the internet. Basically breaks and lunches. This of course, cuts into my surfing time and blogging time.
Secondly, I have been waiting until I hit another weight loss milestone before posting and it has taken a bit longer than I expected it to. This month my weight loss slowed down a bit which is quite frustrating considering that I am working out regularly.

For those of you who have followed the whole weight loss thing, you remember that I disclosed my beginning weight of 287.5 pounds and that my total goal is to get to 148 pounds for a weight loss of 139.5 pounds.

Well, I weighed in yesterday and I am officially down 39.5 pounds, which means that I have exactly 100 pounds left to go. My next mini goal is to hit a 50 pound weight loss by Christmas, which gives me 6 weeks to lose 10.5 pounds. Totally doable.

I am now unable to wear the pants that I wore when I started Weight Watchers. I have a co-worker that had gastric bypass and gave her at least 6 pairs of pants so far. I am still able to wear my jeans as long as I wash and dry them on high heat, but even those are getting to the point where I am going to have to replace them. Too bad. I LOVE my jeans.

I decided to change from the treadmill to the elliptical and it has made quite a difference in my workouts. I so far have made it about 23 minutes on the elliptical (originally I made it about 3) at a pace of approximately 110 paces per minute which for my weight burns about 850 calories an hour. Today I burned about 275 in 20 minutes. Then I did some weights for my arms.

I still struggle with the abdomen. I am just not sure what is a good workout and they don’t really have much equipment in the workout room for the abs. While everything else is shrinking, my stomach hasn’t moved that much, which is frustrating. Before I had Devon, I had a flat stomach, even when I was a size 16.

People always think that I am a smaller size than I really am because I always had an hourglass shape even as big as I was. It was a slightly lumpy hourglass, but still. Now, I have a very feminine waistline and it flares out into a pear shaped bottom. It almost looks like two different bodies fused together with the bottom being a larger size than the top (except for my arms, which aren't slimming down as I had hoped)

I can give you a perfect example of my body style. I would post the photo, but as usual, Blogger is being a pain in the ass. So you can see what my body shape is by going here:

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/adam/images/en/different-types-of-weight-gain-picture.jpg

I am a perfect version of the one on the right.

I will try my best to be a more regular blogger and will be posting a full length photo as soon as I hit my 50 pound loss. That means that you all might get a really awesome Christmas present. Me!!!

Hump Day Hottie

This weeks HDH was born on March 25, 1979 in Chicasha, OK.

He spent several years in Saudi Arabia as a young child where his father was in the oil business and then later moved to Houston.

In 1997 he was accepted to the Julliard School’s drama division and graduated with a BFA.

He was nominated twice for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Actor when he performed in some off-Broadway plays.

He first gained recognition for his role in the 2003 film Soldier's Girl. He played the central role of Calpernia Addams, a trans-gendered woman dating Army soldier Barry Winchell (played by Troy Garity). Winchell was subsequently murdered because of his sexuality and his relationship with Addams. Of the role, HDH said:


"Not even my excellent training at Juilliard prepared me for my first movie role, where I played a transsexual who falls in love with a military guy in Soldier's Girl. Here I was, this 6'3" 190-pound lanky kid from Chickasha, Oklahoma, not knowing how to begin being a woman. So I saw documentaries about transsexuals, I lost twenty-five pounds, and I put on prosthetic boobs and hips to become that character. There were times I'd look in the mirror and wonder 'what am I doing to my life here? My dad is going to kill me!' But the reason I went into acting was to be able to play parts as complicated and important as this one. In playing a transsexual, I got the chance to help change people's perspective about other people and that is a powerful thing. I'm playing a swashbuckling bandit in my next film, but I'll always be proud of Soldier's Girl."

He won a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor and was nominated for several other awards, including a Golden Globe, for his work in this film.



HDH played Aaron Tyler in the acclaimed, short lived 2004 TV series Wonderfalls, which was co-created by Bryan Fuller. Fuller has cast HDH in the lead role of Ned in his new series, Pushing Daisies.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ Lee Pace

Hump Day Hottie

This weeks HDH was born on September 17, 1951 in Manhattan, KS.

The Guinness Book of World Records cited her as the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history

She briefly dated Elvis Presley.

In the early 1980’s she created a character that is well known through today. She changes her appearance so drastically that people don’t recognized her out of costume.

She has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and many other talk shows.

She did guest rolls on TV dramas such as CHiPS, The Fall Guy and Fantasy Island.

While hosting her own, self titled show, she adopted the flippant tone of a California valley-girl, she brought a satirical, sarcastic edge to her commentary without ever being crass or mean-spirited. And like a macabre Mae West, she reveled in dropping risque double entendres as well as making frequent jokes about her eye-popping display of cleavage.

Although she is typically correlated to the Halloween festivities, this weeks HDH is beloved all year round.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ Cassandra Peterson a.k.a. "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark"

Hump Day Hottie ~ Guest Post

The phantom HDH poster has returned. This weeks' HDH is a little different. I wanted to change things up a little,just because I like to confuse people or at least make them wonder. Instead of being on a person this time it is the showTV show and it's main characters. There have been about 13 repeat characters and even a pair of muppets have shown up. One of the regualr cast members is also a licensened EMT and pursued a medical internship. How come I could never find a contractor like Paige or Tracy.

The show began as a special on November 3, 2003 and became a regular series on Feburary 15, 2004. It is one of it's networks highest rated shows. Originally it was a spinoff from another show that did not enjoy the same success. Children should always let their parents win. The parent show has since been removed from the normal lineup of shows. There are even reruns on a cable network starting as of August 7, 2007. Great more reruns to burn my brain cells.

The shows' main character was on another networks' remodeling show before coming to this one. International versions have even aired in Greece and Scandinavia, later this year Mexico and the UK will be added. I wonder what they think about a guy yelling into a bull horn. No wonder we are called crazy Americans.

So far this show has had 97 episodes including the special. That makes 97 families that have been touched in an amazing way. Most are 1 hour shows with the few exceptions of a few that go 2 hours. This is usually because of a complication or a complicated build. This show does in 7 days what it takes most builders 6 to 9 months to do. In those 7 days the community and even some celebrities make cameo appearances. Mst be for their community service time for driving to fast while playing their car mounted x-boxes.

There has been some cristism and even a lawsuit stating that the most eligible family was not choosen or even that the show did not hold up their end of the bargin. Regardless, helping a family out to this extent is something that all people should be willing to do. The premise of this show and what these 'designers' do is to pick a needy family and build them a new home. Usually the family has an ailing child, mainly because children get better ratings and this is still a network that has to worry about the ratings.

This weeks Hump Day Hotties are ~ The Extreme Makeover Home Edition team.

Insert < expletive > Here

A couple of weeks ago, I was over at my friend Lady’s house along with Funny Girl and Aria to have an old fashioned slumber party. It was a great time and fun was had by all. And although my male readers will probably fantasize about 4 women running around in pajamas being silly, I won’t go into detail.

The following morning we were watching some episodes of Sex & The City and eating a delightful breakfast of fresh fruit and cinnamon rolls. We were all seated in the den and Lady was petting her cat Turtle when all of a sudden, Turtle launches himself off of Lady’s chest, digging his back claws into her bosoms.

The next thing I heard was “Christ On A Pony”, which was Lady’s expletive of choice in response to the pain inflicted by Turtles claws.

Funny Girl, Aria and I burst out laughing because none of us had ever heard that euphemism.

It got me thinking about some of the things that we use in every day conversation that really make no sense. And we wonder why people choose not to learn the English language considering that we have mutilated it beyond comprehension in many ways.

Here were some of the expletives that I remember from my childhood and also some that I have heard others say.

Dag Nabbit
Cotton Pickin’
My Stars & Garters
Shut The Front Door
Fuck Me Running
Jesus Crisis
Cheese & Rice
Mother, Jugs & Speed
Jesus Christ In A Sidecar
Good Lord & Butter, Mort
Holy Hell
Geez & Crackers
Jesus Henrietta Ballsley
Judas Priest

Of course, some of these are used as an alternative for taking the Lord’s name in vain such as Cheese & Rice instead of Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, there are some that I have absolutely NO idea how they came to fruition such as My Stars & Garters and Dag Nabbit. (Good Lord & Butter, Mort is actually from an old cartoon strip, or so I was told)

Now that I have such a plethora of expletives to use, I don’t know if I will have to resort to the usual Shit, Fuck or Dammit!

Hump Day Hottie

Trying a new format. Let me know what you think.

1. Born on September 11, 1967 in New Orleans, LA.

2. Provided the soundtrack for the movie When Harry Met Sally.

3. Made his screen debut in Memphis Belle.

4. In 1990 his double platinum album titled We Are in Love earned him his second consecutive Grammy for Best Jazz Male Vocal.

5. Was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991 for his song contribution to the Godfather III soundtrack.

6. Was arrested in 1992 and charged with having a 9 mm pistol in his possession at JFK international airport. After spending a day in jail, he agreed to make a public-service television commercial warning against breaking gun laws. The court agreed to drop all charges if he stayed out of trouble for six months.

7. Has appeared in the following movies: Memphis Belle, Little Man Tate, Copycat, Independence Day, Excess Baggage, Hope Floats, Wayward Son, My Dog Skip, The Simian Line, Life Without Dick, Basic, Mickey, & Bug.

8. His albums range from Swing, Traditional Pop, Pop Rock and Jazz-Funk.

9. He is married to model Jill Goodacre and has 3 daughters and currently resides in Connecticut.

10. As a native son of New Orleans, he spent several days touring the city, to draw attention to the plight of the stranded citizens and also helped organize and appeared in the NBC live telethon for relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ Harry Connick Jr.

It's My Birthday Bitches!!!!!!!

Let the festivities commence.

Seriously though, every birthday, people seem to love to give compliments to the birthday boy/girl.

This year, I want you to tell me something fantastic about yourself. All of us have something about ourselves that we think is pretty awesome, and I want to know what is superawesome about you.

Something about me that is superawesome, is that I am a good singer. Even though the only thing that I do with my singing is annoy the shit out of my son and have a great time at karaoke with my peeps, I am still a good singer. I can even sing some opera.

Sometimes You Don't Want To Know The Answer

My roommates best friend is big into working out. He found out a month ago that I am on WW and have been losing weight and that I was starting to work out.

The past few weeks he asks me how I did for the week and is very supportive and tells me about new exercises that I can fit into my routine. It actually helps a lot.

Well, last week I lost 3 pounds and this week I lost 1.8 pounds and he acted all disappointed and wanted to know why I lost "only 1.8 pounds". I told him that it was still a loss and I am right on target.He wouldn't stop asking so I leaned over and said very loudly in his ear "Because I am on my period!!!"

He got so embarrassed and was back-pedaling so fast I couldn't help but laugh. I am all about the encouragement that he gives me, but it irritated me that he thought that 1.8 pounds wasn't much of a loss. I seriously almost smacked him.

Hump Day Hottie

This weeks HDH was born Heather Renee Sweet on September 28, 1972 to a manicurist mother and machinist father.

HDH is well known for her fascination with 1940s cinema and classic retro style. This began at a young age and was fostered by her mother, who would buy clothes for her to dress up in. Her mother was a fan of old, Golden-era Hollywood films, and it was from her that she developed a fascination with the actresses of that day, especially Betty Grable, an actress that she frequently cites as her favorite.

She was classically trained as a ballet dancer from an early age, and danced solo at age thirteen for a local ballet company. Though she originally wanted to be a ballerina, she states that "By 15 I was as good as I’d ever be."

As a teenager, HDH's mother took her to buy her first bra, made from plain white cotton, and gave her a plastic egg containing a pair of wrinkly, flesh-colored tights. HDH says she was disappointed as she had been hoping to receive beautiful lacy garments and stockings, of the type she had glimpsed in her father's Playboy magazines . This fueled her passion for lingerie. She worked in a lingerie store as a salesgirl when she was fifteen, and eventually as a buyer. This was where she got her first corset. She has been fond of wearing elaborate lingerie such as corsets and stockings since.

In college, HDH studied historic costuming and aspired to work as a stylist for period films. She is a trained costume designer.

HDH began her career in a local strip club when she was nineteen. Disappointed with the lack of originality in all the other strippers' acts, HDH created a vintage-inspired look, with beehive hairstyle and elbow-length gloves, confusing and fascinating the clientele.

It was during this time at the strip club that she began some glamor modeling, before she eventually became a fetish model . Her retro pin-up look, frequently emulating Bettie Page in photo shoots, set her apart from most other fetish models.

HDH achieved some level of recognition in the fetish world as a tightlacer. Through the wearing of a corset for many years, she had reduced her natural waistline to 22 inches, and can be laced down as far as 16 and a half inches. A diminutive person already, she stands at only 5'3" and weighs 105 pounds.

It is HDH's burlesque routines that she is best known for, and is frequently dubbed "the Queen of Burlesque" in the press. She began performing burlesque in 1993 and, as a proponent of New Burlesque, has helped to popularize its revival. In her own words, she "puts the tease back into striptease" with long, elaborate dance shows with props and characters, often inspired by 1930s and 1940s musicals and films. Some of her more famous dances include numbers involving a carousel horse, a giant powder compact, a filigree heart and a claw-toe bathtub with a working shower head. Her feather fan dance, inspired by burlesque dancer Sally Rand , features feather fans that are the largest in the world and are now on display in Hollywoods' Museum of Sex. Her signature show features a giant martini glass.

In recent years, the fashion world has come to accept HDH and her retro look, and she has appeared on a number of best-dressed lists. HDH states that she never uses a stylist. "The one time I hired a stylist, they picked up a pair of my 1940s shoes and said, "These would look really cute with jeans." I immediately said, 'You’re out of here.'" She does her own make-up, and dyes her naturally blonde hair black at home.

HDH currently resides in Hollywood. She is a collector of vintage china, particularly eggcups and tea sets, and she drives a 1939 Chrysler New Yorker.

HDH became somewhat of a household name when she married shock rocker Marilyn Manson on November 28, 2005. After filing for divorce in December, 2006 she left their house empty-handed on Christmas Eve, and was unable to get in touch with Mason to inform him of her intentions of a divorce. Citing irreconcilable differences and a relationship with another girl as her reasons for divorcing Manson.

Although this weeks HDH wears vintage furs, she is currently spokewoman for a PETA campaign called ABC (Animal Birth Control).



















This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ Dita Von Teese

Un-Charitable

The company that I work for is a big contributor to United Way. Every year we receive a form that we MUST fill out where we have the option of having money taken out of our paycheck to donate. The company matches 75% of all donations, which is great.

What I don't like is that the incentive they use to get us to donate is a free personal day. Why does it bother me? Well, because I really want that extra personal day and I don't think that it is kosher that I have to donate to a company that I normally wouldn't just to receive it. Why can't I donate to the Susan G. Komer Breast Cancer Association or to The American Alzheimer's Association? Those are charites that are much closer to my heart as my mother works in Oncology and Alzheimer's runs in my family.

The other thing that they make us do is we have to increase the amount of our donation every year to qualify for that personal day. Because I have worked here for almost 8 years I pay 7-8x's more for that same personal day as someone who has been here for a year. Right now I am at about $80 per year for that personal day. It isn't much, but compared to someone else who pays $12 for the same day, it kinda chaps my hide.

Don't get me wrong, I like to donate to charity. I don't mind giving time to help others. What I do mind is being pressured into donating and the discrepancy in how much people are donating to receive the same benefit. I would rather they took the incentive of a personal day away completely so that I can donate the money that I grudgingly give United Way to a charity that I WANT to give to.

This reminds me of another thing that chaps my hide. Every Christmas Eve, the people who start their shift at 10:45 or later don't have to come in to work at all that day and get paid holiday pay for the entire day. Me? I have to come in at 8:45 and work until 12. I get paid holiday pay for the rest of the day and am not given comp time for the 3 hours and 15 minutes that I am required to work.

It just doesn't seem right or fair.

Onward To The Next Goal

Two weeks ago I posted about how excited I was that I had hit my first milestone weight loss goal of 25 pounds. Weight Watchers sets a slightly different goal to start off with. Your first major milestone goal is to lose 10% of your initial weight when starting the program.

I remember that I disclosed that weight back in June and I don't mind sharing it with you again. When I started WW I weighed in at a whopping 287.5 pounds and according to WW my first major milestone was to lose 28 pounds.

Since starting to work out 2 weeks ago, I dropped 2.4 pounds the first week and dropped 3 pounds this week. That means that my total weight loss is 30.8 pounds. I reached my first 10% goal and received a nice key chain. They made a bit of a brouhaha about it which was kinda nice, but honestly it didn't matter. I am already focusing on my next goal.

I have 19.2 pounds to lose and I will hit 50 pounds gone. That seems enormous to me. Much bigger that 10%.

I can't wait to hit 50 gone and post some full length photos for you all.

I also want to say thank you to everyone who encourages me every day. My friends think that I am on a mission, which I am, but every time someone comments about how good I am doing or how great I look, it makes that mission that much easier to stick to.

You all rock!!!

Hump Day Hottie

This will not be a regular HDH post. This time, I am giving the power to you to come up with your own Hump Day Hottie.

It doesn't have to be anyone famous, just someone you think is hot, whether it be personality, looks, charm, spirit or whatever turns you on. Tell us a bit about what makes this person hot to you in the comments.

Who is YOUR Hump Day Hottie?

Let's Get Physical

I have been working out now every work day for 9 days straight. I haven't missed a day yet even after last Wednesday when I didn't get to bed until 2 a.m. I was up at 6:30 and out the door at 7:30 on my way to work out.

Usually when I arrive, I am the only one there. My work provides an exercise facility. It isn't huge or fancy, but it has 3 treadmills, 1 stair step, 1 elliptical, 1 stationary bike, free weights, a weight bench and some fancy machine that I have only seen 1 person use, but it looked cool.

There is no stereo in there right now because unfortunately, we have some sticky fingered employees that don't know how to leave things that don't belong to them alone. Hell, we have lunches missing out of the fridges and last week some bastard took the smart card out of the sattelite box in the workout room so we had no music and no television.

So, since I am dedicated to this new lifestyle I decided to get an MP3 player. That way, when some stupid bastard steals the smart card or if I don't feel like watching Good Morning America, I can put on my headphones and rock out to the workout music that I will be downloading.

I didn't get all fancy and order an iPod, but I did some research and discovered that the Sandisk Sansa models get really high ratings and are very reasonably priced. I didn't need something with a crapload of storage because this will be for workouts and the one that I got can have over 8 hours of music and it only has 512 megs of ram. That means that I can go 16 workouts and not have a repeat song. I think that is plenty. Eight hours for $23.99 including shipping, armband and case? Ya can't beat that. The only thing that I have to get will be new headphones because my ear canals are too small for normal ear buds. I am not sure if I will get over the head standard headphones or something different. We shall see. I don't mind trying a few different ones to find the perfect ones for me.

I have already compiled a list of songs that I will be downloading while I have my 7 day free trial from Napster. I will include it at the end of this email but I want to ask you all something.

What workout songs get your pumped up and get you in the zone? I want to make sure that I have all kinds of genre's of songs but they must have that beat to keep me moving.

Here is my song list so far:

I'm Every Woman - Chaka Kahn
Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor
hey mama - Black Eyed Peas
My Humps - Fergie
Beat it - MJ
Physical - Olivia Newton John
This Love - Maroon 5
Holding Out For A Hero - Bonnie Tyler
We Belong - Pat Benetar
Hit Me With your Best Shot - Pat Benetar
Celebration - Kool & The Gang
Dirrty - Christian Aguilera
Fighter - Christina Aguilera
Here I go again on my own - Whitesnake
Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye
Blinded By The Light - Manfred Mann
Crazy On You - Heart
Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen
Bootylicious - Destiny's Child
Let's Go Crazy - Prince
I hate everything about you - 3 days grace
Pretty Fly (for a white guy) - Offspring
Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddys
I'll Be There for you - Rembrandts
Black Horse & A Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
Hemmorage - Fuel
My Band - D12
Miss Independent - Kelly Clarkson
Bad - MJ
Life is a highway - Rascal Flatt's
Don't speak - No Doubt
Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani
Shake your Bon Bon - Ricky Martin
Hey Ya - Outkast
Harder To Breathe -Maroon 5
Little Less Conversation - Elvis vs. JXL
Turn The Beat Around - Gloria Estefan
Gloria - Laura Brannigan
Play - J-lo
Ray of light - Madonna
Brick House - Commodores
Save A Horse - Big n Rich
It's My Life - Bon Jovi
Devil Went Down To Georgia - Charlie Daniels
Talk Dirty To me -Poison
Girls girls girls- motley crue
1999 - prince
The Anthem - Good Charlotte
She F-in hates me
Walk This Way - Aerosmith
How Do you Want it - 2pac
Dancing Queen - Abba
Take a chance - abba
Stupid Girl - Garbage
Signed Sealed Delivered - Stevie Wonder
Virtual Insanity - Jamiroqui
Love in an elevator - Aerosmith
You Make Me Sick - Pink
Can't get you out of my head - kylie minogue
Playin' With the boys - Top Gun Soundtrack
Final Countdown- Europe
December 63 - Four Seasons
The Distance - Cake
Stronger - Britney
Like I Love You - Justin Timberlake
Song #2 - Blur
Just Like A Pill - Pink
La La - Ashlee Simpson
Shake Your Lovemaker - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
Walkin on Sunshine - Katrina & The Waves
Girls Just Wanna have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
I'm Just a Girl - No Doubt
Car Wash - Christina Aguilera
Get The Party Started - Pink
I'm Still Standing - Elton John
Ready Or Not - Fugee's
Beautiful Day - U2
Crazy In Love - Beyonce
P.I.M.P. - 50 cent
Hot in Herre - Nelly
Who are you - The who
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - Aretha Franklin
Call Me - Blondie
Who Knew -Pink
Add your own songs in the comments and I will add them to my list!

Hump Day Hottie

This weeks HDH was born in 1981 in the great state of Arkansas. As a child it is rumored that she ate squirrels. “I did eat squirrels when I was a kid”, she commented, “ people in Arkansas just do – they’d think you were a freak if you ate squid there.”

Her band's breakthrough song "Standing in the Way of Control" was written by HDH as a response to her government's decision to deny gays the right to marriage in the U.S. "Nobody in the States was that surprised or shocked by what Bush did, but it made everyone I know feel helpless and cheated," she said. "I wrote the chorus to try and encourage people not to give up. It's a scary time for civil rights, but I really believe the only way to survive is to stick together and keep fighting."

HDH came to wider public attention in November 2006 when she was selected by NME as the coolest person in rock - being placed at number one in the magazine's annual 'Cool List'. The magazine cited her 'non-conformity’ as the reason for her selection - she is a lesbian, an outspoken advocate of gay rights, weighs around 210 lbs, and is also in a relationship with a trans-gendered individual who was born female but identifies as a man.

Recently she has refused to play in-store at Top Shop stores citing her dissatisfaction with their clothes range not available in her size. She went as far as to offer to design clothes for them saying, "Give me the job. I want to design. I want you to make clothes for big girls - big boys. I want you to make big sizes.”

She doesn't wear deodorant, and also doesn't shave her armpits. "I think punks usually smell." she claims.

She also believes in eating to obtain her "Goddess Curves". "The bigger the better, more sexy!" "I'm proud and sometimes I'll eat a whole bucket of chicken or two ice cream cartons, just to make sure I stay the way I am."

She is an outspoken feminist, and once commented that "Women aren't cats, we aren't pets, we are just people trying to cross the freaking street to get an ice-cream."

She is the lead vocalist of the American band Gossip.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ Beth Ditto

Can You See A Difference?

Here are the photos that I promised. I didn't get any full body pictures for the simple reason that I am not ready to post them all over the internet. Maybe when I hit a 50 pound loss, I will be ready to show my ass-ets. :)

Before

After

14 Weeks

That is the time that it took me to reach my first major weight loss milestone. I have officially lost 25.3 pounds.

In some ways 25 pounds seems like an enormous amout of weight. For example. A 2 year old child weighs an average of 25 pounds. When I look at a 2 year old and think, I have lost as much as she weighs, that seems like a lot.

In other ways 25 pounds seems like nothing especially when I compare it to the amount that I want to lose. If I equate it with my final loss goal of 140 pounds gone, I am only 17.85% on the way to my total goal which means that I am not even 1/5th of the way there.

I guess it is all about perspective. My clothes are looser and there are at least 2 pairs of pants and one shirt that I can no longer wear because they are too big. When I lose another 10 pounds, I won't be able to wear at least 2 more pairs of pants.

In the past 2 weeks I have gotten a TON of comments about my weight loss. From people asking if I have lost weight to other people telling me that I look fantastic. For some reason, I have also gotten a lot of compliments on my hair. Not sure what that is about since I got it cut at the beginning of August but I will accept any positive comment.

Funny Girl wants to drop about 25 - 30 pounds. She isn't heavy by any means, but she wants to trim up a bit. So far she is down over 10 pounds in the same time frame and is looking fantastic. At least next summer her grandma won't be able to say that she looks like she hasn't lost weight.

I think that because we are in this together and that we keep each other accountable it makes it so much easier. And the fact that I cook a lot for Funny Girl doesn't hurt either.

I don't have any before or after pictures yet, but as soon as I have them, I will post them.

Hump Day Hottie

This weeks Hump Day Hottie was born November 24, 1978 in Washington, D.C. to Paul, a financial executive & Nancy, a personal manager.

She has German and Irish Ancestry and was raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). She had a strict upbringing and is the youngest of 4 children. She lived in Virginia and then Denver before her family settled in Connecticut, where she spend most of her childhood.

In 1986, her 15-year-old older brother Jason died of injuries suffered in a car accident, after being thrown from the back of a pickup truck. When doctors determined he was brain-dead following an eight-hour operation, the family decided to donate his organs. The family was never in any doubt that Jason would have wanted his organs and tissues donated for transplant. She is now a strong proponent of organ donation

As a child, her aunt took photos of her and sent them, with permission, to a number of modeling agencies. Within a few weeks, she was signed as a child model and soon was earning $75 per hour posing for Sears & Lord & Taylor catalogs. Her first television appearance was in a national spot for Cheerios.

She made her acting debut in 1992's That Night which was quickly followed by King Of The Hill and then her first leading roll in the 1994 comedy My Father The Hero. She then appeared in the 1995 action thriller Under Siege 2: Dark Territory with Steven Seagal.

In 1996 her parents divorced and her mother was diagnosed with cancer. After high school graduation, she moved with her mother to L.A. and her mother became her manager.

After working on movies for a few more years she turned her attention to television and accepted the role of Isobel Evans on the sci-fi drama Roswell. She continued to work on movies and tended to gravitate towards the horror genre but would also do made for TV movies like Love Comes Softly about a young pregnant newlywed traveling west.

In 2005 she was cast in what would become her most high-profile role, as intern Dr. Isobel (Izzie) Stevens on Grey's Anatomy. She won an Emmy last week for this role for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama series.

Also in 2006, she filmed Knocked Up, a comedy from writer/director Judd Apatow, starring opposite Seth Rogan. The film was a box office success.

She has been on FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" list twice.

She is currently engaged to singer Josh Kelley, whom she met on the set of his music video for "Only You". The couple will marry in October of this year.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ Katherine Heigl

Things Not To Say To Dirty Minded Gay Men

I have two new roommates and I wrote about that a few weeks ago. Rico and Don and absolute gems but they constantly have their minds in the gutter. Of course, since mine is usually firmly entrenched there as well, it is a great combo.

Anyhoo... On Saturday I played in an inter-department slow pitch softball game for work. The first time in the outfield I played 2nd base, after that they put me in as the catcher. BTW, we won 15-5. I didn't score but I hit the ball 3 out of 4 times I was at bat and made it to 3rd.

For those of you who don't know, a very popular gay term for who gives and who receives during sex is the "Pitcher" (giver) and "Catcher" (receiver).

So when I was asked how the softball game when and replied "It was a lot of fun, I was the catcher and my thighs are KILLING me", you can just see where this comment made a downward spiral into the gutter.

My thighs WERE killing me and I am still feeling it today. Yesterday was the worst. I was doing laundry and have a front loading washer and dryer. Every time I would squat painfully down to put clothes in the washer or dryer, Rico would look at me and start to laugh all over again.

I cooked dinner last night and Rico made the salad and then I tossed it. At least I was smart enough not to ask him if he wanted me to toss his salad.

Hump Day Hottie

This weeks Hump Day Hottie was born in London, England the son of a kitchen fitter and a hairdresser. His mother's family is Jewish and he has always referred to himself as "half Jewish" although he is not know to practice Judaism or any other faith.

Growing up his parents were fanatical football supporters and would frequently take him to the games. As a child he played for a local youth team called the Ridgeway Rovers that was coached by his father. In 1986 he was a mascot for a major football team.

He was part of a group of young players who won the FA Youth Cup in 1992 where he scored in the second leg of the final. After that he was a substitute in a league cup match and signed his first professional contract shortly after. He became a first string player in the 1994-1995 season and became a household name when he scored a spectacular goal from the halfway line that floated over the goal and into the net.

He continued to excel at football and by 2003 the income from his contract, and his many endorsement deals made him the highest-paid player in the world at the time and today his name is as instantly recognizable as Coca-Cola and IBM.

In 1999 he married his very famous wife and together they became one of the hottest couples around known as fashion plates and both of them have become lucrative spokespeople sought after by clothing designers, health and fitness specialists, fashion magazines, perfume and cosmetics manufacturers, hair stylists, exercise promoters, and spa and recreation companies.

In 2002 he was hailed as the ultimate "metrosexual" by the man who invented the term and has been described as such by scores of other articles since.

According to Google, this weeks HDH was searched for more than any other sports topic on their site in 2003 and 2004.

He has many tattoos on his body, one of which is the name of his wife, which was misspelled written in Hindi. He also has his 3 sons' names as well, Brooklyn, Romeo & Cruz along with many other designs.

He and his wife and children re-located this year to Los Angeles, CA when this weeks HDH was preparing to start his first season with his new team, the LA Galaxy. The move was turned into a 2 hour reality show with the name of his wife and the subtitle "Coming To America".

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ David Beckham

The Worst Kind Of Crust

I was shopping yesterday with Anne at Fashion Bug. She had some coupons and a gift certificate so she was trying on clothes in the changing room while I was sitting on a bench just outside so that I could give her my imput when she would model her clothing.

A woman asked to try some clothing on and I saw her walk past me. She was probably a size 18 had cute brown capri pants on with a patterned top. Her hair and makeup were done to perfection. On her feet she had tan mules with a flower applique on the top. All of this was noticed in a split second perusal while I was waiting in between mini runway shows from Anne.

Another second passed and my brain computed what I had seen in my quick perusal. I quickly look back at her shoes and noticed that she had the crustiest heels that I had seen in a LONG time. Seriously, there must be some kind of fungal thing going on or she hasn't ever heard of a pumice stone. It nearly turned my stomach.

Here was this woman who went out of her way to look nice. She probably spends a lot of money on clothing, makup and having her hair done. Why wouldn't she spend $2 for a pumice stone???

I was so tempted to quietly go next to her dressing room door and say "You look really nice today and I can tell that you care about your appearance. You might want to look into getting a pedicure."

I didn't do it, but I really wanted to. I hate it when women make such an effort to look nice and then totally negate all of the work that they have done by overlooking something like this. For example, if she has a fungal issue and can't get rid of the crusties, the outfit would have looked just as cute with a pair of ballet flats.

It could just be me. This is a big trigger for me. I try to make my feet look nice and I know how hard it is to get rid of the crusty edges on your heels when you are heavy. I struggle to get rid of them sometimes myself. But that's when I head down to the nearest nail salon, soak my tootsies and have that crap professional sloughed off.

So, since I didn't say anything to her I will say it to all of my wonderful readers.

Check your heels!!! If they are crusty, do something about it. Or, at least wear shoes so that stomaches aren't turning .

Hump Day Hottie

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is a flawless musician, with skills at the piano, banjo, guitar, and tuba; a noteworthy singer/dancer; and can provide answers to complex, university level examinations in seconds.

He has also been shown to have certain athletic prowess that is normally unattainable at his age, such as being able to lift or move objects of greater weight than himself.

His sophisticated attitude/nature and mannerisms are juxtaposed with childish interests and actions. He reads literature such as Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus and Sun-Tzu, and cites pop culture references that date much further back than his age would permit, however, he is also fascinated by Raffi and the Teletubbies.

His mastery of physics and mechanical engineering are at a science-fiction level. He has constructed a laser, advanced figher-jets, a mind control device, a weather control device, robots, a time machine, and even a robotic model of Peter that spoke in Peter's voice. Stewie employs these to cope with the stresses of infant life (such as teething pain, and eating hated broccoli) and to kill his mother with no success. He seems to be constantly carrying a concealed firearm, which he whips out whenever he wants to, he also carries around a bazooka and he keeps an M3 machinegun under his bed's pillow.

Wizard Magazine rated him the 95th greatest villain of all time.

His is the youngest child of Peter and Lois and was born in Quahog, Rhode Island.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ Stewart Gilligan Griffin

Birthday Fun & Back To The Grind

Yesterday we celebrated Funny Girl's birthday. It is actually today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!) but since yesterday was a holiday we decided to have a cookout and game night.
Rico and Donnie have settled in to the house and so we cooked like fiends to get things ready.

On the menu were BBQ ribs, fried chicken, burgers, hot dogs, collard greens, home made macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, grape salad, green salad, pasta salad and for dessert was cake and ice cream.

Rico made the ribs, chicken, mac n' cheese and greens. The pasta salad, grape salad and assorted beverages were brought. I made the green salad, deviled eggs and baked the cake and cupcakes. My friend Anne grilled the burgers and hot dogs.

We had about 15 people there and I think that about 1/3 of the food was eaten which means that I have a CRAPLOAD of ribs, burgers, hot dogs etc,etc left over. Most of the food is NOT point friendly so I will be staying away from it (although I did a decent job yesterday and ate all of my points for the day at the bbq without going over). I suggested to Rico that he take some of it to work with him. If not, I might bring it in to the vultures that I work with.

I surprised Funny Girl by inviting her parents to the party. They live about 2 hours away and had already presented her with her gift. The look on her face when she saw them at the door was priceless. What was even funnier was that she won't drink in front of her folks (a respect thing) so her full glass of wine was discreetly placed in the fridge until they left.

We played Cranium and Mau until about 10 PM and then all but Funny Girl and Rico's best friend Cain left. We hung out until about 11:30 and then Funny Girl and Cain left and Rico finished up the last few dishes while I got Devon's lunch, clothes and backpack ready for school today and I headed to bed.

Today is my first day back at work since being out on FMLA for Devon's surgery. It is nice to be back so that things are getting into a more normal rhythm. It is much easier to stay on program (WW) while at work because I have to pre-plan everything.

So far I am down 23.3 pounds. I have just over 5 pounds to go to reach my first 10% goal. I am not sure what I am going to do to celebrate. It just has to be non-food related. Any ideas?

Hump Day Hottie

This weeks Hump Day Hottie was born on February 21, 1946 in Hammersmith, London to a working class family. His father, an Irish Catholic factory worker died when he was eight leaving his mother, a Welsh homemaker alone to raise 4 children.

He attended Chelsea College of Art and made his way as a graphic artist in Soho. He received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) which he attended from 1972-1974 and won numerous awards while there.

Since then, he has been a constant presence on the British stage. and has appeared in productions including The Seagull, As You Like It and played the male lead in the 1985 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. When the performance came to America, he received a Tony Award nomination.

In addition to appearing in numerous BBC television shows, he has also demonstrated considerable talent as a comedy actor is films such as Galaxy Quest, Dogma and, my personal favorite, Love Actually. He won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his performance as Rasputin in 1996 and was also nominated for an Emmy for his work as Dr. Alfred Blalock in 2004's Something The Lord Made.

This weeks HDH has a vast and rich history of work but is best known for a role that he refuses to talk about as he feels that people are too interested in that role to pay attention to his other work and doesn't want to ruin the mystery of the character for the fans by talking about him. That most famous role would be as the mysterious potions professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ Alan Rickman

Confessions of a Landlord

Yup, I am a landlord...sort of. My friends Rico and Don moved in yesterday. Due to some severe health and financial hits they decided that they needed to reduce their monthly expenses and we agreed that they could move into my house. I had a spare bedroom so it was no problem at all.

There are things that I am worried about. I have been on my own without a roommate for over 2 years so this will be a change. I enjoy living alone and I know that it will take some adjusting to get used to more people in my home, but Rico loves to cook and Don is really good at fixing things so in addition to the rent that they will be paying, they both have ways to contribute that makes my life easier.

Unfortunately (fortunately for me) they had some roommates when they had their own home that totally screwed them over. Didn't pay the rent that they were supposed to and broke many promises about helping out with things and just not being grateful or considerate. I know that I don't have to worry about them not paying their rent.

Devon loves "Uncle Rico" & "Uncle Don" and I think that it will be a positive for him to have male role models in the home. He respects Rico and Don and listens to them.

They have a dog, Phoebe, who will be living with us as well. That is the biggest worry for me. Don't get me wrong. Phoebe is a fantastic, very well behaved dog but I have two cats that haven't ever been around dogs since they were kittens. We have decided to crate Phoebe during the day and letting the cats free so that they can get used to the smell and the presence of a dog without feeling threatened. Then when we get home, Phoebe will be let out of her kennel for the rest of the evening until the cats and Phoebe get along. As long as she stays off of my couch once they get used to each other, Phoebe won't be crated during the day.

Devon is healing nicely. His follow-up appointment is tomorrow so we will see how things are going. I will probably be heading back to work after Labor Day. Although it has been nice to have this extra time with Devon, I am ready to go back to work and get back into the rhythm of normal life.

Hump Day Hottie

This weeks HDH was born in Grayshott, Hampshire, England on September 10, 1960 to Shirley, a comparative religion lecturer and David, a history lecturer.

He has one sister, Kate & a younger brother, Jonathan, who is also an actor.

His parents were born and raised in India as his grandparents (both sets) performed missionary work abroad.

He spent part of his childhood in Nigeria and lived in St. Louis, MO when he was 11.

In 1990 he and his current girlfriend, Meg Tilly, had son Will. He married Italian documentary filmmaker Livia Giuggioli in 1997 and has had two sons, Luca and Matteo.

It was the 1995 BBC television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that he gained wider renown and he became known as a heart-throb because of his role as Fitzwilliam Darcy.

He has starred in a number of "genuinely British" films and series including The English Patient, Fever Pitch, Shakespeare In Love, Bridget Jones's Diary, The Importance of Being Earnest, Love Actually, What a Girl Wants & Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. He has also appeared in recent television productions, Including Donovan Quick, Conspiracy and starred as Aishwarya Rai in The Last Legion.

In a 2006 interview he was asked "Who are the women in your life?" He replied "My mother, my wife and Jane Austen".

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ Colin Firth

Back Home

Devon's surgery went fine and he was released to go home this afternoon. He is currently on the couch watching cartoons.

I can't express how brave Devon was about the entire situation. Not one tear. He had a lot of questions and was nervous, but everyone at the hospital was super and took the time to explain everything to him.

One funny thing did happen while we were there. On Thursday night when we were in the ER they did a CAT Scan. He came back into the room we were in and he was telling us how cool the CAT Scan was. Then he said, "I hope I get to see the pictures so that I can see my balls and innards look like."

Funny Girl was there with me and we looked at each other, burst out laughing while Devon was backpedaling and saying over and over that he didn't mean THOSE balls. We kept on laughing and the other group of people in the room heard the entire exchange and were laughing out loud too.

As much as I have many difficulties with Devon's dad, he was there on Thursday until Midnight and then left as he had to get up at 4 AM to go to work. I called him around 1 AM with the diagnosis and he was surprised. I was too. I thought it might have been gas or cramps because the pain kept coming and going.

He was back the next morning around 9 AM and stayed until Devon was out of surgery and in recovery. Before Devon went in for surgery, Devon, his dad and I played a couple of games of UNO Spin. We were very cordial to each other and didn't have one problem. We were actually adults for once around each other and put our differences aside and focused on our son. He was also there this morning for about 30 minutes until he had to go to work. I think that it was really nice for Devon to see us get along and be in the same room for more than 10 minutes and actually talking civilly. It doesn't happen. Especially when his wife is around. She never once came to the hospital.

I also have to give MAJOR props to my friends Funny Girl and Rico. Funny Girl stayed up at the hospital with me overnight both nights even though it was not the most comfortable sleeping in one of those portable sleeping chairs. She brought me Taco Bell 2 nights in a row and basically did anything that I asked her to do. Rico came up on his lunch hour to see Devon, came back that night and then was at my house today before Devon was even discharged so that he could take care of me & Devon since I am basically a walking zombie today.

I blew my WW to crap while I was there but am back on track today. If I gain or maintain I will be fine with it. It was more important for me to be there with my son, eating hospital food than worrying about points or going somewhere else to get food.

Thank you everyone who sent prayers and well wishes our way. They are VERY appreciated and I felt at peace most of the time so I know that they worked.

You all ROCK!!!!

I Get Another Vacation ~ Sort Of

Devon is currently in the hospital with Appendicitis and will be having surgery today to remove his Appendix.

I will be off work until he is recovered, which I am told will be 1-2 weeks.

Not quite the type of vacation I would have chosen, but thank God for FMLA and that I am blessed to be able to stay home and care for him until he is recovered.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Potpourri

I am back!!! I didn't die in a fiery plane crash, nor did I get stuck in the perma-gridlock that seems to define the Seattle-Tacoma area nowadays.

I was lucky to be able to see everyone that I wanted to see including my friend Lisa that I had lost touch with years ago. She is now happily married with a 1 year old daughter, MacKenzie. I wrote about our friendship a few months ago and am thrilled to get back in touch with her.

I also spent time with my friend Jade, who is pregnant with baby #5. Crazy, I know. I don't know how she does it and still works full time. The worst part is that her house is cleaner than mine and I only have one kid. We went and got our hair done while I was there. We went to Jade's stylist because I knew that if Jade trusted her I would have no problems. Jade is REALLY picky about her hair but we convinced her to cut about 10 inches off. It was down to the crack of her butt so even with 10 inches off, it was still below her bra. It looked incredible. Very Fergalicious.

I got to see my brother and my sister as well. My brother is doing fine and nothing has really changed with him but my sister is moving to Texas at the end of this month. She will be renting a lovely house and I hope that she finds a wonderful circle of friends down there. Having fantastic friends is the only thing that kept me sane when I moved so far away from home.

Visiting my dad, aunt and uncle was a lot of fun and for the first time, Devon, my dad and I had family portraits taken. We haven't gotten them back yet but as soon as I can, I will post them for your enjoyment.

My mom had a big BBQ while I was there and almost all of my step-brothers and sisters attended. The one that didn't show up is the one that no one wants to be around because she is a liar and a thief. Oh, and she wasn't invited.

It was really wonderful to see everyone and their masses of kids. One of my step-brothers has 14 kids. You would think that he is Catholic, but he isn't. It is a Yours, Mine & Ours situation but they seem to have blended their families fantastically.

I made sure to go to my Weight Watchers meetings while on vacation. The first week I lost 3.8 pounds but the next week I gained 2.6 pounds. I am sure that it had something to do with the BBQ pork ribs that I ate while visiting my brother. Yeah, that's right. Cause I wasn't bad at ANY other time.... heh heh.

The good news is that I weighed in last night and about fell off the scale. I lost a whopping 6.8 pounds in one week. That is my second largest loss in the 10 weeks that I have been on the program. I am down 21.2 pounds total. I am almost to my first 10% goal which is a loss of 28 pounds. I want to lose a total of approximately 140 pounds so I am already 1/6 on the way to my total goal.

My clothes still fit fine. They actually fit now rather than being a bit tight. I was starting to grow out of the clothing that I was wearing but refused to buy a larger size. Now, they are starting to get a smidge loose even. Not that I am minding in the least bit.

I did miss everyone while I was gone but am still having a hard time getting to the blogs and commenting. Life seem so busy right now. But I still think of everyone and do check in every so often.

Love you all!!!!

Goin' Down In A Blaze Of Glory

Devon & I leaving tomorrow for Seattle to visit my family for 2 weeks. I am really looking forward to it and generally, visiting my family is nice and relaxing.

Just in case my plane crashes and I don't return, I just wanted to tell you all.

I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Really!!

I will be on a writing hiatus while I am gone. I may have some guest posts, but other than that, I am going to rest, relax and have fun with my family.

Shhhh...don't tell Devon but I am pretty sure that I am going to take him to Wild Waves with my friend Jade and her kids or maybe with my brother-in-law and his kids. We shall see.

I hope that when I return that my blogger block will be gone and that I can return in full force.
Have a fantastic couple of weeks and I will write to you soon.

Beauty and Weight Loss

I had two great things happen yesterday. Both of them made me feel like a million bucks, so at the end of the day, I was a 2 million dollar woman.

After work yesterday I went to my WW meeting and am down another 3.6 pounds for a total of 13.7 in 6 weeks. I LOVE it!!! I don't feel deprived and am finding awesome and very easy ways to eat things that I enjoy but modify it so that it is much healthier.

I found a fantastic webside www.hungrygirl.com that gives really good alternatives to your favorite high fat, high calorie foods. I made their chicken strips and they were awesome. Almost as good as the deep fried ones. These were dipped in egg beaters, rolled in ground up Fiber One cereal and baked in the oven. It reduced the calories from about 1100 to 200. Devon gave them a 7 out of 10.

Last night I went to karaoke and was sitting at a table with the normal peeps drinking individual pitchers of water and having a lot of fun. I got up and sang All That Jazz by Catherine Zeta-Jones and noticed that there was a really good looking guy TOTALLY checking me out.

At first I thought it was a fluke but every time I looked his way, he would catch my eye and smile at me. This hasn't happened in a very long time if you remove the dirty old leering men from the mix.

I was reduced to junior high behavior with my friends Jen & Poppy. I turned to Jen and told her that I thought that the guy was checking me out. She confirmed my suspicions.

For the rest of the night, we exchanged smiles and looks. When I got up to sing, he would turn his chair around to watch me and was effusive in his applause when I was done.

Around midnight he and his friends got up from their table and he came over and asked me what my name was. I introduced myself and he told me that his name was Jed. He had light brownish blonde hair with blue eyes. He stood about 6 feet tall and had a nice, athletic build.

Jed: " I just wanted to come over and say hello and tell you how beautiful you are."

(Me??? Beautiful???? ***SWOON***)

Me: " Really? Wow! Thank you! That was very nice" (as you can see, I was VERY well spoken LOL)

Jed: "Well my friends are leaving and it was nice to meet you" and he starts to walk away

Me: "Wait, do you have a phone number?"

Jed: "I am not looking right now, I just went through a divorce. I just wanted to tell that you are beautiful."

We said our goodbyes and after he left I was mentally kicking myself for not giving him my number and telling him to call me when he was ready to start looking.

I went home with a syrupy smile on my face and am still walking around here with a two million dollar smile on my face.

Hump Day Hottie

Guest post number three. Yeah I get to do another HDH. This week is easy, it is me. I nominate myself. Okay, fantasy over. The real HDH.

This is another male because Rachel would hurt me if went with another women. Sorry guys.
This weeks HDH has an interesting past.

His childhood was a tough one. At the age of 8 his father died of a brain tumor and he attempted suicide several times and suffered from depression. At the age of 9 he was a victim of molestation. This goes to show that even with a rough start things can turn around drastically.

One of his early roles was as a Taxi driver in the Coneheads movie. He has been in over 25 movies since the 90’s. He has also produced 7 different movies, TV shows or musicals. This along with about 75 other cinematic endeavors makes up most of his public persona.

His favorite trademark is his Buddy Holly Sun Glasses. They are now used as a prop since he has undergone Lasik surgery. That is cheating. Don’t wear them just to be sexy. That is my shtick.

He was born at 7pm on May 23-1958 in the Midwest and is one of 3 boys. At one point in his life he was a member of the US Marine Corps for six years and even competed in the WWF 30-man royal rumble on January 21, 2001.

He has been roasted at the New York Friars club and attended Kent State. He even received an honorary PhD from Cleveland State in 2000.

He received a star on the Hollywood walk of Fame and bought his childhood home with the paycheck from one of the shows he was a cast member of. He even has his name mentioned in a song by Bowl of Soup. Never heard of them but now I am hungry, thanks. This HDH was even portrayed as a member of the Sim, House Party in 2001.

He is a sports fan and even made an appearance on The Best Damn Sports Show Ever. In addition to this he is an avid video gamer. He has at least 30 computers, 6 PS2’s, 4XBOX’s, and several other game consoles. I want to go to his house for a gaming weekend. Who is with me?

During the run of the Show that he is most remembered for was coming back from a break from filming he showed up with his hair dyed blond and his nipples pierced the production company was a little worried but they worked most of it into a plot line for the show.

He has not had much public exposure lately, (not the indecent kind) but it has just been announced that he is the new host of The Price Is Right.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ Drew Carey

Emotional Eating

I got into a huge argument with my son last night that lasted about 30 minutes or so. There was yelling, crying and hurtful things said on both our parts. I never thought that parenting would be so hard. I am so scared what his teen years are going to be like.

He is only 9 right now, but MAN can he push and push and push. He is so disrespectful towards me and I let him know in no uncertain terms that this behavior is going to stop and it will stop now or he can go live with his dad.

Before anyone says anything, I KNOW that I am the adult and that I should behave in the manner that I expect my son to behave. I felt horrible for the way that I behaved and I apologized profusely to him and he did the same to me.

Anyway ~ after this emotional rollercoaster, we both sat down with a bowl of ice cream (I did measure mine and apply the points) and talked calmly for the first time that night.

I was pleased that we were able to have a real discussion but was really upset with myself for eating emotionally and that in a way I am showing my child how to eat emotionally as well.

I am still pretty emotionally fragile about the entire episode and am wallowing in guilt.


On a good note, I have been on Weight Watchers since June 13th and have lost a total of 10.1 pounds.

Sense Of Community

***Due to my current issues with blogger block, my friend Anne sent me this post that she wrote. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did***** ~ Rachel

Last Friday was the funeral for Officer Bob Kozminski. He was a young police officer killed in the line of duty Sunday morning in Grand Rapids . I couldn’t help but notice all week long there has been coverage of this young man’s life and tragic death. Last Friday there was definitely an out pouring of community support. Officer Kozminski left behind a 3 year old daughter.

The local Family Fare (grocery store) is taking donations, their church is taking donations and helping with food & music, several local BW3s donated 20% of Friday's profits. A Faith Hill & Tim McGraw after party concert turned benefit. Tim McGraw donated $5000 as well. It is heartwarming to see such an outpouring of good will to one family in a time of deep sorrow, loss, and need.

But it got me thinking. Would the same help be extended to my family if I was killed or died suddenly or tragically? Would funds be gathered to help my widow support my two children? Would the community at large even notice? (I know my close friends, family, and co-workers would)

It seems that, as a whole, we have lost our sense of community. Those of us destined to be ordinary, regular, everyday folk do not receive the same attention as the elite few. It used to be that if your neighbor, or a member of your church, or immediate community fell on hard times the community at large pitched in to help out. The only place this seems to happen anymore are communities like the Amish or Mennonite, and those select few who belong to the elite club.

Where’s your sense of community? How do we become good neighbors and good stewards of faith to those in need? We certainly seem to have lost something that was good.

Hump Day Hottie

This is an actor who graduated from Redwood High in Larkspur, CA. In his senior year elections he was voted, "Least Likely to succeed." He then went on to briefly study political science then he went to Juilliard for theater.

He was born on July 21st 1951 in Chicago IL and was an over weight child. Many of his voices now have roots in his childhood.

He has 3 children from 2 wives.

Other famous people from his high school are Erin Gray(Silver Spoons) and Gabrielle Carteris (Beverly Hills 90210).

He is following in the footsteps of his idol Jonathan Winters.

His mind is always running at warp speed. Infact he was supposed to be on Star Trek but had to cancel because of scheduling conflicts.

He has appeared in comedies, dramas, on T.V. and in animated features. An interesting fact about this person is that in a comedy he is clean shaven and in a drama he usually sports a beard.

His career changed when his instructor at Juilliard told him he was wasting his talent and to try stand up. His first T.V. exposure was on Happy Days and he got the part when the director (Garry Marshall) told him to sit down and he sat on his head.

He counts Whoopi Goldberg and Christopher Reeves as two of his friends. In fact he visited Reeves in the Hospital dressed in scrubs, with a clip board and using a Russian Accent. Reeves stated this was the first time since the accident that he had laughed. Near the end of Reeves life he even helped out with the bills and dedicated his Cecil B. Demille award to him.

He, along with Bette Midler, were guests on the final episode of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

He has Welsh and Scottish heritage and early on in his career stated he was from Scotland when he was asked. This fact does appear in some of his early writeups.

He has been in over 100 films, T.V. shows, shorts, animated features and sound tracks.

This actor and this weeks HDH was choosen because of his recent bought with Alcohol and rehab.

He was sober for 20 years and started drinking again. On August 9th 2006 he entered rehab. In my opinion it takes a lot to get clean again and admit it publicly. On difference in how he is dealing with it and how other Hollywood types do is he is not using it to further a career but to bring awareness to this disease.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ Robin Williams

Too Much Of A Good Thing

America has always been known for it's independent spirit. We are going to do it our way and no one is going to tell us otherwise.

In many ways this is a fantastic part of our society. We are always striving to improve and are willing to take risks to be successful in one part of our life or another. The individual business owner, the person who changes job fields to do something that they love rather than just have a job, the person who chooses to live a clutter free life and not to bow down to the current standards of society, but do their own thing instead.

Unfortunately, this independent spirit also has drawbacks. Rarely do we as a nation come to a consesus about anything, whether it be the best type of medical care, cell phone systems or vehicle regulations. This causes us to be woefully behind the rest of the industrialized worlds when it comes to things like technology, the reduction of pollutants in the air and universal health care along with a myriad of other issues.

At what point do we celebrate our independence but also temper that independence with common sense smarts that allow us to get the best of both worlds?