hi there.

yes, it's been forever. but i'm just going to ignore that and jump right into the rambling, mmkay?

so many unrelated things to talk about. i think this calls for a list!

• holy shnikes, that was an exciting superbowl. i was rooting for the giants (sorry to my lovely friends in new england....the truth is that i didn't want tom brady to win because then he'd be a serious contender for best qb ever in the history of qbs, and well. that honor can never ever be taken away from joe montana or my heart might just break right in two.) so anyway, i was with the underdogs, and it just wasn't looking good. but that might have been one of the best 4th quarters since the niners were in their heyday. so hooray for that fun sunday afternoon.

• american idol is back on and i'm a happy happy girl. i will be more happy when the endless auditions stop and we get down to the fun part. i really can't stand watching the bad singers. i feel so embarrassed for them that i have an actual physical reaction and have to hide my face. what i want to see is the kind of performances that give you goosebumps because they're so good, not people humiliating themselves. oh, and also? is it just me or does simon cowell love him some brown sugar? which is my awkward and dorky way of saying: nothing lights up his face like a black woman walking into the room. it's amazing, really. he's kinder to them, he is more forgiving of their performances, and he flirts with them almost exclusively. which, i mean, more power to him. there are some fine lookin' black women out there. but i just find it funny that he's so predictable. it's gotten to the point where i'm able to tell before the woman opens her mouth if he's going to like her.

• while we're discussing ridiculous and worthless television entertainment, how happy am i that they're doing a mid-season big brother??? very, that's how. very very. i foresee some possible conflicts with my two obsessions being on at the same time, but i with the help of some determination, careful planning, and dual tivos, i should be ok.

• the writer's strike is pissing me off because i think some of my favorite new shows are going to be casualties. journeyman was so friggin' good, you guys. and i don't think its coming back. carpoolers started out really dumb and then grew on me with its dumbness. marmaduke might be one of the best television characters since...i don't even know. since the last really good one, which was apparently so long ago i've forgotten who it was. if you can get past the feeling that you're watching an incredibly dumb show and start to embrace the stupid humor, you'll totally find yourself giggling through the entire thing, i promise. of course, i have a sinking feeling it won't make it past the strike. sadness.

• i could write a lot more about tv, but i'll try to stop now. the good thing is that my new job deals a lot with television (and music and movies, and um...cell phone stuff), so i get to talk about it a lot all day. and i get inside scoops! and i get preview dvds of stuff before it's on the air! it is a very fun place to be.

• which brings me to: my new job. it is beyond amazing, people. sure, it's only been like 6 weeks, but at my last job i was already miserable at 6 weeks. so i think this is promising. i love being back at this company, it feels like home. and this new team is just the best. love it so so so so much. yay for loving my job again! it's been way too long.

• there are reasons i love my new job that i think have nothing to do with the job itself, and more to do with some attitude changes within me. that probably deserves a whole separate entry, so i'll leave it at that.

• the baby thing is on temporary hold while i work on some health issues. i need to have surgery to remove the stubbornly non-healing abscess from like 6 months ago. and on top of that, i recently found out that my cholesterol and blood pressure are both through the roof. so i've been back at the gym, and working on nutrition stuff. and will continue to do so for about 6 more months or so. then i think we're moving on to ivf.

• in support of the nutrition stuff, we're looking into hiring a chef to cook for us. i know, it's ridiculous. truly. we're not rich, you guys. but we do eat out almost every night, and i am bordering on walking heart attack. so we're going to take the money we spend on eating out, add a small amount, and hire someone to just cook us healthy and delicious foods made to our tastes. it's the only way i can think of that i haven't tried yet to get my diet on track. it's actually pretty exciting. we talked to the guy we are looking at and he is so friendly and knowledgeable and specialized in healthy, low-fat foods. and he can make us almost anything we ask for. of course, if he made us just what we asked for, we wouldn't be making any changes to our diet. so we're letting him guide us for a while. it was just a great moment when the husband was thinking about what he liked to eat and said hey can you make chicken etouffee? and the guy was like i can make whatever you want, that's the great part of having a personal chef. and we were both like holy crap this could be fun. to be clear, he wouldn't like, live with us and cook for us whenever we're hungry. that's just beyond insane. he'll just cook stuff for us and drop it off all labeled and packaged with reheating instructions, every week or so. i'm really hoping it helps. i'm at a loss with the food stuff. i suck at food choices and we're just both so tired when we come home from work, and cooking and cleaning up would pretty much mean we come home from work, cook, eat, clean and go to bed. no time for gym, no time for laundry or chores or errands, let alone any leisure time like all that tv watching. ahem. so yeah. fingers crossed that a) this truly helps and b) we can continue to afford it.

  
  

• i have begun seeing an acupuncturist/herbalist. so far i've only seen her twice, but i am excited. she's working with me to get things on track with being all ready and healthy for a baby. it's pretty much the last area left unexplored in my quest to have a healthy pregnancy. so i'm glad i'm giving it a shot, and she is supersmart and supportive. so yay for that.

• so check out this schedule of in-lawey goodness: my mother in-law is coming to visit from 2/15 - 2/24. my sister in law is coming to visit from 3/4 - 3/7. my father in law is coming to visit from 3/7 - 3/10. that's almost like a sold month of in laws. sweeeet!

• ok, this is possible the longest blog entry i've ever written, so i'll be going now. serves me right for waiting an eternity to update. hope you're not dead from word overdose.