Book Club- Sept 2008

Last night was Sept Book Club. We once again had a great time. The book we read was :

'Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest To Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, Or Why Pie is Not The Answer' By Jen Lancaster.

From Barnes & Noble:

Jen Lancaster wants to debunk the idea that the road to happiness is paved with skinny jeans and perky self-esteem. The way she sees it, fat isn't an ego crisis; it's a health issue. This hilarious, outrageously candid memoir describes her ongoing battles with savory desserts, "skinny bitches," and weird weight loss gurus.

From the Publisher

Personal Training, Session One: I'm standing at the front desk, waiting for the mythical "Barbie" to appear. While I was sucking down water and aspirin earlier today, trying to shed my hangover, I started thinking about how judgmental I can be. I mean, why should I have instantly freaked out when I heard someone named Barbie was going to be my trainer? Sure, the name brings up images of gorgeous girls with long blonde hair, shiny white teeth, deep tans, and impossible-to-achieve, completely enviable figures, but maybe this Barbie is different.

Maybe Trainer Barbie is a dark, homely girl with an overbite and she took up fitness to feel better about her hump and her skin condition. Yes, that's it. Barbie is all hideous and disfigured and she will have a heart of gold and because of this, she'll be devoted to nothing but making me lose weight...

I stand by the magazine rack and I'm about to pull out this week's In Touch when I hear my name being called. I turn around and look for my gargoyle of a trainer.

But I don't see any monsters.

All I see is a gorgeous girl with long blonde hair, shiny white teeth, a deep tan, and an impossible-to- achieve, completely enviable figure standing there. "Hey, are you Jen?" she asks. "I'm Barbie!"

Of course you are.

From Dawn:

I really enjoyed reading this book. Very funny, and real. I would highly recommend it.

18 Weeks

Can you believe it? 18 weeks along. We have our ultrasound appt next Wed the 3rd....Hopefully our child will cooporate and let us find out if we are having a little boy or little girl. Just a few more days. We are getting very excited. I am feeling alot better than I was the first 14weeks. I can actually stay awake past 8pm most nights. I am eating more and more every day. I am hungry about every 2- 3 hours. I generally only get about 6hrs of solid sleep before my body wakes me up at night to go to the bathroom. My bladder is just not as big any more. No matter what time I go to bed- 6hrs later I am up and in the bathroom to go pee. It's like clockwork. Then it's not so easy to go back to sleep. Oh well- it is what it is. My belly is getting bigger(and so are my boobies) You always hear that they grow- well they are. At least my belly is out a little bit farther than my boobies- It looks a little bit more natural. I got via Fed-ex my first pairs of Maternity jeans this week. I love them. Thank goodness for The Gap. They are the only place that I was able to find jeans that fit my hips, thighs and waist. They did not have Tall sizes in the store- so I had to order them online. I got them on Monday...Oh they fit so great. No pressure on my growing belly. So comfortable. I love Maternity clothes.

Last night I went to my first Book Club get together. There were 7 of us women that met a one of the members house. This month we read 'Eat, Pray, Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert. I really enjoyed it. It is not something I would have read with out the book club. I'm glad I did read it and expand my reading horizons. Looking forward to next months book.

Here is what the Jacket Flap reads:

By the time she turned thirty, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern, educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want— a husband, a house in the country, a successful career. But in-stead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love and the complete eradication of every-thing she ever thought she was supposed to be.

To recover from all of this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, left her loved ones behind and undertook a year-long journey around the world, all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Gilbert's aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature, set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Italy, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, where, with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise Texan, she embarked on four months of austere spiritual exploration. Finally, in Indonesia, she sought her ultimate goal: balance-namely, how to somehow build a life of equilibrium between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. Looking for these answers on the island of Bali, she became the pupil of an elderly, ninth-generation medicine man and also fell in love in the very best way—unexpectedly.

An intensely articulate, sensible, moving and funny memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment It is also about the adventures that can transpire when a woman stops trying to live in imitation of society's ideals This is a story certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.

Wednesday Ramblings 5.21.08

**Camera is still not back – So I still do not have my camera back from Nikon yet. According to their web site it is ‘in shop’ being worked on. I wish they would hurry up and fix it already. I miss it. Don’t they know I have a positive pregnancy test at home that needs a picture take of it so I can throw it away? How do they not know these things. LOL. Anyways – hopefully I will get it back soon. Oh and I need to take picture of my Lilacs that are blooming.

**Twilight was a good book. Thanks Syd for letting me know you liked it. It’s easier to read a book that you know someone else likes. It was a good. And Edward is….soo…..I can’t describe it – romantic, old fashioned, handsome (at least in my brain he is). I recommend this book to any one. Can’t wait to read the next ones in the series. Waiting for Barnes and Nobles to get them in paper back so I can.

**Actually feel ok- except after 5pm. So far I am feeling better than last week. Last week was filled with a lot of nausea. Now after about 5pm I am just tired, bloated, cranky and emotional. (Yes mama – get used to laughing at me and my phone conversations. There will be more.) For some unknown reason after about 5pm I am really emotional, like I could cry about anything, and I am cranky – I want it all my way. OH wait it must be the hormones….Good luck Tim - you are stuck with me and the hormones for 8 more months. HEHE. I look forward to crawling into bed at 9pm or sooner every night.

**Quit smoking. Yes I did it- for the baby and for me, please don’t make a big deal out of it. Next topic….

**Smells that I now do not like…..2nd hand smoke, chewing tobacco and hotdogs. I had to walk away from all of these smells at the softball field this past Sunday and Monday. Let me tell you – I could not get far enough away from them.

**Pregnancy Brain- Yup add this to my list of ‘Gifts’ I will be doing something and will completely space off, worse than daydreaming, because I space off and I think of nothing. Then I forget what it was that I was doing and have to refocus. Scared if this will get worse as the months go along. We will have to wait and see.

Reading is good for you ........

I finished DR. Laura's book 'Stop Whining, Start Living' (Very good by the way ), and I needed a new one to read. So at lunch I go over to Barnes and Noble. They are having a huge sale, so I got 3 books for under $25(including tax) Lucky me !!! :)
Syd - the 1st one is because you said I should read it. So I will- I'm actually looking forward to reading it. They just filmed the movie in Portland, OR and the radio station I always listen to was talking about it - Sounded good even before it was recommended to me. Even better the my sisser liked it.

This one is because I love DR Laura. It is always good to better yourself, and her books give you a new outlook on things and how to deal with them. Can't hurt to read it - huh? Worst thing that might happen is I will have a better outlook and understading of my life- not so bad? I don't think so.

This one just looked good. I really enjoy books by David Baldacci - and it was less than $6, had to get it.

Well - Off to read for a while.........

Wednesday Ramblings.......

No particular order or meaning– just thoughts / ramblings

**I am lost without my digital camera. Where is it you ask? I had to send it back to Nikon to get fixed. The door that you place the battery and the memory card in, would not stay shut, and the silver cover on one of the sides was coming loose. So I packaged it up and UPS’d it to CA. They should receive it on Thurs and hopefully they can fix it quick and get it back to me. I may not take pictures every day- but when I had my camera, I could if I wanted to.

**Bowling is done!!! Whoo Hoo -Well until late August / September atleast. Tim is done on Tuesday nights now. He gets a break for a few months. Wednesday nights were done last week. 33 weeks is a long time- but we do enjoy it.

**Softball has officially started. His games are Sunday afternoon/evening 1 game, and Monday and Tuesday nights at 6pm – 2 games each night. Softball is fun, because we are out side. They do cancel games because of rain- but usually it is nice enough to get the games in before dark. Everyone asks if I play – "UM NO, I am not athletic" is usually my response. I let Tim do that stuff- I just sit and watch him play.

**I am reading a very good book. 'Stop Whining, Start Living' by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. She gives you a new perspective on your attitude and that you have the power to choose what you want to do with it. I recommend it - highly. I love Dr Laura. She has some very good ideas and beliefs. You must take her with a grain of salt though- she is opinionated, then again it is her opinion people call her radio show for. But all in all she has a good philosophies on Life, relationships, Family, Marriage. She always says "Now go do the right thing" !

**I really enjoy books by Debbie Macomber. I just got her Newsletter and guess what......she has a new book coming out in May called 'Twenty Wishes'. It's a Blossom Street book. And another one in September '8 Sandpiper Way', Book 8 in the Cedar Cove series. If you have read either series, you will understand that the addition to the Blossom Street books and the Cedar Cove series are going to be great. Can't wait.

Well I think that is all for today.......More soon.