LOST and other shows that jumped the shark with the finale....

Do any of you out there watch LOST? Have you watched it from the beginning or were you like me and my husband who joined the phenomenon late? We started watching/obsessing over this show in between seasons 4 and 5. At which point we watched all 4 seasons within a 2 month period to get "caught up" before season 5 started. We started on a vacation day and were hooked by the first episode. It was exciting to have something that we mutually enjoyed watching on TV. I mean not since Melrose Place has my husband even pretended to be interested in ANYTHING I watch on TV. Well, there are exceptions...Dexter, Entourage, How I Met your Mother, and....well, that's about it. Small compared to the number of shows scheduled to record on my DVR every week...yes, I am a lazy ass who loves to watch TV...Anyway, we were so excited to put the kids to bed, run to the bedroom and start on a new episode! Even the last two seasons when we had to wait with the rest of the LOST watching world for the new episode, we looked forward to Tuesday nights.

However, somewhere between seasons 4 and 5, I started to get really frustrated that every week I left with more questions than answers. And became excessivly pissed when the writers wasted valuable time on "filler" epidsodes giving background and useless facts on characters that had NOTHING to do with the plot.  I stuck with it. I knew there was only one more season and I was PROMISED answers....so I watched....and I watched....and I watched...18 times this season! 18 hours of my life I am NEVER going to get back...And by the time the last NEW episode before the series finale, I knew I was going to take it up the ass and never know if any of it was real or fantasy. And sure enough, the writers did not disappoint me.

The finale BLEW! But, I am okay...I don't really need to know how Jack dying on the island brought everyone together in "heaven"...I don't really need to know if the time on the island was real...why the "others" took all the children...why John Locke could walk on the island or why in the hell Jack had a child in the sideways universe that never exisited...no...I don't NEED to know those things.

However, not since I read IT by Stephen King have I been so disappointed that a 1400 page book or 6 year series be so incredible up until the last 50 pages, 5 episodes and then FUCK it all up?! I mean really? really? REALLY???? The creepy scary clown that kept me up at night turns out to be a ridiculous giant spider with one eye? And the Island is actually purgatory, which was rebuffed by the writers from the start? Great book...great show...why couldn't they close the deal...follow it through to the end? They are incredible minds...gifted storytellers...why couldn't they close the deal??? I was there...I watched...I cared...

I'm just saying....like Seinfeld and Sopranos...the LOST series finale did not leave me wanting more....it left me wondering WTF made these incredibly talented writers bail at the most crucial moment?

What do you think?

Happy Mother's Day!

Mothers Day comes with mixed emotions for me. On one hand, I am sad...my mother died 5 years ago and I still miss her. To this day, anytime I walk by a display of Mothers Day cards I feel my chest tighten and my eyes water.

On the other hand, the positive happy hand, I realize of all the things in my life, I love being a mother the most! I have two of the most incredible children a woman could ask for. They are naughty, and smart, and beautiful, and sometimes drive me to need a cocktail, but at the end of the day, I am BLESSED beyond belief! They honestly make me a better person.  No matter what kind of day I have had, I can always count on them for hugs, kisses, laughter and love. That kind of unconditional love is addicting. And even though I feel less than perfect at times, I know in my heart of hearts I am an incredible mother...and my own mother would be proud of me.

Thank you God and Mother Nature for this gift. I won't let you down. I am raising happy and crazy, well adjusted children. Happy Mothers Day to you and all of my blog reading/writing incredibe mothers!

I hope it is a great day for all Mothers out there! Mine started with coffee and kisses in bed...it is off to a great start!

Something happened on the way to awesome....

As the first half of this year quickly winds down, I am checking in with you all on my progress towards my 40 before I am 40 goal. I started out strong and then sort of got derailed on my way to awesome. I was working really hard and seeing results, and then BAM…nothing was happening even though I was still trying really hard. I am pretty in tune with my body and I knew something was definitely wrong!

I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason and there are people in this world we are destined to meet. Our spouses, our children, our closest friends, and yes even sales clerks at the Aveda store in Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall. While talking to this girl about my recent frustrating and even more embarrassing hair loss, she and I discovered we had the same issue. Hypothyroidism or an underactive thyroid….She asked me how my doctor was treating my condition and suggested I go see a Naturopath; a doctor that specializes in homeopathic medicine. These amazing people hunt down the root cause of what makes you feel like crap and treat that instead of the symptoms! What a concept! Encouraging your body to heal itself naturally instead of prescribing medications that have such horrible side effects that don’t ever make you better!

I truly believe in this…so I went…I filled out the 20 page very personal questionnaire…I mean how does knowing how many times I masturbate each week matter to a naturopath???  MY doctor never asked me that…it was a rectal exam on paper. But, I wanted…no needed to be honest in order to heal myself so I completed this 20 page interview…and two 2 hour apts, and $500 later I find out that not only did my doctor not treat my thyroid issue correctly, he scared the living crap out of me about my cholesterol…which come to find out is only a little high but can totally be treated with diet and exercise. Oh and missed a serious Vitamin D deficiency which by the way can cause high cholesterol…What the fuck batman? I am a little more than pissed that I trusted what my doctor said, the doctor who drew my blood and spent a total of 15 minutes with me, and just took the medication prescribed, which by the way, I would have to be on for the rest of my life without ANY relief! Had I not met this girl at Aveda, I may have to had to settle for being fat, crazy, and bald! How hot is that?

So peeps…this incredible doctor not only put me on the correct dose of a natural thyroid, Fish Oil, Vitamin D, supplements that have made my skin and nails gorgeous, she talked to me…truly listened to me….learned who I was and what was troubling me, and more importantly, she gave me peace of mind that I am going to be just fine.

I tell you what, at my first appointment, she recommended a “clean eating” diet which I am now following, and within one week, my symptoms are MUCH less noticeable. I am not tired, grouchy, bloated, or foggy. Like I said, my skin and nails are glowing and happy and I have enough energy to make it through the ass kicking workout I am doing.

I’m not one for dishing out medical advice as I firmly believe that western medicine is necessary and heroic in many cases, but I am now a big advocate of alternative medicine as well!

I am back on my way to AWESOME!!!!!

Paying it Forward....

A FB friend sent me something about Paying it Forward Friday last week. Well, I missed the note until today. However, as things/coincidences tend to happen that freak me out in my universe, I actually did Pay it Forward on Saturday night without knowing about the note, or even that there was a whole day last week dedicated to Paying it Forward.

Saturday night was date night....long overdue date night for me and the hubs...we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and drinks. Well, it must have been prom because the place was packed with young kids dressed to the 9's. Some of the dresses these girls were wearing....holy crap! Did their mothers NOT see them before they left the house? And I could make a fortune teaching these couples how to make sure their outfits compliment eachother for pictures...What? a white dress with a cream tux just doesn't photograph well....Anyway...that rant is for another blog post.

So my husband and I are sitting on the patio, enjoying our adult beverages, no kids interrupting our conversation, the gorgeous evening and beautiful Arizona sunset when the cutest couple walks in. From the back, her dress looks adorable, it is deep purple and the guy looks great in his tux with matching tie...I was impressed when the boy pulled out her chair, and more surprised to see this young girl was about 8 months pregnant. Instead of feeling sad for her and what she has to look forward to as a teenage mother, I notice that she is glowing and I am proud of her for making the effort to look beautiful and attend her prom.

I'm not sure what happened to me, but something stirred. I have sisters who were teenage mothers. Neither of them finished high school, and as far as I know, neither of them ever went to prom. I wanted to do something nice for this couple. But what to do? ...buy their dinner was my first thought, but after discussing it with the waiter, that would have actually been difficult as they just sat down and we were finishing up. Talking it over with my husband, we decided that we would give my niece (a single teenage mother) more money than she expected for babysitting and buy the couple's dessert.

In order to do that, I had to purchase a gift card. I bought the card and gave it to the couple telling them I remembered my prom (hell I went to 8 of them) and to have a good time. They were shocked yet very thankful.

What my husband doesn't know, and what the couple must have discovered after they opened the gift card to buy dessert, was that the gift card more than covered dessert AND their dinner. And while I'm sure they had their own money to spend, I remember how hard I had to work for my money and how much prom cost over 20 years ago. I would have crapped my pants if someone did that for me and my date! Hell, I would crap my pants if someone did that for me now!

I don't know what stirred in me that night, but it felt good and I want more of that feeling!

I just hope they pay it foward somehow.

Time to get moving....

As some of you already know, I am the matron of honor in my nieces wedding in September. We went and ordered our dresses today. They are so beautiful, and in MY color. I am going to rock this dress!

No this image is not me. BUT, it will be! I have 4 months to get in better shape. Notice I said better. The dress already looks really great on me. I ordered it in a size that fits me now so as to not add any undue pressure or set myself up for failure. However, I don't want to just look great. I want to look jaw-dropping drop dead gorgeous in this uber sexy dress! Did I mention the wedding is in Vegas? Oh yes, even more reason to look amazing! And I made sure the dress can be altered down by one or two sizes just in case.

Now, onto the "get in shape" plan! I need someone to motivate me, to hold me accountable, which is why I wanted to hire a personal trainer back in January. However, we decided that it did not fit into our budget so I just hit the gym doing my own thing instead. And it was totally working. My arms were getting toned, my stomach was getting flatter and my legs were getting so strong and sexy. I was getting compliments from my husband, friends and co-workers and then I just got in my own way back in March and fell off the wagon...I'm such a pain in my own ass sometimes. (And yes, I know those of you reading, are nodding your head in absolute agreement!) but stop it....:)

What to do?...What to do my fellow bloggers?...I need to see results quickly, or I get discouraged. I started doing this workout by the Beachbody series called Slim in 6 and results came quickly. Like within 2 weeks!

But it wasn't enough variety, I just got bored, and sores on my knees from all the floor work (um...get your head out of the gutter)  My friend is doing the P90x series and  it is working. They are only doing the workout too, not the diet. But after looking at that workout, it just seems a bit too much for me. However, I found this  Chalene Extreme.

I love that it is a 90 day series broken into 3 different phases. And the workouts are different each day of the week so I shouldn't get bored. This is totally doable!

I am going to do the whole program including before and after measurements and photos just to see if it really worked. And, if I get up enough courage, I will post them for all to see.

I will keep you all posted throughout the next 90 days on how it goes! And Kelly, don't give up on me and the Bikram Yoga thing....I need to find the time and $$ to commit to it first.

Stay tuned!