I'm tired of poets and news from around the world

Sorry I can't do any more poets. I love poetry, but apparently the rest of the world doesn't because no one is reading my blog this week. But I have no idea what to write because my mind has been overworked as of late. So here's what's happening around the country...

• The U.S. government is cracking down on female teachers that have sex with students. Last year 800 school employees were prosecuted for sexual assault,almost 1/3 being women. Um...sounds like the government may want to crack down on ALL  school employees who abuse teenagers, not just the women.
• Oh look, another black man Freddie Gray, has died after being in the custody
  
  of police (don't quote me on this, but from the pictures, they all looked white). He ran from the police when they made eye contact with him, they arrested him, and sometime between the time they put him in the transport van and arriving at the hospital he had a serious spinal injury that killed him 7 days later. The officers have no idea what happened, but apparently he requested medical attention a few times during the ride before finally being taken to the hospital. File that one under WTF.
• Having a Baby Ruined My Bikini body. So a woman is bitching about stretch marks after having 3 kids. Join the Just-About-Every-Mom-In-The-World-Club. Why is this news? Moving on...
• As it turns out, there isn't just one way to be obese, but 6, according to
  
  
  research done by the University of Sheffield. You can go check them out, but apparently, this revelation of 6 ways to be obese will help fight obesity as they each need to be treated differently. Let me know how that goes. I need to drop some pounds.
• Some asshole cut down a tree that was planted as a memorial to Michael
  
  Brown. The tree was chopped down at the trunk and a plaque placed at the bottom was stolen. #qualitypeople
• OMG Jessa Duggar is pregnant!! What a shock. Maybe she'll take after her parents and have 35 kids.
• And Gwyneth Paltrow has filed divorce from Chris Martin. Seriously? I didn't realize they were still married after the "Conscious Uncoupling." I mean shit,
  
  they've been dating other people and all that crap, so who cares?

41 redux

This week I'm blogging about goals I'd like to meet during my 41st year on earth. (or is that really my 42nd, I was never really good with the maths). Yesterday was making and keeping connections alive, today it's my health.

At 41 I am in pretty good shape. Pretty. Good. Shape. I have my faults. I'm a little soft right now, and I hate it. I look much better when there is some kind of form to my muscles and my stomach doesn't look like I swallowed a watermelon.

I like food. I can't help it. I like to eat. I don't like to be hungry. This means I HAVE to exercise, which, um, I've kind of been slacking on as of late. So that's part of it, so start exercising again religiously, which to me is five days a week.

I also do not drink enough water. I try. EPIC FAIL. This was my goal over the last month and I think I may have actually drank LESS water than the previous month. My goal is to keep a big cup of ice water right next to my computer so when I'm writing, it will be there saying, "Drink me."

I also need to include more veggies in my diet. I'm not a big fan. I like my fruits, but veggies are another thing altogether. It will be different when the garden is bustling with peas, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, and radishes. There is nothing like home grown veggies, but right now it's difficult.

And, er, don't even get me started on red wine. Bacchus has a cruel sense of humor.

So, there's goal #2.

Thanks for reading.

Kisses

:*

Megan

Disneyland

I just got back. It's the reason I couldn't blog last week. Five fun filled days at Disneyland and California Adventure. But while my family had a blast, there are definitely irritations, annoyances, and other distractions.

Things I saw too much of in Disneyland:

Lines. Some people waited up to two hours (that was the posted wait, I'm sure in reality it was longer) Thank god for the fast pass. Never go to Disney without one. With a fast pass you get a time to come back and you get in a special line and zip right through with hardly any wait at all. The longest we waited was about thirty minutes.

Screaming spoiled kids. Seriously parents, teach your kids a lesson, don't buy them the Goofy ears, or the ice cream cone, or let them ride the tea cups if they're throwing a fit. Take their ass outside the park until they calm down. That's what the hand stamps are for. Well, not specifically I guess, but it's a good way to use them. By the end of the trip I had vowed to become a hermit if only to stay away from the chance I might hear another screaming child.

Any chance to make a buck. They're around every corner. T-shirts, mouse ears, hats, gloves, stuffed animals, games, slushies, ice cream, cotton candy, balloons, lighted necklaces, pins, lanyards, it's endless. Commercialization hath vomited throughout the Land of Disney. Don't get me wrong, I totally bought into it, a little. We actually tried to be frugal, but it's nearly impossible when your spending $5 on an ice cream cone, and $50 on a sweatshirt.

Rude people. Cutting, standing in front of you, walking into you, letting their children do the same. I cannot stand rude people.

Bad food choices. The best the park offered was salads. Salads with an over abundance of cheese and fatty dressings. Salads that were double the size anyone really needs to eat. Other than that it was the usual choices, burgers, fries, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, etc. We were going to have a sit down dinner in the Blue Bayou, which is a restaurant that overlooks the Pirates of the Caribbean, but after seeing that each meal was $30 (which if course didn't include beverages, or tip, or tax) we canceled. Like we weren't spending enough money.

Fat people driving motorized carts. Okay, you may think me rude, but this sight bothers me. You're so fat you can't walk, yet, you don't walk so you're fat. AND these people get preferential treatment on rides as if they're in a wheel chair or had some other kind of disability. I saw a woman coming into a ride, she probably weighed about 350 pounds, and was riding a cart, using the wheel chair access, and ten minutes later she was walking behind the cart while one of her kids drove it. Um, if you can actually walk, get your ass to the end of the line.

Okay, it sounds like I'm bitching, but we really did have a good time. Tomorrow I'll give you some tips on how to get the most out of the parks.

Kisses

:*

Megan

Obesity and other lovely things

I've really struggled with blogging this week, so once again I asked my kids for help and Thing One is reading a book about anorexia so she wanted me to write about why children are overweight.

But I'm not only going to write about obesity but also other food related issues.

The teens scare me. They are so obsessed with their weight. I try to be a good example for my girls, but I know I fail in some areas. I eat well, I exercise, but I like to drink wine. Now, I know what it takes to lose weight. I should cut down on the alcohol. I should exercise more than I do. And I should really lay off the Doritos. It is truly a lifestyle change. And though I'm not happy with my weight at the moment, a few years ago I weighed 170. Yep. I'll NEVER go there again.

What I get tired of are the people who constantly complain about their weight but don't do anything about it. They don't want to change their lifestyle, they want the quick fix. The fad diets, the South Beach, the Atkins, etc. Yes, you can lose weight. Yes, you will probably gain it back. You have to make real changes to make it stick. I've pretty much cut out most fat, sodium, I try to cut cholesterol, but I love chicken. I rarely eat "real" cheese, I get the fat free kind. I rarely eat sweets. I keep threatening to eat a bowl of ice-cream, but never do. I think the last time I did was probably about ten years ago.

But back to my kids. Thing One is tiny. I've worried she doesn't eat enough, but then I realized, she just eats well. We don't really keep cookies and chips in the house, but there are a few temptations here and there. But when she wants a snack, she usually grabs something of the fruit variety. Strawberries, a banana, her favorite is watermelon, so I try and keep that in the house when I can afford it.

Thing Two isn't fat though she fears she is. She however will make bad food choices. Cheese and crackers, ice cream. So, I have to guide her to the stuff that's better for her. I tell her she can take chips and things in her lunch (I buy 100 calorie bags) but after school and at night fruit or popcorn are the only choices she gets, with the occasional bowl of ice cream, I mean, you have to live a little, right?

The other thing about my girls, is they're active. Right now both are playing indoor soccer, and Thing Two is playing basketball both in school and out of school. In April they will both be playing indoor soccer and soccer for the school, and after that outdoor soccer season begins. So I don't worry about them getting enough exercise. And I don't let them watch TV. The only time we watch TV is at night as a family. We don't even have cable so they can't glue themselves to the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. But so many kids these days are idle. Television, video games, computers.

And the parents don't give them healthy food choices. They keep sugary cereals, cookies, chips, soda in the house. And so many people are busy and tired they resort to fast food. I get the reasons why, but there are quick, healthy meals you can make too. We haven't eaten fast food outside of Subway for at least five years. I try and cook every night. And people wonder why American children are obese. Can you say supersize me?

Well I think I've ranted enough on the subject. What are your thoughts?