So I'm sitting here at lunch and I decided to do a sort of "journal" type article.

My friend from work decided to give me a giant box of tangerines for Christmas. I swear, there is like 50 of them in there. They are delicious but I am eating tangerines every morning. One tangerines a morning, I should say. I am never going to eat all these. Hmmm, wonder if my cats will eat them?

Have you seen the Fred Durst video, I believe it is a cover---and he is kissing all over Halle Berry? Oh my god I want to puke. Fred Durst, in addition to having no talent whatsoever to write songs, is physically repulsive. And the kiss goes on and on I swear it makes me want to throw up when the song comes on the radio because I think about the video. Too gross.

It's been snowing here a lot lately. It hasn;t quite reached the point of cold where it stays on the ground all the time --- the sun is still melting it off in the course of the day --- but in the mornings the ice and snow you have to scrape off your car and shovel from the walkway is hardcore. I don't actually dislike snow. I even enjoy shovelling. It's good clean work. But it just gets so cold out there everything starts to become numb and then it's just no fun. Also the only type of head covering that is truly useful when the snow is pouring down is a ski mask and if you wear one of course your hair is going to get all messed up. Another reason I love to keep my hair as short as possible. (not shaved, though). All my friends, and my wife, are always like "keep your hair longer, it looks better." But I like short short hair. No muss no fuss. And no matter what they say, it looks just as good.

Found "Diet Rite" brand soda at the grocery store and I love it. It's flavored with "SPLENDA", which is supposed to be the mildest, safest sweetner. That's what I've heard, anyway. It has no sodium, no calories, and no caffeine and the flavor is closer to pepsi than to coke which is good because I prefer Pepsi. It seems... smoother. Does that make sense? Coke has an abrupt kind of flavor. And more carbonation I think. I wonder if this is all in my head, could I really tell the difference? Maybe I'll do a blind taste test.

It is horribly wrong of me that I want as little contact with the maid as possible? It's not like our house is a pig stye, she really has an easy job. Vacuum a little, dust a little. I think she is only here for 5 hours or so per week. As soon as she shows up, I leave. You know what it is is that part of me loves having a picture perfect spotless house when I come home, way better than we can do ourselves during the week, and the other part is embarrassed about having a stranger clean my mess. And yes we still clean up after ourselves during the week. It's not like "oops dropped some salsa on the floor, oh well, the maid will be here in 3 days..." I do the dishes every day, thanks.

Is Barbra Streisand insane? I saw a re-run of her interview on the Oprah show, and she clearly has some issues. On the other hand, I kind of liked that she has definite ideas about what she wants. That's the trouble with people. We never know what we want. Decide what you want, and get it.

Speaking of wants, you know I still want abs. I'm really trying so hard this week to get back to my GOOD FOOD habits that I had before. Maybe I'll do a little article on them. remember, I've successfully lost 20 pounds twice now. I keep putting on the same 20 and gaining it back. So I KNOW how to eat I just get stupid when I get thin I think (yes I know this is dumb) "oh now I'm thin I can start eating Coco-Puffs all the time" or some other stupid thought. So really what I need is to stop doing that once I get thin. Also, I DID quit ATKINS I am eating a balanced diet and maybe I'll share my menu with you later. One thing I do is eat basically the same thing every day. All I do is change the seasonings and condiments. Some people might go nuts eating this way but I only change components of my meals on a weekly basis. i.e. one part of my breakfast every day is 1/4 cup of blueberries, next week it might be strawberries but within the week it's the same every day. This works well for me. I also have one secret weapon which I began using on SUNDAY, and if it keeps working I'll share it with you later.

It was snowing like a beast this morning AND I am starting to feel under the weather a bit So I called off my scheduled workout ( CHEST/ TRICEPS + CARDIO ) and just walked on The Gazelle for an hour while watching South Park. Depending on WHAT kind of sickness I have, I'll exercise sometimes. For instance, runny noses and such are no big deal. But I have phlegm in my lungs a bit in the morning right now and I feel just a tad feverish so that sounds like cause to lay off a bit. On the downside, I'm scared that my diminished appetite is due to being sick and I hoped it was because of the secret weapon. (see above).

---Frog