WanderingAmylessly 2.0

In the course of my work the other day, I ran across a word that made me proud! I didn't really know what it was, what it represented, what it meant, but hey, it can't be anything but fabulous right? It has my NAME in it, after all. Amygdala. Got a nice ring to it, don't you think? A bit gutteral, with the 'g' plopped down there in the middle. Overall, quite intriguing. I had to know more. So I did a search. This almond-shaped group of nuclei, located within the temporal lobe of the brain of humans and other complex vertebrates, is crucial for our everyday functioning. Wow! I hit the jackpot with this! And then I found out exactly what this bit of brain matter does. It performs a "primary role in the processing and memory of" ...ironic drumroll inserted..."EMOTIONAL REACTIONS." Go figure, Miss Emotional Basketcase has an entire section of the brain named in her honor. (I won't even go far into what I found when I looked up another word featur...

At breakfast, Henry looks out the sliding glass door -- H: Mommy! We're getting attacked! Me: By what? H: By birds! Look! Me: Oh wow. That is a big flock of birds. H: No. It's a rogue squadron of birds.

I don't know why this bugs me so much, but it does. We found out today at work that we are adopting a "business casual" dress code and will only be allowed to wear jeans on Fridays (along with an appropriate, professional looking shirt). I swear, we must all look like a bunch of Neanderthals, the way the memo read. No flip flops. No floppy sandals (I'm guilty of that, but I'd like to point out that I pay a lot of money for them and they don't look bad, just noisy). I think that's my biggest beef. The "no, no, no, no" tone. As though the higher ups have been cutting us some slack but we're really pathetic and barely know how to tie our shoes and zip up our fly on our own. So they're going to step in and guide and direct our wardrobe choices. Maybe it'd be better if I worked at Target. At least there, you know...red shirt, khaki pants. There'd be no searching the closet for what to wear every day. There'd be no advance planning ...

"When your happy hour cocktail includes ibuprofen, you know you're getting old." "Real life doesn't have a process document. You just deal with it." "She used to give me a hard time until she realized I enjoy the fight. Now she leaves me alone." "Budgets. Errrrrrrrrgggghhh!" "Someone scheduled a meeting. And forgot to invite the meeting leader." "This skirt is from high school. It just keeps giving and giving! The waistline keeps giving and giving, too..." "The very last thing I'd ever think to do when I'm on vacation is check my work e-mail. What is WRONG with him?"

I just read a story that made me fuming mad. I've been angry about the disparity between physical and mental health insurance coverage before. But what I read made me hit the roof. A story online at ABCNews.com describes the struggles of 17-year-old Emily Gomez, who suffers from a severe eating disorder. At one point, her doctor said that her parents had to get her help or she'd die. So they got her treatment at a center that specializes in the disorder. Written in the fine print of their Blue Cross Blue Shield coverage, however, is a notice that the policy caps coverages for mental illnesses at $2,000. Because eating disorders are considered a mental illness, the insurance company refused to pay anymore than that. Even though the treatment cost the Gomez family more than $50,000. It cost me well over $5,000 to give birth. My company paid that, not many questions asked. But people who are dying, who contemplate suicide, who stop eating, who have serious need, aren't worth a...

See that beautiful array of purplish colors to your right? See 'em? Bee-yew-tee-full, eh? That's about the color of the pinky toe on my right foot. However, looking down at it at this moment (because I'm not wearing a shoe at work because I cannot fit a shoe onto said foot), I'm beginning to see the tell-tale greens and yellows seeping through. That's a good sign, isn't it? Still hurts like a bad word. A reeeealy bad one. Like one that could make my daddy the sailor blush. How'd I do this, you ask? How anyone breaks her pinky toe. I slammed my foot into something heavy and somewhat immovable at a high rate of speed. Actually, I don't remember the details. It happened when I was awakened in the middle of the night by a sick child (who later vomited and retched and expelled his guts out for hours...to get some idea of the urgency with which I propelled myself into the living room). I think it was some sort of toy/gadget/device the kid had failed to pick u...

Henry and I headed out to the apple orchard last Friday for some fruit picking. I didn't have high hopes. Last year when Tim took him in October, the trees had fallen victim to a fungus or some blight that left the apples small, speckled, and not at all appetizing to look at. However, this year the trees practically burst with color and sweet fruity goodness. So much so, we got carried away with the Honeycrisps and the Song of Septembers. $35 later, I'm thinking ... who the hell can eat $35 worth of apples?! I mean, there's only so much you can do. Especially when one person is sincerely trying to lose weight and yet has a passion for homemade apple pie and ice cream. We've given some away to friends. We've eaten our fair share right off the core. I did make a lovely little caramel apple tart, recipe courtesy Weight Watchers. But the proudest I've been in my effort to slice through the 101 ways to eat a piece of fruit happened tonight. I created a heart-healthy,...

I wondered why I spent the first half of the movie (500) Days of Summer humming the tune, "I Kissed a Girl." Then it hit me. Like a bucket of bricks. They're not the same person, but they could be! Zooey Deschanel, the actor (who is, I might add, also a singer, which totally confuses things), and Katy Perry, currently atop the pop music charts and the who-would-you-do lists of lesbians everywhere, look like twins. Honestly. Wide eyed stares, long lashes, bad bangs... And I'm not the only person who thinks so. Google "Katy Perry and Zooey Deschanel" and you'll get about 500 Posts of Something similar to what I'm writing here. It's a whole lot of whocares. But I couldn't let it slip by without at least a little, "How 'bout that, people?!"

Go. See. This. Movie. Seriously. It's amazing. Side-splittingly funny moments in IKEA and a group dance sequence set to a Hall and Oates classic. We couldn't ask for more! But more is given, including spot-on acting by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel (who is sincerely a dead ringer for Katy Perry, doncha think?...photos to follow) and an astounding sountrack. Watch the trailer. Listen to the music. Go see!!!

Anyone else have one sneaky-evil-devil of a time thinking up new computer passwords? It's bad enough that the IT folks at work insist we change up our passwords every month...which feels like we're changing every two weeks; just when my fingers have begun to automatically remember where to go each morning, I get the "your password will expire in 3 days, would you like to change it now?" prompt. And no, I would not like to. Ever. Neverever. ***raspberries*** Then there's the fact that I need a password for the computer itself, one for the network on which I store information, one for the timecard software site, one for benefits, one for the secure ftp site, one for professional development training, one for the department's online communications tool, one for my retirement account, one for the site where my junk mail goes to get it out of any situation where I might accidentally open it and unleash a corporate-wide plague on the system. They must each be differ...

I've refrained from talking on this blog about my current weight loss program, for fear my yammering on about points and lowfat and such might send you all running for the hills (but hey, that's heart-healthy activity, too, right?). Instead, I started a second blog , on which I blab about all things healthy-lifestyle related, track my progress, follow other diet blogs (although I think I've tried to ditch that "diet" word from my vocab). However, I'm proud of the weight-loss company with which I have aligned myself, not only because I'm finding success BUT because it seems I am helping to combat hunger around the globe! I can't imagine being hungry. When I say I'm hungry, I really mean I'm having a craving for a peanut butter cup Blizzard or a large supreme pizza. Kids all over the world -- including in our country, most likely in my neighborhood -- go to bed hungry. They wake up to hunger. Their tummies rumble throughout the day. The United N...