Sucker ...

You know those infommercials that come on weird channels at weird hours, the hours that no one in their right mind would be watching tv? I was suckered into one and I'm so stupid! I've watched dozens of infommercials, basically for entertainment when I'm completely bored and they always sound so good. A revolutionary stationary bike, WOW! A vegetable chopper like no other, GREAT! Or in my case the best ever weight loss book that offers a CURE! The book's exact title I'm unsure of and the author is Kevin Trudeau ... or something like that. Anyway, on the infommercial he spouts about how this is such a "simple" cure and how it doesnt count calories, or require exercise, or portion control. It's basically correcting the hypothalamus which controls your cravings, and physical hunger all the time. If the hypothalamus is sending these craving messages and tell you you're hungry even though you just ate, then there's no calorie counting or portion control or will power that's going to stop you from eating. So by taking this "one inexpensive supplement" you can correct the hypothalamus and shed the excess fat from your body and "never" gain in back. Yes, yes, sounds too good to be true and what the heck was I thinking, right? It made sense though, and still does. Usually if I want to buy a book online I find it at a real bookstore first, browse through it and make sure it's really what I'm looking for. But this infommercial wouldnt wait for that, I had to buy NOW! .... so I did. And got a "free" natural cures book for only the cost of shipping and handling, which is never cheap. And agreed to 3 free magazines of my choice for 3 months. The catch? I just have to remember to cancel after 3 months but before the 4th or it'll turn into a subscription with a lifetime sentence. I still havent told Brad about this stupid purchase ... and at this rate I probably wont. Is that lieing? We did happen to go to B&N bookstore on Saturday and when Brad wandered off to look at books that interested him I made a bee line for the diet section. Sure enough, ther it was, all 5 copies of them. The exact same book for the same price, but no shipping charge. Sucker. I flipped through it and eventually got to the "phases" that lead to the successful shedding of fat to never appear again. Phase 1 that you ABSOLUTELY must do included but was not limited to: getting some shot daily from the doctor that corrects the hypothalamus (shot? I thought this was a "simple supplement"!), avoiding all fast food all the time (what? I thought I could eat whatever I wanted whenever and not have to change my diet!), drink 1/2 gallon of water daily (what!?! that's adding to my diet, I might drink 12 oz of water a day!), eat one organic apple every day (you've got to be kidding me, ok ok an apple a day keeps the doctor away, I get it, but organic???), walk at least one hour every day (sorry huney, supper will have to wait!), eat grapefruit every day (at this point they've almost lost me, 1/2 gallon of water and an apple later I'm gonna be so full of liquid nothing else will fit ... or I wont have time to eat it because I'll be peeing all day!), and the list goes on and becomes even more wacky. Phase 2 included continuing to get an injection from the doctor every week. Every week? Come on people! This is why no one is doing this stupid plan! Who wants to get a shot that often!?!? So needless to say I'm a bit more than a little disgusted with myself and a bit disappointed that I even went on this ride. Sucker. I am sure that if someone is extremely overweight and has the entire day to kill at the doctor's office and in the bathroom it would be a great plan. For me though, 10 pounds isnt worth it. I can still drink more water, and eat an apple and grapefruit, take the dogs for a walk through the field more often, and hope that my will power is strong enough to stay away from my 6th cookie of the day. Lucky for me the cheesecake gave me a stomach ache so I stopped eating it and left the remaining half for Brad.

In other news: I think I'm going to buy Brad a recliner for his birthday ... or maybe Christmas, but probably birthday, it's sooner and I'm excited about it and cant wait longer than October. ;) Saturday while we were out we stopped at 3 different furniture stores. Brad wanted to go to a hunting store and said we could go "wherever (I) wanted to after that." This time he's the sucker. ;) He actually likes the cheapest recliner the best! I couldnt believe it! That makes the possibility of getting it as a gift even easier, especially since we have gift money from Grandma held in savings to cover something special like this. My only problem is I cant haul it home! I sold my poor truck! My little mustang cant hold that big chair. I dont know exactly how things will work out, especially since his birthday is mid week. If I can get him to want to go out to eat in the big city (an hour's drive) then I can easily persuade him to innocently swing by that particular store just to look. It'd be really great if I could have already paid for it and it's all ready to pick up and go. I am sure the store has a delivery service, but being an hour away that'll be a hefty delivery fee. It'd be fun to have the room all set up though before Brad even gets home. I dont know, is it worth the delivery fee for that?

I pulled a surprise like that yesterday. I had the day off work and went to town, with a detour to the Christian bookstore where they had tons of books for 40-50% off, jackpot! (Alicia ~ I looked for Wife after God's Own Heart, and they didnt have it in stock! I'll have to order it) I made my way to Lowe's (we actually have a Lowe's, it's new ... and so big town of us!) to look at lamps. I'm on a lamp kick, I want new lamps. We've been using the same lamps I had as a kid! I made my guilty purchase of one table lamp and one floor lamp for $122 and headed home. I'd spent $150 already! Time to quit. I set up the lamps and waited for Brad to get home. He wasnt thrilled .... oops. I should have talked to him more seriously about it. Apparently "you can buy whatever you want" didnt apply to lamps. And if I can send $122 on me, he can find something of that same value to buy too. I dont see it that way on lamps though. It's for the house, not just for me, for both of us. If I dont buy it then we'll never get it because no matter how many times I mention new lamps will be nice, Brad will never purchase new lamps. Am I thinking right? Maybe not. Maybe since he doesnt care about new lamps it really is a purchase for me. But if I spent the same amount of money as he does on "his stuff" we'd break the bank. We cant always spend and be equal in spending. It'd be a vicious cycle! After going to bed that night I told him next I'll talk to him more seriously before buying something for the house. Again he said "you can buy whatever you want," but at least this time I know better.

Books books books! So I didnt find the book I was after, but I did find 3 others on sale! One of which is Cracking the Communication Code it is a sequel to Love and Respect. Obviously, Brad and I do have a communication problem. We dont yell and scream at each other, but we dont necessarily hear the same thing or interpret it the same way either. I've only just begun, and am looking forward to learning how I can make the "rewarded cycle" spin. If you havent read Love and Respect do so! (and then follow it up with Cracking the Communication Code) Even if it's a one sided effort to make your marriage better it can work, with lots of work... something I really need to work at. If definitely a must read and must re-read.

Other randomness: I had an interview with a farm equipment dealer last week. It seemed promising. I've always hated the "it's not what you know, it's who you know" philosophy, but it may work in my favor this time for once. If I do get the job and am hired it'll be a November start date, so I'll still be hanging around here for a while.

My sister is coming home next weekend. She's in St. Louis pursuing a new job and a boy. I cant say too much for the boy, I'm just glad she's coming home and will think straight for a few days. I dont want to be pushy or over opinionated, she is an adult and can take care of herself, but we all know this guy isnt the right one. She's just trying to talk herself into it and make it work when she doesnt have to. There are other things that bother me, other than her desire to make it work when it shouldnt, but I dont want to boy bash too much, and out of respect for her and him I'll stop there. There is absolutely nothing wrong or second rate with being single. Society needs to get a grip and stop contaminating the minds of little girls to think they are not complete without a boy. Boys cannot make you complete! Arrrrgh! Sooo I really need wisdom and patience and love towards my sister this coming weekend. Maybe the opportunity will come up to talk openly about the boy, but if it doesnt I need to keep my trap shut.

Thanks for all the compliments about the new look! I appreciate all of your support. I'm not quite satisfied with the look yet, but it'll remain the same until I have the time, motivation, and creative spark to change it again.

Have a lovely day!