Meghan's Musings

Last weekend was the unofficial kick-off of summer and Isaac's birthday. We had a fun little BBQ to celebrate both.  Given my obsessive-compulsive proclivities I sometimes wonder why I bother having gatherings. I nearly gave myself an ulcer over the weather, which turned out to be perfect; and I fretted that there wouldn't be enough to eat. Why that's even on my Worry List, let alone at the top is beyond me. A lack of food has never been an issue - in fact there have always been a plethora of leftovers at any gatherings I've hosted. But to quote a song from the soundtrack of my life, " I'm only happy when it rains, I'm only happy when it's complicated ." I've been this way since always - to a lesser degree now that I'm aware of it. Then Sunday arrived and people started arriving. Since I'm fortunate that all the people I consider friends are awesome, having a collective of awesome people at my house made me remember why I like having

So this is day four on JM Body Revolution program. Like I mentioned in the "What's for Dinner?" section of "On my DVR" I've started with the "Kick-Start Your Metabolism" menu and exercise regimen. The menu says I can lose up to one jean size in a week, and my stomach is actually flatter after four days. Since proper nutrition and eating habits combined with exercise are Jillian's keys to success, the diet isn't horribly restrictive. The only difference between this week and the rest of the program are there are no, fruits, flour, grains or sugar and only one serving of low fat dairy per day. The menu for the rest of the program is nicely varied - even some yummy muffins for breakfast! I've made some of the muffins before and they're delicious. Since I'm going through a baking withdrawal, Monday can't get here fast enough. I do have a fix for the withdrawal - baking Isaac's birthday cookie-cake this week. Christi (S

The the arrival of summer used to mean the vacation of anything decent to watch on TV. Thanks to shows like The Closer , Royal Pains and True Blood , summer TV is no longer just a wasteland for cast-offs that weren't good enough to make it into the regular rotation. It takes a lot for me to commit to a TV show and some of them get cancelled. Two of NBCs new shows I immediately liked, and made a point to record on my DVR are both gone. One is  Prime Suspect , which has been gone since December. The other is Awake , which they are kind enough to let finish out the year. I can understand why Awake  didn't take hold with the masses. This high-concept show is a bit dense, and not very uplifting. I don't need to be uplifted to be entertained and was fascinated by the transported-to-a-parallel-world-via-dreams premise. I also enjoyed that Jeremy Isaac's Det. Britton found clues to what was going on in one life in the other. The fact that he's extremely easy on the eyes

I don't know about anyone else, but I went through phases before I found the genre of music that works for me. My first phase was pop. Debbie Gibson was the bees' knees for me! Out of the Blue, Electric Youth, and Anything is Possible  were the greatest albums as far as I was concerned. Body Mind Soul  is a later album I remember playing to death as well. Whilst treading water in the ocean of my pop obsession I, of course, was TOTALLY devoted to the first boy band...NKOTB! Oh yes. Danny, Donnie, Joe, Jon, and Jordan were plastered all over my bedroom walls. My eldest sister even got tickets to one of their concerts as birthday presets for my younger sister and me. My very first concert! I also remember shoving the Newsweek (I think it was Newsweek) with NKOTB on the cover and the question "Bigger than The Beatles?" in my parents' face and declaring "Of course  they're bigger than The Beatles!" Never mind I really didn't know anything  about The B

 Today we celebrate mothers; and those of us who are mothers are supposed to be catered to by our families. Today was a relatively light day for me - I only had to make the home fries for breakfast, took a light nap, ran to the grocery store and am almost done with the laundry. Ben made an acceptable dent in the disaster of our mud room which completely made the day for me: Yesterday, as I was performing the most swanky of chores (scrubbing the toilet) my curiosity was piqued as to the origins of Mother's Day. I discovered how it came into being after thorough investigation (translation: I Googled Mother's Day origins and followed  this link ). But here's a summation of what I read: While mothers are celebrated throughout the world and these traditions can be traced back to festivals of ancient civilizations, the modern Mother's Day is an American invention, not directly descended from these traditions. In 1870 a woman by the name of Julie Ward Ho

It is yet another dreary day - but not as much as yesterday. The slate skies are no longer weeping rain; and the sun is fighting to shine its glorious rays down. Ben's week of vacation is coming to an end. Since I was prepared to be constantly irritated by his presence, that I've enjoyed spending the extra time with him has been a pleasant surprise. As many of you can attest to, maintaining a marriage can be hard work. Each day you slog through the muck of boredom, poo-filled diapers, sibling arguments, tantrums, dirty dishes, laundry, fatigue, work, and not enough time to yourself. It astounds each of us that our relationship has flourished, given that everything in our individual genetic makeup reacts to as two like charges would. But part of being human is the capacity for sentiency, and with that comes the ability to work around basic instincts. In his stand-up routine Lock'N'Load , Denis Leary mentions one reason for his marriage's success is that he and hi

Slate is my online mecca of information. Every subject under the sun has been covered here. The writing is fantastic - I've even developed an interest in jurisprudence thanks to Dahlia Lithwick. And my favorite advice columnist dispenses her word of wisdom here. Hence my un-surprise that since reading  his first article , I've gobbled up every morsel written by fashion whiz Simon Doonan that I've come across. After perusing his archive, there are yummy bits I've missed and will rectify that soon. Since I spend at least an hour a day, four -five days a week working out, never leave the house without make up and rarely go out in sweatpants, I have a vested interest in my appearance. However I tend to be a bit of a snob about fashion, but not in the usual way one would take that statement. If I were to compare my feelings about the fashion industry to those of a fictional movie character, they would be akin to Andrea's at the beginning of  The Devil Wears Prada  (al