I definitely have some bad habits I’d like to get rid of. I bite my nails when I’m overly stressed or anxious. Wondering how my week has been? Take a look at my hands… if it’s been really bad, you’ll know, even if I don’t say anything or show any other indication of being less than happy.

Splurging on bad foods is a bad habit, obviously. It’s one I’m working on overcoming. What is working for me (so far) is not doing away with the urge to splurge, but splurging in moderation. Snapps Cheddar & Jalapeno Bites are a good example of a splurge. The amount of fat grams in them should be illegal. I used to happily fry up all eight and chow down. Now? Four at a time, and I’ll count them as a meal, so I don’t go over my daily limit of calories and fat grams for the day.

Bad habits suck. But I guess there are some habits that are worse than others, and I’m quite thankful I don’t have habits that are bad enough to impact my family or my health (beyond obesity).

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Hmm. Well, there’s certainly a lot going on in the media lately. What’s with all of the celebrities dying? First David Carradine, then Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson in the same day! And then Billy Mays on Sunday! David and Farrah you could sort of see coming, since David was in his 70s and Farrah had cancer. But Michael Jackson? Billy freakin’ Mays? Those two REALLY blindsided me. I was on the beach when I saw a few tweets about Billy Mays, and I was definitely floored.

This all reminds me of the late 90′s, when it seems like a bunch of celebrities died one right after another. Remember that? Chris Farley, Princess Diana, Sonny Bono, etc.

But it just goes to show you, nobody is invincible from death. All of the fame and money and diamond rings in the world won’t save you from dying. In the end, the playing field is evened out, because we all die.

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As you can see by the date, this photo was taken in 1996. I was twelve. I had this… THING … for open flannel shirts (a lot of them were hand-me-downs from my grandfather) with t-shirts underneath. (If it helps my fashion faux pas, the following year I swapped out the t-shirts for cleavage-revealing tank tops) I enjoyed wearing multiple, mis-matched necklaces, and wide head bands and head wraps that often featured smiley faces. (I grew out my bangs two years later) Check out the mom jeans. You know you love them!

Oh, and the 17 month old baby I’m holding in the picture? That’s my baby brother. The same one that is now almost fourteen years old and two inches taller than me!

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I tend to think of myself as a fairly optimistic person. I’m realistic and I certainly have my down moments, and I also have a bit of a temper (verbally; I am definitely not a violent person!) and quite the loud mouth, but in general I tend to view the glass as being half full. No matter how bad a situation may be, there is almost always hope, some chance of moving up.

Anyway, the book suggests that I share some of the blessings/positives in my life, so here I go!

• Daniel. He is seriously my best friend and my soul mate. Even when we squabble or I get infuriated over his refusal to clean out the car, clean up his desk, throw out the trash or wipe off the table, I’m still so thankful that we met and fell in love. I seriously cannot imagine what life would be like without him.
• My kids! Duh. This is a given. And a bit of a cop-out, so I’ll try to list other things as well.
• My mother. She drives me bananas, but she’s still my mom, I love her, and I’m glad that she is in my life.
• Fluffy kitties!
• My own car. Being a two-vehicle household seriously kicks some ass.
• The fact that I don’t drink soda, milk or tea! It makes watching calorie consumption so much easier. And I can continue to guzzle water all day long guilt-free.
• Losing 25 lbs. in seven weeks!!! (photo is family & friends only)
• Air conditioning. In my house and in both cars!
• Summer. Sweating isn’t fun, but I love long swishy skirts, spaghetti-strap tank tops, SWIMMING and THE BEACH (WHEE JUST 3.5 WEEKS TO GO!)
• Friends (both offline & online) to talk to and confide in.
• Rice cakes. Nom nom nom.
• Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels collection. Heaven in a bottle, seriously.
• My clients! Without them we wouldn’t be doing nearly as well as we are. In fact, we’d be seriously strapped for every last penny and probably not having or doing 75% of the stuff we have and do.
• You guys. Support and general e-companionship is so wonderful. <3
• My camera and its lenses. Drool. Drool. Drool. See?
  

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The book suggests that I share some great or just crazy wisdom I’ve received, or consider sharing some of my own advice and words of wisdom. I can’t think of any received words of advice that have been particularly memorable, so I’ll go ahead and share my own wisdom.

I’m going to give you two pieces of wisdom: one that is dead serious and sincere. The other? More humorous.

1. Watch your weight.
I didn’t get where I am today by overeating at a few meals or eating the wrong kinds of things a few times a week. It took years of bad eating habits that began in my childhood. And it’s going to take quite a while to get down to a healthy weight, and I’m still working hard at breaking bad eating habits and establishing better ones. Don’t wreck your body, risk your health and kill your self-esteem by being where I’m at. Watch your calories, watch your fat grams, control portions, and for the love of God, stay away from all things fast food and fried. (Cheese, too. Did you know that one individually wrapped string cheese could have as much as 160 calories and 12 grams of fat?!)

2. Electronics & water do not get along.
Unless you want your iPod to go for a swim, don’t trust it on the top shelf of your computer tower while you’re off taking a shower. Despite that top shelf being over five feet off the ground, and your husband being present in the room and facing the general direction of your computer tower, your son WILL have the opportunity to climb up onto the work area of your tower, stand up, reach for the iPod, and then climb back down, head into the kitchen with it, and deposit it into the water bowl you have out for the cats.

Thank you for subscribing to Jenn.nu's RSS feed! ♥ Jenn | Flickr: kiss-my-kitty | Twitter: @kissmykitty