Moving, crafting, and cat-sitting.

Well I am finally back, my friends and loyal readers, I know it's been a long time and I hope you haven't forgotten about me.  Changing jobs, moving, crafting and cat sitting have left little time for blogging lately.

The new job is going well, it's part time for now, but my hours will increase when my co-worker goes on mat-leave in a few months.  Although I may be getting a little too comfortable working only 3 days a week, I really am enjoying my spare time.

Moving has been kind of an adventure and the house is in complete chaos while we try to figure out what stuff to keep and what to get rid of.  Anyone interested in buying a crock pot for cheap? :)

Unfortunately, our craft room/office has been rented out to my sister’s cat, which is why the spare bed is in living room right now.  We have temporarily taken in my sister's cat as he doesn't play well with others and therefore doesn't do well in a clinic boarding situation.  We had an empty room so he stays up there.  Since he's lonely and bored he entertains himself by meowing and crying and banging into the door at all hours of the night.  On the bright side, Sis takes possession on her new house in less than 2 weeks so the cat's time with us is limited.  And once we can use that space it will be much easier to get the house into some kind of semi-organized state.

Now, those of you who know me know that I love to craft.  I scrapbook and make cards and various other crafty-type things, and I have recently decided to re-join Stampin'Up as an independent demonstrator selling all types of crafting supplies.  They lured me back with a free Big Shot, and those of you who know what a Big Shot is know that it’s a big deal!  I thought that this would be the perfect time since I'm not working full time right now.  I have since realized that this was very poor planning on my part.  Planning a move and having lots of extra stuff in the house and hosting crafting classes at the same time is not particularly fun! Luckily Mister has been very patient, we spent days trying to get the house in decent shape for my open house, and it looked great!  I have a class at the house on Wednesday and as I said earlier there is a bed in my living room, and but Mister moved all the boxes that were surrounding the table where I'll be doing the class so that was very helpful!

If you're interested in crafting you can order through my website or contact me to host a workshop or receive info about my upcoming classes and events at stampwithrachel@hotmail.ca.

So much to do...

So, as many of you know it has finally happened!  I am leaving my big city life to move back to my small town, close to family, friends, and of course, my Mister.  Coincidentily,  my big sister is also moving back home to start a new job as well.  It was a long time coming and I'm so happy that I finally found a good job so I can move, and me and Mister can move forward.  So my new job starts this week and my apartment in the city is a disaster (yes, even more so than usual), filled with boxes and things I need to pack or get rid of.  I really hate moving, but I know it's going to be worth it in the end.  It's going to be a bit of a hectic time for my family, but we're all looking forward to the end result of getting to spend more time together.  Unfortunately, my Mister's house is not yet equipped with the internet so it may be a while before I am able to blog again.  But I will not forget about you, my faithful readers (all 3 of you), and I will return to blog another day, eventually.  So Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and don't forget to take a moment to think of something that you're thankful for. 

No More Plus Size Mamas?

So I came across this article which I found kind of disturbing; it’s about doctors refusing to provide fertility treatment for obese women with a BMI over 35.  And yes, this article is from Canada.  Click here to read the article, go ahead, I’ll wait.

I would like to point out that even though obese women may be at slightly higher risk for complications during pregnancy, there is no guarantee that a woman will have complications just because she’s heavy.  Overweight and obese women have beautiful, healthy babies every day.  I’d also like to point out that thin women are not immune to pregnancy complications; they too can get gestational diabetes and have difficult births.  I don’t know, but I have to wonder if anyone has actually proven that losing weight decreases pregnancy complications, or if it’s really some third factor that is causing the pregnancy complications in overweight women.

Now, when people talk about “obese women” most people probably get a certain picture in their head.  You may be picturing something that resembles one of those pictures of a headless fat person we usually see attached to news stories like this.  You know the ones that are close ups of fat women with their heads cut out of the shot, usually in an unflattering position and dressed really badly.  Well let me give you a different picture.

That's me with a friend's brand new daughter.

I am a healthy woman, as evidenced by my yearly check up a few months ago which showed that my blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and everything else are all in healthy ranges.  I try to live a healthy lifestyle and eat variety of foods, and participate in enjoyable movement.  I am reasonably active, doing yoga and pilates and walking on a regular basis.  My friends might describe me as curvy or voluptuous, maybe even fat, but probably not morbidly obese.  But with a BMI of 41, that’s exactly what I am.  And if these rules are imposed throughout Canada I could be refused the chance to become a mother.  Not because I’m unhealthy or unfit but simply because of the ratio of my height to weight, which doesn’t tell a doctor anything besides the ration of my height to my weight.  Seems to me like that is kind of a lazy way to decide who is at risk for serious complications.

Product Review - Shellac Manicure

So I decided to try out the Shellac Manicure, partly because I had a Groupon and got it for half price!  Now, for those of you who don’t know, the Shellac manicure consists of a base coat, colour coat and top coat that goes on like polish but wears like a gel.  It boasts 14 day wear with a mirror finish, and no chips or smudges and no drying time.  I should note that shellac does cost more than a regular manicure, check with your favourite salon or spa for availability and pricing.  Also, some places charge extra for removal and some include it in the price of the manicure. 

So I went to the salon to check it out.  According to the Shellac website it is available in 24 different colours, but I guess that varies by salon because the one I went to didn’t have that many.  I chose a nice dark red.  So she started with the usual cuticle work and filing and then moved on to the polish.  If you’re using a new salon or have a new manicurist I would suggest checking the nail shape and everything before she starts with the colour, I wasn’t thrilled with the shape of a couple of my nails but by the time I noticed it, the colour was already done.  Anyway, it’s a pretty standard base coat, 2 coats of colour, and top coat application, except that between each coat you place your hand under a UV light which cures the polish.  So the application does take a little longer than a traditional mani, but it is totally dry when you’re finished.  Which means, no asking your manicurist to fish your keys out of your purse for you, and if you get the Shellac pedi, you can put your shoes right back on, so no wearing flip flops in the snow.



Day 1 - super shiny finish and amazing looking colour

 

So first off I noticed the finish is super-shiny, when they say mirror finish, they are not kidding.  Unfortunately, as I was leaving I noticed that one side of my right thumb nail seemed kind of bumpy like there were air bubble in it, and that polish peeled off later that day.  Not cool.  On the upside, I called the salon and explained the situation and they told me to come in and the manicurist removed the polish on that nail and totally redid it at no charge, so it’s all good.  The removal process is pretty easy, they have special wraps that have a pad that gets soaked in acetone and gets placed on the nail, and then the whole thing is wrapped around your finger.  This limits the contact of the acetone on your skin which is good.  They take the wraps off after a few minutes and most of the polish comes off too, then they scrap off the bits that are left behind and you’re good to go.



Day 8 - small chip on 1 finger that you can't even see in this picture



So after about a week a noticed a fairly small chip on my left index finger, nothing too serious and all the other nails were still in perfect shape.  The nail that was chipped happened to crack a couple days later (the nail cracked not the polish) so instead of waiting to get it caught on something and have it tear off, it cut it.  I even filed it to round out the corners and it didn’t ruin the finish!  I was absolutely sure that cutting and filing my nail was going to destroy the manicure but it totally didn’t.   I also did many other things that definitely would have ruined a traditional manicure but didn’t have any effect on my shellac finish. 

So now it’s been over 2 weeks and the finish is still looking pretty great.  I have noticed some cracks in the last couple of days which I believe are cracks in the polish and not in the nails.  Also, my nails grow pretty fast so after 16 days the re-growth is getting pretty outrageous.  I would recommend that you ask your manicurist to get as close to the cuticle as possible so the growth isn’t as obvious, also it might not show as much with a lighter colour. 


Day 16 - finish still looks great but the re-growth is really showing

Conclusion:

I definitely liked the Shellac Treatment and I think it lived up to its promises.  Would I get it all the time, no…I figure putting my hands under UV lights can’t be super great for my skin.  I’ve also noticed a little more nail breakage than usual but if that’s because of the treatment or just because my nails tend to break more when they get long, I can’t really say.  I would definitely recommend this product if you have a big event coming up and you want your nails looking perfect, especially if you don’t have time to get them done the day of your event.  Say you had a wedding or something, with this treatment you could get your nails done days in advance and not have to worry about chipping, smudging or peeling.  So overall I really liked the Shellac manicure especially for special occasions or events.  I personally wouldn’t get it all the time, but if you’re a person who gets a weekly manicure, you would save time and money getting a shellac mani every two weeks instead of a traditional mani every week.  So if anyone else out there has tried the Shellac product, let me know what you thought in the comments.

Delicious...

I’ve been thinking lately that I would like to cook more, and not just cook but cook with really nice, fresh, and delicious ingredients.  I’ve been having a lot of those days where I just don’t feel like cooking after a long day at work.  On those days my go to meals might be frozen pizza, or mac and cheese, or chicken wings and fries…delicious yes, but fresh and nutritious? Not so much.  I also really like to cook when I have the time and the motivation, which isn’t often these days.  But last week I did get the motivation to cook, I was feeling really tired and run down one day and decided that a nice home cooked meal with fresh ingredients was exactly what I needed.  I went to the store and picked up various fruits and veggies and a salmon fillet and made the yummiest dinner.  I made pan fried salmon with sautéed zucchini and mushrooms with garlic, and a spinach salad on the side topped with orange pieces, strawberries, sliced avocado, goat milk cheese and olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressing.  It was delicious and exactly what I needed.  It looked so good, and I’m such a dork I even took a picture so everyone can be jealous of my awesome dinner.  Beats the crap out of the leftover Kraft Dinner I just ate!


Delicious and Nutritious - Can't beat that!



My first Nia class

So I recently decided to check out a Nia class.  If you’re thinking “what the heck is Nia, I’ve never even heard of it before”, that’s ok I had no idea what it was a few weeks ago.  I was reading one of my fav blogs and one of the commenters mentioned that she was a Nia teacher, and since I’m a bit of a geek I googled it to find out what it is.  So, Nia has been around since the 80’s and is a low impact aerobics that combines movements from dance, martial arts and the healing arts and is done barefoot.  I always loved dance when I was a kid but I haven’t done it in years, so it was pretty easy to decide that Nia was something I needed to check out.

So I found a wellness centre in my city that offers Nia, and they let you take your first class for free, so I did.  Before class started the teacher told me a little about Nia and stressed that it was important to stay in your body and feel the pleasure of movement and emphasized that she was just there as a guide and to not worry too much about the steps but doing what feels good to my body.  She stressed that nothing should hurt, everything should feel good and to keep the movements small to begin with.  It was a lot of fun!  The teacher was really energetic and fun throughout the class, and the other students are really nice.  The moves are pretty basic and there is a lot of repetition, so I think even if you’re not a dancer or even particularly coordinated, it wouldn’t be too difficult to pick up.  And when they say that Nia is for every body, they mean it.  There were dancers there of every size shape and age.  And Nia can be danced in a way that’s right for you, if you’re athletic, or not, you can tailor the movements so they are comfortable for you.  There’s also a lot of freedom in the moves, there’s no wrong way to dance in Nia.

You may feel a little uncoordinated the first couple of classes, but I assure you that Nia is a fun, booty shaking good time, and you will work up a good sweat and get a great workout doing it.  So if you’re bored with your current routine and want to try something new, or if you danced when you were younger but want to stay away from strict choreography type classes, I highly recommend Nia.

For more info or to find a class near you click here.

Dear Old Navy,

Here is the email I recently sent to Old Navy (custserv@oldnavy.ca):

Dear Old Navy:

I recently went on your Canadian website to check out your plus size selection since it is no longer available in stores.  I was very disappointed to discover that your women’s plus is only available on your American site. 

Now, I have spent a significant amount of money at Old Navy in the past.  While I am a plus sized woman, many of the tops and sweaters that you carry fit me very nicely, and I have also shopped for gifts on numerous occasions for friends and family.  For the past few years Old Navy has been one of my favourite places to do a lot of my Christmas shopping.  Unfortunately, since you clearly don’t want my plus sized, Canadian dollars anymore, I won’t be shopping in your stores, and I refuse to pay the exorbitant rates on international shipping from your American site, and I will be encouraging my friends and family to do the same.

Thank you,

Rachel Hart

And here is Old Navy's response:

Dear Rachel,

Thank you for sharing your feedback regarding the lack of Plus sized merchandise at Old Navy and oldnavycanada.ca. We do our best to offer our customers top quality, fashionable merchandise at a fair price, and we regret disappointing you. Customer feedback is an important part of our business and we will be sure to share your remarks with our design and merchandising teams.

We appreciate your business and hope that you will continue to check out our latest fashions at Old Navy.

If we may be of further assistance, please contact us at custserv@oldnavy.ca or 1-800-653-6289.

Now, I must admit that I really like Old Navy, they have cute stuff at great prices and to be fair they do carry regular stock up to a size 18, which is better than many stores.  I just can't support a store that won't cater to me.  So I won't be spending any of my hard earned money at Old Navy any more.  I don't expect anyone else to do the same but if you're affected by this please let Old Navy know that you're disappointed, and feel free to copy the email that I wrote to them.  It is not ok for retailers to exclude plus size women, and we need to let them know that!!

Health at Every Size…

So I’m trying this new thing and it’s all about getting healthier.  Now most of the time when people say “getting healthier” they don’t really mean that, they mean losing weight.  For most people losing weight is almost impossible, the often cited statistic is that 95% of diets fail. Now I’ve never been much of a dieter, but I do have those occasional bouts where I decided I should lose weight and go to the gym for a few weeks until I remember that I hate going to the gym and give up.  Now, I’m just a beginner at this but, the basic theory behind Health at Every Size is that if you give your body the food that it needs and move in a way that you enjoy, your body will be healthier regardless of whether you lose weight or not.  It’s really all about doing things that make your body feel good.  For example, I feel good when I do yoga, and I feel good when I eat more fresh food as opposed to highly processed stuff.  It’s also about letting go of all those good food/bad food rules that we all keep hearing and eating food that you like and that makes you feel good, and not punishing yourself for eating a piece of cake it that’s what you want.  I'm not trying to convince or convert anyone here, I just wanted to share some things that I'm learning with you.

Linda Bacon wrote the book called Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight.  I haven’t finished reading the book yet but I highly recommend it to everyone, even if you’re not struggling with weight or body issues.  There’s a lot of really great information in the book and all of it backed up by science as evidenced by the impressive bibliography at the back of the book. 

There will be more posts about Health at Every Size (HAES) in the future but anyone who is looking for some more info can click below:

Click here for more information about the book.

Here Ragen, of Dances with Fat, talks about why she decided on Health at Every Size, and I highly suggest you stick around and read some of her other posts becuase they're all really intelligent and well written.

I've also been reading a lot about fat acceptance lately...get more info here and here

Studying, LOMA, and Cupcakes

If you’ve been wondering where the hells I’ve been lately, I’ve spent the last few weeks chained to my computer studying for my LOMA exam, which was today and which I passed with a 90%. Yay me!! By way of background information LOMA is the Life Office Management Association which offers professional development courses for the financial, insurance, and other industries.  The exam I just wrote was for LOMA 280 – Principles of Insurance, the first course of the Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI) designation.  The designation consists of 10 courses.  You can only take one course at a  time and this one took me about 5 months to complete (although there were a couple of months in the middle when I didn’t really work on it at all), so in theory the designation could take about 5 years.  The great thing about these courses is that I take them through my work and they pay for them, unless I fail the test and then I have to reimburse the course fee.  Now here’s my dilemma, since the future of my career is at this time somewhat uncertain (as I’m trying to relocate to the town my Mister lives in) do I sign up for the next course?  If I sign up and don’t complete the course, I have to pay the course fee.  But on the other hand continuous learning always looks good on a resume, and if I complete the second course I get a certificate to show I’ve done level 1 of my FLMI designation.

On a more fun and delicious note I had the best cupcakes ever on the weekend!  My Mister and I were celebrating his birthday and I decided to buy cupcakes instead of a cake.  I went to Razzle Dazzle Cupcakes in London, and I highly recommend that everyone go there!!  My Mister is kind of a food snob, and he’s not really a big fan of cupcakes in general and he went crazy over these cupcakes.  I cannot stress enough how amazing these cupcakes are.  It’s just a family run bakery in an old converted house where the people are really nice and the cupcakes are beautiful and yummy. Seriously, Best! Cupcakes! Ever!  Oh, and if you go there and buy cupcakes, please pick up one for me. :)

Recent discovery

I have recently made a discovery that I thought I should share with everyone for safety and health reasons.  Listen carefully everyone, because this is shocking...Kraft Dinner mac and cheese, does in fact go bad.  That's right kids those blue boxes have an expiry date on them for a reason!  I discovered this recently when I really wanted mac and cheese and luckily there was one box in the pantry.  So after boiling the noodles and everything I dumped the cheese pouch into the pot and immediately noticed that the colour was off, instead of the normal flourescent orange the powder was more of a dark reddish colour.  I was so excited about my mac and cheese that I mixed it all up but the first bite was disgusting and I threw it all in the trash after realizing that it had expired 6 months ago.  So for those of you who think that stuff like Kraft Dinner can't go bad, be forwarned! And always check the expiry date for the safety of you and your family.  Now go make some KD for dinner becuase when it's good, it's oh so good! :)

Thank you...

Dear Random girl walking down the street, thank you for rocking that white feathered headband in your hair. 

Dear Random girl rocking a cute black summer dress on a sunny day, thanks for reminding everyone that summer is on its way.

Dear Random guy in the grocery store parking lot, thanks for taking my cart back for me, and other random guy who held the door open for me when I was carrying in my groceries, thanks for letting me know that chivalry is indeed alive and well.

Thanks to the lady in the green car who waved my through the intresection even though it was your turn.

And thanks to my yoga instructor who always tells me that I'm doing a great job and encourages me to keep coming back to yoga and pilates.

Most importantly, to all my family and friends who have been there through the good, bad, and ugly, the thick (and not so) thin, thank you!

Just a few random shout outs to remind everyone that world if full of great people and things if you just look for them. 

Fun and Fit - Update

So as promised, here is an update on my fitness challenge.  Most importantly, my team is totally winning (and not in a losery Charlie Sheen kind of a way).  Also very important is the fact that I have discovered that I love yoga, even at 7:30 in the morning on Mondays and Wednesdays!  I also love pilates, unfortunely that class is only offered once a week, on Fridays at lunch.  I have also discovered that I don't really like working out every day.  In trying to earn points for my team I have been attempting to exercise 7 days a week, and frankly, it's tiring!  Anyway, whether my team wins or loses, I have found that I acutally like yoga and pilates, and I plan to continue going to those classes even after this challenge is over, so I consider that a personal victory.  I highly recommend yoga to everyone.  I always feel so good on the days I do yoga, it might make your body happy too.

Editor's Update - My team totally won the challenge, and spent the next few days rubbing it in our bosses faces!

Reality vs. Reality

Does it bother anyone else that reality tv has little to no basis in acutal reality?  I'm not talking about competition type shows like Idol or Dancing with the stars, some things may be exaggerated for the camera but that's not really my issue.  I'm talking about shows like Teen Mom and Jersey Shore. I don't actually watch Jersey Shore so I can't even comment on the content of the show, but according to an online report  Mike "The Situation" earned $3 million in 2010, and his buddy Pauly D made a cool $2 million, and for what??  From what I can tell these guys make millions of dollars to get drunk and act a fool whereas I get up and go work in an office every day and will probably never see a million dollars!  Not long ago one of the young mothers on MTV's Teen Mom was in court because she beat up her baby daddy, and the judge asked her salary, and the answer was $280, 000!! Most hard working people I know don't make even close to that much.  And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that any of these "reality stars" are putting their huge earnings toward education or charity, as far as I can tell most of them are spending it on new boobs.  So apparently the message that "reality" tv is sending young people is to get pregnant at 16, perhaps through in some alcohol and/or drug abuse, and some violent outbursts and you'll have it made.  Apparently this is the new American Dream.

Fabulosity

Do you ever have those times where you want to be more fabulous?  I go through these phases where I want to be a total fashionista, unfortunately most of my work wardrobe is pretty boring.  So sometimes I'm a weekend fashionista, or I pair a boring outfit with a couple of really killer accessories.  Today, for example, I wore a flower in my hair.  During this bought of fabulosity I have become addicted to fashion blogs, or in my case, fatshion blogs.  They make me want to be more daring with my fashion, buy brightly coloured tights, wear dresses, skinny jeans and post an "outfit of the day"...I just can't get enough!  Here are a few of my favourites, these curvy, sassy fatshionistas have got it going on!

http://fatshionchic.blogspot.com/  - check out her full body photo project
http://fatshionable.com/ - fabulous big city fashion
http://30dressesin30days.blogspot.com/ - 30 dresses in 30 days, and counting

Along with my obssession with fatshion blogs, also comes a new obssession with online shopping.  I've never been much for online shopping, I really like to try something on and know that it fits before I leave the store, but now I'm opening up to shopping online.  How can I not when there are awesome sites like this:

http://www.swakdesigns.com/ - check out their wrap cardigan, I so want one!

So I hope this has been educational for you, and whether you're a curvy fatshionista or not...stay fabulous!!

Fun and Fit Challenge

I work in a company that has a fitness centre right in the building, and I am participating in the Fun and Fit Challenge.  I am on a team of 10 people and we earn 5 points for every 30 minutes of exercise, up to 10 points per day.  You can also earn bonus points for various activities throughout the challenge.  It's supposed to be fun and not competitive but there has been a lot of smack talk going down between my team and another team in my department, so I really need to step up my game.  So the challenge started yesterday and I am proud to say that I earned my 10 points yesterday and 5 points today! I know there will be a lot of people getting the full 10 points a day, but for a lazy chick like me I think 5 is pretty good.  Along with the challenge I am also trying to eat a little healthier, so I had carrots for a snack today, ok, so there may have been some dip involved but I'm only human.  I'm not swearing off french fries and ice cream or anything insane like that, just maybe trying to eat more fruit and veggies.  Anyway, I'm really only blogging about this because now that it's out there I have to keep doing it, I can't just flake out because then you'll all know (all being the 2 people who read my blog).  I will keep you posted on my progress.

More Snow!?!

I will admit that I had, rather foolishly I suppose, allowed myself to believe that winter was over and there was going to be nothing but spring-like weather from here on in.  I do not count snow and freezing rain as spring-like weather so as you can imagine I was rather disappointed to wake up this morning to both of those things.  I still remember the days when I was in school and I would wake up just long enough to hear someone on the radio say that buses are cancelled and then fall blissfully back to sleep, but those days are gone and I am expected to show up at work in the event of blizzards and such.  Now, those people who know me know that I will do just about anything in my power to avoid driving in nasty wintery conditions so on days like today, I choose to take the city bus to work.  The apartment that I live in falls almost directly between 2 bus stops, one stop has a shelter the other does not.  Today, obviously, I chose shelter, and unfortunately that meant walking directly into the wind and getting pelted in the face with freezing rain the whole way.  I did make it to work safely, although about 20 minutes late. Of course, I realized throughout the day that it wasn't as bad as I thought and I probably should have just driven to work.  I also made the sad discovery that I used my last bus ticket to get to work, and sadder still was the fact that I didn't even have $2.75 on me to pay for the bus home.  Luckily for me work, the bank and the bus stop are all in fairly close proximity and the freezing rain wasn't pelting nearly as hard as it was this morning.  So I got some money, bought a pop at the variety store so I could get change for the bus and eventually got home.  So, if it wasn't already obvious, I'm done with the snow and ready for spring!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Ahh St. Patrick's Day, one of the few days of the year when you are allowed, some would say encouraged, to look completely ridiculous as long as there is something green or in the shape of a shamrock on your person.  I myself rocked some bright green eyeshadow today, and I must say I don't think I'm going to wait another 364 days before I do it again.  Now many of you may be shocked to discover that St. Patrick's Day is not all about green beer, and the subsequent green vomit.  This is acutally a religious holiday, and it falls during Lent when people traditionally give up something that they enjoy, becuase of this some of the Lent restrictions are relaxed today and families may eat and drink what they please.  Although don't take my word for this, please consult your priest or other spiritual leader before you go crazy on whatever you gave up for Lent.  Well that is my little educational tidbit for today, now go put on some green eyeshadow and enjoy a green cocktail or two!

Books

So I went to a bookstore after work today and I happened to wander through the self-help section.  It suddenly occured to me that the entire purpose of the self-help section is to make us all believe that we need help.  You find yourself suddenly surrounded by books telling you how to look better, feel better, get better hair, and skin, get better organized, be better with your money, be a better lover, get along better with your family, and even more books telling you that you need a better relationship, a better house, a better job, better clothes, and in general, a better life.  But what if the life you have is just fine?  What if, like me, you have a decent job that (almost) pays the bills, a very messy but nice apartment, a great relationship with an amazing man, a loving family and great friends?  Why do these books always make me feel like something is missing, or that something needs to be improved?  At some point along the line, good became not good enough.  The truth is, the book I bought about managing my money is sitting somewhere in my apartment, under a pile of clutter no doubt, almost entirely unread.  And I only made it about half way through the book to make me a better lover.  Maybe I need to buy a book on finishing what I start...but I'd probably never read it.  So sue me if I like my books silly, and enjoy them for their entertainment value and occasional trashy love scenes, and not for the life lessons they offer.  It might make me a bad person but I don't really believe that anyone ever got a new boyfriend or a better job sitting in the self-help section of the bookstore.  Maybe someone needs to write a book about that.