South Beach

J and I went on the South Beach diet a couple of weeks ago. Pros: I've lost about 14 pounds, mostly due to the diet (I've been exercising fairly diligently, but not enough to lose that much weight); I haven't been all that hungry; the meals are decent. Cons: Food prep is a nightmare. You need to hire a chef to prepare the meals--very elaborate; it's designed for suburbanites with huge fridges, which we're not; the first two weeks mandate V8 or tomato juice for breakfast every morning--both are undrinkable unless you put vodka in them (which we didn't).

I did not give up caffeine, as the diet suggests (it makes you hungry), but I did have a constant low-level headache the first few days. But now I feel a lot better--surprisingly better. I used to have a constantly upset stomach, and that's gone away. Of course, this might be due to lack of stress from not teaching.

This post seems to beg for a before and after picture. Maybe later.

Emily's Canon

Books That She Likes and We Like: Fortunately, a large category. The Snowy Day is a favorite, though right now she seems to prefer Peter's Chair, another book featuring Peter that I don't like nearly as much. Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny (though she wants only to look at the color pictures) also fit here. She loves the Sandra Boynton books, especially But Not the Hippopotamus, though she seems to be slightly less interested in that one right now. The Very Hungry Caterpillar her first favorite book and she still likes it.
Books That She Likes and We Do Not: Alas, a growing category. Elmo's Twelve Days of Christmas is a current favorite; we love Sesame Street, but this book isn't terribly interesting. The Sparkly Princess, which is both dumb and offensive, is also a big favorite (J won't read it without changing the words). Worst of all are the Veggie Tales books; the main problem with them isn't that they're overtly Christian (she has a children's Bible and we attend church) but that they're just poorly written and dull. But not to her, it seems, though she doesn't demand that we read them to her in their entirety; usually flipping a few pages is enough.
Books We Like and She Doesn't: Fortunately, nothing in this category. We haven't tried to force books on her. A little, maybe--I tried Peter Rabbit, one of my childhood favorites, but she wasn't into it and I put it away.