Disgruntled chicken

I have a confession to make.

I hate cooking chicken. I hate it even more when it takes 2 1/2 hours to cook. Last night I attempted to cook chicken in a pan. For some reason I thought it would take about 20 minutes. Not so true. I'd seared the chicken on medium heat, then occasionally set it to medium-high heat. Twenty minutes later I took it off thinking it'd be done. Not even remotely close. Still pink, still "semi-alive". I then decided to put it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Still not fully cooked.

As I put the chicken in yet again in the oven, I thought to myself, how long does chicken take to cook? How freaking long does it take?! By the time I began cooking the chicken it was about 6:00 p.m. Finally, after much frustration, hunger, and feeling like I was going to pass out because I hadn't eaten yet (even though I had been snacking in between to keep myself sustained), the moment finally came when it was done. An hour and a half later.

It tasted like perfection. How ironic. My husband even thought it tasted pretty good. Winner winner, chicken dinner. With rice. Just another day in the kitchen.

Good In Bed

A few days ago I read an article aloud to my husband from my favorite magazine, Real Simple. In it is the amusing story of a woman, Julie Rottenberg, who loves to sleep. And I don't mean sleeping in until 10 or 11 a.m.

As she puts it, "I am a superhuman sleeper." When I told my husband that she describes her sleeping habit as a passion, an obsession and can even be a talent, he laughed and nodded completely in agreement. The author can sleep until one, two, and even until three in the afternoon for stretches of 12 to 15 hours. As someone who thinks that sleeping in is around 10 or 11 a.m., I didn't think it was possible to sleep until three in the afternoon. Not until I met my husband.

Some days, on the weekends, I'd get so frustrated because he'd "sleep the day away" as I'd put it - luckily he doesn't do this all the time. Some days I let him sleep in. I've discovered that we each have our own levels of grumpiness when we don't get our beauty sleep.

After I finished reading the article, I found myself partially agreeing with the author when she wrote the following paragraph:

"So when I find myself lying in bed on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning, plagued with the feeling that I should get up and embrace the day, I do not. Instead, I abandon all guilt and shame, put on my sleep mask, roll over, commit to sleeping, and continue sleeping until I can sleep no longer. I firmly believe that only then, in the deepest of sleep, can true progress begin."

So here's to sleep that builds enough confidence to conquer the day and replenishes the body and soul; and to lazy Sundays spent in pajamas :)

Check out the article Good in Bed by Julie Rottenberg in February's issue of Real Simple.

Living to live - and The Biggest Loser

I know it's been a little while...

For the first time, I watched Season 6 of The Biggest Loser, when it initially aired on TV a few months ago. I was amazed with the outcomes and strengths that the individuals had, both good and bad.

So now, as part of my Tuesday night routine, I continue watching The Biggest Loser. Last week I told my husband that I was amazed at what our society has become. I know there are the extremes, anorexically skinny and morbidly obese. I know that sometimes it can be easy to lose track of oneself and one day look in the mirrow and not recognize who or what you've become. The unfortunate part of the obesity problem is that for some people it's gotten to be a matter of life or death.

Last week, the show introduced a 19-year-old man who was over 420 pounds. He didn't know whether he was going to be able to live to be 25 or 30 years old. As a 25-year-old young woman, I was shocked to hear that a young person like that might not make it to live to be 30 years old. It's scary alone to think that I'll be hitting the 30s range soon.

In September of last year I challenged myself to lose 10% of my body weight. Now that I've achieved that, I'm challenging myself to lose another 10%. I've found that I have more energy and stamina; and most importantly, I feel great! :) And one of the exciting things about my challenge is that I can now fit into my old clothes again! Yeah!

Redeem Team lives up to its name

Well folks, there you have it. After many uncalled fouls, the Redeem Team was able to pull through to win and reclaim the gold medal in Beijing 118-107. Spain had some great shots and strategies, but in the end, Team USA came out on top.

Great job, guys!! Fantastic job Mike Krzyzewski! Go Duke!

And now, it's time for bed.

Olympics = sleep deprivation

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching the Olympics. But maybe just a little too much. Is it really worth staying up past midnight? I do have to say that it was definitely worth watching Michael Phelps break records and win eight gold medals; watching Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor win gold medals in beach volleyball back-to-back for two straight Olympic games; and watching amazing gymnists, rowers, tennis players and such. There have been some incredibly amazing moments.

But never have I been so exhausted in my entire life - except for the time that I was working 60 hours a week for three months (at one point) this year. Six-hours of sleep is definitely not enough for me to fully function. My ideal sleep time? Nine hours. Nine hours of...I don't feel tired in the morning and can go all day without a cup of coffee. Nine hours of...I'm ready to conquer the day and excel at it. However with the Olympics going on I have been getting between five and seven hours of sleep.

Needless to say the Olympic games will be over fairly soon; and as saddened as I am to see it all end this year I am glad that I will be able to go back to some sleep normalcy.