This is a video of comedian Bill Maher. He has taken a serious topic & lightened it up a little bit, but most of his points are very interesting and make you think.

The fact that pharmaceuticals can be advertised for on TV drives me crazy. If someone is in need of some sort of prescription, let the doctor decide that…don’t give the patient ammo to go in & ask for it! I believe that some drugs are beneficial and help people live better lives, but I also believe that I should be able to live the rest of my life without them. If I eat right and take care of my body by exercising and spending time outdoors, there is a good chance that I won’t get depressed, high blood pressure, acid reflux, restless leg syndrome, or anything else those advertised drugs can “fix.”

I heard recently that the average American gains 7 pounds during the time between Thanksgiving and New Years. This year, my goal is to LOSE 7 pounds. I’ve let myself go a bit the last month or so & I’m really excited to get back to the healthy, happy Nikki!

I’ve written a couple posts about how I’ve been feeling on my Raw in MN website. The most recent post is here, but I wanted to give everyone the heads up on a challenge I’m going to be doing Nov 17-19.

I participated in the Raw Diva’s Body Enlightenment System this fall and now they’re coming out with the Green Smoothie Challenge which I’m excited about. It is for EVERYONE…men, women, young, old, people who know nothing about the raw food lifestyle and people who are 100% raw. It will be fantastic! You are officially invited to join me in the challenge. I think it will be a lot of fun & a great way to get pumped up before Christmas week. For all the information, click here. If you do sign up let me know by posting a comment so we can all go through the challenge together!

Geez, I love 4 day weekends! I started out the weekend on Wednesday with a late lunch at Buster’s with TJ. Chris met us as well and once we were done there Chris & I headed up to Flaherty’s for dinner & bowling, except we didn’t get to bowl because there was league bowling. Instead we played darts which was fun. The first couple games Andy played with Chris & I and then for the last game Casey was there so he played too. I didn’t win, but the first 2 games I put my fair share of pressure on…it’s that darn bullseye that I can’t get! Anyway, it was a fun night.

On Turkey day Chris & I slept in before getting our salads together and heading up to my parents house. Becky & Nathan were already there and Josh was up so we had our immediate family all together. Before lunch time Julie & Grandma B showed up and we were all set. It’s sort of a “tradition” to forget a vegetable in the microwave whenever our family gets together to eat…this year, we actually forgot to heat up the mashed potatoes! They are SO good (you make them the night before) that we decided to heat them up and eat them as round 2! We didn’t eat dessert after lunch but then had leftovers for dinner and had some dessert then. There was apple pie, pumpkin pie, and carrot cake! No wonder the average American gains 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years! Ugh. The afternoon was spent napping and watching football and the evening wrapped up with a viewing of Shrek the Third. I liked the 3rd one better than the 2nd one for sure. It was cute.

Friday was a work day for Chris & I. I am working to get my house ready to sell and so we worked on that most of the day. We did find time to watch Murderball (not as good as I was hoping) as well as some TV, so don’t worry, I’m not too big of a slave driver! I got the hall closet all cleaned out and most of the kitchen cupboards as well. Chris got the wallpaper removed from the bathroom so the next steps there are to clean the walls with some solution to remove all the glue and then pick out the new wallpaper. I think we’ll have to paint the ceiling too to make it look really fresh. On Saturday morning we took two big loads out of my house. The stuff we put in Chris’s car went to Savers and Half Price Books. The stuff we put in my car went to his house. Now we have to start making room for my stuff at his house!

Saturday afternoon we met Shelly & Jeremy at Cosetta’s for dinner before going to the Science Museum. We had plans to see the Greece: Secrets of the Past movie in the Omnitheatre and then the Pompeii exhibit. After seeing Bodyworlds last winter I had very high expectations and unfortunately they were not met. It was a cool exhibit, and they give you free audio machines so you can get extra information if you want which is nice, but it was a lot smaller. One of the most amazing sections was the last one where they have plaster casts of the spaces where people were trapped in the lava. One of the archaeologists who was working at the site thought of putting plaster in the holes and then digging in to the area. The level of detail that appears is amazing…you can see people bodies and the clothes they were wearing even though they had become only a pile of bones by the time this research was being done. After the Pompeii exhibit we went to the Sunshine Factory for some drinks with other of Shelly & Jeremy’s friends. It was a fun night! I figured out that evening that Shelly & I saw each other 6 times this year which is amazing - definitely a record since they moved to St Louis!

Sunday is relaxing/project day. We’ll see how much we can get done today…so far, I haven’t done much.

Chris & I got to spend 5 days/4 nights in the Bahamas earlier this month. It was a GREAT weekend. We flew down to Nassau bright and early Friday morning, departing MSP at 5:30AM. It was early, but after a short layover in Atlanta we arrived in Nassau around noon which was really nice. There were some issues with the construction at Breezes Bahamas and our reservations weren’t exactly canceled, but we got moved to another hotel. The hotels that they moved some of their guests to weren’t all inclusive so we had to sleep one place and spend the rest of our days another place. Let’s just say I was NOT a happy camper when I got that call on Wednesday. Originally they said we were going to be staying at Nassau Beach Hotel which, according to them, was “next door” to Breezes. After looking up some reviews online I was prepared for the worst. It sounds like that place is a big dump that they’re not renovating because it’s going to be torn down. When we arrived at the Breezes booth at the airport they informed us we had been booked at the Wyndham Hotel instead. Now, after arriving at the hotels they were obviously NOT next door to Breezes…it was probably a 5 minute walk and there were private residences between them…but being at the Wyndham made that okay with us because our room was really nice. Breezes also offered us a voucher to return to the resort for another 4 nights sometime in the future so we’re looking forward to that. Is it worth the hassle from this trip, maybe, maybe not, but it is what it is and we had a good time despite the inconvenience.

So, we arrived around lunch time on Friday. We walked around the resort a little bit before having some lunch at the buffet. There were 2 options for lunch each day: buffet with a variety of meats, veggies, salad bar, and soups or beach bar with burgers, conch fritters, and salads. After lunch we played pool in the recreation area upstairs at Breezes before heading down to the Wyndham to check in at 4. Dinner Friday night was at the buffet. The salad bar at the buffet was really decent and they had a variety of other dishes to choose from as well as plenty of desserts. After dinner we went back to the Wyndham and decided to take a dip in the hot tub.

Each morning we were up bright & early. It’s weird because usually I can sleep in like a pro but I think there were a couple factors that played into this. First, the bed was hard as rock. Second, the week after Chris returned from Israel we were up at 5am because he was ready for bed at 8pm each night! Saturday we started off with breakfast at the buffet before finding a couple chairs on the beach. We swam in the ocean for a while. I was surprised how chilly it was, but we got used to it. Once we were done there we found some chairs by the pool that were partially in the shade and pulled out our books to relax a little. We had planned on heading downtown in the afternoon but instead ended up having lunch from the beach grill and then enjoying some drinks in the pool. There were 2 restaurants at the resort that you would dress up for and they required reservations. We were not able to get a reservation for Pastafari (Italian) on Saturday night but someone at the front desk recommended we stop by and see if they could fit us in. We arrived around 6:20 for the 6:30 seating and they were able to find a table for 2! Our server that night, Paulo, was awesome and the food was great too. We started out with a delicious salmon bruschetta appetizer and the soup/salad and main courses were good too.

Sunday we were again up early. We had breakfast at the buffet before deciding to take the bus downtown. It’s $1/person and I think that’s actually more of a tip than anything but the trip was easy to make. We had been told that only about 1/3 of the shops were open because it was Sunday but we weren’t planning on doing any serious shopping so we went anyway. Downtown Nassau was just as I remembered it from a cruise I took a few years ago. It was blocks of shops, mostly diamonds & clothing shops, and then the Straw Market was rows and rows of the souvenir “junk” that you can find anywhere. We walked down by the cruise ship port and looked at the big ships and tried to go to Senor Frogs for a Guinness Extra Stout but they were closed. In all we were probably downtown for an hour or two, but it was nice to get away from the resort for a little while. We got back to the Wyndham and switched into our swim suits. We had decided to take some Flying Trapeze lessons at 3pm and there were a couple rules so we prepared for them: wear sock, be dry, do not be drunk. We did go have a couple drinks in the pool after lunch but we were far from drunk. There were a few people that had tried the trapeze on previous days so we were able to watch them before giving it a shot. Neither Chris nor I were able to succeed on the routine the first time we tried but I gave it a second chance and was able to complete it. We were wearing a harness and the guy on the ground would give directions as what to do next. Chris took a video of my second attempt & I posted it here (yes, I am officially on You Tube…whatever that means). Anyway, so you jump off the platform WAY up in the air and are supposed to swing your feet up onto the bar you’re hanging on to. After my failed attempt the guy on the ground told me that there’s a difference between lift your FEET and lift your FOOT and that while I was trying to lift one leg up the other one was dragging me down. On the second attempt I got it! After that you let go of your hands and swing one time. Then you drop your legs down again and swing them 3 times before letting go and doing a back flip before landing on the net. It was kinda fun but that one time was enough for me. I’m glad we did it though…I think next time we go I’m going to try participating in more of the events at the resort. Dinner on Sunday was at the Eden restaurant where we had reservations to eat outside. The Eden was more of a seafood restaurant and a little quieter because we only had 4 tables in our area. We had wine with dinner again and just enjoyed each others company. After dinner we tried to stay over at Breezes long enough to do some dancing at the Hurricane Disco. We played some games (Connect Four mostly Saturday night I think) and did a little dancing to live music being played on the main stage before heading downstairs at 10pm to find the disco pretty much empty. We were discouraged so we just headed back to the hotel to go to bed.

Monday we had made plans to go snorkeling so we got up and packed before going to Breezes for breakfast because that was the only meal that was being served before we had to leave. We relaxed by the pool while waiting for our noon departure. The weather was just gorgeous the whole time we were there! Our shuttle took a couple to the Atlantis resort before dropping us off so we were able to see the gigantic resort. Then we waited at a marina for our catamaran to head out to sea. Chris & I took a seat on one of the front nets and enjoyed our trip out to the reef where we were going to snorkel. It was so windy that they had to take us to an alternate location, but we enjoyed our time on the boat and in the water. There was at least 1 gigantic school of fish that would swim directly at you or even with you. They didn’t ever touch us, but it seemed like they might from time to time! We had about an hour in the water and got to swim around to different areas of the reef. I had the waterproof case for my camera with so occasionally I would swim down and try to get a picture of some fish. It was fun (but freezing too)! I ended up having numb fingers by the time I got out of the water because it was so cold. Luckily I had thawed out by the time we got back to the marina. For dinner on Sunday we decided to try to get in at Pastafari again but this time at the 8:30 seating because we didn’t get back to Breezes until almost 6pm. They were expecting a large group for dinner who didn’t show up so it ended up being a quiet dinner that was very enjoyable. For our last night we had a couple drinks after dinner and headed back to the hotel thinking we might go to the hot tub. Chris fell asleep on the bed before we could make it down there - I think all the fresh air along with the snorkeling had us worn out.

Our last morning in Nassau we got up and packed our bags. We checked out Tuesday morning by 8:30 so that we could grab some breakfast at Breezes before taking the 10am shuttle to the airport. For breakfast we each had an omelet made and grabbed some bread and fruit to go with it. We had decided to eat outside and Chris put his plate down to go get some coffee before I got outside which turned out to be a big mistake. Within seconds the seagulls in the area were dive bombing his plate! Unfortunately, that was the end of the delicious omelet he was planning on eating but I shared some of mine. It was really funny looking back on it, but more frustrating at the time. The rest of our journey went fine. We relaxed before getting to the airport. We were told to allow 2 hours and it took about 30 minutes so we ended up playing cards at the airport while waiting for our flight. Then, we arrived in Atlanta with a 4+ hour lay over. Ick. Luckily that airport is huge and had plenty of options for food. We found a restaurant where we were able to have dinner and play cards which made time pass rather quickly. We got back to Minneapolis around 10pm and took the light rail back to Chris’s house. It was a great vacation & we are planning to go back and use our voucher in a few months.

Last weekend was a lot of fun. Chris & I took it easy Friday evening running some errands and relaxing at home. We were getting ready for the Toga Party Chris had planned for Saturday evening. He has hosted an annual Halloween party for a while but wasn’t able to schedule one this year due to his being in Israel at the end of October so he went with a Toga Party in November instead. I had never been to a toga party but Chris found a link to “How to make a Toga” and we went to JoAnn Etc to pick up some fabric. It was fun to see all the different fabrics people selected and how they put together their togas. TJ & Pete actually ended up with the same pirate material which was crazy. I’m happy with how our togas turned out.

We had dinner at Buster’s (yes, again) with Chuck, Monica, Tia, & Nater before the party. Dinner was a nice way to start the evening. The party was a lot of fun too. Chris mixed up his famous punch, we had some snacks, and everyone had a great time. Guitar Hero was set up upstairs on the Wii and downstairs on the PS2 so there was plenty of rocking out being done as well!

On Sunday we met Josh, Robyn, and Robyn’s parents down at the Metrodome because Becky had given us some free tickets for the Viking’s game. I had never been to an NFL game before and had no idea what to expect. We were about 4 rows from the top of the upper level on the corner of an end zone. It was a pretty good place to be (besides being so far away) because the Vikings first drive was 2 plays ending in a touchdown in our end zone! We left after the Vikings scored at the beginning of the 4th period and took the lead for the remainder of the game. I actually enjoyed the game, which I didn’t have much hope for. Watching football on TV seemed to be the way to go with instant replay & all the different camera angles, but I didn’t really miss that. It was also convenient to take the light-rail down to the metrodome and save the parking money!

…this is quite another in my mind. Santa’s in Australia are no longer allowed to say “Ho, Ho, Ho” and instead are instructed to say “Ha, Ha, Ha.” Supposedly this is because some women find the original cheer to be offensive? Come on. Give me a break. This is beyond ridiculous.

Check out the article here.

Why Is Baseball So Much Better Than Football?

I found that link on the MN GameDay Writers blog and thought it would be interesting to post here. I’d like to see if anyone has a favorite after reading the list of 99 reasons that Thomas Boswell came up with, or even a reason of their own!

My favorites:
#64 - Baseball means Spring’s Here. Football means Winter’s Coming.
#69 - Who’s on First?

And, if you like “top 10″ lists…this one is pretty good too: Fifty Reasons Why Golf Is Better Than Football or Baseball!