I’m Beautiful Like Me.

This week has drained me. The kids were sick, Husband was sick and last night, I got sick. I feel old this week. Most days, I’d say I feel right about my age. I’m 31, I am married, have two kids, I have battled depression and have struggled with my weight for the better part of my life. I feel 31.

I took the RealAge Test earlier today. At this point, I’m still waiting on my results. I figure this is a good time to speculate on my results.

Based on the fact that I’m a good 20-25 pounds overweight, that I smoke and don’t exercise enough, the fact that I have problems sleeping, that at least one of my family members has suffered from breast cancer and that I’ve battled depression, I’m betting my results will tell me my RealAge® is at least 5 years older than my chronological age in years.

What RealAge® asks about is mostly health-related. However, there are a few questions about whether the marriage I’m in is happy and if I have friends with whom I hang out regularly or if I am active religiously. I think these things are every bit as important to how old a person feels as how good his or her health may or may not be.

Some days, I feel 18 again. I feel alive and impulsive, passionate and jubilant those days. It’s fleeting, yes, but those days happen on occasion! Some days, like today, I feel fragile and dilapidated. I just want to lie on the couch, watch football and ignore the demands of day-to-day life.

My results are in! And I’m surprised by them. I figured they’d age me at least 5 years, but they’ve got my RealAge® at 35.1, a difference of +3.9 of my calendar age in years of 31.2.

Based on my results, they have created a plan for me to make me "younger." Some of the suggestions they’ve made:

• Visit the dentist (fat chance - I’m terrified of the dentist!)
• Stop worrying (easier said than done!)
• Raise my good cholesterol
• Stop smoking
• Reduce stress (again, easier said than done)
• Eat more fish (blech!)
• Take a daily vitamin
• Reduce amount of red meat consumed
• Start working out

I can definitely focus on fixing a thing or two there. I’m marking my calendar to retake the test again in 90 days to see if I’ve "grown any younger."

What’s your RealAge®? Take the RealAge Test! It’s free!

As some of you may not know, I met Husband online. It’s becoming more and more commonplace (not to mention more widely accepted) to meet people - especially that special someone - from the internet. The internet has made an already small world much more accessible. Personally, I think that is a very good thing.

However, it can be dangerous to meet people from the internet in person. I have been very lucky in my experiences. But, to be fair, I’ve also been pretty smart about it.

At True.com, they are diligent about not allowing felons (or, for that matter, married people) to become a part of their community. This is the first - and most profound - thing I noticed about True.com. Their claim to being the only online dating service that screens for criminals and “marrieds” and are endorsed by Psychology Today is pretty impressive!

Also available at True.com is coaching service, personal ad advice, videochat, and scientific compatibility test that pinpoints 99 factors that define known successful relationships. Browsing ads, profiles and photos, swapping emails or chatting it up in public and private rooms are some of the available ways to make contact with prospective dates before meeting them in person. Speaking of which, there are articles and pointers to help you make that transition and stay as safe as possible. Sign-up is free, too. If you still haven’t met Mr. or Miss Right? Why not search for free right now?!

If your family is like mine, sometimes unexpected expenses pop up. A short-term or emergency loan may be just the solution you need.

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This is an advertisement.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

In honor of that, a lot of companies put a pretty pink ribbon on their products and donate a portion of those proceeds to researching a cure.

Think Before you Pink is a campaign that encourages consumers to think critically about their pink purchases and calls companies to be more accountable for their role in fundraising for breast cancer.

This year’s focus is on Yoplait and their pink lids. For as long as I can remember, Yoplait has campaigned their pink lid program (and I have even participated!) but it has come to light that their yogurt contains rGBH, a synthetic hormone injected into cows to increase their milk production that is linked to health concerns and increase risk of breast cancer.

Since Breast Cancer Awareness is a cause close to my heart, it is my sincere hope that everyone Thinks Before They Pink. Take action by sending an email to Yoplait.

Last week, the lotto was up to $200M! Husband and I joked for five (or so) drawings in a row that we hadn’t won yet ’cause we were waiting for the jackpot to be just a tad higher. Last Saturday someone took the big pot and, well, it wasn’t us.

But it’s nice to dream.

Of course, with a pot that big, we’d be able to afford behaving stupidly - y’know, catching the first flight outta town to destination of our choice for undisclosed amount of time. We could head to California for redwood hugging; Sedona, Arizona for hiking and checking out the world-renowned spas; Italy because I’ve always dreamed of going; Pennsylvania to learn more about the Amish and to fulfill the dreams of a certain special somebody by paying for him to see PA hair transplant specialist to fight the bald (trust me, there is no convincing him that some chics dig bald). I’d also like to travel to some third-world countries to expose my spoiled American family (and self) to see firsthand how good we have it without ever having won any lottery.

I’m the kinda girl that is surprised when she is hit by lightning and disappointed when I lose the lottery.

I had plans to spend our winnings wisely, dammit. I swear, I was more than half-convinced we’d win. My plan was to first and foremost acquire our first and lifelong home, whether we’d buy a place we love or build one to suit our tastes and needs. Husband really wants a house that is built mostly underground, very much like this beautifully simple, low-impact one. His dream, however, would definitely include electricity, though.

The house would be environmentally-friendly, too, with solar panels, cisterns to catch rainwater for recycling purposes that would also generate electricity with the downward flow of water, and so on. We’d go shopping for durable and long-lasting furnishings, quality cabinetry for the kitchen, and I’d spare no expense for a high-caliber home system since I am a sucker for movies and quality movie-watching experiences. I’d want to pay the taxes on it for the next 50 years, too. We’d hafta get some farm equipment, too, ’cause I’d definitely want to try my hand at growing crops of various fruits and veggies eventually.

We’d hook our family members up with homes of their own, too (or pay off the ones they have), give a hefty chunk to our favorite charities and then be frivolous travelers. I’m not sure what we’d do with Joy, though, since she piped up during our dreamy conversation that she hates travel and wouldn’t want to accompany us. Weirdo kid.

Can you even imagine winning a lottery jackpot that big? How would you spend it?

OMG it farkin’ hurts! I swear the picture does it no justice whatsoever. It is angry red and swollen.

I’m embarrassed that I’m still falling like a clutzy kid at my age, but I was under an enormous amount of stress yesterday. I can forgive me.

Please contact me for my address, I will gladly take your unused painkillers off your hands! Sheese, but it was killing me today all slathered up with triple antibiotic cream and gauzed up (so’s not to rub against the inside of my jeans).

At least I’m having a good hair day. I haven’t taken pictures of myself in a grip. Behold - I am beautiful like me!

The lighting in our house was weird this afternoon. All these were taken in our living room with no flash.

Sometimes it still takes me a moment to recognize the fact that I’m not a blonde. I haven’t been a blonde since I was a tot, but I’ve always thought of myself as one, and of course, dyed my hair accordingly a number of times, as well.

And it took forever, but I’m finally in a place where I appreciate my locks. Okay, most days I appreciate them. The part I want to complain about loudest is that to get my hair to look like it does in these pictures, I must at least get it soaking wet, combed and scrunched. No climbing-out-of-bed-and-going for me, unless I’m in one of those (very frequent) moods wherein I don’t care if it looks like rats dwell in my scalp. In that case, I just tie it back.

You can click these to make ‘em bigger. Go on, enjoy my beauty to the fullest!

The bad news is that a lot of legitimate comments were eaten by Spam Karma 2. The good news is that I was able to save them. The bad news is that I deactivated Spam Karma 2 and am now using math to help prevent would-be spam. The good news is that (hopefully) all is functioning again.

If you experience any weird quirks with commenting, please do not hesitate to contact me at tata (at) imnobeautifullikeyou.com.

The good news is that football is on! I’m currently watching the Tampa Bay Bucs @ New Orleans Saints. The bad news is that it takes me forever to get over all the roster changes. For example, Jeremy Shockey playing for the Saints?! Yeah, I don’t deal with change well. At writing, the score is tied 7-7. I’m cheering for the Bucs. Not sure yet if that’s good news or bad!

The good news is that the boy napped today. The bad news is that it wasn’t for near long enough.

The good news is that I’m seeing increased traffic from Entrecard. The bad news is that I’m spending way too much time dropping my card!

The good news is that I’m hopping into the shower and leaving for the library to get some new knitting books. The bad news is that I’m going to miss the end of the game.

The good news is that I finally finished my first sock! It looks really, really terrific and I am so proud. I’ll get some photos up later. The bad news is that I still need to make the match! I think on my next try, I will make two at the same time.