No Pain, No Gain, part II

So my Jillian Michael's DVD arrived yesterday. After I got home from work I popped it in the DVD player and followed along. My STARS. It was rough. I think it was the most difficult 20 minutes of my life. Yes, just 20 minutes. My quad muscles are screaming at me today and my shoulders aren't too pleased either. It felt good when I finished though. She moves you through three circuits with three sections to each circuit - 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, 1 minute of abs. As BooMama said, I was relieved when we got to the abs because I got to lay down on the floor for a minute. Wow. I have to work tonight, so I won't get to get back to it again until tomorrow, but even after the grueling 20 minutes from last night, I am looking forward to Thursday.

No Pain, No Gain

I watch the Biggest Loser every week. If I were on the show, hands down, I would want Jillian to be my trainer. She's my current girl-crush and I am always amazed at how she whips her trainees into shape and has no hesitation about getting in their face about anything. Well, I have no plans to be on the Biggest Loser, but I can try the next best thing. I ordered Jillian's "30 Day Shred" workout video. It is scheduled to arrive from the lovely folks at amazon.com tomorrow and I can't wait to try it out tomorrow night. For only $8.99 you can have Jillian Michaels harrass you in the comfort of your own home. I'll let you know how much pain I am in later in the week.

Steel Magnolias

This movie makes me cry every time. I have a new appreciation for it since I lived in Louisiana. It was filmed (and takes place) in an area about an hour from where I lived. One of the characters, Jackson's aunt (who made the bleedin' armadillo groom's cake) was from Alexandria, which is where I lived. The cast is an amazing ensemble. Like Beaches, I bawl through the entire last half hour of the movie. It's one of those movies that no matter when its on, or where I catch it in the telecast, I'll sit down and watch the rest of the movie, tissues in hand.

The West Wing

Can I just say, I love this show? I think it has one of the finest ensemble casts of all time. I started watching when it premiered back when I was in my first year of grad school. I remember calling my college roommate, Mary, and saying something to the effect of "Did you see this? Wasn't it amazing?" Mary and I had similar taste in tv (we never missed the x-files). She and I came to the same verdict - Aaron Sorkin was a genius.

I have since rediscovered the show since over the holidays, Best Buy had all seasons of the show on DVD for $15 each. I bought seasons 1-5. Since I had no cable tv at the time, its all I watched. My brother, at my request, got me seasons 6 and 7 for Christmas. I am almost done with season 7 and feel like I could start back at 1 and watch all over again. The pace is fast, the acting (as evidenced by the many Emmys it won) was amazing, and the story-telling was fictionalized but completely plausible. One of the best episodes was the "live" debate between the two presidential nominees. It was performed live - once for the east coast and once for the west. The ability to do this speaks volumes of the talents of the writers, not to mention the acting skills of Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda. This may be my favorite tv show of all time. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

The West Wing, Season One - amazon.com