Your weekly update

So I have fallen a bit behind on updating this here blog. Last Monday, I weighed in at 165. Compared to OSB, Operation Banish Baby Fat seems to be moving at a snail's pace. In fact, my doctor chided me for not dropping the lbs fast enough. Tomorrow I will take my measurements along with the usual weigh-in. I feel somewhat heartened by the fact that I am slowly fitting into some old clothes (not my original size yet), and I went for two runs in the neighborhood this past week. I feel confident I will be 5K-ready come May

Little A is doing just great. He laughs and grins with abandon. Most of the clothes he was wearing that first month home are either tight fitting or flat out too small for him now. We've successfully bottle-fed him twice away from home, and now Momma A has a daily appointment with her breast pump (So much fun!). This has been very heartening because now it means we are no longer confined to 2-hour excursions with Little A (Momma A not a big fan of public displays of her breast.). This also means a real bona fide date night is in Momma and Poppa A's future. Our Boy also took in his first car show on Saturday. The time spent outside of his sling, he was alert and looking around at all the shiny automobiles. Definitely see this as a sign of a future car lover.

The Oscars were enjoyable, if not a little dull. I thought Jon Stewart (Go Tribe!) was pretty darn entertaining. His ribbing of the Hollywood crowd singed but didn't completely burn. Loved the faux campaign ads and his joke about women not having enough money to buy a dress that completely covered their breasts. I hope the Academy will stop bouncing through hosts and ask him back again. Dolly Parton did a bang up job, and I was a little disappointed that her song lost out to a mediocre rap song. I managed to pick most of the big awards correctly. I had a feeling that Geisha would win the "artsy" awards and Kong sweep the effects ones. Glad March of the Penguins picked up an award. Those crazy French and their stuffed penguins!

It was funny how those films that usually the Academy lavishes with nominations like Geisha, Kong, Cinderella Man, Narnia (you know the big, epic productions) were mostly passed over in place of small, "issue" driven movies. It was, as I predicted, the year Hollywood pats itself on the back. Indeed, Clooney's acceptance speech and the Academy presidents speech both pointed to Hollywood's overinflated sense of self-importance. Come on people; let's not kid ourselves. Most of the crowd at the Kodak theatre would like to think themselves as artist-activists, but what really matters in Hollywood is the almighty dollar. Entertaining, shallow popcorn flicks are what drive the Hollywood machine and allow the smaller issue flicks to get made.

The Crash upset surprised me as much as anyone. I was totally prepared for a big ole Brokeback sweep. I did enjoy Crash-well written, interesting characters, nice ensemble cast, funny dialogue, good editing. Would I say it's the best movie this year? Hard to tell. I'll have to catch up on my viewing. I compare this upset win to the year Shakespeare in Love beat out Saving Private Ryan for best picture. The Academy adored SiL because it was about themselves-show people...actors. Similarly, Crash took place in L.A. where most of the voters live. Of course, tongues will be wagging that Brokeback was passed over because of homophobia...who knows. But it was good to have a upset in a year where most of the winners had already been lavished with acolades in innumerable other awards leading up to the Oscars.

Random observations: Along with most of the world I was totally confused by the interpretive dance productions during the singing of two of the song noms. I hated the camera work (sudden long shots of acceptance speeches, random shots of audience members). Did Lauren Bacall forget her glasses? Good to see Jennifer Garner can laugh at herself; looks like she is taking a slower, sensible route to shedding her baby pounds and rocking her post-baby cleavage to boot. I predict George Clooney will soon ascend Jack Nicholson's throne as the good time guy mugging in the front row of the show.

Eliott Yamin in in the final 12 on Idol. Go Richmond Boy!!