Tuesday on Today 9/25

I'm doing a compilation of yesterday and today since I ran out of time to post yesterday. On the fourth hour yesterday the ladies and their guests discussed emotional cheating. Innocent or unfaithful? Can a relationship ever recover? Those were the types of questions posed to Rene Syler, author of "Good Enough Mother," psychologist Judith Sills, editor Victoria Zacheim and Caroline Leavitt who has first-hand experience with this subject since her first husband was a cheater. Basically, the consensus is that yes, emotional cheating is infidelity even if the cheaters never physically touch each other. One third of divorces are because of emotional cheating. Wow, that's a lot. But there really isn't much more to get into here on this subject. That's why I just incorporated it into today's post.

Today's Family featured a segment called Parenting Your Parents. They showed a daughter who is constantly telling her parents what to do and correcting them--considered nagging. She's in her mid-twenties and her parents aren't that old, so this is not well received. The basic advice of this segment is: no nagging. If your parents are getting up in the years and you're worried about their finances or health, then step in and try and help. But don't make it seem like you're trying to take over their lives. Trust me, they won't accept your advice no matter how well intentioned. I see my sisters doing it constantly with my mother and she doesn't appreciate it, to say the least. My advice is to offer a helping hand, and don't make it seem like you think they're incompetent. Try to put yourself in their position. And think of how you want your own kids to treat you in the future.

Today's Fitness featured Workout With The Biggest Loser. You can read the new book "The Biggest Loser Fitness Program" and get more tips on losing weight. Today's tips were: stay hydrated. That basically means to drink water constantly--don't even think about it, just drink. Always have water with you. I always do. It makes sense since sometimes thirst is mistaken for hunger. Always plan ahead. Have healthy snacks with you at all times so the drive-thru doesn't look so tempting. And educate yourself. The book has tips from all the contestants. They all lost weight, so they must work. Check my Amazon search box for it right here.

Next up was something called Free To Be Me. I guess it's a new regular like Today's Family or Critic's Corner (which is up next). Today's segment was about do it yourself hairstyles with Katrina Szish. They showed some before and afters. One used an at home hair painting kit to get some really nice looking highlights. Only problem is you need to have a "hair buddy" to help out especially with the back. And take it from my experience, it's hard enough doing the front by yourself, so don't ever attempt to do the back. I had the scars to prove it. Luckily hair grows back. Anyway, the problem is, this is supposed to be "do it yourself." If you need help, you're not doing it yourself. The next new do was on someone who added bangs to her long hair. But do you think she cut them herself? Of course not! You can't ever attempt to cut bangs into hair that doesn't already have them. But once they're there, you can trim them up yourself by cutting upward into the hair rather than straight across. Unless you like looking like a three year-old. Again, this is not something that was done by herself. So the title is kind of a misnomer if you ask me.

Moving on to The Critic's Corner, Gene Shallot reviewed "In The Shadow Of The Moon" about the first trip to the moon, or something like that. He raved about it. I went back to eating my breakfast because it looked like a real snoozer to me. But anything about space and rockets just makes me tune out immediately. I guess I should say "space out." Sorry, I had to find some humor in an otherwise humorless review of a boring movie. OTOH, Gene apparently also reviewed "Eastern Promises" with Viggo Mortenson and Naomi Watts earlier in the show and though he basically gave it a good review, he did say that it deserves an NC-17 rating for its relentless violence. I'm still adding it to my must-see movie list. I love Viggo Mortenson, especially when he's bad. He's so good at it.

And finally, another book was featured: "The Hollywood Trainer Weight Loss Plan." Author, Jeanette Jenkins showed some moves such as the single leg squat, the one leg pick-up where you bend down to pick up something up off the floor with your legs straitht, lifting the back leg so you look like a flamingo--this helps work on balance too. She also demonstrated some isometric abdominal work, some of which you can do in your car by contracting your muscles while you're stopped at a traffic light. Check out the book for more moves.

And that's a wrap.

Thursday on Today 8/23

Today's Style featured Bobby's Beauty Bag with Bobbie Thomas. Four Ways To Stay Smooth: Removing Unwanted Hair. Laser removal is the most permanent and least painful (at least that's what they say) way to get rid of unwanted hair but it's also the most expensive at $200-$700 a treatment and you need about seven. I think I'll hang on to my razor for now. Then there's waxing--probably the most painful hair remover. But you can ask for a numbing cream. I think you'd need general anesthesia to numb that kind of pain. You can also learn to use wax at home if you can stand the pain with waxworks which is available at http://completelybare.com/. For die hard shavers like me, you can go to http://whishbody.com/ to get some type of men's shave kits. You can use a depilatory or cream that you just spread on and rinse off in the shower. My problem with those is you have to wait around for them to work before you rinse. I don't have the patience for that. And then there are those new products like Veet that use heat to destroy hair follicles over time. I've never tried those so I don't know if they work.

Today's Money: Splurge vs. Steal At Home. Jean Chatzky showed us what to spend on and what to save on starting in the kitchen with the microwave, which you can save on. No need to spend more than $60. You should splurge on a pepper mill--who knew? I don't even own one. Knives are also something you should splurge on, according to Jean, because they'll last longer. You can save on a food processor like one from Hamilton Beach for $50. Moving on to the living room; splurge on a couch. You shouldn't be able to lift it--that makes cleaning tough. Not to mention rearranging the furniture. You can save on a coffee table. Splurge on flowers. No supermarket shopping for those. Save on a stationary bike but splurge on a treadmill. Save on a headboard but splurge on a mattress and sheets too. That's Jean Chatzky's advice. Take it or leave it.

It's been a long time since I've seen The Critic's Corner. I wonder what Gene Shallot does with his time when he's not reviewing movies. Today he gave a good review of the British farce, "Death At A Funeral." This is my type of film and looks hilarious. Frank Oz, who's directed everything from all the Muppets movies to "Bowfinger" and "Housesitter" gives us a comedy to die for--Gene's words, not mine. And as he says, the first three letters in funeral are f-u-n.

There were some problems with the weather today and I'm not talking about the flooding in Findlay Ohio. Al's fill-in, doing the weather from there, got cut off for my local weather, then my local weather got cut off for a weather map of the entire country and no dialogue. This happens from time to time but it looks like both sides screwed this one up.

It's been ten years since Princess Diana's untimely death and newspaper editors in Britain are finally admitting some guilt over the paparazzi's role in her death. If they hadn't been chasing her, the car probably wouldn't have been speeding and there'd probably have been no accident. Too little, too late. But at least they're showing some humanity in admitting their fault.

Today's Home featured Lou Manfredini showing Quick Fixes Around The House. Five Common Problems, starting with the toilet--poor flushing due to clogged ports. Those are the holes under the rim. Just use a stiff brush and a calcium remover. From there it gets tougher. I'm just going to write down what was listed--I really can't describe any more than that. Raise flapper to stop a leaky toilet. A new flapper costs about $6. For a sticky door, use 3" wood screw to realign the door. Use a self adhesive metal wall kit for holes in the walls to patch them up. He made that look a lot easier than I'm sure it really is. He also showed a way to use a bowl over a carpet stain and then tack the unclean carpet. I have no idea what he means and my two year-old won out over the TV, so I couldn't hear much. The last tip was to use #0000 steal wool on wood tables. Maybe to get rid of scratches. Most of this stuff looked to me like it should be handled by a professional, but visit the Today website if you're brave enough to try any of these.

Today's Fitness was about Yoga For Mommy And Me. Take a class if you can find one but there are plenty of videos you can try at home. Gurmukh is a yogi whom they spoke with about the benefits of yoga. I have a couple of her videos, The Method prenatal yoga and The Method Postnatal Baby and Me for mamma and baby. They're great and I highly recommend this as a way to get back into shape and relax with your baby.

And That's a wrap. Till tomorrow.