I am reading the latest issue of Canadian House and Home. If I were to pore (pour?) over this type of magazine on a regular basis, I would be so dissatisfied with my home and my social life. Who, I repeat WHO has a house that looks like any of the houses in the magazine? Only really rich people, and the main readership for this kind of magazine is the middle class individual... it's designed to make you dissatisfied with your own home so you'll buy more stuff!

I am glad for the real-life role models in my life who are less than perfect (I know, no one is perfect but some people seem perfect to me, and they are not my role models). I sometimes have the tendency to expect myself to be perfect and that makes me very stressed and flustered when my flaws come to the surface.

Last Sunday, we had my in-laws over for lunch and I made my first ever roast beef Sunday dinner. Growing up, that was not a tradition in my family, but it was in Peter's and he and I did the work together. It turned out ok, except the potatoes and carrots were a little hard (who knew you had to boil them before baking them?) and the meat was tough. I got so flustered and mad at the carrots and potatoes. Now I'm embarrassed because I got all flustered and grouchy and it wasn't really that big of a deal. By the way, my in-laws are not "the in-laws"; they are really cool and I love them.

Update on the job/career: it's still crazy but our team managed to squeeze out some good feedback so we know that we're doing some things right. It's still really high pressure in other ways. I keep telling myself that I just need to accept it instead of fighting it every day. My attitude can go a long way in making my job more enjoyable.

As a profession, dietitians often are women with confidence issues and we can sometimes let ourselves be walked on. I am finding that as I gain experience, I am less willing to take guff and rudeness from people. It's because I know that I know the facts and don't have time to waste on those who don't appreciate it or benefit from it. I also know how to talk to people without being rude or condescending.

I will leave you with a comment I made to one of my fellow dietitians after a particularly difficult week: "It seems to be the in thing for everyone to hate dietitians these days. Well guess what everyone? I hate you too!" I have kind of a knee-jerk sense of humor sometimes.