And now, it's time for a brief vocabulary lesson...

Tonight, I will be educating readers on the difference between the words subconscious and unconscious.

Subconscious means that part of your mind is not fully aware of something it is doing, yet it still influences your behavior (He subconsciously repressed a painful childhood memory; Mary subconsciously purchased the brand name of a cereal over the usual generic cereal she usually bought, even though it was more expensive, because she kept seeing the brand name cereal in a specific TV commercial all last week).

Unconscious means that you are not awake (The impact from the accident rendered him unconscious).

I see these two confused in text often and as a professional grammar and punctuation cop, I find this highly annoying. I stumbled across it today in my new read, Love the One You're With. The author used the word "unconscious" when she meant "subconscious." Grrrr. On the bright side, that's the worst complaint I have about the book so far! Well, that and a typo. But so far it's a cute little read, and just what I need to help me come down from the massive letdown that was Atonement. :-D

Also, I stopped by the library today and picked up a book that I had on reserve that had come in- Naturally Thin by Bethenny Frankel. I read an excerpt of the book on the TODAY show website, and it's been popping up a lot in Blogland, and it's definitely piqued my interest. I'm a little turned off by the title, and I don't want to read it to pick up any "dieting" tips. I don't believe in dieting. I personally don't think diets work. I think most diets are a form of deprivation in some way or another (with the exception of Weight Watchers) and helps lead to damaging and negative psychological and emotional relationship with food and eating, and worst of all, yourself. Not to say I don't have my own issues or hangups in these areas, I definitely have a checkered past, present, and most likely future with food and eating and self-esteem- but I don't believe in dieting and denying myself. I believe in making choices to fit your needs and your lifestyle, whatever they may be. I believe in balance and moderation, whatever that definition may be for you. I try hard to know and understand my body, and what works for MY life and MY body. I don't cut carbs. I choose carbs that I enjoy eating and that make me feel good. I don't believe in not eating after a certain hour. I'm going to eat when I'm hungry, regardless of what time of day or night it is. For example, I know that I need to have a snack every night before I go to bed. Some people have their snack or dessert right after dinner, or an hour after dinner, or if they're not hungry by the time they're ready for bed, they don't have anything at all. That works for them and that's cool. Me, I know my body at least well enough to know that if I don't put a little somethin'-somethin' in it before I go to sleep, then I'll either wake up hungry in the middle of the night, or ravenous in the morning, and I typically don't get to eat breakfast right away when I wake up during the week, because I wait to eat breakfast at work (weekends are another story, obvi!), and to me, waking up hungry in the middle of the night is the worst, because I can't get back to sleep, and am far too lazy to get out of bed and make something. By eating at least something before I go to sleep, even if it's something small like a cookie or a small serving of cereal, I go to bed happy and satisfied, and I wake up happy and satisfied enough to get me to work when I can have breakfast. I don't believe in taking a few bites of something and that will mentally satisfy whatever I'm craving. That works for some people, but I know myself well enough to know that if I want a cookie, two bites of that cookie won't cut it. That won't satisfy me mentally. It's enough for some people and I truly commend that, but I know that won't do it for me. I'll eat the whole cookie and enjoy and savor every bite. I believe in giving in to my craving in a way that satisfies me physically and emotionally. If I want a tasty treat, I'm not going to deprive myself. I'm going to give myself a tasty treat. Something I want. I'm not going to crave a piece of chocolate cake and force myself to eat carrot sticks instead. What I would do is eat a chocolate Vitamuffin. I'm giving in to my craving in a way that makes my body and my mind happy and healthy. That is not the solution for everyone. That is the solution for me. Some people would prefer to give in to that craving with a small piece of good-quality dark chocolate, or a piece of homemade cake, or a slice of cake from their favorite bakery, and that's great too. That's what works for them and their lives. You know? Everyone has their own definition of balance, lifestyles, moderation, etc. I know a lot of mine, but I'd love to be even more in touch with my body's wants and needs on a physical and emotional level. I find all of that very fascinating. I don't know if I'll get all the answers from a Real Housewife of New York City (and I'll admit, I tried to watch this show once, and just didn't get it; in fact, I got a little bitter over how rich and spoiled they were! If they saw the size of my work cubicle, they'd sob right into their Prada purses!), but I still want to give this book a go and see what Mademoiselle Bethenny has to say about all this. I'll probably start reading this later on tonight.

So woo-hoo for the three-day weekend!!!! I needed a day off in the WORST WAY. I was even debating taking a vacation day in the upcoming week or two, but we have a busy few weeks ahead at work, and so I'm going to wait until all that dies down and then I'm going to take a day off. I'll definitely appreciate it more after the crunch time, that's for sure! Anyway, I'm just going to focus on the day off tomorrow for now. I'm going to sleep in, hit up the gym, watch my daytime shows, and R-E-L-A-X!!!! The Phillies are playing tomorrow, but I'm not sure if they're playing an afternoon game or a nighttime game. Either way, my fine booty will be parked on my couch, rooting for my boys!!!!

Hope you all have fun and fabulous Fridays tomorrow!!!! To those of you who don't have off, I hope your work day is as pain-free as possible!!! :-)

Sidebar: How FUNNY was the NBC lineup tonight??? TWO new episodes of The Office, both hysterical, the new show Parks & Recreation was pretty funny too (Amy Poehler's character is like a female version of Michael Scott!), and funny NEW ep of 30 Rock! Such a great night for TV!!!!