i am a canadian citizen and recently married to an american citizen on
nov. 12th, 2005.  i would like to know how to obtain work
authorization in the united states so i can work here legally.  i
previously had a j-1 visa but that expired in the summer of 2005. 
since i've been married, my wife has petitioned me (form i-130) to
become a lawful resident, and i am currently residing in the united
states.

Hopefully you're going through a lawyer.  Doing things yourself will
probably take way too much time, so the lawyer fees are worth it.  If
you have a competent lawyer, he will set everything up for you, from
the initial petition, to getting your social security card, then to
obtaining your work authorization, then for your change of status
interview, which you'll need plenty of documents showing that you two
live together and such, such as joint credit card statements, phone,
gas, electricity bills, car payments, house payments, etc.  Those
documents are the ones that matter most in the interview.  You'll get
your green card and after a few years you can file for your permanent
residency.

You could have applied for a temporary work permit when your wife
applied for the I-130.  Check on the INS website to see what form was
that.  if you won't file for that, just wait for 6 months-1 year from
the date of the application of your I-130 to get your residency.