Season 3 started...

Well, it's official. I have a new show. Typically, it would be Grey's Anatomy. But, truthfully, I think Grey's is starting to jump the shark. BAD. The first episode this week was terrible. I knew it was bad when I grabbed Maggie's DS and started playing it halfway through - mostly out of boredom. Seriously Meredith. Make up your freakin' mind. Seriously...

At least Sunday had something for me to look forward to. Since the TV bastards canceled two of my favorite shows this summer (Dirt and October Road) I needed to find something new. When I went out of town with my girls a few weeks ago, we all became hooked on Dexter. Like, 14 hours straight on a Saturday hooked. Finally - some TV worth watching.

Plus, get this. Scott and I just got Showtime for FREE for a year from Directv. It was a "loyalty gift" for being a 5 year customer. Talk about perfect timing. So, I have a year of Dexter to look forward to and this Sunday was the season premiere.

Jennifer, Jana, Nichol, Greta and I are constantly e-mailing about the show. It's great that I can chat with my girls about it and today was no different. Of course the e-mail line was a buzz...especially because there were some new twists thrown in and of course, we're all waiting to see how the plotline develops. Oh - and I guess I should mention that I enjoy watching the show because I find Dexter to be slightly attractive. OK - so he's "I need a cold shower" hot, in his weird little way, but still...eye candy=good show.

I think my favorite thing is in the intro when he pulls his t-shirt over his head. (insert knuckle bite here)



So he dismembers...some things can be overlooked. Ha!

Anyway, that's about all that's going on right now. I've been working 60+ hours/week (new job = tons to do), Maggie has cheerleading 3-5 days/week, Addie is growing like crazy and it amazes me how much she's turning into a little girl versus my baby, and Scottie 2 Hottie (gotta give props to my #1 guy) turned 33 last week. It's still hard to believe that I have been with him since he was 19. But, he's the perfect guy for me and puts up with all of my little celebrity crushes. Of course, Reese Witherspoon is the top of his laminated list. At least it's not Pam Anderson.

Oh and I'm going to miss seeing the NKOTB this Friday. I was going to go but the economy has hit us just as hard as everyone else and I can't justify the cost. No matter how I look at it, I find higher priorities for my family. Bummer, but I have their CD and I guess that's good enough. (Ok - who am I kidding - it sucks but sometimes you have to be the adult and make good choices)

Have a good week and I promise to have a new blog post soon. I'm also trying to stay away from politics. It just ends up ticking me off. Ha!

I'm obsessed...

I have not been this excited about a show since Grey's season 2. We rented Dexter this weekend and I think I watched it for about 14 hours straight. Greta and I would have watched it all night if we didn't have to get up the next morning.

Obsessed doesn't even begin to cover it. I'm trying to cut things out of my budget to sub to Showtime. Sad...

I think he's also become my #2. He hasn't quite knocked Nick out of the #1 spot, but he's like 1.4. Not quite 2, maybe.

I can't wait for September 28th.

I'm at a crafting retreat - look what I made!

I'm away this weekend after having four days without any power. Talk about culture shock of being able to flip on lights, turn on a TV, etc. LOL! Anyway, it's a good time. I'm out here with my friends Jennifer, Jana, Greta, Sandi and my newfound friend, Nichol. I've also become addicted to the TV show, Dexter, and am waiting for everyone to ok my putting the next disc of Season 1 in the DVD player.

I've been knitting a lot and planning on opening an Etsy store soon. I brought a bunch of hats that I've already finished and started embellishing them. It's a lot like scrapbooking in some way. You create the base project and then embellish it and make it pretty. Here I am in my hat. Ignore the hair. I let it dry and don't have my straightening iron. Of course, I'm at a girl's weekend away. I should still be in jammies!



Let me know what you think! :)

Some things I just do not get...

Palin's Account Hacked

Seriously? People are having a fit because she got a personal e-mail where someone was praying for her and telling her to not let "the negative press get you down." Since when did someone praying for you and sending a positive e-mail become a crime? So it's her government address. So what? How many of us get personal e-mails on our work account? I do. I have friends AT WORK that sometimes send me the same type of messages. If I'm having a bad day, they will send me something uplifting. What is WRONG with that?

I'll tell you what's wrong with this. People are looking to bash her on anything they can find. It's wrong to hack into her e-mail account. That's PRIVATE. I'm sure if it were Obama's e-mail, there would be a big stink about it. It's wrong to hack into anyone's e-mail unless it's illegal activity. As I said before, I don't believe receiving a message from a friend with a quick uplifing message is a felony.

This election as taught me a few things. I've also lost respect for quite a few people. It's sad.

Bring it On...

I thought I'd try to steer away from the political talk for a while and dwell on something else. Right now, life is pretty busy. I have a new role at work which I am adjusting to, Maggie is in cheerleading and Addie is a rambunctious 2 year old. That doesn't even begin to describe her on some days. She definitely has a mind of her own. Anyway, let's go back to the cheerleading part. That has been an adjustment for me.

I never was a cheerleader. Had friends that were, but as for me - I did the dance squad in school and then basically decided that was too girlie for my taste. Growing up with three brothers more or less destined me to be a tomboy. I wasn't all about flipping around in a small skirt. (Which, ironically, I had to do in dance - ICK!) But, more power to those who do. Anyway, now my daughter is doing the cheer thing and I am SO lost. It's almost comical.

Yesterday we had an "exhibition" which means that all of the squads in the area meet and they do their "hello" cheers as well as a dance or more cheers. It's like Bring It On for 8 year olds. Me, I go to support my daughter and her squad because that's important to me. But, what I did not realize is how IMPORTANT it is to other moms.

The girls are 8. EIGHT. Like, you know. They're only 8 years old. Basically in an ideal world, they would still be playing with Barbie's and be totally naive about everything else that us adults have to deal with. But, yesterday I realized that being 8 today is not like the 8 when I was a kid. Thank goodness our coach has a sensibility to her. She's professional and knows what's acceptable and what isn't. But, some of those coaches - WOW. There were girls out there that looked like they just stepped out of a beauty pageant. Full make-up, the "fake" hair ponytails, mama's yelling "Go baby - get those jumps" and doing the dances along with them. Reminded me of one of those bad movies about teen beauty pageants, except these girls were EIGHT. A few of the songs had gyrations in them. I mean, I'm no prude - I give Maggie honest answers when she asks me a question (REGARDLESS of the question) but if she were out there doing the pelvis thrusts to a TI song, I'd probably be fit to be tied. It's bad enough that I had to buy her skimpier underwear so that they didn't hang out of her tights. Add the rap stripper dance and I'd probably call the whole thing off.

Plus, I don't look like the other moms. I have on a t-shirt and capri pants. I forgot to wear their team shirt (trying to sneak out before the 2 year old realized I was leaving) and I also forgot my button with her in her uniform. BAD MOM. Anyway, I get there and there are moms in full-blown garb with signs and dozens of roses, etc. I was SO lost. I didn't realize I was going to a Bengal's game...Isn't that what you do at one of those?

I could hear all of the parents around me, busily gossiping and chattering. A "rival" squad's cheering section sat behind us (I tried to sit with the parents of the other girls on our squad) and all I heard was negativity about our school and the rivalry. I mean, seriously. GROW UP. I sat there sort of laughing to myself because the funny thing was, these people were from my husband's high school. (We both went to local schools then moved to the district in-between when we got married, which ironically was a "rival" to both of our high schools.) Anyway - it's just foreign and new to me. I didn't bring poms and I feel odd yelling, screaming and stomping like I'm at a pep rally. I guess it's something I have to get used to. I feel like the goth kid that's stuck at a pep assembly. Seriously - give me a pad of paper and let me create while all of this goes on. LOL!

Oh - and on the way home, we got caught in the wind storm of the century! No power. We haven't had any since 2:00 yesterday. No work today. I've got maybe 10 minutes left on my computer battery before I go over to my mom's to charge it. Fun times these past two days. Fun times.

Never Forget...

Always Remember...

God Bless America!

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Shortly after my post last night, I saw where both Obama and Biden asked the media to back off of Palin and her daughter. Obama mentioned that his mother was an unwed teen and Biden stated that children were off-limits. I agree. And, I give credit where credit is due. Very respectable of both.

Whitey Can Vote

Here's the deal - I grew up in a pretty racially diverse neighborhood. I can remember the neighborhood kids coming over for my birthday parties and I never paid attention to what color everyone was. We were all KIDS. Fast forward to high school when I had a "friend" from childhood condemn me for being white. I never judged her, but rather she decided that she no longer wanted to hang out because I was "a cracker". Hmmm...reverse discrimination?

Through college I talked to everyone. Black, white, gay, straight, male, female, old, young. I really didn't care. If you were nice, we were cool. Isn't that how life is supposed to be? Now, fast forward again - 10 years to a new election.

And I am mad. Yes. Why? This sums it up...



Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Everyone is entitled to vote for whomever they choose. But, I am a consenting adult, one that has a right to vote and I also have a right to speak my opinion. Do I think Obama is a good speaker. Yes - I do. Do I think that Jeremiah Wright is a racist. YES - I do. Will I vote for Obama. NO - I won't. Do I think that your mentor can affect how you feel? Yes. I do. Am I not voting for Obama because of race? NO. Am I not voting based on principles and my own morals. Yes. Would I vote for Colin Powell tomorrow. Yes - I would. Does that pretty much defeat any racism argument for my vote. Damn straight it does.

I'm watching Headline News right now and I have to say - I just heard the best quote. The correspondent said "Palin has been criticized more in the past week than Obama in 18 months by the media." Sad, but true. It's amazing how people will only see what they want to see. Everyone is up in arms because Palin's 17 year old daughter is pregnant. Well, guess what - she's not the first, she won't be the last. But, because her mom is running for VP, I guess she is now the target of media scrutiny. Admit it people - how many of us were doing the same thing that could have landed us in that position at 17. I guarantee a VAST majority.

What's the point of this blog? I don't know. I guess just to weed through some of the bullshit that I think is out there.

It's times like this that I think about Marianne Smith, a dear woman that I loved and adored and often called "grandmother". She was a black woman from the south who was a dear friend of the family and someone that I admired. She would tell me stories about growing up in the south and she was never bitter - never angry. She was always loving. She never made me feel bad for being a different color than she as well as vice versa. I lost Marianne four years ago, but I refuse to lose her faith in people. And that my friends, is one of the reasons why I'm taking this stand.

The other? My dad would have been 76 today. He fought in Korea during the conflict - served his country for four years overseas. Am I patriotic? Damn straight I am. Do I expect the same out of my President. Yes - I do.

I know...I know...

Ok - I suck. I know that. I have been TERRIBLE about blogging and I really do have all intentions of being better. Right now, so much is going on. Maggie is a cheerleader now, so four to five days per week are spent doing something related. Either tumbling class, practice, games, etc. She loves it - and quit Tae Kwon Do to do it. I got a new "title" at work which basically translates to more work - which has me quite stressed. Addie is doing good as is Scott. They're just plugging away. The end of summer is here, school is back in session and life is back to the hectic day to day. Boring, huh?

I thought I'd share some photos from the past two months. I got the new camera and then my card reader died, so I bought a new one two weeks ago and am just NOW getting around to uploading them. Hopefully, you'll enjoy! :)

Our Pups - I bought these shirts for them while on vacation and this is their favorite pastime - looking out the window and watching the cars drive by. I swear, they are the coolest dogs ever.


My girl in her uniform. The lighting stinks because we have a florescent light in our kitchen, but it just amazes me how much she is growing up!


I am still addicted to knitting. Have finished like 5 hats and plan to sell a few on Etsy, soon. (Still trying to figure out if I should...) Anyway, here is Addie modeling one that I made for her. This was my first knitted project, so go easy on me.


I STILL can't believe she is in the 3rd grade! She is loving her class (I think it's because two boys that she's had crushes on are in there!) and she is now "switching" classes, so she thinks she's a big deal. LOL! Everything is Hannah Montana. Folders, notebooks, lunch bag, t-shirts, EVERYTHING!



I guess that's all for now. I'll post more later. It's late and truthfully - I want to get to bed. I thought about watching the Republican National Convention but I'll probably fall asleep. I know I did during the DNC. (But, that might be because I'm a McCain girl) Election year is always a fun time - everyone with their stickers, etc. I have such a wide view on various issues, that it was somewhat hard to determine who I really wanted. Truthfully - none of my preferred candidates made the final cut, but that's just how it goes.

Anyway - I'm off to bed. Hopefully you'll get another post from me this week. :D