Another Season, Really?

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Today, I caught some snippets of episodes of 'The Starter Wife' with Debra Messing. I love her, or should I say, I love "Grace". 'Starter Wife'...not so much. I just don't get the whole, "I am woman, hear me roar, have to have a gay best friend, along with an alcoholic best friend to be whole" type character. Cliche is too cliche of a word to use to describe it. Therefore, Tivo will not form a close bond with that one. Enough people out there must disagree with me, though, because another season was picked up.

I also lost a few hundred IQ points when watching 5 minutes of 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians". Those girls are painful to watch. Bruce Jenner might as well tattoo "Welcome" on his forehead seeing as he acts as everyone's doormat.

I'm done with channel exploring: "The Closer", "Heroes" and "Lost" are my Tivo's best buds this year.

Blonde Moment...

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First of all, no offense to the blondes out there, it's just a figure of speech, k? But, yesterday I took my newly tinted car windows to All Pro in Decatur because I thought the tint was bubbling on one side. One of the gentlemen who worked there came out to my car to check it out, kinda laughed, and informed me that the "bubbles" I was seeing were, in fact, tree sap. I felt oh so dumb. But, kudos to All Pro because instead of laughing at me the man offered to scrape the sap off, which he did, and cleaned the window as well...that's service. And, thanks again sir for not making me feel like a bigger dork.

Have I Ever

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given my opinion on the retail giant that is Wal-Mart lately? If not, I'd like to take these few moments, before I make myself go to bed at a decent hour, to rant. Since the Decatur Wal-Mart has undergone new management things are worse than before. What do I mean by things? Cleanliness is at an all time low, and if there are 20 stinkin' lines, why aren't there at least half as many checkers @ 5:30 in the afternoon...real-life, living, breathing, moving checkers. I'm no marketing genius, but if a large number of your customers show up at a certain time, at least try to look efficient while they're there. Also, if I'm going to go through the Self-checkout line I should receive somewhat of a discount since I'm doing the work that the store should provide. And when I do go through the self-checkout, begrudgingly might I add, the red light goes off...it NEVER fails. Today, all three of the self lines were blinking red...what's the point? The point is that the powers that be know that Wise County has zilch regarding all-in-one shopping options. As a wife, mommy and just flat out busy lady the all-in-one is a must. But, mark my words, when Target or Costco make their way to these parts I'll never darken the doors of Wal-Mart again...ev-er.

Skype Hype

Skype, the free messenger, webcam, video-chitchat innovation is one of my favorite things on the planet right now. I just hung up from a call with Josh, the hubby. He went back to Alaska on Sunday, but with Skype we've been able to see each other and talk. It makes his time away not as unbearable. Also, the video is way smoother than anything else we've tried, i.e. Yahoo Messenger. So, any out there who like to see who you're talking to, check it out. It's easy and worth the few minutes worth of tutorial needed to learn how to use it...really.

Speaking of a Desert...

A very witty fellow English teacher mentioned something a couple of weeks back about how to remember the difference between the spellings of "dessert", which is a yummy treat, and "desert", a really hot place with lotsa sand. She stated that "dessert" was something you'd want seconds of, as in a second helping...hence, the two "s's". I've always had to think about those words a sec before determining which to use, but from now on I won't have to think quite so hard, and isn't that the goal of us all?;)

Riddle Me This

My husband gave me a riddle this afternoon at lunch that I have since forgotten and therefore can't truly ponder. I do know that I have absolutely no idea what the answer is...something about a desert, calendar and a starving man with a flashlight. I'll ask him about it tomorrow and try to get the answer from fellow bloggers:)

But, one of my favorite riddles goes somethin' like this: Poor people have plenty of it, Rich people want it. It is above God and worse than Satan. What is "it"?

[Above pic found here]

'Nim's Island'

[pic from Gerard Butler website]
is an absolute delightful and visually stunning film. Abigail Breslin is a sweetie and who can't watch 90 minutes of Gerard Butler, a.k.a. buff Spartan from '300' or Scottish cutie from 'P.S. I Love You'?! Jodie Foster has always been one of my favs, and she plays a very sympathetic agorophobic author of adventure books. The movie is told in a storybook narrative with Breslin as the narrator. It's hard to explain, but the graphics, with scenes changing from storybook-like illustrations to real life, were great! The colors were vivid and the whimsical look and feel of the movie are at the forefront of the movie's appeal for me. Not to mention, Fred, the lizard, reminded me of Ella...and she's a cool little girl, and would not be offended by the reference if she were old enough to understand it!! Although it may not have won any fancy-schmancy awards, it's a great film to watch with the kiddos, or without. Rent, download, or Netflix...however you choose to obtain cinema magic, this one's worth the watch:)

Dreaded Dreams

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I have a good English teacher friend who is always so encouraging, understanding and supportive when it comes to my teaching trepidations. Since my first semester of teaching I've had dreams, or nightmares rather, about school, students and teaching. The subconcious storyline usually plays out something like this: I am in a classroom where the students are completely out of control, but when I try to talk nothing comes out...no sound, and I'm invisible, it seems, to the students. My students have never been completely out of control, thank God, but the dreams are still there every so often.

Back to my English friend...she sent me an e-mail from a listserv where fellow English teachers were talking about their dreams. One woman dreamed she walked into a classroom of students who appeared as students from her high school graduating class of 1985...crazy. Mine haven't delved that deep yet:)

Gotta Show It

The new car.

Whatta Weekend

The weekend started out wonderfully. We picked up Josh's little girl, my "bonus" daughter, Taylor on Saturday, and she's staying the week with us. Saturday evening we bought a new car that I get to drive every day when Josh goes back to Alaska...I'm soooo excited and thankful:) BUT, while getting ready for church on Sunday morning, little Ella pulled my hair straightener down on her arm. She received 2nd degree burns, and we took her to the ER immediately of course. She is doing fine...acting like her abundantly sweet self. The only difference is the bandage on her uber-owie. The nursing staff and doctor at Wise Regional were great with her. Josh took her to her pediatrician...the wonderful Dr. Lovette, today, and we're going to keep an eye on it, obviously to assess whether or not there may be nerve damage. I pray that there's not. So, to all out there with little children running around the house...keep those heated hair tools far, far away. It seems like a "duh" thing, I know, but we were standing right next to her and obviously didn't think that would happen. Now, we'll be that much more vigilant.

'Best Buy' Buy

It's only human to covet, right? A sin, yes, but a reality nonetheless. So, Hubby J, Baby Girl and I made a trip to Best Buy today in order to replace the DVD player that bit the dust due to the "Electric Woes of July 2008". We purchased a cheapy Samsung DVD player, but we splurged with the plastic on a pretty sweet Bose Theater System. Bose sounds good. But back to the coveting part...Best Buy is full of the "I Wants"...MacAir, Blackberry Curve, Wii, LG dishwasher and stove...wowser!!!...the ultimae toy store for adults. But alas, we were responsible and didn't "swipe" any other items. We now have TV for the first time in almost three weeks, though. Shoot, we may even go a little crazy and watch a movie this weekend:)

Sprinklers...

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are still cool.

E-Bills

Since the Hubby and I moved to Decatur we've been getting our first month's bills in the mailbox. I've realized over the past week how much I reaalllly miss e-bills. We do our banking and bill paying completely online with the bills sent to our e-mail, and it's a glorious way to shell out tons of bucks. Paper=bad.

Say What?

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Yesterday, regarding my interactions with complete strangers, was a weird day. While walking up the courthouse steps a woman, appearing to be in her late sixties or so, stopped Baby Girl and me. She commented on Ella's hair being red...the SAME color as mine, mind you...normal conversation these days. But, then she said, "Those redheads are a different breed of people". All I could say was, "Yep". Then, later in the day, I attempt to order an iced "skinny mocha" from Starbucks. The drive-thru operator proceeds to tell me that it's been discontinued due to not selling well. I nonchalantly commented that I guess my order didn't matter. Instead of answering with a lame and cheesy, yet expected, "Oh, every customer matters, yada, yada, the not so motivated saleswoman says, "Yeah, probably not". Let's think before we spout opinions, why don't we.

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

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Instead of looking at it as being another year older, view it as you're just that much closer to retirement:) Love ya!

Nobel Lit Prize Winner Dies

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This story caught my eye on msnbc.com this evening. Russian native, Alexander Solzenitsyn died of heart failure today. He won the Nobel Literature prize in 1970. After reading the article I'm ashamed to say I don't recall hearing of him. It seems that he wrote several works regarding his torture in and eventual exit from Stalin's labor camps. First of all, when one thinks of horrible words such as "genocide" and "concentration camps" the name and face of Adolf Hitler are probably more apt to appear in one's mind than that of Josef Stalin, although maybe it's just me. I can name several authors who were Jewish survivors of camps such as Auschwitz and Dakau...even one that made up the story of being a survivor, but I regret not knowing more about this man's world.

Regardless, as I was reading further into the article I came across a quote from Solzenitsyn, who lived in Vermont since his work earned him banishment from "Mother Russia". The quote reads, "It was a mistake, he warned, for Western societies to regard the failure of the rest of the world to adopt the democratic model as a product of "wicked governments or by heavy crises or by their own barbarity or incomprehension." He may have been an extremist to some degree, but I tend to agree with that quote as it stands alone. America's way doesn't have to be everyone's way. Rest in Peace, Alexander Solzenitsyn.

Hands, Feet and Brows...Oh, My.

[pic found on zoo-m.com/flickrstorm]

I used a gift certificate today to receive a pedicure, manicure and eyebrow wax. The gift was given to me by my Dad and step-mom over two years ago, hehe...life's been a bit busy:) Anyway, I loved the pedicure, there wasn't much to the manicure since I keep my nails boy-short, and my eyebrows have never looked better. One can only pluck so much before the pain is just not worth it. With a wax, however, the pain is minimal, fast fleeting, and the results are way better. So long to plucking...for-ev-er.

Yep, Same Guy

I watched the end of an episode of "Monk" today with my Dad. I asked him if the guy playing the lead detective guy (not Tony Schaloub) was the same guy that wore the coat made of skins in "Silence of the Lambs" [ick]. Dad said, "Nah, not the same guy". Several minutes later he asks me to Google it when I get a chance...apparently he was bothered by it. So, I googled, and the actor is Ted Levine who played the whacked out "Buffalo Bill" in "Lambs" and plays Captain Stottlemeyer in "Monk". The guy's voice is unmistakable. Oh, and Dad, one cool knowing-pointless-trivia point for me:)

Not Just London Bridges

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It appears that today was/is the first anniversary of the Minneapolis Bridge collapse. I remember seeing that on TV, of course, and it's been one of those stories that plays in the back of my mind every time I drive over a bridge. It truly was a tragic event. While browsing over related articles though I saw a site that gives bridge inspection dates and conditions all over the U.S. I looked at a few around Tarrant County, and they seem to be good. Good to know.