Saturday Six

1. When do you buy candy for local trick-or-treaters?
In early October.

2. When you buy Halloween candy (or if you were to buy it), would you be more likely to buy lower-priced candy that you didn’t particularly care for or candy you like that happened to cost a little more?
I don't buy candy I like, because I don't want to be eating it. I get medium-priced candy that I don't like all that much.

3. If you were in a mood for a scary movie to watch on Halloween night, which would you select?
The Exorcist. SKEERY!!

4. Take the quiz: What should you be for Halloween?

Your Halloween Costume Should Be

Elvis

5. Should trick-or-treating be regulated so that it is held on non-school nights and during hours that might help children avoid dangerous travel hours?
Regulate Halloween? Um, no.

6. How do you feel about some churches scheduling “fall festivals” to replace Halloween because of the holiday’s dark origin?
I think it's ridiculous. The schools do it, too.

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Trivial Pursuit 80s Edition

Last weekend at Game Night, we played Trivial Pursuit 80s Edition. We all thought this would be the easiest Trivial Pursuit game ever, since that's our decade. By "our decade" we decided we meant that was when we were in high school and college. Then we pondered why "our decade" would be defined that way. We guessed we were most aware of pop culture at that time. Hmm. Maybe.

Eventually we stopped contemplating the meaning of life and played the game. That sucker is HARD. I haven't played Trivial Pursuit in years, but I distinctly remember winning pie pieces now and then. At one point, we had to go to a "two-try per turn" system, where you could pick your second question. Then we went to a two-try per turn with the questioner choosing two questions he/she felt were the easiest. In the end, we were giving hints, too. It was sad. We were even playing in teams.

But the girls won, so RAH!

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Reunion.com

Reunion.com finally sent me an email saying they now have info the one last person I am searching for from high school/college. Then I click over and it's just a listing from some people-finding service that charges to locate people.

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The Cutest Country Song Ever

No, my pop station didn't turn country. I just hear this in the car when DD's music is playing. Hee.

Taylor Swift has the cutest voice. "Our Song" is a happy song. You can hear it on her MySpace! Her other songs are good, too. "Our Song" is just so... cute.

94.7's "new sound" seems to be Top 40 from the 80's to today. That's my guess.

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TMZ on TV

I've officially ditched all gossip entertainment news shows except TMZ. That show is freakin' hilarious! The entire half hour cracks me up. My favorite part is the producers talking about the stories with Harvey. Their commentary is so very entertaining.

Yeah, I'll probably still watch the occasional Entertainment Tonight.

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Speaking of 94.7

Are they changing formats? I can't figure out what they mean by "The new sound of 94.7." Last time I heard something like that was in Houston when my favorite pop station turned country. EEK.

Check out their "Rules of Austin." Too funny.

I would add to #11 that the town of Manchaca (MAN-chack) and Manchaca (MAN-chack) Road are host to Menchaca (men-CHA-ka) Elementary School.

And elsewhere on their website... Hanson is playing La Zona Rosa? Wow.

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New TV Season

I've DVRed everything this week so far, because we've been so incredibly busy in the evenings. The 94.7 DJs said they were disappointed with "Private Practice." The common complaint I hear about it is that Addison's character has changed, becoming very "cutesy." Hmm. Maybe I'll just delete that one.

I love "House." I'll watch that first, ASAP. New team this year. I liked the old team, but I'm along for the ride.

I guess the new series I'm most looking forward to is "Big Shots." That starts tonight. As do "The Office" (YAY!) and "Grey's Anatomy."

I am also looking forward to "Pushing Daisies." That starts next week.

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Football Game

The Band played at the football game tonight. Always a good time!

Observation: The most popular tackling method of eighth graders is to grab you by the back of your jersey and swing you around like a discus, then toss you directly to the ground.

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Apple Store

I just ordered an iPod Touch for the kiddo (her first large purchase with her own money) at the Apple Store online. I changed my mind about the shipping, and immediately called to upgrade to 2-3 days. The guy actually told me that all the iPod Touches are already on a palette to ship the 28th, and the shipping method cannot be changed.

Please. What does that even mean? I'm thinking it means they are all shipping the same way, whether or not you pay the $10 for expedited shipping.

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Sick!

I've been sick. Blah.

I am very up-to-date on entertainment news, however. Funny how three days in bed will catch you up!

Oscar de la Hoya... yeesh, man. Just say you got drunk on tequila and had some fun taking goofy pictures. It's embarrassing, but it would have blown over so quick. Now we have to laugh at his people denying the pics are real and also deal with the stripper and her 15 minutes of fame. What a mess over nothing. I do have to giggle when I see the pics though. Hee hee.

George Clooney. I'll try to be unbiased when I say this. (Ha.) Sarah Larson is 28. George is 46. He looks old with her. The all-hallowed half-plus-seven rule says he should date 30-year-olds, minimum. Let's not mention... a Go-Go dancer from Vegas? Oy. That being said, she's very cute and seems to be able to carry herself like a lady when she's in the spotlight. It's good they weren't hurt too seriously in the motorcycle accident. And like Entertainment Tonight said, it's good that Georgie didn't hurt his face.

Britney. No comment.

Chris Crocker. Psycho. Don't encourage him, people. Really.

Dancing with the Stars. Dude. Sabrina Bryan was AWESOME. I thought I would go for Marie Osmond, but Sabrina has my imaginary vote. And the bonus this season is we get Cameron Mathison on the dance floor AND Peter Facinelli in the audience. Eye candy galore.

In real news... I watched the President's speech at the UN in its entirety. Loved when Cuba walked out. So dramatic. I liked the speech. That's a first!

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Naked Chef(s)

CJ just forwarded this "invitation to a Pampered Chef party" to me. The email is full of photos of hot naked guys in the kitchen, with a bowl, little apron, and various things covering their boy parts. Each guy had a recipe, too.

I've been to Pampered Chef parties. They're nothing like that.

:D

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Frozen

The AC finally went out! We've been waiting. lol.

It did the same thing the fridge did- completely froze up. The repair guy was here yesterday and had left us instructions to leave the fan running for 24 hours to melt the ice in the unit. Once the ice melted, the thing started cooling the house. Even though the AC was off, the compressor kept running and running (there's a Stephen King novel in there somewhere), and we finally had to turn off the whole system at the unit itself when it got down to 70 degrees inside. BRR!

Now we await the repair man again.

Just a local note: We were led to believe that Pedernales doesn't offer rebates on new ACs, like City of Austin does. Not true! And the repair guy tells us their rebate is actually much easier to get than jumping through the city's hoops.

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Jessie's Girl

Rick Springfield's song "Jessie's Girl" was originally written as "Gary's Girl."

Can you imagine?

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:)

Today is the 25th anniversary of the smiley face emoticon!

:)

In other news... I'm a little disappointed that Whoopi Goldberg sees the OJ Simpson arrest not only as racist (um, wha?), but akin to the Jena, Louisiana high school incidents. Let's not get all crazy and lump this hot-headed numb-nuts with the reprehensible bigotry going on in that town. How random.

On the OJ note, Kato Kaelin was interviewed on MSNBC. I just have to shake my head on that one.

I should have gone to ACL Fest. The weather was much cooler than when we went.

DD is sick today and I keep forgetting she's sleeping on the couch. I'm always surprised to see her there when I walk by. Weird!

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Ten on Tuesday

10 Things You Do When You Have Nothing Else to Do

1. Go to a movie
2. Read magazines
3. Watch HGTV
4. Organize something- drawer, closet, desk, etc.
5. Talk on the phone
6. Download recipes
7. Go shopping
8. Analyze my websites' stats
9. Play games- Nintendo, online, DS, whatever
10. Look at photo albums

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Bookworm Master

I've had a game of Bookworm going for a few days. Surprised I didn't accidentally click the window closed, but yay! I finally lost this afternoon with a score of over 1,570,000. Rank: Super Dictionarian.

*bows*

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Emmys

AHHHHHH! I missed the Emmys. W.T.F.? I knew I should have written it on my calendar.

I saw some highlights this morning, and the John Stewart/Steve Carell thing was hilarious. Where was Ricky Gervais anyway? I love Sally Field, but doesn't she realize that we don't give a flying crapola about celebrities' politics? Just show us your dress and tell us about your next project. Katherine Heigl is just awesome. You can't beat a speech about how wonderful your mom is. Awwww...

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Saturday Six

1. As a general rule, how much of a tip do you leave on a normal night of satisfactory service at a restaurant?
15-20%

2. What happens when the service and/or the food is completely unacceptable: how much of an impact does that have on your tip?
I'll tip all the way down to zero for unacceptable service. No effect on the tip if the food is a problem.

3. What was the last food you picked up from a restaurant and ate at home?
I haven't done that in years.

4. Take the quiz: What’s your pizza personality?
Cheese Pizza
Traditional and comforting.
You focus on living a quality life.
You're not easily impressed with novelty.
Yet, you easily impress others.

5. What was the last dish you tried to cook yourself based on a dish you sampled at a restaurant?
Banana Hoo-Hoo from Canyon Cafe. That's our pet name for it, anyway. I think they call it a Banana Burrito. They sent me the actual recipe when they closed their Austin location. It's Phyllo dough with bananas, chocolate and nuts, wrapped burrito-style and baked crispy. Yumm!

6. How close to the original recipe did yours get?
It was hard to get them to stay wrapped, so I just layered it. It tasted the same.

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The Apprentice

I worked a Jazzercise/Make-A-Wish charity event this weekend.

First, let me say that I was completely unaware of the subculture that is Jazzercise. These people have a fantastic time working out. The fun of the whole thing was absolutely sucking us all in throughout the day. I think every volunteer wants to join Jazzercise now!

The event itself involved everyone getting there super-early so they could "stake out their space" in the room. There was a "Jazzercise celebrity" there who taught two classes. He was really good. We watched. They also have Jazzercise clothing that we quickly figured out is a requirement for the dedicated Jazzerciser. I was totally taking notes on everything for my upcoming joining of a group near me.

It looks like anyone can join in at any fitness level and get a good, fun workout. Many people there had either been with Jazzercise for 20+ years or their mom was a Jazzerciser back in the day.

Anyway, while we were there, someone introduced me to a girl named Roxanne. I instantly thought, "Where do I know her from?" We talked for a minute and she left to do her thing, and I still couldn't place her. Later I found out she is Roxanne from "The Apprentice." Ah ha! That was it. She's a Make-A-Wish spokesperson after participating in a wish on the show. That's pretty cool.

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KaBOOM!

My rocketry expert husband accidentally set off a 6 gram black powder charge in our house last night. Let's just say it was loud. Luckily he was the only one in the room and it was directed at the wall. No permanent damage done.

Skeery!

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Hotmail and Yahoo Mail

O.K.

So I see that the new versions of Hotmail and Yahoo Mail are for the obvious purpose of serving us more and bigger advertisements. I guess they are free services, so I can't complain too much.

I do like that the interfaces of both allow you to interact more like the mail is on your computer, rather than online, allowing things like selecting multiple messages with ctrl-click and shift-click.

So, coolio.

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Uh-oh

Dear Friends and Family,

I just realized I only kept everyone's birthdays and anniversaries on my computer calendar. That is the one file I forgot to backup when we reformatted my C Drive a couple of days ago. That's pretty good- only forgetting one file. Right?

Yeah, I'm a doofus.

So anyway, in the next year, you shall find out if I remember your dates correctly. Won't that be fun?!

K

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Britney etc.

Some women are upset that people are criticizing Britney's figure. I don't think she's fat either, but if you have a jiggling bit of tummy, perhaps a bra and panties isn't the best clothing choice for opening an awards show. She would have looked fantastic in something that covered her midriff.

In the end, she just looked stoned out of her mind to me. Opportunity squandered.

Well, I have a new mouse. It's very ergonomic, supposedly. Anything different is so hard to get used to! My new mousepad has penguins on it. Very cute.

This thing with Southwest airlines kicking the girl off for wearing slutty clothing--- In her photos, either she has altered the way she was wearing the outfit or Southwest is nutso. If someone came on board wearing... I dunno... Britney's VMA outfit... that might be a concern, but a mini skirt and tight shirt? That's everyday wear at the mall.

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Monday night madness

Kathy L's been threatening to have a recurring Thursday night happy hour in her pool, but it's never really been practical, as she usually works late on Thursday and that's the only night her son is with his dad. Last night, we had an impromptu evening of Cosmos. That's about as crazy as things get for me lately. Monday night drinks! Whee!

That girl knows how to make an awesome Cosmo: top-notch vodka from the freezer and Williams-Sonoma Cosmo mix. Yummo.

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Stupid bus

We've had nothing but problems with the bus being very late every day this year. This morning the driver promised to come at the scheduled time.

It was absolutely pouring rain when I drove DD to the bus stop, and the bus was already there- five minutes early. She's just parked there. I pull up behind the bus, and the driver pulls forward a bit. I pull up. She pulls up. She puts on the flashing lights. I pull up. She pulls up again. I know she thinks I am trying to get by, but if I wanted to get by, I would have already gone. Before she had turned on the red flashing lights, ya think?

It must have been awfully funny from nearby windows, but it was making me crazy. Finally I stopped behind her again and DD hopped out into the torrent. The driver pulls up one last time as DD is running to the door. Yeesh, man. Something is wrong with her, I tell ya.

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Ten on Tuesday

10 Cities You Could Live In (for a month, for a year...if you couldn't live in your own)

1. Dallas
2. Las Vegas
3. Orlando
4. Phoenix
5. Houston
6. Munich
7. London
8. Sunnyvale, CA
9. Binghamton, NY
10. Toronto

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Oops! I missed the VMAs

We were watching Man Band on the DVR when we realized we were missing the VMAs last night. We said, "Eh," and kept watching Chris Kirkpatrick give Miss Kate a stern talking-to. I wonder if she feels like a preschool teacher, having grown men call her "Miss Kate."

This morning the online news outlets are full of articles like this and this, where they talk about Britney's pathetic performance. ...Lethargic movements that seemed choreographed by a dance instructor for a nursing home... At least twice last night, she had to be hoisted up and down from a riser like an overweight kid trying to climb out of a swimming pool... The lip syncing is the worst. If you're going to do it, at least do it well.

You know they figured if it was a good performance, the VMAs would have been her big comeback, and if it went like it did, at least people would watch it like a train wreck. Win-win for MTV.

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Soy Milk

I've never tasted soy milk, and never intend to, but I am imagining it is much like the gloppy gook I drain off the canned white beans I use for Carol's Fiesta Chicken Chowder recipe. Ack. Bean juice as a substitute for milk.

Don't get me started on the Silk commercials where cows are drinking soy milk. That's just wrong on so many levels.

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Patrick Dempsey

I kept forgetting to note this in my blog. Now it's off newsstands, but did you see the photo in People Magazine of Patrick Dempsey last week, in his racing outfit? Holy smokes. I'm not usually that into McDreamy, but WOW. Hot photo. He's so... covered up... but in a very tight outfit.

It's been quite a while since I was tempted to stick a celeb pic on my office wall. We'll see if I can bear to throw it away this afternoon when the next issue arrives.

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Dream vacations

Kimberly and her husband went away to spend last weekend at an inn without phones or TV. She couldn't wait. This brought about a discussion at our house about how different everyone's dream vacations are.

I still remember the weekend DH and I spent in Yellowstone at the hotel by the lake years ago, without TV or telephone. The long evenings about killed me. I need entertainment, people! New York City, Las Vegas... razzle dazzle! Yellowstone should have an outdoor amphitheater with concerts. Yeah!

The beach is the most sedate place I like to spend time. Even there, I like to have someplace to go in the evenings. Unless you're with a big group, or are on your honeymoon, you have to have things to do when the sun goes down at the beach.

We're leaning towards a New England/Canada cruise for the next vacation. Unfortunately most of them are during fall semester, to catch the leaves turning. We just want to escape the heat in the summer, without taking DD out of school. We'll see.

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Football season

It has begun. DD's boyfriend is on the freshman team, and they play the day before Varsity, and of course one must attend the Varsity game, and then the middle school girlfriends all play volleyball and those games are another day, and if you can catch high school band practice, that's always cool...

Fun in 8th grade! Try it!

Looks like this year we may not have to attend every game. More parents are willing to drop off their kids than last year. You never see the kiddos the entire time anyway, since they are hanging out with their friends. Reminds me of the old "When are they old enough that I don't have to stay with them at birthday parties?" days. (First grade. That's what we kind of decided. Now you know!)

In other news, it seems DD can take driver's ed next fall. Wow. One year until all my hair turns gray.

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Fun with CatchPhrase

During the reunion, we played CatchPhrase, boys against girls. I was trying to get the girls to say "Bulldog", so my clue was "Not a Cow-Cat, but a...."

Their faces. Oh lawdy, that was funny. Hi ho, Cowcat!!

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Cavemen

Am I the only one who thinks the Geico cavemen were only funny for about the first 30-second commercial (if that)? Now cavemen are getting their own sitcom. Too funny. Good luck with that.

The Sonic guys should have their own sitcom. Now THAT would be hilarious!

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Reunion

Family reunion was a blast. We stayed at the La Quinta North Arlington, which is a nice hotel in a fantastic location if you want to do a weekend at Six Flags. The hotel was spotless, relatively inexpensive and it sits right at the entrance to the park.

We were up late Saturday night, but we got to sleep in today, so it worked out. We ended with an authentic diner brunch this morning. Very fun!

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Saturday Six

1. Twelve percent of Americans say they have never had someone of a different race in their home. Have you had someone of a different race in your home? Have you been in the home of someone of a different race?
Yes I have had someone of a different race in my home, and have been to the home of someone of a different race.

2. When asked if they think gay people are actually born gay (as opposed to “choosing” to be gay), 51% say that homosexuality is something one is born with. Do you agree?
Yes, I think people are born gay.

3. Given our society's obsession with the “perfect body,” the number might be expected to be higher, but 33% of Americans say they’d leave their partner if he or she gained 100 pounds. Would you?
Nope. Are these the same people who would leave if their partner gets wrinkles or needs glasses?

4. This question was originally asked only of women, and 54% said they’d prefer to watch the Super Bowl over the Academy Awards. Which would you pick and why?
Unless a team I am into is in the Super Bowl, I would much rather watch the Academy Awards, because I'm just more interested in what happens there.

5. Fifty percent of Americans say that it would be a good idea to require couples eligible for marriage to undergo marriage counseling before they can walk down the aisle. Is this a good idea or a bad idea?
I don't think anyone should require you go to counseling before marriage, although I think premarital counseling is a wonderful idea. People should be encouraged to go.

6. A popular potato chip’s ad slogan says, “Once you pop, you can’t stop.” But 39% of Americans claim that they can stop at just one chip. Are you one of them?
Not usually. It's the salt.

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