Welcome to the SEC

A&M 10-2 for our inaugural season in the SEC. And the naysayers said we would suck. HA!

Yes, I feel better having gotten that off my chest. :)

Did I mention we lost those two games to Florida by only 3 and LSU by only 5 and we beat Ala-freakin-bama? It is true. Okay, even I didn't think the season would be that awesome. What a joy to be wrong!

Johnny is a big factor, but the entire team played well, even the second string, which we saw a lot of because of all the high scoring games. Going into next year, we will retain a very strong team, perhaps even stronger. Recruiting is crazy good.

Another big factor- Coach Sumlin. Bravo to him for his great coaching, including not letting even big names get away with breaking team rules. Sumlin is admirably cool and level-headed on the field, proving that one does not have to pop a blood vessel, yelling and tossing clipboards like many highly successful college coaches who the fans love to hate around the NCAA. Congrats, Coach!

And a shoutout to Kliff Kingsbury, because he's hot. Okay, he's a star offensive coordinator, too.

That trick play in last night's game, where Manziel magically went from QB to receiver and would have gotten a touchdown, but for the remarkable efforts of a Mizzou defender? (Directly in front of our seats, by the way.) Holy COWCATS, that would have been so incredible! Our section was dying. Like AWWWWWW MAAAAAN...

I hope we see that play again.

Another football note--- While I was prattling on about college football at a million miles an hour on Thursday, I accidentally referred to the TCU Horned Frogs as the TCU Horndogs. I don't care who you are, that is funny right there.


Lincoln was SO good. I didn't realize that the two political parties have been dug in against each other since those times. I love the way the representatives talk to each other.

"The representative from the state of Ohio is a no-good scallywag!"

"How DARE you, sir!"

I wish our reps would talk like that. I'd watch C-SPAN every day. Perhaps, similar to Talk Like a Pirate Day, there could be an official Talk Like a Civil War Era Congressman Day. Yeah!

For someone who can't sit through a history class without shifting around in my chair and checking the clock, this 2.5 hour film kept me completely immersed in the times, and even though I knew the outcome of about everything that happened, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see it on the screen.

Excellent acting, of course. Brilliant direction. Just a fabulous film all around.


Sunday Stealing

1. Where was your profile picture taken?
outside G Rollie Coliseum before an A&M football game

2. Name someone who made you laugh today.
No one has made me laugh yet. Jeff and I have talked, but he wasn't funny. :)

3. Do you believe exes can be friends?
Yes. I consider all my exes friends. Not super close friends, but like casual, going-to-lunch, Christmas card friends. For instance, as much of a non-issue as it should be, it would be awkward to take your families on vacation together or live next door to each other.

4. How do you feel about Dr Pepper?
love it

5. Who was the last person you took a picture of?
Lauren at Chili's on her birthday a little over a week ago

6. Are you upset about anything?
Nah

7. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it?
Always!

8. Are you a bad influence?
I can be. Nothing really bad, but perhaps worse than someone may have been without my encouragement. I'm particularly good at getting girlfriends to purchase a lot of stuff when we're out shopping, while I buy nothing all day. *adjusts halo*

9. Night out or night in?
almost always night out

10. Has anyone ever called you perfect before?
Yep. People sure say crazy things, don't they?

11. What song is stuck in your head?
"Innocent" Our Lady Peace



12. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be?
Kathy and the rest of my college friends, for a surprise reunion party

13. Do you smile a lot?
yes

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"I Take it Black, Like My Men"

Oh, Airplane. You're still hilarious after all these years.

I always stay away from shopping on Black Friday, and I will keep that tradition alive today. If you are shopping today, good luck and Godspeed.

Thanksgiving... The Texans won. The Cowboys lost. That always makes it a great day! ;) Mom would have been thrilled.

My Thanksgiving feast was yummy, even though the oven got turned off during the turkey heating process and delayed lunch by an hour. The turkey was smoked, so we could just have had it cold. But it was definitely better hot. And I managed to keep all my sides appropriately warm without getting overdone. Yay!


Friday Five: Black

1. What’s your favorite black article of clothing?
a casual pair of black capri pants with lots of pockets. Great for football games!

2. What’s the best black food?
black beans

3. How did you pass the time during your most recent extended blackout (power outage)?
We don't have many extended power outages here. A few years ago, our power was out for a couple of hours. I did some yard work.

4. When did you last play blackjack?
on our cruise in April

5. What are some songs in your iTunes (or other media player) whose titles contain the word black?
"Welcome to the Black Parade"- My Chemical Romance
"Black Roses Red"- Alana Grace
"Black Jesus"- Lady Gaga
"Black Bird"- Across the Universe soundtrack
"Black Cat"- Janet Jackson


Song Lyrics of the Day

...You turned your back on tomorrow
'Cause you forgot yesterday.
I gave you my love to borrow,
But you just gave it away.
You can't expect me to be fine,
I don't expect you to care
I know I've said it before,
But all of our bridges burned down...

"Payphone" Maroon 5
(because everyone needs a little Adam Levine on a Friday morning) 

you turned your back on tomorrow ‘cause you forgot yesterday I gave you my love to borrow, but you just gave it away You can’t expect me to be fine, I don’t expect you to care

Read more: MAROON 5 - PAYPHONE LYRICS

you turned your back on tomorrow ‘cause you forgot yesterday I gave you my love to borrow, but you just gave it away You can’t expect me to be fine, I don’t expect you to care

Read more: MAROON 5 - PAYPHONE LYRICS

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Happy Thanksgiving!

This is the first Thanksgiving I've hosted the fam. We've been doing our own Thanksgiving, both by ourselves and with friends, since Lauren was about 5, because we visited both sides of the family at Christmas. Jeff's mom, dad and brother are arriving this morning and staying through Saturday. We haven't seen them since the family reunion this summer. It'll be fun!

I planned a family beer tasting for tomorrow night. Jeff and I selected beers based solely on the names and the appeal of the bottles. A fine standard, if you ask me. I did a beer tasting party several years ago, and many of us were surprised that we liked the darker beers far better than the lighter. It's funny how different beer tastes when you are concentrating on the flavors. My favorite then was some sort of stout. Nobody liked the cherry beer, which I thought would be really good. It reminded us of cough syrup. No fruity beers this time.

We may all go see Lincoln at some point. We also play a lot of games when we get together. Not emotional games... actual board and card games. Heh.

Hope everyone travels safely and has a wonderful day today! Happy TG!

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Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook is really good!! It's a drama with just the right amount of comic relief. Everyone is so great in it. Bradley Cooper plays Pat, who is bipolar and trying to get his wife (and his job) back after almost beating his wife's lover to death and serving time in a mental facility for it. Jennifer Lawrence plays Tiffany, a friend's sister who also suffers from some variety of mental illness. When they meet, a friendship begins with Tiffany offering to help Pat contact his wife, if in return, he will help her with a special dance project. Robert De Niro plays Pat's dad, a die hard Eagles fan. Chris Tucker is Pat's buddy, Danny, from the institution.

One thing that struck me about it was the in-your-face honesty of both Pat and Tiffany, neither of whom have much of a filter. (Pat even says at one point that he doesn't have a filter.) But there is something refreshing about knowing exactly what people are thinking and feeling, especially with all the drama that is surrounding them.

Best scene (well, other than the obvious big event at the end, which was awesome)-- when Pat's dad angrily blames Tiffany for his woes of the day and Tiffany launches into a rant, including a stunningly detailed recounting of scores from the last several weeks of Philadelphia sports events. All the guys in the room are very impressed and are like, "WHOA. Wow!" 

Go see Silver Linings Playbook.

Kimberly is doing the daily November "thankful for" post on Facebook, and yesterday she said she was thankful that NPR had introduced her to an actor named Bradley Cooper. She posted a video having to do with the interview and said she had Googled him. I was first in a line of friends to say, "Excuse me?" Bradley Cooper? Where has she been? She said she wasn't a fan of movies about being hungover. Then came the replies of lists of Cooper's other movies. People's Sexiest Man Alive? Hello? I love that girl, but every now and then, she is a good distance outside the loop. ;)

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Good Morning! :-)

Bwahahaha!!...




So... I woke up this morning to a friend's posting of a Facebook photo of a glass full of cornbread soaking in buttermilk, which she said was delicious. WHAT THE...??! It is the most disgusting thing I've seen all year.

And now you can see it, too:

Why? Why would someone do this to perfectly good cornbread?

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2 Legit... 2 Legit 2 Quit

Best thing about the AMAs last night- the final number with Psy and MC Hammer doing a mashup of "Gangnam Style" and "2 Legit 2 Quit." OMG. SO GREAT!



The audience shots rocked.


I saw a Living Social deal yesterday for shooting all these high-powered guns- Desert Eagle, M4, AK-47 and Uzi- under the direction of former SWAT and special forces members. I thought Jeff would like it, maybe as a Christmas gift. So I asked JeffC, my consultant for all things gun-related. Luckily, he explained to me that they had already discussed that particular deal and how it's only 5 and 10 rounds per gun. The experience isn't a bad idea, it's just expensive, even with the coupon.

Turns out the two of them can shoot those guns anytime on their own. Meh.

Well, back to the tie rack idea.

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Sunday's Saturday Six

Patrick's Saturday Six: K

1. K is for KAKISTOCRACY: Which president would you rate as the worst in history?
As someone who has despised history class my entire life, I'm hardly knowledgeable enough to answer this question with any real authority. If you ask me who the worst president of my lifetime has been, by strictly an emotional, off-the-top-of-my-head response, I would say Nixon.

2. K is for KARAOKE: If you had to sing a song in a Karaoke tournament, which song would you choose?
"It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion. Yeah, baby!!



3. K is for KETCHUP: Which condiment do you use the most?
mayo

4. K is for KEY: What does the oldest key you own open?
my house- 17 years old

5. K is for KITCHEN: What would you most like to change about your kitchen?
I'd like to replace the over-the-range microwave with a stainless steel range hood, then replace the regular double oven with a stainless steel convection/microwave oven plus a standard oven. Then the kitchen would be awesome and have all matching appliances.

6. K is for KNOWLEDGE: Which single school subject has served you the best in your adult life? 
Biology, without a doubt. Helpful in my personal and professional life.

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Saturday 9

Never let your first outing after being sick in bed for several days be a trip to the grocery store. It's a long, labor-intensive errand that tires you out about halfway through, plus you always run into friends there. Alicia's greeting-- "Hey Kathy! You look sick!" Ugh. I know.

I'm still sick enough that I'm actually missing the A&M game today. That is CRAZY. Gig 'em Ags! BTHO Sam Houston State!


Saturday 9: Live and Let Die

1) "Live and Let Die" was nominated for an Oscar as best song. Do you have a favorite movie song?
"Come What May" from Moulin Rouge

2) The latest Bond movie, Skyfall, is crazy successful. Have you seen it/do you want to see it?
I'm not that into Bond films per se, but I'll probably see Skyfall because the reviews have been so good.

3) What do you think makes Bond movies so enduringly popular?
He's that guy who all the guys want to be and all the ladies want to be with. I'm more of a Tony Stark girl, myself.

4) Do you have a favorite among the actors who have played "Bond, James Bond?"
Gotta go with the original- Sean Connery

5) Bond orders martinis -- "shaken, not stirred." What's your regular drink order?
margarita on the rocks with salt

6) Moving from the bar to breakfast -- do you have a favorite cereal?
Honey nut Cheerios. I like Raisin Nut Bran better, but the raisin nuts are all in one half of the box, which means you either get far too many or hardly any of them in a bowl. I hate most cereals with chunks that settle and ruin the flake to chunk ratio.

7) Let's daydream about warm weather. Would you rather swim in a lake, the ocean, or an outdoor pool?
Outdoor pool. Then you don't have to worry about leeches or jellyfish or crabs or sharks. Only snakes, like the one that was in Kathy's pool with us once.

8) Did you get 8 hours' sleep last night?
Ahahaa. I haven't gotten 8 hours sleep since I got sick. Last night was one of the worst- four hours from 4:00 - 8:00 a.m.

9) What are you wearing on your feet right now?
nothing

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Nope, Not Hallucinating

Proof this happened...



Yes, it's supposed to be funny and over-the-top. Still. When you're already feeling like you're going to lose your cookies, you have to look away.

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Sick

Holy Hell, have I been sick. I'm still barely functional, although from my appearance here, it seems that I have successfully logged on to my netbook.

I've had a fever and excruciating sore throat. Now I'm down to a nightmarish cough that hurts like all get-out. So I try not to cough, which is a pathway straight to pneumonia.

I hate being sick in bed watching television. Some vague memories between episodes of sleeping...

1) repeatedly seeing a loan company commercial and noting the small print said the interest rate was 90%-- ka-CHING
2) some marathon of "Million Dollar Rooms" on HGTV
3) Paula Deen made garlic bread with a stick of butter per half loaf... then cut the half in half and put her lasagna inside for a lasagna sandwich. You might think I dreamed that, but it's true.
4) I watched like fifteen minutes of some show through the little picture in the upper right corner, with the guide up


First spot of good news on the job search- I've been asked to fill out additional paperwork for one of the jobs I applied for. Yay!

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