The AMAs

Here we go again...



- Eight minutes of Janet Jackson may be a tad bit excessive.  And did she grab his crotch?!  I'm glad I'm not letting MY CHILD watch this.  Dear heavens.  And did you notice when she asked the crowd to sing along HER OWN BROTHER (Jermaine? They all look alike to me.) didn't know the words?! 


- Does it make me old to admit that I remember Fergie when she was just Stacy on Kids, Incorporated?  I LOVED that show.  And FYI?  I still know the theme song.  Oh yes I do.


- Chris Daughtry is one of the best things ever to come from American Idol.


- Wow, Shakira.  Those hips really don't lie, do they?


- Kelly Clarkson is one of the few artists that sound better live than on the radio.  And she got a standing ovation which was well deserved.  That girl can work it.


- I love Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, but it reminds me just how white I am when I try and sing along with it.  It's definitely one I have to sing when I'm all alone.


- Perez Hilton and his faux hawk are both terrible.


- Who is Maxwell?


- Yep, it was Jermaine that didn't know the words to Janet's song. Shame, shame.


- What's with the light up, Rainbow Brite-esque outfits.  Rhianna and Lady Gaga both had them, although for Lady Gaga, it was a relatively tame costume choice.


- So glad that Gloriana won Best New Artist!  Love them!


-  There's something lacking with no host.  Where's Ellen when you need her?


- Where are your Louboutins, Jennifer?  The shoes you have on are terrible.


- There they are!  But still, your performance? Eh.


- I've always loved me some Whitney.  I hope this comeback doesn't ruin it for me.


- All in all, I'd say the entire AMA's have been one big Fashion Fail.


- Love him or hate him, Eminem is talented.


- I had bangs like Nelly Furtado's when I was 6.  And then I turned 7 and realized how terrible they were.


- Taylor Swift beat MJ.  Can't believe that.  I think she's precious, but I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about.  Granted, I'm not 14 so I don't guess that I'm her target audience.


- All night long they've been talking about how awesome Adam Lambert's performance was going to be.  I am less than impressed.  He is definitely not one of American Idol's best.


- I sure hope next year is better.

Rambling

Since I've finally finished my month of working nights, I hope to be around more in the next few days, but until then, here are some aimless ramblings.  I believe they may be my trademark.


- My sister and my niece will be coming for an eight day visit on Monday.  Be prepared for lots of pics.  It will be the first time Maddie has met Marley and I cannot begin to explain the level of excitement around here. 


- The forthcoming pics may or may not include the two cutest little girls I know in matching Christmas pajamas.


- I have returned to my roots.  Literally.  As of yesterday, I am now a brunette again for the first time in a LONG time.  I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but I really think I do.  It has also met the approval of my more-than-honest eight year old, so I think that in and of itself means that we have a success.


- I'm off for Thanksgiving this year for the first time in several years and am so excited.  I may or may not have an "I Love Turkey" shirt to commemorate the occasion.


- I am dying to see The Blind Side when it opens on Friday.  I've wanted to see it since I saw the first preview, but I've since learned about the story behind the movie and discovered that, Michael Oher, who the movie is about was a football player at Ole Miss and went the high school in Germantown, TN that my cousin goes to now.  Apparently Drew (my cousin), is a friend of the family that took him in and helped him out.  Kinda makes me famous by association, don't ya think?  Don't answer that.

FW:

I've yet to try the new mobile blogging feature that Blogger has and since I'm trying to find a way to keep my mind occupied between trips to empty my patient's foley bag, I figured now was as good a time as any. I had great plans to follow up my post about Compassion with one about our little girl that we sponsor in India, but it has been bananas here in Baby Land the past two nights and I've not been able to do anything other than drive home and fall face first into my bed. It has become blatantly clear that I am not meant to handle all this Working in the Nighttime Business. All you have to do is look at the laundry sitting on my couch waiting to be put away and see the grumpy look on a certain 8 year old's face that wants to come home and sleep in her own bed to see what I mean. It's ugly. And you know what else is ugly? This post, since I just realized that I have no idea how to put a title in and there is no way to put in spaces between sentences. Anywho. Have a great weekend!

Compassion

I know I've fallen off the face of the blogging earth as of late and I really don't have any good excuse for it, other than life has kinda gotten in the way and stolen all of my writing mojo.  I'm feeling a little uninspired...or at least I was until I opened up my trusty laptop this morning and saw this.


Needless to say, I was a blubbering mess immediately.


For those of you who have never heard of Compassion, it's an organization that helps children all over the world who live a life of poverty by helping provide them with a better life.  The website does a much better job explaining their mission than I ever could,

Compassion International exists as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults.

Founded by the Rev. Everett Swanson in 1952, Compassion began providing Korean War orphans with food, shelter, education and health care, as well as Christian training.

Today, Compassion helps more than 1 million children in 25 countries.

If you read Angie's blog, Boomama, Pete's blog, Big Mama, or Carlos' blog you've heard about the trips they've taken to different areas of the world to see this organization at work and shared with the rest of us through their blogs.  Can you imagine what an awesome experience this had to have been for them?  What an honor to be able to use what, for most of us, is a creative outlet to help these sweet babies and show what an amazing thing God is doing through this organization.


There is another group that's in El Salvador right now.  You can follow their journey here. 

Princess Tiana

There's a new girl in town.  Yep, for the first time since 1998 Disney is debuting a new princess in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.  It goes without saying that I. Am. Pumped.

And guess what?

The only thing better than a new Disney Princess?

A Southern Disney Princess.

It appears that Princess Tiana, from The Princess and the Frog, is from The Big Easy.

Isn't she beautiful?!

The urge to go back has been pretty strong around here lately and if that isn't a good enough reason to book a trip to WDW, I don't know what is (other than a lack of funds, of course).

Random Observations

I believe that the Schwans man and all his frozen culinary delights is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.  And not slaving away in the kitchen on nights when there is much television to be watched.


I also believe that the fact that I just bought my eight year old her third retainer in a year is proof that He has a sense of humor.  And that he doesn't ever want me to be debt free. 


I believe that I need a Scramble intervention.  (I curse you, Facebook, and the vortex that you suck me into everytime I get online.)


I believe that it is time for another trip to Walt Disney World (The Happiest Place on Earth).  Two years between visits is too long.


I believe know that there will be no trip taking around here as long as we keep losing/throwing away/crushing dental appliances.  Or as long as we have to keep making payments on the replacements.


I believe that Grey's Anatomy is losing it's luster and will only continue to do so now that Izzy is gone.


I believe that working out with Jillian is bad for my mortal soul.  I have extremely vivid and violent thoughts about what I would do to her if I ever met her in a dark alley.  They may or may not include static lunges with a bicep curl and bicycle crunches.  Or those dreadful side plank thingies.  Phone that it, you sadistic drill sergeant.


I also believe that I may need a little more sleep and to remember to take my happy pills.

Just Curious

Have you ever read someone's post that included a joke that for the life of you, you just don't get so you start skimming through the comments hoping that you'll figure out what in the sam hill they're talking about- only to find that everyone else seems to get it and it's obviously only you that is an ignorant inbecile, but no one mentions the punch line in the comments- so you just cut your losses and accept the fact that you just aren't going to figure it out, only it eats and eats away at you until you are READY. TO. SCREAM.


Yeah, me either.



Also: I switched over to the posting style in Blogger only to find that there is no spell check. (Or maybe I just don't see it...)  Letting me post with no spell check? 

Not a good idea, my friends. Not a good idea...

Let's see...

Where to begin?  I don't have much of a common thread to tie anything together, so I think we'll have a numbered post tonight:


1.  Maddie has decided that she wants to be a hippie for Halloween, so I've been searching all over the internet for accessories to go with the tie dyed tshirt that served as her inspiration.  Lesson learned during this quest: It's expensive to be a hippie.  Who knew shoes made out of rope would be almost $30?  And since Halloween is two weeks away, I'll probably be the proud owner of a pair in the near future.


2.  Twitter is now the way that I keep up with the happenings around the world.  It's how I found out about Michael Jackson's death (about 45 minutes before it was Breaking News on TV), the flight of the Balloon Boy, among other things.  It's also how I stay updated on the weather and what John Mayer is up to (his new single, Who Says, is now available on iTunes).  I'm not sure if this is exactly what it was intended for, but I must admit I am addicted. 

Want to follow me?  I'm casey0412.  You can see my last few tweets over there to the right.


3.  I got to spend some time with my real life BFF this weekend on Friday and again tonight.  That may be a record for us since she moved to Knoxville.  I'm still hoping that she'll get to move home soon, but they just bought a house, so the odds aren't in my favor anymore (I am VERY happy for them- I just want her home for my own selfish reasons.  Mainly because she is my only friend that is always up for a trip to the movies to see whatever chick flick is playing at the moment. I only go to the movies to see grown up films when she's home.)


4.  I watched The Proposal this weekend (with the aforementioned BFF) and thought it was really cute. It's lighthearted and funny and was exactly what I was in the mood for. Parts of it were pretty predictable (like most chick flicks can be), but all in all I give it two thumbs up. (Unless, of course, you hate it- then I hate it, too!)


5.  The sun came out this weekend! I know that usually that doesn't warrant it's own number, but it has been raining for weeks around here.  It has been MISERABLE. I'm a girl that needs her vitamin D to keep sane and I was teetering dangerously close to the edge of insanity. Luckily, it has been shining for the past two days and all is well once again.


How was your weekend?

Most Obnoxious Commerical on TV at the Moment

Food and Friends

I'm so glad you all enjoyed my little Etsy find in my last post. It would be stingy of me to keep things like that to myself, so I do my best to share these little gems with the rest of you. Because I love you.



This past weekend I went to Canton, Texas with five other ladies for a weekend of relaxation and to celebrate one of my closest friend's birthday. It was awesome. We shopped, ate, talked, laughed, ate, drank, laughed, shopped, and ate all weekend. It was super laid back. No one had to worry about dressing up or looking nice- we all aimed for casual and comfy. (Six of us got ready with one bathroom in less than an hour if that tells you anything.) It was just what I needed. I forget sometimes how important it is to make time for myself. I'm going to try to be better about that. It's amazing what a couple of days away does for your spirit. Now, I get to work for the next five days in a row, so that should be just what I need to get me nice and grumpy again.



I do need to mention something from this weekend that deserves it's own paragraph. Well, two things actually. First, I'd like to send a shout out to the corn dog stand in the Arbors at the Canton Flea Market. I am not typically a hot dog/corn dog eater, but this wasn't just any corn dog. It was a jumbo corn dog that had been battered and fried to perfection moments before it made it's way into my stomach and I do believe that it was single handedly the best processed beef (or whatever it's made of- I prefer not to think about it too much) I've ever put in my mouth. Secondly, I tasted a little bit of heaven minutes after my Corn Dog Epiphany. It came in the form of another fried delicacy.



It was a Fried Oreo.



I do believe I heard angels singing.



I would also be willing to drive five and a half hours back to Canton, Texas just to eat another one.



I hope your weekend was just as tasty and relaxing as mine.