Which is which....

Is it just me or ..............

Do these three ladies look similar to you too?

How well you do you know your teen, silly, reality show stars?

One of these females is Erin Karplunk the lovely star of the adorable "Being Erica" on SOAPNet. I will admit that I don't watch the show regularly, but I find the concept intriguing. (and I will admit that I feel a kin to the bumbling 32 year old Erica regretting past actions in her life. But would I want to relive them like she does......

One of these ladies is Jillian Harris, a reality contestant on both "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette". I found her to be sweet and refreshing, and even referenced her in a post from last year when she very honestly told single dad Jason that she was looking for her "best friend". He of course said this wasn't enough for him- ugh, read my thoughts about that here, but went on to make a fool of himself and in fact referenced the importance of friendship later . (backtracking) Jillian was far more appealing when on "The Bachelor" as one of many contestants. Like many other times, Jillian became painfully annoying when the show was all about her. She ended up with Ed, who may or may not be a player. Haven't seen them recently in US weekly, good or bad. Maybe it's working out......

Lastly, one of these ladies is Shenae Grimes who stars as the ridiculously annoying Annie Wilson on the reboot "90210". Her character might be slightly better this season, but overall still annoying.

They all seem to sport very similar hair. Have bubbly personalities or acting styles.

And you may not know, that they are all Canadian.

Guesses?

(I tried labeling the pictures- but from left to right we will call them 1, 2, 3.)

Team Edward....or Team Jacob....or

So, I'm late to the Twilight bandwagon. I started to read Twilight about a year ago- well into the craze. I only read about a quarter of the first book; and I just wasn't feeling it. So I put it down, and there it remained for the last year.

As the movie promotion for New Moon ramped up in early November, I became interested in finishing the book. I picked it back up- and quickly realized that if I had just kept reading a little bit more the first time I would've been hooked. Because I'm hooked.

Now I'm not reading them all day and all night; there's no time for that in my life, especially in this jolly holiday season. I have however been clocking through them. I finished Eclipse yesterday and started Breaking Dawn last night. (Thanks Amy for the loaners!)

I don't want to give anything away but I'm sure that if you haven't read any of these books, that you've been inundated with information about them. Bella is the new girl in town who seems to catch the attention of every boy in Forks. (Gah, didn't we hate the new girl who got all the attention!) Multiple "regular" guys ask her to the first dance- sweet, geeky Mike Newton pines away for her. Bella seems to like guys with a little more "edge". A girl, the vampire love of her life, the werewolf love of her life, you know typical teen romance:)

I have a lot of the same issues that other people do with the books. Bella can be incredibly annoying and her depression in New Moon was painful. But I remember teen angst. As I read these books some of it came back vividly. I can see why to teenagers this is like their kool aid. I also find it ridiculous that Edward and Jacob are both so understanding of her love for the two of them. (Side note- when I saw the movie New Moon it was hysterical to see/hear the swooning teens in the movie theater. Also funny was the annoyance of the adult viewers who were totally bothered by the gasping and giggling. People, what movie did you think you were seeing that there wasn't going to be an extra live soundtrack from the audience?)

I do understand the divided affections of ladies young and old. Do you love the old fashioned, romantic, chiseled all but pale cool Edward? Or the reckless smoldering, dark Jacob? I've been debating it a bit with my good friend Melissa. She says she's all about Jake. (She loves the bad boys you see.) She accused me of being more for Edward? And I admitted, "Yes. I see it. Why he could be appealing.".

The more I thought about who I am, or was as a teen had I been hanging around Forks, Washington at sixteen years old I would not have been Team Edward or Team Jacob.

I would have been Team Mike Newton. I haven't seen that t-shirt in any store......I wonder why:)

What Blogger Verfication is trying to tell me...

File this under random-

I've been commenting on a few people's blogs this evening (as encouraged by my previous
post). Blogger likes to verify that you are indeed a real human being, and thus asks you to
put in some (usually) nonsense words.

tonights words:

dedici

gagante

disera

I read them all to myself with great gusto- and my one year of Italian accent!

Molto dedici! Buona disera......

Can you tell I'm ready for vacation!

Blogiquette

We are being asked to do a lot at school with internet safety and other technology things for the kids. It is really important, especially when you realize how scary the world is out there and how naive ten year olds really are. ( I'll spare you some of their scary remarks.) The other day, my Library Media Specialist (LMS) was describing a project that the kids would be doing with our town's "Acceptable Use Policy". They and their parents had all signed off on it at the beginning of the year, but I can guarantee that most of them don't know what it means. They were going to use powerpoint to teach a younger student (third or fourth grade) to teach them about the AUP. I had a good chuckle to myself at the LMS described "Netiquette" to the kids- Net etiquette. I thought that was pretty funny! Now they don't know what "etiquette" really is, let alone netiquette.

This whole process made me reflect on the "Blogiquette" of our world.

1. When referencing another blogger or blog in a post- one must link to that blog as to bring additional traffic to that person's blog (and hey don't we all want more attention) Ex. I might reference Natalie or Mommy, Esq and with the click of a mouse you can visit their fabulous blogs as well.

2. If someone becomes a follower on your blog, you must become a follower on theirs. I'm so proud of my whopping "10" followers, and am always shocked by the huge numbers that other people have.

3. Whenever possible, try to comment on someone's post. This is bread and butter for people. Agree, disagree, or just say "hi"; even just a little thought will make someone's day.

4. Post, Post, Post! Nobody wants to follow a blog that never has new items. (If you don't post often enough, you might get dropped from someone's blog list! Stacey plays hard ball :)

5. If you've found a blog that you really enjoy, delurk and "come out" to that person. We all love fans!

What are the other unwritten rules of blogging that you've discovered or live by?

Red Alert! Red Alert!

Fellow Tubers, we have a couple problems that need immediate discussion.

I read the other day that the return date of "Lost" has been chosen- It will be Tuesday night
February 2, 2010. Yes, Groundhog Day. (which apparently isn't an accident considering the storylines this season, hmmmmm..............)

At first I think- a switch to Tuesday.........oh no........then I realize that Tuesdays at 9 I watch
Melrose- so I think, fine. I can drop Melrose (and 90210 at this point) And Wednesdays at
9 would have been bad because of course that it is already double booked with two best new
shows on tv "Glee" and "Modern Family".

Well guess what the producers of "Glee" have done to us?

I will tell you- Wed. December 9th will be the last new episode until April 13, 2010!

And.................

And..................

That's a Wednesday! Yes, that's right. Lost and Glee will be on opposite of each other.
I feel like I'm back to the year when Lost was on at 10 and I would have to get up BEFORE school to watch it.

Ridiculous......can't we spread the good tv around the week a bit.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving- I'm off to drown my sorrrows in pumpkin pie:(

From the mouths of babes......

A discussion you would have overhead while I was teaching Social Studies today- between yours truly and an adorable Danish exchange student named Ida (pronounced Eda)

Ida: Ms. Sellers, how old are you?

me: Ida, how old are you?

Ida: I am 10.

me: I am 33.

Ida: Oh, I thought you were like 26.

me: Ida gets an "A"

:)

Seven years younger......excellent!

A day late, and a dollar short

It's November 15th..................how? I know I JUST had a conversation with someone about how we couldn't believe it was the end of October, Halloween et al. I'm always jealous when I see people posting about NaBloMo. Participating just isn't going to happen in November because it's when I'm doing the first report card of the year, and my life becomes consumed by them. It was reassuring when talking to some other teacher friends and they agreed they they have come to dislike November as well. Feels like an elephant standing on my chest. Add to that H1N1 and regular Flu running through my school, and it's like stress central.


Inspired by Gretchen, I thought I would share some pumpkin pictures. I haven't carved a pumpkin in a long time because I'm actually never home when trick-or-treaters come by and it's nice to have a pumpkin last to Thanksgiving. I love decorating my little deck for fall. I especially love white pumpkins- so cool (so much more expensive). I bought a nice traditional orange pumpkin and a cute little white pumpkin. I ended up buying the same combo for school. I think I have previously discussed on this blog my affection for Snoopy. Walgreen's often has some pretty cute holiday Peanuts stuff. I was very excited to find this wooded pieces that you could stick into a pumpkin to decorate. We were also asked to have the class decorate a pumpkin for a evening Halloween party that the PTO was hosting. I decided to take a little white pumpkin and turn it into Snoopy-while each kid created little Woodstocks out of puff balls (sorry, no pictures of those) A little black sharpie, a little black felt, and a hot glue gun and I was pretty proud of myself.

I wonder how long they will sit on my deck......it's practically time to put up some lights!

Sigh...............................

Canned

Apparently our prayers have been answered- Ashlee Simpson (-Wentz) is out after these first 12 epsiodes of Melrose. As previously discussed here, she is a terrible, horrible actress. Painful.

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/10/22/simpson-and-egglesfield-fired-on-melrose-place/

But the bummer of all this, the fabulous Colin Egglesfield is out as well! Come on now- he was cute to look at and I was happy for him that he had graduated from "All My Children".
AMC is moving to L.A., maybe they can bring him back from the dead!

Jane Lynch is a goddess!

I've been remiss in posting- no time, not motivated, always something else to do. I'm jealous of all of you who find something to say daily (and the time to do it)
But, back to a tube discussion....

Glee should just be handed the Emmy now! It is FREAKING hysterical! Last night's episode , "Throwdown", where the phenomenal Jane Lynch, "Sue Sylvester", became the co-head of Glee was ridonculous.As my good friend Josie said, if you laughed too long then you missed the next joke.(My only disappointment is that now being on the fabulous Glee is going to keep her from being on Party Down, the Rob Thomas show in Starz that I loved so much last year.) Please share any of your favorites below- two that I particularly enjoyed: When Sue called out her choices for her subgroup and instead of the Cheerios and Jocks, she picked, "Wheels, Gay Kid, Asian, other Asian, Aretha, ". Not only is she funny when she is saying outrageous things, but also with her simple, well delivered one liners. Ex. At the end of the episode when Will goes to Sue to make amends Sue say, "Will, come in. I'm glad you're here. I wanted to talk to you too, but I had no idea where your office was." Too much......This show might be giving 30 Rock some competition.

Not only am I loving Glee, but I'm loving Flashforward. When I mentioned in an earlier post, I hadn't even seen it yet. It's great- It's definitely the new Lost which is great because I only have 17 episodes left to enjoy of Lost. The storyline is very compelling- in fact the first episode kind of scared me! I'm very intrigued to see where they are going to go with this whole thing. Anyone else watching?

The Duck Whisperer

Sunday night saw the premiere of one of my favorite shows; The Amazing Race. Now I know, it isn't for everyone- Stacey. I happen to love this great adventure. Years ago, I did watch "Survivor". To me Survivor pales in comparison to this. I've even converted my father over (well he still watches Survivor, but he loves TAR too) On Survivor, the contestants sit around whining about how hungry they are on the beach, or jungle, etc. On TAR, I get to see all sorts of amazing places around the globe. I have a running list of places I must see someday; and a running list of places I NEVER want to see (i.e. India, Vietnam)

This new season seems like it won't disappoint. I was able to watch it with two school friends who also love it because we had Monday off in honor of the day of Atonement. Twelve teams started the race in L.A. Don't you know one of the teams is from Salem, MA. Lance and Keri seem like real winners, not. Giving MASS a good name! He's a meat head who keeps flexing his muscles, and talking about being a trial attorney. (My guess would be closer to personal injury.) These two barely make it out of the very first challenge against Eric and Lisa, the married yoga instructors. They may have been good laughs- too bad they didn't look at the clue carefully. Garrett and Jessica are a pair who fall into my favorite category- on and off dating- they're here on the race to see if they should "stay together". Great....always works out well. There were lots of "Christian" couples- like Canaan and Mika. No good gays, or transvestites to counterbalance them.

As a teacher, I was intrigued by Zev and Justin. They are best friends and Zev happens to have Aspberger's Syndrome. I've dealt with a lot of kids wtih Aspberger's. It is considered to be higher functioning Autism- and you see it come in to play with social cues and social interaction. This race might be really interesting for Zev. The best part of the episode was when in the "roadblock" when one team member had to direct a flock of ducks from one pen to another. Zev did it with total ease- thus he was "the Duck Whisperer".

I think they're who I'm rooting for!

You know you love me.....and other good tv that I don't have time to watch!

Hi all.....one week later and I was finally able to watch the new 90210 and Melrose Place, and I have some thoughts to share.

I know many of you aren't going to continue with 9-0, but I need to quickly debrief. I thought the episode was pretty good, and improvement upon last year. I felt that that there were some continuity issues. The ep opens with all the kids getting out of summer school, where they've had to be all summer because of Annie ratting them out for drinking at an after prom party( which P.S. wasn't on school grounds and I don't know how the school could enforce this- because I mean, Donna got drunk at Prom
I can't decide if I like depressed, morose Annie better than the peppy, sugary Annie. She is still the least likeable character, but the teacher in me is bothered by her being left out by the other girls, especially Silver who I still thought was her friend. And the "sexting"....eek.

Ok- Melrose.....I was intrigued. I thought it was a pretty good episode. I already know way too many spoilers, and I didn't even look that hard all summer to find them.
The Sydney "dying" in the opening scene was pretty much out there, so it wasn't shocking. It's very Twin Peaks or Veronica Mars that Sydney will be in most of the season and the mystery will unfold through the season. Now, I watched Melrose back in the day. I don't know how many seasons I ended up watching, I definitely lost interest a few seasons in, but I did not remember that Sydney had actually previously died. How great does Laura Leighton look? She's 41, but honestly I thought she looked just as she did 15 years ago. Ashlee Simpson (Wentz) is kind of painful, and her connection to Sydney is obvious. Is she really that good, or just pretending?

The best part of new Melrose is Colin Eggesfield- the chef, Auggie. He's adorable and from "All My Children". (I saw him in real life back when I went to Super Soap Weekend.)

Gossip Girl tonight! Woo hoo!

I'm having some serious tv conflicts and I'm rethinking the old TiVo Season Pass.
What are sticking with, or ditching?

It's the Most Wonderful time of the year.....

Not a lot of time to write, as another school year has begun and as usual, I have WAY more that I should be doing besides talk about tv, but hey it's the fall season everyone! Great favorites returning and exciting new shows to check out.

It actually just dawned on me that tomorrow night is the premiere of the this blog's namesake- and I guess I'm going to watch. I'm a little on the fence, as I don't LOVE the show. I guess I'll keep watching till something else fills the time slot. I'm a little sad that Dustin Milligan, Ethan, will not be back this season, as he was one of the characters who grew on me. I'm interested to see what happens to the completely annoying Annie as she clearly hit someone post-prom with the car in the finale. As long as "Kelly" Jennie Garth is on and the intrepid "Donna Martin" Tori Spelling makes appearances, I will probably keep watching. (Allegedly, the producers were saying that they wanted to move away from the old characters- ha, no one will watch!)

After 9-0 tomorrow, is Melrose Place. Now, we knew it was only a matter of time. (Do we think that Models, Inc is coming soon too? remember that one) I'm no big fan of Ashlee Simpson (-Wentz) but I am intrigued. It actually looks like the old set with the climbing vines near the pool area. At least Dr. Mancini and Sydney are returning to the series. I guess I'll watch tomorrow night and report back and let you know.

What am I excited about?

GLEE! Have you seen this show! Oh my.....I had heard about it from all my Idol friends from last Spring. This show has something special, and it's getting big kudos, so please tune in this Wednesday, FOX 9 pm. You haven't missed anything you can't pick up now- and then go immediately to ITunes and download the show choir version of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab".

I also think "Modern Family" and maybe "Flash Forward" on ABC look promising. I'll report back on more along this line later.

Any show that you're really excited to see the return of, or something new that looks interesting to you?

A new addiction

Let me just state for the record, that I'm having a great very lazy, relaxing summer. With that said, I'm a big ball of unmotivation for most things, including blogging. I don't really lack for ideas, just the carry through with them (hmmmm.....kind of the story of my life) I haven't finished the Amazing Race posts. You don't even know that I've been on vacation to Vegas and back.

Instead of covering either of those items, I would like instead to tell you about a favorite new addiction. Boston.com is the home of the Boston Globe online newspaper. I enjoy staying current and have long enjoyed reading most of my news online here. Within the last couple months I stumbled upon Meredith Goldstein's blog called "Love Letters". Meredith is the "relationship expert" and answers letters from the lovelorn and also hosts a Chat, on Wednesdays I believe. I got sucked in by an adult daughter confronted by her parents divorce, and someone concerend over someone moving across country to be with them.

The topics and Meredith's repsonses are always interesting, but what's even better are the readers' responses. Hundreds of people comment every day, and some of them are excellent and hillarious. There is one reader called "Rico". Rico writes in the third person, and is often a big mush ball. I find "his" repsonses very funny. Many of the other regular readers and responders however don't really love Rico and will dump on him. "Hoss" is also really good; sometimes really blunt, but truthful. Sometimes a couple hundred responses in, the letter writer will actually comment back and let the readers know additional information or to let us know what advice they are thinking of taking.

If you live around here you know that the Boston Globe is in financial trouble. One of the ideas being batted around is to have people pay to use it- and I love reading this column enough that I would consider ponying up some cash to help the Globe! I know a lot of you get bored at work, so check this out (before they start charging)-bet you get hooked too!

Amazing Race Leg 3- Where the heck is Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania?

Let me review with you, dear audience, why I was on this crazy Amazing Race. I had several reasons for taking the trip that I did. My dear Stacey was finishing up her maternity leave, and had invited me many times to visit her family in the south since her move. I was determined to make it to her before she went back to work. I told myself that if I went to North Carolina, that was going to do a little tour of the state while I was there, since my college roommate Kathleen had moved to Durham. I also have another dear friend Becky, who lives on the coast. As you have seen, the stops in Charlotte and Durham were doable, but pushing to make it out to the Wilmington beach area. Since Becky and her family will soon be moving to Florida, I guess my eventual visit to them will be another adventure.



Now, how the heck did I end up combining this grand tour of North Carolina with a trip to middle of nowhere Pennsylvania? My very dear friend from school, JoEllen, has a very fun and cool husband Tom. We do lots of CONE events, and boat travels with them along the Charles River. Tom lovingly restores 1967 Camaro Pacecars. For several years now, Tom has been making his way out to Carlise, Pennsylvania for the All GM Nationals show. JoEllen has joked with us about being a camaro widow, and how when she has attended with Tom, she was like a groupie. She has lauded us with very funny stories of her experiences at the show and the Holiday Inn. At some point during this year, JoEllen suggested that at the end of the school year we should all go with them to PA, and do fun things down there. It seemed like most of our other friends had other things going on, but I was still interested in going. It turned out that I wouldn't be the only tag along (which I was kind of concerned about). Tom's parents would be coming, along with Tom's sister Randi, whom I have traveled to Super Soap Weekend with, her husband Billy and their daughter Kay, also Randi's best friend Janet and her husband Jason. I basically never saw Tom the whole weekend. He was very busy with his car friends:)



The big question was, could I get to North Carolina and then fly to PA in time before the weekend was over? Well, yes of course it turned out! I had to fly very, very early from Raleigh to Dulles, in Virginia. I had a bit of layover, but was very happy to see Dunkin Donuts when I got off the plane! Alas, they did not serve Iced Tea, but I was needing a coffee anyway. I hung around the airport, and awaited my little jet to Harrisburg. Both were quick easy flights, and as we descended in to Harrisburg I admired the mighty Susquehenna River and also noticed a large power plant right along the river. Hmmm...I wondered...I mentioned it to JoEllen later and she told me that it was the infamous "Three Mile Island" of the nuclear meltdown of 1979. Nice! A little extra history for the trip! I believe I have mentioned earlier that JoEllen and I love "The Amazing Race" and would like to be the first teachers to win! She was considering leaving me tasks at the Harrisburg Airport so that I could find my own way from there- perhaps having an Amish man pick me up in a horse and buggy, and requiring me to churn butter along the way or something. JoEllen brought a long her charming son Michael, aka Miguel to pick me up. The rest of the gang, sans Tom, was back at the hotel, and we would all head to Hershey Park from there. (Enjoy the clip of Michael greeting me at the airport at the bottom- it is currently being difficult, so I'm posting without it and will post later.)



Speaking of the hotel, this Holiday Inn in Mechanicsburg, PA is some place. It might just be the Mecca of middle of nowhere. JoEllen had told us funny stores of her previous trip. It's a very nice, average Holiday Inn. Before I arrived on Saturday morning, it had played host to a......wait for it.....a Kick Ball Tournament. Adults in matching t-shirts playing out back at the field behind the hotel. It's also appears to be the most sought after Wedding location- there were no joke, four weddings there are on Saturday. Some of them even happen outside in a tent next to the pool:) When I arrived there was a giant flea market happening in the front parking lot, and there were also two bars/clubs as part of the hotel. One was called the "Legends Lounge" and I got momentarily excited that this might be the spot where John Gosselin of "John and Kate Plus 8" had been spotted with his elementary school teacher mistress back in the spring. (Turns out that it is come kind of chain, but I wasn't far from where they were in Reading!) The sight to be seen was the "Tiki Bar". In Boston, it reminds me of Marina Bay in Quincy. Fake grass huts, probably some pretend sand, and oh yeah- giant torches out front and apparently open until 4 a.m. There isn't much to do out there. I didn't make it in to this lovely place, but we heard some very interesting stories from car buddies of Tom's on Sunday morning. I hadn't noticed earlier in the day that one of the brides having her big day at the hotel appeared to be pregnant (not judging), but apparently since she had to turn in early, her new hubby went to hang at that Tiki Bar- where he became the chief pourer for the wet t-shirt contest! nice, right! At some point she came and dragged his butt out of there...



I realized way to late into this trip that I could've been doing more with the flip cam. I think that I may have been bold enough to "interview" some people on the plane and such. I am off to Vegas in a week and half, and I will have my partner in crime Natalie, so maybe I'll have some funny stuff when we return.



I think I will break this post in to two- and come back tomorrow (?) and tell you more about my exploits in PA! Hershey! Gettysburg! Crystal Cave....oooohhhhhh!

Amazing Race Leg 2- Raleigh-Durham-June 25-27

It seems that I am home from my trip and settling in well to my typical summer routine; absolutely nothing. I guess that's my only excuse for my I haven't finished posting the rest of my trip.

When I last left you, I was going to be leaving Stacey and her family behind and picking up my rental car for the big drive across the great state of North Carolina. Stacey brought me back to Alamo at the airport to pick up my wheels. Now, I had heavily researched how I would execute this leg of the trip. Renting a car one way, which is what I was doing, is not as easy as one would think. Let me scratch that; it's easy, it just ain't cheap! In true amazing race style, I could've taken a bus (which ran a lot of times during the day and would've given me excellent people watching) or Amtrak- but there would only be two options each day, early in the morning and 5 or so in the afternoon. I even looked at flights. Now a one-way flight between these two cities was like some ridiculous number of $400. I could have flown one -way, with a layover in Atlanta, for almost the same price that I spent renting the car. I felt like the car gave me the most flexibility and was a real adventure.

After you've paid at Alamo, the nice people direct you to the parking lot where you can take any car the section that you've paid for. I was very excited when I got out there because I saw the perfect Amazing Race vehicle- a white VW bug. How great would have I looked crossing the state? Alas, someone grabbed it before me, and I had to settle for a white Civic. I had to head back to Stacey's to grab my stuff, and then I was off. (See video clip at the bottom of me on my way!)

I had prepared a little ahead of time for how I would keep myself occupied during the drive. I wouldn't know the radio stations, and I wouldn't have my Sirius satellite radio or my built in blue tooth from my beloved Ford Escape, so I couldn't depend on talking my way across the whole state. I decided to bring a book on CD. Now, I recommend and even push upon reluctant readers, the concept of the book on tape or CD. I have actually never listened to one before. The book that I chose is called "The Mysterious Benedict Society". It was a book on my Massachusetts Children's Book Award (MCBA) list from this past school year. I had never read it, and it ended up winning the whole kitten caboodle. I thought I should probably check it out!

Now it's quite lengthy- yet not until I was in the car and trying to cross Charlotte city limits to pick up the highway, did I realize that this book was 13 HOURS on CD! I realized quickly I would barely get through one CD! I was also initially concerned that I didn't have the attention span for "just listening" and was the kind of kid who would need the book in front of them in order to pay attention. I did get in to the book; orphans, secret society, adventure, blah, blah, blah and even had to buy a CDman at Target in Durham so I could keep listening to it on my trip. I might even finish it...........before Christmas!

The trip was very easy, and before I knew it I was pulling into Kathleen's driveway. I stupidly realize that I didn't take a picture of her, or her and me, or her lovely husband. I do however have a picture to share of the other two characters who kept me company over the couple of days; meet Chloe and Harley.

Harley is the Yorkie and Chloe is the lovable mutt- some retriever in her- Theresa, she physically reminding me a bit of Scout! If I thought Charlie in Charlotte wanted to get some licks in, these two were merciless. That had a lot of loving to bestow on me.

My time with Kathleen was the shortest of all the legs- and on Friday when we went off I didn't have either the regular camera or the flip cam to catch some of the sights of Duke or UNC Chapel Hill. They were both lovely, huge! At Duke, I thought about how the Dawson's Creek people tried to pass this off as Harvard, ha.

Of course not long after I arrived on Thursday, did we hear the news of Michael Jackson. Shocking! Expect a longer post on my entertainment thoughts soon! The next leg cam quick, and EARLY on Saturday morning- and I will share info on that tomorrow- I promise!

Enjoy a couple clips! (Yikes Matt Lauer and a really unflattering still of me....oh well)

Amazing Race- Charlotte June 23-25

It's hard to believe that I've been out of school a week, because it sure feels like a month! It also seems unbelievable that I have already gone on vacation and am back! It was hands down the best thing I've ever done; to leave right after I got out of school.

To review- Monday, June 22nd was my last day of school. Typically, it would take me several days to break down my classroom. (We have to pack up everything because they remove everything to clean the room.) I had told myself several months back that I really wanted to be out of there on the day we get out this year. Booking the trip to leave Tuesday morning only made this more of a necessity. The kids were very helpful as I told all about my "Amazing Race" and that they must help me get out the door.

After school saw me drinking with my school friends at our watering hole. The last day of school tends to be a later night of reverie. It was rather strange that it was a Monday, and we didn't like the Monday waitstaff at all! They obviously didn't know who we were:) Thank goodness Angela one of our two favorite bartenders was there! Around 9 there was a discussion of moving on to somewhere else (where my friend's sister is a waitress) but I had to be smart and go home and pack!

Tuesday morning- I get up, double check for all my stuff (but still managed to forget my bathing suit) and drive to Joellen's in Arlington. Her house will be the mat for the end of the race, and she was nice enough to host my snappy Ford Escape and to even haul me to the airport. My flight to Charlotte on USAir was at 9:45 am!

Now, I'm not a great flyer. I attribute this partly to the fact that I don't fly very often. I think if I did fly more frequently, I wouldn't be as anxious. Before last week, I hadn't been on a plane in almost two years. I have flown a handful of times solo. I did realize as I stepped up to check myself in, I was a little lost without Natalie, who is my most frequent flying buddy. When I got through security, it turned out all I had was a receipt. I had managed not to print my boarding pass- I don't think of myself as helpless too often, but sometimes I guess I am. Back to the kiosk....

Then off to the plane- a middle seat on a full flight! Dope! There went my plan to write my thank you notes to the kids. I didn't want to be throwing elbows in anyone's face. The flight to Charlotte was a nice easy one, and by 11:30 I was waiting to get off and be greeted by Stacey!

I had a great 2.5 days there. It was quite HOT, which for all of us in New England would be a welcome change. My main function of this trip was to support Stacey as she purchased her back to work wardrobe. Somehow this morphed into me doing a lot of stimulating of the economy of North Carolina. I thought that was very nice of me

Of course, I was also there to meet Cameron, who is even more beautiful than her pictures show. My economy stimulating included the cute outfit you see in the video below!

My other buddy of this leg was Charlie. I had previously had the pleasure of meeting Charlie at Christmas. He spent most of my time there licking my feet, my arms, my legs, you get the picture.


















The visit was so fast- and hopefully I was an easy-going houseguest! I did bring my Flip Cam from school and finally broke it out as I was leaving. Enjoy a little snippet of Miss Cameron (special appearance by Charlie) in the outfit I got her. Leggings!!!!

More race info to follow.......

Breaking up is hard to do!

I've been making lists to myself of blog ideas, because I've actually had a couple good ones. My infrequent blogging can be attributed to my lack of time (mostly) but also lack of ideas. I have lots to blog about trip wise- but we'll start with this entry first.

A month ago, the longest relationship I have yet to have ended.

I bought a new car:)

I haven't owned that many cars- I chuckle on Facebook when I'm invited to fill out "Five Cars I've Owned"- I haven't owned five cars (excluding my parents vehicles that I drove). I've just had three littel red cars.

I have proudly driven- a red '86 Nissan Sentra, in which the only thing that worked was the air conditioning, a red '92 Toyota Tercel, that had no airconditioning. These were my two used cars, both red, both two-door. I was very excited in 2002 to buy my first new car. I new I wanted A/C, and I knew that I wanted four doors. I ended up with my Mazda Protege. I was so proud to be buying a brand new car, and with 0% financing to boot. Ironically, I chose red freely this time- figuring that I would always be looking for my red car in the parking lot if I didn't buy red.





My Protege was very good to me. Very dependable, very comfortable. We had seven great years- but 90,000 miles later, things were starting to go south. I was mulling over a new car, wishing not to have a car payment, but realizing with the economy being what it was, it was a good time to get a new car. The decision to finally go forward happened the Friday before Memoria Day weekend. Like any other day, I drove away from my house and headed to school. A mile or so after leaving my house, I looked around at a light to see who's car nearby was making that terrible noise- then I realized that it was me! My muffler had gone! It was a sign!

I thought I knew what I wanted- I had my heart set on a Mazda CX-7. To make a long story short, I ended up not liking driving it all! (Isn't it funny how that works out) I shifted my affection towards the Mazda Tribute, but two Mazda dealerships could not really give me what I wanted. I wanted some good numbers. (they were offering some 0%, but not for long enough)

I was totally drained after hours of shopping on Saturday and I had no car to show for it. On Sunday, I made a random decision to check in with Ford. You see Ford owns Mazda, and Ford makes the same car at the Tribute, called the Escape. I'm sure that you know that American companies are a little desperate, and they had the 0% financing that I wanted. I had plans to buy the vehicle from an old "friend"s dad who runs a Ford dealership-but they were not open. You snooze, you lose, right. I ended up at a random other dealership that I knew was owned by a different family who's kids had gone to my high school. (The son in the family does some assorted handy work for my parents.) Turns out that their dad who owns the dealership was in that day- was happy to meet me and ended giving me a great deal! Money for my Mazda, waived a bunch of fees, and I kind of sat there in shock- I couldn't walk away from this.

If you know me pretty well, you know that I am a BIG emotional sap. I was heartbroken to say goodbye to my car. I painstakingly cleaned it out- and boy did I have a lot to clean out of it (six moves you know, equals storage being in your trunk) As I was doing this, I thought about all that had changed in my life in the time that I've had this car. It saw me through six apartments, seven roommates, and two boyfriends. This car is the longest, and I guess the most successful, relationship that I've had. Now I was abandoning her.

I picked up new mini-SUV on the Wednesday after Memorial Day weekend. My heartache went swiftly- I parked the Mazda out front and when I came around with the new wheels, she was already gone:( I have remarkably made peace, and I LOVE my new car.

As you can see, I chose the radical Sport Blue. I highly considered another red, and also gray. (To tell you the truth, I really liked all the color choices.) People keep telling me they love the blue.

My new Escape is pretty awesome- it has two-toned camel interior, and yes even a month later it still smells new! I have Sync technology- built in Blue Tooth, meaning I will eventually be able to say, "Call Mommy, Esq" and I could also say, "Play Cold Play" from an IPod. (Of course I had to get a new phone, to go with this new car and I only have an IPod shuffle, so who knew that I would have to factor in these purchases along with the car.) It has built in Sirius Satellite radio- and I have found great love for the 90's station! It's like a flashback every couple minutes! You will also be proud to know that I have kept it very clean! I bought myself a rubbermaid container to stay in the way back and that is where I keep my grocery bags, umbrella, etc. I've even vacuumed and washed it. I won't leave any trash or drinks in it.

I really missed my Escape when I was gone on my Amazing Race- and I do love being back up high (since I learned to drive on a minivan, driving all these little cars was actually kind of trying) I see them everywhere, and I am proud to report that it was the best selling small SUV in May- when I bought mine, so I must be doing something right. It's also only a two gallon bigger tank than my Protege.

Now if I could only find a guy to drive with me.....

"Helen, You are the winner of the Amazing Race"

I believe that I have earlier blogged about my love for the Emmy Award winning Reality Game Show, "The Amazing Race". It's a great show- and I'd like to go on it (but mostly I like to joke about going on it.)

I have left on what is for me the closest thing to an "Amazing Race". I got out of school on Monday afternoon, which is kind of a race in itself. For the first time in nine years, I FINALLY left my classroom behind on the day we got out. Lots of other people are able to do it. In fact, most people besides me are able to do it! This year I had a great motivator....my Amazing Race.

I flew Tuesday morning here to Charlotte, NC to see my beloved Stacey and her beloved new nugget Cameron. It's so nice to be with old friends, and just have the fun of being together. Stacey is finishing an Amazing Race herself- her three months of being a SAHM. She heads back to work next Monday, which is partly why I raced down here to be able to see her. It's amazing to watch all the goes into the care of a little person; but it's even more amazing to see the joy that she brings!

Tomorrow, I head to Durham. I will be renting a car and heading to see my college roommate, Kathleen and her husbad Dewayne.

Saturday will see me flying to Harrisburg, PA to catch up with the clan McGinnity who will give me a ride back to MA on Monday. In the spirit of the race, JoEllen hopes to leave me a red and yellow clue box at the airport and make me find my own way to Hershey Park. Or perhaps hire and Amish gentleman to pick me up in a horse and buggy and make me turn butter to earn my next clue....:)

I've really been wanting to get back to consistent blogging. (Stacey even kicked me off her sidebar till I do- tough love!) I had thought about bringing my laptop and at least composing when I had some time. It's worked out well that the homes I will be staying at are well equipped with computers. There might be a couple posts here and there this week.

I'm not the most spontaneous person. This trip was certainly planned, but no one thought I would follow through with it. But, I did it. I'm really glad that I did. Here's to a summer of fun!

You have a blessed day!

I have arrived in the south. I haven't spent too much time down here- all but a brief visit to South Carolina two years ago and to Texas more than ten years ago. It's an interesting place....

I dragged myself out of bed this morning to head for the airport. Josie was extremely kind to let me leave my new blue machine at Overlook Road and transport me to Logan.

I got to Charlotte around noon today and Stacey was waiting for me as I descended the escalator, all that was missing was the sign with my name on it! I got a little bit of a sense of the suburban area; many strip malls, all you could need. It's HOT down here- since New England has become the new Seattle....

After hitting Target and Kohl's, I asked Stacey if people down here would say, "have a blessed day". She told me, "no, not really". Guess what the lovely lady told me at Target....

School's Out for Summer.....

Well, friends I've done it! I'm done with another school year! I can't believe that next school year I will have been teaching 10 years! Since I teach 10 year olds, a whole generation has basically past! I wonder how many years till I'm not a "fun" teacher anymore?

I am leaving in the AM on the first leg of my very own, "Amazing Race". I will be heading to Charlotte to see the lovely Stacey, and I'm sure the even lovelier Cameron. (oh, and Jeremy and Charlie, too.)

I had high hopes of doing a lot of composing and posting from the road, since I've had lots of blog ideas and no time to execute. I am currently in the midst of the packing, and I'm not sure the laptop will make the cut. Stay tuned....

Hey Helen, where have you been?

Well, it's the end of school. I'm trying to keep my head above water. In case you are really interested, come on over to the Encounters and Exchanges in US History blog, where you can see my post about the great project that my kids have been working on- fun pictures.

Gretchen- I think the historian in you will enjoy this.

Be back soon with some new topics- NEW car, Summer Fun ideas, maybe some more Bachelorette discussion

The best laid plans....

A couple weeks ago I was faced with the big question, "what to get my mom for Mother's Day?". My mom really isn't in to stuff- she's got it all and seen it all, and is very happy to have nice cards and promises of fun outings together. My siblings however are always looking to buy elaborate things, so I feel like I needed to step up my game a bit.

In the Macy's circular I saw a beatiful Guess watch. It had a white leather band, and the face was a beautiful paisley. Then the whole face was surrounded by Swarvoski crystals. Now, I have a bit of a watch fetish, and I also adore paisley. I thought Big Helen and I both deserved this watch. Natalie and Mommy, Esq will tell you of my great love a coupons and a bargain, so I headed off to the store with an extra 25 % off pass. Unfortunately, they were sold out. The nice store cleark encouraged me just to order them online, and that I would still be able to use the coupon. I did just that and got both watches for a great price. Many people posted comments about how much the loved this watch! Now, I just hoped they would arrive before the weekend.

Well, they came lickety-split. When I opened the box, I got a little surprise.
They were HUGE!
I mean the faces are two inches wide easily. I look like I should be wearing it, opening the door to my garash mansion and saying, "Welcome to my crib".

I was bummed- the watch was big on me, and my wrists are small, this was going to be massive on my teeny, tiny mother. I hemmed and hawed- do I send it back? do I see if she would like it? I considered just wearing it around her and watching for her reaction. I kind of did just that- and she loves it! It is HUGE on her, but she's excited that I feel that she's stylish. (Well, we're making her more stylish)

Aren't we cute :) and aren't we styling!

Social Commentary Sunday

I really do enjoy blogging. Like others, especially my buddy Mommy, Esq., I especially enjoy comments and the knowing that people are reading my blog entries. I have no one to blame but myself that I’ve been a gigantic blogging slacker. I’m in a mad countdown to the end of the school year and I haven’t felt very inspired to write anything.

To that end, I’ve decided to try to force myself into some kind of routine. Lots of other bloggers participate in some kind of weekly event like Thursday Theater hosted by Goddess in Progress or Makes My Monday. I’ve decided to start “Social Commentary Saturday or Sunday”. Hopefully, every weekend I will do a little blip about something having to do with life and society.

Like other Bostonians, I love my Dunkin Donuts. People who don’t see me in the early mornings at school, are surprised and don’t believe that I am a coffee person. However, I do get up quite early, and in the winter I find it very comforting. I hit a personal milestone this year when the lovely people at the downtown Andover DD would see me in line and have my coffee- Medium Extra Cream, Regular Sugar, waiting for me when I reached the head of the line. (This may have also coincided with when I decided to go on my diet, and thus I haven’t seen my morning friends lately.)

Now that the warm weather is upon us, I have begun to convert over to my other great DD addiction- Iced Tea. I believe that is was debuted last summer and I’ve been hooked ever since. I’m a great connoisseur of iced tea; having made the great transition from the sugary powdered stuff of my childhood to true fresh brewed. It’s rather embarrassing when I collect up my recycling and I see the ridiculous amount of cups in my bin, and how much I’ve actually drank (and spent- that’s for another blog).
How do I like my tea you ask? Well, I like a medium with lemon, REGULAR sugar, and just a little ice. They have this truly awful thing called “liquid” sugar. Apparently Dunkins corporate instructs their peeps to make their iced tea with this liquid cancer. Ugh! I have had many, MANY conversations with their people about this. (And unfortunately, have had to send back a lot of teas that have been made incorrectly.) Sometimes I have to tell them granulated sugar. When I’m on the wagon, I don’t use any of their sweetener, but try to use natural plant sweetener stevia instead.

My inspiration for today came when I dragged myself to get some breakfast. The woman behind me in line ordered, “Medium ice coffee, a splash of skim milk, and two equals.” Isn’t funny how everyone has “their” thing, the way their drink must be?
What’s yours?

Below is last week’s cartoon from the Boston Globe. I love checking on line every week to see what clever people have written as captions. Funny!


The caption read, "They're from Boston, all right. They're demanding Dunkin' Donuts coffee and have ordered us to "pull ova in the watta."

What I've been watching....

File this under, since this blog is supposed to be about tv-

90210-

Okay, I don't know what to do with this show. There have been slight improvments in the last few episodes. The meltdown of Silver was a good episode- directed by Jason Priestly. Of course, I love the return of Donna. (watching the old timers still remains my favorite part of this show) It's been all over the gossip sites that Ethan (Dustin Milligan) won't be returning next season. I'm bummed about Ethan, because I think he was just starting to figure out the character's direction. The new character of Liam in interested and I'm enjoying the steam. Annie is definitely the most annoying character on all of television, and I know that I'm not alone with that feeling.

Party Down-on Starz

I had recommended this show a few posts back, before I had ever seen it. It was the new brain child of Rob Thomas, of the fabulous Veronica Mars. This show is funny. Some episodes have been better than others- and the part I love best is every episode has another fabulous Veronica alum in it. (Veronica herself, Kristen Bell, is set to be in the finale.) My one warning is that the show is at times raunchy- which if you know me pretty well, you know really isn't me. Everyone is someone on this show- and even when I looked up the one person I didn't know on imdb.com, it turns out that she played the goth friend Janis in the fabulous "Mean Girls". (I never would have recognized her.)

Head Case- This airs directly before "Party Down".
I've tried to get into this- It is funny, but I'm not sure I'm in it for the long haul. It stars Ali (or Alexandra) Wentworth as a therapist to all of Hollywood. (You know Ali from her brief talk show, or who Friday guest spots on Oprah, or as Jerry's girlfriend in the Soup Nazi episode, or as Mrs. George Stephanopoulos) The show is totally improvised, and it has really hollywood stars as her clients. Worth an episode if you are interested.


30 Rock- if you aren't watching this show...I just don't know what to tell ya. Freaking hysterical! The best part for all Andoverites is that our very own Todd Buonopane (AHS class of 96) is becoming a pretty regular character- He's been on about four episodes.

Amazing Race- I've loved this show for years, and have converted many friends over to it. (Including my dad, who's a very big Survivor fan. I convinced him that the Amazing Race is way more interesting and exciting than watching people whining about being hungry on a beach!)
I've made a little list for myself of all the things I have to do before I was able to go on this race:
1. Get Lasik- I've seen others survive who wear glasses and contacts, but if I'm sleeping on sidewalks in India, I don't want to have to worry about my contacts or carrying only 3 oz. of solution on the planes.
2. Make sure I have a really good bikini wax-one of the detours this year was to run a road race in your underwear in Siberia. You need to be prepared....
3. Maybe get over my fear of heights:)
4. Get in really good shape, because there will be all sorts of climbing and running

I'll let you all know how this works out.

Table for Twelve- Gretchen asked awhile back whether I would be watching this show. I had watched it previously when it was uncleverly called, "Twins, Twins, and Sextuplets". I like this family- they seem very normal- much more normal than the Gosselins (who I think may be on their way out of reality tv). I'm sure I will tune in at some point. I wish great success to the Hayes family- I'l like to see them score some of the dough that the Gosselins have raked in.

Anyone have a favorite show that they can never miss?

The side effects of eating healthy...

So, I've been "on the wagon" recently. Two years ago I tried a diet per say through my gym. It was a modified version of the diet from Anne Louise Gittleman, based on her book, "The Fat Flush Plan". It's a six week program that like others modifies the carbs that you intake and encourages the eating of almost more food than you would in a typical day. You eat protein every two to three hours, which is tricky to fit in to my typical school day. (since my lunch is at 11 a.m.) The first time that I did the plan I lost about 10 pounds total. It eventually creeped back on, and then some. All of my school friends are doing their own version of being healthy, so it seemed like a good time to get back on board (since clothes really haven't been fitting and I was starting to bend and buy new clothes in bigger sizes). Before Easter, I had probably lost about 8 pounds. Being on vacation, and out of my routine and having more access to other kinds of food, has been tricky. I'm still probably down five or six lbs.

Eating healthy has some side effects:
1. Lots of trips to the supermarket- and sometimes multiple supermarkets. Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Market Basket, Stop and Shop....they all have something I need.

2. Lots of recycling/trash- I have no recycling at my condo complex (which annoys me greatly because I've always been really good about recycling). I have to make lots of trips to my parents, and I inevitably always miss their recycling day, and they get mad at me:) I really wish I had a yard so that I could have a compost pile for all of my lemon rinds and egg shells.

3. Sleeping better- I have some issues with sleep, and more specifically insomnia. I've noticed that I'm sleeping a lot better, so maybe less junk in my system is helping.

4. Cranberry juice stains everywhere- A big crux of this plan is drinking unsweetened cranberry juice. (not easy to find, and not cheap) I drink 4 oz. of cranberry juice combined with 28 oz. of water. This stuff is really key. This is the magic that takes of your water weight, and you'll see weight fall off pretty fast, right away. (Like a pound a day at first) I try to drink two of them a day! Yes, I'm always running to the bathroom- which in my profession isn't always easy.

5. Eating of strange(r) foods- I loooooovvvvveeee buffalo. I love all red meat, and this is great because it's so not bad for you! No sugar or artificial sweeteners for me- Have you heard of stevia? It's a natural plant sweetener and it does the job. How about Live grain bread? Yum....

6. Lots of dishwasher running, and tupperware drying- for the first time, remarkable really, I haven't left multiple containers at school. Maybe the flaxseed oil is helping my memory.

7. I'm a hard boiled egg cooking and peeling pro! The key friends is to peel them when they are still warm, not too hot or they burn your fingers.

Being healthy isn't cheap and requires tons of prep work, but it's feeling all worth it!

A Sad Goodbye

Goodbye E.R., you've been a very good friend.

I remember vividly lying on the floor of my basement in 1994 enthralled by this show. I was a senior in high school, and taking Human Anatomy at the time. I loved all the scientific talk and was excited when I recognized the name of anything. Now, I knew that I wasn't going to be going to med school, but there was something very endearing about this show. You really found yourself rooting for the characters.


For the last several summers, I've been tuning in to TNT's "Primetime in the Daytime" airings of the old ERs. Two episodes a day, and 14 ish seasons made for lots of great repeats. I would always anxiously await certain episodes- like the Valentine's one with Carter and Lucy, of which I accidently spilled the beans to Mommy, Esq.

The episode brought us back so many old friends; Susan Lewis, Kerry Weaver, Reese Benton (so great to see the child actor grown up), and all the great nurses. In some previous episodes we had already seen Dr. Benton, Elizabeth Corday, and of course Carol Hathaway and Doug Ross. (Their return episode, "Old Times" was excellent.) Someone I didn't care to see- Kem. Referred to in this episode as Carter's wife, although I don't believe that we ever knew they had officially married. The episode saw the celebration of the Joshua Carter center, which was named for their baby. (I am determined not to spoil too much more for KJ.) Kem was sour, and I don't know why they ever stayed together these almost six long years if they weren't going to be able to move forward.

I recognized Rachel Greene right away ( I always thought it was funny that there were two Rachel Greens on NBC at the same time.) What a great way to end the series, with the return of Mark Green's former wild child to be a new med student. And I loved Carter at the end, "Coming Dr. Greene"

I will continue to watch and tape my repeats- I will continue to be wowed by the number of great, now well-known actors, who appeared who in those early episodes.

Goodbye E.R., you've been a very good friend.

California, California.....

I thought I would put a plug in for a great little show that some of you might enjoy getting on DVD

The O.C. came out several years ago (at least five) and I've been enjoying watching it occasionally on my beloved SoapNet. I even ended up putting it back in my Netflix queue.
It's not an untypical Romeo and Juliet type story. Bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks (Ryan from Chino) and the rich good girl (Marissa from Newport) meet and become starcrossed lovers. There is also no denying the great chemistry of Summer and Seth (who dated in real life for years)

Like so many other shows of this type, there is a more side character who becomes my favorite In this case, it was the guy I referred to as the Steve Sanders, his name was Luke and he started off as a huge ass. After a pivotal episode, you see a different side of him and he starts to be more comic relief.

The summer of 2005, Natalie and I got season 1 on dvd and we spent watching this we put our own spin on the catchy opening music, "Washington Crossing, Washington Crossing here we come right back where we started from". A favorite memory...

While rewatching it, I realize that "The O.C." started it all. Because of the O.C., we got Laguna Beach-the Real O.C. (which has in turn given us "The Hills" and "The City")

Because of the O.C., we got "The Real Housewives of Orange County" , and then New York, and Atlanta, the gift that keeps on giving.

Unless we had The O.C., we also would never have received Gossip Girl, which you know to be one of my favorites.

So, if you haven't enjoyed this sillyness, by all means, pick it up!

The Most SHOCKING Rose Ceremony Ever

If you've watched "The Bachelor" over the years, you know that this is host Chris Harrison's favorite tag line. EVERYTHING for a very long time seemed to be, "The Most Shocking Rose Ceremony ever". Well this week, it actually came true.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about my anger and frustration watching this show. I really liked single dad Jason Mesnick last year when he was originally on "The Bachelorette". He seemed endearing, and very true. I was sad when he wasn't chosen, and happy to see him get another chance. What's interesting was because wasn't originally "the star", he didn't have all the air time. Now having seen him as "the star" of "The Bachelor", I don't think I really like who he is.
I wrote in my previous post that he seemed to be looking for this perfect ideal of passion and friendship- and wouldn't settle for less. He discarded the adorable Jillian for that very reason.
He is left with Melissa and Molly (ages 25 and 24 respectively, oh and he's 32 p.s.) He's totally torn, seems to have the perfect combo he thought he wanted. Rejects Molly- she's devestated, says, "he made a big mistake" and off she goes. He proposes to Melissa, exposing his young son to all of this mind you. And cue the credits.....
Or so we thought
There's been a lot of speculation on the web, and I love me some spoilers. Reality Steve proved to be correct. Jason and Melissa spent roughly six weeks dating and spending holidays together. And then, according to Jason, their chemistry CHANGED. He couldn't say how, but they weren't going to be compatible, they, cryptically, didn't solve problems the same way?
So, in the MOST shocking after the final rose every, Jason dumps Melissa. Now, she wasn't my choice for him, but I still felt bad and really felt for her. She said to him that he wouldn't tell her what she had done wrong, and just when things got harder/difficult for them as a couple, he gave up. Remember, he needed a lot of passion. Then it was very clear to me- this man (boy) has NO idea what he really wants. They break up- they bring out the other girl, Molly, and he tells her he wants to be with her. He says that he realized that what he and Molly had was a really good, deep friendship developing! HAH! Remember, the thing that wasn't enough for him with Jillian!Now, I believe Molly when she said that she of course had dreamed this would happen, and but never thought it would really happen.
So, I guess Jason didn't turn out as great as anyone thought......someone who seems to be more upset than me is Ellen DeGeneres. I'm taping the show all week because she's having all the players on, and is very irate at Jason herself:)

Now the good news is that Jillian has been announced to be the new bachelorette which apparently they will be filming in no time, and will start airing on May 18th. Yikes! That's fast.
I would say that I'm done with this show, but they suck me right back in.......

Excellent Breaking New VM Fans

Just read some great scoop at "Watch with Kristin" on Eonline.

Seems the brilliant Rob Thomas has a new show coming to Starz. It's called "Party Down" and it's about a bunch of actors in LA working as caterers till they get their big break. Sounds clever enough, but the best part is that it is filled with Veronica Mars alumni.

Ryan Hansen- Dick Casablancas and Ken Marino- Vinny Van Lowe will both star along with the fabulous Jane Lynch, you know her from all the Christopher Guest movies, and Adam Scott- who is billed as a comedian, but upon further digging I discovered him to be the accused history teacher from the Season 1 Episode- Mars vs. Mars. (Fun fact for all you Gossip Girl fans, this same episode features the fabulous Leighton Meester (Blair Waldorf).

Also guest starring- the painfully and adorably troubled Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring most recently seen in that vampire show "Moonlight") and Alona Tal ( who I plugged in a recent post about how I think she would be perfect to play the young Lilly Van Der Woodsen- again Gossip Girl)

AND....................yes, Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars herself (recently Elle on Heroes and also the voice of, you guessed it, Gossip Girl)

Starts Friday, March 20th at 10:30.

Quick Bachelor Update and Reader Response

First, Theresa commented about watching "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" which I commented on a couple times including here way, WAY back in the summer when I was preparing for the return of 90210. I wanted to like this show, I thought the concept was interesting. I just found the topics too graphic for the core audience. I'm no prude. I just get really sensitive about kids hearing things way before their time.

The Bachelor

So earlier today, I commented on The Bachelor as being part of my Monday night line-up.
I predicted Jill to be the frontrunner and the Molly would be going home. Very early into the episode, I knew that my predictions were going to be wrong. (Upsetting as Natalie will tell you that I have a special talent for predicting who will go on Reality Shows.)

I felt compelled to blog because of what went down between Jillian and Jason. Nothing bad happened, I don't think there was too much upsetness as there sometimes is. The kiss of death it seems for Jillian was when she described to Jason how her model for a relationship was her grandparents, whom she described as best friends. Jason said he agreed, but he was looking for more. (PS, He's divorced) Basically he needs more passion.

At the end of the episode, when he dutifully walked Jill to the limo, they spoke and she reiterated that she had wanted to open up who she really was to him, and how important the best friend thing was.

I guess I need to sound off a little bit (which is kind of why blogs were invented anyway).

I have been where Jill has, probably twice truly. I don't get guys. They want more, they want to know it will never get comfortable or boring. I think that's crap. When I look at role models of relationships, they are firmly grounded in a great frienship/partnership. (My parents will be married 46 years this summer) Of course I want passion, but I don't for a second think there won't be hard times, and that everything will always be happy and rosey.

Am I wrong? Why can't I find a guy with normal, realistic expectations?

Manic Monday

Monday has become a very busy night for tv. I am finding it very hard to manage and juggle shows that I would be interested in watching.

8:00- Gossip Girl

One of the best shows on tv. Love the drama, the fashion, the snarky lines, some gratutious sex.
(Whew! Did you see the ending of the last new episode?)
They've been playing games lately, where they show and episode, and then a repeat right away which is annoying. I wasn't psyched when they said they were considering a spinoff, but I am now intrigued by this concept of having the show focus on the young life of mother Lilly. Their throwing around a lot of names to play the younger version of Kelly Rutherford. I have my own choice, a favorite of Veronica Mars fans; Alona Tal, who played Meg Manning.

What do you think?





















Also in the 8:00 hour-
The Big Bang Theory and HIMYM, or How I Met Your Mother
both are very funny, and worthy heirs to Friends. I know many have discovered or rediscovered the love for Neil Patrick Harris, but The Big Bang Theory is worth a try too.

Currenlty also at 8:00- The Bachelor
Which runs for SEVERAL hours
Tonight are the overnights, in NEW ZEALAND
I think Molly is done for. I like her, but think she might be a little stuffy.
Melissa is too young, so my money is on Jillian.

9:00- Heroes
My interest in this show is waining, and has been waining for awhile. I continue to TiVo, but I'm not keeping up with the episodes. I'm not sure I want to bother. I think the storylines seem interesting but way too much overlap with a show I used to love "4400".

Thank god I'm on vacation!

If you're not watching 30 Rock...

then you are a dummy! Oh my, this is fast becoming one of my favorite shows of all time. I revel in being able to laugh out loud, sitting alone in my living room. In fact, I snorted out loud Thursday night.

Alec Baldwin is a genius. His performance as Jack Donaghy is like no other. It was after the first season of the show that he had the infamous leaving of the "Little Pig" message on daughter Ireland's machine. I remember after that he said he was going to ask to be let out of his NBC contract, and they said "no way". Now I understand why. He really is a comic genius.

Tina Fey might be an even bigger genius. She plays Liz Lemon the head writer of an SNL type show owned by GE. (Hmmm....it is kind of stretch for her. I wonder where she got the idea for it.) I have been loving Tina Fey for many years now (way before the hilarity of Sarah Palin) as Nat was always a big fan of having us watch SNL. (We could not get enough of Tina and Amy Poehler, coming soon to NBC in a new sitcom, "Parks and Recreation".) Kenneth the page may steal the show, and last night's nod to "Cyrano de Bergerac" with him romancing a blind girl through Tracy Morgan was ridiculous.

Oh, Tracy Morgan. I wouldn't always say I'm his hugest fan, probably because of a personal connection through a friend, and the dirty things that he said to her. But, he is damn funny.

If you need proof in how funny this show is look no further than the Golden Globes that it recently swept for comedy awards or the Screen Actor's Guild awards.

I don't believe I saw any of the first season, but I've heard it has gotten progressively better since then . (Nat- you've been watching it from the beginning and we would welcome your thoughts here in the comments section)

Here's last night's episode- One ridiculous line after another.....

http://www.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK//video/hulu/vi4112843545/

Just scroll to minute 14 for my favorite part of the whole hillarious episode- it is currently my status update on Facebook, and I know that JoEllen and Theresa both enjoyed it!

FINALLY

It may be too soon to say this, but I may have actually liked 90210 tonight!

I felt like there was finally some dimension.
1. Annie pulled a decisively Brenda move tonight stealing Rhonda's story.
2. Ethan shunning Annie- we needed some good couple drama!
3. Silver is acting all CRAZY- there's hints about some mental illness coming up (hypersexuality et al.) (The tatoo should've been covered by some plastic wrap if it's that new)
4. Navid, and his feelings for Adrianna (Trying to have the perfect night with that other girl-
but asking Adrianna to be his valentine, oh sweet.)

What's still missing from this show?

Mommy, Esq and I discussed a bit on the phone the other day (you know that other technology before all this blogging nonsense)

There's no group togetherness- no camping trips, volunteering at the Valley Youth Center, or just hanging at the beach or the Pit (or underground illegal clubs where you need eggs to get in)

I don't think we've ever seen a scene where all the main characters are together.

Thrown me a bone producers- can't they all just (gasp) hang out and be teenagers?

D*nn* *a*rt*n i* b*a*k!

Hey everyboy,

Donna is back!

Look at this- filming scenes with good old Kelly! (Looks like time has been kinder to Jennie.)

Did anyone watch the mostly painful 90210 this week. I agree with whomever of my wise friends said to m recently that Adriana is really, very pretty and that they had been ugging her up for the drug storyline. Why hasn't Adriana mentioned to the director that she is pregnant yet, so that Annie can have her part and stop whining!

Anyone watching "The Bachelor"? Have I missed the alleged Deanna scenes?

Belated (canine) Inaugural thoughts

I have a niece and nephew; Clooney and Sabrina. They are "twins" and were two years old in August. (Mommy Esq., I think their birthday might be within a couple days of your set.)

Anyway, they are pretty darn cute, and relatively well-behaved. (I highly recommend goldendoodles, although when a golden retriever is crossed with a black standard poodle, you essentially get ponies.)

The Doodles love tv. (Just like their aunty.) Sabrina especially- she will sit in front of the tv, and wait for someone to turn it on. She will bark if necessary. She has favorites; loves all things HGTV, and according to her mother, my sister-in-law Kim, "she just loves the reveal at the end of any redo show". She hates when TiVo is paused. They also love all dogs, horses, and any animals in general that they spy on tv.

The Goldendoodles also love Barak Obama. No joke. (Their dad was a black poodle:) They also hated Bush (would growl) and soldiers (they are anti-war).

So, like many other Americans, the Doodles are excited about the change in our country.

I was pretty engrossed in the inauguration; watched it at school with the kids, et al. I was intrigued by the Lincoln Bible that was chosen for the swearing in. I was also interested in the relative small size of it. (sorry I was too late to trawl the internet and find a closer picture of it)

When I'm teaching about government, or the election, I often acquait the age requirement for certain positions, to my own age for the kids. (When I first started teaching, I could run for Representative, and now I'm closing in on the presidency....hmm....) I thought of what kind of special bible (or would I even use a bible) I would be sworn in with.

The Family Bible of course- the Sellers actually have a Family Bible. Now I'd like you to imagine a cool January day, maybe many of you would be there, standing behind me, as I'm sworn in using this.....

Can you imagine the Chief Justice holding this sucker as I take the oath?

Happy Sunday- hopefully back to some tv chat soon. If you are interested in LOST info, come on over to 4 8 15 16 23 42.