Back Off--He's MY Man

I am sooooooooooooo in love with James Clement, first of Survivor China and now Survivor Micronesia:
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor15/survivors/james.shtm

There are several reasons I love him:

1. When William first saw him, he said, "I think that's the strongest man I've EVER seen!"
2. He's so level headed! If you've ever watch the show, he is a voice of reason and doesn't play games.
3. The other night when William and I were going over his spelling words, I told him to spell 'kissing' and he said, "Wait....mama and James sitting in a tree..." Out of the mouths of babes, I say!!
4. I haven't had the best luck finding honest, good men, and CBS has already done an extensive background check on James. If he's been in trouble, I'd know about it.

For all of these reasons, you, my friends, need to help me find James. I'm sure he has a MySpace or something (but I don't).

The Simon Cowell of Our Family

Do you ever notice on American Idol how when Simon says something negative, most of the time, people are like "Well, that's your opinion!" or the crowd boo's him? But, when he says something positive, they all take it to heart? That's because he doesn't compliment people unnecessarily and he means what he says (unlike crazy Paula - who isn't as crazy as I'd like her to be this season). To me, if you're going to bask in the good, you've got to accept the negative as well. Even though we'd all like to live in the good and ignore the negative, that's just not the way it works.

I'd say my dad is the Simon Cowell of our family. He's pleasant, funny, and usually fun to be around. But he's not going to blow smoke up your ass or tell you everything is rainbows and butterflies. When he says something, he means it. So, when he told me the other night that he's impressed by the way I keep in touch with my old friends, it meant something. He doesn't compliment me often, so I'll take it where I can get it!

Do you have a "Simon Cowell" in your life? I'm sure you do.

Lazy Saturday

For as long as I can remember, I've loved Lazy Saturday/Sunday. For those of you not familiar with this concept, it involves laying in bed and watching TV...all...day and ordering food in. In college we used to rent several movies (such as all movies starring James Spader) or we'd watch animal shows (one on sea horses sticks out in my memory). Once my son was born, forget about it. I was way too busy taking care of him all day. And even as a 30-year-old adult, it's a little harder to find time for a day like this, let alone justify it. This past weekend, however, I found a way to justify it financially (one of my strengths is justifying my behavior):

-I completely save electricity. I like to spend my Lazy Saturday in the dark cove that is my bedroom. No lights, just the glow of the TV. If I'm not cleaning (which uses electricity), I'm saving myself some coin.
-You can't shower on Lazy Saturday (it's in the rules) so again, I'm saving money with the water and electricity, but I'm also saving money because there are only so many places you can go if you haven't showered (meaning the drive thru).
-This past weekend, we had to run to the mall for a couple things. You know how that goes, so we ended up spending way too much money. So, if I stay in bed all day, I won't spend money frivolously.

As if I haven't given enough reasons, I can justify it several other ways:
-I'm teaching my son to be independent and play on his own. When I have a Lazy Saturday coma, he goes to his play room and spends the whole day just playing away. He comes to get me when he needs something to eat or anything important, but other than that, he fends for himself.
-I learn ALOT on Lazy Saturday. Last Lazy Saturday, I watched the HBO miniseries John Adams. If you haven't seen this, it's awesome. It's a history lesson on TV. I've always maintained that TV is educational and an all around great way to get information, Planet Earth on Discovery teaches you about, you guessed it, the earth. Top Chef teaches you about food you don't know how to cook and probably wouldn't like to eat. Rock of Love teaches you about STD's. Need I say more?

If you're not already convinced, try it some time. Some of you don't have the patience to do it, and that's OK. I've found it hard to just sit there, but in the end, you'll find it's worth it.

Guess Who's My Favorite Person on Earth...

My son! He is sooooo funny; last night when we went to Applebees for our Valentine's Eve dinner (yes, it's not just Christmas and New Year's...according to William, every holiday has an Eve), we ordered mozzerella sticks for an appetizer. Then, when we placed our entre order, William ordered mac & cheese and told the waitress "That's a lot of cheese for a guy who's lactose intolerent!" While the waitress didn't bat an eye, I thought it was hilarious that a six-year-old can deliver a line like that!



Again, spell check isn't working. Forgive me!

Meet My Mini-Me

My son is approacing the 7-year mark. He is, as they say, the apple of my eye. The last two years, maybe even the last year, have been the best yet. Not just because he's soooooo much more self sufficient, but because we truly "get" eachother. So I'd like to give you a list of a few of the reasons my son is my favorite person on earth:

• The other day in the car I said something and his response was "True That"
• Our usual "What do you want for dinner" conversation usually goes like this: Me "What do you want for dinner?" Him "Well, I know you don't want to cook, so..."
• As we were walking into Target the other day he says "How come things opposites are always two words....like the opposite of down is up and the opposite of yes is no?" I didn't have an answer to his question, but I really liked it.
• Ever since we set-up our PS2 and started playing Star Wars Legos, he says "I wonder what Star Wars Legos has in store for us tonight!!"

The fact that I really enjoy his company kind of caught me off guard, but it shouldn't, he's exactly like me. But when I was out with my friends this past weekend, I wished William could be there (figuratively) to join in on the fun! And that's when it hit me...he's the best thing that ever happened to me and as much as I feel like I need a break from him, I'm totally smitten and there's no one I'd rather spend my time with. Who knew?

P.S. The spell check doesn't seem to be working and I don't really like to re-read my stuff, so sorry for any spelling errors.

Yes We Can

I've taken a little bit of flack for switching my party affiliation in order to vote in the Iowa caucus. My candidate of choice? Barack Obama.

For my entire life, I have been a staunch republican, but this year, I couldn't get behind a single republican candidate. If you had ever told me I'd be supporting a democratic candidate for our Commander in Chief, I would had thought you were beyond Britney crazy, however, my life is not what it once was. I'm in a different tax bracket then I expected, I'm a single mother of an "At-Risk" child, I struggle to find affordable healthcare for my child, and although I don't personally rely on public aid, I see the need for it, despite the broken system.

Mostly Barack makes a kick-ass video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY


Jokes aside, I was moved by the video. Propaganda or not.

Hell Has Frozen Over

I live in Iowa. Yesterday it was 50 degrees and I was wearing sandals. Today, it is 4 degrees and the wind chill is -30 degrees. Do you think there's something wrong with this picture?

I wish Al Gore had never invented Global Warming (but I'm glad he invented the Internet)!