The "smart" thing to do

I've had my cell phone for almost two years -- only two years -- but lately I've been feeling slightly behind the times. My cell phone doesn't have a camera, can't play videos, doesn't even have an alpha keyboard and can't even access the Internet. I don't need all those things, I reasoned.

Well, when my sister, who works at Apple, got her iPhone, I had serious smart phone envy. Then my nephew got a smart phone. Still, I resisted. I did, however, get a text messaging plan about a year ago. People laugh at me when I text -- it takes forever! But I embraced it and I swear I even have traces of "texting thumb" already!

I just read this article (http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/other/11/29/1129phoneshame.html) and now I'm convinced. It's time to get a smart phone. It's the smart thing to do! (I called today and found out that I can upgrade to a new phone after December 8! Woo hoo...smart phone, here I come.)

body suit

I saw this on The Today Show this morning while I was about to leave for work. Yeah, I pretty much hate anyone who can pull off a body suit...especially while dancing! I'm guessing Beyonce won't be pigging out on turkey & dressing like I will this Thanksgiving.

I almost took down the new Dancing With the Stars champ!

In August 2005, my friend Jennifer & I flew to Vegas for a week long vacation. (Way too long for Vegas, but that’s another story.) I was completely obsessed with the TV show Rockstar INXS at the time & got the hair-brained idea that we should drive to LA and wait in line and be in the audience at one of the live tapings. So that’s what we did!

Our friends Kristen and Brian drove up from San Diego to meet us – they’re a cute young couple so I swear that’s how we ended up on the floor of the studio. They were shuffled to the stage, but me and Jennifer ended up a little farther back, just in front of the little platform where all the contestants sat while waiting to perform. It was pretty fun and of course interesting to watch the process of making a “reality” show. During one of the breaks, I was hot, so I lifted my hair off my shoulders. When I brought my arms down, my elbow smashed into someone – I was horrified when I turned to see that it was the show’s host, Brooke Burke! She was walking through the aisle to get set up for her next shot when Bam! My big ol’ arm crashes into her! She’s a tiny little thing, even for a Hollywood type, so it startled her and even stopped her in her tracks for a second. I apologized profusely, but she just smiled and kept walking.

Last night Brooke was crowned the Dancing With the Stars winner. Just think – I almost took out the DWTS champ three years ago! Leave it to me.

Here’s footage of Brooke introducing my favorite contestant from Rockstar INXS, Jordis Unga: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVnTfZFP4yU.

Sunshine on my shoulders

I'll tell ya what I'm thankful for...some fall weather! Today in Austin it was sunny with a low of 47 and a high of 74! Perfection. Of course I liked the 47 end best, call me crazy. What irks me is that I actually heard several people complaining about it being too cold! Seriously? Are you kidding me? We spend what to me seems like 360 days a year being at 90 degrees and above, can't we be thankful for this delicious weather? No rain, no snow, no sleet. Sunshine and cool, crisp air. I've been humming "Sunshine on my shoulders" all day. And it does make me happy. :)

in the woods

If someone plays a piano in the woods, does anyone else hear it? http://tinyurl.com/6mptsd

Embrace the crazy!

Whenever I see Jeffrey Dean Morgan on TV or in a movie, my knees literally go weak. He is a hunka hunka burning love, the bee’s knees and all that and a bag of chips! I mean it, he is Hottie McHot Hot! He may soon take over John Cusack’s lead to one day be my husband. If you don’t know who JDM is, he played Denny on Gray’s Anatomy, played husband to Mary Louise Parker on Weeds & played an uber-sexy, backside-showing Irish man in the movie “P.S. I Love You.” Sexy, sexy, sexy.

Anyway, Morgan’s character Denny has returned on Gray’s Anatomy for the last few episodes even though he’s dead. He appears to his former fiancé, Izzy, as a ghost. Izzy is very disturbed by this and thinks she is losing her mind. Although she did spend an evening in bed with her late fiancé’s ghost on the last episode, she has now decided to ignore Denny and pretend he’s not there.

Well I say if crazy is making out with a ghost who looks like Denny/Jeffrey Dean Morgan, GO FOR IT! If he appears to me, I am just going to embrace the crazy! Who cares what the world thinks, I’ll be making out with Mr. Hotpants!

PS – I have much respect for Mr. Morgan and do not just idolize his body. I like his brains just fine too.

Ding, dong the witch is dead, the Witch is really dead!

Tonight something incredible happened. I sold the infamous Couch of Many Colors!

Many of you know that this couch was a hand-me-down from a friend. It served me well for many, many years. It served her before me for many years and served someone else for many years prior to that. I've given it away to friends a couple of times, tried to sell it several times, but somehow it always made its way back to me. A few months ago, I found an incredible deal on three pieces of living room furniture at Ikea, so the COMC has been sitting in my garage. I made arrangements for the Salvation Army to come pick it up one weekend, but Hurricane Ike interfered. They called and cancelled the pick up because initially, we were expecting bad weather here in Austin. It never came...and the couch never left. I began to think there was some cosmic reason why this couch wouldn't leave!

But tonight it was loaded onto a truck...I watched it leave. And this time I don't think it will return to me. The COMC is bound for a guest room in Mexico! So unless it gets stopped at the border and sent back to me (oh God, please no), the COMC is gone!

Ding, dong the witch is dead, the Witch is really dead!

The New Generation: Moat People

I thought I noticed this trend myself, but couldn't quite put it into words. Interesting. http://tinyurl.com/6mdbrs

Feeling lucky...and big and chunky ;)

This weekend I attended an engagement party for my friend Charlotte and her fiancé John – it was so much fun to see how happy they are and to catch up with lots of old friends! They had cupcakes from Hey Cupcake at the party, which were a big hit. My friend Laura, one of the hostesses, placed little charms in each of the cupcakes that symbolized something different, depending on the charm. My charm was a money bag, indicating good fortune. Can’t complain about that! ;)

I didn’t really think about it until last night, but I think the charm did bring me some good luck. On Sunday evening, I went to see Madagascar 2 with my brother’s family and found a dollar on the floor of the theater. Then, after the movie, which was hilarious by the way, I was driving home and heard on the radio that they were giving away prize packs to a bowling alley. I have no idea why, but I picked up the phone and called the radio station. Surprisingly, I won the prize! I haven’t called into a radio station except to do interviews for work (!) since I was in high school and I’m not a good bowler AT ALL, so I’m not sure what possessed me to call in, but oh well! Bowling, anyone? I chuckled about my “good fortune.” Then I thought I should aim higher, so I went and bought a Lotto ticket with the dollar I found on the floor. We’ll see what happens. Drawing is Tuesday. ☺

PS – My brother and his girlfriend have decided that I remind them of Gloria, the hippo in Madagascar. Not because of her ahem, size, but apparently our personalities are similar. I could not stop laughing at one scene in the movie where Moto Moto, a big male hippo, flirts with Gloria. I’ve dated that guy, I swear. Click here to see the song he sings to Gloria in the movie. Hysterical – and it’s about time big and chunky gals got their own song. ;)

Poison or Profit?

This 60 Minutes story about e-waste from the United States made me sick to my stomach.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4586903n

Little miracles

Today marked one year since these beautiful boys were baptized. I was lucky enough to have dinner with them, their mom and their aunt tonight. They truly are little miracles and I feel lucky to be honorary "Aunt" Jenn.

Family Photo Shoot!

Spent the day with my brother's family today taking photos for their Christmas cards. We had a good time...I enjoyed shooting photos again. And I think they turned out pretty good...here are a few of my favorites. The top photo is my nephew, my favorite person in the entire world. I cannot believe he is 14 years old -- look how handsome and grown up he looks!

Why I live in Austin

It's taken me a few days to blog about it, but I am still over the moon about Obama getting elected president! Woo hoo! I am reading his book, "Dreams of my Father," and have been moved to tears many times already. One part in the book details how his white grandparents, who were from Kansas, once moved to Texas. They were shocked by the level of prejudice they saw and eventually moved to Hawaii. And this was long before their daughter married an African student she met in college, Barack Obama, Sr., and eventually had Barack Jr.

As a native Texan, I've always struggled with the level of ignorance in this state. And the hatred, simply because of the color of someone's skin or their religion. I've never understood it. I'm a white, protestant girl from Texas with Irish, German, French and American Indian roots...and who knows what else! We're all "mutts," essentially. (Obama had a press conference today and when answering a question about the dog he promised his daughters, he called himself a mutt.) It makes me very sad that many Texans -- not all -- still have such hateful beliefs. I'm proud to be a Texan, but not when we exhibit ignorance. Anyway, this map shows why I live in Austin...in case you can't tell, Travis County, where Austin is, is completely blue. :)

By the way, Obama's book is a very compelling read. (I hear they all are.) He's had many life experiences and has a very diverse cultural background -- in my opinion, a good quality for the President of the United States to have. Couldn't be a bad thing to have perspective from various points of view, could it? He looks at every issue from many different angles, a trait that I'm sure wil also come in handy.

Anyway, I'm thrilled and excited to see what comes next. Obama is intelligent, compassionate & charismatic and has already restored a little bit of hope for our Nation. I'm glad that so many people got involved and VOTED in this election. No matter who they voted for, at least they let their voices be heard! Rock on, America! Rock on, President-elect Obama! :)

Bestest Halloween costumes ever

Had to share this hilarious photo of my dear friend Linda and her two gorgeous twin boys in their Halloween costumes. :)

a perfect pedicure

So I was doing laundry tonight and the TV was on in the living room, but I wasn't really paying attention to it. Then I hear the announcer say something like, "a perfect pedicure in just minutes!" So I turned my attention to the TV immediately. I'm in desperate need of a pedicure, after all. My excitement was immediately squelched, however, when I realized it was actually an infomercial for this product:



Ugh.