I'm Back....

So, let me recap what has happened in my life since October....just kidding. It's been so long since I have done this that I wasn't sure I was going to remember how.

Just got back from a wonderful trip to Miami. It was a great trip filled with many highlights that I'll update in my next post. Just wanted to send this one out as a warning that I'm back :)

Oh The Shame....

I remember last year during the winter I had a fever and I was up all night. It was one of those horrible nights when you can't sleep, you are sweating out a fever, and the TV is your only companion...and there is nothing on. Well, between my delusional episodes I stumbled upon a show that I am almost embarrassed to admit I watched...remember I was near death so you must forgive me.

I stopped on CMT (the first clue that I was feverish) and got hooked on a marathon of Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders ~ Making the Team. The two woman who run the DCCs (as they are affectionately referred to) are two former cheerleaders who while older are still beauties and let me just tell you they are serious about their jobs. There will be no untalented, "fat" , or ugly girls allowed and they aren't afraid to say it. It was riveting as they followed the hopefuls through the audition process and finally announced the squad. Anyway, I kept my little secret and blamed the fever on my interest in the show

Well, it's back. I was fumbling through the TV stations the other night and Making the Team 2 is now in full swing. Those damn marathons, it sucked me in and I must admit that I watched three episodes. So now I am watching season 2 ~ so I feel it's time to own it and just state to the world that I enjoy watching this show. I feel like a better person for just admitting it....okay truth be told, I have DVRed new episodes so I figured instead of letting Daniel out me for watching it, I would admit it first :)


here's a snippet from the interview portion...

Interviewer: What do you think about Condoleezza Rice running for President? (trick question)

Candidate: I love our current president (she is from TX after all ~ and she's not a Dixie Chick) but since he can't run again, I think HE would be fine to run.

Interviewer: (with distain) I said Condoleezza Rice...you're okay with that.

Candidate: Yes, HE has every right to run.

Later when doing a post follow-up with the candidate:

"I'm so embarrassed, they asked me how I felt about Condoleezza JONES running for President and she's not even running....

To be fair the sponsors were mortified by her answers and said if anyone is a total dingbat on any portion of an interview it is an instant dismissal for them....and true to their word she was gone.

Lounging by the pool.....

During the week, Finola and I decided to spend Sunday together. I always enjoy when we do that. It a great time to play things by ear and see where the day takes us. I woke up early today~ 7am to be exact (after all I went to bed at 10pm last night). I decided I wasn't in the mood to go to church today ~ I hope all my sinner friends weren't too bad this week because I didn't get to pray for them :) I went for a run and then did my shopping, so I was ready to make plans with Finola by 10:30. We decided to just hang at her place and either play tennis or sit by the pool.

We sat inside the house for about an hour ~ each filling each other in on the events of the last week (I've realized I should just give her my blog address). After that we had a nutritious Finola meal....ruffles & onion dip with a choice of Mallowmar or Stella Dora cookies for dessert.

After our feast we decided to hit the pool. It was beautiful out and I still love the fact that you can lounge by the pool as if it is mid-summer in early October (I will always love that about CA). It was really great to be able to just hang and chat. We can, and always seem to, cover topics from the ridiculous (Britney Spears and who's sleeping with who in Hollywood) to deep thoughts about our beliefs and goals in life.

Finola has definitely come to terms with the fact that she will be moving home. She seems to be in a good place about it. It's interesting because she came to that place when she stopped thinking about her stance on it and tried to put herself in her sister and mothers place. I was most intregued that she was able to see it from Ann's perspective, because she used to always blame Ann in a way for why her mother wouldn't move out here. While I'm so sad that she will be leaving, I do believe it is the best thing for her. She has never truly settled in CA and never would as long as she was far from ma. As I said to her "Little Noni is growing up". I don't think I'm really comprehending what that move will mean to me. I'm sure it is going to be a big loss. With Finola here I feel like I have a link to my past with me ~ it's nice to have a piece of home and someone who "knew me when..."

It's interesting how this whole idea of change just keeps popping up lately.....I'm sure it's a sign from the universe to just deal with it. My first reaction is to want to hold on and resist change, but as we know that just doesn't happen.

Knocked Up on a Saturday Night....

Last night I enjoyed a quiet night a home. I was exhausted from the week and the night before I was out until 2am ~ getting too old for those late nights!!

I thought I would try some light fair last night so I rented Knocked Up. It received great reviews and did well at the box office, so I thought I would give it a try.

It was very enjoyable. It had some very funny parts and I thought it was a very good rental. It was even worth seeing in the movies. The guy who wrote and directed it, Judd Apatow has a lot of buzz right now. He directed Talledega Nights and The 40 Year Old Virgin. This was definitely in the same vein as Virgin. Katherine Heigel did a good job ~ and to my surprise, Ryan Seacrest has a pretty funny cameo where he is pretty much making fun of himself.

I think the performers who stole the show though were Leslie Mann, the woman who plays Katherine's sister and the two little girls who play her daughters. It turns out that she is the wife of the director and the two little girls are their children, but this was definitely a case when nepotism was a good thing. They really stole the show in my book.

So I'll give it a thumbs up. For the mood I was in this was a good antidote.

Fall TV Review...

It's that time of year again...when the DVR goes into overdrive and Oprah decides to do another season...and make a few more billions.

Daniel and I made our list and checked it twice, thumbing through Entertainment Weekly to determine which new shows to give a shot. After watching the premiere episodes of most of the shows, I have to say I'm not overly impressed with the new season.

It's not that any of the shows were horrible ~ it's just that most aren't very memorable. As of now, the only ones I am holding out hope for are Private Practice (good cast and of course I'm rooting for my girl Addison to have a hit show (I know you secretly love her Daniel!), Dirty Sexy Money (I think that's the title) and Pushing Daisies.

The winner by far for me has been Pushing Daisies. It's definitely quirky and whimsical and I really enjoyed the first episode. The lead guy is also cute in a nerdy way. The lead girl is really cute as well and there is something sweet about her ~ they had a really sweet chemistry. Of course Kristin Chenowith is great ~ or at least I have a soft spot for her (she's always be Glinda to me :)

I guess I should be glad I didn't bond with more of the shows or else I would have become a slave to the television. After all ~ I still have my favorites from seasons past (Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Cold Case, Survivor, and Brothers & Sisters) to fit into my schedule.

My McDreamy.....

Isn't he dreamy?? For those of you who don't know him, this is my bartender Tyler. Aside from being a hottie, he's also smart. He's a professor at USD. So far the only flaw I can find is a ten year addition he is nursing....and that is his boyfriend!@#$@#$

Last night I went to Victor and Derek's to meet up with Max and Al and some of their friends to celebrate Max's birthday. After a few drinks at their house we went to Bourbon and of course I did my check in with Tyler. To my horror he told me he gave his notice!! I hope he didn't see the panicked look on my face and hear the quiver in my voice when I said "how could you do this to me?" ~ okay just teasing about the comment but I did get a flash of sadness. He said it was just time and that it (and he) was getting old. I told him now he'll just have to give me a call from time to time to do lunch to catch up (quick rebound from my sadness) and he said absolutely. I shot him a "yeah you'll call" look and he was replied back "for real, we should, I'll call" ~ so now I'll never leave my phone again....hee hee.

Earlier on Friday when I went to work there was an e-mail from Traci our HR VP with an attached voice recording from Tony. He informed us that Ruby, our CEO, is leaving at the end of the month. I'm sad to see her go. She is a great leader and has really done a lot for the company. She is one of those people you can just learn from by observing how she interacts with people and the questions she asks. It should be very interesting to see how things shake out. Tony said he's going to be more involved in the day to day...and that can be taxing!!

It was just another reminder of how everything changes....

Blah Blah Blog.....

I'm back!! It's been so long since I've posted an entry. No real good excuse, just busy and sometimes when work is busy and I spend all day answering e-mail, the last thing I want to do when I get home is to hit the keyboard!! This entry is just going to be a data dump of different ideas, events and tidbits that have been going on with me ~ in no particular order (I stole this type of entry from Norman :)

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Sometimes I'm amazed by the simple things that make me happy. I love going to music stores and looking through the CDs. In particular I love going through the used CD racks. Finding a treasure or a Greatest Hits package for your favorite artist who only had one hit can be lots of fun. This week I went to Best Buy out of sheer boredom at work. Thought I would hit the racks and see what was out there. Great way to spend a lunch hour!! I ended up seeing the soundtrack for Across the Universe ~ although it was $13.99. While it is a double CD, I don't know for me I hate to pay anything more than $9.99.....maybe $10.99 for a great one. That will lead me to the second thing that makes me happy....

I broke down and went up to the counter with my $13.99 CD purchase ~ justifying the purchase to myself with the "sometimes you just need to say what the hell!!". To my delight, the cashier rang it up and said "$10.46 please". I'm embarrassed to say, but she could see the look of glee on my face. So she didn't think I was a complete freak, I stated with a sly grin "Don't you love when that happens". Now she could have given me the whatever eye roll, but she just shook her head and said "yeah, but it sure doesn't happen enough". She totally got where I was coming from...that was cool.

Speaking of the Across the Universe soundtrack ~ it is awesome. I am really digging it. While I like the Beatles, I've never been a die hard fan but I had seen a commercial and had really liked one of the guys voices. That's what prompted me to purchase it. I really love it. The songs are definitely great interpretations of these old classics. This CD would have been worth the $13.99

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Last week I auditioned for the ensemble. I was nervous but I decided to go for it. I think more than making it or not I put myself to the "you have to do this to prove to yourself that you can" mode. I was soooo nervous. The audition was in front of Gary, Lew, Joe and Bruce (and the two other people auditioning). I was the last to go and I could hear my voice shaking as I sang. The good thing is I stayed on pitch and it was all over in 5 minutes. I really left with a sense of satisfaction that no matter what happened I was glad I did it. A day later I got an e-mail from Gary extending an invitation to join them. Now the reality of having to do it has started to sink in, but I think it's going to be a great growth opportunity for me.

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Speaking of growth opportunities....we had a meeting after our church service this week for the New Orleans mission trip. I saw the cast of characters going....Lord give me faith. I'm definitely the youngest by at least 15 years. I don't necessarily mind that but they were all like a bunch of hens...picking and chirping about this and that with one thousand questions for the organizers and not a desire to actually stop talking to listen for an answer. I went to a safe place and realized that I do have faith for as I sat there I thought "what lesson do you want me to learn from this experience Lord??"

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I received an e-mail from Classmates.com the other day. I had updated my information on it but did not join so randomly they will say that someone signed your "guestbook" but they usually don't let you see the message. For some reason I was able to see this one and it was from Ruthie. I grew up with her and she sent a note saying she had been trying to get in touch with me for years and she gave me her e-mail address. Now there is a subset of individuals that I grew up with that were also "outcasts" from the normies at school. Ruthie lived down the street from me and she was year or so younger than me. Because we were in the same hood there was a group of us who were friends. Ruthie was a real trip. She was always really heavy and well definitely belonged in Port Chester with the "greasers" and not Rye with the "preps" that's for sure. Ruthie ended up marrying some Mexican guy and having three kids, and that was all before she was 20 ~ for real. Anyway, she was a good girl with a heart of gold and truth be told, I was probably embarrassed somewhat to be friends with her when we were younger. Not proud to say it, but it's the truth. So now I have the ability to re-establish contact with her...hmmm what is one to do? I haven't e-mailed her yet, I feel like that is another lifetime ago. I'll have to sit with that one for a few more days to see what I'm going to do.

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Last night I sang with the ensemble at the FOG (fellowship of older gays) gathering down at shelter island. It went well and they seemed to like us, so that was good. It was definitely my first real exposure to the dynamics of the ensemble....I think the Lord is trying to teach me a number of lessons right now :)

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Spent a great day with Finola on Sunday. It was good to catch up with her. I feel like we hadn't spent a lot of time together lately. Schedules have just been crazy. I love that I can talk with her about anything from politics to poop...and it's amazing that those two topics can be closer than one would think :) I will be very sad if she moves back to NY. At this point it sounds like it is more a matter of when then if, so that will take some adjustment. It will feel like losing family ~ well closer than some of my family actually.

Okay, I'm signing off now. That was enough of a brain dump for now. I'm not even reading it over, so please forgive if there are typos, fragments or any other signs that I'm a dumb ass :)