Reality TV Can Change Your Life and Other Random Thoughts

It's true. Some may not believe it but you can learn valuable life lessons from even the most mindless reality TV program. For instance, the tools on Tool Academy last night were working for their Appreciation Merit Badge. Appreciation...hhhmmmm.....what does Webster have to say about it?

Main Entry: ap·pre·ci·a·tion
Pronunciation: \ə-ˌprē-shē-ˈā-shən, -ˌpri- also -ˌprē-sē-\
Function: noun
Date: 1604
1 a : judgment, evaluation; especially : a favorable critical estimate b : sensitive awareness; especially : recognition of aesthetic values c : an expression of admiration, approval, or gratitude2 : increase in value

I'm going out on a limb here by assuming most of my readers are females. How many times a day do you feel like you are not appreciated...at home, at work, by your spouse, by your boss, by your kids, by your neighbors, by your friends and on and on? Before going any further let me tell you, "I appreciate you!!"

If Glenda the good witch would have put on an evil pair of shoes before she left for work in the morning, would she have flying monkeys too?? because I could really use some flying monkeys right now to go after a few folks and slap them around a little (lot).

I was crafty yesterday.

The scrapbooking tote bag is finished. I saw someone with a bag made with Tri Kappa Cross Key magazines and thought it would be a great project to try. It was more complicated than I thought...but it's done! Don't look too closely at the seams....yikes!

AND! I finished up the hard cover book album. The hook on the side is a D-ring hanger. Bill knew exactly what I was looking for....as I expected. The instructions for completing this album were in the Scrapbooks Etc magazine this month. It seemed like a cool project and it was relatively simple. Had dinner at Gino's East of Chicago tonight. The deep dish pizza is oh-so yummy. Definitely 4.0 stars...definitely.


whoop...gotta go...more mindless TV...Real Chance of Love 2!

Farewell, Summer

Even though autumn is my favorite season, it's always sad to say good-bye to summer. This year seems even worse since I don't feel like I have much to show for where all the days went.

We spent a lot of time working on and crusing around in the 56. The highlight of the summer with the 56 was probably Goshen's First Friday event in July. The city streets were opened up to cruise. Bill grew up in Elkhart in the 80's so cruising was a BIG pass time for him.Malissa and I took a road trip in August to the Scrapbook Expo in St. Charles, IL. We had lots of fun, had a chance to hang out with Dawn and bought a couple things.If you know only two things about me, one is probably that I HATE fake purses and being asked if my purses are real....or being asked if my anything is real. For the record, missy, YES! my boobs are real. How is it that every festival, car show, fair, etc has these!!?? This was one of 4 tents selling fake purses at Auburn this year.We didn't make it to Kansas this summer for Ashley and Allison's birthday party but we got to see them over Labor Day weekend. The gang flew into town for the ND football game and on Sunday we went down to the Blueberry Festival. The girls had a great time eating, riding rides and playing on the playground. It was a little tough for us to look at anything but thankfully most of the booths have the same stuff year after year. I think this is one of the girls favorite poses.

I've been able to keep up with the monthly AA kits. I intended to post my project every month...yay right! Here is my project for the August kit. Look! It's that pose again. These girls are so adorable it's fun to work with their pictures. When I walked by the dining room window this morning, I noticed these giant red blooms in my yard. Years ago, my mom and dad brought a start of what we knew as a "Star Bush" from my grandmother's home in Alabama. The plant grew bigger every year and was always covered with these big, beautiful red flowers. When Bill and I bought our first house, I took a start from my mother. When we moved into our current house, I moved my plant. We moved it again when we put in our new back patio. For the last couple summers, I've been worried I killed the plant so imagine how excited I was on the last day of summer....to see these flowers.

Dinner and a Movie

Friday night we took a drive to Culver. I've heard how nice it is but have finally seen it for myself. We drove around the lake and decided to have dinner at Papa's Italian Restaurant. I checked out the website and learned they are supposed to have the best pizza in Indiana! Well, we had prime rib. It was pretty good...still like Maxi's best! The restaurant itself was nice. It was comfortable. The staff was friendly and oh so important to Lover, they kept his glass full! I'll give it 3 out of 5 stars.

The city park was really nice. It would be an awesome place to have family pictures taken!

Culver has a movie theater! Who knew? This old, little place even has the window out on the sidewalk to buy your tickets. Public Ememies was playing. Lover has been wanting to see it and we both thought it would be really cool to see it in this old theater. I snapped a quick pic.

Thank goodness Johnny Depp and Christian Bale were in the movie....Christian Bale with a southern accent no less....because the movie wasn't what I expected. I really thought there would be more action. Anyway, another Hoosier gone bad. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

So, 3 out of 5 dinner and a movie.

Did I mention the movie started at 9:45? We got home at 1:00! We decided we're way too old to do that very often!

I always worry about the baby dog when we leave and end up staying gone longer than I planned. I ran in the house and expected to find him doing the pee-pee dance....and found this.

As I mentioned in my 10 reasons for not blogging in a while, I had a birthday. I had cupcakes. I had a pink tiara. It was good. And, then I got these!

I have been stalking these devilish flip-flops ever since I first saw them at DSW. I checked the store every week to see if more came in the shipments. I checked the website and finally gave up. Lover, aka Midwest Locators, came through. One night he must have been tired of hearing me complain and decided to actually listen. I told him about these shoes DSW stopped making once they heard I was coveting them. He starts calling around and found a pair at a DSW in Algonquin, IL and had them shipped to me! He loves me!!

Anyway, I did so freaking much yard work this weekend I'm hoping I can get out of bed in the morning....wouldn't want to miss a fun filled day at TAF! But looky! (You'd have to see the before to really appreciate the work involved here!!)

Really, I'm settled in ready for my next dose of mindless reality TV. This one will actually be more like stupidity than mindless....Megan Wants a Millionaire.

http://www.vh1realityworld.com/2009/07/06/megan-wants-a-millionaire-super-trailer/

...and tomorrow is...

http://www.vh1.com/shows/real_chance_of_love/season_2/series.jhtml

What more can I say?

Top 10 Reasons I Haven't Blogged Since...uh...In a While

10. My dog ate my computer.

9. Hello! It's summer. Have you seen my yard?

8. I've been hiding out from the carnies while the fair was in town.

7. My only real intention for having a blog was to bookmark all my favorite blogs.

6. I've been on the down-low with my hubby for distributing fireworks to minors.

5. I'm recovering from the pressures of being married to "Bill Calahan".

4. I took a "How Mean Are You" quiz on Facebook and scored 48!! I'm waiting for the intervention.

3. I've been in a 12 step program to stop profanity.

2. I got another year older. It's amazing how much sleep old people need to function!

1. Daisy of Love...Charm School with Ricki Lake and coming soon Megan Wants a Millionaire and Real Chance of Love 2!

Seriously, I don't know where the time goes. Sorry everyone!

Don't have much time, but wanted to share these....caution....adult content!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ3IXY4PYd4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PHnRIn74Ag

EEEEKKKKK....It's a glass glass!

I was recently told NEVER drink from a glass glass in a hotel room. Maids have been witnessed using dirty towels to wipe out a glass and windex to remove lipstick from a glass before putting it back on the counter to be used again! Less than a week later, I walk into my room at the Marriott in Union Station, St Louis and find.....



Step away from the glasses.

We had a great weekend in St Louis...exhausting, but fun. The Union Station Marriott was really nice. Well, except for the glass thing. Within Union Station, there was a mall, Hard Rock, Landry's, paddle boats, amphitheatre and very cool architecture.







Friday, we went to the Arch, had dinner and Bill went to the Cardinals/Cubs game with his friend.







Saturday, we went to Grant's Farm....home of the Budweiser Clydesdales. Even though we heard the foreigners had closed the hospitality tents (and it was closed at Busch Gardens), it was alive and well at Grant's Farm. This is the THIRD time I've seen Bill drink in the 22 years we've been together!

(that's a glass of Budweiser in his hand!)


Never saw an elephant give it's self a bath before!








I really feel blessed that Bill and I have the opportunity to go on little trips like this from time to time. We have some great friends that make a lot of this possible....GO Marriott Rewards!


May 2 was National Scrapbook Day. I spent 16 hours cropping at my favorite scrapbook store. I made a scrapbook for my friend, Suzette, who's newborn died after 4 short months. It was a tough project but I'm hoping it will be a special way for Suzette to remember Zachary.


I didn't sleep in as late as I thought I would this morning after getting home at 1:30AM from the crop. I managed to polish the floors...ugh...but am so glad to have that project behind me.


Well, we all know the Rock of Love Bus is over. For the Love of Ray J wrapped up last week. Tough Love season finale was tonight. So, what mindless reality TV show am I watching now? Remember Daisy DeLaHoya from Rock of Love season 1? She has her own show...Daisy of Love...yay, yay, yay, not very original, I know. TVLand has this show called "The Cougar". It's about this 40++ year old woman looking for love in a younger man. Most of the guys are younger than her oldest daughter which is 23. Are you even being serious right now??

((((GASP))))) We had Red Robin for dinner tonight!

Get it when you can...

Yes, it's almost midnight the night before my big scrapbook retreat weekend and I am just now being allowed access to HIS computer to print vacation pictures saved on this monster! I'm having difficulty controlling my OCD lately so if you're also going to be at the retreat....BEWARE!

Anyway, I did get the pictures printed and thought I'd better post a few....thus, get it while you can. (Also, just so you know how dedicated I am to my blog...this monster computer I am using does not have a comma key. When I need to type a comma (because correct punctuation is OH, SO important - especially since I think I have a high school teacher that reads this from time to time), I have to press this little plastic thingy sticking up out of the keyboard.)

Our first stop on vacation this year was the Georgia Aquarium and the Coca-Cola Museum in ATL. Awesome stuff...did you know the optimum temperature for a Diet Coke is 36 degrees? Yep!

Bill did a great job with the aquarium photos....no flash zone, ya know.















(that's me petting baby sharks!)



A couple highlights of Bike Week included shopping for hats...



visiting with Senior...



seeing Santa...



and avoiding weird looks...you figure that one out.






I'll post more next week of Busch Gardens and the air boat ride in the swamp with the gators!

OH!...and WTF was he thinking...Taya?? Seriously???

Seriously....I've been busy.

You know, when you're old and don't have teenagers to keep your lives exciting and in search of bubble wrap what do you do for entertainment?



Who would think this is funny anyway?...besides Dr. 90210???

It really has been hectic since getting back from vacation. Thought I lost all our pictures...oops! Thank you Gene's Camera Shop for saving my patootie!

We have a new little Drama Queen in our lives. You know who you are and know we love you....keep supplying me details!!

Prepping for the scrapbook retreat next weekend. Lots to pack...fuzzy navel, vanilla vodka,...I mean, acrylic albums, embellishments, ribbon.

I will try to get some vacation pictures posted over the weekend! :-) Now, would you get off my back?

Don't forget....Rock of Love Bus finale this Sunday. Who will it be...Mindy, the hot chickie with a southern accent (yee-haw and my personal favorite) or Taya, Penthouse Pet (bulldog) of the Year?

OMG...I Love Presents!

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if Bill and I had children we'd spend every dime we had to spoil them as totally rotten as possible. But, we don't.....so, presents for me, presents for me!

Valentine shopping started a couple weeks ago with the simple task of replacing a watch battery. Hubby....who seriously can do anything...cracked the crystal face of my watch. So, we took it in to the jelewry store for repair and I picked out a new watch. When the watch came in, we went back to the mall, picked up the watch and went for a stroll. Look what I found!!!!!!






Dont' worry girls...I'm not going over the edge, loosing my mind, or having a mid-life crisis. I did, however, wear these to work on Friday (approved jean day to celebrate V-Day) and turned some heads. hee,hee,hee,hee


Also on Friday...





He LOVES me!


Today, we hit Coldwater Creek, Camilla's and Michael's. Could it get any better? Well...yeah, it could....Rock of Love Bus tonight!!!!! It's the 3rd Annual Mud Football Competition!

BTW, it was 68 degrees in Daytona today...and rainy :-(

Unveiled

OK girls...it's time to unveil the offical Daytona Bike week handbag.






Yeah, boy!...Ed Hardy. (I'd like to extend my personal thanks to designers whom, although their clothing only fit women size 0 and below, realize big girls have $$$$$ too and make some kick butt accessories!) I've had the bag since Merry Christmas to Me! but have been saving it for the big trip to Daytona for bike week. Did I mention it's going to be 70 down there this weekend?

Well, It's Done

The first month of 2009 is done...

In addition to recuperating from the holiday, Lover celebrated his birthday in January. He's such a pup! I wish he liked celebrating (eating birthday cake). I could have made him a six finger birthday cake....I mean a flaming candle cake.

January did provide Lover the opportunity to do one of his favorite things...






He could spend hours and hours....and hours plowing snowing. Personally, I'd rather spend an hour at the Rulli's buffet and then an hour on the Tilt-a-Whirl.



I did take some time out to play in the snow.





Can you tell it's a snow angel?.....be honest, now! I'm not quite sure what made me want to go outside and do this but it has certainly been a while since I made snow angels. I'm not so sure about my technique but I'm pretty sure they're easier to make when there isn't a crusty, crunchy layer of snow on top.



Go with me.........remember last post when I said I was addicted to Sunday night reality TV? OMG!!! As I am typing, someone in the house that's NOT ME! is in charge of the remote so we're watching the Science Channel, "How It's Made" detailing how synthetic buttons are made. OK, go ahead....complain about having to watch the Super Bowl. URGH! anyway...



Guess what else is done...




Bits and pieces of this may look familiar to some of you! January's AA kit evolved into this Valentine's Day project. I had the idea right away after seeing the kit but it took me a while to incorporate most of the products from the kit. I did include some new fun Valentine's Day embellishments!


At this moment, it's 60 degrees in Daytona Beach, FL. We'll be there in 25 days and counting!

OK...So It's Not The History Channel

Not being a person that watches a lot of TV, I wish I could tell you I watch the history channel, the biography channel, CNN....but, I don't! I mentioned before I was hooked on Rock of Love Charm School. Well, we're now on to Rock of Love Bus. Brett has taken his ho-ho's on the road in the search of the perfect girl. Seriously...how much silicone can you store on one tour bus?

The Rock of Love Bus is followed up on Sunday nights with the Tool Academy. How funny is this? In summary, it is like 20 couples that are basically going through couples therapy because the guys are such "tools". Each week, the biggest tool is eliminated. OMG, can the mindless, reality TV programming get any .....ah, better?

Tonight is the Reunion show for Real Chance of Love. Ahmad and Kamal, the bachelor brothers, were, what else, looking for true love in a house full of alcohol guzzling, fake eyelash wearing, scantly cladd females. Chance wasn't lucky enough to find true love but Real fell in love with Corn Fed. I'm anxious to see if they're still together on the reunion show tonight. Oh boy, it's getting crazy...these people are out of control!

Thank you VH1!!

Tagged?!

Well, with all these technically savvy friends, I suppose I should know better than to go too long without blog stalking! I see my super-duper "Going to 4-3-1-1 upside down" tour guide tagged me!


So, 6 Random Holiday Things About Me...

1. (Don't tell the kids, but...) I am married to Santa Claus.
2. Our main Christmas tree is a 1960 aluminum tree complete with a color wheel and spinner...oh Lord, it's terrible.
3. My favorite Christmas tradition is going to the Himmel Haus in Elkhart to buy Brandy Beans and a smoker. This year we bought a drunken night watchman.
4. I am still waiting for acknowledgement of the Christmas gifts sent to my husband's nieces in Colorado...but I'm not bitter.
5. I mailed store bought Christmas cards this year. I was so ashamed I didn't send any to my crafty sista's....but it doesn't mean I don't love you!
6. I miss the good ole' days of going to Grandma's house in Alabama for Christmas. Being with family seemed like the very best part of Christmas back then!

I'm so excited for AA tomorrow night. I hope the snow holds off so it isn't cancelled. It seems like forever since I was in the company of my fellow addicts. Amber, I'm sure you'll be a great leader with all your experience. BTW, it's official...my husband talks to you on the phone more than I do....what's up with that?

New Start

I'm right there with everyone else....where did 2008 go?...I can't believe we're starting a new year. It seems like I just posted yesterday but, oh yeah, it's been over a month.

Rock of Love Charm School is over...Brandy M graduated. Real Chance of Love is down to the final four and Rock of Love Bus is just getting started...me likey!

Seriously, I have been busy, though...really. See!

This is a book I made for our friends in Kansas of their 5 year old twins, Ashley and Allison. I thought these little chipboard princesses were absolutely adorable! I have several left over and am thinking of how I can use them! I'm thinking the album from this year's trip to Disney will be a good fit!

This is an 8 x 10 piece of acrylic I decorated with rub-ons, 7 Gypsies hardware, flowers and papers. Our picture is black and white but I made a similar one for my cousin for Christmas and their picture was in color. This finished project can be displayed on an easel or put in a frame.

This is a book I put together with wallet size photos from our trip to Alabama. It was pretty simple but I'm in love with owls right now so I had to include a photo! :-)

Santa brought me a Big Shot with a boat load of goodies to go along with it. I'm loving making flowers out of just about any material I can get my hands on to include but not limited to denim, felt, cork, transparencies, chipboard, etc.

I'm hoping to get back into a routine and will post more soon!