I'm really into movie websites. I find the coolest games and songs on them. But the question is, are movie websites really into me?


What happens when I think (with caffeine):

- If I were President, I would NOT cut salaries the first day I went to work. That's a good way to make frenemies. He might need their help more than he realizes.

- Why can't adults skip to get around places? It's cool to jog or run or power walk, but skipping is looked down upon. Skipping should be the exercise of the future like Dippin' Dots is the ice cream of the future.

- Don't people know that smoking kills? And don't they know that words that rhyme with smoking are choking and croaking?

- Who regulates clothing styles? It's probably the government. That way, the economy is constantly replenished by luring us with new styles. We should try to keep things in style for longer than one season to get good wear out of our clothes--not just toss them aside when they no longer are fashionable...or maybe then we'd be Cuba.

Now my coffee high has worn off. Adieu. Adieu. To yieu & yieu & yieu.


Today is the 3rd anniversary of my little Granny going to be with Jesus. I miss you little Granny.

Granny had a unique way of making us feel extremely special. When she died, it made me sad for myself, because grandmothers can love us in a way that no one else can. We are their shining stars. No matter how old we are, they always see us as precious bundles of joy and light up when we enter the room. They brag about us, spoil us, and hug us with a mixture of love, joy, and hope for the future. I miss hearing her little quavering voice on the phone telling me, "I just wanted to hear my sweet little Bethie's voice."

My granny taught me how to live boldly, laugh loudly, and love fiercely. She was so much fun. She lived to spend time with people and with her family. She cherished pictures and presents and hanging out with us. She was a devote Christian, church goer, Bible reader, voter (Republican only), craft maker, Skip-Bo player, Aqua Net user, Wildcat fan, and CNN watcher.

I can't wait until I get to be a granny one day. When I was in high school, I was constantly selected to play old lady roles in drama class. I always just acted like my granny, and everyone thought I was brilliant (but I was just imitating her).

Last week, Granny's precious sister, Catherine, also went to be with Jesus (okay, okay, DIED is a hard word to say). I don't exactly what goes on in heaven, but I know that if Granny's there, she and Aunt Catherine are having lots of fun. (and yes, I do know that Jesus is there, and he's fun, too.)


I watched some more cable tonight--of course, after dinner, and after a workout...

I watched a show about some cartoon kids that live in Colorado--a show that I dare not say the name of it, because I don't wish to promote it in any way. Tonight it had a rather amusing storyline about one of the kids in the fourth grade having lice. The best part of the story was the lice characters. They had made a home and thought the kid's head was their planet. They were fighting for survival after the kid shampooed with RID.

For anyone who has ever had cooties out there, I want to give you a shout-out! (If only cooties could be shouted out...) There's no need to feel ostracized.

No, having cooties is not cool. It's a pain. But just because you have cooties, doesn't mean you aren't special. And it also doesn't mean that you got it from not washing your hair. That is an evil cootie myth.

And for anyone who knows about my personal experience in college with cooties, let's keep that on the D.L. Because if you put my name on the National Cootie Registry, I'll start naming names to be right on their with me!


I did it to please my mom. She wants to be able to watch cable when she comes to visit. So, I paid the $28.99 installation fee, plus the limited time off of $14.99 for 3 months. And now, I'm absorbing the cable rays feeding (or eating) my brain. It's a drug that's hard to resist. The pictures just constantly keep changing and before you know it...I'm in another world.

At first, I thought the world I was entering was going to be helpful to me. It seemed educational. I couldn't stop watching Planet Earth. I learned about cool oxen that live in the arctic. It was like I was right there for the Empire Penguin migration. Cool. Literally.

By the next night, I had moved out of educational and decided I would try out the free "on-demand" section of the cable guide. I can select from certain shows and play and pause them like a video. It's amazing. (I realize this has been around for awhile, but remember, I just got cable.)

One of the options for the shows on playback were episodes of The City which is MTV's new fake-ality soap. Jonah texted me a few weeks ago that one of his songs was played on the show which was very exciting. Last week, I watched a clip of the show on the internet, but now, I have access to entire episodes in my living room. I am completely hooked on the show. I totally scarfed all three episodes in one sitting, and then tonight, went back in t.v. time and watched the old episodes of the sister show, The Hills.

These shows are completely edited for drama and weird to watch. But so addictive!! It's like a fashion magazine that's alive. It might almost be better if you didn't have to hear the characters talk. I feel really sorry for these people, because they aren't just characters, they're people. They are pretty much The Truman Show, but they know they are being taped--and I assume--paid.

How would you know who your friends were, because wouldn't people want to stay on the show to get publicity? If they leave your life, they leave the show. Then, no more bling-bling from Harry Winston or ring-ring from agents.

I'm trying to work up a plan of how I can be on the show. The only laughs on the show are when LC and the gang are at a bar and laughing over an alcoholic beverage of one sort of another. These people just aren't funny. Everything is too serious. These people need some joy. I guess this means I need to put these people on my prayer list, too.

They need wisdom. And some joy. And some discernment on how to spend their megabucks. The show might loose most of its audience if they actually aired when they trip or laugh til water comes out their nose, or go to church and say the name, "Jesus" and mean it. It's not nice to put these people in a zoo. But until then, I guess I'll keep watching. I NEED AN INTERVENTION!

Just in case any Hills'/City Kids are reading--I wanted to write them some notes:

Whitney - I know we're not friends, but I've seen you on TV with Lo and L.C. Please watch episode 1 of yourself where there are some good clues that Jay is not a good boyfriend choice. You're a fabulous girl, and I wish you lots of luck. If you ever want to hand down any old clothes or accessories to me, I'll send you my address.

LC - I think you need to pray about forgiving Heidi, and find some new friends that are funny. p.s. You might drink too much which could cause you to age prematurely. Consider cutting back. Also, consider leaving The Hills for The Reals (life, that is).

Heidi - I know you just married Spencer against everyone's will, so please get into some couseling ASAP. Also, get the book Power of a Praying Wife. It's a good book, and will be a good start for you. Also, please go back to the lighter blonde color on earlier episodes.

Lo - I think you might be too dependent of LC. Look at Whitney, she got her own show! I think you need to keep branching out and be confident in yourself. Good luck!


Wii Music looks so fun. How am I supposed to not want a Wii?

I still remember the day when I used to test play the Casio keyboards at Wally World that had a rhythm button and that was cool.

Little did I know...the future!!



Sometimes I get a case of shoe envy. I ran into a former work acquaintance over the holidays, and she had the best shoes. They weren't super cute or sparkly, but they looked slightly sheik and very comfy.

Right now, about 85% of my shoes are painful. Some cause me to walk funny. Some give me blisters. And some are too high to wear all day and give me knee pain.

The shoes this girl had that I envied were a pair of Cole Haan ballet flats with Nike Air soles. They were black and had nice little crinkles of leather. They looked like something you could take to the office or the park for a stroll.

So let's do some shoe math:

Let's say I have 20 pair of painful shoes at the low Target price of $20. That's a total of $400 for some cute, however, not really great shoes.

But let's say I have one pair of Cole Haan at $150, but I wear them everyday. Then, those 20 pair of unwearable shoes aren't such a good deal anymore. So, I guess that means I need to buy those $150 shoes.

If you are not familiar with the above scenario, what you witness above is call "Shoe Buying Justification." In this particular scenario, my main arguments were long term cost and comfort.


This is something I needed to tell--I like to cook.

Sometimes when I mention I cooked something, I get very strange looks from friends. I can't eat out every single meal of my life (okay! okay! I've tried. It's expensive!), nor can I eat cereal for every meal (tried that in college). Over the past several years, my cooking skills have improved, and for Christmas this year, I got more cooking tools which makes the process a lot easier.

I mainly cook chicken and veggies, and sometimes add in stirfrys or pasta dishes to my menu selection. Sometimes I bake fish. Last night, I experimented with ground turkey and made a tasty turkey burger.

Cooking kind of takes me back to my more artistic days. I use the recipes as a general guideline, and then do the best with what I have available out of my food stash. And, then voila! An edible masterpiece!

I've definitely made a few blunders, and I try to follow what my friend's nanny told him once, "Eat your mistakes," but sometimes it really is best to throw it out.

The hard thing about my cooking ability is that I only cook for one. Once I was in a relationship were my significant other was a really good cook. He could make crepes and all kinds of cool things. He was a pretty harsh food critic of my food at times (in my cooking ability defense, all food taste bad after it has set out too long because someone arrived a few hours late--but that's all olive oil under the bridge now), and I was left with feeling a bit of anxiety when cooking for a live, tasting audience besides myself. When the time is right, I will come out of my walnut shell.

Anyway, I like to create. I like to cook as a stress reliever (all the cutting and chopping and fire is cleansing). And I like to eat. So sorry I can't invite you over to dinner--becaues my dining times are sparatic.

But please, no more furrowed brow faces when I tell you: I like to cook. And I'm pretty good at it. But you'll just have to take my word on it.


It must have been fate for me to find this site. www.mystarbucksidea.com

On this site, I can post all kinds of my own Starbucks ideas or vote for other people's ideas that I've had, too, and experience one of those moments where I feel like, "So I'm not the only one that thought Starbucks should recycle!"...and many more moments like that one!

It's amazing.

Join. And enjoy. And together let's change the Starbucks universe!


It's the new year, and we're all trying to re-evaluate our weight/height/life, etc. As usualy, I'm trying to ride the workout wave.

I have a bet with a friend to see who can work out for 30 days in a row. She had to up her ante to 40 minute workouts (because she is already a pretty consistent worker-outer), while mine workouts are for 20 minutes. So far, it's Crystal - 4 workouts; Beth - 5 workouts.

I feel like a champ!

Several of my prego friends have been posting side views of their pregnant bellies online. It's embarrassing that mine sometimes resembles their pregnant bellies at 5 months after I've eaten dinner. I'm so glad I'm not a celebrity and don't get a pic in a tabloid everytime my stomach has an extra lump on it. I've thought about posting my side belly shots before and after dinner. It might be fun to look at.

"Marge, look what I found online. After she eats sushi, she's more bloated than when she eats pizza. I thought it would be the other way..."


Note to public: I will never post my belly shots online whether it contains doughnuts or a baby bean.

Note to pregnant friends: Keep posting the shots, because they are amusing--and pretty amazing that life grows inside a body like that. :) And warning: DO NOT WATCH THE ALIEN MOVIE WHILE PREGNANT.



I lost a pair of black pants about a year and a half ago. I've looked everywhere for these pants. How do you lose a pair of pants? I do believe in sock-eating dryers, but pant-eating dryers?!

Last night, the mystery was solved. I went to play some good ole' fashioned SingStar with Ann, and she casually said, "Are you missing a pair of pants, size 4?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed. (This was an exclaiming moment.)

"Well, I've had them for awhile. I've been wearing them, and I don't want to give them back."

"What?!" I exclaimed. (This also was a moment worthy of exclamation.)"I love those pants. And they're not really a size 4. They're a generous size 4."

"You had my pajama pants for two years, so I get to keep these."

She was right. But I did eventually remove my claws from the pajamas and relinquished them back to Ann.

Ann tried to cut a deal with me. So, for now, I'm going to try to whittle myself back down to wear those size "4" pants comfortably, and if they fit, I get them back. So for now, she's parading around town in my black pants. And I'm parading around town trying to burn away a muffin top.