It's been too long.

Hello to my reader. ;)

I realized that it had been too long since I last posted here. I have found that Facebook provides much the same outlet that this blog used to provide for me. Even so, I do not wish to neglect my little piece of the Interwebs...

That being said, let me catch you up on my world. ......... Yeah, not much to catch up on, I am afraid. Life moves on, day after day. Mr. P. and I are still the same, with the house and the Bela. Work is work. Though work has been a little more work than I would have liked, honestly. I am trying to get a serious amount of billable hours squeezed into a short month. 228 to be exact.....I have about 13 to go....I think I will make it. But I am pretty burned out, and am looking forward to taking some sort of vacation in the coming months.

What else? I am happy to say that I have made some amazing new friends, and through the wonders of Facebook, have reconnected with old friends. I spent last Friday night drinking margaritas and catching up on the interesting and envy-inducing lives of some of my all-time favorite people. I also spent some quality time with the woman I call "Gran," one of the two amazing women that made me who I am today. I don't know how much time I will have left with her, so I am trying to make certain that I don't regret not saying or doing anything to let her know of her absolute importance to my world.

Hmmm...on a lighter note - my brother and his wife have brought home a new addition to the family. His name is Macaroni, and he is one kick-ass pooch. He is giving Bela a run for her money with regard to the awesomeness factor...but I think Bela still wins out.

And on a silly note - I have been completely sucked into this whole Twilight thing. I read the first one, and ehh...I wasn't that impressed. But then I read the second book, and now I am hooked. I even saw the movie. I wasted 10 bucks...but boy, everyone was really pretty :)

That's about it from here. I am looking forward to what life will bring in '09...hopefully, a little Jax or Maya....we continue to cross our fingers.

Hope everyone has had a great 2008....

Yes, we can!

And yes, we did.




Awesome.

A big bunch of randomness.

Y'all, I know. It's been awhile. Honestly, there hasn't been much to say. Work, home, work, home, work, home. You guys know how it is.

I've read some good books - Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley, Dark Lady by Richard North Patterson, and I am currently reading The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly (could be the best one yet). I've watched some good TV - finished out Mad Men for the season - completely excellent, fell in love with Damian Lewis in Life once again, and found great television on FX with Sons of Anarchy. I re-acquainted myself with Jon Stewart's brilliance and began DV-R'ing The Daily Show....this election cycle has certainly provided him some great fodder.

And speaking of - I have completely immersed myself in this election. I know this isn't an original statement, but I don't think I have ever cared so much about the outcome of an election. It has been a fascinating 21 months, that is for sure. I don't know what I am going to do with myself once the election is over - what will I watch in the morning? What will I read on the Internet? What did I do before this election?

I have made some good friends in the last few months that have solidified my feeling that I think I want to stick around for awhile. The Fort is a good place to be....and is better when you have smart, funny, compassionate people around you.

We are steps closer to having a kiddo in our arms. We transferred our adoption from China to South Korea, and hope to travel to get that little guy or girl by the end of 2009. We have names picked out for either option (Jackson or Maya), and look forward to the day when we can start buying clothes and decorating the nursery.

So, there you go. That's what I have been up to recently. How 'bout you?

Oh yeah - DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!

I'm fired up...and ready to go!

Happiness is....

a new Kate Spade bag (just like this one, only with black patent leather straps).

Uncontrollable Reaction

Every time I hear the words "Sarah Palin," I roll my eyes. I can't help myself. My head is really starting to hurt.

Time Suck.

I have come to this realization:

Facebook is seriously the most addictive thing ever. It is insane. I went from signing up for the damn thing to having 25 friends and 8 pieces of flair in a 1/2 day's time. I also caught up w/one of my best friends from high school, who I hadn't talked to in 15 years or so. Ker-azy.

I blame Wendy.

And I love flair. I am a flair-whore. Seriously. Those of you that aren't on FB have no idea of it's awesomeness.

So...there you go. That's what I have been doing w/my extra time. How 'bout you?

Don Draper's back!

Enough. Enough doom and gloom and death. There's reason to cheer.

Mad Men, my favorite show (and the Emmy nominating committee's, too, apparently - 15 noms for this AMC series!), is back on the air for Season 2! The first ep aired last night and all I can say is, "Thank God and all that is holy." Not only have things been grim around these parts, "grim" is the only word I can come up with to describe summer TV. Even My Boys (on TBS), great last year, only inspires an "ehhh" from me this year.

So, Don Draper, Betty Draper, Pete Campbell, Roger Sterling, and lovely, lovely Joan Holloway....I am counting on you to pull me out of my summer doldrums. So far, so good!!!!

(And for those of you that have yet to drink the Kool-Aid? What are you waiting for? Check out Season 1 on DVD, or on On-Demand for all of Mad Men's brilliance and maturity and gorgeousness. I promise you won't regret it!!!)

Well said.

Like Robin was saying - big kudos to Elizabeth Edwards on this one.

Tim Russert

Okay, guys...I have been on vacation, and w/o access to email, and I know this is no longer "news" of a timely nature as it happened last Friday, but I was completely crushed by the news of Tim Russert's death. I mean, only a few weeks ago I posted that I absolutely loved Tim Russert (and Chuck Todd). He was the person I listened to, and looked to for quality political journalism. I watched him every morning on the Today show and Morning Joe, and then caught the Tim Russert Show on Saturday on MSNBC, and, of course, Meet the Press, on Sunday (yes, I'm a nerd). I kind of thought of him as a friend, you know.

Which is why it came as such a shock: As Mr. P. and I made the drive down to Gulf Shores, AL on Friday, we listened to NPR, while I read the Scott McClellan book...I heard the words "Russert...collapsed...died" and thought that they must have been talking about Big Russ, Tim's father. I couldn't believe it. I immediately sent BFF Amanda a text expressing my complete disbelief....then, coincidentally, I received a text from my brother: "Tim Russert, dead @ 58. So f'ing sad." He decided we needed to have a drink in his honor. Yep. My brother was just as crushed as I was. I spent all Friday night watching Keith Olbermann interview Russert's friends and colleagues (poor guy kept it together as best he could) and spent a full evening this week watching the replay of his memorial with my mom, and I weeped all the way through it.

It just seems unfair, you know?

The big question: Who can possibly fill Tim Russert's large, comfortable shoes????

Drew Carey Was Right.

I never thought I would ever write those four words in the same sentence.

But he is. Cleveland does indeed rock. At least the five square blocks of Cleveland that Mr. P. and I explored this weekend in celebration of our 10 years of wedded bliss. We stayed at a lovely hotel (on the 25th floor), with a full view of the Cleveland Browns stadium and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame....thank you, I.M. Pei, for the gorgeous view.

We spent a glorious 6 hours in the aforementioned Hall of Fame, where I had my nerdy fill of all things Sun Records and Motown and Queen and Alan Freed and Woodstock and Clapton and M.J. and Jimi and Janis and, my personal favorite, an entire floor dedicated to the Doors...including Jim Morrison's report cards. How great is that?! I like my dead rock stars to excel in Geography.

Next stop: the House of Blues, where we had 2 tickets to see my favorite Insomniac, Dave Attell. Had a little dinner....had a few (read: five) margaritas, and laughed my ass off at one of the all-time funniest living comedians ever. Seriously funny as hell. Almost peed myself.

Of course, that could have been the margaritas.

Funniest. Recap. Ever.

Y'all, I am not watching American Idol this season, but have managed to keep up with the drama through Today show coverage as well as Television without Pity - one of my all-time favorite time-wasting websites. Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that it is down to the two Davids: Cook (rocker guy!) and Archuleta (fetus!), respectively. I decided to start my day on a high note: while enjoying my banana/Special K bar breakfast, I read up on the latest recap (written by the brilliant Jacob) of this week's American Idol drama........and then I choked on my banana and Special K bar. The cause? This paragraph right here, discussing D.Arch. and his butchering of a Chris Brown song:

This is ridiculous! Why won't it end? I did not pay zero dollars to have David Effing Archuleta call me his "boo." He can't even ride the tall rides and he's calling me his boo? His boo is, like, the Cabbage Patch Kid he sleeps with. He calls each silver dollar pancake his boo before he eats it in front of cartoons on Saturday morning. "C'mere, boo. I gotta tell you something. You are delicious, little momma." You know who I miss? A-Fed. He was sort of my boo. He's probably about 30-years-old by now. I picture him raising chickens, on a farm. He drinks late at night on the porch and listens to coyotes. He is nobody's boo. His only boo is the sea, and a ship to sail her by. When he pretended to not be a tiny weak little child, you believed he was not, at least for the duration of the song. This crap is like Tom Cruise in the Outsiders trying to front.

Effing. Awesome.

I am going to go and clean the banana from my keyboard now.

Chuckie T!

I am not ashamed:

I have a complete nerd-crush on Chuck Todd and Tim Russert.

Paradise found.

Remember when I said that my mom and I were planning a getaway cruise? Well, we got-away. And it was amazing. Honestly, I could not have asked for a better time. We really were able to just relax and enjoy each other's company. A recap:

Day 1....mind you this was not day one of the cruise. We met up in Indianapolis the night before our flight. Didn't want to deal w/traffic, delays, etc, considering we were both traveling 2 hours to get to Indy. Memorable moment from that evening? I broke my just-manicured nail. Yep, I am still pissed about it. But we had a little fashion show (Fashion show. Fashion show. Fashion show at lunch.) and filled out some forms, and caught the end of American Idol. I watched 1/2 of one episode and decided I wanted to punch Kristy Lee Cook right in the neck for choosing a cheesy, pandering song like "Proud to be an American." Stupid girl.

Day 2....flight to Ft Lauderdale....easy flight, no issues whatsoever...amazing. We had a wonderful chat on the plane, and realized that we hadn't been able to really talk like that in 10 years....seriously, 10 years. I blame Mr. P. ;) We arrived in Lauderdale, and caught a shuttle to our hotel...where we were staying for a night before getting on the boat the next day. Highlight? Sitting by the pool, having a drink, avoiding the creepy cat walking around the pool deck, and then going on a mile trek to find cigarettes (not for me). We crossed major roads, wandered through a Kmart, and eventually found the gas station that was supposedly "five seconds" away, according to the bartender at the hotel. Duh.

Day 3.....cruise day! We grabbed a shuttle from the hotel to the cruise port without a hitch. The logistics to get 2500 people checked in onto a floating resort is outrageous...and Royal Caribbean does it right. We got on board....had some lunch and went to our room, where I surprised Mom w/our own private balcony. Needless to say, this is where we spent much of our days. We wandered the boat for the remainder of the day, then got dressed for dinner. At dinner, we sat w/this couple from Miami....interesting folks. I can definitely say that Mom and I will never forget Juan! Big guy, big personality, always kept the drinks flowing. Caught the show after dinner - like a big show choir show - and then went back to the room to enjoy our balcony and more wine :)

Days 4 and 5: Phenomenal! We had breakfast on our balcony both days - which was seriously enjoyable. The first day was spent at Cococay, a private island in the Bahamas. We had a great time chilling out at the beach, reading and working on our tans. Seriously, the day could not have been better. Came back, had dinner...it was the formal night...lots of pictures. We then hit the casinos, where I had all sorts of luck (Thank you, Kenny Rogers!) and then went back to the room to enjoy our balcony some more. Seriously, that was the best money I have ever spent. The next day we were in Key West. We took a walking tour of Key "Weird" and went to the Hemingway House. Very interesting...but more creepy cats...these with 5 toes! That Hemingway had himself quite the life, too! We walked Duval Street, went to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Cafe, and shopped for souvenirs. I picked up some "Atocha gold" for Mr. P. at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, and then we walked back to the boat.....more sunning, more dinner (on our own....thank goodness!) ...more casino success (Don't be a hater, Mom!) and more balcony time, where we planned our next day's events....with some wine :)

Day 6: The day at sea! Woo hoo! We staked out a couple of deck chairs at about 9:30 am...and then proceeded not to move for the next 5 1/2 hours! Ha! We even ate our lunch in those chairs! I went through another book or two (I read about 5 books on the trip!), and we took in some serious people-watching, as well as the "Belly Flop Contest." We then joined our shipmates in playing TV Tune Trivia...as in, they play 2-3 seconds of a TV theme song, and then you have to write down the answer. And I kicked ASS....I won 2 RCCL hats...woot! Come on, though - A-Team? Soap? Greatest American Hero? And my personal favorite, Facts of Life. How could you not know those?! We also played some bingo...hilarious..........and we lost. Oh well. Still a fun way to pass the time. It was a sad day, though. We had to say our goodbyes to our dinnermates as well as our waiters, Ervin and Joey. We also had to tackle major packing so we could set our suitcases out before we went to bed.

Day 7: Debarkation. Suck. Bummer. Sad. It all went well....and then we got to the airport, where we were told it was too early to check in. We had, like 7 hours before our flight. So, we said screw it. We stored our suitcases, and grabbed a cab to the Ft Lauderdale beachfront....had some lunch at Sloppy Joe's, and then we literally sat under a palm tree for about three hours. It was great. The weather was perfect, and we didn't have to sit in a crappy airport chair for 7 hours! We grabbed a cab back to the airport, caught our flight back to Indy, and when we arrived we found Mr. P. and Tommie B. (aka Dad) waiting for us at the baggage carousel. Awesome. We said our goodbyes, and Mom and Tom went one way and we went the other.

I could not have asked for a better way to spend 7 days.

I love you, Mom.

Oh. My. God.*

Two things:

#1: New Kids on the Block are coming out with a new album!!! *sigh* Takes me back to junior high: I was such a fan-geek. I had the tour jacket, I had the enormous buttons, I needed help...seriously. Joey, Jonathan, Jordan, Donnie, and Danny....loved 'em all. Okay, notsomuch Danny....but the others, definitely. So, yeah - really excited about that.

More importantly, though...

#2: Barack Obama is coming to the Fort tomorrow morning!!! And I have a ticket!!!! I love that Indiana is FINALLY relevant...very exciting stuff. Bill was here a few weeks ago, Hillary had breakfast at Sara's Restaurant here last weekend, and now Barack. Awesome.



*Could this post have any more exclamation points???!!!!

"All I need is a spray tan and some Spanx..." **

Thank the Lord in Heaven - I am going on vacation in less than 2 weeks. My mom and I - yep, just the two of us - are going on a 4 night Royal Caribbean cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale, with stops in Key West and the Bahamas. Soooo excited. Luckily, my mom and I really like each other. In fact, I would consider her one of my very best friends. As such, I am looking so forward to just sitting on the beach (or at the pool) w/a stack of books, a fruity girlie drink, and my mom to keep me company. What could be better than that?!!!



**My mantra in preparing for this trip.

Another campus tragedy...

and this one a little too close to home for me.

As you all are aware, yesterday, a former graduate student opened fire on an auditorium full of geology students at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, west of Chicago, killing five and injuring countless others.

My sister-in-law, Katie, attends NIU.

Katie had just left work and was on her way to campus for class, when the shooting occurred. The footage showing the students being put into ambulances - apparently, that is where she parks for class. She is fine, but is in shock, which is to be expected. Needless to say, my family is a bit shaken by this tragic and terrible event.

Go home and hug your loved ones. You never know what can happen in this crazy world.

Love to all.

Why I Love Chuck Klosterman

Not only because of the brilliance of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs (that's a book, Mom, not my morning ritual!), but because of this article:

Me, On Shuffle, wherein Klosterman tries to answer this question:

"True or False: The music a person listens to reveals many truths about that person."

When you get a free moment, check it out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMANDA!!!!!

Thirtysomething...

Do y'all remember that show thirtysomething with Mel Harris and Ken Olin and Danny from The West Wing, and his wife, the annoying blonde chick, all whiny and dissatisfied with her life? When that show aired, I thought those folks looked OLD......they all had kids running around and one of them had post-partum depression or something and they were balancing careers and families, blah blah blah.............and they were OLD.

And now...I am no longer 30. I am "thirtysomething...." *sigh* Old.

So Sad.

The news about Heath Ledger really bothers me, for some reason. And the fact that it really bothers me also bothers me. I mean, I wasn't, like, his biggest fan or anything. I thought he was good in "A Knight's Tale," great in "The Patriot," and pretty damn impressive in "Brokeback Mountain." I am looking forward to "The Dark Knight," but didn't know until a few weeks ago that Ledger was playing The Joker. So...why am I so saddened by the news?

I guess it just seems like this is a kid who had it all going for him: a career on the rise, a seemingly supportive network of family and friends, a gorgeous daughter, and plenty of money. Based on what I have read, authorities do not think that he committed suicide, but still.....sad. Very sad.

On a different note -
They say death comes in threes...Suzanne Pleshette, Heath Ledger...and?