Month: April 2007

TV Talk

Published by dee on April 13, 2007

I do enough talking about kids’ TV on my other site so I thought it was time to actually talk about the shows I like to watch once the kid is in bed. Over the last year or so I’ve really cut down on my TV viewing. There are some shows that are absolute necessities, others that I catch when I have a chance, some I just don’t have time for, and still others that I continue to mourn long after they are gone (O.C. anyone?).

I have become a little peeved at the TV industry over the last couple of seasons because it seems that they just don’t give new shows much of a chance before canceling them. I watch a few episodes and get pulled in just to find out it has been canceled a couple of weeks later due to low ratings. They keep moving shows around to different nights and times as well, so I’m not sure how they can expect to keep ratings up. I happen to be extremely upset about the cancellation of The Wedding Bells. I was really getting into that show. Moving it to Friday night was the death of it, just like it was to Boston Public.

Then there’s the ever popular mid-season hiatus. I just don’t get that at all. I miss the old days where a season started in the Fall and ended in Spring. There might be a few re-runs in the middle, but those were easy to take as long as you knew you were getting a new episode the next week. I am thankful that they have started the whole summer series thing though. It is nice to have few shows to keep up with.

Since I’m sure you are all dying to know exactly what I watch, here’s a little peek into my favorites (using the almighty bullets):

Notes From The Underbelly – I know it is brand new, but after watching the premiere last night it is a new favorite. This show had me laughing one minute and crying the next. I almost felt like I was pregnant all over again. The season pass is set! If they cancel this one, somebody’s head is going to roll.
LOST – Anybody who does not love this show is dead to me. I just don’t know how you can not like it. I get angry when it ends every week because I just want more. I really want Juliet to just be nice and fall in love with Jack (who is played by the dreamy Matthew Fox who I still want to call Charlie because I’m still stuck in the 90’s watching Party of Five in my head), but I don’t see that happening. They paint her as being all nice and sweet and then she turns evil again. I totally feel like I’m getting the run-around and I love it.
How I Met Your Mother – I have to admit that this one took me a few episodes to get into but now I can’t imagine Monday nights without it. I love Alyson Hannigan and the rest of the crew. Mondays are always rough and coming home and laughing through my Monday night sitcoms is just awesome.
Two and a Half Men – It may be a little raunchy at times but this show is pure comedy gold. I love the sibling relationship because it is so true to real life. Who doesn’t pick on their brother or sister constantly? The best part of this show though is the intro song. Why is it so great? Because Zach sings along and bobs his head through the whole thing. We usually rewind the song a couple of times and then promptly put him to bed so we can watch the rest.
The New Adventures of Old Christine – Again, this is just a funny, no-brainer type of show. I love the family dynamics and watching Christine make a fool of herself again and again is just hilarious.
American Idol – I actually debated whether to include this one or not because I’m really not enjoying this season. The whole Sanjaya thing is just old. I do still like a couple of the contestants that are left, but am really disappointed that Gina is gone. She may not have been the best singer on the show, but I liked her.
Survivor – Eh. Losing interest in this one this season as well. I’m not sure if it is just because the cast is boring or if I’m just getting tired of the whole reality TV thing.
Grey’s Anatomy – I have no idea why I didn’t start watching this when it started. After watching the first two seasons on dvd and then catching up to this season via iTunes, I am really hooked. I love, love, love this show. The medical part may be a little off at times, but the love triangles and drama always keep me coming back for more.
The Wedding Bells – As I said, this one has already been canceled but I still love it and will be watching until the very end.

Then there are the off-season shows that I’m anxiously waiting for:

The 4400 – This is possibly the only sci-fi show that I’ve ever really gotten into. I dug X-files for a while but it wasn’t something that I had to watch every time it was on. The 4400 is so addicting. I can’t wait for it to start the new season.
Big Love – A show about the ins and outs of polygamy? Awesome. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this show at all when I first heard about it, but we decided to give it a chance and I love it. It almost has me convinced to move to Utah and let Hubby take on a couple of extra wives – as long as I get to stay home and the other two have to work.
Dexter – Blood + guts + suspense + romance = awesome. The season finale didn’t seem to leave a great lead-in for the second season so I’m a little worried about what might happen to this show in the long-run but I’ll still be watching. It just might surprise me.

I showed you mine, now you show me yours. What shows are you watching? Am I missing out on any awesomeness that I need to catch up on?

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Questions to Ponder

Published by dee on April 12, 2007

Why is it that totally insignificant details can cause the most heated debates? Why do people blow off big issues and stress about things that just don’t really matter when you look at the big picture? I’m not saying that I’m not guilty of it myself because I probably am, but it bugs me.

Why is it that we scoff when a celebrity makes a derogatory comment, yet we accept it in every day life? We should all learn to respect each other a little bit more.

Why is it that the more I have to do, the less motivated I am to do it? I end up procrastinating on things and pushing them to the last minute (like taxes) and then I feel completely rushed and hope I don’t screw them up.

Why does it take me twice as long to drive home as it does to drive to work when I am going the exact same distance?

Why does the price of gas always seem to increase on the day that I need to fill my tank?

Why does unhealthy food taste so much better than the healthy stuff?

Who decided that five days a week should be for work and only two days for play?

Where IS Waldo?

Can anyone explain this?

(Yes, it’s a joke, although he did wake up with a bit of a rash this morning that is being monitored.)

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Before It All Spills Out

Published by dee on April 11, 2007

My brain is feeling rather scattered with all of the projects I have going on right now. Keeping up with a full-time job, a part-time job, a husband, a toddler, blogging, and about a million and a half other personally gratifying projects all at once is kind of making me lose my mind right now. I try to keep track of everything in my head, but there comes a point when my head just starts dropping things off because it can no longer hold everything. That is when I have to sit down and actually create a to-do list. To-do lists generally just frustrate me because it seems that for every thing I cross off the list, I add another three. Anyhow, the to-do list must be created so that my mind can move on to more important things. Here’s a little peak at what sits on my plate right now:

~~Buy birthday card for Brother-in-law whose birthday is today! (A little advance planning might have been helpful here!)~~ Just convinced Hubby to do this! Yay!
Finish prettying up sister’s blog page before the baby comes as I’m sure she will be posting about him and he deserves to have a most beautiful blog page to be posted about on. (Just started on this one last night and am hoping that I can easily alter one of Zoot’s rockin’ free Blogger templates) — Deadline April 23rd
Print, sign, write checks, and mail state taxes
Do stupid KC Earnings tax form and figure out how to pay what we owe.
Pay bills (again) with whatever money is left after the taxes
Figure out where to find more money to pay property tax that was due in December so we can register and tag the Suburban recently gifted to us from my in-laws
Call insurance lady about recently gifted Suburban
Buy another (fairly cheap) car seat to leave in Suburban so I don’t go crazy having to hook and unhook the one in my car
Write deeply thoughtful blog post that will bring millions of readers to my site (Wait, does this one count? No?)
Come up with some kind of fun contest idea for my Tot TV Watch blog (any ideas welcome!) and finish drafting a couple of post ideas I have stuck in my head
Design and set up new brilliant blog project that will probably turn out to be a flop, because apparently I need more things to do
Finish up baby blanket number two so I can move on to the next one seeing as you people just can’t stop getting pregnant
Start posting here regularly again because I kind of miss it (and so does my sanity)
Update my family blog so that the rest of the family (who have not yet discovered this little piece of web realty) don’t think we’ve dropped off of the planet
Get this site moved over to WordPress because I’m really starting to fall in love with WordPress, although leaving Movable Type will be a little hard. MT has been very good to me over the years.
Update my church’s website that I am totally responsible for (since it should have been done April 1st)
Go out on another date with Hubby. Too bad the Red Sox are gone until next year.
Sleep, if I can remember how

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Easter and Stuff

Published by dee on April 9, 2007

Once upon a time I had a blog where I actually wrote stuff on a regular basis. Then life kind of got in the way and I didn’t have time to update it as much as I would have liked to. When I did finally get back to writing, I had about a bazillion things to write about and created a very long blog post with lots of pictures. Do you want to see it? I thought you would.

Last Wednesday, Hubby and I actually got to go out like real adults. There was no wining and dining, but there was plenty of junk food, booze, freezing temperatures and Red Sox baseball. It was pretty much a perfect evening if I block out the part where I was completely freezing my ass off. The jalapeños and margaritas kept me warm on the inside, but I was pretty jealous of all the people sitting around me with blankets covering them (and wondering why I didn’t think to bring one for myself). It was nice to get to hang out with Hubby without my extra appendage (also known as Zach) around. We got to have some real conversations that didn’t revolve around a screaming toddler, although we did complain about the drunk college kids in front of us that acted about as mature as the toddler. All in all it was a pretty great evening and the Red Sox winning was just icing on the cake.

After dragging through the day Thursday, I picked Zach up from day care and discovered he had a bit of a runny nose. I blamed it on allergies, but by Friday morning that runny nose had turned into a full-on head cold. By Friday afternoon he was running a fever and I was starting to get a litte worried knowing that we had a very full weekend ahead. With some Tylenol for the fever and some Benadryl to slow down the snot trail, he seemed to be feeling a little bit better.

Friday night we loaded up the car, dogs and all, and headed up to my sister’s house. We unloaded, got the dogs settled in and then headed to church for the Good Friday service. Afterwards we had dinner with my dad and his wife. I realized as we were driving back to my sister’s house that we had managed to lose Zach’s sippy cup along the way. Normally I wouldn’t have been too concerned, but it was a brand new cup that I had just spent $5 on a couple weeks ago. I called and had my dad stop back by the church to make sure we hadn’t left it there but he didn’t find it. My brother-in-law even called the restaurant to see if we might have left it there but no one had seen it. It apparently vanished into thin air.

Saturday morning, after listening to Zach struggle to breathe all night, we got up and headed back to church for the children’s Easter egg hunt. It was really cold that morning so the hunt ended up being indoors. Zach had a great time hunting eggs and doing some crafts. Of course he enjoyed eating candy and cookies even more. He ended up with way more candy than he could ever eat so he agreed to "donate" a big bag to my office’s candy basket.

After the Easter egg hunt, we took the kids to a certain fast food restaurant where they have a playground and are currently giving away SpongeBob toys in their kids’ meals. We had planned an afternoon at the park but it was just entirely too cold for that. Instead of eating, the two little boys decided to revolt so we finally gave in and let them just go play, which is exactly what they wanted. They weren’t exactly thrilled when we told them it was time to go home and take a nap.

It took some work, but my sister finally got the little boys down for naps while my brother-in-law took my older nephew and a friend to a movie. When they got back and the little boys woke up from their naps, it was time to color Easter eggs. I think Zach actually got more dye on his hands than on the eggs, but he had a really good time doing it.

We stuck around long enough for dinner and a movie, and then it was time to get home. Zach decided at around 1:30 in the morning that he wanted to get up and play. He spent about half an hour screaming before Daddy tried to intervene, played for about 5 minutes, and then ended up asleep in our bed a few minutes later. Needless to say, when my alarm went off Sunday morning it was not welcomed.

We managed to get up, dressed, and out the door for church only about 15 minutes late. Church was full (as expected) and Zach was actually fairly well behaved considering the amount of sleep he got the night before. The real fun, however, began after church. Apparently while we were at church the Easter bunny visited Grandpa’s house. When we arrived for our Easter dinner, there were baskets full of goodies for all three boys and more eggs to hunt. By the time we got around to eating, Zach was so tired that he actually asked for "night night" instead of eating dinner.

While Zach was napping, I managed to fall asleep and get a little nap in as well. It was quite nice except that I woke up with a bit of a sore neck. Zach woke up from his nap extremely cranky so we got our stuff together and headed home. While he was screaming, I decided to take a chance and poke around in his mouth. I discovered that he has another molar trying to break through the gums, which might explain much of his crankiness over the last week or
so. I didn’t see any signs of the other three pushing up yet, so I’m guessing we’re going to have lots of cranky in the near future.

I have to say that I’m almost glad to have the weekend done. It was certainly a busy one and now I just need a few days to sit back and relax. I’m really hoping to take it easy the next two weekends because in only 15 short days I will have a brand new little nephew that will need lots of visiting and snuggling. Can you tell I’m a little excited about that?

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Paging the Weather Gods

Published by dee on April 4, 2007

If anybody can figure out how to turn the current temperature of 38 freaking degrees into the nice warm 81 degree weather we had on Monday it would be very much appreciated. Preferably before 7:15 p.m. Before I have to go sit out in the weather and freeze my slightly oversized butt off. I’m pretty sure the Red Sox will thank you too. I really don’t want to have to dress like this for the game:

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To Tantrum Like A Toddler

Published by dee on April 3, 2007

Some days it feels like my life is spiraling out of control. It is partially my fault for taking so much on. I know at some point I just have to stop but I have a hard time saying no. There are so many things that need to be done and so many other things that I want to do. I know it is absolutely impossible to do them all but the desire is still there.

Every day seems to be a new challenge to see how much I can get done and whether I can actually get everything done that I set out to accomplish. Sometimes the bills don’t get paid on time. Sometimes the laundry doesn’t get done. Sometimes we eat pizza or Chinese delivery instead of a home cooked meal even though we may not have the money for it. Sometimes Zach doesn’t get a bath because I’m too tired to fight with him. Sometimes I can’t do it all.

More often than not things that get pushed down the list are the most important-the things I do for myself. Maybe I read too many blogs. Maybe I care a little too much about that little bit of code that I can’t get quite right. Maybe I place too much importance on this blog. Maybe I shouldn’t stay up until midnight just so I can write about my boring days. Maybe I shouldn’t take on web design projects that I know I don’t have the time for. Maybe I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t do those things.

There comes a point when I have so many to-do’s that I simply cannot relax. There is a point where I feel you must go on until I finish one more task, even if it kills me to do so. There are days where I hit the absolute breaking point and cannot go on any more. Those are the days when I understand Zach’s tantrums. I know what it feels like when his shoe strap isn’t just so, or I fill the wrong cup up with his milk, or I make him strap into his car seat when he would rather just stay at home and snuggle on the couch. It is the final straw. I understand. I want to scream too.

And then some days-rare but glorious days-you finally feel caught up. You can sit back, enjoy your family, and just breathe life in. I need one of those days soon.

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