Sappy but it brings me to tears

Congratulations to Brooke and Derek for winning Dancing With the Stars season 7. I was really rooting for them to win more so for Derek than Brooke cause I gots a little crush on that boy, but I thought Brooke was amazing all season. I was also rooting for Lance (my Nsync boy!) and he so should have been in the final with Brooke. I think Brooke's Vienese Waltz might be my favorite dance this season and I'm glad she chose to do it again in the finals. It's the first time ever that I've actually gotten teary eyed watching someone dance. It must be because I'm a Mom now. Something special happens on this show when they pair the perfect music with the perfect dancers and the perfect choreography. And can I say I love that song with someone other than John Mayer singing it! Enjoy!

99 things and a bitch ain't one

I never do these when they come to me in emails, but I'm a sucker for putting them on my blog. This one is called, Things I've done and I found it here. So you're supposed to copy the list of 99 random things and then cross off all the things that you've done. Hmm maybe it'll spark some potential scrapbook pages or stories to share here. Here goes:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
   
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (Well I helped my dad when I little)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt in person
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (it was snorkeling)
    
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie - This is an interesting one, what's the definition of movie here. LOL..
    
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Interesting list. There are a lot of things on this list I want to do and some things I would not wish to do (kill and prepare an animal for eating). Wonder what the list will look like in 5 or 10 years from now?

If you've got an hour, enjoy some of my latest photos

Ok I was seriously behind on my photo processing. I spent all last night catching up, and I managed to process and post all the recent photos waiting on my hard drive, but I still have a bunch still on my memory card that need to be uploaded to my hard drive and then processed, but hey one step at a time. When I say I spent all last night on this, I really spent a lot of time, (after all there is NOTHING on tv on Wednesdays and since I had control of the computer I wasn't about to give it up to Doug to play his video game), but it feels good to be mostly caught up. I had photos going back to September still to process. Here's a look at some of my favorites and links to the rest of the sets:

Dansville Hot Air Balloon Festival





Coloring with Riley


This was a game night turned coloring with Riley night. We were playing Wii and while Deb was sitting out one round she asked Riley to color, and from that point on everyone took turns coloring with Riley.

Doug's Poker Birthday



Barktoberfest


There's something about this photo I really love. It's not the best photo of Nyssa and its not even the best photos I took at Barktoberfest, but I just love it. I took it while we were waiting for Riley to finish jumping in the bounce house. It's like she's saying, "OK Dad, when's it gonna be my turn to play?"

Random Everyday Life


Riley actually took this photo. She's becoming quite the little photographer. There are some funny photos in this set. Some random everyday life kind of photos. Stuff that didn't fit anywhere else, but were fun and I wanted to share.

Kai's Poker Birthday




Riley Fall Photos at Tinker Nature Center



Riley at swimming lessons


I also uploaded 2 videos for the first time in this set. They are set to friends and family only. Uploading videos was cool. I like having them right in the set with the photos that go along with them.

Pumpkin Patch



Pumpkin Carving



Seneca Park Zoo Boo



Halloween Trick or Treating



And some RIT hockey photos. I think after the seasons over I'll do entry showing off my favorite from the season. Photographing hockey is hard, but I think I'm starting to get some good shots. The more I learn about hockey, the easier its getting.

RIT vs. Holy Cross
RIT vs. Clarkson
RIT vs. St. Lawrence

I came up with all kinds of ideas for scrapbook pages based on the photos I processed last night, so I'm looking forward to working on them. I think at least for some, I'm going to try some more digital pages.

Survivor: Probst is Fun!

I have to share the link to this video. I couldn't find a way to embed it unfortunately. Jeff Probst is really funny in it and I got a kick out of it.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1815812964/bctid1817710962

Doug and I had a disagreement last night while watching Survivor about what happens to the Jury members when they are voted off. He insisted that they aren't allowed to see each other and are kept secluded and I insisted that they all get to stay together, hang out, and talk about the game. I had to prove him wrong this morning, so I found out that since last season Survivor has been producing webisodes called Life at Ponderosa. Ponderosa is what they call the Jury House. The current seasons webisodes are here, Life at Ponderosa. I also went back and watched a lot of them from Fans Vs. Favorites on you tube. It was nice getting alittle Ozzy fix. I forgot how much I love him. Anyway, all this talk got me thinking more about Survivor and I ended up on the Entertainment Weekly website, where I found out that Jeff Probst is blogging about the episodes and they have exclusive deleted scenes. Very cool. Jeff is a good blogger. His blog entries are fun to read. Anyway, I wanted to share that video just because I thought Jeff was really funny. "Now who's your daddy?, Tell me, Put you on Big Brother...... Bitch!" Classic.

10 TV guys, I secretly love

I read this post this morning about the hottest hunks on TV, does anyone even use that word anymore, and I thought it would be fun to make my own list. Here are the 10 guys on TV I secretly, or not so secretly LOVE:

10. Bryan Datillo

I've been watching him on Days Of Our Lives on and off for a very long time. He plays Lucas Roberts and there is just something about him that I really like. He is funny and seems very down to Earth.

9. Seth Meyers

I love comedians. The way to my heart is definately through laughter. If you can make me laugh, you've got a great shot. He's such a funny guy and he's great on Weekend Update all by himself.

8. James Lafferty

He plays Nathan Scott on One Tree Hill. The show was created for Chad Michael Murray, and don't get me wrong, he's pretty nice looking too, but there is something about James that I just like more. He's athletic. He loves basketball and is good at it too. His character is a bad boy turned good. I think that's what drew me to him. I love the bad boys, but he's one with a great heart. Nathan's flaw though is he's a Duke fan. That's really a deal breaker for me, even if he makes up for it by loving Michael Jordan.

7. Michael Trucco

I first saw Michael as Hot Uncle Cooper on One Tree Hill and then he turned up as Sam Anders on Battlestar Gallactica. Another Badass with a good heart. You don't mess with him or anyone he cares about. He'll take you down.

6. Zachary Levi

Another funny guy. I really didn't know him before Chuck, but I love him. He plays a funny, hot nerd who can be a badass in his own way sometimes. That's the best combination. He's perfect!

5. Jensen Ackles/Jared Padaleki

I just couldn't separate these two. I liked Jared on Gilmore Girls, and I liked Jensen on Days Of Our Lives, but neither were really a standout to me in those roles. Put the two together and you get the Winchester Brothers from Supernatural. I love these two together. They are HOT, they kick evil butt, they make me laugh, and they are super loyal to each other.

4. Joshua Jackson

I loved him as Pacey on Dawson's Creek and I have a really hard time seeing him as any other character, but he recently returned to TV as Peter on Fringe and he's great on that show. As Pacey, he as always trying to do the right thing, but getting in trouble. Everyone thought he was a bad guy, but he was just misunderstood. As Peter, he is a mysterious genius, so much we haven't learned about him yet. I love Josh!

3. Derek Hough

I always talk about Maks from Dancing with the Stars, but secretly, I love Derek more. The all american boy. He's funny, hot, and wow can that boy dance. He's great at all the ballroom and latin, but a couple weeks ago I saw him in the group hip hop routine. Heaven help me, he was amazing. He's a singer too, his band just signed a record deal. He can do it all. I love his style. He's hard working and always very gracious. Some genes in that Hough family, man!

2. Brian Austin Green

What is there to say about Brian Austin Green, my David Silver. I grew up with him. He was always my favorite on 90210, even when he was young and dorky looking. I've stuck by him through the awkward growing years, the bad rap album, dropping off the grid, and then reappearing stronger than ever as Derek on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Cronicles. This is the best character he's ever played. He will kick your ass and not think twice about it. He's a shoot first ask questions later kind of guy. He's loyal. He's been through alot and I think there's alot still to learn about him. He brings a great dynamic to the show, but he needs more screen time, PLEASE!

1. Jason Momoa

It was hard picking a number one, and hard placing Jason in front of Brian just because of how long I've liked Brian, but Jason Momoa as Ronan Dex on Stargate: Atlantis. If you watch him on that show for just a few minutes you'll instantly see why he's my number one. I didn't even watch that show until he showed up on it. He caught my eye immediately. You don't mess with Ronan. He's a man of little words, but he gets his point across. He's a shoot first, NEVER ask questions kind of guy. He's extremely loyal, and if you mess with the people he loves, you're done. He kicks major butt on that show, he makes me laugh, and that's why I love him, plus look at him, he's ridiculously HOT!


So there it is my version of the 10 ten hotties, I secretly love on TV. It was hard to pick just ten. These guys almost made the cut, and it was hard to leave them off Adrien Grenier as Vincent Chase on Entourage, Maksim Chmerkovskiy on Dancing with the Stars, Chad Michael Murray as Lucas Scott on One Tree Hill (liked him better as Charlie on Dawson's Creek though, he's a bit of a whiner on OTH), and Jason Lee as Earl on My Name is Earl.

I Will Not!

I'll warn you before I get started that parts of this story maybe too much information for you.

Sunday didn't start out so well. Riley woke up at about 8:45am, came into my room to let me know she was awake and would be playing in her room. I got up to go to the bathroom, I was feeling gas pains. It all went downhill from there. I started to get more intensified pains, began to lose control of my bowels, then I got very cold and started sweating like crazy. I had no idea what was going on, but I felt terrible. So I'm in the batroom trying to deal with this when Riley walks in and states she has to go potty. I tell her that it's going to be awhile and remind her that there are 2 other bathrooms in the house. She insists on waiting. So she's just standing there in my face staring at me not saying a word. That starts to drive me nuts. Then all the sudden I start to feel sick to my stomach. I think I'm going to throw up. I don't know what to do, I can't risk moving for fear of what might come out the other end. I call out a couple times for Doug to come and help me and also get Riley out of there and to a different bathroom, but of course he's sleeping on his good ear and can't hear me. I say to Riley,

"Riley, can you please go and get daddy for me?"
To which she replies, "I will not"

I will not, are you f'in kidding me! She must be kidding. I try again.

"Riley, please go get daddy for me, I really need him"
To which she replies again, "I will not"

What the F#@! Is this kid serious? I will not? What am I going to do? As I'm quickly surveying the bathroom trying to make a game plan, I hear Nyssa russling around on her bed. Nyssa, my saviour. I call out to her.

"Nyssa, Nyssa come!" She immediately complies.

"Nyssa, get daddy. Nyssa, get daddy." To which she very obediently complies. I'm thinking, thank god I trained her to do that. Who knew what was something funny and playful would actually be so handy? I hear Doug's voice and I call for him. He manages to get Riley out of the bathroom, but never comes through with an alternative location for my puke. His answer was "get off the pot" which as I stated really wasn't an option. Luckily, the urge to throw up subsided.

I'm still trying to deal with what's happening to me. When I hear Riley break into one hell of a diva tantrum. This was unlike any other she's had. She went into her room, slammed the door, and stood pushing on the door, trying desperately not to allow her father into the room, all the while crying and screaming. I was able to get my bowels and cold sweats under control long enough to go to her room and try to go in. (Doug was standing outside it, playing with his iPhone). Riley yells, "No don't come in" and I can feel her pushing on the door. I say, "Riley it's mommy!" and she lets me in. Now she's crying even harder. I pick her up and ask what's wrong? She doesn't have an answer. It turns out she was scared because something was wrong with me. She wanted to play in her room, and she wanted to use the bathroom of her choice which was occupied, and she wasn't going to budge on any of those things. I tell her I'm just not feeling well, but I'll be okay. She's able to stop crying long enough to say, "Are you done in the bathroom, now?" To which I reply, "for a few minutes I think" She goes in to go potty and I go lay down. As soon as she's done, she runs back into her room, slams her door, and is refusing to let Doug in and crying again.

I tell Doug, "She's upset because something's wrong with me and she wanted me to tend to all her needs this morning. You'll need to console her." He replies with, "I know". Then there is a few minutes of silence. All I can hear is her crying though the baby monitor. Next thing I know I hear:

Daddy: "Riley if you come out, I'll take you to Mcdonald's to get french fry thingys(breakfast hashbrowns). It's still early and they are serving them."
Riley: "Yeah!!! (stops crying and opens the door). YES! I'm happy now! Can I get two?"

Nice bribe Doug!

I had one more round of uncontrollable bowels, cold sweats, and almost puking and then I slept until 12:30. My stomach was off all day, but I was fine. I have no idea what was wrong with me?

Squiggly Ears

We had a fun Saturday.

First up was swimming lessons in the morning. Last week, Riley swam all by herself with just 2 swimming noodles. She was very excited about it, so she convinced her Daddy to come to swimming lessons this morning so she could show him. It was safety day today though, so she barely got to go in the water. They spent all class reading pool safety books and walking around the pool reading all the rules. The only actually pool time they got was when they were trying the life jackets. They got to jump in and see how the life jackets helped them float. Both Riley and Daddy were bummed. Daddy said, "Pool safety is important, but not very fun, huh?"

After swimming lessons, we came home and relaxed for just a few minutes and then headed out to the movie theater to see Madagascar 2. Riley loved it. Doug and I thought it was good, but no where near the level of the first movie. There were 10 times as many monkeys in this one though, so Riley was happy!

After the movie, Doug took a nap and Riley and I had a fun project afternoon. We made squiggly eyed monsters and turkeys. Then Riley showed me how to color her Dora coloring pages and then roll them up together her.

After our projects were done, we had a little photo shoot with them, and when Roo was taking my photo she said, "Mommy, say squiggly ears!" and then she said the same when I took her photo. Together, we laughed about it.









And Riley's Xmas list looks like this so far:

1. Scooby Doo movies
2. Alvin and the Chipmunk movies
3. Tag reader
4. Piano
5. Singer microphone
6. Kung Fu Panda tag reader book
7. More art supplies (white glue, paint, dora coloring pages, paper)

Seriously??! Go see Zack and Miri

Just read this article on Yahoo news about Zack and Miri make a Porno It's about a theatre in Utah that banned the movie because of graphic nudity and sex and because it was too close to an NC-17 rating.. Things I found interesting in the article:

• "The company's standards seem a little odd considering that the chain had no problems screening ultra-violent fare like "Saw V," which features beheadings and explicit self-mutilation. When asked why Megaplex Theaters did not object to the gory horror sequel, Gunderson had no comment."
• "Kevin Smith's surprisingly tame and sentimental movie has a few flashes of nudity, a handful of love scenes played mostly for laughs, and a whole lot of foul language. In fact, the film's raunchiness level is comparable to that of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", "Knocked Up" and "Sex Drive," all of which screened at Megaplex theaters."

And the BEST PART of the article. Keep in mind what was just said about Zack and Miri Make a Porno and the movie Sex Drive.

• "As a footnote to this story, this past weekend an audience full of children and pre-teens expecting to see the G-rated "High School Musical 3" at one of Miller's theaters in South Jordan, UT were surprised when the beginning of the R-rated "Sex Drive," which features nudity and swearing, was shown accidentally. But at least they didn't see Seth Rogen in his underwear."

In the words of Seth and Amy, Really? You refuse to screen a film because it's name has the word porno in it, but will play a movie called Sex Drive and then accidently play it to a bunch a kids there to see HSM3, Really?

By the way, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is absolutely hillarious! I haven't laughed that hard at a movie in a really long time. I was bent over, almost falling out of my chair a couple times. It is definitely Kevin Smith humour, it's vulgar and crude, but oh so good! Please go see this movie. It's getting a lot of flack for its 10.7 million opening weekend. It's being considered a flop even though it was only 5 million behind HSM3, Please go see this film. It's worth the money!