Big Brother 8 - The Thursday Eviction

And like that, I am down to two Fantasy Big Brother players. Damn. It's not that I didn't know on Tuesday that I was going to lose a player, but it stinks. The game is a-changin', and I am not as comfortable with my picks as I was a few weeks ago. Current standings:

Sandi's Team
Dick
Dustin
Jameka

Charissa's Team
Daniele
Zach
Kail
Amber

Richie's Team
Jen
Eric
Nick
Jessica

I really hate it when Big Brother runs an HOH competition over the end of the hour. It is so frustrating. It's not like I won't tune in Sunday, so I'm not sure why they do it. Maybe they are trying to get viewers to subscribe to the live feed? Dunno. But this HOH looked pretty dumb. Right before the end of the show when they showed the houseguests running back and forth from the teapot to the bowl, you could hear one of the producers telling them to be careful. What fun is that? I'd rather be blissfully unaware that they receive warnings. I want to pretend that every activity is fraught with danger. I want to think that the strain of being in the house is unbearable. That's so much better.

I remember the first season when they houseguests really started going coo-coo because they had been without human contact for so long. Do you remember? How about when Brittany made "friends" with the cameraman? And the cameraman would shake the camera back and forth "no" or nod "yes" to her? I miss those days. They didn't even have a clock in that first season. They were given the tools to make a potato-powered clock instead.

I don't know. I want more drama and less down time. 25% of the recorded video is of houseguests laying around contemplating. Not that I want a replay or season two when Justin pulled a knife, but c'mon people. What do you all do all day?

Puzzle Progress Made

Progress today started slow, but picked up once 10 PM hit. Sorry, Dad... it doesn't look like Ohio anymore. It kinda looks like a cat, doesn't it? Can you see it?

Hot Stone Massage, Baby

I had my first ever hot stone massage today. I'm a noodle.

It was awesome, and I know I was in and out of sleep during the whole thing. It was a full body massage, but with lotion, oil, and hot (hot, hot) stones. She used the stones in the massage, kneading them into my muscles, and she also placed them on my skin when she moved on to the next part of my body. They were warm and heavy on me. It was amazing.

I did laugh once... there was a part where she massaged my feet and put little hot stones between my toes. I started to giggle when she reached my big toe, but I was able to stop myself. I'm ticklish. I can't help it. Ha ha.

Another Late Night

I'm addicted to this puzzle. It makes me sound a bit lame I guess - that I've stayed home two nights in a row and worked on a puzzle - but I don't give a hoot. It's calming for me. Being the uptight gal that I am... I like calm.

Goodnight

Puzzled

Hmmm... I borrowed a puzzle from Richie and Sandi today. It's going to be impossible. Impossible for three reasons that readily come to mind.

1. It's a photomosaic. Of a wolf.
2. There's only one surface in my apartment big enough (besides the floor) for the size of this puzzle once completed.
3. I have a cat. (They like to lay on things.)

I am going to give it a whirl tonight, but I'm not sure I was thinking clearly when I went looking for a puzzle to work on. I wanted some hand-eye coordination practice that was some alone time for me, just to focus and disconnect a bit. I'm crazy, I think.

Big Brother 8 - Sunday Update

Oh, Brother.

Watching Amber is almost painful right now. She seems like a sweet girl, don't get me wrong, but she needs to stop crying and stop this God stuff. Now I'm not trying to knock her (or anyone else's) religious beliefs, but it's so overboard. I feel like Jameka's faith is rubbing off on her, but only because she is so dang impressionable. If I see another clip of her crying and saying "I love you so much, God," I might have to throw up. It's not that I don't believe that she's being sincere - she totally is. But I'm sure God doesn't give a hoot who wins HOH or POV or anything. I think he has more important this to be concerned about... like Baltimore's crime rate or something.

So Amber and Zach are both up on the block - and both are my players on my fantasy team. That's not good. I can only hope that Dick makes a stupid mistake this week and gets backdoored. If he gets too cocky and says something that offends Jessica, she just might put him up if Zach or Amber can get him/herself off of the block. It's completely possible. I've got my fingers crossed.

I Hate Hangovers

Oh my... I had a blast last night, but I paid for it today. After cleaning and being lazy yesterday, CJ picked me up for dinner at Canton Dockside.
She spent the day with a friend in a wheelchair, so we got premier parking at the restaurant with the handicap parking pass we had. It sound pretty insignificant, but we felt like rockstars. We're such dorks.

During dinner, Jill, Rob and family walked in... we already had plans to meet up after dinner, but it turned out they wanted to try Dockside because I've talked it up quite a bit, so we all showed up at the same place. I picked about a quarter of a crab by myself which is a feat. I am so grossed out watching CJ scrape out the lungs on a crab. Crab meat is so, so good, but the 'mustard,' which is really crab poop, creeps me out. Eventually I'll get over it, I suppose. Baby steps.

For you non-Bawlmer folks, we had a huge electrical storm come through around 7:30 PM, and it had some crazy wind, rain and lightening. The restaurant lost Direct TV for a while, and I took the video below trying to get some of the weather on video.


CJ went home to watch the Ravens game, and the rest of us went down to Della Rosa's for some drinks. We caught up with a group of friends out for a bachelor party of sorts. Some of the guys I hadn't seen in awhile, so it was nice to catch up with them. A friend from work and her boyfriend brought cute spikey hair boy down to Della's for me to flirt with (haha). I heart cute boys. :) We stayed at Della's for awhile - oh, and I discovered that I am awful at shuffleboard. I have no talent for it at all. Around 11 PM or so, a few of the guys wanted to go to a strip club, but that's just not my thing. No interest. Eventually we all decided to go to Walts Inn instead for karaoke. It was so crowded. I sang a solo and a duet with some guy I didn't know which is always fun. Actually, a number of people in our group sang last night - even Jill, who is usually my #1 backup dancer.

We closed down the bar, and it was a great night. I should've had some more water though. I woke up this morning with a bad headache, so I drank a ton of water, took two Tylenol PMs and went back to bed. Hangovers are horrible, because you lose a whole day when you are recovering. Not to mention how hard it will be to get up at 6 AM tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to that at all.

Orderly

I had to make myself stay in today and get my apartment in order. It wasn't a wreck, but everything was 'off' enough that I was on edge. I feel so much better.

1. Empty & fill dishwasher
2. Swiffer kitchen & bathroom
3. Wet swiffer kitchen & bathroom
4. Clean bathroom
5. Vacuum
6. Launder sheets, blankets & curtains
7. Make lunch
8. Launder & dry clothes
9. Magic Eraser'd (Have you tried this? It rocks!)
10. Dust

I also finished Laura Lippman's Charm City. It started slow for me, but once I got into the mystery, it was really good. I liked it better than Baltimore Blues, but BB was her first book, so each subsequent book should be better than the one before it. Next up is Carole Radizill's What Remains, recommended by a coworker. It's about John Kennedy Jr. Hopefully it won't be too sad.

A Most Unusual Day

The strangest thing happened when I left work today - I got lost.

I never get lost. Like, never. 'Lost' in Charissa-world is realizing I turned one street too early or too late and zig zagging my way back to the correct street. Today I got lost lost.

What happened is that I decided on the way home that I wanted Taco Bell. Okay, so I know it's against the diet, but I wanted it, so I decided to get it. Anyway, I took an exit off of the highway that I've never taken before, followed signs towards the west, and quickly realized I was in an area that I have felt lost in before. I should have turned around, I know; but being me, I thought, "I can do this," and I drove in the general direction of home. After 3 or 4 minutes, I was more lost than I've ever felt in Baltimore.

It's important to note that at no point during my lost time did I feel unsafe, but I was kind of anxious because knew I was bordering on (or inside of) neighborhoods I'd prefer not to be in. What made the situation even more complicated is that downhill wasn't pointing in the right direction. (In Baltimore, downhill is generally south towards the water, AKA home.)

I was lost for a mere 5-10 minutes, but in lost time that's a long time. I hated that I felt disoriented. It was frustrating to have absolutely no sense of direction, and it occurred to me that this is how people with no sense of direction feel when they get lost. It was horrible, and I am so sorry for all of you people who experience it regularly. I get it now. I do. But low and behold, I remained calm and was able to figure out where I was once I spotted John Hopkins.

Okay, so I'm going to say where I was lost, and I'm hoping that my mom and dad don't know Baltimore well enough to get scared. (Sorry, parents.) Ready? I was in East Baltimore... like the 'North Avenue' part of East Baltimore. Oh my.

Well, for the record, I would like to report that I have looked at a map since I've been home and am now fully aware of what I did and where I was. Next time I'll know how where to turn to avoid the area. It'll be fine. Parents... calm down. I'm at home on the couch with my laptop, dog and cat. How much more safe could I be?

Couch + Wine = Relative Calm

It is so almost Friday. I haven't yet figured out what my plans are for the whole weekend, but I'll be meeting up with some great friends tomorrow night. Hopefully the weather holds up for some outdoor R&R.

So I have been receiving some of the Christmas gifts I bought in the mail this week... and I have realized that I don't have anywhere to put them. One came in a GIGANTIC box, and it's so well wrapped up that I'm afraid that consolidating this stuff into a smaller box may result in this thing getting damaged. I definitely don't want that. For now, they are stacked on top of my craft stuff in the corner of my living room (which also doesn't fit in my apartment).

Here's a photo of Antonio last night after I came back from my business trip. It was only a few days, but he rediscovered all of his toys. He pulled them out of the toy box and played with them one-by-one. I cleaned them up this morning, but again tonight they are all over the floor. It's a wreck around here.

Ten on Tuesday (Travel Edition)

Okay, so it's Wednesday, but let's just pretend my tardiness is due to a time zone problem, okay?

1. You can pack enough for two nights away in a small carry on bag (as long as suits aren't required). Trust me, I did it.
2. Even when you consolidate your luggage into a small bag, you will still have to check your luggage because it is impossible to keep all of your sprays, drops, lotions, etc. in bottles less than 2 oz.
3. Toothpaste is considered a liquid. It's not a liquid. It's a paste.
4. Sleeping without a dog next to you or a cat on your head is lonely (even if it's a bit more restful).
5. I. Am not. A morning person.
6. Why don't airports have Dr. Pepper? Or even Vitamin water?
7. Why don't all airports have a McDonald's?
8. I saw Big Butter Jesus. Twice.

9. Antonio wines when he hears me but can't get to me. Picking him up this morning was awesome. He was so very excited to see his momma.
10. There are no Amish in Akron, Ohio. Period. Sugarcreek, yes. But not Akron.

Home on the Range

I flew into Baltimore this morning at 8 AM. That required an alarm clock set to 4:30 AM this morning. I'm tired. I'm tired, and I'm bloated (thank you Brazilian Steakhouse). I am climbing into bed at 10 PM whether or not I sleep. I hate being so tired.

So work today was busy after being gone for two days. Lots of stuff to do. Tomorrow I have a marathon day, hardly 30 minutes will go by without a meeting. I absolutely hate days like that. Meetings just don't make you feel like you are getting things done.

On a lighter note - AMBER WAS TAKEN OFF OF THE BLOCK ON BB8! Yay! That was a gift, no question. Daniele won POV, used the veto on Amber, and replaced her with Jen. She completely backdoored her. This means that without a doubt either Jameka and Jen will go home this Thursday. The result? My Fantasy Big Brother players are safe for at least one more week.

Jesus. Lord.

I forgot to mention that I hopped on a plane to Cincinnati today. It's a work trip, and we landed at 6 PM or so. Right now I'm in my hotel room ready to start on some work, but I wanted to post about dinner really quick. I just got back from my very first visit to a Brazilian Steakhouse - do you all know what that is? I am ILL. My God.

It's essentially a buffet of side dishes (I had mashed potatoes, cheese, smoked salmon, veggies, etc.) and, oh, MEAT. So the way this works is that you go to the buffet for some side dishes. While you eat your sides, the staff gives you a card with red on one side and green on the other. When you flip the card to green, you want meat. When you flip to red, you don't. When you are ready, you flip the card to green, and all these servers come by with all different kinds of meat on huge skewers for you to choose from. This steakhouse had fifteen cuts of meat. As long as you had green side up, the servers kept coming and coming with juicy meatness. I had my card on green as much as I could stand it.

Of the fifteen cuts of meat, I only tried five: sirloin, filet mignon, picanha, leg of lamb. There were a few in our group that ate many more cuts that I did... but I did my best. The problem was that once I tried the picanha, I was sold. It's a rump roast, and it was absolutely the best thing I have ever tasted. Better than filet - I have never ever tasted anything so wonderful, ever. It has ruined most other meats for me.

In addition, if you recall, I'm on this diet thing, and this was the most meat I have had in four months. My stomach is tight and hard. I hurt. I am bloated. I definitely overate, and there's nothing I can do for relief.

Still though, I'm not sorry. Tonight (and all of the delicious beef) was a gift. A gift to little 'ole me who loves beef and never gets to eat it. Thank goodness I don't have a scale in this hotel room. It wouldn't be pretty. Oh Jesus.

Big Brother 8 - Sunday Update

Well, my girl, Amber, is up on the block. I say she's my girl because she's on my fantasy team, not because I like her particularly. Somehow, regardless of the game, I am rooting for Jessica and Eric. So strange.

My opinion on Daniele's choice is that it's kind of crap. The whole idea of voting off "floaters" is such weak gameplay... take them to the final four, I say! They are worthless. And nine times out of ten a floater isn't going to win unless they are EXTREMELY well liked.

My best bet for this week is that Amber gets POV, and Jen is put up on the block in her place. Despite the fact that this is highly unlikely (Amber just isn't a good game player), this is the only way she won't be voted off this week. If anyone else wins POV they'll leave nominations the way they are, and Jameka isn't going to be a target for some time because she's on slop and ineligible for the HOH. Poor Amber. It looks like I'll be down to two very soon.

Guess What?

I'm about 75% done with my Christmas shopping. No lie. One of my coworkers is completely done, so in order to beat the craze that is me waiting until the last minute, I decided to start shopping. Low and behold, I've purchased almost all of my family gifts this weekend. It sounds silly, but it's relieving to have some of that thinking and worrying done.

Kobe, Kobe, Kobe

CJ and I went to Kobe Steakhouse last night... can you believe she had never been to a Japanese restaurant? She'd never even seen her food made in front of her at a table with ten other people! She'd never eaten with chopsticks!! Can you believe it?

CJ actually got the hang of the chopsticks pretty quickly - I was very impressed. Here she is eating rice with her chopsticks. I'm so very proud.

And I love my friends.

IDK My BFF Jill

Sooo much fun last night. Jill and I went down to Craven's Cabana to hang out, and we saw JVT play (she knows them). It was really cool because one of the guys played the Mario Brothers, Zelda and the Tetris theme songs on the keyboard. I love that stuff. The guys were a lot of fun, too - just funny, good-hearted guys (even if I was easily the old fart in the group). We started at Craven's, went to Bay Cafe (I know, I know) to see a boy that a friend likes, and then went on to Della Rosa's in Canton. We had an absolute blast, and it reminded me that Jill and I need to make more time for each other. We are so lucky to have met and become friends... and we've been through so much dram,a together. Love you, Jill. ;)

Big Brother 8 - The Thursday Eviction

Damn I love this show. I am not 100% comfortable with what transpired tonight, but it certainly does make for some interesting TV, doesn't it? I am most grateful that none of my players was evicted... but all bets are off on my odds. This game has gotten very strange, very quickly.

So Dustin is evicted. As I mention Tuesday, I was getting 'iffy' with Dustin. I desperately wanted to like him, but there's just something about him that threw me off a little. I'm not sure if it's the fact that he is mildly irritating or if there's something deeper, but he was never going to win anyway - especially after he went after the trip and cash in the POV competition a few weeks back.

The big news is that Daniele is HOH again. Personally I want to hope that she will honor the agreement not to nominate Jessica and Eric, but you never know. If she does, it doesn't exactly help my Fantasy Big Brother game, but I'm nice - whatchya gonna do? Out of my players, Zach should be safe (after all he voted off Dustin) and Amber, well... doesn't seem like a threat quite yet. Gut says she'll put up Eric and Jessica or Eric and Zach. If she stays true to the agreement, though, maybe Zach and Jen (who is a decent player).

Current stats for Fantasy Big Brother are:

Sandi's Team
Dick
Dustin
Jameka

Charissa's Team
Danielle
Zach
Kail
Amber

Richie's Team
Jen
Eric
Nick
Jessica

Big Brother 8 - Tuesday Update

Okee-dokee. I watched Tuesday's episode. Boy things are getting interesting, eh? Dick wins POV - Dick takes Daniele off of the block - Jessica nominates Dustin in her place.

Goodness.

I'd like to start off by saying that Dustin is an idiot. It's hard for me to say that because I actually kind of like him. But he let Dick get to him and made the stupid suggestion that he get put up next to Dustin. Didn't he learn anything from Eric's situation a few weeks back? Dick was able to convince the house in 24 hours that Eric was a big fat liar and he can do the same thing here. Bad move, Dustin.

I have also grown to like Jessica a little more. Her voice grates on my nerves most of the time, but she has started to show some real game play the last few weeks, and that has been refreshing. Tuesday, though? She was a mess. According to Jen or Jessica - everyone has an alliance. Why on Earth do they give everyone so much credit? There's only one alliance, and everyone else is just floating.

The last thing that I'd like to comment on is Daniele's behavior in the HOH bedroom. First, she was justified. I can't imagine how lonely it is there. Second, regardless of justification, she brought a lot of this on herself... she was always holed up with Nick, and she didn't make efforts to socialize. But past all that, I recall that Daniele behaved the exact same way in the HOH bedroom that she did a few weeks back with her father (in the little bed-room). Emotions? No. After her outburst, we all saw Daniele in the diary room admitting that most of what we saw was strategy. So her crying mess wasn't real, it was strategy? Am I the only one who finds it disingenuous that Daniele's behavior in the HOH bedroom matches her behavior exactly when she's crying to her dad? I actually feel sorry for the guy. Dick is being manipulated by his own daughter.

I guess we'll see what Thursday's show holds, eh?

Cleaning Required

I need to do some crash cleaning night. I can't take my apartment right now. Live blogging on my boring evening coming soon to a website near you...

1. Make dinner - done
2. Swiffer floors (dry & wet) - done
3. Vacuum - done
4. Clean cat box - done
5. Collect trash - done
6. Empty dishwasher - done
7. Put away laundry - done
8. Move crafting boxes - done
9. Window treatments - done
10. Dust - done
11. Clean bathroom - done
12. Meet cute neighbor boy with dog - done

For A Good Cause

I went to a 'guest bartending' fundraiser after work today - where folks who aren't bartenders work behind a bar and have their tips donated to charity. I had friends working the fundraiser, and the bar was right in my neighborhood which was cool. After a quick break to let Antonio out (and eat some food), I went back and hung out with a lot of work friends who finally showed up.

The interesting thing here is that around 10 PM - I felt wrong. Like wrong wrong. I stood in line for the bathroom so that I could throw some water on my face, but I couldn't last in line. I put down my drink and walked outside and got some air. After a few minutes, I walked back inside, got back in line, and once again that 'wrong' sensation came over me. My only guess is that it was the heat, so once again I went outside to cool off. I desperately wanted to stay, but whether it was the heat or something else, I have learned since my seizures to listen to my body, and I went inside only long enough to say goodbye. The walk home was cooling and comforting.

So now I am home and typing away on my laptop. My show didn't record, so I'll have to watch it tomorrow, but I am going to grab some water and go to bed. I don't like how I felt at the bar... it was unnerving. At the end of the day I can only trust my body, and my body was saying 'stop.'

It's okay, I was sleepy anyway. Responsibility is a good thing.

It's Past My Bedtime

... not that I'm ever in bed in time. I have been working on pricing for HOURS and HOURS, and I really only have a little bit to go. I've already prepped for bed: face washed, medicine taken, dog let out, etc., so with any luck I will fall asleep quickly.

There's only one distraction in my way - Cheaters is on.

This show is so tacky that it's completely irresistable. Reader Poll: Would you rather watch Dr. Phil, People's Court, or Cheaters?

Big Brother 8 - Sunday Update

So Daniele and Evil were nominated today... no surprise, really. If Daniele wins the POV, she will use it on herself, and I'd venture to guess that Jessica would put Zach in her place. If Evil wins POV, I believe he will use it to save Daniele. So by my own estimations, both Daniele and Zach could be at risk this week. That's no good for my Fantasy Big Brother team.

Unrelated to anything actually happening on the show - what it Zach's deal? It's like he's trying to float, but the 'late night crew' has too many people in it for him to think he can slide by unnoticed. Why isn't he trying to align himself with someone? After some thinking, it occurred to me that Zach's best bet is to pair up with Amber. She's a sucker for a sad story, and he needs to go after someone easy. He's not doing himself any favors by laying low. He'll get picked off easily with no affiliations.

In addition, I was thinking through who in the 'late night crew' will pair off once the numbers begin to dwindle... we've got:

Eric & Jessica
Amber, Jameka & Dustin

Notice a problem? Eric and Jessica need to recruit a third person if they plan to stay alive, and they'd better think of it soon.

Reader Poll

I just don't understand this... but maybe I'm quirky, so I'm polling my reader base. What do you think?

Speed BUMPS

or

Speed HUMPS?

One Year Anniversary

CJ and I went to dinner last night and celebrated our one year anniversary as friends. This is what our invitation would look like:

Charissa & CJ
August 11, 2007
Just One Month Short of a Disaster

(We think we are funny.)

CJ had to go home after a while, but I spent time with cute boy. What fun! It was a good night, so thanks, Danielle, for the crossed fingers. :)

Today, my plans are to eliminate my hangover by soaking up some rays at the pool with CJ, then I have to buckle down and work tonight. Ugh. I have so much food left over from that get together yesterday afternoon, too - sushi, hummus and chips, and sangria. It's gonna be a rough few days trying to watch the calories...

Pretty Cool Friday Night

I met CJ at Craven's Cabana last night to see Wes and Drew play... and what was neat is that I saw this guy that I've always thought was a cutie. I first met him maybe four years about (maybe more), and I see him occasionally every 6 months or so. So he shows up last night, and we say 'hi' and chat, and I ask him where his girlfriend is (I met her last time), and what do you know? They broke up.

So I enjoy the evening, we exchange numbers, and he called me later (after I crashed on the couch) to come out in Canton (which I slept through), but pretty cool all-in-all. After I go to a party this afternoon, CJ and I may do dinner tonight... so let's hope he's out and about. Cross your fingers for me.

Reflections on Big Brother 8: Thursday Edition

Oh boy, that Amber... that scene was horrible to watch, wasn't it? I mean, she was right on. There's no doubt about it. Eric talked too much, and it almost cost him the game. I have no idea how he survived... I'm hoping we'll see make up footage or something. It was God awful.

Speaking of awful - or maybe just awkward - what was going on with Evil and Jameka after the HOH competition? Is Evil trying to stir things up so that there will be more targets for nomination? I don't blame him for trying, but Jameka? Seriously? She and Amber are about the most transparent people in the house... they aren't threats (at least not now). Maybe we are at the point in the game where people start nominating 'floaters'... not sure.

So after today's eviction, here are the standings in our Fantasy Big Brother 8 game.

Sandi's Team
Dick
Dustin
Jameka

Charissa's Team
Danielle
Zach
Kail
Amber

Richie's Team
Jen
Eric
Nick
Jessica

Both houseguests in the pool have now been absorbed after two evictions. The next eviction will have a big impact on our Fantasy game, that's for sure. Somehow I think Daniele and Evil are targets... but heck, what do I know?

What A Difference A Day Makes

My dinner...

I'm off to see Wes and Drew later on with CJ. I totally deserve a beer after this week.

Woe Is Wednesday

Oh boy. It's been a rough few days, and because of it, I completely blew my diet today.

The day started out well - I had granola and cheese cubes for breakfast and lots of water, but when I hadn't eaten by 1:30 I knew I was in trouble. One of my coworkers asked if I wanted fried chicken (he was picking it up), and I agreed. I had two chicken breasts and jo-jos (that's potato wedges for you non-Ohio folk). Then later I had Fisher's caramel corn as a snack. I can't even imagine how many calories I had today... and how much fat. Woe is me and my diet.

So I got home and decided to whip up something yummy. I started with vegetable mix pasta...





Poured some wine...










Sauteed fresh chopped garlic in oil oil with zucchini, tomatoes, and herbs...






Shredded some mozzarella...







And VOILA! Delicious.

Big Brother 8 - Tuesday Update

Wow. What a crazy BB8 show today, huh? The house is turning on Eric, then Daniele and Dick, and then Eric again. You know, I can't help but feel bad for Eric because it's America's fault that he's in deep do-do. America consistently asks him to nominate and vote for folks that he can't seem to muster anti-support for... so he's always in an awkward and vulnerable position - week after week. Regardless of what America tells him to do, he really needs to lay low. If he keeps playing the way he has been playing, he'll be off very quickly. And what a shame that will be.

But... on the other hand, if Eric leaves I get to keep Kail on my Fantasy BB8 Team... oh choices, choices.

Official "Vick" Dog Chew Toy

Antonio is a dog that likes toys. Does your dog like toys?

If the answer is yes, then check this out - the official "Vick" Dog Chew Toy. Michael Vick was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury after authorities raided a house owned by Vick on April 25 and found 66 dogs and a pit used in dog fights. What a bastard.

I don't know about you, but Antonio will be getting one of these toys very soon - both because he is a fan of fun (and durable) toys, and because his momma (that's me)appreciates the charitable donation that is given when she buys one.

So go ahead. Buy a "Vick" Dog Chew Toy. Humiliate a bastard, and save an animal.

Netflixing "Dead Like Me"

Anyone ever see this show on Showtime? I did and loved it. So I am working my way through the season one DVDs from Netflix. I am actually surprised by how many of these episodes I didn't see. Boy, do I miss Showtime, sometimes.

I am also a little bit burnt from being in the sun with CJ yesterday. It's not the kind of burn that you can see - I'm not really red - but it feels a bit burn-y. I look at my skin sometimes and think my tan is fading, but then I look at my tan lines, and I am reminded how white I am. White, white, white. At least underneath. Of course, CJ has an amazing tan, and no matter how much I am in the sun, I can never catch up with her.

Doesn't stop me from trying, though. I'm off to the pool. ;)

PS My new favorite song can be heard on my myspace page. Don't you just LOVE it?

Winding Down

I worked really hard this week (but within reason) so that I could take the weekend off. Tonight, CJ and I went to dinner at Canton Dockside. Can you believe she's never been there? (CJ, I can't believe you've never been there.) It is down by the water in Canton, with a great view of the industrial Canton waterfront.

I, of course, didn't pick crabs (I had salmon)... but CJ did! Here's CJ holding up a large crab for me to snap a photo of... keep in mind that I smashed exactly one claw with a mallet (twice). I just can't smash their little bodies to bits. I can't. CJ got full, though, and picked some crab meat for me. Oh, I love her so.

Big Brother 8 - The Thursday Eviction

Wowzers. I wasn't spot on regarding my prediction for today's show, but I was pretty close. Still... how do Kail and Jen do it? They just keep on, keeping on. It's nuts.

So Nick was evicted tonight. He received everyone's vote except for Eric and, and... who else? I can't remember. Oh well. I think it's pretty interesting that the houseguests and America feel so differently about who should leave the house - week after week. Yet again America voted Kail... and yet again Eric failed to get the house to turn his way and the opposite person left the house. I like Eric, I do... but he's a little desperate sounding lately when he's trying to bulldoze the house. Another week or so and I'll bet people start questioning his behavior.

So... today's show means that Richie has lost a player, and he now gets to choose Amber or Jessica to fill his spot. The current stats are as follows:

Sandi's Team
Dick
Dustin
Jameka

Charissa's Team
Danielle
Zach
Kail

Richie's Team
Jen
Eric
Nick

The Pool
Amber
Jessica

My Marie!

My wonderful friend, Marie, turns 30 today. (And secretly, I couldn't be more thrilled.) I just love Marie, I really, really do.

My friendship with Marie started out with us as enemies, actually. She was an uber-talented and pretty girl, and very popular is our overall group. At some point she broke up with a boy and I started dating him, so my BF Jessica and I decided that we really didn't like Marie and made fun of her (she didn't like me either - it's okay).

Jump forward a year or so later, and we both played one of the Von Trapp children (she was Liesel, I was Brigitta) in our high school musical. We had the same scenes, the same changing room, and somewhere along the line we actually started liking each other. We even had our first "date" going to see a movie. (Do you remember which movie, M?)

Oh well, we've been great friends ever since, and even though there has been distance and schools and many things that have separated us over time, we love each other completely. There's no one I'd rather sing Jodi Messina with.

I love you so much, Marie. Happy 30th Birthday. Thanks for joining me on this side of the hill. * Hugs *

More Than Meets The Eye

My friend, D, and I went to see Transformers tonight. I gotta tell you, when I first heard this movie was coming out, there was a lot of groaning and eye rolling on my part. After growing up with plastic transformers and watching the cartoons, I just couldn't fathom how anyone could possibly make this ridiculous idea into a feature film. I was actually quite stuck up about it.(I know, you are so surprised.)

But the problem here.... is that I LOVED it. My mouth was open and my jaw was dropped after five minutes. It was wickedly, awesomely cool. Okay, okay... some of the dialogue was juvenile ("You have to go. You're a soldier now, Sam!"), but that only made it more true to the original series. It would have been a harder sell to try and make it super-realistic and grown up.

The special effects were really cool, too... although D made a good comment that some of the action scenes were too fast to watch the weapons work. It was kind of like having the toys again, because you wanted to look closely at all of the pieces and parts. Fast action scenes don't really allow for a lot of that. Also, it occurred to me that the way the transformers move (they jump and turn and flip all over the place) is pretty close to how I remember playing. We didn't play with Transformers like people, where they'd walk around and fight... you know you always had them doing flips in the air and running machine guns at the same time! The movie was exactly like that.

So now I desperately want a "I Heart Optimus Prime" baby tee. No need to look because I already did, and it doesn't exist (yet). But if it did, it would look like this and cost about $24.

I guess I am actively proclaiming myself nerd girl once again by admitting all of this, but I think I'll buy this movie when it comes out on DVD. It was absolutely fun to watch and completely unexpected. I'm so glad we went, I really am.

Thoughts on Tuesday's Big Brother 8

So I just watched yesterday's episode of Big Brother because I was too busy speed dating last night (haha) to see it live. First of all, I am saying my BB8 prayers because Zach wasn't nominated. That would have guaranteed that one of my players would have gone home for sure. Right now it's a 50-50 chance for Nick and Kail, but Kail is playing victim, so the chance that the house will see her as expendable is high. In addition, I think America probably voted for Eric to get Kail booted - a double whammy. Luckily for me (not so much for Eric), he hasn't been very successful getting Jen booted so maybe Kail will be safe.

So I am playing out the dynamics in my head. Although we are all probably on the fence with Nick in the game, I can't imagine anyone dislikes him yet. It's a smart move for the houseguests to evict him, though, because I don't think Nick has started playing his best, and he is likely a formidable opponent when he's actually trying. Evil obviously wants Kail out and has for two weeks, but his personal feelings about Nick and Daniele may supersede his preference as he tries to save his daughter from being hurt. As it stands today, I think this would be the vote (but I'm sure there are a ton of details that I don't know).

Votes to evict Kail: Daniele, Eric, Jessica

Votes to evict Nick: Dustin, Amber, Evil, Jen, Jameka, Zach (?)

Thoughts?

Diaries of a Single Gal

Okay... so I went speed dating tonight. Yep. I did. Katie made me do it, because she didn't want to go alone.

It was, well... interesting. All of the guys were really polite and nice guys (and mostly IT guys, engineers, and mathematicians), but I don't think I found any lasting relationships among them. As expected, the fact that I play video games was a complete hit, but the one guy I felt the most connected with sort of looks like my friend, Brian, which seems kind of creepy.

So at least I have yet another awkward experience under my belt, right? It was most certainly interesting... and it's always fun to hang out with Katie, anyway. Oh, the life of a single gal in Charm City...