The Chocolate Lady

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

American Idol Recap

Ive been really looking forward to American Idol tonight, and while Im not sure he's my complete "favorite", I will say that Adam is the contestant I am really looking forward to hearing.

I think he is genius. Ring of Fire was AMAZING....sorry if the judges were too lame to realize it.

Now for tonight, I thought you all would really want to know; "What does HSH think?" LOL, not really, but Im tellin' ya anyways;

Anooop: Im not necessary all, "ANOOOOP DOG" or anything, but he had nice vocals tonight. Perhaps he could have taken more risks, etc. but it was still nice, and I was afraid he was gonna cry when the judges made their harsh comments.

Meghan: Ill be honest, my conservative self cant stop fixating on the tattoo. Every week I say to myself, "Such a pretty girl, why did she do that to herself?" And then I wonder if it's possible to get it completely removed, or will she always be scarred with it. Sad. She is cute, and her voice might do well with some songs, but she sounded super pitchy tonight, and boring. Note to Meghan, the audience WASNT feeling it! I can see her having quite a following at a coffee house, but Im not gonna buy one of her albums.

** Side note **
Im getting confused, do they want them to pick a song that represents their style? If so, are they then going to tell them the songs are too "Safe"????

Danny: his voice sounded strained, but I totally felt the emotion, heck, wanted to cry for him. Amazing song, amazing singer!

Alison: She rocks. More importantly, the commentary....do these people not realize that criticizing the "looks" of a teen girl, in front of tons of people, is totally not cool??? What teen girl (or any girl, or anyone??) wants to be criticized? Her outfit was just fine...., and RANDY, hello? Have you ever seen the old Journey videos? The ones where FAT RANDY is wearing red, spandez pants and an afro-hawk? She rocked. 'Nuf said!

Scott: Just so you know, Im not a huge fan. Im sure his mom is bursting with pride, and I give him major props, he is an accomplished and brave young man, but Im not buying an album. e.v.e.r. That said, When he said, "Im gonna strip it down with just me and the piano." my eyes rolled back into my head. Im just not into 70's piano ballads. Not tonight. Give me Daughtry, Give me Creed, Give me Pink, not a ballad. But his haircut did look nice, too poofy, but nice. As for the judges, why did Paula have to bring up his "challenges"?? She only accentuates the pity-card when she does that.

** Side Note***
Was Paula drugged tonight? I mean, more than usual? She was a bit slurry and drippy.

Matt: Sometimes pitchy, but I liked it a lot. I love that song and he had great emotion. As for the judges...Are they kidding? Criticize that his voice wasnt at it's best, but that song was great, and perfect for him!

** Side Note **
Im liking people based on the songs, more than their voice...so people, no more ballads!

Lil: I like Lil. She is sweet. Im not a huge Celine fan. I mean, it's part of that "ballad" crowd that just makes me tip over out of boredom. But, Lil did a great job. She has an incredible voice. The hairdo looks nice on her,, but Im not a big fan of wigs, so that was distracting...but overall, nice performance. Paula gave the best critique....we dont want more "adult contemporary" music. (period. from anyone.)

**Side Note** My husband, who doesnt usually make fun of people, made jokes about her name throughout the performance. Shame!

**Another Side Note **
love how they are saving Adam til the end EVERY WEEK...they know he is what keeps many of us tuned in!

Adam: Ive been waiting to hear Adam, since he sang his final note last week. He is so filled with talent...Ok, he should have saved this for 70's night. I would have liked to hear him sing something more current...but he was amazing. His voice is phenomenal!

Kris: I think Kris is adorable. The past weeks, Ive liked him, but dont feel he has the power that some of the others bring. Tonight, he seemed much stronger and I got to hear his clear voice with plenty of emotion. Not a huge fan of the mustache, but unlike a multicolored tattoo covering an entire limb, it's removable.

My favs are probably Adam, Allison, Danny, Matt and Kris. These are the folks that have the best shot of selling me an album.

How about you? Who'd ya love? Who made you hit the zzzz's or plug your ears?

Friday, March 27, 2009

All the fun

For today, all the fun is happening at my other blog....great things you wont want to miss!



www.thechocolateladyblog.blogspot.com

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Mini Me

Lately, Ive been starting to see a few of these around town;



These mini cars save on gas, reduce pollution, and would help make the world a greener place. And, if there were a way to strap my kids on top, perhaps with a special child-roof rack, it would be much more doable. But as it is, I dont understand how we are to fit a family with 3 children, and their regulation car seats (Im not gonna even mention friends for a play date.) But, let's suppose they work that out....and we can all fit, and it's the perfect car. Is it really the best idea to get a car like this, when so many of the other cars look like this;





And this:



It seems to me, that we cant all be on the same roads at one time, it's just not safe. It seems the auto industry needs to come to some sort of agreement re: cars and sizes and such, so that we can all drive safely together. We should either all be mini-ish, or not, but this mixed bag is scaring me.

Friday, March 20, 2009

we're breaking up

You know, sometimes you think you know someone, you think you can trust them...not just "trust them" with a confidence, but that you know what they are about and that you can trust their character, their judgment. And then, there are those times, you realize, you were totally wrong, and you have quite an emotional toll to pay for it.

And, Ill just say this, it's never easy breaking up. Even when you know someone is no good, you want to hold on to what was, and what could be.... Forcing yourself to walk away is often the best plan, but the hardest to do.

But now I have kids involved, and for their sake, Im going to do whats right.

So, it's official, we are D.O.N.E. with this guy!



In case the mussed up hair is making it hard to see....or if your brain just cant register the image of this guy in this provocative pose, let me help....it's Zac Efron. Zac as in, "Troy Bolton" the guy my daughter swoons over.....the High School Musical stud that brought us great music, and a lot of fun.

He's on the beach, rolling in the sand, with a NAKED GIRL (and no, it's not his other naked girfriend, Vanessa....and, on a side note, we "forgave" Vanessa for her photo-episode, but this was planned and purposeful on Zac's part....so, no grace!)

And, I realize this picture is only of their sand covered, faces, but go ahead and google it, the real pic shows the girls BARE BOTTOM and she is topless!!

So, now that Beauty loves this guy, this "wholesome" guy, he goes and does this. I could see if eventualllly, the fame wagon took him down this road, but this was a sudden jump into the abyss. Zac commented in the accompanying article, that he wants to start taking some riskier moves. Super!

The sad part, is Beauty just saw a billboard for an upcoming Zac Efron movie, and is excited for it's release.....now, there is no way we are going. She's young, but Im gonna teach her now, to learn to walk away.

If next week we see some article, where he is crawling back to his teeny-bopper fans, with, "Im so sorry" and "I made a bad choice"...we arent gonna fall for it. We are totally walking away from this guy, lesson learned.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

I wouldnt expect anything else

You know, it seems that some things are just expected. Like, when my kids were set up to have their annual professional pics taken, and they got lice the week prior. It really wasnt a surprise, that something would happen to make things less than perfect.

I mean, the fact that I slathered their heads full of vaseline (to kill the lice) and then had to wash it several hundred times, on top of covering their strands with corn starch (to soak up the vaseline and make it easier - supposedly - to get the vaseline out)...that was sort of the norm, in a special sort of way. Why in the world should their hair just look normal for their pics? Why shouldnt I have to be frantic and work at it?

So, being as we have "family portraits" scheduled, family as in, even mom and dad (which hasnt been done EVER), it would be too unusual for us to just all look our best, really.

It started this morning, when Pooper came to me, realizing it was St. Baldricks (a pediatric cancer fundraising event, that takes place on St. Patricks Day, where people are sponsored to shave their heads) and told me he wanted to go to a St. Baldricks event and have his head shaved. He even had brought a handful of money to donate.

Well, how do I say, "No" ??? Normally, I could care less if he is bald....we got over that a long time ago. But, pictures are coming up. But, this is for pediatric cancer research....thankfully, the event was for such a narrow window of time (not all day) and it conflicted with swim team. He cried, I stood my ground, family pictures saved.

That was until my perfect child (and by perfect I mean so gosh darn well behaved that it frightens me) came upstairs to have her hair done. And, how odd it was, that the front of her hair didnt seem long enough to reach into the pony tail. Considering her hair is all one length, and pretty long at that, it was odd. And then, those spikey hairs by her forehead, was that new hair growth? a fresh batch of "baby hair"....No....now it's become quite crystal clear, Beauty has cut her freakin' bangs! Of course! We are having family pictures in a couple weeks, I wouldnt expect anything else!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Not our family sport

I cant wait until my kids are just a bit older, so that we can start doing fun family activities together. It's not that we arent creating traditions now, like going to the yogurt shop or watching Disneyland parades...but Im looking for something more adventurous that we can do together.

You know how some families all go dirt bike riding on a regular basis, or snow skiing several times a winter....'cause it's their THING?? Well, Im looking for something like that for my family.

I can tell you right now, it's NOT going to be ice-skating.

Today we went to the "Great Park" (that's what it's called) and they had free ice-skating at a rink that they have set up. It was My Honey's idea to go, and it sounded fun to me and the kids, so off we went.

Believe it or not, they had skates tiny enough for Little One...so we were all on the ice. Holding onto the rails, unsteadily jerking around, catching the side rail, falling on our rumps....slowly and painfully, edging around the rink. Joy.

My Honey very quickly decided to sit out with Little One, because one more trip around the circle would probably have resulted in her arm being pulled out of it's socket....as she held her Daddy's hand and slipped to the ground.

I actually did ok, with short glides, able to distance myself about a foot from the rail....so brave was I! But for goodness sake, how much fun can you have when your ankles are aching and you feel as if you might split your head open at any second???

Beauty was loving it. She more or less walked around the ice, but she was confident.

Pooper...God love him. I was reminded that his osteoperosis and neuropathy limit his strength, as his ankles were much weaker than anyone else (which is pretty weak) and could barely support him. He didnt give up, he insisted on going round and round for the entire 45 minute session. Body pressed against the side wall, tightly gripping the rail, as he moved him self along. He was a real trooper.

And while we now have a "family ice skating" memory....Im sort of thinking, perhaps hoping, it's our last. I dont plan on being the family that makes a habit of ice skating together. It's not going to be our thing. It's just not.

What Im really waiting for, is for Little One to get another year or two under her belt, so we can go kayaking, snorkeling...and eventually white water rafting and scuba diving together. We will be the family that heads to the water for our annual vacations, and sneaks in mini-trips in between. Yep, it's going to be water for us, all kinds of water, as long as it's not frozen!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Where have you been?

Ok, I admit, I have slipped out of bloggerville.... I have been busy doing my chocolate stuff, blah blah blah....and you dont even have to hear about it here, because I have a new blog JUST FOR CHOCOLATE, where I share my recipes, entertaining ideas, and more. You can visit it at www.thechocolateladyblog.blogspot.com or just click here.

But anyways...life goes on, and there is just so much fun stuff that I have missed out on telling you.

The kiddos have all been fantastic...

Pooper just won 1st place in his speech meet competition, and will go on to the regionals. He also is pretty enthraled with his Nintendo DS and all things Pokemon. In fact, Pooper, recognizing the need in the world for tips on how to play Pokemon on Nintendo, wanted to create his own blog... Check it out!

Beauty is her same sweet self, going through her day with joy and obedience. She is excited to go camping soon, with her Y Indian Princess tribe (father-daughter thing)...her Indian Princess name is Little Dancing Dolphin, and she and Big Laughing Shark (My Honey) will be in the San Diego area for an upcoming weekend, probably learning Pow-wow songs and stuff.

Little One is two, and I mean, she is living and breathing the twos and all things terrible that it brings; independence, resistance, insistance, refusal-to-sleep-and-then-crabby-due-to-being-tired.... but I must say, while she exudes the 2's more than my other kids ever did, she is also incredibly adorable....and honestly, I thank God for her confidence and independence, even if it's driving me crazy now.

So, that's how Ive been spending my time....what about you???