http://thatschurch.com/2010/07/29/new-smokin-hot-burgher/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-smokin-hot-burgher

Yup, THAT is church.  When I found out a few months ago that a Pittsburgher was going to be on  True Blood, I was all “Yay!!!”  The fact that he’s…um…easy on the eyes?  Even better.

Yesterday I had our day all planned out.  The weather was crappy.  Windy, cold and rainy.  And I knew it was going to be like that.  So, the plan was to do our little Saturday morning routine at the restaurant and then hang in the house.  I had the girls all prepped for an afternoon of jammies, movies and the Wii.  Perfect.  And while they were doing that, I was planning on catching up on some housework (you know, clean a couple of bathrooms, vacuum, laundry) and some internet work.  But wait…there was more.  After putting them to bed, I planned on reading my new book from Charlaine Harris (Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 10)) for a couple of hours before watching Betty White host Saturday Night Live.

It all started out great.  The girls (after a little, um, “discussion” about what they were going to watch) settled in to watch Goosebumps and All Grown Up.  I chatted with Tony for a bit, got some work done, and we all decided to have a snack of ice cream about 3:30.  That is the time of day that my energy hits that gigantic dip.  I brewed coffee and sat on the couch with the kids, enjoying Rugrats:  All Grown Up.  Well, I think I was actually enjoying the inside of my eyelids.  Then it happened.

The power went out.

Thank God the coffee had already brewed!  We sat and waited for a couple of minutes to see if it was just a flicker (because that happens more often than a long stretch of no power).  No go.  The kids continued to play, but I was sort of stuck.  Couldn’t do laundry.  Couldn’t vacuum.  The bathrooms that needed cleaned were the ones without windows, so that was out.  No internet.  So, I started reading my book.

And that’s what I did until the power came back on around 6:00.

It put me in a great mood.  I happily made dinner.  I set the kids up in Chloe’s room for their quasi-sleepover.  I kept on reading.  I surrendered my to-do list for a day of doing what I wanted to do. I mean, I had to diffuse some fights.  I had to freak out when they wouldn’t just LAY DOWN AND GO TO BED AT 10:00.  But I finished my book.

Just in time to watch Saturday Night Live, which was awesome! This was probably my favorite:

And guess what?  I DID vacuum this morning.  And do some laundry.  Oh, and I got breakfast in bed!  (Watermelon , a fiber bar and iced tea from Chloe.  Iced tea and a salami sandwich with a broken up string cheese on it from Becca.  Awesome.)

Have a great Mothers’ Day!!!!

Don’t get me wrong.  I DO cry when it comes to those major times in life when having a cry is good.  Death.  Miscarriage.  You know.

**OK, now that I’ve brought you all down, let’s move on**

I have a dirty little secret, though.  I cry like a hungry baby when I am proud or overly happy.  School concerts?  I cry.  First day Becca got on the bus?  Tears.  Weddings?  **sniff, sniff**  And here is the stupidest thing of all that makes me cry.  Folgers commercials.

Really.

Back in the day (I think this one is from the eighties), I used to cry every time I saw this Folgers commercial when Peter comes home for Christmas.

Well, this morning, as I was brushing the kids’ hair and getting ready for school, I saw a new Folgers commercial.  I couldn’t find it on YouTube, but it basically has a twenty-something girl drinking coffee at the kitchen table.  Dad comes down and tells her that she came in pretty late last night.  She tells Dad that she’s not sixteen anymore, and he won’t have to worry about that much longer, and shows him an engagement ring.

BAWL!!!

Becca was very confused about my tears.  When I explained that I would cry when SHE got engaged, she told me that she wouldn’t get married.  I told her that they would be HAPPY tears.

She looked at me like I had “Crazy” stamped on my forehead.

If all is right with the universe, she’ll get my crying gene.

I know that I’ve discussed this before, but I have a serious attachment to the stories in the Sookie Stackhouse Series (the books).  At some points in time, it makes it difficult to watch True Blood.  I was very intrigued with the introduction of Maryann at the end of last season.  And, for the most part, I have enjoyed the new and original story line that she is involved in. (Except for the fact that they’re in Sookie’s house.  That is bothering me.)  However, I’m about done with that story line.  On Sunday night, I saw that there were only three episodes left, and it seemed that the two major story lines were about to mingle together.  Could be interesting.  I’m hoping that it happens in the next episode, because the whole “Maryann hunting after Sam” thing has started to bore me.

It was pretty cool when Sam turned into a fly.  Original.  Now, I went over to the Charlaine Harris website, and found a link to a little essay that she wrote for Borders.  I never thought about the fact that the books are COMPLETELY through Sookie’s eyes, and how logistically difficult that would be for a television show.

As she says, I’m trying to think of the tv series and the books as two totally different stories.  But I’m still attached to Sookie.  And I don’t like that bitch Maryann in her house.

OK, I feel better getting that off my chest.  So?  Only three more episodes?  That will take me into September, then there’s a new book coming out in October.  (It’s called A Touch of Dead, and I believe it’s a collection of the short stories that she has written).  I’m going to pre-order it through Amazon Kindle, so it goes right to my fancy schmancy new iPhone.  It’s only ten bucks if I do it that way (and, no shipping!).  It will probably be the first REAL book I read on my phone.

Yeah…I still love my phone

OK, back to normal mommy complaining and stories tomorrow!

As I sat and watched Sunday’s episode, I got a little ticked off.  I think that because I really submerged myself in the books for a while there, I felt like I ‘knew’ Sookie and the other characters.  So, when I saw that Jason was starting to dance with the Fellowship of the  Sun, it really got under my skin.  Granted, there were some HUGE differences in the first season compared to the first book.  The whole V (vampire blood being used as a drug) aspect was really a gigantic part of the tv show.  But it didn’t have much of a role in the books.  I have no idea who the woman is that has a past with Sam and Tara is living with.  She wasn’t in any of the books.  And what was with that dungeon in the first episode?  At first I thought it was the dungeon in the bottom of the Texas church from the Fellowship of the Sun that was in the second book.  But towards the end of the show, it was revealed that it was run by vampires.  Hmmmmm.  ::::::::OK, no more spoilers after this:::::::

So, I am very interested to see what direction Alan Ball takes the characters.  It seems like he’s touching on some things that happen in the second book, with the Fellowship of the Sun and Texas.  And yes, there are some  times when I talk to the tv while the show is on.

I think that I will enjoy the series more if I treat it as two different stories.  That’s pretty hard to do, though, because I feel like I know these characters so well.  I’m still gonna watch every darn episode, though.

Oh, one side note.  I saw a clip from the Jimmy Fallon show where Stephen Moyer (who plays Bill Compton) was on.  I really didn’t know anything about him, as an actor.  I was surprised that he had this HUGE English accent!  He’s doing a super fantastic job playing Bill.  I didn’t find the clip from Jimmy Fallon, but here’s a little snippet with Stephen Moyer.  He’s at about the one minute mark:

Let me back up, first. I started blogging as a way to get the word out about the t-shirts and gifts that I design for CafePress and Zazzle. That was almost two years ago. I really didn’t know too much about blogging and such, so I jumped in with a free blogger account. I’ve been pretty happy with it.

But, once I opened the restaurant, I got a blog started over there. And I used Wordpress. I love it! It’s on my own domain, and it’s much easier to tweak things. I have since used Wordpress to set up an affiliate site or two. And I’m getting better at it! I’ve learned so much…how to install wordpress, playing with themes, and so on. I recently did two things with Wordpress, and they’ve made me very happy.

First, I actually PURCHASED a theme. I purchased the Flexx theme from iThemes. I love it! It’s very easy to change the layout, colors and pics. Easy peasy. I also found a plug in for automatic updating. I loved it so much, I actually donated to the author (which is something I can’t afford to do as much as I would like). Here’s the link to the plug in.

Now, am I going to break up with blogger? Nah, I don’t think so. It’s worked for me so far, and I guess I’m sort of attached. I have, however, re-directed links to my own site. So, you can also find this stuff at http://blog.brainlint.net.

Just a little mention of regular life: The new menu starts at Downey’s House on Tuesday, so I’ve been busy! I’m printing them up today. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks trying to get the menu together, programming it into our POS system, and making sure we have all our i’s and t’s dotted and crossed. On top of it all, the girls and I are headed down to Florida on Wednesday. Packing? Haven’t even really thought about it yet.

I also (finally) finished reading Dead Until Dark. I really, really enjoyed it…even though it took me much longer than it should have to read it. I bought the next 2 books to read while we’re in Florida. Hopefully I get enough ‘me’ time when we’re there. If you watched True Blood, the book and the show are pretty similar. But I was surprised that there wasn’t any mention of Tara (the bartender). I’m not going to spoil anything for anybody, so I’ll just say that there WERE differences in the book versus the series. But I think that both are very good.

OK, the girls are complaining that everything is ‘Booooorrrrriiiiinnnnnnnggggg!’ How about an exciting trip to Staples, girls? (OH, that makes me thing of a quick side note: I have always loved the smell of office supply stores. I’m strange. I love the smell of toner and paper. It makes me happy. We walked into Staples yesterday and Becca, with a smile on her face, said ‘Mom, mmmmmmm…it smells GOOD in here! Poor thing.)

Wow…this post really did go just about everywhere. Like I’ve mentioned before, sometimes I just can’t focus Have a great day!

As you might know, I’m not a huge tv girl. There are a few shows that I will record on the DVR and watch when I get time. But Tony and I do have a Sunday night ritual. It’s been going on for years. Back when Sex And The City was on HBO, we started watching shows together on Sunday nights. Sex And The City was obviously my find, but I think Tony actually enjoyed watching it. Or maybe it was Oz. We’ve been through The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and Deadwood. Sometimes we watch Entourage, too. But most times that’s when we sit at the kitchen table and chat.

But anyway, back to the original reason for this post. I really like the newest show I’ve found…The United States of Tara. This is the first Showtime series we’ve really gotten into. We’ve only had Showtime for a year or so. And honestly, I was about to cut back on the cable. And, cue Murphy’s Law. That’s exactly when I found this show. Nothing against Showtime, but we just don’t watch that much television.

This show just cracks me up. But it’s serious, too. In a nutshell, it’s about a woman who has multiple personalities. She has decided to go off her medication and just take one day at a time. She (and her husband) want to figure out WHY these personalities are coming out. It has John Corbett as the husband, and I just like him. Ever since Northern Exposure. Now if you haven’t watched the show, don’t read the next paragraph.

SPOILER: When Tony and I saw the writing on the mural a few weeks ago, I nailed it. “There’s another personality.” I said matter-of-factly. I can’t wait to find out more about the peeing red poncho gremlin! ::END SPOILER:

I think that we all have multiple personalities. I have mommy-me, wife-me, bar owner-me, I’m just meeting you, so I’m going to be really fake-me, and on and on. But I realize that I have these personalities. And I can pick and choose them as I wish. So, I’m looking forward to our Sunday night tv time tonight! If you haven’t seen the show, watch it! Grab it on On Demand, go to a friend’s house with Showtime…whatever. And I think that True Blood is coming back on HBO some time late summer. I’ve started reading the first book that this series is based on. Maybe I can read the next one before the series starts up again!

Anything’s better than Spongebob, Baby Looney Tunes and Scooby Doo. Although, I have to admit…Phineas and Ferb is pretty funny.

]]> http://blog.brainlint.net/2009/03/my-difference-my-personalities-all-know-each-other/feed/ 0 http://blog.brainlint.net/2008/11/really-is-it-monday/ http://blog.brainlint.net/2008/11/really-is-it-monday/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:36:00 +0000 Heather http://blog.brainlint.net/?p=92 Well, I thoroughly enjoyed the season finale of True Blood. But now I can’t wait until summer. Not just for the next installment, but because I’m about sick of the cold already. But I digress…

You know, I’ve been thinking about some of my friends who are about to become parents for the first time. I just thought I’d post some of my thoughts about how it might change their lives. First, the good (‘cuz I’m a glass-is-half-full kind of gal)

• You can’t even imagine the feeling of all that love. It’s overwhelming.
• You always have somebody to cuddle with
• You get to play with toys again
• When they’re an infant and you have them in the grocery store, you can have a conversation with yourself and it looks like you’re talking to your baby.
• You get to buy cute little clothes
• You don’t get bored anymore

Next is the not so good. Not really BAD, but different

• You will never (especially if you are the MOM) have privacy again. Ever. Unless you leave the house and go and hide in your car.
• You won’t get nearly as much sleep as you’re used to. Ever. My kids are 3 1/2 and 5 1/2. I still don’t sleep, and I don’t have insomnia or anything like that. But, the silver lining is that you get used to functioning on less sleep. You just get a little more ‘dingy.’
• Your house will never be as clean as you want it to be. Ever. I could spend hours cleaning, and it would just get messed up right behind me.

OK, this is a short list. And as I’m sitting here with Chloe watching ‘Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders’ for the hundredth time, it’s about as deep as I can go right now. But I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Ever.

So, on a lighter note, I was using stumbleupon the other night, and I came across this site. And it really made me giggle. Here’s the page (and I did pay the game, and did pretty well)

You can click on the link to play the game if you want to. That’s completely a pet peeve of mine…the whole lose/loose thing. Really makes me crazy.