Looking BACK At 2011

It's Friday Bloggers, and you know what that means!

And since its the last Friday before the new year, I decided to look BACK at those Wally World crazeees and the skin they regularly showcase. It's become a sport; flashing skin, and some of these people are true champions.

I'm sure that wool sweater is keeping her nice and warm in this chilly weather. You know, it can get pretty breezy some days but she's prepared. Don't you agree?

Cheeky outfit for sister here., but it's the wedgee that bothers me...ouch. She may need some surgical intervention.

This one's for Heff. I couldn't help but be reminded of him. Hee hee.

Sister broke the cardinal fashion rule here: her bra straps are visible.

What the hell is THAT? Really? That is the easiest way to ward off the chicks.

BUT, I think we may have found him a mate...a match made in heaven.

Or this one. She may be a little spicy cuz she's got attitude and plenty of it to go around.

I may make fun, but one thing's for sure...Boys like girls with back. So if you've got it why not flaunt it at your local WalMart. You never know who you may meet.

This guy made no bones about the kind of woman he's looking for.

Happy New Year Bloggers!

May 2012 bring you peace, prosperity and better fashion choices.

Hot Or Not

So yes, I saw these on TV.

Pajama jeans? I decided to inquire further. At first glance these look to be faux designer jeans and nothing that would peak my interest but I have to admit I was curious. Made from a blend of cotton and denim, these faux jeans claim to be so comfortable that you can sleep in them. (I might have slept in my jeans a time or two, but it wasn't because I thought my jeans were "super comfortable")

With "butt lifting" European stitching and a mock zip front, the brass rivets and the designer look of these jeans could fool even the best fashion expert. Or could it?

I decided to ask a trusted group of friends their opinion:

"those are gross," one exclaimed.

"Sooo not!" said another.

But being a journalist at heart, I had to argue the two sides.

For the NOT:

• They look fake and cheap. (are they? I have yet to hold said garment in my hands so these are just observations based on what I saw on TV)


• They have their own infomercial. Need I say more?


• Would you DIE if someone on the street stopped you and said, "Oh my God, aren't those the pajama jeans??"

For the HOT:

• If you have a killer figure and your ass looks good, does it really matter what the jeans are made of?


• Comfort. Does comfort trump fashion? (not in my mind, ever)


• Price. At $39.99, is this a great way to steal a fashion trend? Some designer jeans run up to $280.00. If she is rockin' jeans at $39.99, who looks the fool then?

In the end, I can't decide.

Can you believe it? Me, who has all kinds of opinions when it comes to fashion. I couldn't help but see both sides of the designer jeans debate. I guess if you look good in them, it doesn't really matter what they are and if Angelina Jolie were photographed wearing them, they might become the next greatest fashion trend. Then lots of naysayers would be caught with egg on their face.

Would I ever wear them?

Hell no, but I never said I wasn't a fool.

Dee-Leete

Anytime I see a "FW:..." in my inbox, I think the same thing; DELETE.
The other day I got this one and just as I was hitting the X, I caught what it said:

Perfect.

A Heavy Issue

Now that the major meal-eating-holiday's are over and the time to resolve is fast approaching, I want to talk about weight. I got to thinking about it because I, like everyone, over indulged this weekend, and now I am feeling feeling gross and I'm not loving the mini muffin top that has sprouted over the top of my skinny jeans. Those are the same jeans I'm supposed to feel skinny in, but don't really at the moment.

It's no surprise that losing weight is one of the most common New Year's resolutions, as the weight loss in this country is a big business. For me, this year, the issue a bit different than it has ever been. I have pretty much kept off the thirty pounds I lost two years ago, give or take a five pound fluctuation here and there, and now I'm bored with this last amount of weight I lost. Now I want more, much more. I want my friends to tell me I look like I lost weight and I want to be able to say, "Yes, I did loose weight."

I want to put on my skinny jeans and not be able to wear them because they are too big. I want to go down a whole size, and "live there", and I know exactly what I need to do to get there. Is it attainable? Of course, but I was wondering if I would ever be happy there. The mini muffin-top I speak of, should take me 2-3 weeks to get back under control, then I should be able to shed 10 good pounds in six weeks. But will I be happy at that magic number?

My trainer tells me it's not about a number on a scale, but whether or not your weight affects your overall health, and my BMI is right where it needs to be. So why am I not satisfied with all of this information? Why am I now resolving to loose 10 more pounds?

Because society dictates that women should be thin, and I'm beginning to think that no matter what weight I am, I'm never going to be really satisfied. It should be a victory, that I have kept the weight I lost off for two years, but instead I yearn to impress myself with more. I want to know in my head that I have reached that magic number and that the size jeans I am wearing reflect that. It's a psychological and emotional issue for me, and I think I will never fully understand it.

It's a constant battle.

It's like death and taxes.

And it's always there, in the back of my thin thinking mind.

Merry Christmas

He's coming, you know, my good friend in red.
All dressed in his finest, from the top of his head.
At Christmas time I get giddy with happiness and cheer.
But really, it could be from all the eggnog and beer.

So we'll invite him to come, to join in our joy.
Knowing full well that he's busy, he gotta bust out the toys.
But to me Santa just isn't a legend in red.
He's a spirit, a hero and a saint, in my head.

As I harness that feeling when I think of the old boy,
I'll try to remember that this weekend's about joy.
It's not about toys and it's not about things.
It's about family and love and about spreading your wings.

Merry Christmas bloggers, may you all experience great love.
My wish for you is for blessings, that come from above.
But can Santa do that? Can he even try?
Well, for sure he's a myth, which means we'll never know why.

May your holiday be wondrous and your heart filled with glee.
And may Santa bring you peace, all wrapped up under your tree.


A very merry Christmas to you and yours from Candy's Daily Dandy.

Hall Of Famer's

Nothing brings shrieks of delight from small children more than toys. Especially at Christmas time, when the promise of their most coveted toy possibly nestled under their tree helps to keep many awake at night with excitement. Toys are an important part of childhood, and some even instrumental in your child's development. The National Toy Hall Of Fame, based in Rochester, NY, just released their 2011 inductees, and I might have shrieked with delight myself when I read them. They are as follows:

The Dollhouse: It's been well documented here on The Daily Dandy how much I love miniatures, so I was overjoyed to see one of my most favorite childhood play things on the list. (Please note, that I still have mine, complete with furnishings, stashed lovingly away for safe keeping) The first dollhouses were created for adults only in Europe in the 1500's, and were designed to showcase a lady's great wealth. Copies of funrnishings were produced to scale with only the finest materials, fabrics and craftsmanship. It wasn't until the 17th century that German toy makers created dollhouses for small children.

Playing Cards: I spent many long hours playing cards with my freinds and family throughout my childhood. I loved Solitaire, War, Crazy Eight's, Go Fish and Rummy 500, to name only a few of the countless ways to play. I've even tried to engage a friend or two in a friendly game of 52 pick up.. With cards origin's spread across the globe, it wasn't until after the Revolutionary War that American's got Playing Cards straight from England, and they have remained a favorite amongst children and adults alike.

Blanket: This one, while somewhat bizarre, I have to agree with. Bizarre because one would not think that a blanket, made for warmth and comfort, would be considered a "Hall Of Fame" winning child's play thing. On the contrary, a child's beloved blanket sometimes serves as he/she's best friend and protector. A cape, a cloak, the skirt on a movie star's dress, a head piece, a tent; the possibilities are endless. I think Frick might agree, whole heartedly, with this one too.

Hot Wheels: I have two brothers closest in age to me, so safe to say there were a lot of Hot Wheels floating around my house. They had them in tins and boxes, all brightly colored and neatly lined up, the minature lover in me couldn't help but be attraceted to these mini hot rods.According to the National Toy Hall Of Fame website:

"In the 1960s, Elliot Handler, a cofounder of Mattel, Inc., envisioned a die-cast car to surpass the popular English Matchbox brand. He wanted a line of toy cars to dominate Mattel’s boys’ division just as its Barbie doll had become the strongest brand in its girls’ division. Handler insisted that the toy cars look authentic, so the project enlisted Harry Bradley, a top auto designer from Chevrolet, to lead the toy design team. What Handler really wanted was not the cars of Detroit, but the radical versions altered by custom-car shops—like vehicles he often saw on California’s highways."

Hot Wheels popularity only increased every year after that and has surpassed what was originally ever dreamed about. The National Toy Hall of Fame website says that Mattel claims that a Matchbox car is sold in the US every 8 seconds.

And last but certainly not least..

The Game Of Life: I remember the first time I played this game, it was with my brother and I might have enven beaten him. The game of Life was a great intro to strategizing life's big picture. It's three dimentional playing board equipt with each player presented with choices about college, business, marriage and children and navigating through those choices with a Payday. In the 60's version of Life, players could end up in the "Poor Farm" or "Millionaire Acres", where as the politically correct 2010 version offers both "Millionaire Estates" and "Countryside Acres" as their game ending destination.

My most memorable Christmas as a child included an aluminum, minature kitchen set complete with refridgerator, food, dish washer and sink. As I came down the stairs, I might have passed my dad on his way up to go to bed after a long night of setup, but I never caught on till years later.

I just remember how much I loved those toys.

Smart Is As Stupid Does

Visit us and buy fine wine for the holidays.

So I have a confession to make. And I feel kinda bad about it because, you know, it's kinda like a "who the hell do I think I am" confession.

Quick version:
Frick had her senior pics take by a professional.(all the seniors do this) They're great and we have the disc to produce copies. Frack never brought home the order form for his school pics that were taken at the high school this fall, so I never even saw them, much less ordered them. This is the first year that this has ever happened, and to be honest, we all kind of let it go.

Fast forward to now. It's Christmas and Frick has these gorgeous, commerative senior pictures to frame and give as gifts to the grandparents and her father. Frack has none.

Enter: Catholic Guilt. Bad Mother. You name it, I deserve it.

Now, I can't have Frick giving everyone these great photos with Frack having none to give. Being the kind of person who kills herself with guilt over stupid shit like this, I panicked and called the school first thingy this am. I got the number to the company that took my son's shots and proceeded to ask the customer service rep if I could pay for a digital image to be emailed to me, or pay to overnight a package of his photos to me. And here's where the confession comes in..

The customer service rep wasn't smart. I feel awful for saying this, but she just wasn't. I mean, maybe this company is sort of "mom and pop" and maybe not, because she asked me what state I was from, but she tells me that, "because of security purposes they cannot email me a image of my son's photos". Now in this digital day and age, I'm not quite sure how this is possible, and I ask her to explain it a little further. Poor thing just couldn't and it really wasn't her fault. She just wasn't equipt with the correct information and she just wasn't articulate enough to navigate her way through this conversation.

Then she proceeds to tell me that their photo lab is closed for the holiday's and that I would not be able to access the photos until January 4th. A photo lab? I don't know about her, but I was just looking for the digital image of my son, which I would gladly pay for, and use the photo lab at Target.(where I can also buy the frame) I was not rude, I swear, but I nicely asked the flustered girl if I could speak to her supervisor, which put her in even more of a frenzied state. She put me on hold for a good 10 minutes and during that time, the guilt started to creep up my whole body.

Who the hell did I think I was? Again, I was never rude, I just kept thinking how stupid she was and herin lies the confession. I may have been talking down to her....

OMG, I was one of them....

While I was on hold, I kept thinking about how it wasn't her fault she wasn't trained properly and how I was the one in a pickle because I never ordered the photo's like I should have in the first place. The poor thing was probably in the bathroom crying or possibly going postal in the break room with the coffe pot as her weapon, and I was the catalyst. I then decided to take my own digital pictures of Frack today, in the backyard or something, which would probably be better that the school ones anyway, and I quietly hung up the phone before the supervisor could be located.

And I thought, Who the hell am I, thinking I'm all smarter than her? Shit, I do stupid stuff all the time and on some days I can sound like a complete moron, but I was blessed with a sharp tounge and a quick mind that usually gets me out of those situations right quick.

In the end, I am sure it will all turn out fine. I'm neeting Frack here this afternoon to snap some shots, and if they don't come out good, I assure you, I will be the only stupid one.

Packages, Boxes and Bags

I was just thinking....

• I am overjoyed that Green Bay LOST this weekend! The Pats undefeated regular season record (tying Miami's historic undefeated season) still stands. But here's the thing, some say Green Bay wanted to lose, to take the pressure off the team as they chase the ultimate goal; back to back Superbowl championships. I got to thinking about our guy Bill Belechick when the Pats were on their 2007 historic run to an undefeated season. Never was there any talk about strategic losing. Never. Belechick and the Pats just continued winning and winning big. And they ALMOST did it and won it all. They might have peaked early that season, but they continued to beat teams. And ya, I know they lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl. You need not remind me.
  
  




• I had my best day ever at The Candy Bar yesterday. Let's just say that as a retailer, I am very encouraged.





• Where is that missing 20 month old toddler from Waterville, Maine? My heart is heavy and my throat has a huge lump in it every time I think of the Polly Klass' and the Jaycee Dugard's of the world and what potentially happened to this child. It really makes me question why is there such evil in this world.
  
  




• Speaking of evil, on Sunday afternoon there was yet ANOTHER attempted break in in my small town and a teen was home alone at the time. Good thing the kid did not answer the door and called police immediately. This is the 5th attempted break in this month. In a personal email to make us aware of the incident, sent out yesterday to the student body of this town by the parent of the child, "This was a frightening experience" was how it was described.
  





• Five more shopping days left and I still haven't got my parents anything. HELP! I also have more than a few things to $till buy and I'm going $hopping all day tomorrow. I should have just taken Heff's advice and just bought Christmas on Amazon. Brilliant idea! One click and you're done.





• Merry merry....have a song in your heart and a spring in your step. It's Christmas.
  

OMG! It's Madness

I'm sorry peeps...but this is me today.

I am one step away from a freakin' melt down cuz I have no time. I'm sure you can all relate.

Good Lord...give me grace.

Frick's Excellent Adventure

Dreams really do come true.

You will, of course, give our regards to Broadway.

Congrats baby girl. I'm overjoyed for you and so very proud.

Clark And Ellen's Big Comeback

That wonderful holiday season is upon us and I just can't help but use Clark Griswold's name as an adjective. Goofy, accident prone and lovable, Chevy Chase and National Lampoon created a holiday, Hollywood icon in the Christmas classic, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation".

This Christmas movie serves as my family's annual Thanksgiving night tradition. It kicks off our holiday and we can be found quoting movie lines throughout the season. It soon got me to thinking about why they never made a sequel. The movie's cast, released in 1989, reads like a who's who in Hollywood. Click here for complete cast info.

Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Julliet Lewis, Johnny Galecki make up the Griswold Family and Randy Quaid, Dianne Ladd, Doris Roberts, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Julia Louis-Drefyus round out this all star cast. A quick Google check reveals that they did make a sequel to the Christmas Vacation movie(which is in fact a sequel to the Vacation movie), but without Chase and D'Angelo this one fell flat. Centered around Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid), titled "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2:Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure", even the National Lampoon endorsement couldn't save this one.

Now would be the time for a real sequel. Don't you think?

Clark and Ellen, both aging but still hot for each other, and their grown kids and grandchildren converging on the Griswold family homestead for, as Clark puts it, "a fun, old fashioned, family Christmas". It would need to be comic gold, and the cast would have to be all the originals, but if done right, this one could spur holiday magic.

Chevy's not as young as he used to be, so we'll leave the physical comedy to the kids. Beverly's smoked one too many cigarettes and gotten harsh, but I bet she could still put on a mean Ellen Griswold. Julliette Lewis is one step away from a crack addict, perfect for her story line and Johnny Galecki has proved to have 9 Hollywood lives, now starring in one of TV's hottest sitcoms. Give Julia Louis-Dreyfus a bigger part, throw in Randy Quaid and some bathroom humor and sign me up! I'm not walking out on this one.

Like my favorite quote from the movie,

"Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse."

Cmon now, I couldn't have been the only one to think of this?

Merry Music

It was a heck of a Glee-full Christmas last night, power packed with plenty of holiday music for every Christmas music fan. Matthew Morrison's (Mr. Shue) Glee directorial debut was a holiday "special" about the making of a holiday special. Plot lines-a-plenty, I'm reviewing the music today because it truly was a holiday treat, disguised in a retro, Star Wars themed, weird, but politically correct world of Artie's holiday TV special.

My girl Mercedes got the show off on a bang, like only she can, with a Mariah holiday anthem, "All I Want for Christmas is You." Man, this girl is good. Too good, and she covered the Carey instant classic with just about the same amount of range and passion as the original. Was it predictable? Yes, but who cares, because I loved the high energy and cheer this song provided for the beginning of the episode.

Rory, the new kid, (and Glee Project winner Damian McGinty) crooning "Blue Christmas" with a smooth and tender soul, way past his teen-aged years. I enjoyed his celtic, folksy spin on this blues-y great. Channeling a boy in a foreign country, without his family at Christmas set up a Sam/Rory buddy story line based upon their mutual hard luck. Sam invites Rory to spend Christmas with his family.

When Artie is tapped to produce the local PBS station's Christmas special for under $800.00, he auditions the Glee club for musical numbers. Rachel belts out a Joanie Mitchell tune, "River", complete with sparkling Christmas trees and lots of falling snow. I felt like I was thrown back to the days of a celebrity variety show, with musical guests performing Christmas songs. Rachel was stunning, as usual, but safe and minimally memorable. Too bad, because there are so many great choices for a power house like Leah Michelle.

Rachel and Blaine perform for the Glee Club, "Extraordinary Merry Christmas". Anything with Blaine singing and count me in, but this was unexciting and just ok but I don't hate it. I LOVE both of them, and I will still download this song in the spirit of the season. But the real Christmas gold came from Artie's Christmas TV special.

Opening in black and white, Kurt and Blaine's bachelor chalet provided the perfect backdrop for the duet, and yes, My Download Pick Of The Week, "Let it Snow" . I loved the whole big band feel with the perfect blend of Kurt's mezzo soprano and Blaine's dreamy Dean Martin-esque pipes. These two have scored another holiday classic that rivals last year's, "Baby It's Cold Outside". And the dance number? Sensational and entertaining.

When did Roger's and Hammerstein's "Favorite Things" become a Christmas carol? This double team group number with Rachel, Mercedes, Kurt and Blaine was pleasant and festive but seemed a bit out of place to the Christmas music die hard. Musically this number solidifies the talent that this cast has and their star power.

Next, a ridiculously dressed Finn and Puck, as Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo, enter this pseudo soiree and perform my second favorite of the night, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". This Springsteen version of the song is great, even if they didn't change it up at all, but I'm not sure the Star Wars thing worked. It was awkward and pointless, and I'm not sure of the significance, yet Finn and Puck jamming with their instruments made me forget about their costumes momentarily.

The Cheerios and Brittnay rocked some sexy, Santa's helper's costumes with "Christmas Wrapping" and some rhythmic ribbons for effect. Great fun this was, and those girls made me smile and Brittnay was singing LEAD!!! I did not loose the power of the message of Rory's Christmas reading, and thank you to the creators of Glee for helping us to remember the peace that true Christmas story brings us.

The show wrapped with the Glee club showing up, unannounced at Sue's homeless shelter dinner for families, and made amends for canceling on her to film the PBS special. They performed the famous, celebrity packed recording "Do They Know it's Christmas". Inspirational and carried by the entire cast of Glee, I enjoyed the unity this song stands for. I even saw a tender moment where Sue Sylvester's Grinchy heart was touched by the kids from the glee club, sharing their passion to benefit others.

I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for a cute, sappy, Christmas story. Couple that with some great Christmas classics and my heart is filled with all the joy of the season. This episode did just that for me, and I have all the merry music to remember it by.

Hollywood Came Calling

I love this story.

Seems this average Joe, Bob Gray, and his girlfriend moved from Cleveland to LA earlier this year. When Bob signed up for a local cell phone number, he got one that changed his life. Bob inherited an old number of a famous and well connected Hollywood insider.

"The next day I get a text message," says Gray. " 'Hey man, I just saw your sh*t on TMZ.' " Surprised, he text back, "Whose number do I have?"

Gray quickly realized he had hit A List gold. He says he got a text from none other than Paris Hilton herself, inviting him to her celebrity birthday party and dozens of offers for Hollywood premiers and parties. He explained who he was and the situation to Paris, who immediately put them on her guest list. Gray says he and his girlfriend "rolled up" to the Hollywood Hills mansion where the party was in their rusted, old Dodge mini van. Security, ready to pounce, asks him for his name and then checks the list.

"He goes, 'Hang on.'

"We're wondering if we're really on the list.

"The guy comes back: 'Yeah. You're on the list.' I think he was amazed."

The phone, with all it's Hollywood connections, belonged to none other than Nick Swardson, and through the phone he has connected with Kathy Griffith, Andy Dick, Kevin Nealon and none other than Adam Sandler. Bob says a call came through with a distinctive voice her recognized to be Sandler. They had a few chuckles and then discussed writing a screenplay about the whole thing. Gray now has a talent manager and a screen writing partner and are hard at work on just that; this unbelievable story of fate.

Only in Hollywood can you make a dream materialize from a cell.

Holiday Hilarious

Order your magazine subscriptions for cheap at MagsDirect.com!

These were priceless....


Redneck Christmas card? So proud, Earl is, of his smoking hot wife...

I love this little girl's face!! It just about says it all. Why do parents do this to their kids? This one may cost them years of therapy bills.

I'm sorry...I just threw up a little in my mouth. Are these people OUTTA THEIR MINDS?

AHhahahaahahahahahahaha! Haahahahahahahaha! God bless em!

And the person took the time to get out the camera.

I swear to God, this was me on Friday night.

This was just a bad idea all around. Bad, bad idea. The kid's evidently got more man swagger than his pops.

God bless them all, everyone!

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/contests/awkward-holiday-photo-contest/

The Scales Of Justice Aren't Always Balanced

So I've got this story I've been dying to share with you, that has made national headlines recently, and I want to know what you think.

Here's the situation:

Two Massachusetts high schools, Cathedral High School and Blue Hills Regional Technical School, were competing this past weekend in a season ending Super Bowl Championship game.

Cathedral senior quarterback, Matthew Owens, rushed for the go-ahead touchdown to cap off what would have been an undefeated season and Cathedral's first ever Super Bowl victory.

On his way to the goal line, Matthew "raised his arm for two strides" before crossing into the end zone, untouched, and scored the game winning TD, with almost no time left. All sounds great, right?
Wrong, because no more than 5 seconds later the touchdown was nullified by the referee, citing a new Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association rule that, "bans any celebratory or taunting behavior by someone scoring a touchdown." The rule, just instated this year, not only nullified the touchdown, but resulted in a loss for Cathedral, 16-14.

I'm going to post the play for you to see and decide for yourself. Was this "un-sportsman like and taunting, or was this a blatant abuse of power?"



Many people here feel that the ruling should be overturned, but the MIAA said in a statement to the press that "there is no provision in it's rules to overturn an official's call after the game is over".

What do you think?

Patriots Season Tickets For Sale

I have 2 Pats season tickets for sale.



My wife doesn't want to attend any more of their games as she doesn't like the person who sits in the seat next to us.



I've attached a picture with the view from the seats.



Tickets will be sold to the highest bidder.




Current Bid: $8670.00

Sweet Sixteen

Just like the legendary John Cougar Mellencamp song says, you have to hold on to "sixteen as long as you can", and those changes will come around real soon making us all women and men for sure. Sam (a reinstated Chord Overstreet) knows this only too well, as he had to become a man real fast by becoming a stripper (named White Chocolate) to help support his family. Rachel and Finn convince Sam and his parents, (was that Luke Duke from Dukes of Hazard?) to let him stay with them and help the Glee club win sectionals.

Quinn, armed with her dirty little secret about Puck and Shelby sleeping together, decides she's going to hold on to her quest to destroy Shelby's life and get Beth back. Interestingly enough, it is Rachel who provides Quinn with the morality lesson she needs to change her course. She tells Quinn that by getting Shelby fired and Beth taken away from her, she would only be destroying Beth's life in the process.

The boys are pretty much all that is left of the New Directions, save for Tina and Quinn, (Rachel has been suspended from sectionals because of last weeks disciplinary action) so they take control but not without controversy. They immediately clash over dance choreography, resulting in a division of Finn and Blaine. Finn, always the moral grown up, admits to Blaine that he has been hard on Blaine because he was jealous of his "crazy talent". They align and decide to do whatever it takes to win Sectionals.

Sam seeks out Mercedes and lets her know he is hot for her and that he will fight to get her back, which I hope happens soon, because Mercedes had been short in the story line lately and she is one of my favorites. Tina decides that she is going to be a "Tiger Girlfriend" to Mike and she goes to see Mike's dad. With a bit of attitude, she tells a displeased Mr. Chang that Mike was born to dance and that he should be allowed to pursue his dream and "honor his gift".

Then we get to the best part of last night's episode: THE MUSIC!

Starting with Sam's triumphant return song, "Red Solo Cup." This Toby Keith song I was not familiar with, but I thought Sam's vocals were spot on as he sang this fun and light hearted song. The subject matter was perfect and it was nice to see Sam back with the New Directions.

Sectionals were held at McKinnley High, the first time since 1963, and the show opened with the show choir The Unitards, singing "Buenos Aires", Madonna. Glee project co winner Lindsay Pierce lead the Unitards in this Vegas style performance. I think this girl has crazy talent and is destined to be a star.

The Trouble Tones took the stage, but not before pissing off the New Directions by announcing before that after the New Directions loose, they can join the Trouble Tones for Regional. They performed a new twist on an old classic by mashing up "I Will Survive/Survivor". This was great and got the crowd going. With plenty of high energy vocals and lots of "hairography" the Trouble Tones put on quite a show.

They always save the best for last, and The New Directions did not disappoint. 3, count em, 3 songs, all Jackson songs, "ABC/Control/Man In The Mirror" just about performed to show choir perfection. Tina, Blaine, Kurt, Finn, Quinn, Artie and even Mike Chang all had their moment in the spotlight. Seriously, can we have more Artie? The guy has one of the best voices in the cast and most of the time he is seriously under utilized. But not here. It is for sure my Download Pick Of The Week and no surprise that The New Directions took home first place.

The Embarassing Truth

It happens to all of us.
It even happens to celebrities.

We are not perfect, we all fall.

This is a very recent picture of the glam Salma Hayek, when she fell leaving a building with her daughter. It happened to me very recently, also and like Salma, it happened somewhat publicly.

Long story short, I was a a memorial service for a dear friend's family member. My dear friend came to me in the church after the touching service for a hug and as I rose to embrace her, my leg got caught awkwardly and I fell backward not so gracefully. I think I saw a few people chuckling.

It makes us human and it makes us vulnerable, and it keeps us in check.

We are not perfect, Lord knows that's the truth.

Cookie Monster

No wonder Cookie Monster is one of the most beloved Sesame Street characters of all time, because nothing reduces mature adults into little children more than a plate full of cookies. We had our annual Christmas party yesterday and we decided to participate in a cookie swap. Have you ever done this?

Everybody makes two dozen cookies; the recipe of their choice, and brings them to the party. The cookies get laid out on a table and the guests each get to make a platter full of two or three of each kind of cookie. We had 11 people and about 15 different varieties of cookies to make a generous platter of cookies from. The hostess bought us special Christmas platters to house the cookies and take home as a party favor. It was a blast, and all of the cookies were fantastic. We even ended up swapping a few recipes by the end of the party.

The best part of the cookie swap is that now everyone has all these different, colorful and fantastic cookies, we get to share them with our families! When I got home, the quiet household came to life and more than a few cookies were consumed before dinner. We had gingerbread men, candy canes with colorful frosting and Christmas trees. There were smores bars and wedding cakes and peanut butter cookies with Hershey's kisses. One woman made colorful bags full of a wonderful mix she called "White Trash", which was Check mix with melted white chocolate and another made homemade English Toffee.

I got a recipe for these little treats:

Pretzel Squares
Rollo Candy
Pecans

Put the Rollo candy on top of the pretzel square, then the pecan on top of that.
Place in an oven heated to 325 degrees.
Watch as the candy melts, just enough to adhere to the pretzel and the pecan to the candy, a few minutes.
Remove from oven and let harden.
Enjoy!

The tough part is now staying away from the cookie platter, especially when a cookie would make a nice breakfast on the go and great lunch follow up. Too bad there's not a fool proof way to remove all the fat and calories these colorful creations are chock full of.

Now that would be one heck of a Christmas present, right?

Birthday Girl

Ok, so I'm not that old, but I'm gaining on her...

Funny thing is, as old as I am, I don't feel it. This is kind of a big one too, but I feel good. I got a special birthday swagger going today, and I'm making some birthday wishes.

Some of my birthday wishes I won't speak of, for fear that they won't come true, and some of my birthday wishes have already come true.

Truly blessed I am, and I'm gonna party cuz it's my birthday.

Keep The Faith

Dear God,
My prayer for 2012 is for
A fat bank account & a thin body.

Please don't mix these up like you did last year.
AMEN!