Frick Does New York

College Road Trip continues!

We are in fabulous New York City visiting NYU. Frick and my nephew Wack and I are trolling the streets of New York city looking at the campus of NYU. Last night we ate Thai food and had Pinkberry and life couldn't have got much better. Today we will visit NYU'S Tisch School for the Arts and it's one of the top programs in the country for theatre and SUPREMELY selective and hard to get into.

Of course, it's Frick's first choice.

While I have always told her that she can accomplish anything that she puts her mind to, we have to be careful to manage expectations when looking at these programs. But hey, why shouldn't she shoot for the stars???

And so it begins...

Creature Double Feature

Hey bloggers! It's freaky Friday and you know what that means! Time for our favorite Wally World Wackos!

Evidently, thepeopleofwalmart.com have been having some contest comparing one freak to another with the winner moving on in a bizarre, freak show popularity contest. Let's choose our faves, shall we?

All I can say is WOW. You got the eye sanitizer handy? I guarantee You're gonna need it. Just taking Timmy out for a drag seems minor in comparison with Cookie here. Fashion violation aside, isn't she a little old to be wearing the Sesame Street collection?

I don't know what the hell that is hanging from the front of Number 1's blue shirt, but if it isn't a buckskin colored fanny pack then I don't wanna know. As for her counter part here, it certainly ain't easy, being that cheezey.

What the hell is THAT? A Big Foot Sighting??? Who knew that Sasquatch was a fricken slob too and the smart money is on that he smells like a prince. As for number 14, they say that side boob is sexy, but I think they lied.

And speaking of boobs, what the?? I've got nothing on this one except, really? As for Ms. Number 7 here, again, I don't want to know what that is. Make it go away.....

Oh Lordy! What would I do without those Walmart Crazees to amuse me on a lovely Friday morning? Makes me think that things can't be that bad now, can they?

Make sure you choose your favorite bloggers, and remember, freaks are people too.

Happy Friday!

The Frack Cave

So if our favorite Super Hero has his own cave as he called it, why am I so surprised my own child would make one of his own? It's really primal, isn't it? And it's roots can be traced back to the evolutionary cavemen.

But the story behind this story really begins last year when my basement flooded. Disaster is an understatement and we had to start from scratch. Months in the process, drying out the basement, preventing mold, cleaning out of destroyed items and starting fresh. New paint, new carpet, TV's and furniture all arriving around the same time of our wedding. Let's just say that towards the end of last year, the evolving renovation of our basement fell down a few notches on the priority list.

Then in November, the key element arrived. The new sofa. Sectional sofa, to be exact and it was beautiful and the pieces slowly began to fall into place. The basement slowly became the best and newest place in the house. Christmas came and Frack got a sweet, brandy new XBox Kinnect, and installed it downstairs in his newly minted man town. Occasionally the family would go down there to watch football together or a movie, but Frack usually stayed on after the games and movies by himself.

My Guy's fabulous antique Coke machine, fully operable and once oddly out of place in the old basement, had now found a permanent home, and almost took center stage. I watched as Frack loaded and maintained the antique beauty with the love and the care that My Guy had taught him and I agreed to buy him the glass coke bottles for his "baby" when needed. If Frack had a friend sleep over, 9 out of 10 times they were ensconced in The Frack Cave, with the pullout bed, plenty of pillows and the XBox remote. Life is good if you're Frack.

But lately I've noticed that Frack has been spending most of his free time down there. After school and almost every evening. Now, being the "mother hoverer" that I am, I was slightly concerned that something was amiss with my boy. But on inspection, I was delighted that it was quite the opposite. Frack has turned his cave into a homework, relaxing, Frack spectacular, complete with computer and a quiet place to complete his required work. And here's the kicker, he's neat and tidy in his cave, even when his "boys" come over. Frack is displaying the beginnings of a "work hard, play hard" ethic and I can't help but wonder if his happiness with his newly acquired surroundings have something to do with it.

As he slowly changes from boy to man, I realize that he's going to need his own space away from his hovering mother and his annoying sister, and it seems to me he has marked his territory. I get it, and I'm thrilled he's happy. All I would require is an occasional invite into my Boy Wonder's world down below to make sure all is as should be.

The simple rally cry, "to the Frack Cave" should suffice.

Now Ain't That Some Sh*t

0-4?? What's this sh*t? Should we hit the panic button?

Firmly sitting in last place in the AL East is not where the projected winner of the World Series should be. That visual this morning made me slightly sick. I read this quote today in the Boston Herald, "No team that started 0-4 has ever won a World Series." But we're not talking about any ordinary 0-4 team. This is the "fully loaded" 2011 Boston Red Sox, and everybody knows that when you count them out, they make you look silly.

Now that's a bold statement coming from a bold Sox fan, and after last night it's more than questionable.

But let's add a dash of reality and not get crazy here because our boys have yet to touch the green grass of their beloved Fenway this season. We've got some time, and looky here, we've got the home opener this Friday which begins a three day home stand with the Evil Empire. Nothing more rejuvenating than a series win over those Damn Yankees.

Then we host Tampa Bay, who last time I checked were dancing at the bottom of the standings with the Sox. So if we do a little simple math here, the Sox have seven games ahead; two more with Cleveland, three with New York and a couple with Tampa. If they take 5 out of the seven against those teams, (which is totally possible) my standing visual becomes much more palpable. Yes? And if they don't we best be hiding the cutlery, just saying.

"We need some kind of spark right now," said newly acquired free agent Carl Crawford after last night's game. A spark? After four games on a brandy new, high hopes season? I hate to break it to you pal but it looks like "we" need a fricken propane tank to light a fire under this team because nobody here likes loosing streaks.

And what if they get their baseball swagger on and win the next seven games? Then we would be in the same place. Yup, we would then be able to comfortably say, "Now ain't that some sh*t!" Here's to hoping for that.

How You Doin'?

Bloody Brilliant

So I LOVE it when this happens. I love it when I am tryly inspired.


And before I start, I would like to explain that I don't want this post to sound like it's all about me, me, me, because this post is certainly not about me. It's about someone and something else, but it really is about me because of it's effect on me.


So let's talk about me for a second. Saturday afternoon, just after a long morning and right in between that morning and a long evening, I found myself with an hour to put my feet up on the sofa. The TV was already on and as I sat to rest for a quiet moment, my attention was captured by the sound of a British accent. I am nothing if not a sucker for a cute British accent so I began watching this show about a British chef named Jamie Oliver who has come to Huntington, Virginia to start a Food Revolution. What? Is? This? I am intrigued. Seems this charming and cheeky chef, Jamie Oliver has come to the USA to help Americans eat healthier and this is his story.


Now I'm hooked. I'm hooked because his story is about two things that really matter to me; food and kids. Jamie, who has been credited with changing the school lunch system for the better in his native Great Brittan, was sent to the fattest community in America to try and make revolutionary change. His whole grass roots movement; one person, family at a time is about changing things in a community and starting a revolution about something essential: food.


And they don't like him. Nobody likes him. But I love him and Jamie is undeterred.


Armed with his ABC show and budget, adorable, charming, passionate and smart is how Jamie navigates through all the negativity, because he knows he's right, and the people know he's right, but no one really wants to make change because they believe that once Mr. Oliver leaves Huntington, things will just go back to the way they were. But what they soon find out is that Mr. Oliver isn't going any where for a while and that he really does care. He's here to educate and advocate and legislate and fund raise and work in the schools and work in the community and make change a reality.And not just in Huntington, but all across America. A huge undertaking.


God bless him, this guy finds opposition at every turn yet he forges on. He starts out with our youth, and really talks to the kids about the foods that they eat. He visits with a local family to find out what they are eating on weekly basis and the results were disturbing. The food in the schools aren't any better. These poeple are dying young deaths and the obesity rate is at a critical point. Change has got to happen.


The most powerful moment for me was when Jamie took a handful of elementary school kids, aged 8-10, to his kitchen and he intended to show them, really show them what they were eating. He had a raw chicken and a knife. He carved the chicken in front of the children and showed them the prime cuts of meat; the breast, wings, etc. When he was done, he had only the carcass remaining. He then cut the carcass in half along with the rib cage and all remaining bone fragments. He used the pieces to scare the children, to which they "eww"-ed an squealed in all the right places. When he asked if they would ever eat "that" a unanimous "no" was the response.


Then he put those pieces in a food processer and ground them up into little pieces to which he added flour and seasonings. A disgusting paste was the result and Jamie then asked the kids which they would prefer. Again, a unanimous decision to eat the better cuts of chicken, the breast, the wings etc.


Then he did something amazing. He formed the disgusting paste into a ball and rolled it in flour and cornmeal and made it look exactly like a chicken nugget. He then asked the kids how many of them would, "eat this now?" and like Pavlov's dogs, the salivating kids all raised their hands, yes. Why? After they saw exactly what it was made of? Some said, "Cuz they were hungry." It was clear Mr. Oliver had his work cut out for him.


I will continue to watch the rest of his Food Revolution which aired last year, and you can bet I will be front and center on April 12 When Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution will begin a new season in Los Angeles. I am only 4 episodes deep into last season, but the seeds of change are already starting to sprout and I'm looking forward to finishing Huntington's story and transformation.


And of course you know that his story had to come back to me as I am the Jamie Oliver of my own house hold where we have begun our own Food Revolution. Wholesome, healthy foods with basic ingredients is where it's at for my family. Gone are Bagel Bites of yesterday and here to stay are the carrots and Ranch dressing of today. I'll start grassroots at home too, as last night we had steamed green beans with dinner. Frick, who was coming down with a cold was encouraged to eat more of them because they contain a whole serving of vitamin C. And she did! So we take baby steps as we start a slow, revolutionary change.

I just think that alone is bloody brilliant.

April Fool

So I awoke to this scene outside my home this morning. I took this photo with my iPhone of this cruel April Fool joke. It's not too bad though, just a heavy dusting really, and only the roads needed to be plowed but as of this morning it is still snowing at a good clip. Have a great weekend bloggers! Let's hope the sun comes out.