Tony And Maria's First Time

Do you remember your first time? I do and I think that would make for a great blog post at another time. This blog post is about Glee's episode last night entitled "The First Time". McKinnley High's Glee clubbers, Rachel and Blaine are starring in the school's production of, "West Side Story". While rehearsing, Artie notes that the two leads lack a certain passion that comes with having experienced the "most basic primal experience", sex. He questions that without having had sex, could they convince an audience of their connection on stage.Rachel being Rachel, decides this form of character study is worth pursuing. Blaine, decides that he and Kurt should not rush to have sex and that they should both be ready when it happens.

As a viewer, I'm watching all of this with great anticipation but as a parent of two high school students, I'm thinking and wondering if my children are having these conversations also. I know I thought about these things, talked about these things, and experimented with these things in high school. Why wouldn't they? And now here it is, played out by their peers on TV. This episode, for me now takes on a whole new meaning and will be a catalyst for an open conversation with my kids. Thanks Glee.

Blaine returns to Dalton Academy in time to find my Download Pick Of The Week, Billy Joel's, "Uptown Girl" by his old group the Warblers. They embrace him with open arms and beg for his return and Blaine meets Sebastian, the new Warbler hottie. Sebastian is not shy and he openly flirts with Blaine, telling him he now believes the hype about Blaine's legend at Dalton. This is played out accompanied to a TV mash up of sorts, with Rachel and Santana performing, "A Boy Like That" from West Side Story. Sebastian asks to see Blaine again. They meet for coffee and Kurt comes in surprised to see his guy talking to Sebastian. Blaine invites him into the conversation and Sebastian offers up some fake ID's and an invitation to do some underage drinking at the gay club on the other side of town. Kurt, seemingly a bit jealous, accepts Sebastian's offer. Apparently Burt taught him that you keep your friends close and your enemy's closer.

Rachel and Finn decide to use Finn's house for their first time destination, seeing that Burt and Carol are campaigning around the district for Burt. When things start getting heated, Finn stops to question why Rachel decided that now is their time? Why is she offering herself to him now? After a mumbo jumbo of excuses, Rachel blurts out that she needs to "get it over with" before opening night and Finn puts the brakes on that pronto. He's not interested in competeing with her ambition for a little something something...

Rachel then holds an emergency meeting of the Celibacy Club and asks the girls for their opinion. Quinn tells her to wait. That obviously (Beth) unprotected sex can have extreme consequences, and that it changes everything. Santana tells her that she should wait because Finn is terrible in bed and Tina gives us a look into what the teenaged "First Time" experience should be when two people are consenting and in love and want to make it special and memorable. She makes it sound so wonderful that I am almost swept away by the touching and poignant way she described her "absolutely perfect" experience. I said almost because the mother in me jumps out and reminds me that the girl and her moving story has a direct effect on my very own kids. I'm so having that conversation with them. Thanks again Glee. Rachel is clearly swayed by Tina's story.

Kurt and Blaine have their own near-sex experience, when they meet Sebastian at the gay bar and Blaine gets a little tipsy; er, um, I mean drunk. He accosts Kurt in the parking lot and tells him he wants to do it right there in the parking lot, in the back seat of the car. Kurt is not amused and being sober he finds nothing sexy about this offer of Blaine's affections. They fight and Blaine then walks home form the bar leaving Kurt alone with his thoughts.

On a story line side note, Coach Bieste has the hots for Cooter Mankins, the college scout who's coming to look at her team. Finn gets excited at the prospect of possibly playing college ball, and Artie plays matchmaker for Bieste and the Cooter successfully. Sadly it is not all happily ever after for everyone. Bieste gets her man, but Finn is passed over and is heartbroken that his life will at best be average. Rachel then tells Finn that he is special and she proves it to him by giving him something that "no one will ever get again", her virginity. Simultaneously, Blaine and Kurt also cross over into their first time experience.

While I thought the story line was handled with truth and candor, I couldn't keep the mother in me from rearing her head. Arguably, the first teen, gay couple to have sex on TV was handled with care and compassion, and ditto for Rachel and Finn.

Call me crazy, but I couldn't help but feel like I'm never going away for the weekend with my husband and leave my teens home alone.

Sex and underage drinking and fake id's? Nothing good can come of it.

Thanks Glee.

Tweedle Dum Dums

Yesterday I told you about all things Frick, so today I'm going tell you a story about Frack.

So, we get home from NYC Sunday night and Frack and his grandfather arrive home from the Pats/Giants debacle, along with my bestest and oldest friend in the world, Danny, at just about the same time. Frack jumps right to his homework. He's got an algebra test the next day and since I received a not-so-glowing email from his math teacher two days earlier, Frack knows his ass is grass and I'm the lawn mower if he doesn't up his game.

My Guy, Danny and I go sit in the family room to chat while Frack is studying in the kitchen. We were having a grand old time bitching about the sucky Patriots game and such, discussing this and that and about two hours breezes by. My Guy announces that he is going off to bed, says his good nights and leaves us girls to it. About 15 minutes later, I hear Frack's voice in the kitchen meekly say, "mom.." I provide the usual response, a slightly annoyed ,"ya" cuz I'm thinking he wants me to get him a drink or something. God forbid he rises the 5 yards over to the fridge to get it himself.

"can you come ere?" he says.

After a deep breath in, cuz I'm tired, I get up and go to the kitchen with Danny right behind me. What I find there literally broke a mother's heart. My son is sitting in front of his notebook with papers scattered about with a look of pain on his face that cut right through me. He looked at me and said, "Mom, I'm so screwed. I can't figure any of this out."

Now I know he's screwed because math is not a resume piece of mine and I pull my stomach off the floor, which has just dropped down there with this realization. I quickly look at Danny, hoping for some math mojo, and she announces, "I used to be really good at Algebra. It used to be my best subject," then she adds, "but I couldn't do it now. No way." Frick, math student extraordinaire, and My Guy are asleep and I was, of course, ABSENT that day, so Frack is as he said; screwed.

But the look on my kid's face sprung me right to action. Tweedle Dum 1, me, takes the iPad in my hand and asks, "Can't we Google this?" Tweedle Dum 2, Danny, says, "yeah, just type 'solve' and then plug in the equation." This leads us to a million different places all of which we find a whole lot of nothing. Frack is now arguing with Tweedle Dum 1, me, whoes trying to help him, that he's never going to figure this out and let's just forget it. Tweedle Dum 2, Danny, is now reading the results, clicking and we stumble upon this site called mathops.com. It's got the order of operations for quadratic equations right there and Frack begrudgingly looks at it. And looks at it. And looks at it some more.

Then the most amazing thing happened. It was TRULY like a light bulb went off in his head and the moment was quite memorable. "Wait a second," he said. "I think I get it." Frack then clears the table and starts working on the blank practice test. The teacher had given them the correct answers to the practice test but not the order of operations to get there, and Frack starts rattling off the correct answers in succession. The Tweedle Dum Dum's are high fiving each other like crazy after every correct answer and the energy in Frack changed instantaneously to that of serious student. Danny left for home and I stayed up with Frack for a bit longer. He got stumped a few more times but he then found a site on youtube called your. teacher.com with 3-5 minute video tutorials on every math problem you could imagine.

I was so proud of him and he used these wonderful resources to breakthrough his mental block. These videos are how HE learns and it was like a magic math elixir. Frack got an email from his math teacher last night announcing his B+ on his math test and a congrats on stepping up his effort like she knew he could. I told him I couldn't be prouder. We all learned something valuable, the Tweedle Dum Dum's included.

I told Frack that being smart isn't always about knowing all the answers.

A smart man know where to look to find the answers.

Candy And Corey's Excellent Adventure

So New York City was a great trip and like all great trips it was over before we knew it. Frick, My Guy and I headed out to the Big Apple early Saturday morning and after a GPS snafu that landed us in Brooklyn, (we input New York, New York instead of Manhattan) we made it to our destination an hour off schedule. This, of course, killed any opportunity for an afternoon matinee, so My Guy bribed Frick and I with some Benjamin's and the promise of a few hours to kill spending them in Times Square.


And who did I have the wonderful pleasure of meeting whilst there???

None other than my blogger buddy Corey James, aka, Mad Texter!! We had been texting each other on the ride in, Corey offering his moral support for us ending up in Brooklyn.


"Crooklyn?! Boy did you make a wrong turn. Enjoy the added tour and try to get yourself on the FDR on the Eastside."


Upon arrival at the W Hotel Times Square, WHICH TOTALLY SUCKED, (can you say dirty bathroom?I'm so disappointed) Frick and I wasted no time getting out with the cash burning a hole in our pockets. First stop? Forever 21. Remember, I was with Frick and Forever 21 is a 17 year old girl's dream destination. Not so much for me, but this trip was all about her, anyway. Corey James met us there, and I knew him from the moment I saw his handsome face descending the huge escalators in the center of the store. We bonded immediately and the three of us corralled about the tacky hookers dream store together.


I think Corey was in shock, to be honest, that cheap, tacky fashions could be all the rage for teenage girls, but as he surveyed the premises and the hundreds of young girls around, I think he understood that we weren't kidding. We even checked out the cheap guy fashions at Forever 21 and believe it or not, we each found something to buy! Then it was off to the mother ship.

That, of course being the Sephora in Times Square. Corey, being a true Candy friend, knew that Sephora would be on my list of shopping destinations.

CANDY: "We are in Times Square. Would it be possible to meet there somewhere?"
COREY:"I'll be there in 15. I'm sure you're going to Sephora first!"

CANDY: "You know me! Hahahahaha! Love it!"

We fought the freaks and tourists in the street, and Corey showed us how to navigate our way through a crowded New York sidewalk, and we made it into Sephora. Frick became completely enamoured by the new magnetic nail polish and decided to give herself a manicure right there. Corey and I touched, smelled, played and tried almost everything in the store. I, of course, spent almost my entire Benjamin on MAKE UP...Seriously I have issues. (do they have a product rehab program?) but I managed to buy a new Urban Decay Eye Shadow Palette that is all neutrals and to die for.

Corey bought some FAB Fresh Lemon Sugar roll on fragrance, on my recommendation, and Frick wanted just about nothing. We left there and sent Frick to Starbucks for Chai Tea Latte's and Corey James fell in love with this new beverage. I showed him how to download emoji free on to his iPhone and now when we text we can use cute ;) little icons instead of words. We spent a few more minutes together and then it was off to dinner for us. We begrudgingly said goodbye to Corey and hurried up to our shitty hotel room just in time to freshen up and leave for dinner.

Yesterday was all about Frick. We arrived at NYU early, had a nice lunch and walked a very nervous young lady into her audition. After about 2 hours Frick came out smiling, but said couldn't gage anything because her auditioner gave her no feedback whatsoever. She said she thought it went well, but in the interview afterward, she wondered if she rambled a bit on one question. And it wasn't like this was the most important audition she had ever been to. It's not like she didn't obsess about it the whole 4 hour ride home wondering if her responses to his questions were good enough., quick enough, and memorable enough. She felt like she was left there on audition island all by herself and I had to talk my little actor off the ledge. She did great and I know this because she had a huge smile on her face when she came down after, but the not knowing was wreaking havoc with her psyche.

Welcome to the rest of your life baby. This is one of those life lessons that I couldn't teach her. She had to learn for herself.

In life we don't always have someone there to reassure us of a job well done. We just have to believe in ourselves enough to know.

A Bit Of This, A Dash Of That

Tying up the loose ends today on a whirlwind, (literally) of a week:

• I'm thinking of submitting a recipe to Emeril Lagasse's "Eye of the Pie" contest. I have an age old recipe for an Italian pie that is so good it will make your toes curl. I guess you have to submit a video and a picture of the finished product. That would mean I would need some time to do that and that's a complete joke at this point. I have good intentions though.

• I'm leaving for NYC tomorrow at the crack of dawn. Let's just say that Frick has some important college matters to attend to on Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed, please. Mad Texter, are we getting together for a meet and greet??? Email me.

• Did you see that video of the family judge beating his disabled daughter? I walked out of the room and I will NOT watch it. I think it's twisted and extremely troubling. Feel free to discuss.

• It's the disaster that won't go away. Kim K's divorce continues to score headlines. Let's just call this the "Kardashian Damage Control Tour". News Flash: not as many people care as the Kardahsian's may think.

• Mac Cosmetics launches a campaign designed around my girl, Miss Piggy! Two of my most favorite things: makeup and Miss Piggy. Beginning November 14th, Mac unveils Miss Piggy's very own 3 piece limited edition kit. The collection contains gorgeous light pink eyeshadow, black eyeliner and fabulous false eyelashes. Everything a girl needs to create a dramatic Hollywood eye. I can hardly wait to score mine.

• And last, please let the weather Gods take mercy on us here in MA. Word has it the storm is responsible for 8 deaths with the latest being a 85 year old woman found wrapped in a blanket in her heat less home. Already this morning we lost power, momentarily, THREE times. A cruel joke, indeed.

Have a great weekend bloggers. Stay warm and say a prayer for my little Thespian this week end!!

How Do You Feel When You Score A Deal?

So one thing I learned through this entire storm drama is that you tend to appreciate the little things in life a lot more. You know, like when you check your email after a day or two and you find that you really don't mind all that annoying spam like you normally would. You may even actually open some of the six thousand discount offers you get in your inbox, because you can. I started thinking about the art of scoring a deal and the millions of websites out there where you can buy goods, products and services at deeply discounted prices.

Even Good Morning America has jumped on the discount bandwagon with their popular weekly segment called "Secret Steals and Deals" . Viewers can go to the GMA website and score promo code for coupons with deals up to 50% off selected goods and services. You've all seen the Living Social commercials that continuously and simultaneously offer lifestyle discounts within your community and city. Today you can shop on the cheap from the comfort of your home and score better deals by being a member of an exclusive offer group than actually "pounding the pavement" looking for a deal.

So today, I'm polling you bloggers to find out if you are excited about being able to find a reliable, reputable plumber to fix your clogged sink at a discount and a chic new haircut from the local " it "guy at half the price or if you just think the whole thing is a complete waste of time and inbox space. Tell me about your experiences with these new group discount sites and what you think about the future how we are offered consumer discounts.

Is all the hype worth it?

Back In Business

Just got the power back, literally moments ago...

I'll come back when I thaw out with a proper blog post.

Five Hundred Twenty-five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes

"Five hundred twenty-five thousand Six hundred minutes,

Five hundred twenty-five thousand Moments so dear.

Five hundred twenty-five thousand Six hundred minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?"

If you're Kim Kardashian you don't measure it in love, you measure it in money. It only lasted 72 days. 72 days was too long for Kimmy to be out of the spotlight so she created another bombshell to drop on the world. No biggie,. cuz life goes on in the Kardashian clan like nothing ever happened. Onto the next big thing.

"In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights

In cups of coffee

In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.

In five hundred twenty-five thousand Six hundred minutes

How do you measure

A year in the life?"

A loaf of bread lasts longer in my freezer than their marriage lasted. I have mold in my refrigerator older than 72 days, (not really, but you get my point) and it takes far more than 10 weeks/72 days to shoot an entire season of "Keeping up with the Kardashians". That, being the same "brand" they fought so diligently to protect. Now the experts are predicting that the public will feel "duped" by the sham that was their "over the top", lavish $10 million dollar wedding.

Sources have reported that between the wedding, the ring, and the deal with People Magazine and Us Weekly for the photos, Kimmy pocketed over $18 million for the entire scam. A mere $250,000.00 per day of their doomed union. Not a bad gig.

How about love? How about love?

How about love?

Measure in love Seasons of love.

Kim's not letting a minor divorce keep her down. She is already back to business hosting parties in NYC, going to Australia to launch her new handbag line then landing in Atlanta for her first major acting gig in Tyler Perry's appropriately titled move, "The Marriage Councelor". For Kim Kardashian every season is a season of loving herself.

And who said she is unlucky in love?