Survive-her.

"I'm Losing It".
Really?
You had one night of rain and cold and you didn't sleep.  One night.  And you're out of your mind?
That moron is not going to survive!

"We're girls.  We're not meant to be beaten down like this."
Really?!
Thank you for being so unbelievably weak and stupid and then taking the opportunity to "represent" the rest of us and announce how women can't handle adverse situations.

I hate to state the obvious - but obviously neither of these females are mothers.  If their daughters were watching they could not possibly say these things out loud.
We all have moments of weakness.
Hell, I've checked out of 2-star hotels in favor of an upgrade because I just couldn't hack it...  but I never filled out an application for Survivor.

This is maybe my 2nd season of Survivor.  I can't resist the charms of Jeff Probst, I'll admit it.  But these women are making me so angry.
Please, young women of America - look away.  Children, Girls, Teens - LOOK AWAY!!  You can do better!  You are strong, you are smart and you are brave.
These females, thus far, are not Survivors.

Also - who is this guy?

I Googled it, he is not anyone.  But why does he look so dang familiar?!

Does Anyone Else See Spots?

This has been a very mild winter.
Yes, we got slammed by Irene in August and then again by Alfred 8 weeks later...  but I am feeling light-headed because I feel like I have been holding my breath for 3 months.

We're in Florida right now and the weather is...  mild.  Not too hot, not cold.  I haven't been sweating and dying to jump into the pool.  I have been enjoying the warm sun without the need for a quick cool-down.
We have been swimming, we have been int he Gulf and the pool.
So, not too-too hot, but not so cool that we can't swim and wear sundresses.

The kids and I spent 2 nights at Grammy's.  Thursday we headed to the Orlando International Hyatt to meet Jay.  We spent the evening strolling the mall/airport and the next day we spent at the Roof Pool.  That was cool.
Friday afternoon we checked into our timeshare/condo for the week.
Saturday was spent visiting with good friends of ours that live down here.

And Sunday...  we headed to Disneyworld!!
Sunday at Disney was - By Far - the greatest day of our vacation.
Color me brainwashed.  Call me a stereotype.  Put the Mickey ears on...  we loved it.  Every ride, every character, every employee, every sight and experience...  it blew away my expectations.  Every single bit was so much better than I expected it to be.
I cried at least a half dozen times, for various reasons.  Overwhelmed.  It was awesome.

This morning we decided we had had enough "Cow Country" and headed for the Gulf.  We spent the day at the beach, the pool and then - out to dinner with Grammy.
We're in a Marriott now and Life.  Is.  Good.  I do love a Marriott.

We'll head home tomorrow night.  It's been a wonderful week+ and I am feeling so blessed and so happy and so content and warm & fuzzy and happy....
And full.
Fat, really...

I am so happy that there is absolutely no food in my house right now...  So ready for a clean slate, fresh start and a healthy turnaround...
Fresh, healthy, fat-free, sugar-free, exercise-packed lifestyle.  Because if you put aside all the happy, mushy, "we're so fortunate" crap from the week, a definite takeaway is this:
I cannot take this fat ass into summer.  I will not.

Superbowl.

I won't bore you with my stereotypically female interpretation of football, the NY Giants or anything sport-related at all.
I am not a sports girl, unless it's my kid's team.
That said, I do like the Superbowl.  I like the food, the booze and the commercials and I usually like the Halftime Show.

As much as I make fun of Madonna for being 60 years old and still thinking that she's 25, I still love that she once was 25 and absolutely shaped my childhood with her music.  "True Blue" was one of my very first records and I still love all of the songs on it.

I fell out of love with her right around "Erotica" - the name says it all.  She just sort of went off the deep end and, for this fan, never came back.
Last night's performance was no exception to the rule, she is an amazing entertainer.  I loved that she opened with Vogue, loved that CeeLo cameo'd as the black dude in their Like a Prayer performance and I enjoyed the LMFAO part.

It was fun to watch, I loved the songs she chose and the choreography and extras were all awesome.
But, I return to my original position of "who is Madonna kidding?"
She is old enough to be a grandmother and she is singing about a a "boy giving her all his luvin'".
I don't feel like picking it apart, lyric by lyric.
But if this is the old lady's attempt at showing up GaGa, she's only making things worse.


Gaga grew up loving the Pop Queen, she imitates her, in my opinion, not intentionally but because she loves/loved her and Madonna's style is infused her own.
Madonna has taken a few pot-shots at Gaga in the past few weeks and I wonder if she's just trying to grab people's attention.

I am not comparing Gaga to Madonna because I'm not an idiot.  What Madonna did for music, for women in music, for dance music on the pop charts - for all of music, in general, in the 80's and beyond is not the least bit comparable to Gaga's Egg performance or pole dancing.  If not for Madge, Gaga would never have had a chance.
But what annoys me is that Madonna, ignoring her age and trying to recapture the 80's, is showing a little glimmer of Gaga/Katy-envy and it's making me cringe.

Hang it up, Madge.  You've earned it.  Relax.  Maybe write, produce...  maybe raise your children in peace and quiet...

We thank you.  You can go now.


PS-
This was a little uncomfortable....

I'm Just Sayin'

I've said it before and I'm saying it now - living in the Northeast gives me license to want snow in the winter, crispy leaves in the fall, cold rain in the spring and hot muggy summer days.
That is my right as a New Englander.

I can look forward to snow in July and curse it in January.  I can long for cool fall days in August and miss hot summer nights in November.  I can yearn for cold mud and creating gardens in February and curse yardwork in July.
The beauty of New England is that I get to love and hate all 4.  It is why I never want to leave and why I talk about leaving all the time.

These hang in my living room, they have since 2002 when we bought our first house. 

And while I know that I will land about 96 hate-comments for saying this (yeah, right, no one comments!) I am going to say it anyway:  Where's the g-darn snow?!?
Snow is pretty.
Snow is fun.
Winters should be snowy.

Look at the fun these guys are having!

I don't need ice dams and 8 foot snow banks, thank you 2011.  But this is a little ridiculous.

I know that last winter was an anomaly.  And I know that my post-traumatic snow-shock kicked in, big time, when Alfred hit on 10-29-11.  But here we are on February 4th and my kids have had one good day of sledding.

I hate my driveway in the winter and I haven't had a chance to curse it and cry about it once yet!





And I know that February is a fickle girl and we could well be F-ed in the coming weeks and I'll eat this post.  But I think, and tell me if I'm wrong here, I think that after last year, after surviving the HELL on EARTH that was Winter 2011, we deserve a fun, happy winter.

My girl wants to build an ice castle and make up stories about ice princesses.
My boy finally got his stamina for the cold up to more than 10 minutes.
Santa brought sleds!!

Yes, we'd have to shovel and we might slip.  But that, in moderation, is all a part of it.  And this is boring.

Tell me, tell me I suck.  Tell me I am annoying and should count my blessings.  But really, tell me you don't miss it, even a little??
(Don't answer that, Jay.)