Yes, I watch too much reality tv. What can I say? It's nice to get a big dose of "reality" after the reality of working and/or watching my kiddo all day. So here's the rundown of the shows I am watching...
*Dancing With The Stars: The don't always find the biggest stars or even "stars" for this, do they? My favorite this season is Kyle Massey, he is funny and looks like he will be pretty good! Jennifer Grey is good. Rick Fox and Bristol Palin really surprised me. I can't say I was too surprised to see The Hoff go last week. Honestly, though, I thought it would be Margaret Cho, and even though she improved this week, I still think she will be next to go.
*Hell's Kitchen: 16 more "chefs" competing to win a spiffy job with a high salary! I am constantly amazed at some of the bad stuff they manage to do. There have only been 2 episodes so far and I am already grossed out by some of the stuff they have cooked. I mean, I am no chef by any stretch of the imagination, but even I can tell the difference between raw and cooked! I also know not to send food out looking unpresentable, no matter how tasty it may be. Doesn't take a genius. I don't have too much of a favorite yet, but I really want Raj and Sabrina to go away. Especially Sabrina. She isn't that good of a cook, she thinks she's better than everyone else, and I sort of think they keep her around just for the ratings because she is drama.
*America's Next Top Model: I am sort of bummed that they split up the sisters, Chris and Terra. Terra got a makeover she didn't even like and then they sent her home right there at the salon before this last episode's photo shoot! So there were 2 eliminations that episode! I still really like Lexie (she reminds me of my brother's girlfriend for some reason), but I think Ann or Esther will probably win this one. I'm guessing Ann. I wouldn't mind that, she does a good job and she is just the right amount of geeky.
*The Amazing Race: I've never watched before, but thanks to a cool YouTube guy named KevJumba, I am watching. Kevin (KevJumba) and his dad are competing this season! Since I think Kevin and his dad are pretty funny guys, I had to tune in to see this. And wouldn't you know it, they started in Gloucester, Massachusetts? They showed a sign that said Beverly on it (where I lived several years ago), and I was like, "I miss home!" My husband and I were cracking up at the teams getting lost in Boston traffic because we are used to it and he knows where all that stuff is. Poor husband got a second dose of the "I miss home!"s when the contestants flew from Boston to London. My husband grew up in England (but he's not British so no spiffy accent, booooo) so he was sitting there enjoying the show but also doing a bit of homesick sulking.
Anyway, that really has nothing to do with the show. It was entertaining. I think I am hooked. And of course, I am rooting for Kevin and Michael- GO TEAM JUMBA! Also, that poor lady who got nailed in the face with a watermelon-OUCH! That chick is manlier than any man because she got right back up and started hurling watermelons, even though she was in pain and couldn't see straight. By the time she got to the checkpoint, she couldn't feel her face! Superman's got nothing on her!
...So that's what I've been watching lately for reality competition type shows. I find that sort of stuff really entertaining for some reason. Sometimes I wish I could be on something like that, but then I remember, I don't want to do all sorts of grueling, tiring, degrading, or gross challenges! Besides, it's too hard to become a star just to go on Dancing With The Stars. Anyone who knows me knows I'm too lazy to put in that sort of effort.
-duckyone.
Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
ANTM Cycle 15!
Hooray! My favorite reality show is back for another season! I love America's Next Top Model. I don't even know why. I don't want to be a model, I don't look like a model, and I'm not really high maintenance. I guess it's just interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes of the fashion industry. It may not be really "behind the scenes," so to speak, but it does provide a glimpse of a world that I know nothing about.
I don't have any real favorites this season, but I do like the two sisters that will be competing, Terra and Chris. And of course, I have to root for Esther since she's a Boston chick! Anyway, I'm glad my guilty pleasure is back, and my husband was even watching with me tonight, haha!
-duckyone.
I don't have any real favorites this season, but I do like the two sisters that will be competing, Terra and Chris. And of course, I have to root for Esther since she's a Boston chick! Anyway, I'm glad my guilty pleasure is back, and my husband was even watching with me tonight, haha!
-duckyone.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Millie
I have a friend named Millie. She is a little old lady. An awesome little old lady. She is 77 years young. She is almost completely blind but still cooks her own meals, lives by herself at home, and walks around her kitchen island to get exercise. She is thin but concerned about letting herself go. She always wears matching outfits, and must have had them a long time if she knows what to put together without seeing them. She watches (well, listens to, anyway) Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights while eating a Banquet tv dinner. She tells stories of her dad who was a music teacher, her husband, her four children, and growing up in Nebraska.
Now, I don't go actively looking for little old ladies as friends. Millie and I just happened to find each other at my work. She needed help getting around the store to buy things, and I like to walk around. I think I was pregnant with Curly Girly the first time I helped her, and at that point walking around really helped me out since I was swelling all up. She walked around the store and I held onto the cart, guiding her around and reading item labels and prices for her. When it came time for her to pay, she had her money all set up where she could find it, and she trusted me with her wallet and checkbook.
I last helped Millie around in June. Her Wednesday visits were habit to me. The other workers "saved" Millie for me, and even if I was on break, she would wait for me to come back. I went on vacation the last week of June, and when I came back, she didn't come in. "Next week," I thought to myself, and worried to myself even though Millie was fairly healthy and active. What if she decided she liked another store better? What if she was broke and needed help (I knew she had hardly any money)? What if she was sick? I waited Wednesday after Wednesday. No Millie. I looked up her phone number and tried to call her. The number had gotten disconnected. At this point I was really starting to freak out.
I went in on Saturday on my day off to pick up some milk and bread. And there I saw her! Millie was there, in a wheelchair, with her daughter in law, doing some quick shopping. I asked her what had happened and she seemed pretty upset. She had some illness that seemed fairly minor to her (her daughter in law seemed to mention it was a little more serious), and got put in the hospital. From there, she got sent to a nursing home. "My kids put me in there!" she said sadly. I found out she was staying fairly close to where I live and I said I could visit her if she didn't mind seeing Curly Girly too, which of course she didn't. Today, I loaded up Curly Girly in the stroller and walked over to see her.
I found Millie in the dining room (tried to get there early but I fail, oops), sitting with a couple friends but looking rather angry. I said "Hi, Millie!" and she sort of snapped at me until she realized who it was. And when she found out Curly Girly was there too, she brightened up. She was really upset to be there, and asked how the weather was, and if we had walked over. She asked how I was, what new things Curly Girly was doing, and how my husband was, and if he had found a job yet. She told me she was doing her therapy every day, trying her best to meet all the requirements to go home. She says she needs to get out in a month or she will lose her house. I don't know the specifics of why she is there or whether or not she will be getting out soon. I stayed there maybe a half hour talking to her, until the wee one got antsy and wanted to leave. We gave her a picture that Curly Girly colored to brighten up her room- I figured even if she can't see it, she would appreciate it, and Curly Girly cutely said, "Byebye! See ya!" and waved.
As we left, I was stopped a few times by little old ladies oohing and aahing over Curly Girly and her hair, and she would wave and say "Byebye!" as we walked away. I felt sad leaving Millie all bummed out, but Cury Girly seemed to brighten the day for a lot of people.
So why am I telling you this long story? Because I wanted to tell you that it doesn't take much to help someone out or make their day a little better. I didn't set out to make friends with little old people. Nursing homes sort of give me the willies a little bit. But I found an unexpected friend, and it only takes a little effort to cheer her up.
My own grandparents (dad's parents) were in nursing homes for many years, but I didn't get out to visit them often. I visited my Grandpa a few times in there before he passed away, but it made me so sad to think of him in there because I knew how much he hated it, and I didn't make it in there often to see him. The last time I saw him was on his birthday, 4 months before he died. We ate little ice cream cups and the nurses went on about his pretty blue eyes and great personality. By the time my grandmother was full time in a nursing home (from assisted living), I had moved 2000 miles away and couldn't readily go visit her. The last time I saw her was when I went to Massachusetts last June to see family. Curly Girly was just wee and non-curly at the time, and no one had met her yet so we were rushing around trying to see everyone we could in just a week. We made the trip to New Hampshire to see my Grandma, and boy am I glad I did. Of course, I didn't know it at the time, but that would be the last time I would see my Grandma. She seemed in good health, but soon after I went home, she took a turn for the worse and she died 2 months later. Curly Girly had a good time visiting her Great Grandma- she was fascinated with the tennis balls on her walker, and we got a picture of the three of us, which turned out really nice and I still like to look at it. I'm not sure if things would have gone differently if I had known it was our last visit with her; I am just glad that we had a good time and I have good memories of that visit.
Take time to visit your loved ones, young and old, sick or healthy, because you never know when the last time you will see someone will be. Make friends with someone new and unexpected, because you never know when someone really cool will cross your path. And be nice to people, because you never know when you might make a difference or make someone's life a little easier or happier.
-duckyone
Now, I don't go actively looking for little old ladies as friends. Millie and I just happened to find each other at my work. She needed help getting around the store to buy things, and I like to walk around. I think I was pregnant with Curly Girly the first time I helped her, and at that point walking around really helped me out since I was swelling all up. She walked around the store and I held onto the cart, guiding her around and reading item labels and prices for her. When it came time for her to pay, she had her money all set up where she could find it, and she trusted me with her wallet and checkbook.
I last helped Millie around in June. Her Wednesday visits were habit to me. The other workers "saved" Millie for me, and even if I was on break, she would wait for me to come back. I went on vacation the last week of June, and when I came back, she didn't come in. "Next week," I thought to myself, and worried to myself even though Millie was fairly healthy and active. What if she decided she liked another store better? What if she was broke and needed help (I knew she had hardly any money)? What if she was sick? I waited Wednesday after Wednesday. No Millie. I looked up her phone number and tried to call her. The number had gotten disconnected. At this point I was really starting to freak out.
I went in on Saturday on my day off to pick up some milk and bread. And there I saw her! Millie was there, in a wheelchair, with her daughter in law, doing some quick shopping. I asked her what had happened and she seemed pretty upset. She had some illness that seemed fairly minor to her (her daughter in law seemed to mention it was a little more serious), and got put in the hospital. From there, she got sent to a nursing home. "My kids put me in there!" she said sadly. I found out she was staying fairly close to where I live and I said I could visit her if she didn't mind seeing Curly Girly too, which of course she didn't. Today, I loaded up Curly Girly in the stroller and walked over to see her.
I found Millie in the dining room (tried to get there early but I fail, oops), sitting with a couple friends but looking rather angry. I said "Hi, Millie!" and she sort of snapped at me until she realized who it was. And when she found out Curly Girly was there too, she brightened up. She was really upset to be there, and asked how the weather was, and if we had walked over. She asked how I was, what new things Curly Girly was doing, and how my husband was, and if he had found a job yet. She told me she was doing her therapy every day, trying her best to meet all the requirements to go home. She says she needs to get out in a month or she will lose her house. I don't know the specifics of why she is there or whether or not she will be getting out soon. I stayed there maybe a half hour talking to her, until the wee one got antsy and wanted to leave. We gave her a picture that Curly Girly colored to brighten up her room- I figured even if she can't see it, she would appreciate it, and Curly Girly cutely said, "Byebye! See ya!" and waved.
As we left, I was stopped a few times by little old ladies oohing and aahing over Curly Girly and her hair, and she would wave and say "Byebye!" as we walked away. I felt sad leaving Millie all bummed out, but Cury Girly seemed to brighten the day for a lot of people.
So why am I telling you this long story? Because I wanted to tell you that it doesn't take much to help someone out or make their day a little better. I didn't set out to make friends with little old people. Nursing homes sort of give me the willies a little bit. But I found an unexpected friend, and it only takes a little effort to cheer her up.
My own grandparents (dad's parents) were in nursing homes for many years, but I didn't get out to visit them often. I visited my Grandpa a few times in there before he passed away, but it made me so sad to think of him in there because I knew how much he hated it, and I didn't make it in there often to see him. The last time I saw him was on his birthday, 4 months before he died. We ate little ice cream cups and the nurses went on about his pretty blue eyes and great personality. By the time my grandmother was full time in a nursing home (from assisted living), I had moved 2000 miles away and couldn't readily go visit her. The last time I saw her was when I went to Massachusetts last June to see family. Curly Girly was just wee and non-curly at the time, and no one had met her yet so we were rushing around trying to see everyone we could in just a week. We made the trip to New Hampshire to see my Grandma, and boy am I glad I did. Of course, I didn't know it at the time, but that would be the last time I would see my Grandma. She seemed in good health, but soon after I went home, she took a turn for the worse and she died 2 months later. Curly Girly had a good time visiting her Great Grandma- she was fascinated with the tennis balls on her walker, and we got a picture of the three of us, which turned out really nice and I still like to look at it. I'm not sure if things would have gone differently if I had known it was our last visit with her; I am just glad that we had a good time and I have good memories of that visit.
Take time to visit your loved ones, young and old, sick or healthy, because you never know when the last time you will see someone will be. Make friends with someone new and unexpected, because you never know when someone really cool will cross your path. And be nice to people, because you never know when you might make a difference or make someone's life a little easier or happier.
-duckyone
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
8 years!
It's been 8 years since me and my husband got married! It's been 8 years, 3 states, 2 cats, and 1 curly haired baby girl since May 4th, 2002. We drive each other nuts, get on each others' nerves, and we're also best buddies who can just hang out together. I do follow him around wherever he wants to move to, and I've been cleaning up after his messes for 8 years.
Still, it doesn't feel like that long. I remember our wedding day pretty clearly. He picked me up at school, we went to the JP, and got married by a lady in a bright yellow t-shirt with a knick-knack filled house and her giant fat cat. Then we grabbed burgers for lunch. We went to Hampton Beach after that and played at the arcades. Then we went to play mini-golf, where we took silly pictures all dressed up and posing with giant plastic dinosaurs. Then we went up to Rye Beach just to see the scenery. Finally, we went back down to Newburyport, where we had dinner with the parents. The night ended with us going to our apartment down in Beverly, where he had been living but I hadn't. The next day, we went to Boston and saw the aquarium. We got lost a little on the T, but not for too long, and that night, I went back to school so I could stay there through finals.
That must be a weird story for anyone else. We didn't have a fancy wedding. We have hardly any pictures of that day, and no really nice ones. We did have a party at my mom's house the next month to celebrate our getting married (as well as my 21st birthday). That day was fun too, even if it was like 90 degrees outside and most of us ended up sunburned. It might have been nice to have an actual wedding, and I would have liked to have gotten married at my church, but overall, it was a good day and I wouldn't change it. It was a lot less stressful to have a fun day instead of a fully planned wedding.
-duckyone.
Still, it doesn't feel like that long. I remember our wedding day pretty clearly. He picked me up at school, we went to the JP, and got married by a lady in a bright yellow t-shirt with a knick-knack filled house and her giant fat cat. Then we grabbed burgers for lunch. We went to Hampton Beach after that and played at the arcades. Then we went to play mini-golf, where we took silly pictures all dressed up and posing with giant plastic dinosaurs. Then we went up to Rye Beach just to see the scenery. Finally, we went back down to Newburyport, where we had dinner with the parents. The night ended with us going to our apartment down in Beverly, where he had been living but I hadn't. The next day, we went to Boston and saw the aquarium. We got lost a little on the T, but not for too long, and that night, I went back to school so I could stay there through finals.
That must be a weird story for anyone else. We didn't have a fancy wedding. We have hardly any pictures of that day, and no really nice ones. We did have a party at my mom's house the next month to celebrate our getting married (as well as my 21st birthday). That day was fun too, even if it was like 90 degrees outside and most of us ended up sunburned. It might have been nice to have an actual wedding, and I would have liked to have gotten married at my church, but overall, it was a good day and I wouldn't change it. It was a lot less stressful to have a fun day instead of a fully planned wedding.
-duckyone.
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