Better left at the movies

Movie songs with the mentorship of Jamie Foxx. If I recall correctly, Jamie was a really good mentor last year. I looked forward to what the Idols were going to bring to the table before it started, but was left feeling a little disappointed. By far, the duets outshone the solo performances of the night.

Lee - "Kiss from a Rose" - it was a song that could have showcased his range. And he did - for the most part. I dunno if it was nerves or the fact that he had to go first...but there were a few moments I went "oy!".
Mike - "Will You Be There" - he BORES me. I very much enjoyed Simon's commentary though. 10 outta 10 for Simon.
Lee & Crystal - "Falling Slowly" - *GOOSEBUMPS*! That was friggin' wicked!
Casey - "Mrs. Robinson" - I enjoyed this song with the strum of the mandolin. I think he did a good job. Not his best ever, but better than lately.
Crystal - "I'm Alright" - She's back! The old Crystal that I came to love has made a recovery. There were a few spots where she screamed that I could have done without though.
Casey & Mike -"To Really Love a Woman" - Lovely job, boys. Lovely -- well, that was until that final note...wow. You both sealed your positions tomorrow night.

Wow -- it's getting tough to pick faves and unfaves...I was scared tonight, after a shaky performance from Lee, but felt a bit more confident when Mike and Casey showcased that n-a-s-t-y note. So, bottom 2: Casey & Mike, with Big Mike FINALLY going home.

Um.....did I just hear both Daughtry AND my BON BON will be on tomorrow's show??!??!! Man I wish I had a DVR. My Chris Daughtry, my Bon Bon and bidding adieu to Big Mike -- gonna be a big night tomorrow night, folks.

The weekend takes forever to get here and passes by in a flash...

So another busy weekend is behind me. Friday night after work Chris and I headed to Chelton. Matt & Nicole are renting a cottage out there for the summer. They graciously cooked a meal for us, and we brought along dessert. It was a lovely evening. We both left sufficiently stuffed. I hope to do that again soon. Thanks guys!

Saturday, after a very long week of work, I completely delighted in the opportunity to sleep in, lounge on the couch in my jammies with a hot cup of coffee and a bit of my favourite tv. After a bit of relaxing I then got to tackling the house. Chris had a bachelor party to attend - which started with an afternoon of paintballing, so I had the afternoon to myself to sparkle up the domain. I even got a new shower curtain and finally put out the new bathmat. Sadly, Zoe has treated the new curtain as a delicacy... (why, why WHY does she feel the need to knaw on plastic?). After the place was spic and span I treated myself to a pedicure, while getting caught up on some tv that I'd missed through the week. Some may call my routine boring, or wasted. In the words of John Lennon, "Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted". So, take that!

Sunday was Momma's Day. Chris' mother had advised she'd be in Nova Scotia for the day, so Chris offered to make a special meal for my mother. He did it all himself - how awesome! He really is thoughtful like that. Thanks hunny...xo. In a surprise turn of events (get this, a check on a Facebook status to lead Chris to realize his mother was actually home by supper time), it turned out that we not only had Mummy joining us at the dinner table, but his Mom and Dad too. I was initially a little panicked - I always feel this need to impress his mother. She treats Chris in such high regard I really want to (and hope that I do) live up to her expectations of a proper 'mate' for her son. So, I would have preferred to have had a teensy bit more notice to allow preparations for the added people. We didn't really have that allowance, and I was slightly stressed, but it turned out fine. We all squeezed in around the small table, sans leaf, and enjoyed supper, complete with a delicious dessert.

To all my mother friends - whether you're the mom to a fur baby or flesh baby (or mommy-to-be!), I hope you all had a special day of your own on Sunday. xoxo.

And, to my own momma....thanks Mom, for being my hero and my best friend. You're an amazing person, and words cannot fully express just what you mean to me. Happy Mother's Day ....xoxoxo.

Mother's Day Every Day

This has got to be one of the sweetest stories I've read in a really long time, and with Mother's Day just around the corner, it feels very fitting to share:

Eulalia Corrigan is never given enough time to miss her children.

They pop up at her door night after night, every single day of the year.

The 88-year-old mother of 13 unwittingly gave birth to quite a batch of frequent future visitors during her long, loving marriage to Herbert Corrigan. Eulalia, who grew up in Bideford, P.E.I., went on to live on a mixed farm in Pleasant Grove with her husband where she churned butter and cared for her bountiful brood.

When Herbert was moved to the Beach Grove Home in Charlottetown in 2004, Eulalia would visit daily without fail. Her children would also take turns popping in on Pop at the nursing home.

With Herbert’s death in 2006 leaving Eulalia crushed, her children saw the need to keep her company.

“Well, Mom was awful lonely when Dad died,’’ Bernie Corrigan said in explaining why she and her siblings made a pact to pound a regular path to mom’s home.

So day after day after day, for the past four years, Eulalia has been opening her door to the welcoming sight of one of her children coming to pay a scheduled visit — yes, literally a scheduled visit.

The names of her 11 children currently living on P.E.I. — one, Elayne Kirkwood, lives in B.C. and another, Herbie Corrigan lives in New Brunswick — appear on a monthly schedule with each assigned a day to visit mom.

If there is a time conflict, the siblings simply trade a day among themselves.

A typical visit consists of arriving with dinner for Eulalia, some television viewing, and conversation.

Talk, notes Eulalia, naturally centres on family life with plenty of fond reminiscing about the late Herbert Corrigan.

“They were crazy about their father,’’ she said.

Eulalia is filled with warm appreciation for being on the receiving end of so much love and attention from her children.

“Oh it means everything in the world to me. Oh I really enjoy it. I just watch for them to come.’’Still active (she has her own treadmill and exercise bike) but hard of hearing, Eulalia knows she is one pampered mom. Her neighbours regularly remark on her good fortune of having a daily visit from one of her children.

“It’s Mother’s Day every day,’’ she said, gushing with pride. “They’re great family. I couldn’t say a word bad.’’

Source: http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=339080&sc=98

Happy Hump

I'm breathing.

And counting to 10 - slowly.

And, reciting the Serenity Prayer.

***********
And, the weekend cannot get here quick enough...

Croonin' through 5

Man I'm pooped. However. Mr. Harry is pretty cute, so I should be able to stay up for another 60 minutes while the top 5 play a little old school Sinatra (seriously - it took three attempts just to make that a cohesive sentence) with the help of none other than Harry Connick Jr.

Aaron - "Fly Me to the Moon" - He totally looks like Dermot Mulroney with his new "look" tonight. As for the song...could he not tone down the twang a little bit for a classic? Though, I suppose that made it 'his'...nevertheless, I hated it (Seriously, Ellen didn't hear any country? SERIOUSLY?).
Casey - "Blue Skies" - well, he looked totally delicious tonight, didn't he? I'm going to try to let how nice he looked lessen how bad he sounded...and hope perhaps the voters hated Aaron more than they hated him.
Crystal - "Summer Wind" - She did a lovely job; redemption for last week.
Mike - "The Way You Look Tonight" - it was what it was; it was more his 'element' I guess, so therefore he did well. He's still not my favourite; just sayin'.
Lee -"That's Life" - I love how he involved Harry by sitting at the piano at the beginning. Very showman. Not only did he sing, but he performed! He was fantastic - best of the night! Oh, and did I mention that I love him? I'm in love. He's awesome, and I think he really is our next American Idol.

Bottom 2: Aaron & Casey
Leaving: Hopefully Aaron because I'm not ready to say good-bye to Mr. Pretty yet.

When Tuesday is merely an extension of Monday...

...It was windy last night. And warm. We've moved the bed under the window due to an additional piece of furniture for the room. Point blank, there is no other way to arrange the room. Because it was warm, the window was ajar by approximately 4 inches. The blinds, a heavy plastic, were swaying and clanking in the breeze. Of course it woke me up - multiple times, until the final time I decided to close the window and try to get back to sleep. A short while later I awake (well truth be told I don't know if I was ever into any deep REM sleep anyway) to Chris re-opening the window. It was still windy. The blinds continued to clang.

I rose out of bed feeling as though I hadn't slept at all.

I'm working an earlier shift today on a trade. A trade that I should have thought more about. I was originally scheduled 8:30 til 5 - with my hair appointment falling at 5:30. It kinda worked out perfectly. But, I went ahead and traded -- for a 7:30-4. WTF? I suppose I could shop around for a bit more retail therapy because Lord knows it couldn't hurt. With 3 paydays in April you'd think a girl would have a little bit of extra play money the first week of May, eh? Well, 2 of my major payments are bi-weekly, so no. Add a forgotten car payment and an unpaid (now past due) phone bill and you have me back into overdraft with payday being Friday...of NEXT week...aaand an expensive hair appointment yet to pay for.

Eff word.

If you're looking for me I'll be scrounging around the roadways and ditches looking for spare pennies to add together for a lottery ticket purchase.

The Monday Blues

It's one of "those days"....and Monday, wrapped up all in one. Glorious. I treated myself to a chocolate milkshake at lunch, as well as a little retail therapy. It seemed to help a touch. I picked up a pair of jeans, a light sweater and two t-shirts at Reitmans -- all on sale. And, tonight I'm meeting up with Angela, LA, Maria, and perhaps a few others - those are the only ones I know of for sure. We're grabbing a quick bite at Pizza Delight followed by a movie. We're seeing the Back-Up Plan. I hear it's funny, so it should take the blahs of Monday away. Least I hope so.

We had a fairly busy weekend. Friday night the Moshers came by to watch the hockey game and eat some munchies. It was great to see them, and I have to say, having company come by Friday night is great because it forced me to clean the house (including the laundry!), leaving the rest of my weekend free to me. Well, the house certainly isn't as spic and span as I'd like...but I digress. We didn't watch much of the game, but many laughs were had. Thanks Moshers!

Saturday, Chris & I did a bit of running around, followed by supper out at Boston Pizza. I still had a $50 gift card leftover from Christmas. Our tab came to $48 and change so that took care of that rather nicely. We then just headed home and called it an early night.

Sunday we headed to a few Open Houses. No, don't all go and get your knickers in a knot...we're really not "in the market"...though we'd love to be. We probably have another few years left of being 'hood-ridden, but it's nice to look. It's just too bad that we fell COMPLETELY in love with two different ones (side by side) in Hunter River... To be honest, I'm a little bummed and perhaps that's what's led to my 'case of the Mondays' (aside from the obvious fact that it is Monday). Bah! If we could just win the lottery. I don't ask for a huge pot -- even a couple hundred thousand would be perfect. I wonder if I should be tracing my family tree. Perhaps somewhere in the depths of the South I have a long-lost uncle who has bazillions of dollars in his mattress... Yeah, that's what I thought.

On that note, break's over....back to work.

Happy Monday ya'll. Let's all be thankful that Monday is only 1 day per week :P.