Summer Fling

Hey there Internet! How's the summer been treatin' ya? How was your 4th? And wow, you look so tan! And your hair.. don't tell me, but I know you've done something different with it... lookin' good, Internet, lookin' good!

Summer has been a madhouse over here at Casa Diva. My blogging is almost non existent, and it crosses my mind at like, two in the morning, in an "oh, dammit, I didn't blog again..." sort of way. But there's not been a second to get down to it, really. From sun up to sundown, we are on the go. We're outside, we're running around... there's always something. I have maybe half an hour to update my Facebook or Twitter, and that's usually sporadic too.

I did want to take a minute, even though it's all over the blogosphere, all over the internet and media everywhere, to mention the odd amount of deaths in the last few weeks. Actors, musicians, athletes, TV personalities, all gone within what.. less than two weeks? Amazing. Sad, stunning and in some cases, almost earth shattering for some. It's been a very odd time, and more than once I've been almost afraid to check the news. Let's hope all are allowed to rest in peace, and that the families and loved ones of those gone will have the privacy to grieve that they deserve.

The summer so far has been a good one. Taylor is enjoying playing out more, and running around like crazy. She's starting to say a LOT, and still babbling that baby speak I think is too cute. I'm so not ready for her to grow up yet. She's at a good age right now. She's mimicking her sister, playing dolls with her, brushing each others hair.. just a lot of sweet little things that I hope they will continue to do. They definitely have a bond, whicxh I'm glad for. I worried that their age difference would make it hard for them to be close... was I ever wrong about that! They are inseprable. Alyssa has been teaching her to color, to play babies.. all the things I taught her to do, she's passing on to Taylor. And Taylor loves having a big playmate to boss around, LOL. She is, however, going to hit those Terrible Two's with a vengeance I think. She's starting to throw those little tantrums, when she's frustrated or not getting her way. Which I think is funny.. which really, REALLY pisses her off. I'm good like that.

Jake is still more of a loner, but he's been slowly opening up and being less timid in social situations. We survived a cookout with almost no meltdowns, and even then just a small one. All marks in the plus column. He's still developing his skills in the kitchen, and I'm telling you, the boy has a knack for it. He still wants to watch Emeril, and wants to someday own a restaurant of his own and cook on TV. He just loves it, and it is one of the few things that keeps his focus for an extended period of time. He loves food- cooking, shoppiong or eating. He just absolutely loves food. And I'm encouraging that with all I have. If I could get him to let me record him, I'd definitely share it with all of you. He's awesome in the kitchen!

Lyss is in a creative phase. Cutting, drawing, making dresses and dolls, adding flowers and fabrics. She's making an entire paper doll villiage right now, and then will probably move on to decorating her room with collages of things she's drawing or getting from old magazines. It shouldn't shock me, I guess, because J and I both have very wide creative streaks. So having creative kids isn't too shocking- it's watching how it shows itself that's pretty cool. The intense, all out way Lyss sets out with these extravagant projects that take days, even a week or more.. She's got ten times the patience I do, that's for sure! She loves to do this stuff though, and I never had the skill for it, LOL. I can't cut a straight line, let alone doll bodies and houses, clothing and accessories. And I've shamelessly gotten her addicted to watching The Young and the Restless with me. I watched it with my mother some when I was growing up, and the characters are like coming home, in a lot of ways. She loves it and looks forward to sitting down and watching it off the DVR in the evenings. Heehee. She yells at the TV just like I do, LOL. It's funny to see her as shocked or angered as an adult over these things.

Speaking of Y & R... Phillip is alive! In Genoa City! He showed up at the 4th of July bbq at Katherine's place and stunned her, Jill, Nina and everyone else. Including me! LOL Anyone else out there watching?? What do you guys think of all the wacko storylines, bringning back old characters, or about the whole Sharon baby daddy thing? Yeah, I get into it.. I've known these stories almost my entire life- I was watching when Nicholas Newman was born, lol. And then suddenly became older than me... and yet, sort of my age... Gotta love aging the kids in Soap Land..

Anyway, that's my summer so far. Kiddos and sunshine, an occasional get together, hanging out in the yard with friends and just soaking it up. And of course, a trip to Genoa City at the end of the day.... What about you? Tell me about your summer?

Facebook and TV

So, I went to Catholic school growing up. And yep, I wore a uniform. I was ten, you pervs, shut up!

Two different schools, two different states. Two completely different worlds. One in St Albans, WV, 4th and 5th grade, that was wonderful, and one here, 6th -8th grade. It was my decision to go to the school here; at the time, I was seriously thinking of Catholicism. Going to school here was... different... than I expected, and so I'm not Catholic. I was turned off of the idea almost immediately, because of differences in the churches and in the schools.

Why do I mention this, you ask? Because I've recently had the chance to reconnect with some old friends from St Francis, and I am absolutely blown away at what people are doing with their lives! Twenty years definitely changes people and things- not that I hadn't realized that before, but sheesh! Kids I still think of as kids are lawyers, activists, parents... it's insane! I have a new love of Facebook right now, that's for sure. Because seriously? That kid you liked in fifth grade? Is probably on Facebook. How weird is that? The girl you were best friends with? Is probably doing something amazing with her life, and you should check it out.

So, aside from being on Facebook as much as time lets me right now, I'm trying not to watch American Idol (I get sucked in, but I'm not overly fond of it), loving that Scrubs is on again, and really, REALLY happy that Life on Mars wasn't cancelled. We don't need to mention my obsession with Jensen Ackles... er, with Supernatural... because I can stop whenever I want to. Really, I can. Stop looking at me like that, I see you.

Not much else is happening in my corner of the world and I'm glad to take a break from crazy right now. With the holidays, the awful snow and everything in between, calm is a more than welcome visitor here. I'm tiptoeing around Calm, because he never stays long. LOL

So, tell me. What are you watching? And is Calm visiting you right now, or are you living in Losing My Shit right now? :)

Ike Vs. Gil?

What do you think about this?

I like Laurence Fishburne... hell, I remember seeing him as an orderly in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, back in the day.... but can anyone really (despite how complex and interesting Fishburne's character does sound) ever replace my Grissom?

I suppose now, though, I'll need to tune in and check it out......

Hangin In, Hangin Out, Hangin On......

Well, you can see I've changed the blog. again. I put a poll over there to see what you guys like better, so give me some feedback. I had a couple people tell me it was too hard to read with the dark background, so i thought I'd go plain again for awhile and see what happens.

We had a decent 4th weekend, even though Jim had to work. We went to see "Wanted" Saturday afternoon- left the kids with their grandparents and had an afternoon to ourselves. that, I'll tell you now, is a rarity. An enjoyable one. Especially when you toss in a good movie, which "Wanted" definitely is.

That movie kicks ass! Action from start to finish. Add in two of my favorite Hollywoodland people- the always superb Morgan Freeman, and the chick I'd contemplate switching teams for , Angelina Jolie, and I was all set. The premise is a good one- there is a secret society of assassins, called The Fraternity, that have been following what they believe is Fate, for hundreds of years. Add in the son of a murdered assassin, plot twists that you really don't see coming and the best action, fight sequences you will see ALL summer.... and you have a movie that is hitting my DVD shelf the second it's available. Trust me, we very rarely buy DVD's these days, and when we plan on getting one... both of us... immediately? It's a good movie. Of course, I watch Noggin all day long, so.....

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have never seen such a wet summer. It's been storming and raining since May, and still coming. Terrible weather for keeping your yard mowed and trimmed. The rain keeps it soggy, damp and growing like wild. It also allows for mud puddles, which means mud tracked on my (usually just cleaned) floors. Yeah... not diggin the summer weather this year. It's either storming or so hot you can't enjoy being outside in it. Good times, gooooood times.

Things are okay though. I'm still doing my inner clean-out in the countdown to thirty, and I keep finding out new things, or unearthing old ones, about myself. It's been interesting, to say the least, but it's nice to find out nice things to know rather than just knowing the flaws. Although that's a good thing too- people who don't know their flaws are usually pretty obnoxious, LOL. Because they think they don't have any, maybe? Or just don't see the flaws you do as flaws? something to ponder, I suppose.

I have been toying with the idea of posting some of my writing here. Some of my poetry, parts of my novels, that sort of thing. What do you think? Would you want to be bored from your skulls reading that sort of thing?

Hope everyone had a fabulous 4th and did all they planned to, even with the ridiculously, obscenely high price of gas. Did I mention it's obscene? 'K, just checking.

I Love YouTube

I don't know the girl(s) who did this, but I DO know a handful of Bravehearts who thank her (them) from the bottom of our blockhead hearts! Without further ado, I present to you.... Have Mercy! (The Joe Version)

Movies, Movies, Movies!

I'll admit, I'm a movie junkie. Good God I'm a junkie for lots of stuff, huh? But it could be worse than music, movies, the net and food, right? Anyway- I love movies. Scary movies, funny movies, suspenseful movies, musicals, chick flicks (which I RARELY get to see anymore... I need a chick flick buddy!)... there really aren't many genres I'm not into. Just leave out the kung fu, martial arts movies and we're good. So I was curious, and wanted to see what kind of movies you guys love, hate or have been watching lately. and I'll start off with a few I've seen lately. **there may not be a lot of new NEW movies I've seen recently- I have three kids, lol. Sometimes I'm only seeing the brand new episodes of Hannah Montana or Dora.**

Last night we watched Mission: Impossible 3. We've had it on the DVR for over a month now and just got around to it for a few reasons. Number one being it takes a lot for me to be able to watch Tom Cruise lately. He's made himself out to look like a crazy, and I can no longer take him seriously.... or watch Cocktail, one of my all time favorite movies, in quite the same way.

That aside, M:I 3 was pretty good. Action packed and with a twisty plot that slammed you in the face when you thought you had it all figured out. My kind of movie, and for a minute, I forgot all about jumping on couches and bashing moms with depression. Great cast, an openeing left for yet another one. Not my favorite of the series, but one I'd watch again.

Premonition we watched last week. The one with Sandra Bullock where she keeps reliving her husband's dead? Then not dead? Then... you get it. this movie was a WASTE of TIME. It made very little sense, the days never added up properly and the sequence of events was a mis-match of too many things happening, and not happening in every "day", "week" or whatever the hell dimension they were living in. That and you couldn't really sympathize with the husband. At all. Not to give anything away, but the other woman was the only consistent plotline. So, yeah. Definitely don't recommend this one.

Ocean's Thirteen! Ahhhh, where do we begin?? With George? Brad? Matt? Casey? It's a festival of eye candy, girls, with a fun filled plot full of action and Ocean's team doing what they do best. Not to mention Al Pacino as the bad guy about to get his from the scrumptious crew. My only reservation was there was no Julia Roberts appearance in this one... and I love her to death. But, I'd say this is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Watch it, and say "Yum, yum!!" along with me. : )

PS I Love You. Ahhh, a chick flick. Hilary Swank plays a grieving widow who keeps getting letters from the husband who passed away, as his last attempts to help her deal with his death and start living again. A slow mover for me, but it had its moments. You'll need your tissues, and some chocolate. I wasn't overly enthused, but it was all right. Not falling into the great romantic films category for me, but I'd watch again with a friend.

Now, your turn. anything stand out lately? In a good, bad or ugly way? you tell me... Go!