my post game reactions

I decided that since today was the end of the line for the Cardinals this year, I would take a look back at my post game reactions to each of the games this football season. It has been quite a roller coaster ride this season. But at least we ended on a good note.

WEEK 1 VS 49ers: I don't know why I get so excited. The Cardinals lost, as usual.

WEEK 2 VS Seahawks: They won! They really won!!

WEEK 3 VS Ravens: they lost. They came back, but lost when Baltimore kicked a field goal with 5 seconds left in the game. suck.
They are 1-2.

WEEK 4 VS Steelers: They won! Congrats! 2-2. Awesome. We made it home in time for me to see the last 28 seconds of the game.

WEEK 5 VS Rams: They won. That makes them 3-2. Oh, and the quarterback situation worked itself out. Matt Leinart fractured his left collarbone. Well, that takes care of that.

WEEK 6 VS Panthers: Yes, they lost. And by lost, I mean not only the game, but another quarterback. Season looks shot to me...

WEEK 7 VS Redskins: Yup, lost. But I would not say they were beaten by the Redskins, because they had a million chances to win and blew them all. They could have easily won, but they just can't get their shit together. But, I will say that I am impressed with Kurt Warner for playing 99% of the game with his injured elbow. He did well for being hurt. Almost better than he was playing not hurt.
Next week is a BYE week, so at least they can't lose.
RECORD: 3-4

WEEK 8 - BYE

WEEK 9 VS Buccaneers: They lost, did I mention that?

WEEK 10 vs Lions: They actually won. If they can win a few more, the playoffs might actually be a possibility. But as any Cardinals fan will tell you, "Don't get your hopes up."

WEEK 11 VS Bengals: They won this one too! Wow. They are 5-5. That is impressive. I haven't lost all hope, yet.

WEEK 12 VS 49ers: Um, what the hell was that game all about? An amazing end to the first half... a hail mary in the end zone. A horrible end regulation... deciding to go for the the field goal instead of the touchdown. An even worse end to overtime... a made field goal taken away because of a penalty (delay of game!!!), then a missed field goal from 5 yards further way, then A FUMBLE IN THE END ZONE!!??!! What the hell is wrong with them? The 49ers had lost 8 in a row. What the hell? All that talk of playoffs must have gone to their heads.

WEEK 13 VS Browns: HEY, they won. Who knew?

WEEK 14 VS Seahawks: yup. Lost. Current record 6-7. The playoffs appear to have slipped away.

WEEK 15 VS Saints: LOST. Record: 6-8. What can I say? Penalties and turnovers will get you every time. Playoffs seemed to have slipped away...

WEEK 16 VS Falcons: Hey! They actually won. In overtime, by a field goal. But a win is a win. They should have won, though. The Falcons were 3-11 (now 3-12). They had that whole Michael Vick thing to deal with. Plus, their coach walked out on team two weeks ago without any warning. Yikes! Well, hopefully the Cardinals will win next week and end the season 8-8. All playoff hopes are gone, but at least it will be a positive season.

WEEK 17 VS Rams: They did it! They won! They won big. 48-19. It was so fun to watch. They were playing their hearts out. I am proud to be a Cardinals fan, playoffs or no playoffs. They ended the season with an 8-8 record. Congrats Cards.

in a funk

I have been in a funk for a few days now. Post Christmas, pre-New Years blues? Seasonal affective disorder? I think I really had that living in Cincinnati during the winter. I could have a mild case of that now too. I think its the being home and not on my normal routine. I don't usually know what day it is, so I force myself to find out and try to keep things straight. I make an effort to do that, so I don't need this clock.
This funk is nothing to be worried about, but I would like to not be in it.

Tomorrow is New Years Eve. My sister & sheepish are coming over and we are going to assemble tamales. I said "assemble" instead of "make," because the stuff for the insides of the tamales is in the process of being made now and when they come over, we will fill the corn husks with the masa and meat and throw them all in the gigantic pressure cooker. We are serious tamale makers. Last year was the first year we made them and we made 12 dozen. Yum! This year, we probably won't make as many, because we are going to make them larger. I can't wait. I hope sissy & sheepish are ready for some fun!

Hopefully tamale making will bring me out of this funk...

football today

This is it. The last game of the season...





at 2:15pm MST in Glendale

edited to add: They did it! They won! They won big. 48-19. It was so fun to watch. They were playing their hearts out. I am proud to be a Cardinals fan, playoffs or no playoffs. They ended the season with an 8-8 record. Congrats Cards.

fitting

You Are Expressionism

Moody, emotional, and even a bit angsty... you certainly know how to express your emotions. At times, you tend to lack perspective on your life, probably as a result of looking inward too much. This introspection does give you a flair for the dramatic. And it's even maybe made you cultivate some artistic talents! You have a true artist's temperament... which is a blessing and a curse.

What Art Movement Are You?

happy 9th anniversary to us

Today marks the 9th anniversary of the day I married my best friend. We were young, but we knew what we were doing. I love him still and for many new reasons every day. I cannot imagine my life without him. Our differences are our strengths. We do complete each other.


Happy Anniversary to the greatest man I have ever known.

to my mom & dad

christmas wrap up

First, I have to say:

to my whole family for the great stuff I got.

We spent Christmas Eve at my cousin's house for the family get together. It was nice to see everyone. We did not go last year, because I was not in the holiday spirit, so I hadn't seen many of them in quite some time.
Then Christmas morning, we went over to my parents. We still get presents from Santa and we all made a nice hall. My big gift from my parents was a 3rd generation Ipod nano (see it here). I really wanted it, but I didn't think I would actually get it. I have spent most of today messing around with it and learning about itunes. I also got an itunes gift card, so I downloaded a bunch of songs and loaded it with lots of my own music too. I am so excited to use it in my car. My new vehicle came with an ipod hook up and that is really why I wanted one. So, I was really excited to get that. From my parents I got lots of other great stuff, including pearl earrings, coloring stuff, Bath & Body Works stuff and some DVD's. I usually list it all, but I really don't feel like tracking all that down right now. Maybe later. From my sister, I got some awesome Hello Kitty stuff (a boombox & a super soft throw). I also got from my sister a gorgeous purse that was made from a wedding sari. It is deep purple with embroidery. I love it. I know I am forgetting stuff, but I will mention it as I remember. From Chris, I got a leather bench with a lid that lifts for storage. I wanted it to put at the foot of our bed. It looks great there. He also gave me the movie, Dogma on DVD (I own it on VHS. hehe)and some Hello Kitty stuff, including a lunch box. And this is the strangest of all, from my outlaws (that is what I call my in-laws) we got a Wii. Well, not really. Chris opened a box that had some Wii controllers and game. We were very confused. But there was also an envelope in the box with a check and instructions to buy ourselves a Wii. WHAT? It was the strangest gift we have ever received. First, we didn't really want a Wii and second, why would you give a gift but not really give it? They are so weird. I have no idea how or when we will be able to track one down, but I guess we are now on the hunt with everyone else for a Wii. It will be fun, once we get it.
We spent the rest of the day yesterday playing with our gifts, talking and watching the Suns lose. There was lots of wine drinking and some heated debates. (But no hangovers, thank god!) But we still had a really great Christmas.

overheard

"...in fact, I haven't liked any of the presidents. Except for Kennedy, but he didn't last long."

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a great day spent with the ones you love!

And good presents don't hurt.

suck

I feel sick. Yesterday I had a fever and was all achy. Today I feel the sickness even more. What the hell? It's freakin Christmas Eve.

all wrapped up

Well, as I predicated, I did not much today either. I did, however, get all my presents wrapped. It only took 2 hours, but hey. I really have to do stuff tomorrow, like laundry and clean up the kitchen. Tomorrow afternoon, we are going to my cousin's house for our extended family Christmas. It's not really anything big. We sit around, eat and whatnot. We used to all give gifts to each other (aunts, cousins, etc), but two years ago, the aunts decided to stop doing that. So now it really is just a gathering to watch my cousin's kids open presents. yeah.

Tonight, Chris is cooking the turducken that his mother shipped to us. It is scary to me. I have never had anything like it. I'll let you know how it was.

daily dose of hotness

at The Bucket List premiere 12/16/07

random things

Don't randomly talk to strangers in the movie theater bathroom. This is what happened to me the other day...
I am silently washing my hands and an old lady says to me:
"What movie did you see?"
me: "Juno."
her: "Oh, I heard that is funny."
me: "It is. It is really good."
her: "I am in Atonement."
me: "Oh."
her: "It is really tough. Lots of death."
me: "Oh really."
I did everything I could to not continue the conversation, but she just did it all on her own. Good thing I was finished drying my hands or god knows how long she would have talked to me. Don't do this. Leave strangers alone, especially in a public bathroom.

Friday night, I dropped my sister off at my parents house and stayed and went to dinner with them. We went to Pei Wei. Decent food, dumb atmosphere. The reason I mention it is because while we were waiting for our food, we all ate our fortune cookies. My cookie... had no fortune. Nothing was inside it at all. I am afraid to think about what that might mean.

Eating chocolate covered coffee beans really wakes me up! My mother-in-law gave us some in the stockings she sent us this year. I am bouncing off the walls, but I know I will crash very soon.

I still haven't wrapped my Christmas gifts for my family. They don't have to be wrapped until I take them over there on Christmas morning, but my mother keeps asking me if I have them wrapped. I finally asked her if she was just asking me about mine so that she could tell me she has all hers wrapped. Yup, that's why she was asking. She is proud of herself this year. She usually waits a long time, like me.

I did nothing yesterday and today is shaping up to be similar. And by doing nothing, I mean that I did not get dressed and did not take a shower until 8:00pm. I know, but we are on vacation and its nice to not function once and while.

keeping up with the sister

My sister stayed the night at my house on Thursday and then on Friday we had a fun day together. We went to the art museum to see this exhibit.
We then went to Lulu's Cupcakes. Turns out, the guy running the cupcake place is someone that Chris knows. What a small, freakin world. The guy we met is the husband of the person who runs the store. His name is Rob. Chris knows him, because he also works at a reprographics store that Chris's old firm used to use. He is there PR guy and Chris had to deal with him whenever there were problems. He said that Rob would send over cupcakes to their office all the time, because there were always problems. Anyway, it is just strange to me that I randomly met someone that Chris knows. Especially in the 5th largest city in the country. So, after the cupcakes, we went to see Juno. It was really stinkin good! I had first seen Ellen Page in Hard Candy and was really disturbed. She is a great actress. I really loved the Dad character, played by J.K. Simmons. He was a what a Dad should be, really supportive and loving of his daughter, even if he doesn't agree or approve with what she is doing. I was also surprised my the step mother character, played by Allison Janney. Usually step mothers are portrayed as evil, but she was a complex character too. In fact, they all were. I was really surprised by that. All the characters were not what you thought they would be and it wasn't a bad thing. Pleasantly surprised. I don't want to give away too much, but the Jason Bateman character gave me the creeps. Anyway, I really recommend Juno to anyone. My sister and I had a really great day together.

football today

at 2:05pm MST in Glendale

edited to add: Hey! They actually won. In overtime, by a field goal. But a win is a win. They should have won, though. The Falcons were 3-11 (now 3-12). They had that whole Michael Vick thing to deal with. Plus, their coach walked out on team two weeks ago without any warning. Yikes! Well, hopefully the Cardinals will win next week and end the season 8-8. All playoff hopes are gone, but at least it will be a positive season.

winter solstice

the real reason for the season

Christmas Song by Dave Matthews featuring Tim Reynolds

She was his girl, he was her boyfriend
She'd be his wife, and make him her husband
A surprise on the way any day, any day
One healthy little giggling, dribbling baby boy
The Wisemen came, three made their way
To shower him with love while he lay in the hay
Shower him with love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love was all around

Not very much of his childhood was known
Kept his mother Mary worried always out on his own
He met another Mary, who for a reasonable fee,
Less than reputable was known to be
His heart was full of love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love was all around

When Jesus Christ nailed to his tree
Said oh daddy-o, I can see how it all soon will be
I came to shed a little light on this darkening sea
Instead I fear I've spilled the blood of our children all around
The blood of our children is all around
The blood of our children is all around

So I'm told, so the story goes
The people he knew were less than golden-hearted
Gamblers and robbers,
Drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers
Like you and me, like you and me

Rumors insisted that he soon would be
For his deviations taken into custody
By the authorities, less informed than he
Drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers
Searching for love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love was all around

Preparations were made for a celebration day
He said eat this bread yet think of it as me
Drink this wine and dream it will be
The blood of our children all around
The blood of our children all around
The blood of our children is all around

Father up above
Why in all this hatred do you fill us up with love
Fill me love, love, yeah
Love, love, love
Love, love was all around

Father up above
Why in all this anger do you fill me up with love
Fill me love, love, yeah
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Can't buy me love, love, love
All you need is love, love, love
Love, love
And the blood of our children is all around

holiday movies/TV shows

My favorite holiday movie of all time is Prancer. I love it and watch it every year.

"Prancer's in the shed near my house!"

I found this old trailer for it, from 1989. Crazy.


What is your favorite holiday movie or TV show?

song in my head 12/20/07

Won't Go Home Without You by Maroon 5

song in my head 12/18/07

La Vie Boheme B - from RENT
This is the movie version. In my search for it, I discovered that there were videos posted from the 10th Anniversary performance done last year by the original cast. I have been watching it and loving every second. I love this show so much and I still cry every time I hear certain songs. Here are some of the best performances I found:

I'll Cover You (reprise)
Jesse L. Martin is A-MAZ-ING. This song rips out my heart. This is the song that I can never make it thru without crying. I love singing it too.

And here is La Vie Boheme with the whole cast, just for good measure. Hello - Taye and Adam. And because Idina forgets her lines. They are having so much fun performing this!!:

Ok, enough RENT for today. But I really did have La Vie Boheme B in my head all day.

tomorrow, tomorrow, i love ya tomorrow

My sister is coming tomorrow! I am really excited. Then it's Christmas, then sheepish comes to town, then my anniversary, then New Years! All sorts of goodness!!!! I can't wait. Plus, I have a super short week and then I am off until after New Years! WOO HOO!!

Ok, lay off the caffeine!

you know I am loving this!

Jessica Gets Heat Over Tony Romo's Bad Day

My favorite line from the article: "Everybody's due a bad day at the office, but if Romo plays like this next week, Jessica Simpson will become the most hated celebrity significant other since Yoko Ono."

hehehehehehehehehehe

amazing finds

Chris found THE BEST Christmas music channel!
SomaFM's: Xmas in Frisko. It is a streaming internet channel and with our squeezebox, we are able to listen to it in the living room. He found it last week and we have been listening to it all the time. It is really fun Christmas songs, not traditional Christmas music. So it might be offense to some traditional Christmas music lovers, but for us it is perfect! Christmas music that doesn't drive me insane!


The other awesome find I want to share is Il Conte d'Alba Corte Dei Balbi Stella Rosa. It is a different kind of red wine. It is served cold and is sweet and bubbly. REALLY good with desserts and the holidays. The friends party we went to yesterday served it. They actually served some the last time we were there and it was really good, but this time I paid attention to what it was called so I could order myself some. So family, I can't wait for you to try it!

daily dose of hotness

This is another shot from this photo shoot. It appears to be an outtake or a paparazzi shot, because that is a confused face. Either way, still nice to look at. But what is with the studded belt?

Anyway, last night was the first airing of the hotness's latest (2nd actually) appearance on Austin City Limits. I missed it due to the holiday party, but I will catch it in re-runs this week. Check your local listings, because I know you care.

edited to add:
I started watching Austin City Limits. At the beginning, the announcer says:
"And now, an hour with John Mayer."
I say, out loud, to no one, because I am home alone: "WOO! What could be better than that?"
Then I proceed to answer myself by saying: "Two."

I am such a dork.

football today

at 11:00am MST in New Orleans

edited to add: LOST. Record: 6-8. What can I say? Penalties and turnovers will get you every time. Playoffs seemed to have slipped away...

this is new

I have this nagging cough that won't go away. I had it a little bit yesterday, but I woke up hacking this morning. I think I have drainage that is irritating my throat and I am trying to get rid of that. But it is still such a joy that have a cough.

holiday parties

Last night was our first and tonight is our second holiday party. Last night was the party at Chris's office. They actually had it in the office. There was food and drink and hanging out. That was pretty much it. Oh, they did have Santa come for the kids. It was a real family party. It was so unlike the holiday parties at Chris's old office. Those were meals at fancy places. But this was definitely less stressful, that's for sure.
Tonight we are going over to some friends house for dinner. They are actually Chris's co-workers (he worked with them at the old job and now they all work together at the new job!), but we have known them for almost 4 years and get together when we can. We always have the get together at Tom's house, because he & his wife have two kids (11 & 15 months) and it is easier for them. So, that's what we are are doing so far for holiday parties.
Thrill a minute!

daily dose of hotness

Funny!!

daily dose of hotness

click to embiggen. much better that way.

new photo shoot he posted on his blog

song in my head 12/10/07

Far Behind by Candlebox

football today

at 2:05pm PST in Glendale

edited to add: yup. Lost. Current record 6-7. The playoffs appear to have slipped away.

see this movie

I went and saw Into the Wild yesterday afternoon. It is an amazing film. One of the most compelling and visually interesting movies I have seen in a really long time. I am not a huge fan of Sean Penn (he wrote the screenplay & directed), but he makes really great movies. He did a wonderful job with this story. You could tell that he cared and that his heart was in it.
There were only 6 people in the theater and I felt safe to let me emotions flow. This story is so so tragic. There is much controversy about whether Chris McCandless went to Alaska to die, but I don't believe that is the case. Near the end, he realized that happiness is best when it is shared and he wanted to head back into the civilization. He just couldn't make it. He died there, all alone. But in his short life, he lived more than most people ever will.
I still cannot makes sense of my attachment to this story and what its message means in my life. I am still trying to put that all together. I don't just get attached like this for no reason. I was hoping the movie would help shed some light. It didn't really, but it allowed me to have a much larger picture of the story than just the book. Seeing the movie also allowed me to release the sadness I felt for this guy's story. Not his life, but his death. I cried and cried. I had to stay for all the credits to compose myself to even drive home.
I highly recommend this movie to anyone. Just be prepared to be touched by the story in a way that you might not be able to explain either.

Ok, enough with the deep thoughts. You must be wondering who I am and what happened to Laura? Well, of course I have my stupid superficial reasons for liking the movie! Emile Hirsch is a little cutie and Vince Vaughn makes me smile like no other!

edited to add: Totally forgot to mention that the music was amazing also! Eddie Vedder wrote most of the songs. This is my favorite song of the moment:

Hard Sun by Eddie Vedder from the motion picture, Into the Wild

grammy nominations

Congrats to the hotness!

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
(For a solo vocal performance. Singles or Tracks only.)

* Everything by Michael Bublé
Track from: Call Me Irresponsible

* Belief by John Mayer
Track from: The Village Sessions

* Dance Tonight by Paul McCartney
Track from: Memory Almost Full

* Amazing by Seal

* What Goes Around...Comes Around by Justin Timberlake


Here is the the Grammy nominated version of Belief:

into the wild

My brain has been consumed with Christopher McCandless for the last 24 hours. I ordered the book from Amazon a couple weeks ago, because I had heard something about the story and it seemed interesting. The book came yesterday and I started reading it right away. I had to put it down and get some sleep, but I didn't want to. I did not want to be at work today. I wanted to be home finishing reading Into the Wild. I wanted to be online reading more about the story. Watching videos on youtube of people who went to the bus in Alaska. I am consumed by this story. I will finish the book tonight and I am going to see the movie tomorrow. If you don't know the story, I suggest you get to goggling now.
I can't explain why I can't stop thinking about this story. It is hard for me to explain how consumed I am by this. I want to know everything there is to know about this story and this guy. I know it sounds crazy, but I am obsessed with it. I don't know if this will pass, but I hope so.

Here is the movie trailer. I have watched it many times.

why does this happen to me?

Why do I always feel like shit? Maybe it has something to do with how badly I treat my poor body.

I hate when I answer my own questions.

I have a headache today. A friggin migraine. And I can't go home. Well, I will be going home in less than an hour. But I couldn't go home early, is what I mean. I abuse my attendence policy here at work and I have abused it to the limit. So that means I am stuck here when I should be at home trying not to vomit. I can't deal with listening to be people whine when my head is killing me. They don't know that it is, so I have to be my chipper self.

Screw them all. I want to crawl under a rock until this migraine goes away.

flashback Monday & your daily dose of hotness

So, I am sitting here listening to Sex and Candy by Marcy Playground. Why, you ask? I recently purchased Whatever: The '90s Pop and Culture Box and I am groovin out to disc 7. Mainly because it is the one still in the computer from the ripping of the box set that took place over the weekend. This is an awesome set. Even though it was a dumb, impulse purchase, I am glad I own it. It has a really cool assortment of tunes.
Anyway, I call this flashback because of the 90's songs and this:
Makes me miss the old hair a little bit. Only a little. That photo was taken by photographer Chris Floyd.
Your day is now complete, because you've had your daily dose of hotness.

The Which Spice Are You Test

Your Score: Allspice

You scored 25% intoxication, 25% hotness, 75% complexity, and 75% craziness!

You are Allspice!

You are the flavour of the Caribbean. You are not, as many think, a mixture of spices; you are your own, very unique, spice. Though you may be found in the company of "jerks," you're actually quite nice and rather good at making foul things seem nice, too.

The Which Spice Are You Test

seen at comebacknikki's

football today

at 2:00 pm MST in Glendale

edited to add: HEY, they won. Who knew?

purchasing a Christmas tree is not as easy as it sounds

We went on our tree trek to every store we could think of, minus Walmart. We refuse to shop there at all. We started near home and worked our way out. First stop was Lowe's. We found a tree that we liked. But we knew it was our first stop and could not just get the first one we see. Next stop was Home Depot. Found nothing there. Well, no tree. Other stuff, but no tree. Next was Target. Again, other stuff but no tree. Nothing we liked at the next two stops either, Joann's and Michaels. Our final stop was Paddock Pools. Yes, you read that correctly. A pool store. I don't know if this happens in other places, but some of the pool stores sell Christmas stuff this time of year. My mom had given us an ad from Paddock and we decided it wouldn't hurt to check it out. We had decided that if we didn't find anything at Paddock, we would go back to Lowe's. Boy am I glad we went to Paddock Pools. It was a Christmas tree mecca. They had a million to chose from. There was at least 10 different styles and each one came in many different heights and pre-lit with clear or multi lights. It was incredible. We found this tree in 7.5 ft with multi lights. And we did not pay the price listed on that page. It was originally $599.99 and we paid $249.99. It is a lot for a tree, but it has a 15 year warranty and it is a really nice tree. So much better than any we had seen all day. I am glad we went to all those places first, so we when we saw the trees at Paddock we knew they were way better quality. We are very happy we found a tree. Can't wait to put it up. I am in the holiday spirit now!
OH, one last thing. At Paddock Pools, they had all sorts of designer trees. Some were nuts! I photoed them. Duh. Check them out.

edited to add:
Here are some photos of our new tree (with no ornaments on yet!):
tree with our lights on

tree with our lights off

close up of the tips

to my sister-in-law, Sarah

She turns 22 today! Woo hoo!

www.worldaidsday.org

alright, its December

I did it. Decorated the blog for the holidays. Now if I could just get started on the rest of the decorating...