See how good I’m being? A blog entry every day so far!

Since I didn’t blog on my birthday this year, my 40th birthday, I should tell you what TGD got me. A cruise to Mexico with my mom!  Yes, we leave on the 23rd for a five-night cruise to Costa Maya with a stop also either at Cozumel or Key West. Haven’t been able to figure out which one yet.  I am looking forward to it. I’m a little nervous as I get queasy on pool rafts, even, but I am pretty sure with liberal doses of Bonine, I shall be fine.

But, this brings me to the question I wanted to ask. What camera should I get?  You see, I had a beloved Kodak EasyShare 4 MP with 10x optical zoom. I loved it. LOVED it!  And now the focus sensor is off. To repair it would be over $100. So, I got an upgraded camera last Christmas (2008). I hated it. HATED it!  I finally sold it on Ebay last month. And now, I am in the market for a new camera.

I would like a smaller version, like a slim pocket-sized one. Something with 5x zoom at least would be amazing.
But, what I really, really want are crisp, clear shots. None of this stupid soft focus stuff that I had with the now-sold camera. (Which I mailed to Hawaii, which I found infinitely nifty.) Do you have any recommendations of which camera to buy or definitely NOT to buy? 

I had to laugh at myself yesterday. I wrote that second blog entry and was about to leave Xanga when I realized that people had commented on my entry. I totally forgot that people left comments! How funny is that?
   
Boy, what a cold day. And the very light snow is blowing all around and it looks like a blizzard sometimes, but it’s not even snowing. I am glad I don’t work outside. Well, I’m glad I don’t work in general, but that is another story.

Now, to today’s topic. I’m not much of a TV watcher. As a matter of fact, one day a few months ago, I turned the TV on myself, and several children said, “Mom, did YOU turn the TV on?”  Yes, fairly rare. But, I’m getting very excited as the new season of my favorite show starts Sunday. CHUCK!  It is the only TV show I’ve gone out of my way to watch since we used to watch West Wing when it first came out a gazillion years ago. (And I no longer watch it.)  That made me think about TV shows I really like. So, I thought I’d share them with you, just in case you want to love them, too.

1. Chuck (NBC)

This is my favorite. (Uh, yeah. You just said that, Oh Repetitive One)  The plot of the show is that good-natured Chuck, who works in the Nerd Herd at a Buy More as a computer guy, accidentally gets a top-secret government computer program downloaded into his brain essentially making HIM a top-secret computer. They let him live his life, but he now has two “handlers”–one who poses as his girlfriend and one as a fellow Buy More employee. He goes on missions with them and helps to solve things in a bumbling, endearing way. The antics of his fellow employees at the Buy More are hysterical, too. And this season, Chuck’s brain got and upgrade–he is a real James Bond!

2. Phineas and Ferb (Disney)

This is a cartoon grown ups can enjoy. There is no crude sexual humor, no making fun of parents, no idiotic slapstick. But, the writing is hysterical.  And Perry! Oh, every time that secret agent platypus makes his little growl noise, I laugh. James got the soundtrack for Christmas. Squirrels in my Pants? Good song. And Little Brothers? “You are younger, we’re related, and you’re boys…” The plot is that two brothers build inventions–amazing things–entertain the neighborhood and then the invention somehow vanishes before their neurotic sister can show the mother what they’ve done. Their pet platypus, Perry, is a secret agent who battles the Evil Doofenshmirtz each episode. 

3. iCarly (Disney)

I am catching a theme here as to what my kids watch–Disney channel! I am not sure why this show about 15 year old or so Carly who lives with her older, artist brother, who does an online show with her best buddy Sam (a girl) and friend Freddy (a guy) appeals to me, but it does. It’s funny and silly and all that you’d expect in a sit-com. But I like it!

4. What Not to Wear (TLC)

Every day, LittleMiss and I finish read alouds at noon. We then have a lunch break from 12:00 to 1:00. How do we spend our time? Watching What Not to Wear!  This show takes people who aren’t dressing appropriately for their situation in life and shows them how to dress to make the most of whatever figure they have. They also get a hair and makeup makeover.  Occasionally, my girls will What Not to Wear me! “Mom, that sweater hits your hips in just the wrong spot…” 

There are other shows I’ll watch, like Mythbusters and Ninja Warriors when the mood strikes me. 

Are you a TV junkie? What tops your list of best shows?

We went to see Sherlock Holmes today. I had really been looking forward to it. And I was not disappointed at all!  There was not too much gore, although I shut my eyes during the boxing scene and winced a few times throughout. There was not a lot of sex or anything, but the premise was that there was a cult of black magic in England and this guy supposedly returned from the dead. So, you get pentagram pictures and stuff in the mystery. 

And now, I am going to tuck Little Miss into bed on this blustery night and watch a movie with TGD (who went to a wrestling match instead of going to see the movie).

Stay warm! It’s COLD out there! (Unless you don’t live in PA. Then it might be toasty!)

See, another blog. Two in a row. Go, me! 

What movies have you seen lately that you’d recommend?

Happy New Year! One of my resolutions is to start back up with my blog. Since I was getting asked from all sides, I thought it was a great time to start.

We rang in the New Year the way we usually do, with a huge party.  Today, I honor Papa John, who was the closest in the Facebook bet of how many people we would have. He guesses 117. By my best count, we had 105, down from last year, but still pretty good. The strange thing was that usually we have a bunch of families from our church–adults and teens and children. This year, until 10:00 at night, the three oldest people at the party were 44, 40, and 25. And there were almost 80 people there by that point. Eventually, there were 8 people over the age of 25 there. The majority were under the age of 20. Wild times! Fun times!

 

Another view of the same room.

And a third view of the same room!

The other room! You can’t see the people shoved in the corners and spilling out into the entry way.

Round Robin ping pong. Check out the basement! It’s in the process of being refinished.

Awesome game of Ninja in the kitchen around 4:00 a.m.

Guitar Hero tournament–guess who won? (Wit–no surprise)

I made all those who were staying over go to bed at 6:00 a.m. since some of them were getting really tired. (Yes, I also stayed up that late. TGD did not!) About 25 kids slept over. I didn’t bother to count, actually. There were a lot of them. I made pancakes and bacon for them all, and one of the moms had sent over a breakfast casserole and another blueberry muffins.   People started to leave a bit at a time. By noon, only a few people were left.

MarkJ made a big fort.

The guys watched Penn State win!

And I have fulfilled day one of my New Year’s resolution: to keep up this blog! Did you make any resolutions?