200th Post

You know, this is my 200th post.

This fact has led me to pressure myself to come up with something AMAZING. So much pressure, in addition to finals, has led me to not post anything for days! So I decided I should probably just write a stupid post to get past the problem of working myself into a lather trying to come up with something exciting.

I'll do something phenomenal for my 500th post. :)

Now back to regularly scheduled programing. I have a billion things still to do this semester, and I have a meme waiting for me from Children of the 90s. I'll get to it tomorrow, hopefully! :)

Mistaken identity

I have forgotten to include this story until now. It came up again this past weekend!

In January, my mom's side of the family went to an Italian restaurant to celebrate my cousins' birthdays. My parents piled seven of us in their minivan up to the restaurant. While in the car, we somehow got onto the topic of eating breakfast or rushing in the morning or something. My aunt Kim and I had the following exchange:

Kim: Walt [her husband] drinks his coffee in the shower.

What I heard: Walt's dad has his coffee in the shower.

Me: How do you know that?

Kim: Because I've seen him!

Me (very confused now): You've seen him? How have you seen him?

Kim (now also confused): Because I've had to do something in the bathroom when he's in the shower and I go in there.

Me: You'll use the bathroom when Walt's dad is in the shower?

Kim: WHAT?!!!!

Laughter ensues.

This weekend, we went to watch Kim's daughter, my cousin Kaysie, play soccer in Indy. Kaysie is on a U-17 select team. Imagine mine and Hal's surprise when we went to dinner with the team and the parents, and the server asked us WHICH GIRL WAS OUR DAUGHTER so she could get our order. I look pretty good for having a baby at NINE, don't you think?!

Oh, Dear God, this one is AWESOME

In December of 2007, I detailed two of my favorite Full House episodes (the one where DJ gets beer spilled all over her and the one where Stephanie drives the car into the house).

But today. TODAY.

I turned on my TV and caught the end of a fantastic episode. I was able to rewind it to experience the whole brilliant thing, sans commercials.

Gibbler decides to throw herself a surprise birthday party. (This is the exposition)

(Did I mention I used to teach the story narrative arc using an episode of Full House?)

Anyway. Gibbler's surprise party is a POOL PARTY. For all of us who do not look like the models in the magazines (unlike, apparently, Gibbler), these two words engendered fear in the heart of our middle school selves. At least, Full House suggests it does.

DJ decides she need to get as skinny as a model in the two weeks before the party. To do this, she tapes pictures of models to the refrigerator and enjoys ice on a stick while everyone else samples wedding cake. Of course, in the process of sampling cake, Michelle crawls across the table and starts stuffing her face with slices of cake, getting a ton of it on her face, hands, etc. I don't know about you, but I don't really find this charming. Especially if I was supposed to have some of that cake. I imagine that watching these types of scenes were one of the reasons Mary Kate later had a "relationship with food" of her own.

Anyway. Over the course of the half hour, DJ gets more and more focused on weight loss. She decides not to eat for three days, even at one point giving her lunch to both Gibbler and Comet the dog (who might be my favorite character).

Line of brilliance: DJ says to Comet, "You're lucky. Dogs don't have to wear bathing suits."

So DJ goes to the gym with the family. Of course, all the girls in the family minus DJ have workout leotards and leggins on. Poor DJ seems to have an oversized sweatshirt on and then bike shorts on underneath it. (Can I also add, the aerobics instructor has on a thong bikini bottom OVER leggings. This seemed to be a workout style in this time period. I can think of nothing more uncomfortable. And I really hope the girls wearing leggings-as-pants don't watch this show and get ideas.)

Another line of brilliance: Michelle to a very muscular man at the gym, "Hey mister, you are very lumpy." Zing!

DJ works herself into such a ferver that she passes out. This of course causes, rightfully, consternation and gnashing of teeth. Later that night, Stephanie spills the beans and DJ's secret is exposed!

During the inevitable heart to heart where DJ's eating issues and self-confidence issues are completely resolved, DJ does utter another Brilliant Line: "Show me one girl in here [these magazines] with this round face and these Charlie Brown cheeks!"

We know this is a Very Special Episode. And this is a huge concern for parents of girls (and guys, for that matter). So I guess I give them points for trying to tackle an important issue. But, for pete's sake, there has to be a better way to do it than this.

What do you think? Was there a Very Special Episode of a TV show that changed you or touched you in some way?

For me, I think I watched this episode as a kid and was shocked that someone would STOP EATING ON PURPOSE!

Tales from the Bus: Pudding

This afternoon, I was talking about craziness on the bus to one of my professors. I said that I hadn't heard anything good lately.

Then I got on the bus and the bus gods smiled upon me.

Perhaps it's because it's Little 500 week. This week culminates with a bike race (yes, I know, a bike race) that is, for some, the highlight of the school year at IU. The week also is full of parties and general drunken shenanigans.

It is possible that these shenanigans spurred the young man today on the bus.

I sat in front of this young man. He was talking on the phone and I wasn't at first paying any attention.

Then, he said this: "I have to make nine gallons of pudding tonight."

How could that NOT catch your attention? So I listened in. I learned that the pudding might be diluted a bit with water. You can tell where this is going.

"I've even got a ref's outfit," he said. "I think it's going to be fun."

This guy was planning a pudding wrestling event. How awesome is that? (I do not have an invitation to this party.)

Then this fellow said something that made the whole conversation a little bit funnier.

"I'm off both disciplinary and academic probation now."

He obviously misses it.

A photo of me

Hal grabbed this photo of me when I wasn't looking on Friday. I quite like it. I posted it as my facebook profile picture, and one of my classmates remarked, "You look like you're about to kick Neo's butt." Matrix allusions aside, I thought it was a fun picture. Of course, on Saturday I went and had my hair cut, so now my bangs are back! I hadn't had a haircut in forever, so my normally side-swept bangs were down to my chin.

Together Again

Until this and last weekend, my family hadn't been all together since August.



Right now we live in four different states (when Donnie is home in the US, anyway, otherwise we are really living in 3 different states and two different countries). We had to take a Christmas card picture this weekend, because we're not quite sure when Donnie will be back home again. Today we all got sunburned in the 70-degree weather at Keeneland. We tailgated with lots of yummy food and spent time with each other and with some of our extended family.

It's good to be home.

Today and tomorrow

We're going to Keeneland tomorrow! (Keeneland is a horse track in Kentucky that is only open for 3 weeks in the fall and 3 weeks in the spring. It was also used as a location in the movie Seabiscuit.)

Because of this trip home this weekend, I have been doing lots of work this week in order to bring as little work home with me as possible. I'm still going to have to bring some home, but I've at least gotten a good start on some of the things I have to do. After next week I'll have some time on my hands, as one of my bigger papers is due on Monday. Then maybe I'll be able to start writing some of the longer-winded ideas I have!

Pictures of You, Pictures of Me

My sister and I crack ourselves up. We're home for Easter. While staying up too late, my sister and I took some pictures to celebrate that we've been reunited!



(As normal as it gets.)

Finally!

After a flight from Iraq to Kuwait, then from Kuwait to Ireland, then from Ireland to Atlanta, and then from Atlanta to Cincinnati, my brother has arrived home for his two week leave!

I won't see him until Friday, and I can't wait!

HUGE Saturday night

Today, my college friend Emily is coming to visit me!

Hal is in Lexington for Palm Sunday because he likes to sing with the choir for this holiday. I was telling Embo about it and suggested that she come and hang out with me. And she said YES! :)

Embo and I are a grade apart but only about a month apart in birthdays. When I was a junior in college and she was a sophomore, most of our other friends were 21 (or had IDs that said they were) and we were only 20. So most weekends, we would find ourselves watching movies and eating ice cream while everyone else was out and about in establishments that were 21 and up.

And there weren't many chick flicks in our movie watching. We watched Requiem for a Dream, Strictly Ballroom (as part of our Baz Luhrman night, ha!), State and Main, Lolita, etc. etc. etc. We watched all sorts of things that most young women don't normally watch. We would pick up Cold Stone and head back to my house and watch away. Oftentimes she would spend the night.

If you need to find us tonight, we will be in sugar comas, watching some movies. Just like college.

Follow me!

If you read this blog and want me to know it, you can officially "Follow Me." I'm not really sure what that means, but I added the gadget and I will see if anyone does follow me. As I am needy, I will much appreciate people following me. :)