Super Bowl ’12

I was so happy when Kelly Clarkson rocked the National Anthem at yesterday’s Super Bowl XLII extravaganza.  I had just met her Thursday night when she played a concert here in downtown Jacksonville.  It was my birthday present from my hubbie and Kelly was the cutest thing ever.  She was sporting her new bangs and I asked her about the Super Bowl. She said she was nervous and that she had been practicing A LOT.  Well, it paid off because she was flawless and did America proud.

What else happened at the Super Bowl?  Oh, yes.  The New York Giants beat the New England Patriots, 21 – 17.  It was a close game.  It was a good game.  My husband wanted the Giants to win, but the Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is just too cute not to root for.  And just look at this photo of heartbroken Brady being consoled by his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen.  It was snapped right after he left the locker room.  I just think it’s a sweet moment.  (Next year, Tom!)

UPDATE:  Literally five minutes after I posted this “cute” photo, the video breaks showing Giselle saying some not-so-nice things about her husband’s teammates.  Oy.  Oh, and the PATRIOTS were favored to win, not the Giants.  I need to stop writing about sports, no?

And then there was Madonna.  (Madonna.  Madonna. Madonna.  I just can’t stop.)  She put on an amazing halftime show which included her hits “Vogue,” “Music,” “Express Yourself,” and “Like A Prayer.”  She also performed her new song, “Give Me All Your Luvin” and I think I’m the only one in the universe who actually likes the song. Cee Lo Green came out and LMFAO performed  their enormously popular “Party Rock Anthem” with Madonna.  The whole thing was a lot of fun.

The commercials were just so-so this year.  The one that stands out is the only one I actually didn’t see.  (I was giving the kiddies a bath and I totally missed it.  And I could not convince Hubbie to hit the rewind button.)  Well, now I’ve seen it twenty times on YouTube.  It’s David Beckham for H&M.  They were introducing his new clothing/underwear/abs line?  I think I’ll end on this little advertisement.  You’re welcome.

Vote “No” to SOPA and PIPA

The poster below discusses the Senate version of the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). In the Senate the bill is called the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). SOPA has gotten more attention than PIPA because it was moving faster in the legislative process. But PIPA is just as dangerous, and now it is moving faster.

PIPA would give the government new powers to block Americans’ access websites that corporations don’t like. The bill lets corporations and the US government censor entire websites and cut sites off from advertising, payments and donations.

This legislation will stifle free speech and innovation, and even threaten popular web services like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

And even blogs like this one.

You can sign the petition HERE.

Apple Founder Steve Jobs: 1955-2011

The man who people are calling our generation’s Edison (or Einstein or John Lennon) passed away in his sleep yesterday after a long battle with cancer.  He was only 56 years old.

I love this piece my husband wrote about the impact of Steve Jobs. My kids won’t know a world that wasn’t touched by his brilliance. Rest in peace, Steve Jobs, knowing you made a difference in all our lives.  You will be missed.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Stanford University commencement address, 1995.

9/11

This is my post from two years ago on 9/11/09. 

I will never forget. Please say a special prayer for all the children who lost their Mama or Daddy 10 years ago today.

9/11/2001

I woke up, got ready for the day, and then drove to the Safeway grocery store around the corner from our condo to get an iced grande mocha.  They had a Starbucks kiosk inside the front entrance of the store.  I loved that.  I went there every morning to get my coffee and a newspaper.  I was still job hunting.  I moved to Maryland three months prior with my husband-to-be.  We were getting married in Charleston, SC in four days so I really had the job hunting thing on hold.  This morning I just wanted my mocha so I could hurry back to the condo and finish some last minute wedding phone calls.  I had to confirm my salon appointment.  I had to confirm our wedding day girls’ luncheon. I had to go over every single detail and checklist one more time.

When I was driving home with my mocha, I was listening to my husband on the radio.  He was the morning radio host for the local Top 40 radio station.  His morning show was always fun and upbeat but, all of a sudden, he started to sound really serious.  He said a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  Because my mind was in a million directions, I heard him say it, but it really didn’t register.  Then I heard him say, “I know we shouldn’t say this, but if you are near a television set please TURN IT ON.”  That registered.

I ran up the stairs to my living room and turned on The Today Show on NBC and sat and watched.  Then I turned on CNN. I watched it all unfold while I sat there alone with my white wedding binder sitting on the coffee table.  The second plane hit.  Then, a plane hit the Pentagon?  That was down the street from me.  Then, one in Pennsylvania?  What is going on? I just sat there in front of the television set. I didn’t move.  I couldn’t move.  I spoke to my husband on the phone a couple times.  He had decided to stay on the radio for the rest of the day so he could update his audience.  I also think that he wanted to help in some way.  I know I just felt helpless sitting there and watching it all on TV.

I called my parents and my sister and my brother.  Everyone was just in disbelief.

Then the towers fell.  I was on the phone with my Mom.  I will never forget it.

I still had to make my wedding phone calls.  I called the salon first.  I felt so weird confirming a hair and makeup appointment.  There was no answer.  Then I called the restaurant to confirm my girls’ lunch.  The man who answered the phone confirmed it and then we talked about how we could not believe what was happening.  We literally bonded over the phone.  We were two Americans worried about our country and that was the first moment I think I felt some anger.

I was angry because innocent people were dead.  I was angry because the joy I had inside me for my wedding day was gone.  The joy turned into confusion.  And the confusion turned into a million questions: Can this wedding still happen in four days?  Can we even fly there?  Do we drive now?  Would all guests still be able to come?  Do they even want to come now? Should we just stay home and cancel the whole thing?  What should we do??

Then, the anger turned into sadness.  I went to my parent’s house because I did not want to be alone.  Every news channel had a different story.  There was a preschool in one of the towers.  There were people that had jumped. There were family members with photos already searching for their loved ones.  It was heartbreaking and overwhelming.  I went home to be with my fiance.

I remember lying in bed that night and my head was spinning.  I remember hearing airplanes fly overhead all night long. We lived really close to downtown DC…to the White House.

And THAT was the first time the anger and sadness turned into fear.

Oh my god, I thought, we are at war.

Queen

I first met Ms. Earline Heath King when I was dating my husband back in 1998.  She was the best friend and life companion of my husband’s father.  So when we married in 2001, she was at the wedding.  And I know she was never technically my mother-in-law, but she always felt like one.  She passed away in her sleep yesterday.  She was 98 years old.

Earline, or “Queen” as we called her, was an extraordinary woman.  I was able to learn more about her life adventures during each family visit.  And she had such a big life.  She met a president.  She lived in Europe.  She earned an honorary doctorate degree.  She began to sculpt for the first time when she was 40 years old. But not only was sculpting her hobby, it became her life’s work and passion.  She had over 300 pieces commissioned including several popular public sculptures.  She was an icon in her small hometown of Winston-Salem, NC, a place she lived her entire life.

She was also a fun and glamorous lady.  She dressed impeccably and matched everything with beautiful costume jewelry.  She told funny stories and she loved a good martini.

My kids loved calling her Queen.  She was the sweetest lady and the name suited her well.

We will miss you, Queen.

 

Osama Bin Laden is Dead

Sunday, May 1, 2011: Almost 10 years after 9/11

I was watching The Real Housewives of OC on Bravo TV and I checked my Twitter.  I saw the string of tweets: “Osama is Dead!” “Go USA!”  ”Yes we did!”  I ran to turn on CNN and then I watched this:

I went upstairs to wake up Hubbie.  ”Osama Bin Laden is dead.  He’s DEAD.”  We hugged.  The tears came.  That murderer almost ruined my wedding.  He killed innocent people.  I’m happy, but I still don’t know what to think.  I’m relieved, but I’m scared. Could there be another threat this week?  Next week?  Could something else big happen to our country?  I have to get on a plane to Washington, DC next month.  Should I worry?  All I know is I feel an overwhelming gratitude to our military men and women who know how to keep a promise.  They got him.   They really got him.

 

Today was a Fairytale

I watched the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton with the kiddies.  We ate breakfast in front of the television set. They both were fascinated.  Annabel ran to put on her princess dress.  Daniel loved the car they rode in through the sea of admirers. I felt my heart flutter when they kissed (twice!) on the balcony.  It was magical.  I will be rewinding and watching the event over and over this weekend.  Prince William was so very handsome.  Kate’s dress was gorgeous.  A perfect, fairytale day.

William and Kate

Tomorrow is the big day!  The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.  I will be awake and watching the event unfold at 6 AM EST.  I can not wait to see Kate’s wedding dress.  And how cool that my daughter will be watching a real life Cinderella moment.  Truly epic.  I love this just released photo of the happy couple.  The countdown is on…

 

 

9/11

This is my post from last year on 9/11/09. 

I will never forget.

9/11/2001

I woke up, got ready for the day, and then drove to the Safeway grocery store around the corner from our condo to get an iced grande mocha.  They had a Starbucks kiosk inside the front entrance of the store.  I loved that.  I went there every morning to get my coffee and a newspaper.  I was still job hunting.  I moved to Maryland three months prior with my husband-to-be.  We were getting married in Charleston, SC in four days so I really had the job hunting thing on hold.  This morning I just wanted my mocha so I could hurry back to the condo and finish some last minute wedding phone calls.  I had to confirm my salon appointment.  I had to confirm our wedding day girls’ luncheon. I had to go over every single detail and checklist one more time.

When I was driving home with my mocha, I was listening to my husband on the radio.  He was the morning radio host for the local Top 40 radio station.  His morning show was always fun and upbeat but, all of a sudden, he started to sound really serious.  He said a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  Because my mind was in a million directions, I heard him say it, but it really didn’t register.  Then I heard him say, “I know we shouldn’t say this, but if you are near a television set please TURN IT ON.”  That registered.

I ran up the stairs to my living room and turned on The Today Show on NBC and sat and watched.  Then I turned on CNN. I watched it all unfold while I sat there alone with my white wedding binder sitting on the coffee table.  The second plane hit.  Then, a plane hit the Pentagon?  That was down the street from me.  Then, one in Pennsylvania?  What is going on? I just sat there in front of the television set. I didn’t move.  I couldn’t move.  I spoke to my husband on the phone a couple times.  He had decided to stay on the radio for the rest of the day so he could update his audience.  I also think that he wanted to help in some way.  I know I just felt helpless sitting there and watching it all on TV.

I called my parents and my sister and my brother.  Everyone was just in disbelief.

Then the towers fell.  I was on the phone with my Mom.  I will never forget it.

I still had to make my wedding phone calls.  I called the salon first.  I felt so weird confirming a hair and makeup appointment.  There was no answer.  Then I called the restaurant to confirm my girls’ lunch.  The man who answered the phone confirmed it and then we talked about how we could not believe what was happening.  We literally bonded over the phone.  We were two Americans worried about our country and that was the first moment I think I felt some anger.

I was angry because innocent people were dead.  I was angry because the joy I had inside me for my wedding day was gone.  The joy turned into confusion.  And the confusion turned into a million questions: Can this wedding still happen in four days?  Can we even fly there?  Do we drive now?  Would all guests still be able to come?  Do they even want to come now? Should we just stay home and cancel the whole thing?  What should we do??

Then, the anger turned into sadness.  I went to my parent’s house because I did not want to be alone.  Every news channel had a different story.  There was a preschool in one of the towers.  There were people that had jumped. There were family members with photos already searching for their loved ones.  It was heartbreaking and overwhelming.  I went home to be with my fiance.

I remember lying in bed that night and my head was spinning.  I remember hearing airplanes fly overhead all night long. We lived really close to downtown DC…to the White House. 

And THAT was the first time the anger and sadness turned into fear. 

Oh my god, I thought, we are at war.

The Magic Book

I remember when my Dad came home with a Commodore 64 computer.   It was a BIG deal.  It was 1982 and I was 11 years old.  My Dad set it up on a big desk downstairs in our basement.  He taught me some of the BASIC programming. We played tons of cool games on it.  It was exciting.  It was my first baby step into the world of computers and I had no clue where it would lead.

When the Internet popped up, I had just graduated from college.  So I didn’t have the Internet as a major study tool during my college years.  Heck, I didn’t even have a cell phone.  I would take a stack of quarters to the pay phone in our hallway when I wanted to call home.  By my senior year there were computer labs on campus, but I still used the library for my research projects.  We would camp out in study groups and write down information from books and Encyclopedias.  It just seems so arduous compared to today where you can sit with a laptop in your dormroom and Google ”19th century french women poets” or “biology 101 study guide.”

It’s so wild to think that my children will never know a world without cell phones or computers or the Internet.  I try to imagine what THEY will be using as study aids when they are in college.  Will there just be ONE small electronic notebook that is their computer, phone, ID, camera, video camera, calendar, etc.?

The coolest gadget in our house right now is the Apple iPAD.  I bought it for my hubbie for no real reason except that he REALLY wanted it.  And he never really wants anything.  Every birthday and every Father’s Day he gets the same expected polo shirt and spa massage.  He said he would wait a year for the iPad.  He wanted to save up the money.  But I knew I had to buy it for him.  It would ROCK HIS WORLD.

And I was right!

Plus, he shares the whole iPad experience with our kids.  He calls it “The Magic Book.”  Bean and Annabel have read The Cat in the Hat, Winnie the Pooh, and Toy Story on The Magic Book.  They have played PBS Kids games on it.  They have watched videos of themselves.  They have experienced a virtual fishing pond.  

And it’s just the beginning for them.  I guess it’s better to expose them to all this new technology as it happens.  I want them to be computer savvy.  But I still get stomach knots when I think about them on MySpace, or Facebook, or Twitter, or whatever the social marketing outlet will be when they are teenagers. Then there is cyber bullying and “sexting” and identity theft to worry about.

And I’m sure some people out there will think it’s weird (or perhaps wrong) that I write about my children on this website.  It’s a subject that gets talked about A LOT, including here. I do it because I want to remember everything that I experience as a Mom from the exhilarating to the challenging.  I want to remember all the pop culture moments that got me excited, made me laugh, or made me sad.  This website is my personal diary.  It’s part therapy and part virtual scrap book.

I only write down stories and thoughts that I would tell you in person. My husband reads all my entries before I post them.  It’s wonderful for me to share moments with my familiy and relatives who don’t live near me.  I don’t use curse words and that’s my personal decision. 

I write stories about my children so there will be memories for them when they are older.  I don’t write anything that might embarrass them and I never post pictures that might make them uncomfortable in 5 or 10 years.  My goal is to document everything from the major milestones to those tiny moments.  Everything I want to remember. Everything I want to share with my my son and my daughter when they are older.

I want my kiddies to peel through the layers of this website one day so they can learn more about who they were, what they liked, how they changed, how much I loved them.  I want them to learn more about ME and who I was, both as their mom and as a person.  The thought that they can sit down one day with their own kids and read stories that I wrote is something that makes me happy.  It makes me proud. It makes me excited.

I guess, in a way, this mommy blog is MY magic book.  And there are so many more magical chapters to come.

Next Page »