debily

Archive for March, 2008

It’s opening day, baby!!

Let the season begin!  Woot!

You wanna know why? Lookee what I just found on my studio floor:

Read the rest of this entry »

At the end of February I received an exciting email from Trey’s teacher:

Trey is the Most Valuable Maverick.  He will be receiving his award this Friday at 8:45 at the Mavs Fan Jam.  I hope to see you there!

After doing a little further research, I determined that this was the “big deal”…the award given to one or two students from each class who have done the best all-around job that month: academically, socially, behaviorally.

The Fan Jam was held February 29 and both Matt and I were able to attend. Getting through the doors was difficult with our chests puffed out as they were and our heads swelled with pride…but we managed. Trey was thoroughly surprised to receive his award – but also tremendously proud. We always knew he was a valuable kid – and he’s certainly MOST valuable to us. But it’s nice to know that others see things our way, too.

It’s finally here!!  Just pretend it’s last Thursday and be all excited with me!

The NCAA basketball tournament has finally begun, and I must admit, there’s really not a more exciting couple of weeks in college sports.  I love the first weekend of the tournament, when everyone’s brackets are clean, when optimism is high and anything is possible.  I love watching the first-round upsets, the David-vs.-Goliath matchups, the unpredictability of who’s hot and who’s not.   I love watching the field of 64 get whittled down, in 4 short days, to the “Sweet Sixteen.”

But I didn’t get to enjoy any of that this year, because I was at the Zoo.

*Sigh.*

So here it is, a week later, with my brackets a mess and my dream of winning the family “pot” quickly fading.   Thankfully the kids and I commiserate well together…they’ll keep me company as we hang on for dear life on the bottom rungs of NCAA bracketology.

Our final four picks:

Matt: Memphis, UCLA, Wisconsin, & UNC.  Winning it all – Memphis

Debbi: Memphis, UCLA, USC, & UNC.  Winning it all – UCLA

Trey: UT-A, TAMU, UMBC, UNC.  (he went for initials, apparently)  Winning it all – Gig ‘em Aggies!   (because he’d rather disappoint Aunt Christin than his Daddy, according to him.)

Crisana: Temple, Duke, Georgetown, UNC.  Winning it all – Georgetown.

I think I’ve suddenly become a fan of blue & gold.

Last night was the annual “year of your birth song” night. I’m always amazed by the song choice on this night…I’d love to see a copy of the selected song lists the contestants can choose from.

Based on last night’s DWTS results, I am still batting an even .500 – great odds for baseball, notsomuch for Vegas. We’ll see if I can continue my lukewarm streak tonight.

Who’s hot? Michael Johns, though definitely not my favorite, really rocked it out with Queen’s “We are the Champions”/”We Will Rock You.” I had to admit I liked his performance. Brooke White looked spectacular with straight hair and I loved her rendition of “Every Breath You Take.” And, of course, once again David Cook gave the performance of the night with his take on “Billie Jean.” In Simon’s words….”lllllohved it.”

Who’s not? I’m going to go with my three favorite bottom feeders. Why not? They’re not going to win it all, so odds are I’ll eventually get it right. Though I have to say I am nervous tonight for Carly & David Archuleta. They definitely deserve to make it right down to the wire, but their performances last night were definitely subpar. So, in hopes of saving my favorites through the power of my blog (stop laughing), I predict the bottom 3:

              

Gone? Kristy.

Tune in tonight to see how I do!

Let the drama begin!  Last season was perhaps the most tragedy-filled Dancing With the Stars seasons ever.  And while the drama off the ballroom floor was amazing, I thought the chemistry between the dancers was equally as captivating.  This year, perhaps because the season is still new, the chemistry just doesn’t seem to be there.  And – quite possibly as a result – the dancing doesn’t either.

Ah, well.  Hopefully once we eliminate the riff-raff things will pick up a bit.  And let’s hope Len refrains from any more comments about British specialty foods.

And since I don’t have time for a full recap, I’ll offer my views on the two boo-birds this week.

Adam Corolla:  Dancing -boo.  Calling Carrie-Ann a b-word – Double BOO.  And throwing your partner under the bus and saying that although the dancing is fun, all the preparation is “just not worth it” – HUGE BOO.  He needs to be tossed out with the rubbish.  Buh-bye.

Monica Seles:  I really like her.  I really do.  But her skills just aren’t up there.  And unfortunately, neither are her looks.  She can’t compare with the hotness that is Shannon.  She can’t compare with the grace and elegance that is Priscilla. She can’t compare with the effervesence that is Marissa.  She can’t compare with the skills of Kristi.  And she certainly can’t compare with the inspiration that is Marlee.  I wish we could eliminate two of the guys so she could stay.  But unfortunately, we can’t.  And so this tennis star’s girlhood dream comes to an end tonight.  Buh-bye.

So far my predictions have been less than stellar.  We’ll see how this one goes!

It’s spring, and you know what that means!

No, no, no, I’m not talking about wearing white shoes and losing an hour of sleep and being totally scared of your own pasty white legs after months of hiding beneath jeans….

What I’m talking about is spring cleaning!! And that means to-do lists! At least it did for my mother…

So with fond memories of not being allowed to go play until I had crossed everything (and I mean everything) off my to-do list, I now share with you my list of blog-related things to-do. No, it’s not spring cleaning, but it’s spring “catching-up” and organizing, which is – in my book anyway – the next best thing.

1) Spring break (rainy day fun and misadventures, the Zone, Dallas Zoo, & Six Flags)

2) Easter (including a full description of outfits and accessories, plus great shopping deals!)

3) Dancing With the Stars recap and predictions

4) Adding pictures to previous posts as promised

5) NCAA bracket-ology…as dismal as it is.

Aren’t you excited?

Last week was the John Lennon/Paul McCartney Songbook when most everyone sang Beatles songs.  And though not a huge fan of Beatles music (yes, I know, pure sacrilege – but I’m not a huge fan of 60′s music in general, so there) I thought it was a rockin’ week with great performances, great updates of classic songs, and some really stellar moments.

This week, notsomuch.

This week was pure Beatles, and  I have to say only Carly really knocked my socks off.  Her rendition of “Blackbird” was beautiful, heartfelt, and showed what a tremendous voice she has.  I’m not sure I understood Simon’s criticism of it being “indulgent” and a bad choice of song for the words, as I felt it was a good opportunity for her to show a different side of her talent.  Anyhoo… on with the bottom 3.

In my opinion, it really could be the bottom 8 this week because there was such a discrepancy between the top performances of the night and those that were – as good ol’ RC would say – meh.

Top performances: Carly, Syesha (though I wasn’t blown away), David Archuleta & David Cook.

Meh: everyone else.

So who officially lands in the bottom 3?  Here are my picks:

Kristy Lee Cook:  At some point, her luck of being the “last man (sic) standing” is going to run out.  Her rendition of “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” was far better than last week’s disaster of “Eight Days a Week”, but still not good enough to get her through many more weeks.  She is just biding time….

Ramiele Malubay:  I think she’s cute.  I think she’s a darling person with a great personality.  I even think she has a great voice.  But she doesn’t seem to be commanding the stage like she did in Hollywood.  She seems overwhelmed by the bigness of the stage and the audience and the difficulty of the songs.  She seems totally out of her element and uncomfortable in her own skin.  I’d love to see her go farther, but unless she gets a grip on reality, I fear her days are numbered.

 Jason Castro:  How could I leave out my perennial favorite? Despite the fact that he’s an Aggie, despite the fact that he hails from Rockwall, despite his beautiful eyes, I can’t wait for him to be gone.  I must say, I’m glad he ditched the guitar.  But his goofy facial expressions and falsetto drive  me crazy.  Last night, his rendition of “Michelle” just about did me in…especially the French part.  Is it just me, or did he look terribly uncomfortable singing in a foreign tongue?

So there are my bottom feeders.  Who stays?  Who leaves?  My guess: Kristy.  Or Ramiele.  Or Jason.  Or Amanda.  Or Michael.  Or…..

This week is spring break for us.  We won’t be going out of town or doing any of the fabulous vacations so many in this area seem to do – but I always enjoy the time just to reconnect with friends and hang out with my kids.  The past few days it seems my house has become the hangout for all the neighborhood kiddos – which is totally cool with me, since I’ve always dreamed of being the “kool-aid mom.”  Unfortunately, I don’t have any kool-aid made, nor do I have that really awesome kool-aid pitcher…and ain’t no way I’m letting a big, red, pitcher-shaped dude break a hole in my wall…but that’s really beside the point.

So this week, all I’ve planned to do is get together with various people we don’t get to see very often, and hopefully throw in an outing or two here and there.  Today we took advantage of dry weather and hit the park with my mom. Read the rest of this entry »

See how far behind I am?  Here it is, only 2 weeks away from ending the 3rd month and I’m just now writing my “goal” post for the 2nd month!  Better late than never, I guess!  Read the rest of this entry »