Defying The Odds....The Results!

Evan stays in???? Oh my! I did not see that coming. He's always been one of my fav's, but I totally thought he would be out tonight. After the opening routine, he was the only clown outside the box and he waved good bye...totally thought that was foreshadowing. So much for my interpretation skills.

Loved, loved, loved tonight's stroll down memory lane! The Door, Bleeding Love, I don't know the name of Will and Jessica's routine, and the Samba by Chelsea and Joshua. The Jabba Walkies (???) were awesome, too.

I had to fast forward through Sean Paul's never ending song. Doesn't he sometimes go by P Diddy??? I wonder if the back up dancers for those performances get nervous being around the SYTYCD dancers? Things that make you go hmmmmm.

I also FF'd through the solos since they were the same as last night and I don't particularly care for the solo performances anyway. Did I miss anything?

No surprise that Melissa was out, but man! What do you think is going through Evan's mind right now? Too bad for Ade, but I'm sure he'll go on to be a successful.....whatever it is that dancers become once they're voted off a reality show.

So there it is folks. Your top four dancers. Jeanine, Kayla, Evan and Brandon. Courtney is up for next weeks recap! Good night!

You Gotta Eat, 'Cause The Stage Is Your Bowl...

...and other ridiculous things that Lil' C pontificated about.

I feel like this episode was so jam packed that I shouldn't even take the time to say what a hot momma Cat is! But since I just did, allow me to say MEOW!!!

Let's jump in, shall we?

Brandon, Ade and Evan (She wants Revenge by True Romance)
Choreographed by Sonja!!! I really don't know what style it was, but I wrote down Willy Wonka meets the Phantom of the Opera. I loved it! I thought they had perfect timing and were so powerful! Lil' C was happy that Evan didn't get swallowed by the other two guys. Me too, Lil', me too.

*It seemed to me that Nigel did not have too much to say all night...until later, and I'll get to that.

Jeanine and Ade (Love Game by Lady Gaga)
They danced a Samba by Louis Van Amstel. Woo hoo! Jeanine looked like a sexy peacock! Ade needs to not smile sooooo much. It's kinda cheesy. Mary thought that the first 15 seconds were great, but then it all went down hill from there. I can't say that I agree or disagree because she talked a lot about technique of which I know nothing. I'll have to take her word for it. All I heard Lil' C say was something about "Smashing Universes" and I was lost....

Kayla (You Found Me by The Fray)
I think she danced it well, but I was more distracted by her lack of melanin causing her to appear to be translucent.

Melissa and Evan (Get Me To The Church On Time from My Fair Lady)
Evan got a Broadway piece by Tyce Deorio??? What??? Uncanny!!! Anywho...they were supposed to be a bride and groom, and the groom was running late. What in the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks was Melissa wearing???? Are you serious??? And the judges picked on Evan for his sock holder upper thingy's? Well, Lil' C was disappointed, Mary loved it and (finally) Nigel loved it, too.

Ade (18th Floor by Blue October)
Again, I think he's a fine dancer. I was a little distracted by his shirt flying around and I thought it was weird that he painted his jeans on, but whatever.

Kayla and Brandon (All I Want by Ahn Trio)
A contemporary routine by Stacey Tookey (from Canada's SYTYCD) about a mistress who won't leave her married man. I liked it when Kayla took off Brandon's shirt, yes I did! Lil' C thought it was intense and amazing. Mary thought it was brilliant. Nigel thought it lacked chemistry.

Melissa (I Put A Spell On You by Nina Simone)
Did this seem really short to anyone else? Maybe because the song was so slow? It was good...

*I kinda feel the same about all the solo's in that we're seeing a lot of the same over and over again. Of course all the dancers are brilliant in their genre! What's not to love? It's to be expected. Moving on...

Jeanine and Ade (Move If You Wanna by MIMS)
Yeah for a Nappy Tabs hip hop! With props! As friends who just got evicted, they had to dance with boxes. It was so fun! I was nervous for them, though as I'm wont to be when objects are involved. I thought they did great! Lil' C thought Ade sat in "it" and pulled Jeanine down into "it" with him. In any other conversation in life that would be interpreted as a bad thing, but apparently in dance...one wants to sit in "it". Mary thought that they would not be evicted. And Nigel thought they got down, too. He's so street!

Brandon (Ofortuna by Mozarteum Orchestra)
So powerful! He got a standing ovation and the title of Best Solo Ever! (Did no one else notice what he was wearing? Or not wearing? I wanted to call it a banana hammock, but Jay said it was more like a banana band aid. Yeesh!)

Melissa and Evan (As Long As I'm Singing by the Brian Setzer Orchestra)
Quick step routine by Louis Van Amstel. Man, it was quick!! It lived up to its name! Lil' C commended Evan for dancing bigger, but then criticized his retractions. Mary thought it went down hill. And Nigel said that Melissa was to SYTYCD as Cloris Leachman was to DWTS!!! What??? Just kidding!!! He was a little disappointed in the routine, though.

Jeanine ( Feedback by Janet Jackson)
Again...good. She sure does show a lot of boobs, though.

Evan (Lady Is A Tramp by Sammy Davis, Jr)
He's so cute...I wanna stick him in my pocket.

Kayla and Brandon (Dance - Disco Heat by Sylvester)
Disco by Doriana Sanchez. I loved it!!! Loved that they did the "Double Death Drop"...very cool. Loved all the lifts, everything!
*This is the point in the show when all the judges drop acid and stop being coherent.
Lil' C said, and I quote "because when you see with your ears, there is not darkness" and "befriend characteristics of your challenge" WHAT??? At least the others acknowledge his weirdness. Mary started talking about homeruns, then she's screaming and standing....Nigel just lost his damn mind. Pure mayhem. But, I think they liked it.

Last but not least....

Melissa, Jeanine and Kayla (Kick It by Nina Martine)
Yeah for another Sonja routine!!! The girls get to be Super Women!! The costumes were so fun. Melissa's little tutu was tutu cute! Lil' C thought they were being too courteous of each other and Mary thought Kayla was favored a bit too much. Nigel just wanted to motorboat Jeanine and it got awkward.

So, who do you think is out? Me? I think...maybe...Evan and Melissa????

We're Talking About Practice

This is my first foray into several things here in the bloggy world. I'm typing this on Wednesday evening...and hoping that it will publish itself magically on Thursday. First, I had to figure out how to fix the time stamp. Christina, over at the Crafty P, helps me with all things blogerific...but I didn't want to bother her for 2 reasons. 1) She's probably knee deep in SYTYCD and 2) I didn't want to have to ask her what time zone we're actually in. AND, I used the scanner on our new fancy pants printer/fax/scanner/photo printer/dancing machine! It took me awhile, and let's be honest, Jay had to help me figure it out. But, none the less, the job got done.

I'm writing this is advance because Jay and I are heading off to celebrate 10 years of marriage!!!! Our actual anniversary is Friday, so I will make a longer in depth post including newly scanned wedding pics then. We're going to shuffle off to golf, eat, relax, sleep!!! Not necessarily in that order......

So, while we're gallivanting, I thought I would leave some pictures here of our rehearsal, which was so hot (and not cool kind). And by some, I mean a few.


Here we have the bridal party....Carmela, Krista, me, Christina, Jenna and Lisa. Please, be kind. This was 10 years ago, pants suits were really cutting edge.


And the grooms party (is that the right term???) Tommy, Mick, Jay, Butch, Rick and Dan.


As a gift to his groomsmen, Jay gave them all a big, fat steak and a devotional. I gave the girls an engraved star shaped box with the wedding day jewelery inside. What did you give your wedding party? Anything creative???


Awwww....getting ready to say goodnight and see ya at the alter!!! Those crazy kids!!

***The title of this post is a reference that probably only Jay will understand, but I thought practice=rehearsal....just go with it.***

Oooh Honey Child!!!

Head on over to Renee's blog for a great recap of last nights SYTYCD!!!

This Is For The Birds...

This entire post is pointless. Except that I want to whine and share how easily I get flustered.

This morning Bella woke up wanting to do something special for lunch. By special, she meant going to the McDonald's with a play area. We're big time around here, people, we spare no expense. Great! Let's go to lunch kids. We bypassed the McD's that's less than 1/2 of a mile from our house in favor of one a little further because the last 2 times (TWO TIMES!!!) we've been to that McD's there has been a huge pile of PUKE on the ground in the play area. The most recent time, the heaving culprit was still there. His mom thought that moving over one table and not telling the manager would make it magically disappear. It didn't. Nice.

All that to say that Trey's nap time today got thrown outta whack. He refused to fall asleep when we got home and in turn decided that screaming his fool head off would be a better alternative. I disagreed, but apparently lost that argument as we all trucked down to the living room to play. After awhile, I sent Joe and Bella outside to play in the sandbox while I attempted to put Trey back down for a rest. His crying and their complaining had me a little edgy, but nothing to worry about.

This is where the flustered part kicks in....thanks for waiting. When I came back downstairs here's the conversation I had with Bella through the window.

Me: Hey Bella! Are you guys okay?
B: Yeah...I'm just talking to this bird. (My heart starts beating a little faster....)
Me: WHAT BIRD??? (I hate birds, they freak me out with all the wing flapping and feathers. I'm pretty sure that any bird that can talk has the Devil living in it.)
B: The bird in the pond. (Oh Lord! Visions of Bella poking a dead bird with a stick are racing through my mind.)
Me: Ummmm, Bella, is the bird sleeping?
B: No, Mommy. He's talking to me....see?
Me: I'll be right down...get away from the pond!!!!

I race outside, and sure enough there is a poor bird(I don't know what kind...sparrow, crow, carrier pigeon???) floating in the pond trying to keep his head up. His little beak was opening and closing silently, though I swear I heard "Help me" a few times. It was kinda sad....not sad enough for me to try to help. Now, I'm flustered. I can't just leave the bird in the pond, but surely I can't remove him either. So, I lock the kids into the screened in porch in an effort to protect them in case the dying bird catches a second wind and seeks vengeance. I did not take them into the house with me because they were covered in sand and in a split second decision the porch won out over a sandy basement.

I immediately called my father-in-law, Poppi. He's my go to guy on all things that go wrong or things I just don't want to deal with concerning the house. He's quite used to phone calls that sound something like this...."Poppi, I may have broken a pipe...." or "Poppi, there is a family of mice that need evicted from under the dryer." or "Poppi, is water supposed to be coming through the ceiling?" Here's today's conversation...

Poppi: Hey there! Whadya want?
Me: Poppi! There's a half dead bird in the pond and it's looking at me and I can't get it out because it might flap it's wings!......Are you laughing at me?
P: Yes.
Me: Ugh! Just get over here!

Fortunately the wind was blowing my way because Poppi arrived right away! Unfortunately, the bird was no longer trying to keep his head up when we trekked to the back yard. Poppi scooped him out and put him next to the pond thinking that the bird might "come to" and be able to be saved! Man! Now I have to watch the obviously dead bird out the corner of my eye in case it comes back to life! This is getting worse. Poppi decides that the plants in the pond need to be trimmed back and he needs my help to pull them out. Well, I liken the smell of the pond water to the scene in Shawshank Redemption when Andy DuFrane is crawling through 500 yards of sewage pipe. Yuck! THEN, he sticks the hose in the pond to fill it a little, but when he turns on the hose there's a kink in it, so when the water does come shooting out, the end of the hose in the pond flies out causing me to jump in fright and hit myself in the head with the shovel I'm holding. Yeesh!

After Poppi disposed of the dead bird, I started dinner. We always eat at 6:00. So, I was surprised when I took the chicken out of the oven at 5:58 and it was not nearly done. I'm mean not even like maybe if I dim the lights no one will notice the pink tint, but raw! My fluster factor just went up! My husband has no dinner! I threw nuggets in for the kids, but nothing for Jay! Just rice and green beans. Good thing is that on Tuesday nights, friends come over to watch pointless T.V. and eat wings and veggies, etc. Bad thing is when I took the chicken back out of the oven later, I did burn myself.

Is it bedtime yet?

Double the Fun on SYTYCD

Head on over to Megan's blog for a great review of SYTYCD from last night.

Uncomfortable Shades of Gray

Thank you, no, I'm not talking about the current state of my hair. I'm talking about that undefinable area between yes and no, right and wrong....mucky, fuzzy gray. That whole "Well, maybe..." or "It depends on the situation...". How can anyone stand firm on anything if the argument is based on maybes? I like for all things to fall into one of two categories, I have no time to sift through a million "what if's". Yet that's where I find myself, standing knee deep in "I can kinda see both sides". Now, I know this sounds rather extreme and I'm sure that I fall in the middle on a lot of topics....but if I had my druthers (look it up) I would eliminate wavering greatly.

What has my knickers in a bunch, you wonder? Well, don't worry, I'll tell you. The other day, Jana from The Meanest Mom blog, switched pens...er, keyboards with another blogger Jackie from The Silver Whining. Jackie's post was all about becoming "THAT mom". *editor's note - the rest of this post is heavy on the parenting side. You've been warned*

"THAT mom" is an unrecognizable form of you that comes out when your children are placed in crowded areas with (ominous organ music here) other kids!!! All of a sudden you become your child's own protective bubble, hip checking big kids that get too close, confronting line cutters and swing hogs, discouraging rousing games of tag. You find yourself sending the "evil eye" to all the moms clearly ignoring their ill raised youngins' so they can update their facebook status or delete last years Christmas pics form their camera. You've discovered a disdain for teenagers who thinks it's cool to revisit their youth by hanging (or making) out at a kids playground. How did you get here? What happened to the laid back attitude of 20 minutes ago? Let's just go have a good time, kids. Then BAM! "THAT mom" rears her ugly (yet, right!) head.

All (except for one) comments to Jackie's post were by mom's claiming to be "THAT mom"...yet we can't all be "THAT mom" or else we'd have nothing to complain about, right? So, are those "other" moms too embarrassed to speak up and say that they are the ones who let their kids go and "be kids"? Have they been too shamed to say that line cutting and running full speed near other people is not a huge deal in the scope of life? Will the earth stop rotating if your kid get knocked down or waits an extra 2 minutes for the germ infested biology test known as the water fountain because some other kid line jumped?

Let me be frank here (this is where you insert the line "and let me be Ginger" Ha!). I have been "THAT mom" since I was a scrawny 13 year old babysitter with fear issues. I can remember tucking my charges into bed, then watching the T.V. on mute while holding the cordless phone in my hand and checking on each kid during every commercial break. The $20 was hardly worth the stress it caused me. And it continues today. I have never sat down on the benches surrounding the play area at the mall and my kids are always within eyesight...well, really anywhere we go. And I do find myself wondering where the out-of-control kids mother is as he/she is going the wrong way up the slides or has been ignoring the line of kids building up behind the swing they've been on for 20 minutes.

BUT! I do NOT discipline other children for their misdeeds. Instead I try to redirect my own kids to a different area or activity. I love talking to teenagers, so I have no problem asking them in a way that is not snobby or demeaning to watch the language or to procreate elsewhere. I will protect my kids from obvious danger...like at Joe's baseball game, I had Trey sitting on a big blanket near the bleachers and a couple of the older boys (9 or 10) were playing some sort of tackling-until-there-is-bloodshed-involving-a-football-sometimes type game a little too close for my comfort. Like, close enough for me to block Trey from their flying feet. I had no problem asking them to play further away...and no problem explaining to the mom's who wanted to know where their son's had gone off to. I also know that kids are going to get knocked down at a crowded playground and they may not get a swing if they don't run fast enough or splashed in a pool. I'm okay with that.

The only negative comment on Jackie's post was from a woman who thought that "THAT mom" was doing a total disservice to her kids and would be sorry someday when said child can't cope in life. Yikes! That's kind of extreme, too, don't ya think? We're just trying to make sure everyone (and by everyone, I mean MY kids) is having a good time.

So, here I am in the gray area between over protective and under protective. It IS wrong to cut in line. And it IS wrong to let your kid who's 3 feet taller than the maximum height play in the kiddie area. But is a scraped knee inflicted by too-old-for-the play-area kid the end of the world? No. Is my kid doomed for failure if he hears a bad word? No. I'm in the middle of the spectrum here, people. I would like to be totally on one side or the other, because that's comfortable for me, but I cannot commit to one side or the other. It all depends on the situation. Ha!

What about you? Are you "THAT mom"? Are you the "other" mom? Have you ever confronted either a kid or a mom? Has anyone ever confronted your kid or you?

Get On The Hot Tamale Train!

Courtney did a great recap of SYTYCD! Check it out and leave comments and questions, too! We Sister's love a good discussion...in a light hearted reality T.V. kinda way.