The Holidays are Almost Over

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! There are so many traditions that I love at this time of year. Mostly, getting lots of days off work. :)

My best friend and I started cooking Christmas dinner for our families the year after we graduated college, and each year we have a different theme. This year was Italian, so we made lasagna, fettucine alfredo, salad, cheese/garlic bread, and green beans and cheesecake....YUM YUM for the TUM TUM as my friend Vanessa likes to say!

We also go see the classic film "It's a Wonderful Life" on the big screen as the local art-house theater shows it every year. I have to say, every year I enjoy it more and more, and apparently it is catching on as when we used to go, there would be like ten people in the theater, and this year it was packed! Good for the Belcourt, but the annoying people texting in front of us were killing me! Anyway, I LOVE this movie, I love the moment where Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed's characters see each other at the party for the first time as "grown-ups" and Donna Reed looks so resplendent and who wouldn't fall in love with her? And the scene where they are talking on the phone together and the tension between them is CRAZY-I just love it. If you have not seen this movie, go now to Netflix and put it in your queue. Or I will let you borrow it. But you have to see it.

Did I mention lots of days off work? So today I am back for a three-day work week but I had three days off last week and two this week and I have watched all kinds of TV marathons-Some in the form of my own DVDs, some scheduled on tv.....I love watching TV shows in marathon format!

And even though the Titans lost yesterday-like, ugly lost-it didn't matter in the grand scheme and we might end up playing the Colts again if they beat the Broncos next week, and we will exact our revenge. It always comes around.....look at what happened to the Jets!

Also trying to get caught up on the photography website and blog....will be working on that this week. Since I only have one job now, I will be looking to kick up the photo biz a notch so if you have any photography needs, or have friends looking for a photographer, spread the word. If not, check out my website anyway.....

Merry Christmas Titans fans! (and everyone else too)

It was an early Christmas present yesterday for Titans fans, as our team beat the Steelers, securing home-field advantage for the playoffs. We also got a nice stocking stuffer since Brett Favre and the Jets, who handed us our first loss of the season, lost to Seattle and might not even make the playoffs. AWWWW. So sad. Don't mess with the Titans!

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20081222/SPORTS01/812220323

Also if you are looking for something to get you in the Christmas spirit, perhaps while sitting at your desk avoiding doing your actual work as I like to do, NPR has a diverse playlist of Christmas music-they are calling it "Jingle Jams" and you can stream it on a continuous loop. It should help you feel festive!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97778347

OUCH!

It is a gloomy, rainy day here in Nashville, one of those days where we've already seen the hi temp and its all downhill from here. And there is an Ice Advisory, so by the time we're all ready to drive home from work its going to be sleeting and turning to ice....fabulous. Can I just tell you I am over the rain, cold, and gloom that hung around most of last week and looks to be more of the same this week? It HURTS me. Please sunshine, come back!

Anyway, Titans lost for the 2nd time to the freakin' TEXANS, but they deserved it because they all played like poop. Hopefully its a good kick in the you-know-where and they'll get it together in time to play the Steelers. Bad news is we may have lost Albert Haynesworth and we're already down Kyle Vanden Bosch, so we really have to be in the game next week. Everyone is blaming Fisher for going for it instead of kicking the field goal near the end of the game, but come on. We would not have had to rely on that kind of risk-taking call anyway had we played a better game for, oh, the first 3 quarters.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20081215/SPORTS01/812150341

In political news, most are focusing on that crazy Governor from Illinois, and whether or not he'll step down today (in a word: NO). I never trust anyone named Rod. Just a helpful suggestion, Illinois. But I'm actually more amused by two other stories in the political news arena.

First, I am sure you've all seen the video of GWB ducking (pretty good reflexes, George!) as an Iraqi reporter throws shoes at him and calls him a dog (apparently that is the Iraqi version of giving him the finger). That's pretty amusing in and of itself. But the BEST part of this is when George tells the media that he's not insulted, and he thinks the guy just wanted to be on TV. Once again, GWB has no idea why loads of people, here and abroad, are disgusted with him, and proves his lack of self awareness, which, you know, is part of the disgust.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/BushLegacy/story?id=6460837&page=1

Second, John McCain was on This Week yesterday and totally threw Sarah Palin under the bus, saying while it was a pleasure to know her (KISS OFF!) there are a lot of good governors out there (QUALIFIED!) that will be shaping the future of the Republican party and he would not necessarily support her for President in the future (OVER HIS DEAD BODY!). He also defended Obama in relation to Governor-gate by refusing to join the criticisms of the RNC and said we should be talking about the economy instead.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/14/mccain.senate/index.html

Things I Hate...OK Just One Thing.

I have never been able to stomach that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition show. I can't really get through an episode without being in tears, and I guess my social work background comes out because I always wonder what happens AFTER the family gets this great house-can they afford the mortgage? What about the electricity for all those fancy flat screen TVs and stuff? IS that really going to cure their cancer or help the blind dad see again? If someone really wanted to help the family, why not offer to pay their medical bills or something-why give them a fancy house and stuff they don't really need? It may make them feel good for awhile, but what happens when the camera crew leaves and the bills keep coming? We all know that more "Stuff" doesn't really solve your problems, it usually seems to create more....so lo and behold a headline on People Magazine's website about a family now unable to pay the mortgage on their dream house and has lots of medical bills too. I just get frustrated that the line of thinking on how to make someone's life easier or better is to give them nice things and a new house....and then leave them to deal with the aftermath, not to mention the new standard of living they will be accustomed to which they clearly would not have been able to enjoy otherwise. Now, I know in some cases they make wide hallways for wheelchair bound folks, and that is legitimate. But tearing down a whole house to do it? Probably not necessary. I'd rather see a show use mege-bucks to pay off someone's medical bills, assist folks who can't pay their bills due to catastrophic events, send kids with cancer to Disneyland or something.

I can't help it, the whole premise of this show has always bugged me, and now I feel justified knowing that I was right-the good times may not last for these families, and who's going to help them when they don't?

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20245129,00.html