TV: January Premieres+

Getting ready for the onslaught of TV shows for January as the new year commences. Some of which will inhabit temporary space on the DVR and others will be saved on OnDemand. Here's what I'm looking forward to:

Heroes, Monday, January 4, 8PM NBC
The Biggest Loser: Couples, Tuesday, January 5, 8PM NBC
Ugly Betty, Wednesday January 6, 10PM ABC
Fringe, Thursday, January 7, 9PM Fox
Ghost Whisperer, Friday, January 8, 8PM, CBS
Medium, Friday, January 8, 9PM, CBS
Dollhouse, Friday, January 8, 9PM Fox
Numb3rs, Friday, January 8, 10PM, CBS
Chuck, Sunday, January 10, 9PM, NBC
House, Monday, January 11, 8PM Fox
Heroes, Monday, January 11, 9PM NBC
American Idol, Tuesday, January 12, 8PM Fox
Bones, Thursday, January 14, 8PM Fox
CSI, Thursday, January 14, 9PM CBS
Human Target, Sunday, January 17, 8PM Fox
Supernatural, Thursday, January 21, 9PM CW
Psych, Wednesday, January 27, 10PM, USA
Lost, Tuesday, February 2, 9PM, ABC
FlashForward, Thursday, March 4, 8PM ABC

Of course I probably neglected some of your shows so take a peek here or here. Happy viewing!

Quotes of 2009

• It is always during a passing state of mind that we make lasting resolutions.~Marcel Proust JANUARY 2009


• If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular? ~ Anonymous FEBRUARY 2009


• We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like? - - Jean Cocteau MARCH 2009


• Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut save you thirty cents? ~Peg Bracken APRIL 2009


• I know how to do anything - I'm a mom. -- Rosanne Barr MAY 2009


• Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. ~Sam Keen JUNE 2009


• We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it. ~William Faulkner JULY 2009


• A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths. ~Steven Wright AUGUST 2009


• Don't knock the weather: nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while. ~ Kin Hubbard SEPTEMBER


• Double, double toil and trouble;
  Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
  -- William Shakespeare OCTOBER 2009


• Old is always fifteen years from now. – Bill Cosby NOVEMBER 2009


• To shorten winter, borrow some money due in spring.
  ~W.J. Vogel DECEMBER 2009

Men: Daniel Conn

Name: Daniel Conn (Daniel William Conn)
Best Known For: Rugby Player
Year of Birth: 1986
Status: Single?
Height: 6'
Fun Fact: He can cook.

Here's my other rugby player...sort of got my days switched around. Does it really matter? He is definitely a youngin' though at 23. Oh, and there's a lot more to that picture than I'm showing.

Chocolate: Ferrero Garden

I really dislike white chocolate. I even hate putting chocolate after the word white, because it isn't chocolate at all. It's just wrong. BUT I received some chocolates as a gift - my favorite Ferrero Rondnoir in a threesome with the hazelnut and Ferrero Garden.

Ferrero Garden is a white chocolate ball of sweet with coconut and cookie wafer. Because I like coconut, I liked this candy. I still feel like I'm betraying the category though.

Another review and description here.

Books: Barbie and the Beast

I am so thankful to be reading again! My actual last read was Robb's Promises in Death. Mentioned the series before and it has, in fact, been all I have been able to read since summer.

Well, except for now... I just read a book by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom called Barbie and the Beast. Girl falls for boy who is a werewolf. Of course if you've read any of my posts I've demonstrated an affinity for the supernatural. The back of the book was intriguing. The premise is good...conflict for her is that she hears her biological clock ticking and can't seem to find a good boy and conflict for him is that he can't seem to find the right girl except that his issue is being a werewolf.

I liked the banter, but the lack of immediate action and prolific word use was daunting. We didn't get to where they see each other clearly (and not under cover of the moonless night) until about page 90 and the date this happens in doesn't end until page 152. That is a loooong date. The reviews were divided, some liked it and some felt the way I did. Read at your own risk.

TV: What?

I love vacations. Anyone who has spent any time with me when a vacation is coming or during one can see how my excitement just bubbles over. But there is one thing about them that irks me...TV takes a vacation too.

All of the shows take a break at the same time I take a break. Normally this would be an ideal time to catch up with everything on the DVR, but one sort of gets into a routine of catching up along the way lest the DVR run out of space. So I'm left with a severe lack of shows to watch during vacation. The alternate really isn't appealing...football? Reality TV? Old movies? Ick.

My TV post is a complaint that TV shows shouldn't be on my timetable.

Miscellaneous: Free Range Kids

I came across this article at work, and while I can't share the article here I can share some links that refer to it. So what was it about? It was about how much we protect our children...overprotect. Kids are no longer allowed to do things we used to do as kids because of all the dangers in society today. While I agree that we need to become a little more vigilant, I don't think we are doing our kids any favors if we hover too much.

My kids attend a school that is not only nut free, but fish free. I'm not supposed to send my kids to school with tuna on the off chance that it should make its way into an allergy prone mouth. Don't get me wrong - I completely understand the dangers of allergies. But I've noticed that there is a higher percentage of kids allergic in schools in affluent areas - areas in which parents often have more time and money to protect their kids from every known danger. I think keeping our kids from playing in the dirt because of germ phobia has made our kids unable to handle allergens.

Well anyway, stuff to think about. Here's your links:
America's Worst Mom, Lenore Skenazy
Free Range Kids Blog, Skenazy
Dr. Resa
Jennifer and Dawn of 5 Minutes for Books

Men: Ben Cohen

Name: Ben Cohen (Ben Christopher Cohen)
Best Known For: Rugby Player
Year of Birth: 1978
Status: Married
Height: 6'2"
Fun Fact: Public knowledge that he isn't circumcised

Okay, this rugby cutie is married and before I looked up his name I knew nothing about him. Funny that I should be posting two rugby men in a row, huh? Okay, so the comment about his privates...he was explaining that although his last name indicates it, he is not Jewish and therefore is "intact."

Funny the stuff we see online.
BTW, the picture comes from a calendar 07-08 True Blue

Chocolate: Dagoba Mint

waxy, hint of mint, dark, melty only after several chews

Those are the notes I took while I was eating the dark chocolate Dagoba Mint. B and I happened upon a largely organic little shop while on our mini-vay-cay (LOL). When I saw the large array of Dagoba, I decided one MUST be purchased. Having already tried the milk, I went for the dark. You see my notes.

I probably wouldn't buy that bar again, which is somewhat disappointing. I'm starting to think I may need to purchase all the bars I've reviewed and revisit them (which would be AWESOME!). I could have had a weird food day or been in a mood and not really given an objective opinion (oxymoron). Anyway, I could definitely taste the flowery/fruity part donated by the rosemary and many like the bar. I just wasn't sold on it.

Books: How Babies Are Made

The topic of the birds and the bees has come up in conversation with several people I know. Questions and answers...how did you find out? How is it being taught in school? When did you teach your kids?

The B and I have always told our kids the truth. That doesn't mean we don't use funny words to describe private parts and such, but we also use the real words. And, much to my chagrin, the kids have picked up quite a bit from watching the TV shows we do or listening to the music we like. We have always been clear about explaining what they hear or see.

But since the topic had been coming up lately (and I've been neglecting my posting duties) I decided to share with you the book that I use with my kids. How Babies Are Made. It was a book I picked up while on the hunt for cheap pregnancy books at the Good Will stores. I thought it was cute and appropriate then. I've found it extremely helpful now. You can check out the reviews at Amazon from the link. They are nearly all positive.

The copy I have was printed in 1968, but many of the reviewers have indicated no change in the 1980's version. It starts with how flowers are made and progresses through animals and then to humans. The pictures are not realistically graphic as they are created with cut paper, but they are very accurate and non threatening. I read it to A when she was nearing the end of third grade. She was already experiencing body changes and I wanted her to know why.

M is a little different in that she sees how her sister is developing. She just saw me take the book off the shelf.

Her: When did Abby read that book?
Me: In third grade. (pause) Did you want to read it?
Her: Maybe, yeah. But can I read it by myself?

I think she's ready.

Overwhelmed!

For anyone who reads my blog (all 2 of you), I'm just too overwhelmed to put in my new entries. This project at work has taken my weekends away too! So I will be back, probably this coming weekend (no guarantees!)

In my absence try to think of what I'll post next ;)

Frightful

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful..."
And this month is far from delightful.

Yeah, so not the holiday spirit. But I'm trying not to feel like scrooge so hard it's causing more stress. The kiddies are full of the sickies. If it's not one it's the other, like their having a race to see who can vomit first and best. Okay, a little exaggeration, but the tummy hurts, the head hurts, there's a fever here, and a lot of snot there...

I bought Christmas cards early, but they aren't addressing and signing themselves. Imagine that! I think another year is going to go by without a tree...or decorations. 'Cuz the house won't clean itself either, and there isn't anywhere to put the tree.

Last but surely not least, this month always starts with the dreaded work project. Every year it's the worst time of the year. The stress is palpable.

Here's to hoping that a few days before Christmas, there's honest to goodness joy around here.