TV: Olympics

I was extremely ambivalent about the Winter Olympics.
"Why isn't my show on?"
"Oh, is that starting tonight?"

Then I started watching. I was excited to see JR Creski because he'd shown the Biggest Loser contestants his gigantic scar and had shown them how to slide on that thingie. The short track races scared me. Those guys were so close to each other. I thought surely there'd been more skaters with big gashes in their legs. I was jumping out of my seat when the Koreans knocked themselves out and Ohno and Creski won their first medals.

I became a critic when I watched the women doing the downhill and cringed at the crashes. I got frustrated with the commenter (the woman) when she criticized Vonn for favoring her good leg before winning a medal. Geez Louise! She won! I don't care why she almost lost control at the end of her run.

I fell in love (metaphorically) with the Canadian Curlers... one player in particular who'll make an appearance in my blog shortly :) I had known absolutely nil about the sport and by the end of the day I could pick out their strategies. I breathed a massive sigh of relief when they beat the British. And cheered when they won the gold yesterday.

I cheered the Chinese Li Nina when she made those nearly flawless jumps. That woman was amazing.

With sports I'm a little inconsistent. I have no idea whether I'll be this excited during the London summer games in a couple of years or whether I'll be looking for the same guys that did so well in Vancouver when they get to Sochi (although I may keep an eye on a certain curler...) But I'm no longer ambivalent about these games. I might even watch closing ceremonies.

Miscellaneous: Food Storage

Fresh foods don't stay fresh long enough for them to get eaten in our house. It's a shame because eating fresh food is so much healthier. But, it's hard for us to eat the same thing each day until it runs out or for us to get to the grocery store every 3-4 days to shop. And we don't have a very big freezer. What's worse is that we aren't with it enough to find a way to label all of our food. I'm successful with my soymilk because I can write it right on the top, but leftovers don't have a place to write things and some containers don't have a good surface.

Rather than get a bunch of ideas on how to label our food, we are trying to remember the length of time something can be in our fridge and still be edible. I'm sharing our source with you.

Time to go throw away some lunchmeat.

Men: Nick Denbeigh

Whew! Is it hot in here?

Name: Nick Denbeigh
Best Known For: Model (also listed as Nick Dese)
Year of Birth: ~1984
Status: Single
Height: 6'
Fun Fact: One of his favorite movies is "40 Year Old Virgin"

Rick Day photo credit

This guy is so gorg that I had to give a heads up on some lish photos...google his name and check out manhuntdaily and daviddust.

Chocolate: Chocolate Cheerios

Did you know General Mills has Chocolate Cheerios? Well, you do now. And I've had them for breakfast. They are two Os that taste similar to cocoa krispies minus the crunch and plus the interesting taste that is uniquely Cheerios. They turn your milk chocolatey.

B asked me if I liked them. They're okay. I would eat them again, but they aren't my first choice just because I'm not fond of the chocolatey milk and sometimes I don't like the Cheerios after taste. A & M are not so deterred.

On the other hand, the normal treats that can be made with Cheerios would probably taste so much better with chocolate. Don't you think?

Books: When She Was Bad

Loved this fluff! When She Was Bad by Cindy Kirk

Jenny is your typical shy, nerdy, hard worker who gets passed over for a promotion and decides she needs to live more dangerously. Spurred on by a friend she sleeps with Robert and falls in love. Problem? She lied about who she is (becoming someone who is her polar opposite) and can't find the guts to confess.

I loved the characters because they spoke to me. A book that has characters that I relate to always gets a higher recommendation. Which is not always fair because everyone is different, and what I liked about the main character may strike no chord whatsoever with anyone else. I loved the whole good girl goes bad, because I wish I had done that when I was younger! Well, maybe not to that extent. I (contrary to at least one review at Amazon) liked the hot scenes. They weren't too serious rather fun and mostly lighthearted.

I also really like when an author creates connections...the main character says this because you read on page blah, blah, blah that she... It wasn't as subtle as I usually feel comfortable with, but I was 'oh, yeah!' -ing a lot.

I initially thought I'd like to read a few more of her books, but the only book not a Harlequin has a good bad review for it. Meaning, the review was good and the book could have been better. So... maybe we'll give Kirk time to become a bit more established and see what she churns out.

TV: American Idol

What have I done?

Apparently missed one of my favorite parts of one of my most watched shows. I've missed American Idol auditions. I suppose I should be happy that most of the show hasn't aired. I should still be able to see the favorite singers select their songs, receive their criticisms, and either move on or get chucked.

But I love the screeching noises some of the contestants emit. You know, the ones they call singing. I love laughing at the comments of the judges, and I actually think Simon was accurate in his assessements. The way I'm going on you'd think I'd be more upset that I missed all the action, but I've been so preoccupied with all the other TV awesomeness that I haven't felt the need to get caught up.

Supernatural is almost at its end, and I will miss the gorgeous face of Jensen Ackles. Ugly Betty is going away and I'm afraid of what the producers will consider a good end. Lost is wrapping up and my anticipation level for that end is equal to the distance to the sun.

Maybe trying to watch this season, Simon's last, is a futile effort. You tell me.

Miscellaneous: Super Bowl XLIV

You are reading the words of a person who is not a football fan.

But I watched the Super Bowl.

I don't know who I wanted to win. The general sentiment is that the Saints had never been in the Super Bowl so they deserved to win. They certainly wanted it. But after a few plays I decided I really liked Manning. In the end I'm glad the Saints got their win.

And I watched the commercials.

Hated the Motorola: Megan Fox and the Boost Mobile: Shuffle (Eeew!) Loved Bette White and the Volkswagon PunchDub. The Cars.com commercial had a great buildup until I found out what the commercial was for. The Careerbuilder.com commercial was creepy. The Doritos: House Rules and the Audi Green Car were my favs.

Men: D.B.Woodside

There's just something about him. Not so much cute or gorgeous as distinguished.

Name: D.B. Woodside (David Bryan Woodside)
Best Known For: TV Shows, Buffy and 24
Year of Birth: 1969
Status: Partner (Golden Brooks)
Height: 6'3"
Fun Fact: Played HS football

Thumbs up on the finger itching bald head and swoon worthy height.

Chocolate: Chocolove

You're in for a treat! A friend reviewed a Chocolove Chocolate bar. Here's what she thought...

"The first bite. A bit bitter and the raspberries make it grainy on my tongue. Second bite I get the idea to flip the chocolate over so the raspberries are on the top of my mouth instead of my tongue. The chocolate is creamer as I let it melt this time. Still slightly bitter and when you get to the raspberries they are tart and get stuck in your teeth. I'd buy it again though because the chocolate flavor despite being a bit on the bitter side also had that creaminess that is usually lacking in dark chocolates. Maybe a different flavor next time.

I bought it at a specialty coffee house in Columbia Falls MT. The 1.2 oz, single serve bar size is 181 cal...which is pretty good considering the size, which I was able to share with my daughter so we each only consumed 1/2 the cal. and it was $1.55. At this particular location they sold larger bars of some of the varieties and offered 33% Milk Chocolate, 55% Orange peel in Dark Chocolate, 55% Raspberries in Dark Chocolate, 33% Toffee and Almonds in Milk Chocolate, 33% Hazel nuts in Milk Chocolate, 61% Certified Organic Dark Chocolate, and 65% Ginger Crystalized in Dark Chocolate .

The toffee one sounds good as does the ginger...I'm not big on orange and chocolate as a combo, but would be willing to try it."

Books: Literacy and Longing in LA

I had ten minutes to pull something off the shelves of the library to bring home. I ended up with four, one of which I've read before (and seriously don't care to ever lay eyes on again...more about that one later.) I really ran out of time to search and later to read, but I did finish Literacy and Longing in L.A. by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack.

What I like about the book is that the main character, Dora, grows. I mean her learning curve is steep, and she really comes out at the end a different person. I'm happy with the change. What I'm not sure about is her journey there. In a way, I just felt like I was ho humming along on her journey. There wasn't any particular part that held me in suspense or kept me on the edge of my seat. Maybe I shouldn't be looking for that in this kind of book, but even my fluff has me saying, "Oh my, what is she going to do now?" and I didn't have an inkling of that in this book.

The back of the book (an L.A. Times bestseller) says things like breezy, sexy, profound, sharp, poignant, seamless, witty, and funny. I think the best fit is poignant. I'm not a poignant kind of gal. Decent book, just not my cup of tea. I also have A Version of the Truth by the same authors that must be returned to the library in the next 4 days. Hmmmm...should I or shouldn't I? Better yet, do I have the time?