I just finished the first season of 24 on DVD. This show is based on twenty-four episodes that are one hour each, which when added together comprise a single day. It's the story of a CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) officer, played by Keifer Sutherland, who is trying to stop an assassination against a presidential candidate, all the while his wife and daughter are in danger of the same people. If you watch one episode you're addicted. Well, twenty-four hours later I must admit that I can't wait for the second season to come out on DVD (which isn't until September 2, according to Amazon).

So we finally broke down and got cell phones. Yeah, I'm a hypocrite. I said I never wanted a cell phone because it gives people the impression they can reach you at any given time, and it gets downright annoying. I still won't be one of those people who starts dialing while you're in the middle of a conversation. There is such a thing as stuff being too convenient.

Brandon and I went to this place called "Color Me Mine" on Friday night. Yeah, we're probably the only people our age that spend our Friday nights painting pottery
for fun. But hey, we got to paint gnomes! Anyway, the only people left in the place when we got there were a few yuppy moms and a teenage couple. As we picked out our pottery and painted it, we got to hear some pretty interesting conversations out of the yuppy moms. You probably don't care about them talking about their Yoga class. Or the next school play or that great vacation they just returned from. Nope, neither did we. However, it was pretty funny to hear the following:

Yuppy Mom 1: My little Jeffrey hasn't had a bowel movement in 5 days now.
Yuppy Mom 2: Oh! I know just how that is. My daughter went a whole week before she went!
Yuppy Mom 3: It's so funny! I mean, you want to encourage them to go poopy, but then it's absolutely toxic when they do!
Yuppy Mom 1: Tell me about it! I'm in there saying, "Good job, Jeffrey! Way to go!" but on the inside I am positively gagging. Oh, mercy! Ha-ha!

I pity their children.

I stayed up all late last night watching the war on TV and what did I find out? Nothing. Then I woke up and turned on the tube this morning and still nothing. I think tonight will be the exciting night.

Wendy and I have this basic rule: Whenever I purchase something for myself, she gets to buy something for herself. I buy books and she buys clothes. What is most funny about this is that Wendy equates the value of what I bought into units of clothing. Let me give an example: this past weekend, I purchased Harold Hoehner's Commentary on Ephesians, which ended up being around $43. The first thing that came out of Wendy's mouth was, "Ooh, I'z gonna get myself some nice clothezez" [sic]. Yup, I could just hear her thinking of what to buy with that $43.

If there's one thing I've learned from all my hours of studying ColdFusion, it's that you must always <CFFLUSH> after you <CFDUMP>. Where's that in your textbook Mr. Ben Forta?

Just to let you guys know, our phone line is being super annoying, so we're not dead or anything. It allows us to talk on the phone or get online for about three minutes before it get overwhelmed with static.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to say that I hate the DMV. If I've ever believed there was a purgatory, it would be when you have to wait all day in that crowded place to get next to nothing accomplished. Bleh.

What follows are my opinions or thoughts on the reality shows on the Fox Network. This is for all of you who haven't been watching Fox lately.

Joe Millionare
Fox finds Evan, an unsophisticated guy who is dirt poor and happens to be a terrible liar. They send him to France to pretend to be fifty-million-dollars rich. He meets and "gets to know" 20 girls and each week making the list smaller until he has one. He choses the so-called "nice" girl and she supposibly accepts him for his poor self. Then they get a check for a million dollars, but do they marry? No, they're just friends.

American Idol
A disgruntled producer (Simon), a has-been popstar (Paula Abdul), and some other guy who's famous for something (Randy) judge hundreds of singers all trying to become the biggest name in music. People who can't sing worth beans get booted, people with voices and attitude stay. After a filtration process of several shows, the judges turn the fate over to the American voters (which all consist of thirteen-year-old girls). The voters filter out many of the "attractive" people (probably out of resentment), and chose who they think should be the next American Idol.

Married by America
Though advertised as America chosing a husband/wife for a certain desperate person, it really isn't the case. The family/friends of the bride/groom to be choose five people from a larger group. They then dwindle it down to four, then three, then stinkin' two people. After that, America choses which of the two people the future bride/groom shall marry. Then they get engaged before seeing each other. But do they have to marry? No. Fox is going to draw this thing out as long as possible by showing how they "live" together for an umpteen number of weeks before they have to do the deed of getting married. AND out of the five couples, only ONE group gets the goods ($100,000 and a car). If they commit themselves for six months they also get a house. Of course, anyone could put up with anyone else for six months if a free house is on the lines. Really, this show was disappointing because America did not have the choosing power that it needed to make this show have much entertainment.

Oliver Beene
Even though Fox will never admit to this show as being a "reality show" it really is one. Oh it may be scripted, but the true characters to follow are not those seen on the small screen, but the executives at the Fox Network. They are gambling by trying to make money from a show that poorly attempts to be the Wonder Years. No show will ever parallel the Wonder Years—its at the very top of its genre (and please don't ask me what genre it belongs to).

Soon the reality show era will pass and quality "scripted programs" will reign again. I hope.

This past weekend Wendy was trying to vacuum the living room but it was not working to well. In fact, the one appliance that should suck, was not doing its job. Since I'm the man of the house I decided to pop the hood and see what I could find. The bag was only half full so I knew that that was not the issue. Then I noticed that the hose was clogged up. I pulled some of it out but I couldn't find the end. Then I started to use a hangar but still I couldn't get it all. When I was pulling out all the carpet lint/fibers they took the cylindrical shape of the hose. It looked like one giant piece of skubalon (that's excrement for you non-Greek-speaking readers). Since neither Wendy and I are in good standing with a gastrologist we decided to take the precious work into our own hands (that means Brandon had to do it). Have any of you seen that episode of King of the Hill where Hank Hill has steak stuck in his...never mind. Well, finally after using a broomstick to flush the hose clean, our formerly constipated vacuum cleaner became regular again. Yay for the small victories in life!

I'm sure some pastor reading this can draw a sermon illustration. One example is that we can be filled up with too much worldly junk that we can no longer effectively do the work that God has prepared for us.

I guess to make Brandon blog as well I have to blog a picture of a scab or something. Wait, he likes that. Well then, I'd have to blog about how wonderful Gwen Steffani is and how her music is an inspiration to our generation and all ages.

I've been taking my lunch to work lately. I feel like I'm in elementary school again. Although, my lunches back then were way more interesting. My mom always took extra care to make sure I had more variety in my lunches. For instance, she put spaghetti o's in a thermos and packed it off in my lunch. Unfortunately, every night she soaked the same thermos in joy dishwashing fluid that was lemon flavored. That flavor didn't wash out so well, nor did it go well with spaghetti o's.

She also froze my Hi-C juice boxes so that my drink would be cold. Unfortunately, the juice box would sweat as it melted, leaving my sandwich (which was wrapped in a paper towel with care) completely soggy. But I never complained. She did it with the best intentions. And she also gave me gushers and fruit roll-ups. That made it all better.

It's girl scout cookie time! And we bought some. They're Brandon's favorite: thin mints. I can't remember what my favorite kind was, and I didn't really get a good look at the selection as Brandon had his mind made up and the little girls looked really expectant. All I can remember is my favorite cookies had something to do with peanut butter. Oh well, thin mints are cool, too.

We ate at a seafood restaurant tonight. It was pretty close to where we live, and we'd always said we should check it out but never did until tonight. There were a lot of old people there. I mean, even more than the other night when we went to IHOP to eat breakfast for dinner and it was senior citizens night. But I think I figured it out. Seafood really isn't that hard to chew. Fish is pretty mushy. That must be why old people love it so much. No need for a blender! Oh, and all the options that went with the platters were soft as well. Creamy spinach, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, baked potato. All soft. I'm catching on.

Brandon is teaching his happy little greek class right now. I'm wasting time on the computer, like a good little wifey who doesn't interupt. I'm also picking through a bowl of popcorn, picking out the most buttery peices and trying to avoid the burnt ones. What's sad is what I'd like to be doing. I'd like to be watching a nerdy forensics science show or something on yet another mummy they're digging up. I don't really know why. I fall asleep during contemporary shows, but sit with eyes glued to the tv through shows that could drive other people to distraction. I guess I should go be productive or something.

This week has been so cool nature wise. On the way to work at the beginning of the week, I noticed how pretty the hills/mountains (whatever you wanna call them) in the distance were because they were covered in snow. Today on the way home I saw a rainbow, which is a rare sight in a place where it seldom rains. Okay, so there were really only two occurences. But I'm happy with that.

Whenever my mom asks "do you remember so and so?" I always know either someone died or is pregnant. Those are always fun. :)

Sesame seeds are so pointless. They really are. The only good thing there could possibly be about them is that they make buns look more expensive. They don't really have a taste. The texture isn't that noticeable. So why bother?

We're up past our bedtime. I think the nap we took from about 4:00 to 7:30 could be the reason we're not sleepy. But we did go out to eat at BD's Mongolian Grill tonight, and I really liked it. It's nothing fancy, but the concept is cool. There's a meat bar, a veggie bar, and a sauce/spice bar. You get the meat you want (in my case, chicken and shrimp), you get the vegetables you want (carrots, broccoli and mushrooms), and you get the sauce and spices you want (teriyaki, a bit of oil, cayenne pepper and a dash of ginger) and you watch the happy Grillaz in the Mist grill your little mix. Mine turned out lovely, but there is such an enormous amount of potential to make a disasterous meal if you don't think about what you're doing. People get to the meats, veggies and sauces and lose their minds. Suddenly a bowl of scallops and onions with currie and barbeque sauce sounds just fine. Also, the idea of raw meat just sitting around while people take what they wish sounds as little scary to me. Oh well, I didn't get any sort of salmonella tonight. Or none that I noticed anyway.

I got a new haircut. I don't know if you noticed. You never notice anything like that. Anyway, I like it. It's really layered and brown. I have to mention the colour because it never stays the same. I think I subconsciously believe I'm in the witness protection program or something, because I like to change something drastically every two months. Anyway, some of the layers are kind of short, and I'm now facing a problem I've never had before. Static. I have sooo much static in my hair, and because parts of it are so short it stands straight up. I'm not really the type to obsess over my hair as long as it's longer than a few inches and a colour my eyes can adjust to, but this static thing is bugging me. I actually rubbed a dryer sheet on my head the other morning. No, it doesn't do any good, it just makes it worse.

Wow. That scab is really, really gross. I'm sorry, kids. I really didn't know about it until late last night when we were cat-sitting at the inlaws and had no way of getting online. That husband of mine sure is classy. I know a few of you were getting that picture printed so you could make it part of your sparkling dinner conversation. Well, don't you worry. It's old Wendy to the rescue. I'll make it my duty to blog way more just to get that horribly revolting picture at the bottom of the screen.

I know it's been a while since I blogged. The last week of the month is super busy at my work, but that's all over now. It was especially difficult since the most busy time of the month was my first week of non-training, so every night when I got home I would fall asleep early, barely talking to my own husband. It'll be better next month, though. I hope so anyway. :)

We watched The Shawshank Redemption last night. I hadn't seen it in a while, and it's such a good movie. However, I watched almost the entire movie and fell asleep right before the part where it shows you all the things he'd done so meticulously and how he got away. That's right. I sat through all the sad stuff, all his trials and misery, and fell asleep with that. Bleh.