A New Home, A New Blog

I've always loved this blog, mostly because I did the design myself and I love web design, but now I've started a new blog journey.

Recently, I started a new blog called "It's a Veggieful Life" where I'll be journaling about my journey to live a healthy, wonderful life. The name of the blog came from two things: my wanting to live a healthier lifestyle (eating wholesome foods, more fruits & veggies, beginning a fitness regime with a fitness coach at a local gym) and my all-time favorite movie "It's a Wonderful Life." I joined the gym in January 2010 and immediately started my new blog.

Thanks to those of you who have followed this blog! If you'd like to follow my journey, as well as get occasional updates on "The White Family in Minnesota who are now living in Tennessee" then please come on over!

Life in Tennessee

At some point, I guess I'll have to change the name of this blog since we aren't in Minnesota any longer. But for now, I'll leave it as it is. Tomorrow, there's a "winter storm warning" for the Knoxville & Smoky Mountains areas. Wow! They're predicting a possible 3-6" and it's amusing to see how serious they take it down here in the south. It's been in the 40's which felt cold to me until I remembered what COLD really feels like in Minny. It's in the 20's up there and it'll just get colder. I certainly don't miss that aspect of Minnesota, but I do miss everything else.

Adapting to Tennessee has been difficult. And I'm not rushing to do so. There are rumors that the company my husband works for may be sold AGAIN, so forgive me if I don't finish unpacking!

Nicholas is enjoying school, and we were lucky to find a house to rent in the school system that we wanted, so I'm thankful for that. He was adapting to life here very well until his best friend, Hayley, had to move away to New Jersey in November. Not a day goes by that he doesn't mention her in some way. When we pass by her townhome development, I see him from the rearview mirror looking out the window with misty eyes. It breaks my heart. How he feels about Hayley leaving is how I continue to feel about leaving Minnesota.

Although it was extra cloudy, this is a

beautiful view in the Great Smoky Mountains (October 2009)

Nicholas and his "blue puppy"

Anyone remember Nicholas' puppy? He's had it since he was a baby, and he used to suck on it's right paw. He never sucked a pacifier or his thumb - it was always "puppy." When he was around 3 & 1/2, the dentist said it was time for puppy to go bye-bye because his sucking on the paw was making him get an overbite. So, after many attempts at getting him NOT to suck on puppy, we had a discussion with Nicholas about puppy going away on vacation to Bermuda. Donald and I had gone to Bermuda when I was in my 2nd trimester with Nicholas, so I thought Bermuda was a wonderful place for puppy to go! We put puppy in a Priority Mail box, I "addressed it" and off he went....(into my closet).

We actually had four puppies total, all of them originally purchased from Target. I had to buy a few off of Ebay because Target was no longer carrying that product when I needed to buy back-ups for when puppy was in the wash. Every few years, Nicholas would ask if puppy was really in Bermuda and when he might come home. Could puppy come home if he promised not to chew on him? Interestingly, he brought puppy up right before we moved from Savage, Minnesota to Maryville, Tennessee. We decided that puppy should come home from Bermuda and meet us in Tennessee. It would be a good "transitional" item for him.

The night we arrived at our new home in Maryville, Nicholas asked if we thought puppy was there yet. Well, he was...in the priority box he'd been sitting in for nearly three years (along with his other "puppy" friends). See, I'd packed puppy's Priority Mail box in Donald's suitcase so that he'd be there to greet us. :)

Upon explaining that puppy had several friends and that his friends had always been there for him when puppy needed to get a washing, Nicholas was happy to have puppy again. He picked out one of the puppies that he dubbed the "real puppy" and the others were just puppy's friends. How he decided which one was the real one, I have no idea! Puppy went with us to dinner that night:

Reunited and it feels so good...


A happy little boy...and puppy seems happy too!

Packing Day!

The movers are here, packing away. I think I've done my best to get everything we need separated from that which will be packed. The packers are doing a big job - only two packers for an entire house full! Nicholas has gone off to his friend Evan's house for a few hours. Donald and I should be doing something productive, but we're not. Donald is napping - he's good at that - and I'm on the computer. I'm listening to Adam Lambert on my iPhone and, of course, writing on my blog. Even without cable last night, I was able to watch last night's episode of HBO's "True Blood" on my computer, for free, this afternoon while the packers did their job. How did the world ever function without the internet??

Don & Gracie - life is hard, ain't it?

I will be taking pics later of the house in all its "boxy" glory, then posting them on the my blog (here) or on Facebook. Tomorrow is the big MOVING day. As I drove down South Park Drive this afternoon after doing some errands, I found myself getting teary eyed. I have become more attached to this place than anywhere else I've lived and it's very hard to let go. I know God has things under control...but, as I've told Donald numerous times before, God has things under control even when the plane is going down. I guess I should remind myself that, whether the plane has a soft landing or burst into flames, at least I'll be in God's hands. Right?? :)

Less Than Two Weeks to Go!

Things are moving along here at a quick pace. I am feeling very overwhelmed & excited all at the same time. I've made my list, and checked it twice...Santa's not the only one who does that you know! :) And now I'm getting things done - when I'm not goofing around on Facebook...man, that thing is a time sucker! I still have some cupboards to sort through, then it's on to packing bags and getting things set aside to take with us.

Donald is in Tennessee until the 26th and then will be flying up to Minnesota for the last time before we move. Yay! The movers come to pack up our house on the 29th and then load up the moving truck on the 30th. We will be leaving town shortly thereafter. Our van will be loaded with things we'll need for the week - we'll be staying up in the Smoky Mountains for several nights once we get down to Tennessee and then we'll need some essentials at the house to tide us over until the boxes and furniture arrive. How many times have I been through this? Too many. This will be my fourth move since 2000 and I'm wondering where my final "resting place" will be...not to sound morbid or anything!

Once the packers arrive, I will be taking lots of pics to show the progress. And, of course, there will be lots more pics on the other end showing the progress of moving in.

The most important lesson I've learned in all these moves is this: Take the coffee pot with you instead of letting the packers pack it. Move-in day requires coffee and if you can't find the coffee pot, then all is lost!

Regina Brett's "45 Lessons"

Below is an article by Regina Brett. It's circulating the internet and thought I'd share it here on my blog. Contrary to numerous emails circulating the web, Regina has not turned 90! For more about Regina Brett, her columns, and her upcoming book please visit her website: www.reginabrett.com.

Regina Brett's 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on
by Regina Brett
Sunday May 28, 2006

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Weather Craziness in Minnesota

No one ever said the weather in Minnesota was boring! Yesterday, we had a high temp of 97 degrees; apparently, a record high temp for this early in the year! Tomorrow we're supposed to have a high temp of just 70 degrees (the norm for this time of year). Paul Douglas, my favorite weather guy, described yesterday's weather in his column entitled "Instant Summer!":

"With a May like this who needs July? Yesterday's extreme heat was a). amazing, and b). supremely humbling. 97 in the Twin Cities, smashing, obliterating the old record of 89 set most recently in 1978. Keep in mind the normal high is 71 degrees.

Record heat grips the southern third of Minnesota Tuesday, 97 in the Twin Cities, 94 in Rochester, 100 degrees reported at Granite Falls, nearly 30 degrees warmer than average....Grand Marais: Tuesday afternoon temperatures hold in the mid 30s, nearly a 70 degree temperature contrast across the state!"

To read all of Paul Douglas' Column, go to Conservation Minnesota.

Have a splendid day today; it's gonna be another scorcher!

Happy 6th Birthday, Nicholas!

It's been a few weeks now, but I'm finally blogging about Nicholas' birthday. My baby boy turned SIX on Thursday, April 23! To celebrate, we spent all day on April 22nd at the Mall of America, riding rides, and then had dinner at Rainforest Cafe. He had a great birthday! And it was nice to have Donald home for the week from Tennessee to celebrate!

Nicholas after a favorite ride - he loves it!

Dessert time at Rainforest Cafe: Pudding "mud" with a gummy worm...yum. Does he look like a happy kid?!

Birthday presents with Mommy & Daddy
on his actual birthday, April 23rd

Saturday, April 25, we had a birthday party for Nicholas with three boys from his Kindergarten class...a good method of birth control. If I ever thought I needed more than one kid, this was a reason NOT to have any more. :) It was a lot of fun for the boys, and I even got a chance to race Evan in a game of Wii MarioKart! Nicholas loves Scooby-Doo nowadays. He had a SD cake and even got to wear his SD shirt for the occasion. His friends all knew he loved SD so two out of the three got him something SD related! He also got some Star Wars toys; guess it's time to introduce him to SW, huh? I can't wait - there's nothing like watching a movie or show I've grown up with with my little man! He's still trying to get over watching "The Wizard of Oz" and "E.T." :-)

The Scooby-Doo cake

Make a Wish!!

Balloon Fight!!

Scooby-Doo Matchbox cars

Star Wars: Clone Wars figurine
His friend's expression (on the left) is priceless!

I'll be posting these & more pics from the birthday celebration on my Facebook page, so check it out!

No, my husband isn't for sale!

No luck yet on selling the house. But it's only been a month since we listed it, so we have to be patient. Of course, this past Saturday was Nicholas' 6th Birthday party and we told the Real Estate Agency that we couldn't have showings during a certain time frame. Wouldn't you know it! We had three showing requests that had to be turned down that afternoon! One group showed up anyway (apparently that Realtor doesn't check his messages) and they had a nice look at our house, toys scattered, laptops out on the dining room table, birthday party decor in the family room. Wow, what an impression we must have made! Pics of the birthday party will be posted at a later date!

My friend, Jan, took some pics of our "for sale" sign last week. In one, she got my husband standing next to the sign. Jan insisted that I put the pic on my blog, so here you go Jan! Just a reminder: the house is for sale, NOT the husband...although if the price is right, a deal might be made. Ha! :-)

Our House is For Sale!

Our house is officially For Sale! I've been told that I need to bury a statue of St. Joseph to bring good luck. Some people say to bury him next to the For Sale sign. Others say to bury him in the backyard. Most say that you need to repeat a prayer every day, while envisioning the purchase price you want on a purchase offer. Anyone heard of this? Have you tried it? And, more importantly, did it work at getting your house sold??

Below are the photos I took right before our Realtor was here to take hers. I worked my butt off to get this place shiny; let's see if it stays that way! :-)

The Kitchen (upper level)

The Office & Master Bath (upper level)

Master BR & Nick's Room (upper level)

Master BR (wider angle) & Living Room (upper level)

Family Room; left & right (lower level)

My Library & the Playroom (lower level)

Decluttering Finally Finished!

Some of you may remember me starting this "decluttering" journey last year. Well, today I finally finished the last room, "the office," the longest decluttering job in history where I took out furniture, put in other furniture, and then took that furniture out, etc. etc. My decluttering started after our book club read "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh over a year ago. Now that I've finished the office, the house is one step closer to being ready for show! I wonder how my other book club members have been doing with their decluttering jobs? :-)

Before pics taken about a year ago...this has been a slow process...

Finally: The After Pics!

Signs of Spring!

Even though it's gray and cloudy today, and there's still some snow on the ground (along with mud and ice), the birds are happy! We have several bird feeders, my favorite being one that hangs outside our kitchen window. Because the window is on the second floor of the house, Donald has to climb the ladder outside to refill the feeder...looks like he'll be doing some climbing soon!

A busy bird feeder and a Blue Jay cleaning up the ground!

Busy, Busy, Busy

The real estate agent came today. She is a wonderful person and a very knowledgable realtor. She sold us the house that we are now going to try to sell. She had a list of a few things that we need to repair and/or improve, but nothing too serious. The biggest job will be cleaning out the garage. Ha ha. I've been trying to get Donald to sort through boxes that have traveled from Florida to Georgia, and then to Minnesota, for four years! Whenever he needed something from the garage he'd go out and buy a new one instead of looking in the boxes of "garage stuff" to find what he wanted. Looks like I'll have to bring in the big dumpster. Maybe it'll be cathartic. :-)

Full Speed Ahead!

My father-in-law was right: I just needed to make up my mind that we are moving and then go ahead with it. I'm busy working on an email to my clients (hard job) and trying to figure out what areas I need to get spiffy before we list the house. I'm a big planner, so once I have a plan in my head I'm ready to get to work. Now that I've finally made the decision that moving is what we need to do, I don't want to sit around and think about it. I want to DO.

Negativity Is NOT Helping

I had a link to another blog (won't mention the name) from my own blog, but I removed it today. When I read what she was posting, and all the negativity it was creating regarding President Obama's fiscal plan it really made me angry. I understand that the President's plan has flaws. But people have to realize that something has to be done. Our country is headed even further down the crapper if someone doesn't do something. President Obama has been in office just over a month and he has a hell of a mess to clean up. Sure, it wasn't all the Republicans' fault...just as it wasn't all the Democrats' fault. But at this point it doesn't matter whose fault it is. It's OUR problem now. Everybody needs to stop whining about what the fiscal plan doesn't do right and start thinking about how they're going to help build this country back up!

New Name for My Blog?

Remember when I wrote in a blog entry several months ago that I was NOT moving - "I repeat NOT NOT NOT moving"?

Well, it looks like Tennessee may be our new home. After much discussion, many tears, and quite a few tantrums (and that's just Donald we're talking about) I think we've decided that our family needs to be together in Tennessee. Even if Donald was to retire in a year or so, it would be financially tight living in our house in MN unless I got a full-time real job (which I'm not going to do).

So, if we live in Tennessee, how can I have a blog called Whites in Minnesota? I'll need to add a tag line that says "...the southern version" or "...now with more fiber" or something funny like that. :-)

The move isn't happening right NOW but we are making plans. The realtor is coming next Wednesday to take a look at the house and Nicholas and I will be going down to TN the middle of April to see what kind of place we can find to rent; house, condo, apartment. We'll put off buying anything for a year until we know where we might want to live down there. This will also make it a lot easier to move if we don't have to worry about coming up with money to put down on a house. We'll take a loss on the house up here, but hopefully not too much of a loss. Hopefully.

Oscars 2009: What a Night!

Even though I wasn't feeling well (sore throat and all) I made it through the entire show! With TiVo, I was running behind "live TV" for most of it, but caught up near the end. It ran over by about 35 minutes, but it was worth it! Hugh Jackman did such a great job, he needs to host every year. I knew he'd be good, but MAN was he good. The only thing I recommend is that next year he does it without his shirt on. I mean, come on, it can only make the show even better! ;-)

My picks for this year's top six categories weren't too bad. I got four out of the top six correct (I missed Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories) and, overall, I got 16 correct out of all 24 categories! My best ever! The Winners were: Best Supporting Actress - Penelope Cruz; Best Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger; Best Actress - Kate Winslet; Best Actor - Sean Penn; Best Director - Danny Boyle; and Best Movie - Slumdog Millionaire.

Movie critic Roger Ebert only missed one out of the top six (he picked Viola Davis to win for Best Supporting Actress) and movie critic Richard Roeper nailed it right on the head when he made this prediction on the Chicago Sun-Times website:

"Mark my words, or mock my words. "Slumdog Millionaire" will take home eight Oscars, "Benjamin Button" will win a handful of technical awards, Heath Ledger is the biggest lock of the night and Kate Winslet will win for the wrong role in the wrong movie."

Richard Roeper got 21 correct out of all 24 categories! Wow! I'm impressed. Of course, he gets to see every movie, every short, long, medium, and foreign film out there. I'm jealous, really.

The comedy routine by Seth Rogan and James Franco, while sitting on a couch watching clips from some of the comedic films of the year (along with a few serious films which their characters considered to be comedies but weren't) was hysterical! I loved the musical number Hugh did at the beginning, and Anne Hathaway taking part in it was wonderful! They need to do a musical together right now. And, although other bloggers have been quoted as saying it made their "ears bleed," I actually enjoyed the musical number Hugh (along with Beyonce) did about musicals. Maybe the academy will eventually create a category just for musicals! Woo-hoo!

I especially enjoyed the way they presented the top acting categories this year. Instead of showing a scene from each nominee, and having the award presented by the winner of the award (from the opposite sex) from last year; i.e., the Best Actor from last year presenting the Best Actress award this year, etc. - they had five previous winners present the award for this year's winner. Shirley MacLaine's introduction of Anne Hathaway in the Best Actress category was beautiful; something I'm sure Anne Hathaway will treasure even more than being nominated!

The acceptance of Heath Ledger's award by his parents and sister, on behalf of his little girl, Matilda, was very emotional. We all knew he was going to win and we all knew it was going to be emotional. They weren't emotional, but I was!

Please share your thoughts about this year's Oscars, if you stayed up late enough to catch it all or if you were bored and went to sleep early, and let me know if there's anything from the awards that you found especially entertaining, touching, or simply weird. If you'd like to watch some behind-the-scenes footage from the Oscars, check out their website. And forgive me if my post today seems a bit scattered and poorly put together ,but I'm lucky to actually be awake and thinking even this clearly this morning! In fact, I've edited this post twice since first publishing it this morning...See you next year!

Mice: It's All-Out War!

Today I got in my car, opened up the console that sits between the two front seats to get my sunglasses, and found crumbs on my sunglasses case. Hmmm, what do you think those crumbs were from. Yep, the mice are back. They/he/she/it had ripped into my snack bar and eaten half of it, leaving crumbs and packaging and stuff all over. After calling my husband - who is in Tennessee until the 28th - and then dropping off a friend at the doctor, I went to Home Depot. It's war, people. I bought a two-pack of Black & Decker Electronic Pest Repellers, a package of "Real Kill" Mouse Killer Place Packs that have poisonous (yes, poison!) tidbits that these fellers will eat and then go home to die, and a box of moth balls. Moth balls, so I've been told, should keep the mice from making nests in the area where the moth balls are. The electronic pest repellers emit a high pitched sound that is supposed to "drive out" mice and other pests, and the poison...well, you know what that will do.

I really love animals and I'm all for animals being free and enjoying life...but not in my car! I've had it. For the last seven months, I've let my husband catch one mouse (sometimes two) at a time and then drive them to the local park to set them free. Up until now, he'd caught at least 12 in his "live trap" and driven them to the park. Well, now that Donald is out of town for two-three weeks at a time, I am not driving these mice to the park! If the electronic pest repellers and the moth balls don't get them to leave, then they'd better get their affairs in order because they will be going to the great big cheese wheel in Heaven. Do I make myself clear??!!

TV Made Me What I Am Today

My sister bought me a bumper sticker once that said "TV Made Me What I Am Today" and that is soooooo true. I just took the "80's Sitcom" quiz on Facebook and got 100%. Now, should I be proud of that? It's really sort of sad, isn't it...weren't there other, more exciting, important things to be doing than watching all that TV? Of course, in therapy everything is my mother's fault. After all, wasn't it she (and probably even more than that my dad since mom worked nights) who allowed me to sit and be mesmerized by the TV every night? Meanwhile, if my husband - who was born before they even had TV - took the quiz, he'd probably score a 0%. But if he took a quiz on 80's porn...he might get a high score. (I'm not joking.)

I Like Chicken...and Turkey...and...

Well, so much for being Vegetarian...not for me. :-)

Check out my entry on Melissa's Veggie Blog and take a look at the recipes I've posted so far!

The Strib is now bird cage lining

Okay, Paul Douglas will be fine. He's very successful in his weather-related businesses and life in general. But I will be canceling our subscription to the Star Tribune. Not only did WCCO let Paul Douglas go last spring but now the Strib is replacing Paul Douglas' weather forecast with the WCCO weather team starting tomorrow! The Strib is near bankruptcy and I guess this is their way of generating more income by partnering with a TV station. Well, the few issues I have lying around will now be donated for use in the bottom of a bird cage. Eventually I'll forgive the Strib. Or maybe not - I still haven't forgiven WCCO for their stupidity.

My New Blog About Veggies!

I like bloggin' so much, I've started another one! Check out my new blog "Melissa's Veggie Blog" and read about my journey to eat and live healthier! I am working on getting some recipes posted, so don't be surprised if you visit and there's nothing to read yet!

My Oscar Predictions

Since I've only had my blog for a few months, this is my "1st Annual Oscar Predictions" blog entry. I reviewed the winners from two previous awards ceremonies this year ~ The Golden Globe Awards (GG) and the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) ~ and then based my picks on a simple technique: Drawing names from a hat. Just kidding. I have no idea who will win, but I thought it would be fun to pretend that people care what I think. Sort of like a Richard Roeper or Roger Ebert. Only much prettier. :-)

Actor in a Leading Role
The Nominees: Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Sean Penn (Milk), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler). Sean Penn won the SAG award and Mickey Rourke won the GG for best performance by an actor in a motion picture drama. Since he started off the year being the favorite but did not win either the SAG or GG award, so I'm going out on a limb here and picking Frank Langella.

The GG awards recognize actors from not only dramas but musicals and comedies as well. I will only be using the winners from the "drama" category, unless a winner for a musical or comedy is also nominated for the Oscar. Got it? Good. Let's continue...

Actor in a Supporting Role
The Nominees: Josh Brolin (Milk), Robert Downey, Jr. (Tropic Thunder), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), and Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road). Heath Ledger won both the SAG and the GG awards. As much as I love Philip Seymour Hoffman, I think there's no beating Heath Ledger this year. So, my pick is Heath.

Actress in a Leading Role
The Nominees: Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Meryl Streep (Doubt), and Kate Winslet (The Reader). Okay, this is a hard one due to the fact that Kate Winslet won two GG award's: A Supporting Role award for her role in "The Reader" and the Best Actress (Drama) award for her role in "Revolutionary Road." Meryl Streep surprised everyone at the SAG awards by winning the Leading Actress award...so, who to choose? I'm going with Kate Winslet. She should have been nominated for "Revolutionary Road" but I think she'll win for "The Reader" here.

Actress in a Supporting Role
The Nominees: Amy Adams (Doubt), Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Viola Davis (Doubt), Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), and Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler). Kate Winslet won both the GG and SAG awards for her role in "The Reader" but is nominated in the Leading Role category for that part. So, this is such an open field I have no idea. Let's go to my hat, shall we....Okay, my pick is Taraji P. Henson, although it would be fun to see either Amy Adams or Marisa Tomei win.

Best Picture
The Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire. "Slumdog Millionaire" won the equivalent of this category at both the SAG and GG awards. It's the favorite to win, which makes it kind of a boring pick, but I'm still going with "Slumdog Millionaire" as the winner. Plus the fact that I saw the film and it's truly an amazing piece of work.

Best Director
The Nominees: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), Stephen Daldry (The Reader), David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon), and Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road). The SAG awards have no category for Best Director (that's why they're the Screen Actors Guild awards, after all). The Golden Globe went to Danny Boyle, as did the Directors Guild of America award. Unless there's a great upset, I can't see anyone winning but Danny Boyle.

There you have it. Now let's hear from the gallery. Who do you think will win? I'd love to see some comments on this. And don't wait until after the awards are over (Sunday, February 22, 2009 LIVE at 8ET/7CT on ABC).

Early Valentine's Date

On Saturday, Donald and I went out on a date! Woo-hoo! Thank you "Grandma Jan" for watching Nicholas for what must have seemed like two whole days! And thanks to Sarah for helping out too!

Donald and I went to see "Slumdog Millionaire" at the new CineMagic Theatre in Burnsville, right behind Burnsville Center mall. Excellent movie and one that will make you realize how lucky we have it here in the States! It is my pick for Best Movie at this year's Oscars...but I'll discuss that in another post.

After the movie, we stopped by Jan's to drop off Nicholas' heart-shaped lollipop I'd forgotten to give him...then it was off to Perron's Sul Lago (simply known as "Sul Lago" to us locals) in Prior Lake for dinner at 5:00 p.m.

Recommended by several people, it was a wonderful dining experience! Lit by candlelight and very romantic, it's definitely a place to go if you want to get away from the noise and hub-bub of the chain restaurants. The meal was slow-paced enough so that we were able to enjoy our appetizers and salad without feeling like we had to rush to make room for our entrée. If you plan on dining there, be sure to set aside about three hours of your time.

Romantic atmosphere at Sul Lago

Our server was Mark and he was worth his weight in gold. I almost gained five pounds just listening to his description of the specials and other choices for the evening. They must practice reciting those because he was flawless! He was very good at checking on how we were doing, but wasn't a constant nag like at some restaurants you go to. When you need a fresh cup of coffee, they don't just stop by and refill your cup; they bring you a new cup filled with fresh, hot coffee and take away the old one. I pity the dishwasher there!

Mark let us take our time in choosing an entrée and he repeated the description of the Cod special for the evening because we were having a hard time deciding.

While perusing the menu, you're provided with fresh bread and an Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar dipping oil. We need to learn not to eat so much of that next time...you need to save room for desserts! Our menu choices for the evening looked like this:

Appetizer: Goat Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes

Salad: Don had the Caesar Salad and I had the amazing Baked Goat Cheese & Apple Salad

Entrées: I ordered the Scallops Gnocchi (Seared sea scallops on a bed of Gnocchi in a cream sauce) and Donald ordered the Cod special (pan-seared Cod served on a bed of Parmesan risotto which had been sauteed with bib lettuce and garlic). After we were served our meals, Donald and I switched because I liked his better. Isn't he a gentleman? I had a glass of white wine with my entrée - a Riesling is what I think we settled on, as they have a very extensive wine list

Desserts were another difficult choice, so in the end, we got two and shared. Donald ordered the Pumpkin Bread Pudding and I got my favorite Crème Brûlée. The best Crème Brûlée I've ever had - so I didn't do a lot of sharing! I had trouble eating it all but I made room. It was just too good to leave behind.

We will definitely be going back to Sul Lago again to celebrate a special occasion!

Being Vegetarian

Before Nicholas was conceived in 2002, I was a Vegetarian for one year. When I got pregnant, the taste of all the "veggie" burgers, bacon, and other non-meat products tasted horrendous. (My husband, Donald, would say they tasted horrendous from the beginning!) All my body craved was real meat: roast beef, hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, bacon, etc. etc. I told myself that, since my body (or was it my baby) was craving those things, I'd eat them. I also told myself that once I had the baby, I'd see if I wanted to go back to my Vegetarian ways or stay an Omnivore. Well, I stayed an Omnivore. Now I am ready to be a Vegetarian again. My sister is a Vegetarian. My friend, Anne, is a Vegetarian. And many others are Vegetarians. I'm not talking Vegan here, people: I love ice cream and cheese too much and I'm not ready to give up my dairy products! I know there are hundreds of reasons to become Vegan as well, but let's deal with one issue at a time.

There are many reasons for being a Vegetarian and it doesn't just involve not eating red meat; however, ever since last summer, during the Dan Patch Days here in Savage, I haven't been able to enjoy eating red meat. I've eaten it, sure, but I haven't been able to enjoy it and I'll tell you why. Actually, I'll show you why:

This isn't the exact cow I met at the petting zoo at Dan Patch Days (I wish I'd taken a picture of her!) but she looks darn close. And once I looked into those big, brown eyes and patted her head, how could I enjoy eating red meat again? I grew up in central New York state, going into cow barns and visiting with cows throughout my life, but there was something about that cow last summer that stuck with me. I think her name was Molly, or it could have been Daisy, I really don't remember....what I do remember is her face. And it stares back at me whenever I eat red meat. More than likely, she was a Jersey dairy cow but that doesn't matter to my mind. In my mind, whenever I try to enjoy a steak or some pot roast, I see her face and that's all that matters.

Below is another sweet little calf I found on the internet. Don't you just want to keep her as a pet?

Anyone out there a Vegetarian? Anyone considering being a Vegetarian? Anyone tried it and decided they liked beef and chicken and bacon too much to be a Vegetarian? I'd like to know what you think! And remember, we're not here to bash omnivores, so keep your comments considerate of others. Thanks!

Gracie's Bad Pet Salon Experience

Without naming names or even giving the location, I must rant about Gracie's bad pet hair salon experience yesterday. She was so depressed and angst-ridden when I picked her up, she couldn't get out of there fast enough. When the "lady" who cut Gracie's hair handed her to me over the gate, she clawed her way up my neck and wouldn't let go! And the lady admitted to me that she'd been calling Gracie "Lucy" the whole time! The poor girl must have been so confused, thinking "Why are these people cutting the hair off my feet, trimming my backside, and calling me 'Lucy'? Doesn't my momma love me no more?" :-(

Gracie doesn't need much of a hair cut - just the hair on her feet and backside mainly, and maybe a little around her ears - but she came out of there looking like she'd been put through the ringer. I will NEVER take her to that place again and I probably will never take her to any other pet salon either. She's been to another pet hair salon (inside PETSmart) and that went pretty well. But, from now on, I will trim her toe hairs and her butt hairs myself and if it looks horrible, then at least she won't be scarred for life!

Good Thing There Are No Cameras In Our House!

Have you seen the media coverage of the "Christian Bale Tirade" out there? Apparently, he went on a tirade LAST JULY against director of photography Shane Hurlbuton on the set of his new movie "Terminator 4,206: Salvation" (really, how many Terminator movies do they need to make, anyway??) and TMZ.com just released it to the media. Come on, TMZ, why wait until almost a year after the incident to release it to the media? In the audio clip, Bale really rips the guy a new ***hole with his ****ing expletives. All I can say is that I think maybe he was just hungry and over-tired (although he has been known to have some anger issues in the past). It has been claimed that movie bosses sent the footage to their insurance company in case Bale didn't finish making the film. Good thing no one ever had audio or video equipment taping during some of my more vocal or physical outbursts!

Leave Jessica Alone!

This is one of those blog entries where I would love to use profanity. So, let's get started, shall we? What the hell is going on in this country? Jessica Simpson's photo has been plastered all over the magazines, entertainment shows, and talk shows showing her having gained approximately 5.2 pounds. Could be more, could be less, but apparently she's now considered to be fat! As if young girls and grown women alike don't already have self-esteem issues, now the media is saying that Jessica Simpson is FAT. If she's considered fat, then sign me up! I recently rejoined Weight Watchers - I'm a Lifetime Member who has slipped back into bad eating habits - and this makes me wonder why I bother. Some of you may remember photos of Jennifer Love Hewitt in magazines a year or two ago showing her with a "fluffy" backside in her bikini. She's a size 0 for God's sake! What kind of froggin' ice-holes think that JLH and JS are fat??!!

Harvey Pasternak, Hollywood trainer and author of The 5 Factor Diet, tells Extra the star is healthy:

Harvey, who worked with Jessica during the filming of Major Movie Star in 2007, maintains that, “She has curves where a woman needs to have curves. We all go a little bit up and a little bit down. But she’s healthy. She’s still sexy. She’s still a beautiful woman. And I have no problem with the way she looks. I think if more people looked the way she looks now, the country would be a lot healthier.”

Here are some comments (just as they were written) posted regarding Harvey's defense of Jessica:

• "When did “curves” become a nice way of saying fat rolls? She has rolls spilling over her mom-jeans. I don’t care what most fat lazy American stay at home moms think, fat rolls spilling out of clothing will never be hot."
• "I’m not sure a size 12 is “healthy”…"
• "I think she looks perfectly fine. The bone is for the boy the meat is for the man. She looks about a size 8 whatever idiot that claims 12 is not healthy apparently never knew Marilyn Monroe was a size 14."
• "Jessica looks beautiful. So what if she put on some weight..."
• "I don’t think she’s fat over even overweight, she’s just not skinny anymore and what she’s wearing is very unflattering..."
• "15lbs less and shed be perfect, but if shes happy so be it. happy does not equal healthy though..."

Now, all you "fat lazy American stay at home moms" out there: What do you think? Should we all get really obese and then sit on everyone who pisses us off? I say, bring on the donuts!

My Sister Needs a Blog

I was chatting with my sister, Cathy, last night and she was filling me in on all the crazy guys she's met over the last several months. I told her that she needs a Blog! It's very cathartic (that's the word I was looking for, Cathy!) to write things down. I have to keep my Blog pretty clean (aka, no obsenities such as I'd use in real life) because several people find my blog and then go to my business site. (I want to keep up appearances, you know.) Anyway, I told her she could do her blog and rant about all the crazy guys she meets, the insane situations she finds herself in, raising her two teenage daughters, being a new grandma, and all the things our mother tells her that really make her want to jump in front of a bus. Cathy is very funny and we've joked before that we should take our act on the road just so we can discuss all the things our mother has told us throughout the years that squashed our self-esteeem. There's a good title for your blog, Cath! "It's all mom's fault."Oh she'd love that! Anyone out there who knows our mom - you'll have to keep this to yourself. We don't want MOM jumping in front of a bus!

So, does anyone out there have any ideas on what my sister could name her blog? I'm thinking "She's Just Not That Into You" but she might get sued by Greg Behrendt, the guy who wrote "He's Just Not That Into You" (now a motion picture releasing on Feburary 6th). Or how about "I'm a Bleepin' Vegetarian" because of that guy she dated a few times who asked her if she wanted to come over to watch a movie and eat chicken wings! Here's a few other suggestions I have:

• "What the Hell Was I Thinking: Misadventures in Dating After Divorce"
• "In My Next Life I'm Coming Back Alone" (this was a saying Cathy wanted to have made into a bumper sticker years ago...I love that line!)
• "Cathy's Clowns: How Many Idiots Are Out There, Anyway?"
• "Maybe Being a Lesbian Wouldn't Be So Bad" (just kidding...not that there's anything wrong with that!)

If you read this blog and would like to leave a comment on this subject, please do! Or you can email me with your input and I'll pass it along to Cathy!

More Words of Wisdom From Southern Dad

Here's a few more uplifting messages from my father-in-law, Donald Sr. Hope you find them as encouraging as we do!

"Build a Garden around my Life
out of Peace of Mind, Serenity, and a Sure Faith"

"Live Today with Faith, Hope, and Love"

"Let God be my Guidepost for direction in Living"

One Week to Go

You might think I'm talking about Donald coming home from Tennessee - he'll be home on Friday the 30th. But, no, I'm actually talking Super Bowl! Did our team make it this year? NO! Who are we going to cheer for this year? Probably Arizona. A friend asked me why they are called the Arizona Cardinals since she didn't think Arizona had Cardinals. There must be cardinals in Arizona somewhere. Right? Well, they started out as the Chicago Cardinals (I think) and then went to St. Louis (I think). Now they're in Arizona. I really don't know. How many Buccaneers do you think live in Tampa Bay? I'd say very few! And what about Giants in New York? I could go on and on...

Anyway, there's a "little" surprise for Donald when he gets home on Friday. It'll make watching the Super Bowl together even more exciting. It's big and flat and has great picture and sound. I don't have to worry about him reading this, because he never visits my blog. At least I don't think he does.

Just a Stroll Down Pennsylvania Avenue

Watched the Inauguration coverage yesterday - all day - except for when I had to go walk a couple doggies. Once I got home, it was back to the TiVo! "Grandma Jan" came over last night and we watched the Oath of Office (Poor Justice Roberts will never live down the day he screwed up administering the Oath!) and President Obama's speech. Doesn't that sound nice? President Obama. The photo above was taken while President and Mrs. Obama walked down Pennsylvania Avenue after the Oath of Office and before the big parade began. They look like two people out of GQ walking down the Avenue. Let's all say a prayer that the Obama family is kept safe from harm and that God instills President Obama with the courage and wisdom he will need to see this country through these difficult times.

(Chuck Kennedy-Pool/Getty Images)

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

My Sister is a Grandma!

My sister, Cathy, is a grandma! Her son, Jeremy, and his fiancee, Angela, had their baby at 3:34 pm on Friday, January 16, 2009. His name is Aedan Joseph Carlton, weighing in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. I remember when Jeremy was born; now he's a father! How did that happen? Well, I know how it happened, so let's not go there....but how did he grow up so fast? Below are some photos. I hope Angela doesn't mind me putting her on my blog. Doesn't she look beautiful, that new mommy!

Baby Aedan

Jeremy with his baby boy

New Grandma Cathy with Aedan

Great-grandparents (again) Bob & Mary
Jeremy, Angela, and Baby Aedan

Numb & Number

My title today is stolen (or should I say borrowed) from my favorite weather guy, Paul Douglas. (Note to WCCO in Minneapolis: The dumbest thing you ever did was let Paul Douglas go. I still haven't forgiven you for that!) The Paul Page talks about how froggin' cold it's been here in Minnesota. You people out east don't know the meaning of the word cold until you have three straight days (or has it been more than that?) when the high for the day has been in the negative. As Paul says in his entry:

Numb & Number
Theoretical question: can you feel any colder than numb? Thursday was, in all probability, the coldest day of the year with a low of -21 and a “high” of -6 F. Here’s a virtual high five – you just survived/endured the coldest day in 5 years. You made it. Think about that – most schools were open, people went to work, mail got delivered, people shopped, worked out, went about their business. Anywhere else in America they would have declared martial law and activated the National Guard. Here in Minnesota we just shrug our (frostbitten) shoulders and mutter “no big deal.” Having the sun out helped; have you noticed daylight is on the increase? In 2 weeks the average temperature starts to RISE again, for the first time since August...

Crazy me, I'm waiting for that really big snow storm. The kind we got in central New York state that dumped a good 1-2 feet of snow and it took days to dig out of. Now that is what I call winter!

Computer for Sale

Nicholas has created his own computer. Anyone want to buy it? He used tinker toys and then a piece of paper for the "keyboard" and the "screen". He has a little holder for his blue marker on the side of the keyboard, and when he "types" on the keyboard, he takes his marker and writes the same word on the screen. So cute and so creative, I just had to share. In the future, when our son becomes a billionaire engineer / doctor / astronaut, you will wish you had this little piece of history. :-)

Goofin' at Perkins

After church yesterday morning, we stopped at Perkins for breakfast. Sort of the last "get together" before Donald headed out of town this afternoon. While at breakfast, Nicholas decided to try on Daddy's hat and be a goofball. Have you ever seen such a beautiful, blue-eyed goofball in your life? I think not! I set Donald's favorite pose as his wallpaper on his iPhone so that he can see Nicholas whenever he wants. I set my favorite pose (the last one) as my wallpaper on my iPhone too! Which pose do you like best? I'd love to know.