My friends, as of today, I have had this blog up here for 5 (FIVE!) years.  That's almost as old as my cat, Lilo, who just turned 6 years old on April 25th.  I know there have been lulls in my posting at times, but for the most part, I have been blogging for five (5!) years.  That blows my mind.  I don't know whether anyone reads my blog regularly, but I think it's been theraputic, in a way, for me to have been writing my observations and thoughts here for someone or no one to read.  It gets those observations and thoughts out of my head so that there's room for more!

I've posted 2, 035 times (2, 036 once this post is published) in 5 years and had 148,231 people visit in that time.  (That's 81.22 people per day, BTW.... how the hell do they come up with the .22 part of that?!??)

To celebrate this momentous day, I'll be spending it outside in my yard, making it perty.  Very perty.  (Yes, I know I spelled "pretty" wrong.  You have to know me to know that's how I speak when I am relaxed and among loved ones.)  There will be rototilling!  There will be the adding of soil to flowerbeds!  There will be grass cutting!  There will be weed killing!  There will be digging!  Uh, you get the point. 

So, go have a blogiversary drink for me and my blog, whydon'tcha?  But just make sure you're at home and not going anywhere (unless you've got a designated driver) -- I don't need anyone blaming anything on me!!!
 

Cross another week off of the calendar!  That means I have FOUR weeks of school left -- three five-day weeks and one four-day week.  Can I get a HELL YEAH?!???!??  The kids are SO done, and we teachers are even MORE done!  On we go....

The Latest Food Obsession:  Shrimp chips from our local Chinese restaurant.  I hated these until about a year ago.  Now, I call them up before I drive by the restaurant on my way home and order two or three bags.  They're zero calories, right?  RIGHT??!??

The Latest Excitement:  I get to babysit my (nearly one-year-old) niece this coming Sunday.  I. Cannot. Wait.

The Latest Excitement, Part 2:  Our stimulus check from the government has been direct-deposited into our account as of this morning.  RETAIL THERAPY, anyone??!??

The Latest Yard Rant:  Dammit all to hell if the damn grass doesn't need cut AGAIN.  What is this GROWING thing it keeps doing???  I see that I need to get together with The Blades and have a little talk.

The Latest Ridiculous Pizza Offer:  You heard about this, right?  The Papa John's 23-cent Pizza deal in the Cleveland, Ohio market... Basically, it was an apology to the people of Cleveland from Papa John's Pizza due to a franchisee in the Washington, D.C. area's spur-of-the-moment decision to make t-shirts with LeBron James' number 23 and the word crybaby where a player's name would go above the number on a jersey.  Papa John's Pizza HQ was NOT impressed with the franchisee's creativity, nor were many Cleveland Cavaliers fans... thus the 23-cent pizza apology.  In the end, nearly 175,000 pizzas flew out the doors of Cleveland-area Papa John's Pizza locations... with all sorts of money going to LeBron's charity for children.

DUDE.  It was INSANE.  I drove by our small location out here in sub-suburbia, and I swear there had to be AT LEAST 200 people standing in line, waiting to get somewhere near the building to get their 23-cent pizza.  I'm sorry, but NOTHING is worth a wait in a line like that -- especially when you're not even guaranteed to GET a pizza -- once they ran out of supplies/ingredients, that was it... doors closed, game over.  And then?  People even had the nerve to complain because the stores ran out of supplies/ingredients before their appointed closing time of 11 PM.  DUUUUDE.  You're complaining because a company who didn't have to do this promotion ran out of stuff to make you a gawddamned pizza and charge you less for it than what you'd have to pay for one regular postage stamp or to make one call from a pay phone?!??  Did you not even realize that they waited to run this apology promotion until they could truck in additional supplies to all their locations so they'd have enough to make it through the majority of the day??!???  Not to mention trucking in additional help from stores in other markets so they could make 200-300 pizzas in an hour??!???  Perhaps you should go back to smoking that crack, and forget about the damn pizza, k?

That's all for this edition of The Latest!
 

Here we go.....

David Archuleta.... safe.  Was there any doubt?  (Note to David A.: Please don't bore me next week.  Thank you.)

David Cook... safe.  Hallelujah!

That means that Syesha Mercado and Jason Castro are in the Bottom Two.

Oy... Phone call segment.  TiVo-ing through!  *do-doot-do-doot-do-doot*  Maroon 5 performed their latest single, If I Never See Your Face Again.  Bo Bice (Season 4) also performed his latest, Witness.  Both were rather good. 

Syesha Mercado... safe.  As she should be after her performances of late.

Jason The DOOF Castro got The Boot.  'Twas his time to go.

Next week, the Final Three sing three songs each.  I can't wait to see what they've got to bring to the table!
 

Tonight we've got songs from the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.  I think this show will make David Cook and break Jason Castro.

• David Cook first sang Duran Duran's Hungry Like the Wolf.  He was sans guitar for this song and I still liked it tons.  This is one of my fave Duran Duran songs, and I thought it was pretty good.  He didn't really go outside of the box like he's done in the past, but I still liked it.  (Numbers 01, 05)
• Syesha Mercado first sang Tina Turner's Proud Mary.  Even though the song has been over-done, she did a fantastic job.  She has only improved over these last few weeks.  I liked her song very much.  (Numbers 02, 06)
• Jason Castro sang Bob Marley's I Shot the Sheriff.  Go figure.  This kid is such a fucking DOOF!!!!  The song fits him, but I wasn't feelin' the vibe.  As Randy said, there was nothing special about it.  Simon dared call it atrocious and said that is one song that should not be touched.  (Numbers 03, 07)
• David Archuleta sang Ben E. King's Stand By Me.  I have to say that I wasn't bored with his performance like I have been in weeks past.  I thought he livened the song up a bit, for a change.  I liked the performance; it was probably the best of the first set.  (Numbers 04, 08)
• David Cook's second song was The Who's Baba O'Reily.  He was back behind his guitar again.... liking it.  The song was more to form for him, but I wanted to hear more because the song is long and intricate.  Overall, I liked it.  (01, 05)
• Syesha Mercado's second song was Sam Cooke's A Change Is Gonna Come.  What a big, big voice!!!  I thought it was a very good performance for her.  (02, 06)
• Jason Castro's second song was Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man.  [Enter random DOOF comment here.]  Um, he FORGOT THE WORDS!!!!  He MUST go home now.  You cannot be a member of the final four on AI and forget some lyrics.  You just can't.  I think Simon had it right when he told Jason to pack his suitcase.  Definitely the worst of the night.  (03, 07)
• David Archulet's second song was Elvis' Love Me Tender.  He's no Elvis, but it was pretty good.  I felt that he really thought about each word he sang.  I have to state again that although David A. has a beautiful and big voice, I'm really afraid that he can't sing sing anything other than ballads.  That bores me to tears.  Put him in a true rock song, and he will fail miserably.  But that's just my take on it.  (04, 08)

Right now, I think that Jason Castro MUST go tomorrow night.  DOOF-ism and lyric dropping can no longer be tolerated.  David Archuleta needs to inject a beat into a song and sing it and quit boring me with ballads.  An American Idol cannot be limited to one genre.  (This is why a "crooner" a la Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin will never win AI.)  David Cook is already a star and it's just a matter of his continuing to think just outside of the box for the songs he picks.  Syesha has definitely improved the most, in both voice and confidence.  She is seemingly the most versatile singer in the competition at this point.

Bottom Two: Jason Castro (based on Doof-ism and lyric-dropping) and David Archuleta (based on limited genre) 

Going Home: Jason Castro

Since I'm feeling a little low today, I think I'll post some pics of my handiwork from this weekend.  This is my first try at doing something to 'landscape' around my house.  If you remember, last fall, we yanked out some bushes from the front yard, including where the pots now reside.

The Latest Exercise:  Jazzercise -- 5 days a week.  I had to fill in for some fellow class managers, which meant that I was at my Jazzercise center five days this week.  (I'm usually there 3 days/week.)  I did two classes on Monday (the usual), then one class on Tuesday (and got a second class started before I left), one class on Wednesday (the usual), one class on Thursday (and got a second class started before I left), and then the "quickie" Express 30-minute class on Friday (the usual).  My body is NOT used to doing 5.5 hours of intense exercise during the week.  It never had an "off day" to recover.  Maybe that is why my lower back doesn't like me much these days.

The Latest Stress:  State testing.  Our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders all took the Ohio Achievement Tests this week.  These are secure tests, which means that a teacher must not let these tests out of his or her sight while they are signed out to them.  You have to treat these tests like they are your children...  Oh, and don't look at them!  

The Latest Saturday Frustration:  Not being able to get outside today and do yard work.  I need to be tilling up my front flower bed and the garden so that I can mix in some good dirt and fertilizer and prep them to take on the plants and flowers that I'll be putting in them shortly.  Effin' rain!!!  I will tell you that the grass sure does look GREEN!  And LONG.  

The Latest Frustration, Part 2:  My [insert major Direct Selling home candle company here] aroma melt warmer cracked today.  I lit the tealight in the bottom part and just as it started to heat up the wax that was in the top glass dish, that same dish cracked.  I couldn't believe it.  Luckily, I noticed it (more like heard it) before the wax melted again and started leaking all over the place.  I've already got an email sent to my consultant to get it replaced.

The Latest Thing I'm Lacking:  Sleep.  While this might really be nothing new for me, my body is practically insisting on it.  Maybe that's why the weather is so crappy too... to force me to take a nap.

The Latest Thing on My TV:  GTA4 .  Blame my husband for that.  And yes, he is old enough to be able to play the game and distinguish the game from real life.

The Latest 'Oh Shit' Moment:  When I turned on my garbage disposal in my kitchen sink and heard the distinct sound of something rattling around in there that shouldn't.  Turns out that I 'lost' my 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon.  Good thing it's a Kitchenaid stainless steel measuring spoon...

The Latest Worst Place for Lilo to Lay:  In the middle of the kitchen floor, between the sink and the stove.... while I am making dinner.

The Latest Sunday Yard Work Accomplishment:  I got my huge flower pots into position on either side of my garage door and got the plants planted in them.  Go me!

That's all for this week, folks! 

Let's get down to business, shall we?

Jason Castro: (DOOF!)  Safe. (DOOF-a-licious!)

David Archuleta: Safe.   (Was there any doubt?)

David Cook: Safe.  (Damn straight!)

Natasha Bedingfield sang her new song, Pocketful of Sunshine .  (Side note: I didn't know she was British.  I heard it come out in the song she sang, but I've not picked up on that in any of her other songs.) She HAD to go say hi to David Archuleta... it was rather funny.  Oy.... on to phone calls from fans of the show.  Thank gawd for the TiVo remote and the 30-second skip feature.  *do-doot-do-doot-do-doot*

Neil Diamond talk-sang "sang" his new song, Pretty Amazing Grace .  I say it that way because I don't think the man sings the majority of his songs.  He "talk-sings" through them.  I'm not trying to dis him... just telling the truth.  Here come the results...

Brooke White: Bottom Two... Got The Boot

Syesha Mercado: Bottom Two...  Safe.

Someone had to go home tonight, as it's now a game of numbers and inevitability.  Brooke was the weakest, so it was time for her to go.  Her departing song was a wreck, but that was mostly because she's such an emotional person and the song (I Am, I Said) was rather poignant.   Next week is a "Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame" show... ought to be pretty damn good.  Especially for David Cook.  Can't wait!

Oy.... I didn't know Neil Diamond had so many hits.  This could go either way....  Anyway, each contestant gets to sing two songs tonight. 

• Jason Castro sang Forever in Blue Jeans -- I thought he actually sounded like Neil Diamond!  (I'm not sure that's exactly what we're looking for here, though.)  I think it was a safe choice for Jason, but then again, I'd bet that a number of Neil's songs would sound the same for Jason.  (Numbers 01, 06)  He is such a DOOF!  His second song was September Morn -- zzzzzzzzzz Oh, wait, maybe that's just the song itself.  Gotta wait to see what the judges say... they said his songs were safe and forgettable.  I tend to agree.
  
• David Cook sang I'm Alive -- Love, love, LOVE!!!  (Numbers 02, 07)  It rocked -- could be a hit today!  His second song was All I Really Need Is You -- This guy is already a star.  End of story.  Judges say...?  R: Loved it / P: Proud / S: Brilliant.  'Nuff said.
  
• Brooke White sang I'm a Believer -- she played the guitar on this one.  I wish she wouldn't have done that and paid more attention to her vocals (once again).  I didn't like her voice in the lower octave, but when she belted it out and went a little higher, it was much better.  Bottom two this week.  (Numbers 03, 08)  For her second song, Brooke played piano and sang I Am I Said -- I think this was a stronger performance for her, but again, she's in my bottom two.  Judges say....? R: Nice job / P: liked it / S: much better than first song, it's the Brooke we know and like.
• David Archuleta sang Sweet Caroline -- It's nice to see him bump things up a bit and have some fun and NOT sing a ballad for once.  Not bad, but not my fave of the night.  (Numbers 04, 09) For his second song, David Archuleta sang America -- I thought this would be one of the group songs.  Anyway, it was pretty good, but not my fave.  Judges say... R: in the zone / P: loved it / S: clever song choice, liked it.
• Syesha Mercado sang Hello Again -- I wasn't fond of the song, but I think she sang it well.  She seemed very confident.  Definitely better than Brooke's performance. (Numbers 05, 10) Syesha's second song was Thank the Lord for the Nighttime -- she had plenty of livliness to add to the song (more than David A).  The judges.... R: liked it, said she would be good on Broadway / P: loves the texture of her voice / S: said she demonstrated that she is a good "actress/singer".

Bottom Two: Brooke White, Syesha Mercado (I think it should be Jason Castro here, but he has a larger fan-base than Syesha.)

Going Home: Brooke White

I've been thinking that it might be in my mind's best interest if I start a weekly blog entry about the latest things (crazy or normal) going on... both in my life and what's going on around me.  This way, when something doesn't warrant an entire blog entry for itself, or I forget to blog about something, I can dump it out of my brain once a week and have room for the new stuff of the coming week.  Rude Cactus does it (only, his are "Weeklies " as in, Weekly Worst Moment or Weekly Observation).  There are a few others out there who do the same... and since I don't want to copy off of RC (well, not completely copy, anyway), I'm going to go with The Latest.  Here's the Inaugural Issue!

The Latest Homecoming:  I picked Jon up at the airport this morning after his week of training out in San Francisco.  It's nice to have my companion back.  The cats just listen... they don't provide stimulating conversation (which, don't get me wrong, is good at times, but when you get a little lonely for some human contact, well, cats fall a little short in that department...).

The Latest Time the Evil Alarm Clock Bitched at Me: 5:15 AM.  On a Saturday.  This was, of course, so that I could go pick Jon up at the airport.  He one-upped me, though.  He had a red-eye flight from SF.  And a 15-minute power nap.

The Latest Scary Moment: This past Tuesday night.  I was sitting in the La-Z-Boy, with the TiVo paused so I could blog about something on American Idol, and I heard what distinctly sounded like an empty plastic cup hitting the floor, like it was knocked off of a countertop.  I know *I* didn't do it... and, after a quick search of the house, from top to bottom, it was obvious that neither of the cats did it.  It could have happened out in the garage, but I sure as hell wasn't going out there to look.  So yeah, my sleep was light on Tuesday night.

The Latest Rush to Get Something Done: I decided to cut our grass this past Thursday evening, since it was supposed to rain on Friday and the grass was already at a length that was going to make it a beast to cut.  Mind you, I've never cut the grass before at this house with this particular lawn mower (which was generously left here by the previous owners).  Since it's a newer mower, I had no effing idea how to start the bastard.  I had to come inside and download the user's manual from the manufacturer and read to see how to start it.  I finally got it started and made two passes on the one side of the house, from the front yard to the back yard when it ran out of effing gas.  Beautiful.  You can bet the word of the day was fuck.  The next problem?  Which gas can had the plain gas and which had the gas/oil mix?  I needed plain gas, and neither can was labeled.  Again, fuck.  It boiled down to a sniffing game.  I removed the lid of one can and sniffed its contents and then did the same for the other can.  Neither smelled like what I was planning to have regular gas smell like.  Now what?  I took the lid off of the gas tank on the mower and gave it a sniff.  Then back to the two cans.  I finally figured out which can to use, but I'm sure it was fun for my neighbors to witness me sniffing gas cans and gas tanks.  With the tank full, I got back to the task at hand... at 8 PM.  I'd worked too hard to get as far as I did, so I wasn't going to give up and call it a night.  Have you ever seen a woman nearly running behind her self-propelled push lawnmower?  That was me, rushing to get it done before 9 PM.  It was great fun.

The Latest Blooming Item:  The effing dandelions in my freshly-cut grass.  Apparently, I only encouraged them to bloom... in full force.  They will be enjoying life for only a little while longer... until I get after them with a weed killer.

The Latest 'Keeping Up With the Joneses':  I cut my grass on Thursday evening.  My neighbor to the east cut his during the day on Friday when I was at work.  Apparently, my cutting of my weed-infested grass in my lumpy yard made his fertilized and thick lawn look unkempt.  Even though he just cut it on Tuesday.  Is that what one does when he retires?  At any rate, this could become a fun game...

The Latest Obsession:  Plants and gardening.  I've essentially got a 'clean slate' here in my yard, and my head is spinning with what to plant and where.  I'm slowly becoming a plant/flower whore.

The Latest Tasks to Complete:  Laundry, rake out the ugly dark mulch from the front flower bed, play Grim Reaper to the dandelions in my yard, and grocery shopping.

Well, that's about it for my first issue of The Latest.  I'm hoping to post it every Friday evening or Saturday afternoon, whether or not anyone reads it. 

I ran across this hilarious video about cats on robotato (whom I read regularly), and I HAD to share.  Let's see if I can get this properly embedded in this blog post, as I've not done something like this before.  I'm more of the "Here's a Text Link to the Stuff" kinda girl.  I (hopefully) present: An Engineer's Guide to Cats.