My Memorial

In Memory of my grandfather...

James Pierce Lathrop
United States Air Force
1922-2003

We miss you very much.

Party Partner

Charity and Anne

It has been a long time since I had a party partner...another girlfriend that I can plan parties with and with our different "gifts" produce a great time for lots of people!

Anne is my party pal.

We recently discovered that my ability to organize a gathering and her unique ability to ask EVERYONE WE KNOW (and they all want to come because they like her) and our joint love for food works together to make a successful party team.

What I like the most about our partnership is that Anne thinks you're a real friend if you will come early and help her set up and then do the dishes later and I believe that a good friend would do that without thinking!

Here's to a great Memorial Day Celebration! Let's raise our glasses to many great parties to come!

In case you were wondering...

Both my boys took home the titles last night! I had a stressful day and walked in the door at 7pm with a migrain but I didn't let that stop me from waiting through three hours of television for both results! I kept holding my poor head and yelling in approval! It was ridiculous, really!

I slowly felt my way to bed at eleven o'clock..ready to throw up but satisfied that another year of programming ended with some success! I can close up shop on TV and start reading for the next three months.

*sigh*

Great job, Taylor and Harold! I'm officially ready for summer!

(By the way, I don't care what criticism American Idol has taken...I thought they put on an awesome finale show! In fact, I'm confident that the idols sounded BETTER than the professional artists! What do you think about that?)

Supper Club is Boiling!

Tonight for Supper Club, Anne and I decided to throw a little "Low Country Boil". For those of you that don't know what that is..I'll leave this link!

I've found through experience, that I am a serious boiler! While other girls may sit, chat and sip wine...I am over in the corner working my way through the corn and the shrimp! Technically, you should dump the contents onto newspapers or some other primitive place setting and just "have at it", but we prefer plates. It's messy enough as it is! It's very good and I baked up some yummy cornbread to enjoy as well. (Truthfully, I thought it was disgusting but these Southern girls seemed to like it and they do know their cornbread!)

Here are some pictures from the evening. For my girls back home..The second one is of me and Tanya (Uwarow)-(I'm so sorry about the possible misspelling of that last name!). I told her you'd all love to see her again!

Beautiful Boy

Beautiful Boy
(Darling Boy)

Close your eyes,
Have no fear,
The monsters gone,
He's on the run and your daddy's here,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Before you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer,
Every day in every way,
It's getting better and better,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Out on the ocean sailing away,
I can hardly wait,
To see you to come of age,
But I guess we'll both,
Just have to be patient,
Yes it's a long way to go,
But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street,
Take my hand,
Life is just what happens to you,
While your busy making other plans,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy.

-John Lennon

"YES, We are proud of you, Taylor!"

I...am...so...pathetic!

(Of course, I didn't vote 5 times like my best friend did!!!)

(...but, I would have had I been able to get through...)

Taylor did awesome last night and I was standing on the couch cheering for him with no regard to what people may think! (Much like Tom Cruise, except for GOOD reason!)

It will be a huge let down if he doesn't take the title but I know that regardless, he will assuredly make a cd that I can enjoy. He will not go quietly into the night!

Tonight is my Top Chef finale also, so it's a big evening in Charity's living room! Hopefully there will be much celebrating tomorrow on my blog...

And then it's back to the important issues of life! I'm starting to feel a little ridiculous!

The Reality about my future with Reality TV

I've made it no secret to my family and friends that I'm pretty hooked on reality TV. I used to be a little embarrassed by it but now that you have little options on the television roster BESIDES reality viewing, I'm blaming it on the networks!

I will say that I steer clear of "Bachelor-ette" (anything dating)...or ANY reality programs on TLC. Ick! You can only see a snotty, rejected, broken-hearted girl in the back of a Limo so many times before roses aren't even desirable anymore! And, if I see another nine month pregnant lady tell me how she's absolutely NOT going to have an epidural while she bakes homemade chocolate chip cookies in her clean kitchen (which is COMPLETELY NOT reality), I will throw up!

Quite frankly, though, I am in love with American Idol! Simon Cowell is the epitome of realism and I fully support any program that produces an artist that really can sing without the aid of editing equipment in some music studio. I've been to enough concerts where I needed binoculars to verify that there is not a stand-in for my favorite singer who sounds mysteriously BAD!

This year, I am rooting whole-heartedly for Taylor Hicks. I adore this guy! He is different and the grey hair makes me feel at home rather than very old as I watch some 17 year old get her moment of fame. I also think he sounds a little like Don Henley. Can we get the guy to sing an Eagle's song?? Oh, Yeah.

Unfortunately, I feel the bald guy got screwed by America and I can't believe the girl has made it this far but her luck has nearly insured my Taylor's victory!

If he doesn't win...

That will be the last time I watch American Idol! You have my word on that!



Then there is my other favorite, "Top Chef".

Not many know about this program because it is featured on Bravo, but it has been a great show so far. There is nothing better than a few cut throat, jerkish, wanna-be Chefs that sit around and insult each other while they saute veggies and pound pork! It's hilarious!

Not surprisingly, I have gained five pounds since the show started because I must eat through each episode! I hate late night cooking shows...Oh, the power of suggestion! It gets me every time!

Again, my favorite Chef has made it to the end and I have sworn off Bravo shows, also, if his dish does not satisfy! I love Harold...I know, an unfortunate first name, but I have this hope that he will start a restaurant with his new kitchen and $100,000 and I can fly to it and have dinner! How fun would that be?!?

If you've missed this show, you can catch all the programs several times in a row since Bravo is notorious for running their reality TV...Well, into the ground!

Good luck, Harold...You can make me seafood anytime!

It's Official...

The flights have been booked...The Beach rental is reserved and in a few weeks, my friend, San is coming for a visit!

YEAH!

She's coming with her two girls and it just so happens that I have two boys and so we should be even! Sam is already excited because he is the oldest and he has fond memories of two cute little girls following him around in a corn maze last year!

His only concern...

"I will have a little trouble telling them apart!...They're twins, ya' know?!"

I will miss Amanda and Steph and we will fondly think of them as we're sunning ourselves by the ocean! (You can STILL come...You can..you can..yyyooouuu cccaaann!)

*sigh*

Next year, girls...Next year, we go by ourselves!

"Schools Out For Summer!!!"

After one long, hard but fun year...We finished our 180th day of school yesterday...and in case you were wondering, traditional education or not-it's thrilling to get to the last day of school!

Sam and I did a little dance of our own yesterday when the final test was graded and the books were placed on the storage shelf! With a deep sigh of relief...We raced outside to sun ourselves in the 70 degree weather that had been luring us for a month now!

I never thought I'd homeschool...My husband is a teacher, for goodness sakes! But, as I sent Sam off to all day kindergarten last year and felt the reality of losing my child to another women for the bulk of his day along with the desire to preserve his little boy innocence for as long as possible, I knew that I wanted to give it a try.

It has not been an easy year. We have plugged on through eleven weeks of severe morning sickness, the loss of a baby, the stress of holidays, Mom working two part-time jobs in between and the planning of a major move-but together, Sam and I helped each other along to the finish line!

I have to say, at the end of it all, I love schooling Sam at home. I have learned my child inside and out and this time together has revealed even more about parts of my own character that need to change. We have both discovered the joy of dedication to a task and the thrill of an "A" on a difficult phonics test! We didn't do alot of play dates because I knew that Sam and his little brother, Jo needed to learn to be close and kind to each other first, and I am so glad we pressed for that. They have emerged this year as best friends and we can hardly separate them.

So, I say all that to say...Great job, buddy! You did it!

Welcome to second grade!