It's Time For Xuxa and Her Friends

Have you ever suddenly thought of something that you haven't thought of in years? The sensation is so strange, I can't explain it but if you know what I'm talking about you can understand. Last night I woke up thinking about a kids program which I'm not certain is from my childhood but I recall watching it with regularity. It was Xuxa (pronounced shoo-sha). To my recollection, she was a German porn star who was given a children's show. Of course German porn stars make the best role models, so anyone can see why such a person would have a children's show in the US. At any rate, why I woke up thinking about this after such a long time is beyond me. I wasn't dreaming, maybe it was that song that closed the show that suddenly came to mind. I wish I could remember more about it.

The Time It Takes to Turn Around

Is it already American Idol time again? The weekend went by like a whirlwind and this week is blazing by too. It's true what they say. Time does fly. See Ragged and/or Pilot's blogs for a detailed description of the events and pictures of this weekend. I'll just say my calves are still sore.

Now, for perhaps the only person who reads my blog that appreciates American Idol, Brando, here are my thoughts on tonight's show.

About half the group did well while the other half did just okay. Chris and Elliott were great with Elliott being the top while Paris was pretty good. Katharine was...well, I hate to say it but she wasn't good. Taylor was okay. He could have done so much better. It seemed like there was something wrong with him, like he was sick or exhausted. The song was a great one for him, but he didn't do very well. Kelly su hucked. If she doesn't go this week, I can't imagine who will go in her place. Her stupid southern act and blond hair appeal has surely come to an end. I feel pretty confident.

My, How the Pretty Have Fallen

Well, I have proven that I am perfectly incapable of picking who will be booted from American Idol, but I was right about Chris and Paris being in the bottom three. If Kelly goes home next week, then chaos does not reign. See ya, Ace. I'm sure that pretty face will take you far and I'm certain it has made your life pretty much a breeze to date as well. Do I seem bitter?

If I Choose Them, They Will Stay

So what about American Idol tonight? Oh, how the tables have turned. Lots of extraneous considerations are playing into who goes and who stays. Unfortunately looks have alot to do with votes. I hate to say it, but the less attractive competitors are going to find themselves in the bottom and/or out of the competition. Singing wise, Katharine kicked butt. Chris and Paris were boring and I felt sorry for Kelly. When Kelly's song started out, I thought I was going to like it but it went down hill very quickly. Her comments at the end made me feel sorry for her, so she'll probably get the sympathy vote. Contrary to Simon's comments, I liked Elliott's performance. As usual, I hated Ace although his singing wasn't all that bad. His song would make a perfect last performance. In my opinion, Taylor had the best performance. That all said, my picks for the bottom three are Elliott, Paris, and Chris with Elliott getting the boot. Paris may go, but Elliott is my pick. I've been wrong every week so far, so there's hope for Elliott. Completely off the subject, Elliott is a good name for a cat.

Weekend Wrap Up

Easter Sunday started out with a rain storm. It made for some good sleeping this morning. Later, we had lunch with Ragged's parents then spent the afternoon with mine.

It appears our neighbors to the east are moving. They loaded a bunch of stuff in a couple of vehicles this afternoon. There's no for sale sign and the stuff they moved could have been...well, anything. Probably just wishful thinking on my part.

A sucky work week starts tomorrow. Needles and Pilot will be visiting next weekend. Preparations for their arrival have already begun. Looking forward to a fun weekend with them.

Industrious

This was a hot week weather wise. Temperatures were in the low 80s just about everyday. Feels more like early summer than early spring. I'm not a big fan of the heat, in fact I'm not a fan of summer at all. At any rate, we should get some relief soon, but not before we get some rough weather. I'm not exactly certain of the forecast, but it looks like I finished up mowing the yard just in time. The wind has picked up and the sky is growing dark. In addition to mowing the yard today, I worked out, placed my second cache, stopped by the library and picked up some books and cleaned out my car. It has been a productive day. Tomorrow I have several other projects to complete including cleaning out the gutters and painting the trellace by the back door.

It's the End of the World As We Know It

What the heck is going on on American Idol? I'm enjoying Bucky and Kelly while Chris and Katharine are sliding down the enjoy-o-meter. This is the week that we could see Katharine exit. I hope not though. Let's do REM songs next week.

Caching In

We had a good day. I fixed breakfast and we headed out to do some caching. Of the 10 in our GPS, we found 6. It was a nice day to be running around geocaching. We got some lunch and ate it at one of the nicest parks in our city. Ragged took a slew of pictures of the blooming flowers. She has an eye for photography and always takes really good pictures. I think I'm going to place my next cache at this park. When we got home we sat in the backyard, Ragged knitted and I surfed the net. We grilled out for dinner and now we're watching a movie Ragged rented. We had a good day.

And On Sunday

It's amazing that in just two weeks time the grass, trees, and flowers seem to have come alive. I got up this morning and mowed the yard. I like the way a mowed yard looks, particularly my own. Also this morning, I entered about 10 new local caches for us to go search for. Should be a fun day out and about before a new work week starts. Hopefully we'll get a few good pictures too.

Rain

So, I was completely wrong about the bottom 3 of American Idol...well, except for Mandisa who ended up getting ejected. It's a crying shame that Bucky, Kelly, and Ace are still in the competition and Mandisa is gone, but that's the way the old cookie crumbles. The goodens usally start dropping out about now.

It's Friday night and a steady rain seems to have settled in. I love the feeling I get when it rains like this. We are watching TV after doing a quick cleaning of the house. I hate hate hate cleaning, so I'm glad it's behind us. We have the whole weekend to do nothing really. I need to clean out my nasty car and mow the yard, but otherwise the weekend is wide open. For now, it's just nice to have the rain.

Country Road Take Me Home

I think we're going to see some surprises in the bottom three this week on American Idol. In the bottom three this week will be Mandisa, Taylor and Bucky. I think Taylor might go this week.

Poison Ivy 2

I have had poison ivy exactly twice in my lifetime, the past two consecutive springs.

Making Memories

Sunday concluded with a damaging storm, but earlier we had a nice visit with the family. Here's a picture of my dad and niece walking down the sidewalk together and a picture of a rhodadendrum (sp?) in bloom early.

I Hope You Don't Mind, But I Told Nate You Was a Freak

On Sunday, my dad helped me do some much-needed and long-awaited landscaping in our backyard. Well, landscaping is probably a glamorous thing to call it. We actually cut down trees. They weren't big trees, just alot of small ones. It looks so much nicer. There's still a long way to go to get this house up-to-snuff. Actually I like this house, it just needs some TLC. Ragged and I have made a commitment to do all those nagging fix-ups in the next year. About the time we get it spiffed up, we'll be ready to move.

Some People Call It A Kaiser Blade

Since the weather is so nice, Ragged and I did some yard work. We got the mower and weed eater going and Ragged cleaned the lawn chairs while I mowed and weed eated. We picked up sticks and racked up some old leaves. We've started planning what to do with our flower beds and what big yard projects to take on. Our backyard needs alot of work as trees have grown in odd places and the old woman who owned the house previously planted random bushes all over the place. Our useless neighbors put up a fence which will make our backyard look a little cleaner. They didn't mow regularly, so it always looked like crap back there.

Now we're sitting here watching Slingblade with the windows open. The cats are napping, all except Cooper, and I don't think we are going to be leaving the house this weekend.