Ok, I’m a celebrity gossip junkie.  I’ll admit it.  I really don’t know why, either, but I am.  I know they are real people and need their privacy, blah, blah, blah.  Become a lawyer, then. 

It’s weird, because I’m not the type to get overly excited when I actually see a celeb. I mean, I think it’s cool, but I don’t try to attack all fangirl like or anything.  So, with that being said, let me share with you the things I’ve learned from the high quality television show, TMZ.

1) All the “I hate you paparazzi” is so fake. 

I mean, yeah, people like Brad Pitt, etc. who are stars without having to be in the spotlight constantly probably really do hate them, but give me a big ole break if you honestly think Paris Hilton, Jon Gosselin, Kristin Cavallari, and other types wish the paps weren’t there.  If they weren’t, they’d be out of jobs.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the ones to call the paparrazi before they went somewhere.  How can I tell this from TMZ?  They freaking smile in the middle of their, “I hate you,” dance.  ANNOYING.  Why are these people celebrities anyway?

And this is especially true when people eat at The Ivy.  Heck, I think even I would be photographed at The durn Ivy.  What do they expect?

2) I never want to attend a celebrity party.

Everyone looks so fake and it oozes politics and fakity, fake, fake, fake.  So, I’ll pass, thanks.

3) The office looks like a super fun place to work.

So, yeah, all the celebrities hate you, but they sure do laugh a lot.  Looks like fun, personally!

Finally, one last note.  I think the show has made TMZ more responsible for what they publish, so I haven’t seen anything completely outlandish lately, so that’s nice.

Oh, and if I become all super star one day and you see me playing the, “I hate you,” game, I must really mean it because I will never (and I do mean never) stoop to the level some people do to stay in the public eye.  Insane.

The End.

Seriously, I’m reconsidering this whole writing gig and am looking to train to be a ninjetty. Just remember, DON’T go ninain’ nobody who don’t need ninjain’.

Comments closed – You guys raised enough for a Hope Basket!! I’m rounding us up to $50!  I’ll make the donation in the morning.  Thanks everyone!!  I really enjoyed reading all the comments, too. :-)

Merry Christmas!!

Nathan Bransford posted today that he will be donating 50 cents per blog post to Heifer International, “an organization that works to fight hunger by giving needy families around the world and in the United States livestock, training, or other assistance that helps improve their livelihood.” 

I’m just a po’ (read that right…it’s po’ not poor…there is a difference) school teacher, but I know that people have it a lot worse off than I do, so I figured I’d join in.  I honestly can’t imagine what some people have to live through and it makes me feel blessed to have what I do.  Even if it’s only a small contribution, I figure every little bit counts.

For every post I get up until 8:00 pm EST, I’ll donate 25 cents $1.00* to Heifer.  If I don’t get enough comments, I’ll still donate as much as I can.  I can’t imagine it will get to this point, but I will have to close it at 400 comments just because I have to still be able to pay my bills this month! : -P

So leave me a comment with:

Your name

Location

You favorite part of Christmas and/or this time of year

*Two hours to go and I thought I’d up the ante!

True story!

My cousin lives in Arkansas and also works at a retail shop.  One day, an older gentleman came by the store.  He was wearing red suspenders and looked suspiciously like this guy:

She asked him if he would be willing to come back the next day and let her bring her children to meet him.  He said he would love to!  The one thing her daughter wanted for Christmas was a sleigh bell a la The Polar Express, so she said she was going to go to the local jeweler and see what they had.  She’d been looking everywhere, but couldn’t find a sleigh bell that was decent.

He said he would like to go with her and purchase the bell for her as a gift.  She tried to refuse, but he insisted.  He followed her in his red pickup truck (seriously, I couldn’t make that up if I tried), but the jewlery store didn’t have anything worthwhile.  They finally settled on a small silver handbell thing and had it engraved with her name on it.  Mr. Santa Man paid for it, still against my cousin’s objections.

The next day, he came back decked out in his Santa gear.  When it came time to do gifts for the kids, he said he had something extra special for Anne Marie.  He pulled out a box and in it was a true sleigh bell, still attached to a section of leather harness.  The underside of the leather was worn from use.

As you can imagine, everyone was in shock.  As far as I know, no one has seen him since. 

I’ve actually seen the bell and if it doesn’t make you believe, I don’t know what would. 

I’d love to write a children’s picture book based on this story, but seeing as though I have so many strikes against me (debut author/children’s picture book/holiday theme), I don’t think it’s really plausible.  Maybe one day!

Merry Christmas!

Today, I was at work when I got a frantic call from my husband.  Our son slumped over while eating lunch and started seizing.  He had a febrile seizure in March, so I thought that might be it, but he’d just come off of antibiotics and hadn’t been warm the day before and my husband said he didn’t have a temp this morning.

I ran out of my classroom and told the teacher across the hall to take my students.  The daycare is only about two minutes from work, so I pulled up right behind my husband.  The feeling of pulling up and seeing emergency professionals and KNOWING its for your child is something that I can’t even really put into words.  It’s just awful.

To make a long story short, we took him to the ER and it turns out it was another febrile seizure.  His fever spiked to 103+, but was brought down with Tylenol.  He has pneumonia. :(

So basically…today sucked.  I really feel bad for my students, too, because we were about to do our final performance of a Reader’s Theater piece we had been working on and they were all standing around in their crowns and capes.  They were so excited to perform!  But I’ve got a great crew and they knew just how to behave.  I’ll make it up to them next week!

Here is a cell phone picture of my sad little man in the ER.  ————————>

 He’s currently laying on a mat in front of me watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. 

As a mother, you just wish you could make it all go away.

I still think he’s a bad momba-jomba, but six years ago, he did something that people still talk about (in our neck of the woods, anyway).

My husband played college basketball for the Charlotte 49ers (hence my screenname on AW) and six years ago to the day, they went up to play the (then) defending National Champion Syracuse Orangemen. Here is a clip a fan made (the quality kind of stinks) that shows just why my husband was a bad momba-jomba. If you can’t figure out which one is him, here is a hint – he’s the one hitting the 3′s. ;)

And another video for good measure. Funny story with this game – there was a blizzard and we drove from Ohio to the game because we had to hand of our dog to his family for the Christmas holidays. My sister and I ran into the gym JUST in time to see this end of the game play. Can you tell I’m proud of him? Awwhhh…love!

And he is still a bad momba-jomba. Why, you may ask? No, he’s not being featured on ESPN anymore or anything, but he’s a wonderful husband and father. I’m lucky to be treated like a princess everyday and I look forward to growing old with him and watching our grandkids play while we sit in our rockers on our front porch. I am so very thankful.

Sappy is over now, I promise!

I have absolutely nothing to talk about, so HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVE to my American readers.  And…HAPPY WEDNESDAY to anyone who isn’t. :-)

I’m trying some new recipes (an appetizer – I think; and a dessert).  If they are decent, I’ll post them in Yummy for the Tummy after the holiday.  Geez, I love this time of year!!

OH!!  If I can bribe my good friend Regan into helping me, I will be making an intro video for la blog.  Hers is too adorable!  Check it out: http://www.reganleigh.com

Like, clinical.  But I crack up at all of her YouTube videos…she really needs a Twi-tervention. I am NOT this type of Twilight fan, just in case you were concerned.

We loaded up the posse and went to the midnight showing of New Moon last night.  Nothing like a car full of elementary school teachers rolling up to a theater full of teenage fangirls.  We are so unbelievably mature and I love every minute of it.

First of all, it was 50 million times better than the first Twilight.  I loved that movie because I got to see the characters on the big screen, but this one really hit on all cylinders, I thought (with a few exceptions, of course).

It is getting panned by critics, which means absolutely nothing to me and this is why – critics rarely like chick flicks.  They just don’t.  Why they can’t see them for what they are, I have no clue.  One of their big complains was that it was slow, but the book was too, so I’m not exactly sure what they expected.  So, I take the people who are in the “know’s” opinions with a grain of salt.

They built up just the right amount of sexual tension between Jacob and Bella (which was missing between Edward and her in the first film).  Taylor Lautner nailed his part and was just perfect, I thought.

Kristen Stewart got on my nerves, but I knew she would going in.  She’s just…well…annoying.  That being said, she didn’t get on my nerves THAT bad.  And she looked fantastic.

Robert Pattinson wasn’t really in this one much and still had the personality of a stick.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love me some RPattz, but Edward just doesn’t have a lot going on other than being in love with Bella.  You could visibly read the hurt he was going through and it wasn’t cringe-worthy cheestacular or anything, so that’s good.  I do wish they’d explained why in the world Bella would chose Edward over Jacob because it wasn’t clear in the film version.

The special effects were great and the wolves really were perfect.  The new actors were excellent (the Volturi especially).

I laughed a lot during this movie, which was great.  I doubt it will be nominated for any Oscars, but for a book to movie adaption, I think they did pretty great!