AI Top 10 girls

Irish - works at the Irish bar next door to the sushi place where Asia'n works, both located in the Obvious Hills mini-mall off Route 9. OK - moments ago, Carrie said that she thinks Skunk will do Barracuda, but Irish steals the Heart song here. I can't hear her, because I am screeching "Craa-aaa-aaaazy on You" over her. Whatever - I am more over her right arm tattoo than I am over the right arm tattoo of your Best Original Screenplay winner.

West Syesha - Did commercials, and is hot. Does "Me and Mr(s). Jones", a song that I love. Does it well. Randy doesn’t like it! They keep calling Simon “Mr. Happy”, which is what my friend Jim Baur may have named his dong in high school. But no one likes it – I guess I am biased since I like the song and the chick.

Brooke – Apparently runs a lucrative hair salon based out of her bathroom, even though she dropped out of beauty school. Sing that song that’s about me. Also, can’t stay in the sun too long, or she will burn. The song is by Carly Simon, which may or may not be the same person as Carole King Tapestry, who Brooke is maybe supposed to look like? She does a good job, I reckon.

Asia’n – admitted she cried last week, saying “I guess I started early”, which is the same reason Carrie always cries. Also, is a Polynesian dancer. Her Polynesian dance studio is luckily next to the sushi place over at Obvious Hills. “Don’t Leave Me This Way” – I just want a moratorium on performing this song – I am just not a fan. I love her, but this song is just ugh to me. Simon agrees! He says what we all are thinking! PS – I just finished the Ben and Jerry’s that I opened when we first started watching AI. Don’t underestimate the power of ice cream on a sore throat.

KLC – Is a tomboy, and I would totally have to man-up in order to please her sexually. Does another song that I hate, but looks hawt. Randy actually liked it – I mean, she is good, but boring. Simon says she should be more country – he should pick up her country album. I think she has one already.

Skunk – or maybe we should call her Lion tonight! Nice mane! Actually looks 23 with the bandana over her hair. How did they find a bandana with that much material? She does one of my 3 favorite Kansas songs. Not really that good tonight. The judges rip on her – after the show, she needs to find the Wizard in order to get her courage back.

Young chick – Has that Monk-ish thing where the foods can’t touch on the plate. Sings Olivia Newton John – well, yells it somewhat. Forgettable, but at least I like that song better than most of the others. I dunno – she needs to borrow Erin Andrews’ invisalign for the gap.

Lushington. ATL fire poster child. Ground Zero, 9/11, Star Spangled Banner. Some song I don’t know. I don’t like it. Yawn. Pee – too much water. Blog – nothing to type. Randy – asks her what she thinks, because he stopped listening. Mad vocal skills. Paula – words. Both of us have never heard a female sing this song. Simon – admits song sucks. Next.

kd malloy – Sings opera in the bathroom. Maybe Brooke can cut her hair while she is in there. Sings Heart, brutally at first. Seems like a princess – I could never date this chick. She really needs to go home. Does not hear a word that the judges say to her. Stuck up to a degree that Carrie and I both hate her.

Asia’h – was a cheerleader. Does cheers in thinly veiled effort to curry my favor. Works. Blows a tire at one point during the song, but recovers. Sings well, but is wrongly convinced that vibrato is a good thing – Pavarotti has ruined it for everyone. Paula is incoherent at this point. Simon RIPS her by saying that she isn’t a good singer. Ouch!

Kadie and Lushington going home.

Top 10 AI Guys

Michael's John - He likes tennis, separating him from the stereotypical tall, in-shape Australian male. Not so great with the falsetto, but he could eventually win this whole thing. This was his "home game versus UT" week. He will recover.

Jason Castro - one of the Jonas brothers. He doesn't like doing interviews - he is so quirky. Carrie - "He's so pretty." Me - this song is teh suxx0rs, and the guitar gimmick is just that. Carrie - "But he's so cute." Me - those dreadlocks probably smell bad. Carrie - "Hatchi Matchi". Paula - "Gmmm hamdkf fjnkokni." Simon - dead on with his analysis. Carrie - "I would Jason his Castro, right after I double his entendre." Me - eye roll.

Dude going third and going home - In an a capella group. Still kinda hot. Singing Queen - this song has a line about Zach al-Chokachi. Brutal. The backup singers are good. Did Ryan really call him Dawson's Creek? He openly just has the forehead, not the seventeenhead, and isn't the worst lead character on a TV show since Meredith Grey.

(Hey - the new Margulies show has the Rilo Kiley song during the promo, meaning I will look into it.)

Boyz in Girls - Says something about "the way I'm are". Likes drag racing, because he is such a hardcore rocker. Such a hardcore rocker that he does such a kickass song like Hot Blooded, the song that Apu sang in an episode of the Simpsons. He is SOOOO badass. Plus that scruff - I wouldn't want to see him in a poorly lit alleyway. Wait - I am deaf, what is his "fever"? Oh - 103 - I caught that, thanks dude. (PS - my fever is probably around 100 right now. We don't have a thermometer - put it on the registry.) Scary. OK - Randy calls him out on his facade of a rocker that I just mocked. Simon desperately tries to give him the kiss of death.

Boyz in Boyz - OK, the ninth grade pictures of Danny move him into my top 3 chicks on this show. Really - I feel the way Jamie Foxx felt about Prince here. Plus, he does a Carpenters song, making me think I might be soulmates with this kid. I have to go look at pictures of naked women real fast. Yikes!

David Hernandez - Very good, but somehow still boring to me. Carrie disagrees. He used to be a gymnast, but hands off Danny - he's mine. Still, a very good performance. He just looks like he was cut from a pattern or something - like, I've seen guys who look like that before.

Other dude going home - Actually not a good song, not a good performance. I make a joke to Carrie about how much this guy is looking forward to going back to Young Life after he gets voted off. Then, he ends the song striking a JC pose! Watch out, Creed!

Jacuzzi - whoops, I mean however you really spell it. Has a strong Nigerian heritage, and was a little offended by Simon's Jacuzzi comment last week. Wears 2 collared shirts (or are they colored shirts? Michael Scott?) for 80s night, but it is 70s week. His song is actually about how his name is NOT jacuzzi. Openly hits on the backup singer.

David Cook - Has a very cold neck, generally. However, he does a lame 70s rock song just like Boyz II Men did earlier, but makes it seem so much more rockin' than the supposed rocker. We liked it. REALLY pissed Simon off.

David Archuletta - Just awesome as always. Was born when I was in high school. I really got nothing to add here. Really incredible. Will probably win. Carrie is openly teary eyed.

Snowbound

So, we had a moment tonight. See, they are projecting about 3 to 5 inches of snow overnight, and this is important since Carrie has to drive an hour on the interstate each way unless they cancel school.

In case you didn't know, I have been sick recently - yesterday was particularly bad. We went to the store and got some bottled water and a couple of 12 packs of Sprite. However, we also got some hot food because we were hungry, and neither of us were feeling up to going back out to the car to get the water and the Sprite, after we had already brought in the week's worth of groceries with our first and only trip from the car. Tonight I was thirsty, so I decided to put on my shoes and go out to get them from the trunk.

Well, it had started snowing at this point. Now, we live in Michigan - it snows. Sometimes worse than others. The December snow is always the best - it is the first snow of the winter, then you add in Christmas season, and it is magical. When you move into January, the snows are always coupled with temps in the single digits, meaning that even going outside can sometimes be a chore. February snow isn't as bad - you have enough warm days in the 30s that you think maybe it is going to be over soon. You also start to think that days with temps in the low 30s are "warm". March snow is like, I thought we were almost done with this. By April, any snow is just ridiculous.

The point being, after the fun of December snow, any subsequent snowfall can be an annoyance, unless it happens to be on a weekend. Carrie has to check in the mornings to see if she has school, and I worry about the short drive I have (twice in 8 years, people have failed to respect the lack of stopping powers their cars have in this weather, and have given me love pats. No real damage). They take care of the roads, and people don't run out to buy bread and milk here, and we live really close to a huge grocery store anyway, but still.

However, tonight, when I went to the car to get the water and the Sprite, I opened the door downstairs, and there it was - first off, you hear the "snow quiet". Like there is no sound except for the landing snow, even though that sound is negligible. It seems to mute any other noise, and you feel like the only person in the world. Then I looked up at a streetlight, and saw the snow gently falling all around. You can see every flake between you and the light, all falling at different perspectives. Something about it tonight made it feel like December snow - it wasn't too cold, the snow was wet enough. Most importantly, it had that magic feeling that snow can bring. It reminded me of the snow that had just started falling when I proposed to Carrie up in Traverse City.

Well of course, I went and grabbed Carrie. Understandably, she didn't want to go outside, so she fought me the whole time. But when she got outside and saw and heard the snow, she knew why I pulled her out there. And it made us both smile, and realize that we do still love the snow the way that we did when we were kids. It also reminded us of when we were first living up here, and every significant snowfall mean that we were inevitably going to go play in it. So, it was a nice moment for us to stand out in the falling snow tonight.

I promised myself that I would never become one of those Michigan transplants who just grows to hate the snow, and I remembered that tonight.

(The unbearable, never ending cold on the other hand...)

2008 Reading List

One of the things I wanted to do this year was to make sure to keep track of the books I read. That way, I can see if I read more or less than I think that I do. I fell that I read a fair amount of books in 2007, including the Harry Potter series from start to finish. It is just, I read mainly on the john, or in situations where I am waiting, like the doctor's office. Carrie and I never turn off the TV to sit around and read our books. In the evenings, we really have about 4 or 5 hours together, most of which are spent cooking, going to the store, or watching TV.

I don't read nonfiction the way I used to in grad school (obviously), so I would like to make sure I throw one in there every once in a while. Here are the books I have read so far in 2008:

Can I Keep My Jersey?, Paul Shirley - I would recommend this for sports fans. It is a quick read, and gives a good account of what life is like for a professional athlete who isn't an elite in their sport.

Watchmen, Alan Moore - Literally the first graphic novel I have read from start to finish. I have read parts of Maus, and should read it all, but you kind of have to be in that place. But Watchmen is definitely one that everyone should read - very important, very influential, possibly one of the best novels of the last century. I went out tonight and got The Dark Knight Returns because this book actually made me interested in the genre.

Velocity, Dean Koontz - Okay, so when I was in high school, I loved me some Dean Koontz. Even though all his books are basically the same, they always drew me in. It isn't great literature by any stretch of the imagination. Plus, I have his old books, and his picture is on the book jacket somewhere - he used to be bald and proud of it, but at some point he decided to get the world's worst toupee. It is beyond words - groin grabbingly bad. But, I think that every once in a while, a Koontz book won't hurt anyone. Just don't fool yourself into thinking what you read was a good book. I hate to be that way - trust me, pick a Koontz book you liked, then read 5 of his books in a row before reading your favorite one, and you'll see what I mean.

Right now I am trying to finish a book of short stories by Koji Suzuki (the Japanese Stephen King apparently), and I just started reading the Deadspin book, which is fantastic. I already read Spiral by Suzuki, and really enjoyed it - it is the sequel to The Ring. I also got this awesome book on American landmarks and how wrong they are - it is written by the same guy who wrote this book.

So, every once in a while I might like to post about some of the books that I am reading. I am up for any suggestions based on what I am already reading.

Rap Songs I know all or most of the words to

Baby Got Back
Regulate
Lose Yourself
B.O.B.
Ms. Jackson
U Can't Touch This
Country Grammar
Ride Wit Me
Boyz in the Hood
Bust a Move
Joy and Pain
In Da Club
Tennessee
What's My Name (DMX)
Crank Dat Soulja Boy
Roll Out
Supersonic

The Beastie Boys are tough - how many of their straight rap songs do I know the lyrics to?

Let me know what I forgot. I would like to say Busta Rhymes, but let's be honest. I don't know - just trying to spark some discussion here. What rap songs are you surprised that you know most of the lyrics to? I am pretty lame, so the length of the list is impressive to me.

AI Girls

I am glad that after I fell asleep, that I was woken up for the last 4. Here goes:

Kristy Lee Cook: I like her name, because it has the whole adverb/verb thing going on. Like, "How should we cook the lamb?" "Let's kristily cook it!" Plus, she is obscenely hot. She was not good tonight though. She kept doing this weird bug-eye thing. Yeah, she was sick, and could make it just because she is hot and people remember her.

Hot McFatty - OK, that was mean - she isn't Irish. She wasn't so good either. She was very pretty in the face though. I dunno - I thought she was better than that, but that is how I felt about KLC.

Alaina Whitaker - I would say she is hot, but she is only 16. So I will save that for tomorrow when she turns 17, and it will be slightly less uncomfortable for me to say that. She is best so far at this point. She has a little gap tooth thing working. (PS - around this point, Paula accidentally may have said that Dionne Warwick was dreadful, but I can't remember who or why she said it.)

Amanda Overmyer - I made a joke here about her singing Blue, da ba dee da ba da, and it went over well with Carrie. Not a fan of this chick, but I don't dislike her either. It is just, well, I don't like the highlights thing she has going on, and her face makes her look fat. That, and she has the largest head that has ever happened. I hate saying all this, because she seems really nice. I just agree with what Simon said during the auditions - I know how everything she sings will sound from here on out. And like, I get it - now go home and hang out with Dan and Roseanne.

Amy Davis - She wasn't the breast, but she was pretty boob. I dunno - I liked her more than the judges did - she seemed like she might have been sick. Although, when KLC was up there, the sickness thing was all they talked about, then when Ryan was talking about it later, he was like, I don't want to embarrass anyone by saying who is sick. Like KLC was the only one they were apologizing for because they want her to stick around. Also, being deathly ill a few days ago, I can't imagine performing while that sick.

Brooke White - I know Steph has a girl crush or something - I like her, but she was not great tonight. She ended with a bunch of "ba ba ba"s that just sounded funny and was a weird way to end the song. Although, because of her performance, the phrase "washing-up liquid" has entered the repertoire.

Lushington - I made a joke about her name sounds like a made up name for a high class drunk on the Simpsons. Then we watched a Simpsons, and a tick on a high class dog was named Bitington, and it made me happy. She was, well, all over the place. We liked her, I guess, but still, it wasn't an A+ or anything. I don't know. She seemed comfortable, and I hope she sticks around. Because in all honesty, I have no clue as to who is leaving tonight.

Kady Malloy - Let me just state the obvious, but yes, I would hit it billions and billions of times. She wasn't great and all, but Simon was actually kind of a dick to her. The pencil comment was harsh - she just snarled at him the rest of the time. Plus, she's got them bedroom eyes, so it was a look to kill. Even at the end, she was just glaring over at him. Do not piss her off.

Asia H. Epperson - She was really good - one of the best. Really, her moment in the auditions was the moment of the season, and brought Carrie to tears. And by Carrie, I mean everyone who watched it. She was great tonight, and really turned the night around. The last 4 may have been the best. I was proud of Asia'h for everything except for the 'h at the end of her name. (Also, at this point, I got to go check out the lunar eclipse. Good times, even if it was 8 degrees outside.)

Asia'n - I love that Ramiele actually works at a sushi restaurant, because it fits a stereotype. It is like finding out that the guy you just met who is really rich also votes Republican. But she is super cute, and was awesome - quite possibly my favorite girl. Her voice is just not what you expect, and she belted it out tonight. I hope she sticks around, because I am proud of my "Asia'n" thing.

Syesha Mercado - Carrie says her last name means "grocery store". I remember her as the chick with the skinny legs and the big boobs who sang awesome when she had no voice. Let's see if she keeps that figure after having two kids; am I right ladies?? But, she was also awesome, even if the judges weren't as crazy. That kind of surprised us. BTW - the last 3 girls I have discussed were by far the best of the night. Which is good, because I was beginning to doubt the girls' talent this season.

Irish Goth chick - Weren't the Goths from Ireland? Because then "Irish Goth" would be redundant. She was good - really good, but was that even a song? It sounded like a bunch of words, sung to specific notes on a scale that perhaps did not actually form a song. It was weird - she was good and all, and will last as well.

So who goes home? No idea. I would guess Amy Davis and Kady Malloy, but I don't want to see them go. But I would love watching them leave! Am I right guys?? (Wait - there are no guys here!) But KLC could leave - she would go kristily cook herself some hamburgers and watch the rest of the shows, I guess. The girls are wide open at this point (am I right?) and I have no idea who is the best - the two Asias and Syesha are my picks, but I still think Brooke could do well, KLC could rally if she sticks around, and the chick who turns 17 tomorrow surprised some tonight.

AI Guys

For those of you who watch American Idol, enjoy:

David Hernandez - I actually like this guy, even if he is wholly unimpressive. Nice voice, decent looking.

Jaccuzi - Not so good. Really sounded like a lounge singer. However, he is somehow the only black male contestant - what is with that? I don't think he is as bad as he was tonight.

David Cook - Either fatter than he looks, or not as fat as he looks. I don't know - I am not sold on this guy, but he was good enough to stick around.

Jason Yeager - this guy is 22 and has a 15 year old son. I don't know what to do with that. But, he was meh - I couldn't hear him, and I hate that. I never met him before, so if he goes home, whatever.

Robbie the "Rocker" - Anyone who works that hard to have such a polished "rough" look, which is in itself a contradiction, loses some points with me. He was good and will stick around, but whatever.

David Archuletta - He is a frontrunner, although it disturbs me that his parents weren't born when the song he sang was written. Seriously - the kid was born when I was in high school.

Danny Noriega - OK, it is early, but I am going to say that we can't make fun of him for being gay. Not that it is okay to ever make fun like that. You know what I mean. But with Danny, he is just here and queer - get used to it. I don't know - I mean, it wouldn't even be good natured ribbing - he is just gay gay gay. He is sassy as all out, and would almost be a pretty woman. He is much better than that Elvis crap tonight though.

Luke Menard - who? He is pretty, but that is just about it. I hope he enjoyed his night on TV. Oh, and I forgot - they showed him and he was pretty, and then he mentioned being a "carpet cleaner", and Carrie and I high-fived.

Colton Berry - Is there something with gay guys and Elvis? Is it just a coincidence, or is there a following that I am unaware of? I am not a fan of this kid, but he isn't terrible.

Garrett - Not good. I actually left the room and didn't even think about what I was doing. Plus, his hair is out of the 70s, and his face is out of the uglies. He seems nice.

Jason Castro - I think I lost Carrie tonight to this kid. Really - he has that whole dreadlock white rich kid guitar playing douchebag quality about him. Did you notice in his clip that when he made it to Hollywood, about 20 11-year old girls swarmed him? But his eyes and cheekbones are all Carrie needs - she mentioned making him into her screen saver. Plus, he was pretty good I guess.

Michael Johns - my favorite, and not because of my man crush. He is awesome and will win.

All in all - I see Luke and Garrett going home. Plus, David Archuleta and Michael Johns are the only 2 who can win from the boys - this show is SOOOOO much filler for the next 3 or 4 months, it makes me hate my life. We will fight over the person who sneaks in and isn't as good, when in actuality it only matters who wins, not who gets voted off a week or two before their time, or makes it a week or two past where they should. I hate this crap, but I will post about it just to get me writing on this blog again. Tomorrow night - the girls! Oh, also please read about my poop below.

48 hours of the 12 hour flu

I'm gonna try to do 2 posts tonight - I figure if I do one about American Idol, it will force me to post more often. But first, let me tell you about the 6 pounds I lost in 2 days.

After a very awesome 2 days of gifts and parties and quality time spent with loved ones, our plan was to leave Memphis around 8 am on Sunday morning and leave straight from the Branch. This is because for some reason, Carrie had school on Presidents Day while every other school in America was closed. I happened to be off work, but was still looking forward to sitting around and doing nothing. Sunday morning, the alarm went off around 7:00. So, around 7:30, we decide to actually get up and at them. Carrie goes out to hang out with the folks, and I sit up in bed. Immediately, something wasn't right. Now, the night before, I had a little bit of a sore throat, but this wasn't it at all - I had some serious nausea going on. I felt like I might hurl. I went to the bathroom and it didn't happen - I thought maybe a shower would wake me up, and I was just having the early morning weirdness I sometimes get (not a morning person here, folks). In the shower, I had to squat down and steady myself because again, I thought I might vomit. And again, nothing.

I finish and get dressed, but I have to lay down on the bed. Carrie comes in and sees me and knows that I am sick by this point. We go and hang out with the Stanfills, even though I am having a difficult time standing. Jerry is nice enough to give me a pill that he says will help with any potential diarrhea. (OK - everyone, don't be grossed out, but bodily fluids will be a part of this story.) I take the pill, and we get packed up, and are on our way. I decide to drive just to see if I can. We have left some cool pictures at Steph's house that she blew up and had framed for us, so I am thinking maybe that would be an excuse to stop in somewhere for a minute and see if I needed to go potty. However, we (I) decide on Mom because, well, she is Mom and if I am sick, that is really where I need to be. Although, Steph does have those Target bags...

At Mom's, I am still out of it, and we all sit and talk for a minute. I decide to go try to go to the bathroom before we go. This bathroom trip - little did I know that it would be the first of about 30 so visits in the next 24 hours or so. (Yikes - I don't want to be graphic, so let's just imagine pouring canned soup into a bowl. OK - so I did want to be graphic.) After that, I went back downstairs for a couple of minutes, and then said that maybe I should try to go to the bathroom again before we go. This routine repeated another time or two, and Mom finally was just like, why don't you lie down for a minute? I was still hoping to leave at some point, but the diarrhea every 20 minutes was really putting a damper on things.

This continued all morning - I really thought it was going to pass. (Pun intended.) Sometime around noonish I guess (I was really out of it), Mom and Carrie went to the store to get some supplies for me because they are awesome, and I go potty for the umpteenth time, and finally I vomit. See, I really only vomit when I am hungover - I also only have weird bowel movements and bad headaches when I am hungover, so I am thinking of this illness as a hangover - you know, something I will just get over. And that initial second wind I got after the puking, I thought that was it. I called Carrie, saying we could leave soon. When they got back from the store, I was back in bed, wondering what went wrong.

Around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, I just gave up - Carrie had to call in a sub, we weren't leaving. I didn't know when I would be good enough to leave - the headache was constant and pounding, the nausea made vomiting a constant possibility, and the diarrhea had my ass feeling like...a joke I am not about to make, knowing who reads this blog. In and out of sleep, I was able to watch Michigan beat osu in basketball (good) and the Wings lose to the Stars (bad). At 6, "American Gladiators" came on right as Mom's cable went out. Then, at 8, we all watched "Knight Rider, the Debacle". Seriously - I have some thoughts about Ben Silverman that I would like to share.

After Knight Rider, Carrie and I basically passed out - it was around 10, and I had only had 1 or 2 diarrheas in the past few hours, so moral victory. I thought for sure that the next morning would see us leaving at 8, for reals this time. I woke up around 11:15 though, went to the bathroom - the diarrhea was back, and so was the puking. Yay! I had to wake Carrie up to go get me some water. The diarrhea showed up at least once an hour the rest of the night. At one point, I openly wondered where my body was finding the liquid.

Side note - all I had to eat Sunday was half a banana, two small pieces of toast, and 2 mini applesauces. I don't think any of those reached their final destinations. That, and most of the day was alternately spent under the sheet, a blanket, and 2 down comforters, or I was too hot and was above the sheets. I tried to go downstairs once, and it lasted for about 3 minutes - the shakes caused me to go back upstairs.

The next morning, I finally stopped with the pooping around 10, so we left at noon, and I was fine. We did stop at the Hank Williams/Loretta Lynn Rest Stop (I hate TN), and nothing happened. Well, #63 happened - not something you want at a rest stop. But, feeling cocky and hungry, I bought a Twix bar. I even had 2 bites. Half an hour later, the diarrhea had its last stand. Solid food - not a good idea just yet. It had a little bit of a revival in a Starbucks bathroom north of Cincinnati, but that might have just the stench emanating from Columbus.

When we got home, I actually found out that I was unable to get anything out, which belied the stomach cramps I had had for about 5 hours prior. Maybe the Immodium worked too well. Even though, all I had was one Twix bar to eat, all day. The cold air of the north gave me the violent shakes while unloading the car, and the shower I took to warm up made me realize that I had let my feet get too cold in the car. (Seriously - felt like boiling water on my feet. I hope to never actually get frostbite.) So, in case you aren't paying attention, last night my head hurt, my stomach hurt, my ass hurt, my ribs hurt from throwing up (they hurt worst around my old golfing injury - I am so old), my shoulder hurt from sleeping on it funny, my feet hurt from the frostbite, and my thighs hurt because it was another symptom that I had that I forgot to mention earlier - apparently a general feeling of soreness accompanies this sickness.

This morning, I wake up feeling like a million bucks. Well, maybe like 38 cents - but compared to the night before, it was a million bucks. I even managed to go into work, even though I accomplished very little. I weighed myself, and I had lost 6 pounds since I weighed myself last Wednesday. Still, all in all it was a rough day, but I did eat solid foods and keep them in me.

Really, the all-stars here are Mom and Carrie - even at 31, when I am sick to the point that I am almost helpless, nothing is better than having Mom around. This is why I generally avoid getting too sick, although the 3 times I have been sickest in the past 10 years have all involved me being in Memphis, which defies the odds since I have lived here since 99. Also, Carrie was a trooper for missing a day of school and getting me water and help at 2 in the morning when she was utterly exhausted. So to you both, I give my love and my thanks.

Oh, and a big hand to Chloe - had it not been for her Pampers Sensitive Wipes, I don't know if I could have sat for 12 hours yesterday. Those were a lifesaver.