Call me Victoria Winters.
It was my childhood pretend name and I have no idea where I got it.
I am:
*Happily married to my high school sweetheart
*A first-time mama to a gorgeous little girl
*Old enough to know better
*An ailurophile
*Creative when the mood strikes
*A little rebellious
*A lover of comments
*A thyroid cancer survivor
*A foodie on a budget
Okay, so I'm only half-way through watching AI but I have to post. First, what is the deal with Paula? Is she really that dumb or is she high!? She read her notes like she was trying to defend her dissertation in 1 minute, rather than make a simple comment on everyone's first song. And then? Then she thought Jason sang twice!? I'm really worried that they cast a complete idiot/stoner for this role! Second, why doesn't anyone think Sayesha is as good as I do? That girl can sing, but nobody seems to give her any credit. Brooke sucked, as did Jason. Cook was okay and Archie was eh.
On to the second half of the show.
Oh, and Neil Diamond!? Come on, producers. Give us somebody we can relate to here!
Oh #2, I laughed so hard when Cook interviewed Ryan and he described himself as a kid in the "way back" of the station wagon. I thought it was only Huz who used that term. Ha!
-- Okay, I just finished and here's what I think:
Cook was the best tonight. While I didn't love his first song (his voice was too gruff for my liking), his second song was great. He does know how to make songs (even old, outdated ones) his own.
Brooke's first song sucked, but her second was really good. I love her folksy voice, especially how it sounds like it cracks every now and then. I know that sounds horrible, but if you watch you know what I mean.
Like I said earlier, Sayesha is really good but after watching her second song, I think she'd be better in theater than a recording artist.
Jason - I'm over him. He, unlike others, hasn't improved as the competition has gone on. I think he's the weakest performer by far.
Archie is a one trick pony (God and Country songs are his thang) who makes every song sound exactly the same. I'm really over him.
Like I said, Huz is a wizard in the kitchen. Friday night I was served a glorious meal: roasted chicken in a red wine, honey, ginger, and ancho chili glaze, ginger garlic carrot puree, steamed spinach, and red chili chocolate flan with pecan praline. There was nothing we were celebrating; Huz just felt like cooking. Damn, I love it when that happens! Turns out cutting up a little chicken isn't so hard, so there were no ER runs for us. Phew.
How do you ruin a lovely evening after dining in style? You watch this. I should have known better because I've read the book, but it totally ruined the festive, romantic mood, let me tell you. Note to self: don't watch a downer movie that will make you nauseated if you want a great meal followed by romance (non-sleep activity is what I'm talking about, people). It ain't gonna happen.
I think you all know by now that Huz is a wizard in the kitchen. The man cooks some mighty find food that I and all of our friends enjoy. He got a little downhearted when I showed him a fellow blogger hubby's knife skillz, however. Why? He's never cut up a whole chicken. So, as we speak, he's doing his research in preparation for tonight's dinner. Lest we make a trip to the ER, I will not be recording the event and timing him. Sorry, Roth. The competition will have to wait!
You got it wrong. Woefully wrong. It should have been him or her. Definitely nother. I mean, come on, I know that Brooke is cute, bubbly, and sweet, but two false starts on live TV? You just can't do that. And while I love his eyes and dreads, Jason isn't a great live stage performer. They should have been the bottom two.
Try harder next week.
Victoria (a.k.a. The One Who Never Votes for AI but Feels Free to Bitch About it)
Ah, the signs of spring are everywhere and I'm playing hooky today.
Our new trees we bought last summer are in full bloom:
There are cats in window sills enjoying the breeze:
It is beautiful and mild here right now. I only wish it would stay like this all summer instead of getting hot and humid.
We did a ton of work this weekend landscaping our front yard. It previously had zilch in the way of plants.
Before:
But now it's got fresh, stinky mulch and flowering plants a plenty. We got some quotes on painting the house too, so the ugly turquoise is short-lived. Yippee!
The bees like it too:
These are marigolds from seeds my Mom gave me last summer.
Then we celebrated Claire's 1/2 birthday yesterday and had friends over for a BBQ. The guest of honor slept through most of her party, but we ate and laughed on her behalf. Here's the lovely baby girl on her special day:
Here she is with our friend Lauren:
And here's Lauren's sweet little Lottie:
It's kinda ugly, but I made her a 1/2 birthday cake:
We had a good time.
It was a lovely weekend and I'm just amazed how quickly my baby girl is growing before my eyes. She is so lovely, so pure, so beautiful. I fall in love with her more and more every single day. Happy half of a year my darling baby Claire. I love you so much!
I'd like to thank Claire for waking us up at 4:30 this morning. No, I'm serious. If she didn't, I wouldn't be able to say that I experienced my second earthquake.
Have I got your attention?
The first earthquake I experienced was about a decade ago when Huz and I were in the Philippines*. We were in Manila at a restaurant and all of a sudden the water in our glasses started to slosh. It was like we were dining in a ship at sea. It only lasted a few surreal minutes and I honestly had forgotten all about it until yesterday when I emailed my Mom to ask how her recent trip to San Francisco went. "Fine," she said, "except I was worried about an earthquake." I later asked a co-worker if there was some immanent earthquake danger in the San Francisco area and he said that some newspaper said that one should hit sometime before 2037. Leave it to my Mom to worry about it that far in advance.
*We were there on a missions trip - back when we thought we were preachers bringing the good news...yada yada yada.
Then! Irony of ironies! We felt an earthquake this morning! The epicenter was on the Illinois/Indiana/Kentucky border and it was a 5.4 rating. When Claire got me up for her breakfast at 4:30, I wondered out loud, "why are the windows rattling!? Is it raining?" Huz looked out the bedroom window but didn't say anything. The rattling lasted less than a minute and we went about our business (i.e., him sleeping and me feeding and putting Claire back to bed). I wouldn't have even thought about it if he hadn't called me on my way to work to tell me it was an earthquake. I'm still in shock (get it? shock!).
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