Dance Fever!

Visions of bronzed skin, sequins, disco balls, and the Paso Doble whirl in my head! The countdown starts to the premiere of DWTS Season 7! ABC officially announced the list of celebs, so here's my comments on this season's contestants:

Lance Bass: Although many might think he's at a distinct advantage in the contest what with all his experience with choreographed dancing with *NSYNC, I happen to know from my "Bye Bye Bye" days that Lance was definitely the weakest dancer, despite the fact that he turned out to be gay.

Toni Braxton: I always get her mixed up with Vivica A. Fox, who has actually already been on DWTS, so I can't really give any insight here. She has been on Broadway, which indicates an inclination for dancing.

Brooke Burke: Her career is basically based on looking hot in mini-skirts and being able to read a teleprompter--any success from her would be a surprise. Although she is paired with Derek Hough, a cutie-patootie with a bit of an attitude with the judges--love him!

Rocco DiSpirito: A chef...hmmm, again, would be a shocker if he has performing or dance skills. Paired with diva Karina Smirnoff.

Maurice Greene: World's Fastest Man with two-time winner Cheryl Burke--could be great like Emmitt Smith or Jason Taylor, could be terrible like Clyde Drexler!

Kim Kardashian: I'm doubting discipline ranks very highly on this dark-haired Paris Hilton's list, so I'm gonna give her an early-ouster predictor, even though she's paired with last year's winner (along with Kristi Yamaguchi--Whoo!), Mark Ballas.

Cloris Leachman: I'm predicting plenty of sassy spunk from this seasoned lady--Did you guys see her in Spanglish? Hilarious! PLUS, she's paired with Mark's daddio, series newcomer Corky Ballas! Corky and Cloris! Love it!

Cody Linley: You don't know that name, and you may or may not have heard of his under-the-radar, but very subtle-humored show, Hannah Montana. He's 18, and Julianne Hough, always touted as being the youngest pro on the show, will now be the younger member of her team for the first time on the show.

Susan Lucci: Erica Kane on the dance floor! Sounds like drama. She has apparently done cabarets across the country, according to the ABC website--all I gotta say about that is...yikes. Tony Dovolani is her partner.

Misty May-Treanor: Ohhhhhhh Maksim! For his comeback season, he's paired with a high-level female athlete! I'm hoping this goes more Laila Ali than Monica Selles.

Okay, I'm getting tired, and I've never even heard of the other three guys: TV star Ted McGinley, comedian Jeffrey Ross, and pro football player Warren Sapp.

I seriously doubt anyone is reading this far, except for maybe my sister, who is almost as hardcore as me about DWTS. Hi, Sis! Until Sept. 22!

The world of being a SAHM

...is the best! I sometimes feel guilty about how much I get to read and cook and play with Claire! But then I try to just count my blessings. My yearbook from the school I taught at last year came in the mail yesterday, and I did see a few students I would miss, but they were mostly seniors who are already gone anyway! The one candid picture of me in there, I had this look on my face like, "Please take this picture so I can stop gritting my teeth in a fake smile and go back to gritting my teeth and getting my never-ending load of work done." Also a hint of "When is lunch?" there. My desk was so messy; I've got to say I don't miss grading a single bit! However, as of now, I am planning on teaching two freshman composition classes at the college in the spring. So I'll have to get back into that grading mode in a few months!

I've been trying to get some video of Claire's new trick, nodding her head for yes. She loves it so much, because when I ask a question like "Do you want to go outside?" or "You need some juice?" she nods her head vigorously. She's also figured out how to point to a body part when she hurts it, which is very often. She points to her knees a lot, and to her finger the other day when some hot oil popped out onto it! Youch! She had this big fat blister on it for two or three days. Color me guilty on that one, folks! She's always fussy while I'm trying to make dinner, it seems! I end up either holding her or letting her stand beside me on a chair, either one of which is a recipe for disaster! (Pun intended!)

Here's Claire helping me clean--she enjoys a paper towel about as much as anything, going around cleaning the floors, cabinets, and her face. The second pic is her zoning out to Sesame Street! She's apparently had all the fun she can take, having strewn all her toys around the living room and waiting for me to put them all back so she can start all over!

Jay has been super-busy with his building project in Ardmore, and he also just started four houses in Calera. His schedule would be a lot to deal with if I was still working full-time, too.

Let's see if Elmo can pass...The Bookaneer Test!

This was so cute! You've gotta see when Tina Fey says..."The Bookaneer Test" and her two compadres go, "Oooooh, The Boookaneer Teee-eest!" AND when cute little puppy pirate accuses Alan of pandering to pirate stereotypes by saying a pirate's favorite letter in the alphabet is "Arrrr!" Hilarious!

Keepin' it Real!

Inspired by my sister-in-law Audrey, who also inspired Emily, I'm keepin' it real for you guys! Hilarious idea Audrey, and thanks for making the rest of us feel a little better about the messes in our pantries, closets, and cars! I don't have two carseats and two kids' worth of trash, but I do have a pile of framed pics intended for the walls of Burger Shoppe, Pablo the Penguin, shoes, a play program, etcetera.

This girl loves fruit!

Yesterday Claire and I were in the fruit section at Wal-Mart and I was loading up for my tutti-fruiti hubby and daughter. I put a bag of nectarines in the cart and turned to get some plums, and when I turned around, Claire had gotten a nectarine out of the bag and taken two big bites! The tricky thing is, it's hard to tell her my standard "Yucky!" for something she shouldn't put in her mouth when she knows very well that was NOT yucky at all!

When we got home, she also succeeded in getting a bite of a plum, and then eating about 1/3 of it (the peel turns her off a bit), and then an entire Clementine orange, after first trying to take a bite out of it, peel and all.