Fall TV

Since you asked....well only Christina asked, but it was enough of an opening for me to do a post on the upcoming TV season.

NEW SHOWS

Every time you turn on the TV there are promos running for all the new shows starting this fall. I tend to DVR much of what I watch so I don't see many commercials, but there are times (Football) when live TV is all that will do and I'm forced to watch the many many adds for the upcoming premiers.

On a side note, my current favorite commercials are the AT&T/Cingular dropped calls - there are a couple new ones out, one with a retired football player on a golf course talking to his wife and another between two men, possibly a butcher and his supplier. Both had me laughing out loud. For those of you who typically have to sit through commercials have you seen any particularly funny ones?

Back on track...I am interested in a couple new shows and want to check them out to see if they're any good.

Chuck - Mondays at 8pm on NBC. It was on last night but I had already seen the pilot because NBC made it available free ahead of time in almost every possible way (computer, Blockbuster, Comcast on Demand). Chuck is a lovable geek who works for at Best Buy type company. He accidentally downloads all the governments secrets into his head (stick with me here) and becomes a marked man. It's a funny geeky version of Alias - has some intense moments but always intertwined with lots of comic relief.

Pushing Daisies - Wednesdays at 8pm on ABC. I haven't seen this yet, but I have heard alot about it. The word on the TV scene (I know, I'm a complete dork, I admit it and accept it) is that it's like nothing else you'll see on TV, very whimsical, charming and very different. The basic premise is the main guy has the power to bring people back from the dead by touching them. But if he touches them again go back to being dead......FOREVER. Duh duh duh! The previews I've seen are very intriguing - very colorful and stylized - the overall look just seems different. I don't know what to say to make you interested other than if you are interested in shows that aren't your typical laugh track comedies or procedural crime shows, perhaps you would be drawn in by this. I'm curious so I'll be tuning in.

Bionic Woman - Wednesdays at 9pm on NBC. I'm 50/50 on this one. It's a remake of the original somewhat campy version. This one is darker and more intense. Basic idea - main girl gets in to major car wreck and is taken to secret lab by professor/researcher boyfriend. In order to save her life he remakes the injured parts of her body with bionics - some super science-y sounds things that make her all rough and tough and strong and fast and give her super senses. At one point in the pilot she does battle with a rouge Bionic woman who was supposed to be dead. I imagine there will be lots of of action and mystery and conspiracy. I figure since Alias is gone the Bionic Woman can be the new kick butt woman in my life! Maybe. If it's any good. I'll let ya' know. Or you let me know what you think. But for some reason I don't imagine many of my blog readers will be interested in this show.

Returning Shows
The shows that I am most excited for are....

The Office. Thursdays at 9pm on NBC. Two days left! I can barely wait. Not much to say except this show makes me laugh so much and I usually watch it twice.

Friday Night Lights. Friday nights at 9pm on NBC. I love this show so much. It makes me laugh, cry, smile, sit on the edge of seat in suspense. Basically a whole wide range of emotions will be experienced while watching and they all feel genuine rather than manufactured and contrived. Recently I received an email from my friend Cindy that made my day. She's been up late as a result of an inability to sleep comfortably which is a result of being 9 months pregnant! She said she caved in and started watching them online for free on NBC's website. And she's hooked! Nothing could have made me happier. Well, I guess world peace and the end to hunger and disease would make me unspeakably happier....I guess it made me just a little bit happy. I have a number of copies of first four episodes of Season 1 that I would be happy to give you if you were interested - or throw in the mail. And for those of you who already have a copy - and you know who you are - just do it. Just watch it! Have I ever led you astray?

I do like Grey's Anatomy but it fizzled a bit last season so I'm hoping it will come back better this year. Lost doesn't come back until February so I have nothing to say about that.

How about you? Do you have shows you regularly watch - ones that are on your must see list? Do you have shows you like to watch if you happen to be home and catch them while you're crashing on the couch? Are you going to take a chance on any of the highly publicized new shows - most of which won't even make it to a second season??? Let me know what you think!

Getting the hang of it...

9/19/2007 - pictures added

So we made it through our first week of preschool. Ella did really well on her short orientation day and her first full day. In fact, on her orientation day she was one of the more talkative kids (it was only half the class, so it's wasn't too overwhelming). While the head teacher was meeting with the parents, the assistant teacher lead snack time with the kids. I could hear Ella chatting with the teacher about her sister and telling her random things. I think she was the only one talking.

Thursday was the first day with us dropping us off.

Ella was very excited. In fact she woke up and was very mad on Wednesday when I told her she didn't get to go until the next day. Catherine was the one who was sad on Thursday when she saw Ella getting her shoes and coat on and wanted to get her shoes on as well - so I had to let her know that Ella was going to school and she was staying home with mommy. She just sat on the couch and cried.

Tuesday was the first morning that we would all have to be out the door by nine - Ella to preschool and Catherine and myself to Bible study. Ella was a bit hesitant this morning, I imagine because of the long break between Thursday and Tuesday. But all went well - the teacher came and got her right from the car, Ella smiled and waved and disappeared into the building without a peap from Catherine.

The strange thing is when I pick her up from school, I have no real idea what she's done or experienced in those 2 1/2 hours. I have an idea of her schedule and the activities that she does, but I don't know if she's making friends or at least learning their names, I don't know if she's is participating and interacting. I'm used to being completely aware of every activity and every interaction she has. It's just another one of those things you grow to accept as your kids get a little older and more independent - you start to lost some of that first hand knowledge of their lives. Granted it's only a few hours a week - but for that time I have to rely on her or her teachers to fill me in.

Surprisingly Ella hasn't been very forthcoming about her mornings at school. I imagined she would be a chatter box of information - almost too much information. But it's the opposite....so far this is what I've been able to get out of her...

She likes playing with the dollhouse. It's been named as her favorite activity both days.
She now knows her teacher's names.
She likes her cubby.
She played on the seesaw - possibly with or four or five other girls or boys.
She had a chocolate cupcake for snack today - I think that was the highlight of the day!
Also, and most myseriously - she mentioned someone named Rachel (I checked, there are two Rachel's in her class) smelling like poop. What a wonderful observation to share with me!

New Feature!

I just added a flickr badge to my blog - it has pictures from my 30th birthday party on it at the moment. I hope to update it occasionally - meaning that when my 31st birthday rolls around I pray that there are some new shots to looks at!

School, Birthday's, Big Ben and more...

What's new around here....

Ella starts school this week! It's only 2 mornings a week, but we're excited. I'm looking forward to it for both of our sakes. I'm excited for her to make new friends and have that structure. I'm excited for me to have a little bit of time with just Catherine. I'm sure I will waste the majority of those 2 1/2 hours the first couple of weeks, but I am looking forward to doing errands, visiting friends, etc with just one little girl. It should be a nice change of pace.

The lazy days of summer are over as of this upcoming week. Not only does Ella start school, but my morning Bible study starts and I have leader training for another mom's group. Our days of being lazy in bed until Catherine gets up at 9 are done. By the time Catherine and I get up Ella has been downstairs with Matt before he leaves, had her first breakfast, made a mess and then snuggled in with me to watch the weather (AKA, the Today Show). I love staying in bed as long as possible. I just love it. Not a real admirable quality, but it's true. But with the onset of fall (doesn't feel like it, still too hot) comes more structure to our days and more busyness overall.

What else....
Oh yeah - a few months ago my husband, with the help of some dear friends, threw me a surprise 30th birthday party. I've been meaning to blog about it since then but I had so much to say about it, that I kept putting it off. And now two months have gone by. I posted all the pictures on flicker and then could not figure out how to link to it from my blog and got frustrated. Maybe I'll get them up someday.

Anyway - it was a wonderful surprise that shouldn't have been a surprise, because our babysitter accidentally spilled the beans the Sunday before in front of me (no specifics, just asking matt if he still needed her for friday night and what time - enough for me to go - ooohhhh, what's going on friday, hmmmm). Matt and I avoided talking about it because I just didn't want to have it ruined and I just ignored him when he tried to get me to admit that I knew. I was supposed to go out with some friends that Friday and I figured the surprise would be afterwards. I have to give alot of credit to Matt for how laid back he was - I was totally looking for clues and he never slipped up. But the real Oscar winners go to Rachael, Tasha and Renee - the friends I went out with beforehand. They did such a good job of throwing me off track and that I thought perhaps I was totally mistaken about what I heard and it was for another weekend or something entirely different. I was actually a bit bummed out because I was looking forward to a party! I wish I could go into the specifics but it would make this post way too long, but it's pretty funny, especially because the whole time they weren't sure if they were fooling me at all. When we arrived at the party location I was so clueless I didn't think twice about the long line of cars across the street (I figured it was a graduation party - if I had said that out loud I wonder if they would have lost it) or the car parked in my driveways that is my friend's and rather distinct.

So I ended up being really surprised and it was a great time. It was a special treat to have my parents there as well as some friends who traveled especially to be there - Shannon and Greg (and little Cade) and Kate and Paul - thanks again for taking time out of your busy schedules to come and celebrate with me! The food was wonderful - prepared by my friend Sarah who stayed up way too late preparing the night before. Renee made a delicious and beautiful cake and my parents even brought my favorite DQ ice cream cake that is only sold in my hometown.

I found out after I got in the car to go home around midnight that Matt and I weren't going home, but we were having a little getaway until Sunday morning! I was shocked and of course a bit worried about what he packed for me (he did a good job, but did accidentally throw in a nursing bra??? He blames me because why is it still in my drawer.). We had a wonderful two nights away at Bear Creek - a beautiful ski resort that also has hiking and biking. We enjoyed a nice hike and swim and hot tub time as well as a great dinner. And of course I bought Harry Potter because it came out that day. I was also worried Matt wouldn't let me go buy it on Saturday but my husband knows me well enough that he didn't even question it.

So that was the surprise party post! Just a bit belated....but since my party was a month after my birthday, what can you expect.

Other randomness....

The Steelers kicked butt today! I didn't get to watch, but I read the play by play online and caught highlights. Big Ben had 4 TDs and I didn't even care that he was the starting QB on my brother's fantasy team - who I was up against. My loyalties always lie with the real team over the fantasy team.

Yes, I play fantasy football.

And finally. If you're in the mood to watch a trainwreck, try and catch some footage of Britney Spears performance at the VMAs. I tuned in just to see her and it was pretty bad. Hard to watch bad. I'll be curious what the reaction is - this was supposed to be her comeback performance. Kind of feel bad for her.

So that's it. A marathon post with no pictures. If you made it through, thank you very much for caring! :)