“Windy City White House” is more of a reference to our visit to the Windy City rather than a blog post about the recent election – it’s over and done with, and although I won’t talk much about the outcome, I am happy to not have to hear about it on the news anymore.  While in Illinois, my mother-in-law kept talking about what huge news it is that Obama was elected and how his pick for Chief-of-Staff, Rahm Emanuel is a fellow Chicagoan – making it a ‘Windy City White House’.

But back to our family – it’s my blog, after all.  We scheduled an early Christmas with our family in Illinois this past weekend (the early Christmas theme is something that seems popular with tangents.org bloggers), and overall, it was great.  There are a few reasons we decided to do things this way – 1) We’re sick of the hustle and bustle of opening our presents from Santa and then rushing off to Illinois on Christmas Day  – add to that having the flu during this trip twice and UGH.  Best to travel before flu season.  2) My daughter was off school Friday for parent/teacher conferences 3) We wanted to beat the rush and other travelers.  Overall, it was a really great decision, although the trip was last minute, and so we did forget a few of the presents which we’ll now have to send.  We left Ohio on Friday morning and after a bit of traffic-sitting (of course), we got to my grandparents house about 40 minutes past schedule.  But no matter, they’re fully aware of the traffic problems plaguing their area.  We were treated to a delicious lunch of my grandma’s sloppy joes (love ’em), and the girls got to open presents.  My grandpa gets tired really quickly, and so we didn’t stay too long there, and then it was on to our hotel.  My husband uses hotwire.com and got us a suite at the Sheraton for $49 – a nice price for the area.  When we pulled up to our hotel, we were pleased to see it was the same hotel where we spent our wedding night – that was a nice surprise.  My mom and my sister brought her two boys over for some swimming, and we all had a blast even though their indoor pool was chilly.  Luckily, I had thought to turn up our room’s thermostat so when we got back to the room we didn’t freeze, although it was quite crowded trying to get 10 hungry people changed out of bathing suits and trying to order pizza at the same time.  It was a suite, but it was probably the smallest suite I have ever seen, and we had 6 little kids and 4 adults in there.  My mother and sister wisely decided that they couldn’t wait for the time it would take to get pizza, and they got something to eat on the way home.  That was a good idea because my mom had to get up early the next day and didn’t want to be out too late.  They know their area well enough to realize that pizza delivery on a Friday night would take over an hour – and they were right.  My poor kids were starving and I had to raid my diaper bag.  I found a little bag of oyster crackers and two small bags of peanuts, so I divied everything up 3 ways (Survivor-style) and it quieted them a little until the pizza came.  Overall, the kids were kind of spastic all day, especially my oldest for some reason…  My husband blames the tension of the Chicagoland area, but then again, he hates it as much as I do.  We love seeing family, just wish we could visit them somewhere else!

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to meet my mother-in-law for breakfast at Uptown Cafe in Arlington Heights – the place has the best eggs benedict in the nation.  And I know this because way back when, before we had all these kids, my husband and I used to travel constantly, and one of the things we would look for was good hollandaise sauce.  We never found any that came close to Uptown Cafe’s.  And the owners remember us – we used to go there a lot when we lived in the area; I was pregnant with my first daughter.  They are surprised every time they see us because we usually have a new baby or two.  After breakfast, we went back to my mother-in-law’s house, and I felt badly for dropping in on my husband’s sister and her family without any notice.  This is one of the details that was overlooked in the last minute planning.  But it was ok; I didn’t have my gifts for their 3 kids, so I’ll have to send them.  But our kids had lots of fun playing together, and it’s important to me that my kids know their extended family, especially since a lot of hatchets have been buried over the years on this side of the family.

Next, it was time to see our good friend, the author of the sublife blog on tangents.org.  It was great to see him, especially on his own turf, but he’s right in his blog – there really wasn’t much time for chatting.  The kids wouldn’t have allowed us to just sit and talk peacefully, and we wanted to take them somewhere fun, so we went to an overflowing Chuck E. Cheese.  After waiting in line to park, I realized that I hadn’t seen our camera since I took a picture of the kids on the luggage rack at the hotel that morning.  Sound familiar?  Yes, I have terrible luck with digital cameras.  And worse, this one was not mine – I had borrowed it from Jamiahsh for the trip, so I was sick about losing it.  Luckily for me, it turned up when we got home though – YAY!  I was especially upset because I knew that I had put it in my diaper bag – I really thought someone had taken it.  Pessimistic of me, you’d think, except that we did have our tokens stolen from our table at Chuck E. Cheese with my husband less than 5 feet away.  Takes all kinds to steal game tokens from little kids, doesn’t it….  at least they didn’t also steal my digital camera.  We got lunch at a Vienna Beef hot dog place in Arlington Heights called Jimmy’s – highly recommended you get real Chicago-style beef sandwiches and ‘dogs if you’re in the area – YUM!

The ride home was uneventful – the kids slept most of the way, thank goodness.  We did manage to stop and get me my crave case of White Castles, and so our car reeked of steamed onions – thank goodness we weren’t pulled over or we may have gotten a ticket for disturbing the peace.  Maybe I wouldn’t have stopped if I’d known what White Castles would do to a 2-year-old’s diaper.  I tried to deliver some to my friend Carol who graciously pet sits for us, but for some reason, she neglected to pick them up.  My husband says that not everyone likes White Castles.  We picked up the slyders (as White Castles are known) in Dolton, Illinois; not the best area, but it just off the expressway so we made it unscathed.  Ironically, something made me talk about Dolton just before the stop; I was telling my husband how it’s gotten to be a really bad area and that I knew a family that had left there in the ’80’s because it was getting so bad, so imagine it now.  Then we saw a sign that said “Dolton Bowl” right across the street from the White Castle, and we laughed at the irony.  But overall, a nice trip, especially considering the area where we had to take it.  One positive thing I will say about the area is that they have excellent food.

Three quarters of my kids on the luggage cart: 

Many of you have read a live blog before; ie people posting comments while an awards show is airing on tv.  But have you ever read a live blog that is being composed within the vicinity of 4 crazy kids?  The following represents my best shot at attempting the previous description:

PRESHOW
7:30 pm – It’s Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban on the red carpet.  They’re a cute coupl…  wait a minute, they look weird together.  Well, actually, just Nicole Kidman looks strange.  Kinda like Janice from the Muppets meets the thin spaced-out version of Anna Nicole Smith.  It’s mean to be critical of people based on their appearances, but in this case, I suspect a nasty mistake in the plastic surgeon’s office.  Since she did it to herself (and spent thousand$ to do so), no holds barred – I can joke all I want!  And Nicole doesn’t seem very comfortable with playing second fiddle (it’s a country music awards show – appreciate the fiddle joke!) on the red carpet.  I give this marriage 3 years, 4 tops.

7:35pm – Jack Ingram?  Who IS that?  If you read my previous blog post about the awards, then you know that I don’t get to listen to that much radio lately, and I don’t have the slightest idea who this is!

7:37 – Fans overwhelmingly choose Carrie Underwood to take Female Vocalist – both hubby and I agree.  That reminds me, it will be a tight race in our household tonight – my husband and I only have 3 votes different from each other!  And a reader / fellow blogger asked in a comment what the winner gets…  we will have to choose our stakes before show time…

7:38 – So THAT’S the other half of Sugarland

7:38 – Julianne Hough from Dancing With The Stars?  Didn’t she just have her appendix out?  She’s hosting the pre-show with Craig Morgan?  Isn’t THIS the pre-show?

7:45 – Awww – Alan Jackson has a cute family.  One of his 3 girls is off at college this year though.  What is with male country superstars having 3 girls?  Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw all have 3 daughters each, to name a few…

7:46 – Every time I see her, Reba looks younger.  Glad to see she can afford a better plastic surgeon than Nicole Kidman.  Reba better watch out though – any more nose jobs and she’ll end up with a nose (or lack thereof) like Michael Jackson’s.

7:53 – Charlie Daniels – that’s my guess when Kid Rock (my new favorite artist – kidding) says he’s going to have a very special guest guitarist.

 7:56 – Taylor Swift is growing up…  after the things I’ve read about her since her breakup with the Jonas Brother, she might make a creepy adult.

 7:58 – Ew, I can’t stand Reese Witherspoon.  What’s she doing here?  Oh, she grew up in NAshville and is promoting a movie.

7:59 – My husband leans over and says, “Reese Witherspoon?  I can’t stand her.”

7:59 – Time to switch to the network for the real show!

2008 CMA AWARDS!
8:00 – We are off!  Brad Paisley and Keith open the show with their much hyped collaboration.  I like the blue glitter guitar.  The song is nothing special.  I dig the duel guitar solo at the end.

 8:06 – Our hosts for the night – Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood (from American Idol to HOSTING the CMAS?  Whatever…)  She looks like a Barbie.
8:07 – Brad makes a “boots to fill” joke involving Dolly Parton – he did say boots.  Hahaha – that’s the joke.  Country music stars are creative song-writers…  we never promised anything about their comedy skills.  But I liked the joke, because the country music awards show I saw live (it was an ACM awards show though) was hosted by Dolly Parton.

8:10 – What are Hollywood A-listers doing here to present the first award?  Oh wait, Nicole Kidman is married to a country music superstar.  So what is with the random Hugh Jackman appearance though?

 8:11 – Strait wins the first award of the evening for Single of the Year.  0/1 are we since we both guessed Sugarland.  But who was that man George Strait kissed before his acceptance speech?

 8:17 – Is it Kellie Pickler or a bad Madonna impersonator who sound like Belinda Carlisle?  I don’t like it.

8:18 – My husband leans over and says, ” This is like an American Idol performance.”  Ironic, because he relies on me for pop culture info and therefore did not know that this is Kellie Pickler who IS from American Idol!  Glad to see she got herself out of the dress she said it took her hours to get into before she had a bathroom emergency.

8:20 – Alan Jackson – probably my favorite country artist of all time, ever since Garth Brooks sold out.  Not sure what I think of his new song Good Time, though…  It seems like a run-of-the-mill Alan Jackson song, which isn’t a bad thing, just heard before.  My husband feels badly for Kellie Pickler whose awfulness had to be followed by Alan Jackson’s legendary stage presence.

8:23 – What the heck is with the college-age line dancers lining the aisles – that’s stupid.  Are they trying to make a new linedance?  This one looks just like the electric slide with a little wiggle thrown in…  dumb.  Alan Jackson squints into the camera – he’s getting old.

8:25 – the Cyruses, yuck.  Saw Billy Ray live in 2002 when he was still a has-been playing town festivals.  He ignored the legions  dozens of fans trying to slap him five on his way to the stage.  At least my daughter is a big fan of Miley’s – that makes this tolerable.

8:26 – Stay wins Song of the Year, and I’m 0/2, possibly my worst ever.  Husband is up and I have only 2 more chances to catch up…  mood turning sour…  at least it’s a good song.

 8:32 – Miranda Lambert performs.  I like her.  And I like these simple performances of songwriter sings simple song with guitar – songs like these are building blocks of country music.

 8:35 – Reese Witherspoon is crying about Miranda Lambert’s performance?  Really?  Or is she acting?  What is she doing here again?

8:36 – Oh good, Lady Antebellum.  I was wondering who they are and what they sing.  They sound just like a ’90’s band – I can’t think of who right now!  Any ideas, please comment – it’ll come to me!  Hubby says the lead singer looks like Lance Bass.  At any rate, they’re nothing to write home about.  Can’t see them having staying power – not country enough.  2/3 of the group too replaceable, remaining 1/3 not that noteworthy.

8:40 – getting a little greedy with the commercials – here’s yet another.

 8:43 – Martina McBride is introduced by Brad Paisley, who could use some acting lessons from his actress wife; his script-reading is terrible.  Martina is one of my favorite singers

8:44 – and she’s singing a VERY ordinary song.  See my plea in a previous post – Martina and Alan Jackson NEED to seriously come out with some good stuff and soon!

8:48 – Rodney Atkins – HELP!  This is the guy who sings about kids eating nuggets in the car and other mundane every day tasks…  He is the kind of singer country music bashers use to make fun of the genre!  AND HE:S OFF-KEY!

8:51 – Heidi who?  Someone should pass her a cover-up in case her dress finishes falling down.

8:53 – PUT ME ON THE BOARD WITH MY FIRST CORRECT PICK FOR RASCAL FLATTS – VOCAL DUO!   I really enjoy their music…  please tell me they’re performing later!  I hear that Kid Rock will be performing “the song we’ve been singing ‘All Summer Long'”.  I love that song, however upset I was to learn it was Kid Rock’s music I was enjoying…  Opening another window to download a sample of ‘Werewolves in London’.

8:59 – Taylor Swift performs.  I love the stage, the costumed dancers, the dancing…  the song sucks though.

903 – Is Taylor Swift lip-syncing?  Why are the dancers suddenly surrounding her, do they know she gets off sync in that part of the song?  Unless…  COSTUME CHANGE!  I was SO right!  Called it seconds before it happened!  Bool-yah!

9:04 – My new favorite song – All Summer Long – is cool as a live performance.  But where is the guest guitarist we were promised?  Was it someone I didn’t recognize?  And Kid Rock probably smokes too many cigarettes, judging by his singing voice.

9:13 – Carrie Underwood has found herself a sarapi.  Isn’t that what that type of dress is called?  I don’t know how to spell it, can’t find it on a search…

9:14 – I like George Strait’s new song more than I’ve liked most of the other live performances.  But why do country stars keep attempting to emulate Jimmy Buffett’s laid back beach style?  It’s been done, and done very well, I might add!  Let’s stick to country – especially you George Strait!

 9:17 – Jason Aldean – one of those newcomers I’m not quite familiar with.  Ah, I see he’s of the bad-a** variety style of country…  I’m familiar with it.  As a person who vents anger by performing 80’s and 90’s raps in the solitary confinement of my car, I appreciate the wailing guitars and the bad-a** attitudes that are breaking onto today’s country music scene.

9:21 – Best New Artist – goes to Lady Antebellum.  Darnit, I really thought we had a shot for this one.  We picked Kellie Pickler, and she is a good friend of presenter Taylor Swift and everything!  Dang nabbit – I didn’t even like the sound of Lady Antebellum.  Well, eat it up kids – you won’t last in Nashville.

9:28 – God bless the late great Jerry Reid – I’m sorry and ashamed to say that I’ve never heard of him.

9:30 – an enjoyable performance of “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” by Brooks and Dunn and Reba.  And I like what these entities do together.  We saw them perform in concert together twice – awesome both times.  Too bad Reba’s plastic surgery doesn’t look as good as Nicole Kidman’s under the stage lights.  They seem to have opposite effects – Reba’s new face looked great on the red carpet, Nicole’s was horrifying.  Reba’s was nothing short of freaky on stage, whereas Nicole’s looked almost humanesque.  You could have convinced me that Brooks and Dunn had a Reba animontronic made for this performance.  Anyway, enough about the obvious plastic surgery plaguing us tonight…  I should save that sort of commentary for the Oscars since there’s always plenty of fodder there…

9:35 – We both get another point since Sugarland wins Vocal Duo – BOOLYAH

9:40 – Darius Rucker – yes, he was in Hootie and the Blowfish and they were good.  So what brings him to country music?  I like him better as a blowfish.  Wait a minute… when I heard this song he’s performing on the radio, I always thought it was Daryl Worley, who sings these types of songs.  You mean to tell me the whole time that it was the work of a blowfish?  A fish out of water, I would say – HA.  He looks as out of place as he feels, and Alan Jackson squints up at the stage again – this time because he can’t believe there was actually an African-American on stage at the Country Music Association’s awards.

9:45 – Brad Paisley performs a mediocre tune

9:48 – LeeAnn Womack and Josh Turner show up to present the award for Album of the Year – one of the few categories where hubby and I differ.  Good to see that Ms. Womack has tamed her bee-hive hairdo.  YEE HAW!!!!  I am back in the saddle with my George Strait pick; we are tied!  Although it was announced that we both lost out on Video of the Year…  shucks.  I am not doing so well but still tied with hubby.

9:56 – A thought that crossed my mind as Brad Paisley introduced Keith Urban’s live performance – is it just me, or is Brad Paisley doing a lot more hosting than Barbie Carrie Underwood?  I wonder about the politics involved in the decision to let those two be the hosts…

9:58 – Keith Urban’s performance, like so many before him, is mediocre at best.  Thank goodness he’s an awesome guitarist.  And they still use his song, “Somebody Like You” in my favorite dinner show at Arabian Nights in Orlando Florida – that’s what sold me on the show in the first place!

10:00 – Is it just me or are they giving everyone a standing ovation, as seen after Keith Urban’s performance?

10:01 – A woman talks about her husband who was killed in battle.  She gets a standing ovation.  Sadly though, at the beginning of her speech, people didn’t know who she was or what she was doing, so they kind of chuckled, thinking she was joking because they didn’t know who she was.  A silent moment to reflect upon loved one’s lives lost and those who fight and fought for our country…

10:08 – I missed the second half of Carrie Underwood’s performance and whatever followed that because of a kid “emergency”.  But now I see Vince Gill hands an award to…

10:09 – Carrie Underwood.  As predicted by both of us in this house.  And conveniently, she was waiting in the stage wings after performing, seemingly in position to rush on stage to accept her award.  Curious… 
So far, my husband and I are tied at 5/8 – not bad.  Our personal tie-breaker will come down to Musical Event of the Year – a category that I joked existed only to flaunt the compromising of the big-name record labels.  We both guess Kenny Chesney.  But my guess is his collaboration with George Strait, and hubby’s guess is his Reba duet – Stay tuned to see the winner!

10:18 – Sugarland’s performance has been wailing on my tv in the backround while I typed some other stuff.  Not very impressive.  I’m beginning to wonder if it’s me or if all the performances tonight have been somewhat lackluster.  Not only that, but the songs being performed aren’t that great to begin with.

10:20 – Just Got Started Lovin You is one of my favorite new songs!  And James Otto is milking his big performance.  Otto’s range in the song reminds me of Josh Turner, but I don’t give him credit for staying power.  It’s a good song, but he doesn’t have the best stage presence.

10:29 – Whoa, my channel cut off Carrie Underwood.  Anyone else’s?  Kenny Chesney is performing his Jimmy Buffett knock-off routine with the beach combing sh*t.  Sorry for the language.  I need to see a really GOOD musical performance.  This sounds like a callypso version of an elementary school chorus concert.

10:32 – My husband leans over and says, “Does this guy have eyes?” – referring to Kenny’s accomplice.  I don’t think he likes the beachcomber crap any more than I do.

10:33 – Strangely, the intro to Trace Adkin’s performance sounds like a Carrie Underwood single, “Jesus Take the Wheel”.  Subliminal marketing maybe.  Conspiracy theories abound, the more tired I get…

10:37 – Another standing ovation?  This time for Trace Atkins…  ok, whatever.

10:37 – Reese Witherspoon – I can’t stand her.

10:38 – Reese Witherspoon gushes, “I am SOOOO glad to be here!”  My husband leans over and says, “I can’t stand her.”

10:39 – Brad Paisley wins Male Vocalist of the Year.  We are now tied at 5/9 since we had Keith Urban.

10:41 – Ooh – more hints about the surprise person.  Evidently, they are going to present the Entertainer of the Year award.  This marketing ploy has intrigued me, although you know that the astonished faces reacting to the surprise guest they show in the commercials have nothing to do with who it is – this is a live show!

10:44 – Ooh – Lost premiere January 21.  Wait, do I still watch that show?  It’s been so long, I forget.

 10:48 – mediocre Eagles performance.  What is with their new tidy look?  What is with me and thinking all the performances are mediocre?  Is it just me?  Not in this instance – the Eagles in their suts suck – they look old and tired.  Good music from a great group, they just need a smart manager – oh, big surprise, ANOTHER standing ovation.  Is that just what you do nowadays, the stand’n’clap?

10:54 – The best selling female country recording artist of all time is Shania Twain?  YUCK!  Another standing ovation!  And they haven’t even given out the award yet!

10:56 – And now they have…  Entertainer of the Year goes to Kenny Chesney, yuck!  But at least we both got it right!

10:59 – “The votes in tonight’s award show were cast by the six thousand members of the Country Music Association”…  kinda like our local theater group, the WCCT.

But what the heck?  Seems we are missing a category detrimental to our outcome?  Does anyone have the results for Musical Event of the Year?!?  That was our tie-breaker, and evidently we missed it, so break the tie for us!

Ok – Krauss and Plant won for Vocal Event – neither of us had them chosen.  So, it ended in a tie.  Overall, an entertaining show, as always.  I really could have used some more good musical performances, however…  Good night!

And as a final footnote – I got my sample of ‘Werewolves in London’.  The melody is obviously borrowed for ‘All Summer Long’, but I do like the new Kid Rock song much better.  Who knew that plagarizing two popular songs and then splicing them together would earn critical acclaim instead of a lawsuit?

Each week the hometown newspaper has a column entitled, “Did you know?”  It is a list of little known facts (little known to the general public… there maybe some who do know everything).  A few of these are facinating:

Did you know…

• that until 1978, Camel cigarettes contained minute particles of real camels (Always wondered how they came up with that name)
• that in 1943, a Parisian street mime got stuck in his imaginary box and consequently died of starvation (I would have guessed suffocation or claustrophobia)
• that you should never hold your nose and cover your mouth while sneezing, as it can blow out your eyeball
• that aardvarks are allergic to radishes, but only during summer months (I like to think that I am alergic to them year-round)
• that approximately one-sixth of your life is spent on Wednesday’s (why could it not be on a Friday or Saturday on game nights?)
• that polar bears can eat up to 86 penguins in a single setting
• that every three days a human stomach grows a new lining (what happens to the old ones?)
• that watching an hour-long soap opera burns more calories than watching a three-hour long baseball game (must be from the laughing one does while watching the suds.  I would have to disagree especially when watching a football game at C & L’s… of course that is not baseball)
• THAT IN SARATOGA FLORIDA IT IS ILLEGAL TO SING WHILE WEARING A BATHING SUIT (why and how about singing in the nude… not that I would want to push the envelope)
• that about one-third of all Americans flush while still seated on the toilet (ok…)
• that on average, every chocolate bar contains at least three insect legs (mmm…. good)

Now that I have educated you all, go out and have a Snickers bar, go to Saratoga and sing in your bathing suit,  and laugh those calories away watching a soap opera.

With 4 kids, many of them small in years, we are at the doctor’s office lots.  We are so lucky to be really happy with our pediatrician, especially since we see him often.  Today was another such visit – time for our 2 year and 4 month check-ups for the little ones.

Disney (2 yrs. old) liked the fishies in the waiting room and the Dora sticker she got at the end but that’s about it.  She didn’t want the doctor near her, she didn’t want to be weighed, measured, nor have her heart listened to, and she didn’t want to walk in front of the doctor like he asked.  Best we could tell during all the kicking and screaming, she is 2 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs 25.5 lbs.

On the other hand, Disney’s baby brother Christopher seemed to love the doctor’s office.  Then again, he smiles all the time, so it’s hard to tell.  He smiled when they measured his head – both times, since the nurse forgot the measurement from the first time (43 cm).  He smiled when he was weighed (15 lbs. 6 oz.), and he smiled some more when his length was measured to be 25.5 inches.  He’s a really good baby – the doctor says he acts more like a 5 month old than a 4 month old because of the strength in his limbs and how he uses them.

Disney’s a great kid also, but she is two years old.  And “terrible two’s” is not just one of those sayings; it’s based on truth.  Disney was the sweetest baby and toddler you could imagine…  then she turned two.  And she’s still sweet, she just has a miniscule amount of patience and tolerance for things that don’t go her way.  She could be chatting happily about doggies one minute, and the next thing I know, she’s melted onto the floor into a puddle of two.

But there must be something going on with the body chemistry of two-year-olds.  Everyone knows they’re like that, and it’s not just an unearned bad reputation.  If it weren’t for the “terrible two’s”, I think I would want an even larger family – but it’s the dreadfulness of the terrible two’s that give me pause – only one more bout of terrible twos to battle, if we can survive Disney’s, of course!

 It’s fall – time for the CMA Awards already!  If you don’t know that CMA is short for Country Music Association, then you have my permission to skip this blog post – it will only bore you anyway!

For other country music fans like me, this is one of our two biggest nights of the year – the Superbowl for country fans.  I get really excited, and unlike other awards shows like the Oscars, I don’t like to tape  (I am a child of the ’80’s) record country music awards, and I especially don’t like to miss anything – the live performances are some of the best parts!  I always play along and try to choose the winners, but I don’t think my picks are going to be that strong this year because I’m listening to country music radio less than ever – I enjoy talking to my kids in the car, or they’re watching dvd’s.  At home I’m usually listening to Dora, the DoodleBops or Noggin.  But the CMA Awards show will be a blast to watch, as always, and there are only two nights like this a year – cross your fingers for me that my kids decide to act like human beings tonight and let me watch the show.  My picks for the winners, however uneducated they may be, are made obvious by my comments in itallics:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Kenny Chesney – ok, so he doesn’t dominate this awards show like the ACMs, but I’m going with him anyway – just because he is not one of my favorite singers and I’m not expecting the show to go well for me
Brad Paisley
Sugarland
George Strait
Keith Urban
  Top Female Vocalist
Alison Krauss
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood – I called her from one of her first appearances in American Idol.  I said – she’s going to win Idol, but she has a voice for country.  Now she’s established herself as one of the best female country singers out there today.
Top Male Vocalist
Kenny Chesney
Alan Jackson – my favorite of those nominated, but what’s he done lately?
Brad Paisley
George Strait
Keith Urban – my pick to win – tough call between Keith and Brad, but you gotta congratulate a guy for a successful stint in rehab
Vocal Duo of the Year
Big & Rich
Brooks & Dunn
Montgomery Gentry
Sugarland – their unique sound will win them many awards – just one question:  who else is in Sugarland besides Jennifer Nettles?
The Wreckers
Vocal Group of the Year
Eagles
Emerson Drive
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Rascal Flatts – tried and true, these guys have talent.  So do Brooks and Dunn, but they haven’t come out with anything lately
New Artist Of The Year
Jason Aldean
Rodney Atkins
Lady Antebellum
James Otto
Kellie Pickler – another American Idol reject crossover
Album Of The Year [Award to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company]
Carrie Underwood’s Carnival Ride Produced by Mark Bright
Brooks & Dunn’s Cowboy Town Produced by Tony Brown, Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks
Alan Jackson’s Good Time Produced by Keith Stegall
Kenny Chesney’s Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates Produced by Buddy Cannon and Kenny Chesney
George Strait’s Troubadour Produced by Tony Brown and George Strait – gotta give him something
Single Of The Year [Awarded to artist and producer]
“Don’t Blink” Kenny Chesney Produced by Buddy Cannon & Kenny Chesney BNA Records
“Gunpowder & Lead” Miranda Lambert Produced by Frank Liddell & Mike Wrucke Columbia Nashville
“I Saw God Today” George Strait Produced by Tony Brown & George Strait MCA Nashville
“Stay” Sugarland Produced by Byron Gallimore, Kristian Bush and Jennifer NettlesMercury Nashville – not really sure of the difference between single and song of the year, but Stay has to win one of these.  I’m going with Single, I guess.
“You’re Gonna Miss This” Trace Adkins Produced by Frank Rogers Capitol Nashville
Song Of The Year [Awarded to songwriter and primary publisher]
“Good Time” Alan Jackson EMI-April Music/Tri-Angels Music
“I Saw God Today” Rodney Clawson/Monty Criswell/Wade Kirby Big Red Toe/Extremely Loud Music/Steel Wheels Music/Blind Mule Music – like I said, I don’t think Strait will walk away with nothing tonight – just hope I didn’t reverse the single and song of the year!
“Letter To Me” Brad Paisley EMI-April Music/New Sea Gayle Music
“Stay” Jennifer Nettles Jennifer Nettles Publishing
“You’re Gonna Miss This” Lee Thomas Miller/Ashley Gorley EMI Blackwood Music/New Songs of Sea Gayle/Noah’s Little Boat Music/Songs of Combustion Music
Musical Event Of The Year [Awarded to each Artist]
“Another Try” — Josh Turner featuring Trisha Yearwood MCA Nashville
“Every Other Weekend” — Reba McEntire and Kenny Chesney MCA Nashville
“Gone Gone Gone” — Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Rounder Records
“Life In A Northern Town” — Sugarland featuring Little Big Town and Jake Owen Mercury Nashville
“Shiftwork” — Kenny Chesney (duet with George Strait) BNA Records – What does ‘vocal event’ mean anyway?  By the looks of how they wrote the nominees, I guess ‘vocal event’ means ‘when record labels lease their stars’.  Chesney always wins big at awards shows, but I personally prefer Jimmy Buffet’s beachcomber style over Kenny Chesney’s knock-off version.  I’m guessing the Country Music Association does not agree.
Music Video Of The Year [Awarded to artist and director]
Don’t Blink Kenny Chesney Directed by Shaun Silva
Good Time Alan Jackson Directed by Trey Fanjoy
Stay Sugarland Directed by Shaun Silva – everyone knows by now that Jennifer Nettles cried real tears during the filming of this video, is it enough to win her the award?  My vote is yes, but maybe it’s just wishful thinking.
Waitin’ On a Woman Brad Paisley Directed by Jim Shea
You’re Gonna Miss This Trace Adkins Directed by Peter Zavadil
Musician Of The Year
Jerry Douglas, Dobro — Drums
Paul Franklin — Steel Guitar
Dann Huff — Guitar – will win.  But then again, this is the blind lottery award for viewers.  Like I know who any of these people are, so I just picked the name that jumped out at me, and Dan Huff it was.
Brent Mason — Guitar
Mac McAnally — Guitar

For sure, a great time will be had by all.  I might update my blog with winners as I watch tonight.  And after reviewing my reasons for my picks for tonight’s awards, it needs to be said that it’s been way too long since some classic artists (and my personal favorites) came out with anything noteworthy!  Alan Jackson Garth Brooks and Martina McBride, you know who you are!

Don’t I wish!! At work I have a Major project again or is that still. I need a break!!! I’ve scheduled time off between Christmas and New Years, but that is still over 1 month away. Oh what fun.

Time…. If I could save time in a bottle, and words could make wishes come true… (Jim Croce “Time in a Bottle”) Again, something I would wish for. Just a little more time.

Longer… Longer than there’ve been stars up in the heavens… (Dan Fogelberg “Longer”) Yep, longer than that and still.

Day… One more day, one more time, one more sunset, maybe I’d be satisfied (Diamond Rio “One More Day”) But then again….

Life… I know I’ll often stop and think about them, In my life I love you more (Lennon/McCartney “In my life) Like now maybe?

Sanity… I’m not crazy, I’m just a little unwell. I know right now you can’t tell (Matchbox 20 “Unwell”)
Sometimes life just goes that way.

Reminiscing … The memories come along Older times we’re missing Spending the hours reminiscing (Little River Band “Reminiscing”) Yep, been doing a lot of that.

Why all the songs. Many with special meanings to me, some I just like the words, but today they all project just a little bit of what I am thinking. Much easier sometimes to use the words of others, when they match your thoughts.

One of my favorite elements of the best Bond movies was the reliable appearance of Q, supplier of 007’s weapons and high-tech gadgets.  Sadly, Q has not made the leap to the latest two shows.  Played with excellent comedic presence by the late Desmond Llewelyn (and later by John Clease), the head of Q Branch took great pride in all of his accomplishments and even chastised Bond in every film about the damage most of them take in the field.  Here is a list of some of the best cars and other useful devices which have aided James throughout 22 movies.

• The Original Aston Martin DB5 with modifications (Goldfinger and Thunderball)… the first in a long list of gadget-laden automobiles.  This beauty came equipped with everything a superspy needs.  Revolving license plates, machine guns, tire slashing devices in the hubcaps, oil slick and smoke screen release, and the little red button underneath the cap of the gear shift.
• Jet Pack (Thunderball)… used in dramatic fashion during Bond’s escape during the pre-title sequence.  The pack was an actual functioning device that was intended to be used by the military.  A trained professional is seen flying the pack in long shots while Connery is seen in the close up shots.  No CGI in 1965.
• Little Nellie (You Only Live Twice)…  Once again a real gyrocopter armed to the teeth that allowed Bond to investigate while disposing of some evil baddies giving chase in helicopters of their own.  “She’s a wonderful girl. Very small, quite fast, she can do anything.  Just your type.”
• Attache Case (From Russia With Love)… what appears to be an ordinary briefcase holds many surprises for the user.  50 gold sovereigns (hidden in two straps on either side of the case), a knife, and two other dandy instruments that aided Bond during the movie.
• The Lotus Esprit (The Spy Who Loved Me) another car featuring advances that assisted Roger Moore’s 007 and Russian beauty XXX as they worked together to stop the diabolical scheme of one Karl Stromberg and a giant steel-toothed baddie named Jaws.

Countless other useful devices have been used to varying degrees of success.  I do remember a certain “Bug”-detecting device used during Live and Let Die that seemed flimsy at best.  By the way, does anyone recall Q’s actual name?  It was given in at least one of the movies (one mentioned in this posting).

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Three months ago I realized I would need to head off to sub once again.  At that time I made a decision to not re-sign on with a district that only rarely called me last year and was still on the slowly fading sub caller system (that is, not online) this year so more of the same was expected.  Ironically, in that district last year I learned that another district I had worked in for about a year and a half moved their sub system online when I found out their former sub caller now had a job in that district, so I decided to go ahead and sign up.  So, a little over 2½ months ago I received my sub packet from them by email.  It took them over a week to get it to me; little did I realize this would be a foreshadowing of things to come.  I finally made it in for fingerprinting in early September, at which time they accepted my paperwork.  I was told then that there was one person inputting the subs, in order, one at a time and that it would take a couple of weeks before my paperwork was confirmed and I was entered into their system.  Two months and a couple of phone calls later I logged into the system for one of the districts I’m already in to look for future jobs (particularly for this Friday- I signed up for one school a couple weeks ago and the grade was not listed so I figured, why not?  It’s a K-8 school so my chances of a grade that I wanted was pretty good, so of course when I went there Monday for another job I found out she was Kindergarten- a grade I oh, so don’t want to teach if I can avoid it, though I will if I have to).  Now understand that the new district uses the same system as this one that I’m already in.  So, I logged in and something showed up on the screen that I had never seen.  It turned out to be asking me for a pin number for a multi-district login now that I am in two districts on that system.  Yes!  Finally!

An hour later, I now have a confirmed job in said district for next week.     A 7:40 start time for 3rd grade.  Hmm.  A little early for elementary.  I think I had better look up a newspaper article too.  I remember reading that third grade at one of their schools has overloaded classes (30+ students).  If it’s this school I may just have another first for this district- first canceled job. Maybe.  I am now keeping an eye out for a certain school in a certain grade where I know a couple of church kids of mine attend…

Got a bit of a scare today.  After my Dad’s successful surgery yesterday, things were looking really good and he may have even been able to come home today.  However, that changed as my Mom was on the way back to the hospital this morning.  She got a phone call that informed her that dad had to go back into surgery… RIGHT NOW!  She immediately called here to give us the news but not sure what was going on apart from that… no whys or wherefores.  Before I left for work, we learned that he had a blood clot that had to be removed.  Shortly after my shift started, I got news that the clot was successfully removed and all is going well again.  It was a good thing he was there overnight.  Thankfully, big brother was with Mom so that she would not be travelling alone.  To try and lighten the mood a bit, I commented that it would not be my father if he was not causing some type of problem.  So, it will be another few days before he is able to come home.  On a good note, I had a call on the caller id waiting for me when I got home from work… THANKS C & L 😉 .

In honor of the opening of the 22nd Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, I will be asking my readers (some of whom are fans, some who have never seen a Bond movie, and others who could give a flying fig) a series of questions.  The new film will hold the distinction of being the first direct sequel… following soon after the events in Casino Royale .  I also found what appears to be a cool official 007 site full of facts, chat forums, etc.  But to the nitty gritty.  Please tell me your pick for the Best James Bond film… also your pick for the Worst Of The Series.

My personal favorite is From Russia With Love.  It was only the second film in the franchise but it set the tone for those that followed.  It had the best Bond (Sean Connery), one of the best Bond girls (Tatiana Romanova), the best MacGuffin, and one of the most ingenious devices created by Q Branch (the attache case).  The evil henchwoman (Rosa Klebb) was also one of the best.  (“She had her kicks.”)

Unfortunately, there have been some stinkers in the series as well.  A View to a Kill may have given the US its first number one Bond theme single (by Duran Duran) but the rest was just not good.  Roger Moore had outlived his welcome in the role (he should have had his license to kill revoked after Octopussy).  Christopher Walken was just too over the top (in a long list of over the top villains).    Tanya Roberts was totally wrong as the girl.  And gargantuan 80s icon Grace Jones did not a memorable henchwoman make.

So, there are my picks for best and worst Bond movies.  Sometime, I will plan to see the latest film in theatres and see if Daniel Craig will be able to endear himself more in the role.  He still hasn’t totally won me over, but it is only his second outing as 007.