Cavs Lead the Series!!!!

Seriously, is Lebron James human? NO ONE could stop him. He promised his team that if the score was close in the 4th he'd find a way to win the game. After 48 points and 50 minutes of playing time, the Cavs beat Detroit 109-107 in double overtime to take a 3-2 lead in the series. We truly are all witnesses!! GO CAVS!!!!

I'm a Pot Head!!

A Harry Potter pot head, that is. I'm a friggin' junkie.

Before I'd read the books, I could not understand for the life of me why so many adults were acting like crazed maniacs over a children's series. But like I said, that was BEFORE. I don't know that I've ever read books quite so entertaining and appealing to so many different age groups and people types. Now I'm one of those crazy people too. Sad, but true. To anyone who has not read the series, I highly recomend doing so. Even if you think this is not "your type of book". I've yet to run across anyone who has read the books and thought they were just "o.k." or did not like them at all. If you enjoy reading, you'll enjoy the adventures of Harry Potter.

I also love the movies. They stay very true to the events in the books. I've never missed opening day (first showing, always) of a Potter film. Even if that means I take the day off work. Luckily, the next movie will be released in July and I'll be on summer vacation. So calling in sick with a fake belly ache won't be necessary. Furthermore, I absolutely can not surf through the channels, see that a Harry Potter movie is playing and keep on surfing. I'll stop whatever I'm doing to sit down and watch. At the very least, I turn on all the televisions in my house so I can watch as I'm cleaning from room to room. It really is a bit of an obsession. Given that The Goblet of Fire has been playing almost daily between HBO and Cinimax, I've not gotten much done around the house. Especially since the new windows have been installed and I can (thankfully) no longer hear the dogs bark while there outside. No more annoying dog interruptions, yeah buddy!


One of my friends asked me if I've ordered the new book, The Deathly Hallows, coming out in July. I have not. I'm having an awful time with this decision. Should I order it online to ensure that I get a copy? But then what if the mail/UPS/Fed Ex man is running late and I'm not able to begin the final book until late in the day? If that were to happen, I chance seeing a spoiler on the tv news or online. That would just break my heart. I'm pretty convinced that Harry will die, along with He Who Must Not Be Named, but I need to discover the fate of all on my own. So maybe I'll reserve a copy, pre-paid of course, at one of the local bookstores and hope for a midnight opening. I can not forget, though, a story I was told by my Harry Potter loving Aunt Jo who attempted to attend one of those late night escapades... When the most recent book, The Half-Blood Prince, was released and there was supposed to be a midnight opening, the people never showed up at the shopping mall to open the store! I absolutely can't chance that!!! I'm really struggling here, I need to have my muggle hands on that book as soon as humanly possible. I plan on locking myself up somewhere and reading it in its entirety as fast as possible. I may even leave my home to stay at the local Holiday Inn to ensure that my husband doesn't attempt to foil my time alone with Harry and the gang. (He gets a bit jealous when my attention is devoted so extensively to something other than him.) After all, this is the final installation. I must savour every single word on every single page.

Eclectic Concepts II

The window people are coming to do the installation bright and early Tuesday morning. They told us to take down all the blinds/curtains and remove certain decorative wall hangings that are close by. Jason helped me with one friggin' window. Just one. Then he left for work. Bastard. I've got a long night ahead of me. Furthermore, my computer sits in front of a window. That means I'm going to be without the black hole, a.k.a the Internet, for close to a whole day because I'll have to move it. What the hell am I supposed to do while I have my morning java?

Sometimes you just have to suck it up and make the best of it.

The Cavs lost to Detroit tonight. Really good game. Close. Hopefully next time King James will step up and score some more points. I should have been rearranging furniture and taking down blinds instead of watching the Cavs miss game winning 3 pointers.

I taught Scooter Dog to catch a Frisbee today. Now I just have to teach him to release it from that big ass mouth of his. That's going to be the hard part, he's stingy when it comes to toys.

I still love my Zune. But I'm also still waiting for Fringes to send me some music. Hint hint!

My biological clock is tick, tick, ticking. I think I'm finally ready to begin the mating ritual for purposes other than fun. Now if I can just convince myself to stop taking that damn pill. For anyone thinking that I already have a child, he is my step-son. I need to have one of my own in order to mold him or her into my own personal slave.

For the second time in less than a month, my husband informed me that he wants to have a party. Don't get me wrong, I love having a house full of people. But this party is to watch Ultimate Fighting. Although I thoroughly enjoy watching those idiots beat the shit out of each other, I often find myself feeling super aggressive afterwards. I'll need to be on my best behavior to ensure I don't pick a fight with any of our guests. It will be difficult.

There is an ongoing debate in my head. Do I have to go to every single baseball game as long as someone from the family is there? I mean, it's not even June yet and I'm already feeling burned out from the little league drama. Can't I pass on a few? Tonight I left early and it felt good. I'm such a rebel. Or maybe I'm just a wicked step-mother.

Elliot Yamin (3rd runner up from last season's American Idol, remember?) sounds a lot like Donny Hathaway. To me, anyways. Jason says absolutely not, not at all.

A few weeks ago I put some Hawaiian bread out in the lawn for the birds. They didn't like it, I suppose, because it sat out there for days. Maybe it was too sweet for the birdie palate? Scrappy Dog scarfed it down whenever he managed to bolt out of the front door. So he, evidently, loved the bread. Yesterday I put out some plane 'ol white bread and this morning I watched the birds come and go for every single morsel. I guess birds like bland food.

Although I could go on all night with my random thought patterns, I need to shut my computer down, move this desk and take down the blinds. Only two more rooms to go before I can retire for the night :)

Favorite Music

Last night I took the leap into the world of handheld digital media and purchased a Zune. So far I love it. But I'd like some suggestions for the ultimate music library. In comments, tell me a couple of your favorite songs. Especially the oldies that I may be forgetting about as I build my play lists.

Happy Birthday, Spam!

With all the talk of food in the last post I thought I'd share something I learned today. Evidently, today is the birthday of Spam. It was introduced in 1891 by the Hormel Packing Company.


If you're a die-hard Spam lover, you can take a trip to the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota. Seriously, did anyone even know that such a place existed?

I know that it is difficult for many to admit that they indulge in the occasional Spam sandwich or fried up as a breakfast meat since we really don't even know what Spam is. But let me be the fist to say, "Hi, my name is Nina and I like Spam." But I will also say that I haven't eaten Spam in quite a while. I got kind of nervous years ago when I realized that Spam truly is a "mystery meat". But given that today is a Spam celebration day, it may just be what's for dinner.

Just a little side note: even if you do not like Spam, every household should be equipped with several cans in case of a national emergency. That stuff will last for years if you have to hide out in your bomb shelter.

That Damn Tera!!!

I was tagged by Tera. So being the good sport that I am, here we go...

The meme:
1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. Include the city/state and country you’re in.


Nicole (Sydney, Australia)
velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)
Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Olivia (London, England)
ML (Utah, USA)
Lotus (Toronto, Canada)
tanabata (Saitama, Japan)
Andi (Dallas [ish], Texas, United States)
Todd (Louisville, Kentucky, United States)
miss kendra (los angeles, california, u.s.a)
Jiggs Casey (Berkeley, CA, USA! USA! USA!)
Tits McGee (New England, USA)
Kat (Ontario, Canada)
Cheezy (London, England)
Paula (Orange County, California, U.S.)
Jeff (Colorado, USA)
Fringes (around Houston, US)
Tera (Somewhere In KY by way of OH, USA)
Nina (Cleveland Area, OH, USA)

***I'm not adding links to everyone on this list, that seems to be a lot of work. If there is an easy way to do it, I don't have a clue as to what that way is. Sorry.


2.List your top 5 local eating places.

1.El Carreton (they don't have a website) is the greatest for Mexican food. Plus the waiters drink beers while they think no one is looking so I think they're cool.
2.The Cheesecake Factory is great for people like me who don't know exactly what they feel like eating before they go out. Their menu is enormous and there is something for everyone.
3.Applebee's has the best happy hour. All the appetizers are half off. The downside is that I often run into my students after I've had too many glasses of wine.
4.For special occasions I like Chez Francois. Great service, award winning wine lists and the food is to die for.
5.Basil's is my hands down favorite for good 'ol fashion bar food. (if you visit this site you'll find a picture of me...bonus points if you can guess who I am)


3. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged.

1.Anali
2.Mist1
3.Nance
4.Induced Homomorphism
5.Eslocura

Old Enough

At what age is it appropriate to start having children do more for themselves? I'm ready to hand over some household responsibility.

The child in my home is going to be 12 in just a couple more months. The husband says that he's going through a transformation...he's beginning to take pride in the way he dresses, he's making semi-good attempts to comb his hair in a presentable fashion and he cares if his shoes get dirty. Jason says that he's at the age where "he can smell his own piss". (Please, don't ask. There are lots of Jasonisms that fly around this house daily). So I'm wondering if I can slap some more responsibility on his ever broadening shoulders and growing ego.

Young D already has a list of chores that are posted on the fridge that need to be completed daily. The only supposed exceptions to the latter are large amounts of homework, baseball or football games/practices. Sometimes the get out of jail free card is used for a number of other less important things like American Idol or Dad wants to go somewhere and doesn't feel like waiting for Poky Joe to finish washing the dishes or walking the dog. But that's a whole other issue, let's not go there today.

Anyway...I figure it's time for the young buck to learn how to do laundry. His own, of course. I wouldn't dare let him touch my clothes. He does enough damage to mine by leaving chocolate bars and ink pens in the pockets of his blue jeans.

If I may be honest here, my motive is two fold. First, I HATE doing laundry and I have no idea how three people can create sooooo much of it. And on the rare occasion that I've managed to get all the dirty clothes washed (just as I've finished my victory dance) the little man has this magical way of conjuring up two or three more loads that have mysteriously been placed in the corner of his closet. Not by him, of course, but by the little people who live under the floor-boards. Those bastards really irk me, I'm going to have to call the little-people exterminators to handle that one. Moving on. I've decided that if he washes his own clothes, I'll no longer need to be concerned with the dirty clothes that pop up out of thin air once I'm done dealing with the laundry demons. He can have his own hamper. In his own room. Then it's no longer MY issue.

Second, I think it's time for the young man of the house to see what it's like to be a bit more responsible for himself. It's time for him to learn exactly WHY you can't tell someone that your uniform is dirty 20 minutes before the game. He needs to learn that life will run much more smoothly when you don't wait until you've completely run out of clean underware to ask if anyone washed clothes the night before.


Seriously, the most important factor here...I don't want to have to wash so many damn clothes. PERIOD. He's old enough, right? Besides, my mom always told me that one of the plus sides of having children around the house is having the authority to make them do the stuff parents don't want to do. So maybe I'll approach this new task for D as a scientific experiment proving her theory.

Pick a Side Already!

In case you missed it, tonight was the Republican Party candidate's debate.

When asked whether or not he believes in evolution, Sen. John McCain answered:
"I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see it at sunset, that the hand of God is there also."

Is it just me or is McCain's response a bit contradictory? Where I come from, the answer would be a simple "yes" or "no". I wouldn't be allowed to pick and choose which parts of the Bible I want to believe. But hey, that's just me.

I'm still pulling for Obama.